“Of course, I do. I have been fixing our communicators like you so politely ordered me to do, which led me to my pod. I was on the way to retrieve yours when the humans found it first. Why Warxhal insisted on that ridiculous propulsion sequence after an emergency release is beyond my comprehension. Took me forever to track it down. Where are you now?”
“Seconds from being taken from the wet ooze. They tried using a machine to electrocute me and killed thousands of creatures instead. Pavil, you should have heard their screams. These fucking humans are soulless.”
Pavil’s anger stirs through our connection. “Tell me they suffered. Tell me you ripped off their heads.”
“I did, but it has cost me.”
“Your female will understand. Where is she?”
Pressure sings across my skin as a ligature of some sort is wrapped around my neck and I am yanked through the wet ooze toward several male voices. Even in a semi-conscious state I cannot ignore my bodies response to my suffocation.
“Good night, he’s a big motherfucker. Get him in the boat so we can tie him up. Last thing we need is for him to wake up,” a rough human voice says.
Something hard scrapes against my suit as they pull me over the side of their craft, finally releasing whatever they tied around my neck to get me there.
As a reflex, I suck in a deep breath, trying to replenish my oxygen, and the craft jostles as several of them jump back. “Holy, shit. He’s moving. Branson, stun him! We need to make sure this fuck stays asleep.”
I brace for the shock, but Pavil cannot. The bond that connects us allows us to share everything, and our combined pain echoes in the recesses of my mind. Once the impulse stops, my brother’s anger explodes.
“Where. Are. You?” he grinds out.
“Stay where you are. This is temporary. Find my female. She needs you more.”
“They are torturing you, brother. You cannot expect me to sit by and let them. I’m going to rip off each of their extremities one by one and—”
“You will not. Find my female. Find my Leigh. Wake the others, and then we will have our revenge.”
“Where is she? I cannot believe you left her in the charge of another in my stead.”
“I had no choice. I had not heard from you. There is a shelter near here where I left her. Inside are her human friend and her pet beast. The furry creature might be foul but it knows her scent well. Speak to it and beware the human may try to kill you.” Red hot pain slices across my chest once more, and I fight to remain focused. “Leave. Break our connection. You do not need to feel this. Find her. Now.”
Outrage spills across our bond, and Pavil’s silence speaks volumes. “I will stay with you, brother—share your pain for as long as I can remain at full strength. We have been together since conception, and I will not leave you now.”
As the final impulse ceases, a strange pain explodes in the back of my head and my mate connection screams. My Leigh. Something has happened to her…
A rush of cold liquid splashes onto my face, and I am ripped from a slumber so deep, I cannot muster more than a slight memory of it. Pavil was there in my mind, stoking the fires of my irritation as always, but I cannot remember what was said and discussed. I only hope it was enough for him to find my Leigh.
Something hard and unforgiving is clasped around my wrists, abdomen, and ankles and my feet barely touch the floor.
“Ah, so he is alive. How wonderful.” A foul scent saturates my nose, and I immediately recognize it as the same one from the lab where my Leigh was assaulted. This is the male responsible for so much pain. “Greetings and welcome to Earth—"
I lash out at him, trying to rip off his arrogant face, but the binds restrict my reach, and he remains untouched. Chained. They have me bound like a beast set to be butchered. As I open my eyes to meet his gaze, he stumbles back and strokes the long piece of cloth wrapped around his neck. “Ungrateful savage…”
Her jerks his chin at another male waiting by the metal wall, and a loud crackle winds to life just before some sort of prod is violently jammed into my back. The scent of burnt flesh fills the air, and the human laughs. “Again,” he calls out. “I want to make sure he understands who’s in charge.”
My shoulder, then my upper back. Both hurt. Not like the pain I experienced in the wet ooze, but without my full suit, the sensation lingers, and I lower my head to combat the pounding in my skull.
