Grave (The Sanctuary Series Book 1)

by L H Whitlock

  With the last of her strength, Nora reached up and ripped off the cords brushing against her face, then all went dark.

  30

  The day took much longer than expected. Several riots broke out over certain rare and new tech that had come in the boxes and Grave now wished the damn shipment had never arrived. New technology sometimes caused more hassle than it was worth and in a place of criminals, peace wasn’t always easily achieved.

  Grave was thankful to see that Nora, Deon and Lit-ta had gotten out of the market before chaos ensued, but now as Vivid Flor dipped below the mountains, he found himself mentally exhausted. He hated dealing with people and preferred spending his days chopping wood, or working around his house. And he had hoped to watch the sunset with Nora and show her what else he was planning to make with the wulgor tooth he had recovered.

  As he approached Nora’s house, Lit-ta and Deon raced out.

  “Grave,” shouted Lit-ta, and he stopped to await Nora’s two friends.

  “Good evening, Lit-ta and Deon.”

  “Is Nora with you?” Lit-ta asked.

  Grave’s heart froze, and the blood in his veins sped up at the hint of danger. “I told her to find you guys and head home.”

  Lit-ta shook her head. “No, no, she never came back to us. I figured she was with you, and so I didn’t worry about it.”

  Grave pounded on Nora’s door, but Deon told him to stop. “She’s not there. We already tried. We even climbed in through the back window to make sure she wasn’t just ignoring us. And she’s not in the greenhouse either.”

  “Maybe she went back to my house,” Grave said, already making his way to the woods.

  “We, uh, we tried that too,” Deon called out, and Grave froze again.

  “You know where I live?” Grave asked.

  Lit-ta looked guilty. “I may have followed Miss Yulle and Nora last night. I was worried and just wanted to make sure Nora was okay. She isn’t meant for a place like this, and I didn’t know how everything was after what happened between you guys and the baby.”

  Grave growled in frustration. He shouldn’t be surprised. Lit-ta had survived this place, and that meant she had a few tricks up her sleeve, but he didn’t like people snooping around in his business.

  “Fine. And I assume you somehow broke into my house as well.”

  Deon awkwardly scratched the back of his head and Grave clenched his fists to keep himself from screaming at the two idiots.

  “I’m going to check the med bay. That is the only other place I can think that Nora would go. Maybe Miss Yulle wanted to see the baby again.”

  “Oh!” Lit-ta squealed. “You convinced her to get an ultrasound? Is it a boy or a girl? What did Nora think? I bet she was beside herself with excitement. Just think, a few months ago she didn’t even know a machine like that existed!”

  Grave’s head throbbed with the woman’s enthusiasm. “It is a little boy,” he found himself saying it with a deep possessiveness. “Nora was very impressed with the device.” As was he. Seeing her child had touched him somewhere deep inside.

  “Can we come with you?” Deon asked. “We‘re just nervous.”

  Grave nodded. “Yes, but keep up.”

  Without another word, Grave marched to the med bay as fast as he could. Deon and Lit-ta raced to keep up but didn’t complain about his pace or say anything more, and Grave welcomed the silence.

  He opened the door to the med bay after his knocks were ignored and paused in the doorway as he took in the gruesome scene.

  Blood pooled around Miss Yulle’s pale body. A white bassinet had been overturned and was now stained with crimson. A few of the machines lay on their sides and blood-stained footsteps were everywhere.

  Grave’s training took over. He barely heard the shocked gasps of Deon and Lit-ta behind him. He knelt and studied the boot markings. The smaller, smoother prints belonged to Nora; she had been wearing a soft boot with smooth soles. The other print showed a heavily grooved sole and looked to be from some type of military boot.

  He followed each footstep, imagining Nora struggling with her assailant. He knew where she had fallen, where the man had overpowered her. When he had left with her.

  Her prints weren’t close to the door, so he assumed the man carried her out somehow. There were no signs in his step of struggle, so she must have been rendered immobile.

  But who had taken her? How had they known? He had disposed of the flyers immediately and thought the only people within the walls that knew who Nora really was were Helic, Rikar, Deon, and Lit-ta. Helic and Rikar had been with him the entire afternoon, and neither Deon nor Lit-ta would harm Nora; their trembling and tears only confirmed that theory.

