The door beeped and the locks disengaged. Hallie shoved the card into her pocket and grasped the handle. Her heart jumped into her throat as she pushed the door open. Who knew what they’d find on the other side?
“Here.” Lenny leaned down and removed her shoe. “Shove that under the door.”
“That’s smart thinking,” Hallie murmured as she pushed the makeshift doorstop into place. If they needed to get out quick, there would be no messing around with the door. If they yelled for help, someone might hear them too.
“Deniva?” Lenny followed her into the darkened entryway. “Honey? Are you here?”
Hallie cautiously entered the apartment. She stepped into the living area and scanned the dimly lit space. “Lights on!”
Nothing happened. Lenny tried. “Lights! Lights!”
“I think someone disabled the voice controls.”
“And the manuals,” Lenny said. “Look.”
Hallie glanced toward Lenny’s hand. It was only just visible with the light from the hallway spilling into the entryway. A panel had been ripped out of the wall. All sorts of snapped wires hung out of the gaping hole.
Certain something awful had happened here, Hallie scanned the darkened space. A chair had been overturned. A tablet had been smashed. Her gaze moved to the communication console. Someone had punched a hole in the screen, rendering it useless.
“Deniva?” Lenny called out, louder now. She gripped Hallie’s arm. “What the hell happened here?”
“Someone got the crap knocked out of them,” Hallie guessed. She moved away from Lenny toward the kitchen. Her foot slipped in something wet and she hit the floor hard. “Ow!”
“Are you okay?” Lenny hurried toward her but Hallie stopped her.
“No! Stay there, Lenny. It’s too dark to see the floor. You might fall and hurt your babies.”
Lenny’s hand flew to her belly in a protective gesture. Hallie’s hand slipped in something wet on the floor. She pulled herself up by grabbing hold of the countertop. As she winced, she brought her wet palms to her face and sniffed. Her worst suspicions were confirmed. “Oh god. It’s blood.”
“What!”
“Lenny, get back to your apartment right now. Lock the door and call Emergency. Tell them I’m here. Maybe they’ll come faster.”
“I’m going. Be careful.”
Lenny disappeared as Hallie wiped her bloody hands on her pants. This much blood didn’t bode well. The floors here were a much darker shade than the flooring in Vicious’ quarters. The lack of lighting didn’t help matters. It was why she hadn’t been able to see the blood pool.
Hallie checked the pantry area and found it empty. She left the kitchen and moved to the nearest room with a closed door. She discovered a nursery that appeared to have never been used. “Deniva?”
No answer.
Hallie moved away from that room. Her foot touched something wet. Blood again, she figured. Squinting, she was just able to make out a blood trail into another room. The master bedroom?
Her mouth so dry she couldn’t swallow, Hallie walked on shaking legs into the bedroom. Instantly, the scent of vomit and blood smacked her in the face. She saw a big, dark pool on the floor near the closet. “Oh no.”
Hallie rushed to the closet door and shoved it aside. A bright light in the recessed ceiling flicked on, momentarily blinding her. When she could see again, Hallie almost fainted. She dropped to her knees in front of the chained, battered woman and quickly checked for a pulse. Her fingertips slid through the oozing blood but she located the faint beat of the woman’s heart.
“Deniva? Can you hear me?” There was no reply. Even if she was conscious, Hallie wasn’t sure the woman would be able to speak. Her face was so badly smashed. Even in her father’s worst rampages, he’d never inflicted this kind of damage on her mother or stepmother or her. A black eye, a swollen jaw, a busted lip—yes. This? Oh, this was something so extreme! Hallie couldn’t believe the woman still breathed.
But where was all this blood coming from? Hallie ran her hands over the woman’s arms and neck and chest in search of a wound. When her hand followed the gentle, sloping curve of a pregnant belly, Hallie finally understood. She was miscarrying and hemorrhaging. “Oh god.”
Hallie gripped the chains attached to the wall and tugged as hard as she could. They wouldn’t budge. She put her feet against the wall for leverage and jerked until her shoulders burned. Her fingers, still wet with blood, slipped on the metal. “Damn it!”
