Torkel's Chosen: A World Beyond Book 1

by Michelle Howard

  When something skittered passed her feet, Faye jumped. The guards laughed and left, the barred door slamming with a note of finality. Someone groaned. Staying close to the musty wall and using her hand on the clammy stones as a guide, Faye inched away from where the sound had emanated. Her toe bumped into a bundle of cloth.

  “Welcome to chez beautiful. I’m sorry the heat is out and we’re low on refreshments.”

  The feminine voice held an edge of humor. Faye squinted in the dark, the meager light from the ceiling fixture made it difficult to see. The bundle unrolled into the form of a prone woman with stringy hair about her face and familiar blue eyes.

  Impossible.

  “Lindsey, is that you?” Faye couldn’t believe her eyes when the blonde she’d met so long ago blinked her weary eyes.

  Faye reached as far as the chain around her ankle would let her and knelt on the unforgiving ground to hug her friend. “How’d you get here?”

  Lindsey sat up and offered her a fraction of the perky smile Faye remembered. “I went to the market. Wanted to surprise my husbands with a special dinner. Stupid suckers snatched me right there.”

  Faye ran a hand through the tangled blonde hair and soothed Lindsey. Judging by her dirty clothes she looked as if she’d been here a while. “I guess you got those two men you were dreaming about, huh?”

  Lindsey rolled to her side, using the wall to help prop her up. She gripped Faye’s hand and her eyes burned brightly. “They’re wonderful, Faye. I couldn’t ask for better men in my life.”

  Faye kissed her on the head. “I’m happy for you.”

  Lindsey’s head tilted. “What about you? How did the chosen deal work out? Got a hot Enotian at home?”

  Faye snickered as she thought of Torkel’s rough hewn features. She adored his looks much more than the refined beauty of the Enotian men. “Not Enotian.” She lowered her voice and whispered in Lindsey’s ear. “Marenian.”

  “What?” Lindsey jerked up in the chains and fell off the thin mat she’d rested on. “You’re with one of those jerks? A slaver?”

  “No,” Faye hissed. “Lower your voice. He was adopted. He’s a Jutak warrior.”

  Her friend’s face paled and her mouth made a silent moue. “A Jutak warrior? Seriously even I’ve heard of them on Garulax. They’re like bad ass SEALS.”

  Faye grinned. “Yep.”

  “Do you think he’ll find us in time?”

  Lindsey’s eager expression gave her hope. Faye scooted closer as the chill in their cell increased. “I know Torkel will tear the galaxy apart looking for me. He loves me as much as I love him.”

  Lindsey’s shoulders eased. “Thank fuck.”

  A snort escaped from Faye. “I’m sure your fine men will too.”

  Lindsey grinned back. “My husbands work for the government, so no elaborate rescue from them without creating a political scandal.”

  “What about a ransom?” Faye asked.

  A frown pierced Lindsey’s brow. “You must have missed it, Faye. They plan to sell us as sex slaves.”

  Faye’s stomach dropped. Never. She’d never become a sex slave. She clasped Lindsey’s hand in hers. “Torkel will come. He and his men will rescue us long before we’re sold. I promise.”

  Faye believed with all her heart in her Chosen. He wouldn’t let her down.

  Two Weeks Later

  “Tell me about your Jutak again,” Lindsey asked in a slurred voice.

  Faye wrapped the thin blanket they were forced to share around the blonde’s shaking shoulders and smoothed a hand over her forehead. The skin burned with fever. Faye had asked for extra water from the guards but they’d laughed in her face and tossed food scraps on the dirty ground out of reach.

  “Torkel is brave and strong,” she murmured because it was night and the guards could hear better under the cover of dark when the other prisoners settled down to sleep.

  “Like a SEAL?”

  “Hmmm.” Faye agreed. They had this conversation each night. Sometimes over and over. It was all they had to cling to. The only hope they had that they might make it out of the hell they’d been thrown into.

  “What’s he gonna do when he gets here?”

  Another predictable question. Lindsey loved the answer Faye gave the first time so she gave it again as she always did. “He and his team are gonna kick Marenian ass.”