The silver-haired male strides forward again, excitement reddening his cheeks. He enjoys this—inflicting pain. Human or not, beings like him cannot be allowed to live.
Agony sings along my scalp as the male with the prod jerks me up by the back of my hair, nearly ripping it from the roots, Blood spurts from his nose and mouth when I rear back and headbutt him. Cocky prick. I may be conserving energy, but I am far from helpless. As expected, he crumples to the ground.
“Got a little too close there, Brando. Go take care of that. Send someone else in.”
As soon as the bleeding male limps through the metal building’s open door and I am left alone with this…Elgin, he begins to pace just outside of my reach. “You are magnificently different, I’ll give you that. I don’t care much for the gray skin, but you’ll photograph brilliantly.
“We will have to wait until the wounds heal—nothing personal, but we’re going to be taking samples of your skin and things like that. I need all the data I can get. It’s only a matter of time before Sterling finds out Leigh didn’t really steal his money. But now that I have you…everything else will fall away. I’m going to have my moment, and you’re going to give it to me.” He laughs and claps his hands. “I can see it now. Your ship on display and you in a cage, giving us the answers we’ve always wanted about life outside of our planet.”
My claws lengthen, and the chains bite into my wrists when I lunge for him again. Piece of lecherous trash. I am going to eviscerate him. Then scoop up the remains so I can do it again.
He whistles. “Touchy, touchy. I guess I would be too if I were captured by a man of my stature. I do wonder what it would feel like to be at the mercy of another.”
You will find out soon enough.
“Like right now for instance, I have your ship, and my people are getting ready to tear it apart. You know what happens when I figure out what makes it tick? I’m going to track you back to where you came from, then every fucking person alive will know my name. I bet they even name a planet after me.”
He lies. There is no way he has breached my pod. It answers only to me. Each Revari craft is designed for both shelter and travel and cannot be accessed by any outside force.
Clenching my jaw until my teeth ache, I remain silent while he continues to spew his vile intentions. I desire nothing more than to curse at him and rip the tongue from his filthy mouth, but I do not want to give up the element of surprise. In time, I will feed my need to feel the warmth of his blood, but not yet. If he chooses to see me as a pathetic savage, I will let him.
At least my mate is not here to witness this.
Several human males trudge inside the metal container where I am bound and stop several feet away from me. Elgin greets them and fans himself.
“Ah, so we’re ready? Good. It’s hot as hell in here,” he says and the male closest to him nods.
With a tremble in his voice, the male answers. “We’ve got the ship loaded up and can bring it over at any time. We won’t be able to get it in here, obviously. But we can get it close. The motorized track he’s attached to should bring him close enough for whatever you need. What exactly do you want us to do?”
“Your job. If you need me to remind you, maybe I should find someone else who knows how to pay attention.”
The scent of fear and shame saturates the room. “I know that. I meant, what do you want me to do if he doesn’t talk. What if he can’t? Or just refuses to? Everything we’ve done to open it thus far has failed.”
“If he won’t talk, then make him.”
Jacob frowns. “How? W
hat do you expect me to do? Torture it out of him? I’m an electrical engineer. That’s insane.”
“No, what’s insane is the amount of money you and your family will have to pay back if you get fired. Or didn’t you forget my company supports you? I’ll be back shortly. Get the job done, or someone else will.”
Chapter Nineteen
Leigh
The smell of wet sand fills my nose a second before a wave of pressure slams against my skull with the force of a sledgehammer. In time with my pulse, the pain hits me in waves and, for a second, I’m on the cusp of passing out again.
No, Leigh. Keep it together.
Still too nauseous to open my eyes, I press a hand to the source of the agony near the top of my head to find my hair crusted with dried blood.
Son of a bitch. Joseph really did hit me.
My lids are heavy when I force them open, and my eyes protest the brightness of the sun peeking through the flaps of whatever tent they shoved me in. I can’t afford to give into the pain. I have to get up. Have to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
There are voices all around me, most of them male and gruff, so for a moment, I listen and try to gauge my surroundings. I’m on the beach given the sand smashed against my cheek where they left me lying on the ground. And guarded, judging by the flash of black fatigues peeking through the tent flap.