  Grave pulled out his tablet and called to Rikar. After a few moments, his friend’s face showed on the screen. “Hey, Grave.”

  “Is Helic with you?”

  “Yes. Is everything okay?”

  Grave angled the screen to show Miss Yulle, the blood, the footsteps. Silence passed between the line as the gladiators analyzed the scene.

  “Is she...? I don’t even need to ask, I already know, but I need to hear it. Is Miss Yulle…”

  “She is dead.” Grave’s voice choked for a moment, and he moved over to the dead woman’s side. Miss Yulle had been with them a long time. She had been good to Grave and almost treated him as a son. Her glassy eyes stared at him. Grave closed them, saying a silent goodbye and vowing to avenge her.

  “I assume the small footsteps are Nora’s?” Helic asked.

  “Yes. She’s missing, and it looks like whoever took her, rendered her defenseless.”

  “Fuck,” Rikar cursed and rubbed his eyes. “I expected someone to come for her eventually, but not so fast.”

  Grave’s demons roared and threatened to overtake him, but he pushed them down. They would be useful when the time came to fight, but not when he needed his mind clear. Not when he needed to figure out where Nora was. He had to be missing something.

  He looked over the room again, scanning everything and anything, looking for the smallest detail that was out of place.

  The end of a purple cord peeked out from beneath an examination table. Grave picked it up and studied the fabric for a moment.

  “Do you know what this could have come from?” Grave dangled the fabric in front of the tablet’s screen.

  Rikar leaned forward and studied it, then frowned and shook his head. “Helic, come here for a second and look at this.”

  Helic’s face appeared on the screen. He studied the piece of fabric as Rikar had, his forehead creasing as his eyes narrowed, then recognition dropped his jaw.

  “That looks like a pilot’s aiguillette. The supply shuttle from Ever left several hours ago. Let me call them.” Helic pulled out his own tablet and placed a call, but the line never connected. “Damn. I bet the pilot recognized her. I didn’t have anyone with me on my ship and on the supply ship there was only the pilot and two mates. But the other two wouldn’t be wearing something so fancy.”

  “Is there a way to track the ship?” Rikar asked.

  “Let me check in with a few of my contacts.” Helic left the view of Grave’s screen. While he paced and silence filled the call, Grave watched Lit-ta cover Miss Yulle with a blanket and stand the bassinet up. It wasn’t until then that he realized why Nora had come here.

  Miss Yulle must have wanted to give the bassinet to her. His heart twisted with the meaning behind it. He doubted Miss Yulle had given the real story to Nora. It was a sad story that Miss Yulle very rarely talked about, but the bassinette had once been for her baby. Miss Yulle had woven it herself, but when the time came for her to deliver, it had been a stillborn birth.

  It tore Miss Yulle and her ex-partner, Avery, apart. Avery eventually left the sanctuary and Miss Yulle over the riff. Anger replaced sadness. Anger that Miss Yulle would never get to see her gift in use, and anger that an innocent life had been taken.

  Grave’s fists clenched and fury overtook him. This ma
n would pay, but even that wouldn’t be enough to avenge his crimes.

  Lit-ta stood by the bassinet, staring at the red that now stained the white weaving. She grabbed a towel, rinsed it off in a sink and began tenderly wiping down the sides as though she could feel how special the bassinette had been, and the care that went into each detail. Deon watched silently from the doorway, his brown eyes red with emotion.

  Helic’s face appeared on the screen again. “Okay, I’ve confirmed that the ship is on its way to Yunnika. The pilot called in to headquarters, gave some bullshit story and refused orders to return to base. The control wasn’t aware of any hostages or passengers or the reason for the re-direct. He said he was going to dispatch a few ships to go after him, but they won’t catch him before he reaches Yunnika. They’re further away than we are by a good two days. If we leave now, we should only be a few hours behind. My ship is faster than the cargo ship. We won’t catch them interstellarly, but there won’t be much of a gap.”