She had to do something. She had to get this woman free and get her to medical care. The baby was gone, Hallie was sure, but Deniva could be saved.
She heard footsteps incoming. “Lenny, get some towels or something. She’s bleeding so badly. I think—argh!”
Two hands snatched her by the shirt and yanked her off the floor. Hallie flew through the air and slammed into the nearest wall. The collision knocked the air from her lungs. Shaking her head, she sucked in a painful breath and scurried away. She narrowly escaped a big black boot aiming for her face.
Hallie clambered to her feet and saw her opponent. He was silhouetted by the light from the closet. She could only just make out his rage-twisted features. He rushed her, his bigger body moving with such speed that it stunned her. She turned just enough to miss the full blow and jammed her knee right into his balls. He grunted loudly but didn’t stop. He slammed her into the wall, his shoulder cutting into her chest so painfully she screamed.
He fell then, the blow to his balls enough to make his knees weak. She tried to pull free from him as he dropped but he grabbed her leg and yanked. Hallie fell forward. Her chin slammed into the floor hard enough to rattle her brain. Momentarily dazed, she gave him the advantage. He flipped her over and leapt on top of her.
Pinned to the ground, Hallie brought her arms up to shield her face. She’d been in this position enough times in her life to know that protecting her face and neck were the only way she’d stay conscious. This man was just crazy enough to kill her.
He was stronger than her father ever had been. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, the pain so fierce that she screamed. She prayed for her arm to break. Surely, that pain would be less intense than the twisting tear of her muscles.
A fist slammed into her face once, then twice. Blood trickled onto her tongue and down her throat as the inside of her cheek was cut against her teeth. He made the mistake of letting go of her arm. Even though she could only feel pins and needles, she could still move it. She threw it up against his neck and used her other hand to grab his chin. She shoved his face hard and away from her, hoping to knock him off balance and off her.
He jerked his hips and threw his elbow into her arm. She cried out as her arm was knocked free. Both of his hands dropped to her neck. She thrashed now, desperate to keep him from choking her. Seeing no other choice, she turned her face and bit his arm as hard as she could. The metallic burst of blood made her sick but she didn’t let go.
“Fucking cunt!” He backhanded her so hard her vision went spotty. Another blow fell and then another. She fought to stay awake but it was so hard. Everything was fading now.
With one last burst of energy, she gouged at his eyes. Her nails clawed at the soft tissues there. He shrieked as she hit her target. Certain this was the only way she’d survive, she clawed at him. His fist slammed into her cheek. Hallie’s head flew to the side. Blood sprayed the floor.
Both of his cruel hands gripped her neck. A strangled, choking noise left her throat. Her brain began to misfire as he starved her body of much-needed oxygen. Her legs kicked wildly, her wet, bloody feet squealing against the floor. Her lungs ached so badly. Her vision started to go black.
This was it. She was dying.
Vicious.
*
Vicious hadn’t ventured into the armory in a while. First of all, it was on the worst side of the ship and pointed at the sun that gave life to this particular system. It was hot as hell down here. Secondly, it was the domain of their weap
ons specialists, the chief warrant officers who knew the ins and outs of every item in the arsenal. Those men could be a little touchy about their space.
But it was also the one place Terror liked to hang out when he was onboard the Valiant.
He heard the familiar voices of Terror and Menace coming from the small office up ahead. He didn’t bother knocking before entering. Both men instantly jumped to their feet and saluted. Even though they’d been raised together since the age of five and were the dearest of friends, they still showed him the respect of his position. He saluted and gave them an “at ease”.
“Good to see you, Vicious.” Menace shook his hand and smiled. “How’s married life treating you?”
“Well.” Vicious glanced away from the Chief Warrant Officer toward Terror. “Don’t listen to his opinions on the Grab, Menace. He’s just jealous.”
Terror chortled. “Of what? Sleeping with the same woman every night? It’s called variety, Vee, and I happen to like it.”