  Lindsey smiled and settled down. “If I didn’t already have two husbands I’d steal him from you, Faye.”

  She laughed. “Hang in there, Lindsey. We’re both going home.”

  No response. Lindsey was asleep. Worry set in. Faye wasn’t sure what would happen to them. Lindsey’s shabby pants were loose and the bones of her face had become more pronounced. What little food they received was sour or bug infested. The cell they’d been placed in was drafty and Faye didn’t think she’d ever feel warm again.

  Footsteps thudded down the hall followed by the clink of keys. Faye stiffened and hunched her shoulders. Keep walking. Keep walking.

  The steps halted outside the prison cell she shared with Lindsey. The keys rattled and the door swung open. Faye wrapped her arms tight around her friend but Lindsey pushed up, awakened by the heavy boot falls.

  “Back for more,” Lindsey challenged in a voice that didn’t hint at how sick she was.

  Faye cringed. This too had been repeated nightly. She jerked on Lindsey’s arm but her friend shoved to her feet and stood between Faye and the two guards. The flicker of their hand lights blinded Faye for a second as she rose and wrapped her arms around Lindsey.

  “You’re mouthy for a slave,” the first guard declared with a sneer.

  He was Marenian. And so was the guard who entered behind him. It wasn’t their gold skin, dark hair and dark eyes that gave away their heritage. It was the two curled horns that protruded from their temples. Torkel didn’t have those thanks to his mother’s foresight. Faye wasn’t sure she would have been able to see beyond the sharp black extensions to the man beneath.

  “Why don’t you come closer and say that?” Lindsey threatened, raising both fists.

  Faye stepped back, pulling Lindsey with her. She couldn’t understand why Lindsey did this. She taunted the guards and they both paid for it when they punched and kicked them until they blacked out.

  “You should know your place, suare.”

  Faye flinched. Thanks to her implanted translator she knew the word meant a woman who sex shared with a man for credits. She’d explained the term to Lindsey when they first heard the Marenian word. She’d laughed for a good five minutes. Like now.

  “Lame suckers.”

  The first guard swung before Faye could predict his move. She staggered under Lindsey’s weight as they both fell backward into the wall and tripped over the blankets.

  “You’re lucky a couple of buyers are coming in a few days to look you over or I’d show you.”

  “Whatever,” Lindsey declared, getting back to her feet.

  Faye stood with her as the two of them presented a weak but united front. The guard on the right aimed a laser at them. At Faye. His mouth curved in a cruel grin. “Come quietly or you’re friend pays.”

  “No!” Lindsey pushed in front of Faye.

  Her heart pounded in her chest but Faye guided her friend to the side. “No need to shoot. I’ll come.”

  Lindsey glared at her with misty eyes but Faye forced her feet to move forward. This was the first time they’d wanted to remove either of them from the cell. She wondered if today was the day. The day she’d be sold. Trepidation crawled over her spine leaving chills behind as she waited.

  The guard kept his weapon aimed at Lindsey while the other used his key to undo the bolt around Faye’s ankle. The chain clinked as it hit the floor. A rush of relief ran through her at the rare sense of freedom. Too short to enjoy as they grabbed her arms and pulled her from the cell she shared with Lindsey. Her stomach tightened with anxiety and her palms grew damp but she followed the guards.

  Her
time would come. Time where she’d plan and risk an escape but not yet. Not without Lindsey. A hood lowered over her head and Faye choked.

  Screams. Cries for help. Loving arms an eternity later.

  The darkness and abuse brought back the childhood nightmares she’d long since thought behind her but this time she didn’t have Lindsey to distract her.

  “Keep moving,” one of the Marenian’s growled.

  Faye tried to hide her rising panic with bravado. “What you’re doing is wrong. You can’t enslave people.”

  A snort to the left of her. “Earthlings are the worst. You all believe you’re so special and above others.”

  Keep him talking, Faye counseled herself. “You broke into a Jutak facility.”

  Surely they didn’t believe they’d go unpunished for such a bold act.

  Laughter met her ears. “Jutaks are punans.”