  Grave nodded and looked back at the screen. Helic and Rikar were pulling on boots and jackets and grabbing weapons. They were already assembling the squad before he had even asked.

  “Who will watch the gates while we’re away?” Rikar asked as he pulled on his beanie; he never left his house without that hat.

  “Krepter and Fiona are the next in line. Notify them immediately. Standard procedure.”

  “Meet at my ship in ten,” Helic said, and the line went black.

  Grave shoved the tablet into his back pocket and turned to Deon and Lit-ta. “I’m going after Nora. Since you already know where I live, feed my buchin.”

  Lit-ta’s bottom lip trembled. “Please, can we come along? I can help.”

  Grave shook his head. He checked to make sure his sword was in place. “It’s too hard to watch after others in tense situations. Helic, Rikar, and I are better to go alone. Please see that Miss Yulle’s body is respectfully prepared for service and that someone cleans and sanitizes the med-bay. Alert Rubik, the secondary medic and have him take over in her place. I will arrange a proper burial when we get back. And feed my buchin.”

  Lit-ta and Deon moved to the side as Grave stormed past and raced through town toward the shipyard. It had been a long time since he had been off planet, and he was looking forward to hunting down Miss Yulle’s killer.

  31

  Nora groaned. Her head throbbed, and her stomach churned. A bitter taste filled her mouth, and a matching scent wafted through her senses every time she took a breath. She gagged and tried to roll onto her side, but a restraint stopped her. She peeked out between heavy, swollen eyelids and caught a glimpse of a bed with an ornate headboard and navy silk sheets.

  Her stomach threatened to spill, and her throat burned with the reflex. Dread suffocated her. She recognized this bed, the grotesquely smooth sheets, the carvings in the headboards, the stone walls. She was in her room. She was back on Yunnika.

  “Ah, Nora. Glad to see you’re back with us.”

  Nora choked back a cry as the condescending tone of Hayme pierced her ears. Her brain felt like it would explode out of her skull, and she clenched her eyes shut to try and ease some of the pain.

  “Naughty little Nora. You’ve caused quite the ruckus. Personally, I wish we had never found you. Then I wouldn’t have to go through another ceremony. But the outcome will be the same. I sense that you carry a female. It’s a shame. You were Mighton’s last hope at an heir. He’s old now, and sick; he won’t last long.”

  The door creaked and Nora forced her eyes open to see who had joined them.

  “Oh, she’s awake.” Mighton hacked into his hand and leaned against a servant as he made his way into the room. Dark bags traced his red-rimmed eyes, and his hair looked thinner, his skin a ghostly pale and his hands shook on their own. He looked like he had lost about twenty pounds in the short time she had been away, and his skin sagged off his bones.

  “What’s happened to you?” Nora found herself asking more out of shock than actual worry.

  Mighton laughed. “Oh, glad to see I’ve fallen ill, are we? I should have known you would be a little bitch. Now, let me see that fat belly of yours. Priest, what make you of my chances?”

  Hayme grabbed the bottom of Nora’s dress and pulled it up over her stomach. She pressed her knees together to try and preserve some form of modesty as the two men looked at her, but with her legs being tied to the bedpost it made it difficult to hide much.

  Mighton stared at her with an evil glimmer in his eyes and a smirk on his face. His gaze lingered between her legs and Nora squirmed under his scrutiny. Her eyes burned with tears, but she promised herself that she wouldn’t cry in front of him ever again.

  “You’re showing, but still small,” Hayme said. “You are about twenty-six weeks, right on schedule.”

  Nora choked down her reply. Should she tell them that she knew he was a phony? Should she tell them that she had seen with her own eyes the baby growing inside of her? That she was actually thirty-six weeks pregnant? She didn’t know in what way to respond, nor how to handle the situation, so she kept her lips sealed for now.

  “We will proceed with the gender celebration tomorrow,” Hayme said.

  Mighton hacked again and swayed.

  “My King, you must rest now,” the servant said and braced Mighton’s arm around his shoulders for added support.

  Mighton nodded and began his retreat. He paused in the doorway to make sure he got one last jab in at Nora before he left. “We shall see in the morning if you have failed your kingdom.”