Vicious shrugged. “Don’t knock monogamy until you try it.”
Menace regarded him with curiosity. “It’s been three days, Vee. It’s still new. What happens when the novelty wears off?”
“It won’t.” Vicious believed that. “It’s different when you have a woman of your own. It’s hard to explain.”
“Shit,” Menace said with a laugh. “Terror was right. You are getting soft.”
Terror chuckled and leaned back in his chair until it balanced on two legs. Vicious grunted and kicked the chair. Terror scrambled and only narrowly missed ending up on his ass.
“You’re getting slow,” Vicious remarked. “Maybe it’s time for you to hang up the sniper rifle, old man.”
Laughing, Menace hopped onto his desk. “So what brings you down to my little slice of hell, Vee? Not the company, I’m sure.”
Vicious grinned at his friend. “I wanted to let you know that your application for funding had been approved. I was able to do some shuffling and get your money freed up for those short-range plasma pistols. You’ll be able to get enough for the covert-ops teams.”
Menace whistled excitedly and rubbed his hands together. “Vee, I’m telling you. If you could have seen those things in action at the expo, you would have creamed your pants. Those damn things are so fine.”
“Easy,” Vicious said with a laugh. “It’s a gun. Not a woman.”
“You’re forgetting, Vee. Menace prefers his guns to his women,” Terror reminded him. “I swear, when we were at the academy, I once caught him jacking off to a gun catalog.”
Menace threw a tablet stylus at Terror’s head and pinged him on the temple. Terror picked up an empty ammo magazine and zinged it right back at Menace. It bounced off the other man’s chest. Instead of getting angry, Menace laughed and rubbed his chest. “You bastard!”
Vicious shook his head at their childish antics. Maybe it was true. Maybe some men never grew up. “Terror, if you can be serious for a second, I was wondering if you’d be willing to—”
A beep on the communication console interrupted him. Their gazes turned to the screen mounted on the wall. Menace walked over and tapped the screen. “Yeah?”
“Is Colonel Vicious there, sir?”
Vicious recognized the voice of his secretary. The man sounded panicked. He stepped closer to Menace so he was in the vid screen. “What’s the problem, private?”
“Sir, it’s your wife.”
His stomach fell. “Hallie? What’s happened?”
“I’m not sure, sir. She called earlier when you were on the bridge but you’d given me instructions not to disturb you unless it was an emergency. It wasn’t an emergency then but I think it is now.”
Vicious gritted his teeth at the young man’s yammering. “Less talk, more information, private.”
“Yes, sir. It’s complicated. She called in because a friend thought a neighbor was being abused and Emergency wouldn’t respond because the husband said it was just a domestic accident. I told her I’d contact the sergeant’s C.O. While I was waiting for his return call, I noticed the door alert on your quarters go off. I didn’t think much of it, sir, because you said your wife was allowed free movement aboard the ship.”
“Private, are you getting close to the point of this story or not?”
The young man blanched at the gruff question. “Yes, sir. Your wife has your emergency access card. She used it to access Sergeant Crow’s quarters, sir. A few seconds ago, a call came in requesting immediate Emergency response for a possible murder.”
Vicious’ heart stuttered. Sergeant Crow? Wasn’t that Sergeant Hawk’s neighbor? What exactly had been Hawk’s complaint against the man? Was it something violent? “Where is Sergeant Crow right now?”
“That’s the thing, sir. I tracked his chip. He’s on his way to his quarters, sir. I tried to hold the elevators but he seems to be using the stairwells now, sir.”
Terror swore behind him and headed straight for the door. Vicious tried to keep calm. “Is Emergency on their way?”
“Yes, sir. A backup SRU team is on the way. Our main team, Major Raze and his crew, are on the Arctis coordinating a drill. Team Two hasn’t reached the quarters yet. I’ll reactivate the elevators in that section.”
“Do it quick.” Vicious spun on his heel and raced from the small office. Menace was hot on his heels. Terror had already started taking the stairs in the back access column. Vicious raced after him, taking the steps two and three at a time.