  Faye flinched from the harsh expletive. They led her down a hall of some sort. Her senses, familiar with the darkness she’d existed in over the last weeks, tuned into her surroundings. Dripping water, the wet slap of their feet against the rough uneven pavers on the floor, moans and cries from others on both sides of her. Prisoners? More likely innocents snatched by the Marenians. These were the people Torkel hunted and for good reason.

  A jerk of her arm turned Faye in the direction they wanted. Moments later one of them removed the hood. When her vision cleared, she froze. In the middle of the room a table held center stage. Manacles dangled from the top and bottom of the metal structure.

  Another Marenian had joined them. Faye didn’t recognize this third man from her regular guards.

  “Bring her here,” he snapped.

  Faye battled a wave of dizziness as the guard jerked her over. “W-what are you planning?”

  His dark eyes glowed and when he smiled, Faye’s knees shook. “You’ll see.”

  She locked her legs and stopped inches from him.

  “Put her on the table,” he instructed the others.

  Faye broke. Arms pin wheeling, she aimed for any body parts. Caught off guard by the suddenness of her attack, Faye managed to land a few blows and sprinted across the room. She got close. So close the rough texture of the doorknob brushed her fingers before one of her captures jerked her back against a broad chest. His arm clamped around her waist cutting off her air flow and Faye wheezed as her legs kicked uselessly above the floor.

  “Bring her now!”

  The man carrying her turned and Faye noticed the blood on the Marenian’s face. One of her fists had struck him over the lip and the small split gave her vicious pleasure.

  He noticed her smile and grumbled. “We’ll see how much you enjoy what I have in store for you.”

  Her heart banged hard inside her chest to the point Faye worried she’d have a heart attack. The guard slammed her on top of the table and her back stung with the pain of it. Her hands and legs were quickly strapped down. Faye yelled but they ignored her. One last restraint was placed over her neck, keeping her head immobile. She fought for breath. Pain gave way to shock. “Torkel will kill you!”

  Her captor leaned forward, his heavy breath puffing over her face. “We’ll see about that.” He turned to the others. “Leave us.”

  Unable to move her head much, Faye’s eyes twitched to the side. Both men glared and stormed from the cell, locking the door behind them.

  He dragged a rough finger down her cheek, across her collarbone and stabbed at her chest with the blunt digit. “Where should we start?”

  Faye licked her dry and cracked lips. “With the Jutaks killing you.”

  Smack! Her head snapped back on the table. Faye blinked and tasted blood in her mouth.

  He reached for her hand, the short length of chain allowing him to lift it a few inches from the table. “Tell me everything you know about the Jutaks.”

  What? “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Snap. Excruciating pain burst from her hand. Screaming, Faye glanced down and tried to clear her fuzzy vision. Her pinky finger stuck out at an odd angle.

  “Let’s try again,” her tormentor whispered. “Tell me their names, their specialties. Everything you know about them.”

  Too stunned to cry, Faye asked in a befuddled voice. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

  He smiled. Slow and wicked. The cut on his lip cracked and blood formed on the fleshy part to mirror the splatter on his chin from where she’d struck him. “The Jutaks are blocking free trade, Faye Reid.”

  He knew her name. Oh, God he knew her name.

  “Once we know their secrets, we can exploit their weaknesses.”

  Never. Faye would never surrender the men she’d grown to love like an extended family. Using a phrase from Lindsey’s arsenal, Faye snarled, “Kick rocks and die.”

  Bam! This time the blow didn’t surprise her. She’d expected it. Knew the minute she muttered it that the Marenian would retaliate.

  “I see this is going to be a long night. Let’s start with Torkel Alonson, your Chosen, Unit Leader to the Jutak punans.”

  Faye swallowed and prepared herself to endure agony for the man she loved. In a calm voice, no hint of the sheer terror flowing through her veins, Faye stated, “I’m not telling you anything.”

  Crack! Faye screamed as the Marenian bent the angle of her right arm pulling it against the pressure of the chain until the limb broke.

  “Try again.”

  Red lined her vision as she became one with the pain on that side of her body. “Never,” she slurred and succumbed to the agony and passed out.

