by Tehya Titan
The being had simply watched her with his palm pressed on the glass as the liquid began to cover her. Jordan had felt waves of calm emanating from the being, but it did no good. Panic had her pounding on the glass as she’d tried to break free. Jordan had lifted her head, trying to avoid the gel, but it filled the pod until she’d had no choice but to breathe it in when her air ran out. Silently cursing the being, she’d choked, fighting the liquid as it filled her lungs.
Rest now.
Jordan had heard the words in her head as clearly as if the being had spoken them out loud. It had taken her a moment, but she’d realized that the gel hadn’t drowned her. Somehow, she’d been able to breathe through the liquid. Her body had felt weighted down, and in seconds she had no choice but to comply as her body went lax.
The last thing she remembered was the creature taking his hand off the glass and giving her a cheerful wave before her eyes had finally closed.
What the fuck?
He had actually waved at her…the freaky alien bastard.
And then she’d woken up in a cell with her hands chained together.
Leave it to her to get kidnapped by an affable creature. The idea was so absurd it was almost laughable, but Jordan didn’t feel like laughing. No, she felt like hunting it down and putting a world of hurt on the motherfucker. And she would…if she ever got free.
No, she would get free, she had to.
Getting to her feet, Jordan began pushing at the walls of her prison, searching for a weak spot or way to break out. The wooden boards didn’t move, and the door to the cell was locked securely, with no handle on the inside. Letting out a low curse, she fought the urge to kick at the wall. If she wasn’t barefoot she might have. Still, she thumped her fist against it in frustration. A sound from the other side of wall had her pressing closer.
“Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
“Jesus! Jordan, is that you?”
Tex. Jordan wanted to cry at the sound of his voice. “I’m here, Tex! What the hell is going on? Where are we?”
Silence met her questions. Jordan didn’t think he was going to answer, but after a long pause Tex said, “I’m not exactly sure, but we’re in some serious shit here.”
Leave it to him to state the obvious. “I got that,” she said dryly. “The question is, what kind of shit is it?”
“Big, dangerous piles of it.” Tex cleared his throat before saying, “This is going to sound absolutely bat-shit crazy…”
Jordan sighed. “We aren’t on Earth anymore, are we?”
“No, I don’t think we are. These things…they took us from the desert. Just you and me. Morris was still unconscious, and I get the feeling they weren’t planning on taking me, but I saw them, so they didn’t have a choice. It was either that or kill me, and I’m damn glad they didn’t off me. Fuck, Jordan. They were aliens. I’ve never believed in this type of shit, but I swear to God, they were fucking aliens.”
Jordan’s eyes closed. She wanted to believe it was all simply a bad dream, but she couldn’t. Not when all the evidence told her they were right. “I woke up on their ship. It’s still hazy, but I think we were on their ship. I saw them, and they were definitely not human.”
“They saved us,” Tex said, surprising her. “Our Humvee blew, and those things did something. Hell, it was like they absorbed the damn fire before it could reach us. I was sitting there on my ass with my jaw hanging open, then I went a little crazy when one of them took your clothes off.”
“They what? Son of a bitch!”
“Tell me. I tried to get up, but the other one touched me and I couldn’t move. I was fucking frozen in place, then the thing starts taking my clothes off. Let me just say, you were pretty lucky you were out of it, because the only one taking my clothes off should be a beautiful woman, not some fucking alien.”
Jordan forced herself to ask the question she was dreading the answer to. “Did they…touch us?”
“No. They just took our clothes and threw them into the fire. Maybe they wanted anyone who found our wreck to think we died in the crash. They knocked me out after that. Just lights out. When I woke up, I was here in this cell.”
She glared down at the restraints on her wrists. “Are your hands shackled?”
“Yeah, yours?”
“Affirmative.” Jordan gave him a brief rundown of what she remembered seeing, even if it did seem like some sort of hazy, fucked up dream. “There were ten pod things on that ship. I think that means there are other humans being held here. If we can contact them, get them to work with us, we could—”
“Not gonna work, Loot.”
Jordan refused to believe that. “Tex, we have to get out of here.”
His sigh was loud and filled with a weariness that made the hair on the back of her neck stand at attention. “That’s just it, Jordan. I don’t think we can.”
They both went silent as they heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside their cells. The shrill sound of a woman’s terrified scream filled the air, and sounds of crying came from the other direction. Before Jordan could say anything else to Tex, the door to her cell was swung open.
Shit, no wonder the women had screamed.
What stood in the doorway of her cell was certainly no human. It wasn’t even that transparent alien thing. No, what Jordan was looking at could only be described as a giant, barbarian warrior with long, straight hair the color of midnight. He had strange eyes, with amber sclera and large, oval-shaped black irises. His nose had three ridges on the bridge, and there were dark stripes on his forehead and the sides of his face, trailing down his neck to cover the dark, golden skin of his muscular torso like those she’d seen on tigers in a zoo.