“Where are we going, Vee?”
“NCO housing, second floor of the section.”
“Right.”
They said nothing else as they rushed through the bowels of the ship. It wasn’t the first time they’d been racing against the clock. It wouldn’t be the last. When they burst out of the access door on the second floor of the NCO section, Vicious pushed in front of Terror. Adrenaline burned through him. He had to get to Hallie.
He skidded to a halt outside the door of Sergeant Hawk. He wasn’t sure if the neighbor, Sergeant Crow, was on the left or right side. Before he could even ask, a muffled scream pierced the door on the right. He immediately lifted his foot and planted it on the door handle, shattering the lock and forcing the door wide open.
“Fucking cunt!”
Enraged now, Vicious followed the unknown man’s growl to the master bedroom. The scent of blood and vomit hung ripe and heavy in the air. He heard the scuffle in the corner. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. At first he couldn’t even process what he witnessed. The sight simply wouldn’t register. Those weakly kicking feet, the bloody soles squeaking against the floor, tore him from the momentary stupor.
“Hallie!”
He ripped the dirty bastard right off her and took him to the floor. With an arm against the other man’s throat, he started to snap the sergeant’s neck. He mastered his bloodlust and stopped himself from giving Crow a merciful end. The man had hurt Hallie. He deserved to hurt now.
He rolled their bodies and pinned the dazed sergeant under him. It had been a long time since Vicious had beat the living shit out of someone but he hadn’t forgotten how. He saw red as he mercilessly pounded the sergeant, reducing the man’s face to ground meat. He started to choke the life right out of the prick when Terror’s shout tore through the haze of rage.
“Vicious! Hallie needs you. Now!”
The shout from his old friend cleared his head. He let the sergeant drop to the ground, head lolling from side to side as he gurgled and choked on his own blood. Vicious didn’t care. He hoped the bastard died.
He jumped to his feet and hurried to her side. “Hallie!”
She turned her face toward him and his gut lurched. Blood smears marred her face. One eye was already swelling shut. Her jaw looked puffy and her lips were busted. He gathered her into his arms. “Oh Kitten.”
Hallie tried to speak but her words were slurred and garbled, probably from the shock of her attack and the swelling around her mouth. “Sh,” he whispered and rubbed her back
. “The medics are on their way.”
Vicious fell back against the bed and cradled Hallie’s battered body on his lap. She sobbed now, the sounds ragged and raw as they escaped her. He kissed her forehead and tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. He’d sworn to protect her but she’d almost been beaten to death.
Disgust soured his belly. Fear gripped his heart like a vise. He’d failed her. He’d utterly and totally failed her.
Chapter Twelve
Hallie shifted in the uncomfortable hospital bed and winced. They’d given her painkillers but only to dull the pain. The medics were worried she might already be pregnant and the drugs they kept onboard were formulated for the larger Harcos population and their normal-sized brides. Apparently, the Calyx women were the smallest women they’d ever Grabbed. Even giving her a small, diluted dose had sent the doctor into an apoplectic fit of worry. Vicious had insisted they give her something. He’d used that voice and everyone had rushed to obey his order.
“Let me help you.”
It wasn’t Vicious who rushed to her aid now but Menace. Vicious had stormed out of the room half an hour earlier without saying a word. He’d left behind Menace to guard her. The man with soft green eyes and white-blond hair offered a timid smile as he adjusted her pillows. “Better?”
“Yes.” With her swollen jaw and busted lips, she couldn’t speak very well. Her mouth was so dry. She gestured to the empty cup near her bed. “Water?”
“Sure.” Menace hurried to fill it and brought it back to her. He held it to her lips as she sipped the water. With one arm in a sling and the other so sore just moving her fingers hurt, it was a blessed relief not to have to hold the cup now. “Enough? More?”
“Enough.” She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Flashes of the violence she’d endured tormented her. She quickly opened her eyes to find Menace studying her.
“It gets easier. You’ll go to sleep one night and not even remember.”
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