I wonder how long I’ll have before someone comes back in?
Not willing to take any chances, I push myself to my knees, ignoring the ache in my back, and crawl over to the closest canvas wall. Most of the time, these emergency tents are just staked down and you can crawl underneath the edges…
The brief sense of hope I have dies out when neither the metal frame of the tent nor its thick material give. Wait. Can I dig?
The sand’s still wet from the recent storms, making it easier to scoop out big chunks, and the more handfuls I rush to displace, the harder the pressure in my head pulses. Waves of dizziness force me to rest my head against the tent wall but I don’t stop.
I don’t care how bad the pain is, I’m getting out of here and I’m going to find Saxon.
Light peeks in once I’ve dug down deep enough, and I drop to one shoulder to look out. I can’t see much, mostly because I can’t contort my body at the right angle, but what little I can see is clear.
It’s now or never. On hands and knees, I dig down as far as I can and shove my head through the opening I’ve made. Pain sings along my scalp as my hair catches, and it brings tears to my eyes.
Fuck, that hurts.
Crawling on my elbows, I squeeze my hips under the frame, and something snags on the back pocket of my pants. The skin on my elbows chafes against the rough sand, and the tip of what I’m guessing is a screw digs into my butt cheek as I try to force myself through.
Seriously? I can’t catch a break…
After several more attempts, the fabric tears, releasing its hold on me, and with one last twist, I manage to free my legs.
My pants are completely torn, exposing the entire left side of my ass, and there’s blood welling on my skin where the screw tore into it.
Awesome. Just what I needed. I guess if I’m going to save myself, I might as well do it with my ass out. Said no one ever.
More voices filter through the air, including from the guy at the front of the tent, and I have no idea how he hasn’t heard me. Once I manage to stand up, I rest against the canvas to catch my breath.
Risking a quick glance, I scan the beach, trying to take in everything, and I’m drawn to a big shipping container at the opposite end.
Could Saxon be in there? Out in the open like this?
It doesn’t seem very smart. I’ve seen how dangerous he is, but Elgin and the others haven’t. Could they really be that dumb?
And if he is over there, what the hell are they doing to him to keep him contained?
My gut clenches, and I swallow my panic before it can erupt. No. I’m not going to think about that right now. I might be half naked, but I’m an educated bitch and I refuse to turn into a puddle of goo under pressure. I can’t. I need a plan.
I can’t go back to Anya’s. Chances are she won’t even be there after what happened in the woods. With how close we were to her place, there’s no way Elgin’s guys haven’t already found it.
And Binky…
Hopefully, she’s sunning herself somewhere like a total brat, completely clueless to what’s going on, and I can find her after all of this is over. After wiping the sweat from my brow, a wave of dizziness hits hard, and I have to brace my full weight on the tent.
The middle of the structure shudders beneath my hand before buckling, and I go down hard on my elbow. Pain sings across my palm where a piece of hard plastic used to stabilize the frame jabs into my thumb.
Gritting my teeth, I rip it out, and by the time I look up, there’s a gun in my face.
The burly soldier laughs and nudges the edge of the collapsed tent off my legs. “Well, looky here, someone just got caught with her pants down.”
Pavil
My communicator vibrates, indicating the corrective code I sent through our shared system have reached Cyfer and Ajax. Their pods will reset and their own communicators will realign and deliver the wake the fuck up and get up here now declaration I recorded. The malfunction took too long to spot, but once I figured out it was all related to whatever time glitch the great black hole sent us through, I reversed and restarted the timers our system relies on.
Find my female. Find my Leigh.
My brother’s words echo in my mind. The human filth who participated in his capture are crawling everywhere—their stink muddling the light female scent I’m following. If it were up to me, I’d slaughter them all.