  Hayme waited for the door to close and leave them once more. He stared at her, her dress still pulled up, exposing her to the room. Even when Mighton raped her she had never felt so vulnerable and dirty as she did with Hayme’s eyes boring through her.

  “I look forward to killing you tomorrow,” he said, his voice holding a clear ring of truth.

  Nora clenched her jaw. “You kill me and Grave will have your head. He won’t kill you easily, either. He’ll make you suffer.”

  Hayme’s lips twitched into a smile. “The Grave? Runaway gladiator, Grave? Well, this is a surprise indeed. I bet he is on his way right now, and I know someone who is just dying to see him.”

  Nora stared at Hayme in confusion as he wandered away. “Don’t worry, Queen Nora. Tomorrow you will be free of the burden of carrying this spawn and join your family in the pits of the netherworld.”

  The blood rushed out of Nora’s face. “My family…”

  “Oh, yes. You had to know that was the first place we were going to look, right? Little Nora who thought of everything? We questioned them for days.” He smiled as though remembering a fond memory. “I thought they just had strong wits, but seems like they truly didn’t know where you had run off to. Their bodies are staked outside the castle as a reminder that anyone who commits treason against me shall die.”

  Nora’s lip wobbled and tears blurred her vision. She sniffled, and her nose grew hot. Damn him. Damn him. “You’re a monster! You don’t speak for God. God would never do the things you do.”

  “Ah! You come back to us a philosopher. All the more reason for you to go. I can’t have anyone speaking nonsense rumors they heard out under the stars, now can I? Besides, you know what the scrolls say, anyone who speaks against me, speaks against him. And the consequence is death.”

  Nora choked back a cry. “I want to speak with Mighton.”

  Hayme feigned a pout. “Oh, I bet you do. I bet you have a lot to say to him too. He’s gone sick you know? Shame. Very sudden too, and nothing the doctors seem to do are making any headway.”

  “There is medicine and machines that can help him get better. Your mixtures and potions aren’t going to help him. You’re probably poisoning him yourself. Aren’t you?”

  Hayme smiled. “Mighton has ruled a long while. I was just picking out an heir when you showed up, you know. Sir Kru from the Villua Region. He’s a fine young man and a true believer in the word. He and I will work wel
l together.”

  Nora panicked. “You can’t appoint a new king. I am having a boy. It’s been proven. I saw a picture of him with my own eyes. That technology you’re so against will out your lies.” She fought against her restraints to no avail.

  Haymes face twisted. “A boy, huh? Well, thankfully, that’s not for you to decide. But we can’t be too safe, can we?” He pulled out a pill from his robes.

  “What is that?” Nora asked, fear already capturing her breath.

  “It may be a little premature, but I don’t see a reason to not start the abortion now.”

  “What! No, you can’t do that. It’s a boy! It’s a boy, I swear. Even if you hadn’t altered the words of God, even by your own rules, this is a valid heir, a sacred pregnancy.”

  “We’ll just keep that secret to ourselves.” The priest moved across the room, his grin emitting a strange red glow.

  “Help! Help! Help!” Nora shrieked as loud as she could. “He’s going to kill my baby! I’m having a boy, a proper heir. Help!” Nora thrashed until every part of her body ached.

  “Shut up, you unholy whore.” Hayme pinched her nose with one hand and slapped the other over her mouth. He forced the pill between her lips and forced his fingers into her mouth, shoving further and further. Nora gagged against his fingers, the reflux forcing the pill down her throat. He hovered over her for several moments longer, making sure the pill was down and that she couldn’t do anything to get it back up. When he was satisfied he pulled away, his chest heaving from exertion and sweat prickling his ageless face.

  Nora’s vision was erratic from lack of oxygen, but she saw bodies stirring in the doorway. Two guards stood there, staring at her bound form and Hayme. Nora opened her mouth to say something, but Hayme whipped around, spotting them in the doorway. The parties stared at each other for several moments before Hayme yanked out a strange small, black device similar to the one the pilot had used to kill Miss Yulle and shot the two men. The plasma beams shot through their chests, and they crumpled to the ground. Hayme then dropped the weapon to the floor and stretched his face into a look of shock.