Bait

by Marissa Farrar

  “I think this is hers,” Tara said, coming to a halt in front of one of the doors. “The next one along was my room.”

  “Is there anything you want to get from it?” I asked her.

  She shook her head, her features tightening. “No. I hope I never have to set foot in there again.”

  I didn’t want to ask her what she’d gone through inside that room. If she ever felt she wanted to tell me, I would be there to listen—and I couldn’t pretend the idea of her and Borys together didn’t fill me with a towering wall of jealousy—but it was her business, not mine.

  A panel was on the wall to one side of the door. I waved my hand over the top of it, and it flashed green. “We’re in.”

  Only a dim light lit the room. A young woman sat up in bed, blinking.

  “Tara?” Her gaze flicked to me in confusion. “What’s going on? How did you get in here?”

  Tara held out her hand. “We don’t have time to explain. We need to get out of here, and we’re taking you with us.”

  Thankfully, the other woman didn’t argue. She slipped out of bed and took Tara’s hand, allowing Tara to pull her toward the door, which I’d been holding open, not wanting it to slide shut and lock us all inside. I waited while the two women passed me to step back out into the corridor, and then I stepped out to join them. The bedroom door shut with a whoosh.

  “It’ll be quicker if we leave via the rear of the property,” Tara said, jerking her chin in the direction we’d been heading.

  “Let me go ahead,” I suggested. “I’ll clear the way.”

  We were all unarmed. One advantage I had of being on my own was that I could take the Trads by surprise and unarm them before they had the chance to fire. It wouldn’t be so easy with the two women.

  Tara shook her head. “No, I’d rather—”

  A sudden shout came from behind us.

  “Hey! You three! Stop right there!”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Miko

  WE HID ON THE OTHER side of the sand dunes, the vehicle we’d borrowed from Ewa providing us with extra cover. Side by side, we ducked down behind the hood, using the cover of darkness to conceal our positions from those inhabiting the property. We looked over the huge, domed structure of Borys’s house. Several other structures were contained within the high walls surrounding the land, but our sights were fixed on the main domed building in the center. That was where we’d find Tara.

  It was safe to say Ewa hadn’t been best pleased to see us again when we’d called on her, once more asking for help. She was going to be even less pleased when she realized there was zero chance of getting her hovercar back, but I hadn’t been able to tell her that. If I had, I knew she would never have loaned it to us. I mentally promised to make it up to her as soon as I could.

  “Can you see anyone?” Nadeusz hissed from beside me.

  He was sitting on the ground, working on a device that I hoped would get us inside the property.

  “A couple of guards, but they seemed bored. Nothing else. They’re doing a tour of the perimeter, by the looks of things.”

  “This might be a bad idea,” Nad said. “We could be better off just sneaking in there.”

  “No, we’d be spotted, for sure.”

  I understood Nad’s concerns. There was a reason no one had been able to get inside Borys’s private quarters before. He kept the Trads around him close, and besides, this wasn’t how we rebels normally worked either. We preferred to be subtle, to keep our heads down, and go unnoticed, and this was going against all of those things.

  I gritted my teeth in determination. “We put Tara in this position. We’re going to get her out again.”

  The rebels might have been dispersed for the moment, but things wouldn’t stay that way. We had places to regroup, but that would take time, and I didn’t think Tara had that time. She’d been in there for several days now, and I couldn’t stand the idea of her spending another night literally under Borys. Just the thought had me grinding my teeth, my fists clenched. Even if she didn’t have the plans yet, we were busting her out of there.

  “Wait until they’re around the other side,” I told Nad, “and then we’ll set this off. It’ll give us enough time to get through if they need to run from the other side of the property.”

  He cocked a thick, dark eyebrow at me. “You sure this is going to work?”

  “No, but I haven’t got any better ideas. Have you?”

  Nad huffed out air through his nose. “Aleksy would throw a fit if he knew what we were planning.”

  “We don’t know where Aleksy is right now—he could have been arrested by Borys’s men—and I don’t intend on sitting around leaving Tara in Borys’s hands until he shows up again.”

  He put up both hands as though in defense. “You don’t need to convince me. I’m right here, aren’t I?”

  “You know there’s nowhere you’d rather be.”

  Nad gave a resolute kind of smirk and then turned his attention back to the device. “Okay, I think we’re ready to go.”

  “Just give it another thirty seconds to make sure the Trad guards are on the other side.”

  We both waited, our breath held. Someone could spot us at any moment and demand to know what we were doing, and we wouldn’t have any excuses to give them. The game would be up.

  Nad nodded and rose to his feet to go to the front of the hovercar. He programmed the self-drive and then attached the device to the front of the hood.

  “Ready?”

  I nodded in return. “Go.”