He wore black leather pants and a thick, leather band strapped crosswise over his broad chest. Jordan immediately noticed the three knives held in sheaths on the leather band, but she figured she had as much chance getting to one of them as she did learning how to fly. The warrior raised his hand, beckoning her forward with an impatient curling of his fingers.
Oh, hell no.
Jordan wasn’t a coward, but there was no way she was just going to go with this barbarian willingly. Lifting her head defiantly, she simply said, “No.”
The warrior’s eyes widened for a second, then they narrowed as he repeated the gesture. When she shook her head at him, he huffed out an annoyed breath. His head turned and he growled out to someone out of view. “This one is being difficult.”
Shock surged through Jordan when he spoke. The warrior was speaking a different language, one she had never heard before, and yet, she understood ever word. Another warrior stepped into the doorway that looked very similar to the first, but his eyes were a lighter shade of amber.
“What’s the hold up? We have the others ready, except for the male.”
“Are we supposed to bring him?”
The warrior with the lighter eyes shrugged. “Don’t know. The king said to bring out the humans, so I guess we should. We’ll get him after this one.”
They both turned to stare at Jordan. “Come, human.”
“Who are you?” Jordan asked, backing up a step. Holy hell, now she was speaking their language. How the hell did that happen? Somehow, she knew she’d learned their language while she had been unconscious. She didn’t even want to think about how that was possible, but she was grateful she could understand them.
Both of the males frowned at her, then they looked at each other. “The others didn’t ask questions.”
The first warrior took a step into the room and Jordan put her hands up, ready to defend herself. She might be wearing shackles, but she would fight. Not that it would do any good. She was five foot seven, but the warriors had a good foot of height on her, not to mention about two hundred pounds of muscle mass.
He halted, eyes going wide again. “Calm yourself, human. We won’t hurt you. Both of us are mated males.”
What the hell did that mean?
“I want to know who you are and why I’m
being held here before I go anywhere with you.”
“All will be explained…later.”
“Not good enough,” Jordan bit out.
The first warrior glanced back as the other spoke. “Use the rod. We’re running behind. Grab her and I’ll get the male.”
The warrior disappeared from the doorway, and the one standing in the cell with Jordan pulled a small black stick out of his belt. Fuck, Jordan thought. Was he going to beat her to death with that thing? So much for not hurting her.
He snapped the stick down toward the ground and suddenly it extended, showing her it was a long, collapsible baton. She tried to brace herself, ready for him to strike her, but he simply held it up, pressing a button on the base. Jordan was jerked forward as the chain between her wrists attached itself to the end of the baton.
Shit, the baton was magnetized. The length of the baton kept her from reaching the warrior, even if she kicked out. He turned, pulling her out of the cell. She tried to dig her feet in, but it was either follow him or end up being dragged behind.
Jordan’s head whipped around when she heard Tex curse. The other warrior walked out into the corridor, pulling Tex behind him and grimaced at Jordan’s captor. “Let’s go.”
She and Tex were towed along behind the two huge warriors. Glancing over, she did a double take when she got a good look at her friend. Tex was wearing a small loincloth made of the same material of her dress. His jaw was clenched and his dark blue eyes were all but burning with rage. She studied him for a moment, and realized exactly what was bothering her.
Switching back to English, she said, “What happened to your tattoo?”
For as long as she had known Tex, he’d had a huge skull and crossbones tattoo on his left arm. Now, his skin was clear and unblemished. “Fuck if I know,” he muttered. “When they healed us, it’s like they sucked the ink out of my skin. It’s damn creepy if you ask me.”
A few seconds later, they were dragged outside, into a coliseum made of dark-gray stone. Their captors led them to the center of the stadium where a makeshift stage had been set up. They climbed a few stone steps, then came to a stop when they were standing next to eight other human women. Three of the women were softly weeping, but the other five looked as dazed as Jordan felt.
She was struck speechless as she took in the view around her. Cool air blew against her skin and she glanced up, trying to acclimate herself to what time of day it was. Immediately, she wished she hadn’t. Although it wasn’t that bright outside, the large blue sun was easily seen in the clear lavender colored sky, as were the two dark amethyst hued moons.
Sweet Jesus, where the hell were they?
The two warriors released her and Tex from the batons and they left the stage. The excited mummer of voices had Jordan’s gaze shifting back down toward the crowd. The entire stadium was packed with male warriors who were all looking at the ten humans on the stage. They filled the two tiers of the coliseum, and some even stood behind the seats or off to the sides of the stone benches since the place was so full.
“Holy fucking shit…” Tex whispered.
“Yeah,” Jordan breathed out. She stood at the end of the line, glancing around as the terrifying reality settled in. They were there for the entertainment of the warriors, but not for something as basic as a gladiator type of fight. No, they wouldn’t have stolen women for that. Besides, they wouldn’t have healed them if they just wanted to watch them die. And the warriors had said something about mates, which led her to the only reasonable answer that remained.
Good God, they were part of some sick sort of slave auction.