My brother has taken to our training like a fucking monk who’s devoted himself to a life meant for worship. He holds true to the pillars of conservation and respect like a youngling to its mother’s breast, and it’s infuriating.
He is the light to my dark, and without that counterbalance, neither of us would survive.
We would not be in this mess if I had been allowed to act. These humans…these puny excuses for living things have pushed him. They have made him something to hunt for sport, and if it were up to me, their heads would be on spikes.
Well, no. Realistically speaking I wouldn’t use spikes. Those are hard to come by. But a sharp branch up the asshole would suffice.
They have tortured him. Electrocuted him and yet, he still requests I hold steady rather than pay back his suffering and my own a thousand-fold. If not for his female, this entire village would be burned to the ground for what they’ve done.
The strength of his connection to his mate flows steadily through my veins, urging me forward. As his twin, the duty to protect her falls to me if he is incapacitated. He is meant to complete her. In his stead, I am meant to save her life and keep her safe. I feel all the strength of their bond with none of its weaknesses.
I share his immense respect for this planet, but these shitbags deserve to die.
His mate’s scent calls to me as if it were my own. At least, I’m assuming it’s hers, and even though I don’t know where it’s taking me, I know if I follow, I’ll find her without question. I can feel the memory of her presence and I cannot ignore its call. Also, it doesn’t hurt that she smells like ripe fruit and I haven’t eaten all day. I’m hungry. My stomach is leading just as much as my nose.
At least, it’s not my cock. Wouldn’t that just be awkward.
Several heavy-footed males comb the trees. Their efforts are abysmal, and if I desired, I could gut them where they stand. None of them even bother to look more than three strides in front of them. How in all the worlds did these buffoons manage to best my brother?
He may carry a bleeding heart devotion to protecting life above all else, save for his mate, but even then, some of these males have spent more time scratching their asses than searching for threats.
Poor human females.
Crouching low to the ground, I inhale once more, trying to sift through the many scents, when the brush stirs to my right. My claws extend, prepared to defend myself if necessary, when a furry creature no larger than a good shit hops out and begins to rub itself on me.
“Tiny creature, I have no use for—” The furry beast winds herself between my legs, making the most obnoxious promises of sexual fulfillment. Saxon failed to mention this creature was in heat. Its aroma is an odd mixture of enticing and bland. I was right about the scent I believed to be Saxon’s mate. It lingers on her fur as a result of their continued contact. But what’s this? I inhale once more, dodging the female parts the little beast attempts to offer me. Something bolder clings to her. Another scent enticing enough to make my mouth water.
“No matter how many times you offer it, I guarantee it wouldn’t fit. Just the tip would split you in half. Now, stop that. It’s unbecoming of a female. Not to mention physically impossible.”
The furry beast shows no shame as she stretches out to bathe in the heat of this planet’s star and reveals herself to me. “What? No, you can’t try. Where is your keeper? Did you see what happened to her? My brother has been captured and I need to locate her so that I can keep her away from the human dickheads who took him.” With a loud howl, she jumps onto a nearby branch and swats at me.
“No, I’m not lying. Saxon’s been taken. There are two of us and no, neither are willing to satisfy your eh…needs.” She cocks her head and lifts her tail trying to…I don’t know? Entice me? “Yes, I was told to look for you and no, I won’t change my mind. But I will agree to the scratching you request, and before you ask, no. I won’t be scratching there.”
Accepting my terms, the furry creature describes in very few words how she watched Saxon’s mate encounter another male.
“There’s nothing more you know? Spit it out. You’re holding back.”
Flopping back onto the ground at my feet, she peeks up at me. Son of a Anglesian prostitute, she’s going to blackmail me. Withhold information until I agree to take her with me so that she can see Saxon is safe for herself. Saucy little minx might be a shit, but I like her style. It’s much like my own. Fearless with a certain level of annoying.
Saxon (Shared Survival Book 1) Page 14