  ***

  Faye moaned as a soft hand patted her cheeks. When she opened her eyes, Lindsey’s smile greeted her. “Welcome back.”

  Faye could see a dark bruise forming on her friend’s face. The green and blue smudge appeared new. “What happened?”

  Tears glinted in Lindsey’s eyes but she refused to speak.

  Faye tried to sit up and yelped when pain tore through her arm and hand. She hurt.

  Lindsey scooted closer and stretched out on the small pallet they shared on the cold stone floor. Faye curled next to her face to face.

  “Tell me Lindsey,” Faye asked again.

  Lindsey’s lashes fluttered as if her brief burst of defiance had drained her. “They tortured you, Faye. Hours, I think. You were gone forever and when they brought you back you were unconscious. I thought I’d lost you.”

  It explained why her body was one large ache. Memories of the event slowly crept in. Faye attempted a smile to ease her friend’s worry. “Too tough to die, remember?”

  Lindsey snickered but tears leaked from her eyes. “Right. Don’t scare me like that again. Me, I’m good to sell. Blondes are apparently popular everywhere. Unless I’m too battered to sell.” Her smile quivered on the edges as she reached out and touched Faye’s chin. “But you- I don’t think they care if you make it to auction, Faye.”

  Faye jammed her fist into her mouth to keep from crying out. Lindsey’s arms curled around her and they rocked together in silence.

  A Month Later

  “Tell me about your Jutak again.”

  Faye almost didn’t hear the whispered words. She shook so hard her teeth chattered and blocked out most sound. “Torkel is brave and strong.”

  Lindsey huddled closer. They were both on their knees, the blanket around their shoulders as they leaned against the icy cold wall but the rest of their cell was covered in water almost two inches high. A continuous drip started the night before from their ceiling, down the left wall and onto the floor.

  “Like a SEAL,” Lindsey asked, her voice rough from the hacking cough she’d developed.

  “Yes,” Faye agreed, shifting the awkward angle of her useless arm.

  “He’s coming right, Faye?”

  “Yes.” Faye choked on the answer. She wasn’t sure anyone would come for them. Her hope for rescue dimmed each day. At least they’d stopped taking her from the cell to ask about the Jutaks. Faye leaned
her head back and stared at the green fuzz growing on the ceiling. Her heart ached. She wanted Torkel. Needed him and the only thing she had left to cling to was her belief he wouldn’t stop at anything to find her if he could. She was his Chosen. That meant something to him. To both of them.

  Another auction was tomorrow. One for the remaining women. So far neither of them had been purchased due to their condition. It wasn’t like they received any medical care for their injuries. If they were to be rescued it would happen tonight because neither of them would be here after tomorrow. A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

  I need you, Torkel. Where are you?

  “We’re gonna be okay, Faye,” Lindsey mumbled. “Earth girls kick butt. Every romance book says so.”

  ***

  6 weeks earlier

  Torkel shoved extra laser fuel cells in his duffel, along with two of his favorite handheld laser blasters. His entire Unit focused on their bags as well, preparing to rescue his Chosen. A fierce sense of pride rose in him. They had his back. The mission wasn’t sanctioned but they were going with him to track down the scum who’d kidnapped the woman who owned his heart. Torkel couldn’t spare time to wait for a response from the commander.

  He adjusted his tactical vest over his shirt and turned to check on any updates from Kyele but it was the look on Jaron’s face as he read something on his handheld unit that pulled Torkel’s attention. News on Faye? He walked over and tapped Jaron on the shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  Jaron tilted the device toward him. Audio played on the four inch screen. Faye’s voice as she spoke with an obvious Marenian contact. His confusion took a back seat to what he heard as their exchange sank in. Faye reported his every movement. One sound clip after another revealed her giving the details of Torkel’s coming and goings. When the last audio ended, he growled and ripped the device from Jaron’s hand with the intent to destroy it.

  Lies. It had to be lies. He thought of those missions. How their enemies seem to be prepared for them. On two of the missions, the Marenians had escaped with a known cargo of slaves.