An eerie silence settled over the crowd. Jordan forced air into her lungs, trying to remain calm. Her gaze swept over the warriors, then skittered over to their captors that waited at the bottom of the steps near the stage. They also scanned the crowd, as if looking for something. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw disappointment on their faces as the silence stretched on.
“Nothing,” one of their captors said. “Should we let them get closer?”
“Perhaps,” the warrior who had brought her outside said. “But only a few at a time. Damn, I was really hoping this would work.”
“We all were. Maybe the Wraiths were wrong. It would be a first, but it could happen.”
Jordan was confused by what she heard. Were the Wraiths the beings that had brought them there? And what were the warriors hoping would happen?
She got her answer a few seconds later.
“Mine!”
The loud animalistic roar sounded from the entrance of the coliseum, making her jump. She heard Tex curse while some of the other women screamed in fear. Jordan watched as a warrior charged toward the stage, and her blood chilled in her veins as she realized his eyes were locked on her.
Holy shit!
Jordan was a soldier who knew how to handle herself, but all her training flew out of her mind as sheer terror took over. The warrior sprinting toward her was larger than the others, and his fierce expression was intimidating as hell. Her wrists were still shackled, so she did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
CHAPTER THREE
Kadan Krell was the king of a dying race.
He’d taken on the mantel of leadership when his father had passed on into the afterlife only hours after his mother had died. It was the way of mated couples. But matings were something that had been happening less and less frequently on their planet, which put their entire race in danger of extinction.
The Vor were a race of shifter warriors, strong and true. In their natural state, most of the males were muscular from hours of training and going about their everyday lives, but when they shifted into their demon form, they were a thing of nightmares. All the Vor were born with stripes on their skin that were hints of their other half. When they shifted, the stripes spread over their entire bodies, turning them black as night. Powerful black wings manifested from the middle of their backs, completing their change.
In their demon form, they were almost unstoppable. Some said that if they decided to advance their race by traveling the stars, they could conquer worlds, but all the Vor wanted was to continue to live their lives on their own planet. For centuries, many of the chieftains had waged war over territory or for a variety of other reasons, but over the last few years, relative peace had reigned over the kingdom. Part of that was due to Kadan’s firm hand as their ruler, but mostly it was because they couldn’t afford the death of any of their people…not when births were so rare.
Females of the Vor were well cared for, even pampered. All males protected the females, and it was a death sentence to any who abused them. Those females who didn’t have a mate had their choice of males to spend time with, and they usually changed partners each time they went into heat the four cycles during the year. But those heats had stopped producing offspring over the last decade. The only females that had been able to conceive were mates, and on the rare occasion when they did get pregnant, the child was always male.
Faced with possible extinction, Kadan had felt helpless until the Wraiths had approached him with a possible solution. The Wraiths were a powerful race of elemental shifters that lived on their planet. The Vor had given sanctuary to the small group of Wraiths left after their home world had been destroyed years ago. Because the Wraiths lived isolated high in the mountains, he hadn’t known that the Vor’s issues had also affected the elemental shifters until they had come to him.
The Wraiths fed off of the Vors’ emotions, absorbing them from the atmosphere. Positive feelings such as happiness and pleasure gave them more energy than anger and hatred. Normally, just being on the same planet was enough to keep them going, but as positive feelings decreased throughout the Vor, the Wraiths had grown weaker.
The Wraiths told Kadan that they had been coming down off their mountain sanctuary in secret over the last few months, blending in with the Vor to absorb more of their emotions while also trying to come up with a plan to aid thei
r friends. When the Wraiths offered to travel to another planet to search for potential mates for the Vor, Kadan’s initial reaction had been to refuse.
What other race could possibly be compatible with a Vor, and why would any warrior want an alien mate?
But Kadan had the future of his people to consider, so he put his own feelings aside, and agreed to a test run.
Mating was sacred. It was a calling, a binding of two souls into one. The Vor felt a bond with their mate the instant they scented them. Since it had never happened to Kadan, he had never really thought about it. He was too busy with duties and obligations that came with running the kingdom to really consider his own happiness.
The Wraiths had assured Kadan that they could sense potential mates for the Vor after spending time around some of the mated couples. They were to choose a few females that could be taken from their home planet who would not cause suspicion when they suddenly disappeared. The Wraiths said they knew of a planet they could scout, and using the ship they had traveled to the Vor with, the trip would take approximately a month each way.
Kadan hadn’t been sure if he’d made the right decision, but as word spread throughout the kingdom, a new hope seemed to ignite within his people. He hadn’t realized just how lonely most of his warriors were, and he hoped like hell their plan would work.
Earlier, he had been contacted by the Wraiths. They had informed Kadan that their trip to someplace called Earth had been successful, and they had brought back ten humans that had the potential to be mates. Kadan had sent some of the mated warriors to look after the humans and to prepare them for the viewing at the coliseum, outside his fortress walls. If none of his warriors found their mate, the humans would be escorted to the other clans to see if any of the chieftains or their warriors could scent their mates.