  He flicked a switch and yanked himself back out of the vehicle. The hovercar lifted several feet into the air, and both Nad and I jumped for the back. I caught the rear bumper with my fingertips and locked on. The sudden forward motion of the hovercar as it headed toward the building almost made me lose my grip. I hung on tighter, ducking my face against the buffeting air, my legs flying back. The car crossed the top of the wall, and I looked to Nad.

  “One, two, three,” we said in unison, both our gazes fixed on each other. Right before the car hit the side of the building, we jumped.

  I hit the ground and rolled several times, dust bursting up around me. A second later, a massive explosion shattered through the air, the force of it throwing me backward once again. Debris rained down, but I couldn’t take the time to cower from it. Immediately, I searched for Nadeusz. He was already getting to his feet, and I jumped up as well, ignoring the scrapes and bruises I was sure would materialize when all of this was over. Borys’s guards would be coming, and we couldn’t be here when they arrived.

  The area where the vehicle had hit was in flames. A fireball danced red, yellow, and orange across the night sky.

  A shout of alarm came from somewhere to our right.

  I looked to Nadeusz. “We gotta move.”

  Nad nodded, and together, we ran.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  We froze at the shout of the guard, each of us lifting our hands into the air. Diarus took a step back and slowly turned, positioning himself between us and the guard.

  “Go,” he hissed at me from the corner of his mouth. “He can’t shoot as all.”

  “No, I’m not—”

  A sudden explosion rocked the building, sending us staggering. The ground shuddered, and pieces of the ceiling fell onto our heads. Dust and chunks of plasterboard filled the air, and I let out a shriek and ducked, clinging tighter to Zoe’s hand.

  Instead of cowering, Diarus used the distraction. Staying low, he ran for the guard. The Trad had turned toward the commotion, which sounded as though it had come from the front of the property. He was looking the other way, and we’d clearly been forgotten, but Diarus reminded him of our presence with a swift elbow to the throat, followed by a fist to the temple, which knocked him out cold.

  The Trad went down hard, and Diarus bent and swiped up his weapon.

  “We need to keep going,” he said, running back to us.

  I clung to Zoe’s arm. “Wha
t do you think that was?”

  “I have no idea, but it didn’t sound good. We need to get out of here.”

  I nodded my agreement. Zoe appeared pale and worried, but she didn’t argue with us. Chaos had erupted, and the Trads had more important things to worry about than us, for the moment, anyway.

  “This way.”

  We ran down the corridor until we reached the rear external door. I slammed my palm against the panel, and the door slid open. Together, we burst out of the back of the building.

  “Hey, you there!”

  It was another Trad. Diarus lifted the weapon he’d taken and shot him. The Trad dropped to the ground, going rigid with the electrical shock, and we kept going.

  Two more Trads appeared ahead of us, and Diarus lifted the weapon again, aiming to fire.

  My heart stopped. “Diarus, wait!”

  Diarus’s mouth dropped open, and slowly he lowered the laser.

  The two Trads standing before us weren’t strangers, or even Borys’s men.

  It was Nad and Miko.

  “Tara!” Miko shouted.

  I ran for them, and they caught me up between them, planting kisses in my hair, on my forehead and lips.

  “You’re okay?” Miko asked, stroking my hair back from my face and studying me for any sign of injury.

  I must have looked like a disaster after crawling around in the vents and then getting covered in dust from the explosion, but he was gazing at me as though I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Both of them were.

  Miko turned to Diarus and Zoe. “All of you are okay?”

  I nodded. “Yes, yes.”

  Nad’s square jaw tightened. “Where’s Borys?”

  Diarus shook his head. “I don’t know. We haven’t seen him yet.”

  “I have the plans.” I brandished the cylinder at them both. “We can go.”

  Nad grinned at me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and planted a kiss on my mouth. “Well done, girlie. We always knew we could count on you.”

  If only he knew the sacrifices I’d made to get them. But warmth spread inside me at his praise.

  “So, let’s get out of here,” I said.

  The explosion was keeping most of Borys’s guards, and likely Borys himself, busy.

  No one seemed to notice us as we ran from the building and climbed over the wall. One by one, we dropped down the other side, to freedom. The Trads we’d hurt or killed on the way out would be found soon enough, and then I imagined someone would come to check on Zoe and me and discover us missing. I didn’t know how much time would pass before Borys realized his precious plans were missing, but when he did, he was bound to connect us all together.

  Not that it mattered. We had what we wanted, and we were free of him now.

  The building burned behind us as we ran across the desert. It was hard going, my legs aching, my feet bare against the coarse sand. At least it was night, so the sand wasn’t too hot from the sun. It was a small mercy, but I’d take every little bit of help I could get.

  Zoe was strangely quiet, and I knew I had a lot of explaining to do. In her mind, the Trads were still the enemies, and right now we were traveling with two of them. She’d also seen me kissing and hugging them, and she was probably asking herself if she could trust me, and if I was the person she’d thought I was. But I was also the one who’d rescued her from Borys, so I knew these things would be conflicting in her mind.

  We reached the city wall.

  “This way,” Miko said, opening a hatch at its base. I didn’t need to ask to know it led into the tunnels beneath us.

  Zoe gave me a worried glance.

  “It’s okay,” I told her. “They’ll take us somewhere safe.”

  She looked anxiously between Nad and Miko. She must recognize them from the facility, and I was proud of her for not screaming and running the moment she’d seen them. I remembered what they’d both been like back at the facility—how they’d come across as coldhearted and cruel.

  We slipped into the tunnels beneath the city. It was the middle of the night, so they were thankfully clear. There was no doubt in my mind that two Trads running with two human women and an Athion slave would garner some unwanted attention.

  Nad and Miko led the way, and eventually we emerged back onto the street. They ushered us down some backstreets until we reached a house.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  Miko opened the door and let us in. “It’s a rebel safe house. I’m surprised there aren’t others already here.”

  When we were all through the door, he stepped back in and locked it behind us again.

  “What happened to the base?” I asked.

  “We got raided.”

  My heart sank. “Oh no. Because of me?”

  He caught my hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing the backs of my fingers. “No, not because of you, Tara. Just because of who they are, and who we are.”

  “So, you’re supposed to be the good guys?” Zoe asked.

  I nodded. “They were all undercover at the facility,” I told her. “They broke me out of there.”

  She frowned, clearly confused. “And then sold you at the auction?”

  “I needed to get into Borys’s home. I needed to find plans of other facilities in the area.”

  “And you found them?”

  I nodded. “Yes.” I looked between the others. “I think so, anyway.”

  They still hadn’t managed to check out what I’d found. The cylinder could be something completely different, for all I knew.

  Miko pressed his lips together. “Guess we should take a better look.”

  He carried the cylinder over to a table in the middle of the room. He depressed the button on top, and air hissed from inside it before the airlock released. Tipping the cylinder upside down, he emptied the scroll out into his hand and then spread it out across the table.

  We all stepped closer. I was so happy to be back with them again, I couldn’t stop touching them. My hand against Miko’s arm, my shoulder barging Diarus’s, my gaze locked with Nad’s.

  Nadeusz glanced away from me to frown down at the sheet of paper, his top teeth digging into his lower lip.

  “Are they the plans?” I asked, suddenly certain I’d found the wrong thing and it had been some other secret Borys had been trying to hide.

  But he looked up at me, a smile touching his dark eyes. “Yes, it’s the plans.”

  I exhaled a relieved sigh. “Thank God.”

  Despite the excitement of finding what we’d needed, Zoe hid a wide yawn behind the back of her hand.

  “You can have this room, Zoe,” Miko said, pointing to one of the doors leading off the main living area. “I expect you’ll want to get some rest. I imagine this has all been traumatic.”

  She was still staring at him as though he was going to bite her. “Yes, it has.” She turned to me. “Are you okay? I heard noises from your room. Did Borys—”

  I lifted my hand to stop her. “I don’t want to think about that, not ever again, okay?”

  She nodded. “Okay. Thank you for helping me.”

  I put out my arms and pulled her into a brief, hard hug. “Of course.”

  I wanted to be alone with the others, selfishly wanting them all to myself. Zoe seemed happy to get some privacy as well, and probably wanted some alone time to process everything that had happened.

  Zoe vanished into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. I turned to the others. “So, which room is mine?”

  Miko threw me a wink. “You think you’re getting a room all to yourself?”

  “You mean I’m not?” I was flirting with him. I couldn’t help it.

  “I think there’s only one more room left,” Nad growled, his gaze darkening.

  Diarus caught on. “Yeah, we’re probably going to have to share.”

  Nadeusz grabbed my hand and pulled me toward one of the bedrooms on the other side of the property. I was happy we had the living space between the room Zoe was
in and the one we were clearly taking. I had the feeling we were going to be making some noise.

  Miko and Diarus followed us into the bedroom. It was simply decorated, with a large double bed at its center and clean white sheets. There were nightstands and a closet, but nothing personal to show anyone lived here. I guessed that was because they didn’t. This was a place only used in case of emergencies.

  Nad caught my face up between his hands and kissed me deeply. I was so relieved to be back in their presence. Once more, I felt safe, even though we were still living in a dangerous world.

  A body pressed in behind me, and lips brushed my neck. I groaned in pleasure. From the cold graze of metal on my skin, I knew the person kissing my neck was Miko. Then a third set of hands slipped around my body, and soft lips were against my shoulder. I was held between them, hands and lips all over me.

  “Take this off,” Nad demanded, tugging at my dress.

  I nodded, happy to remove the item of clothing, and Miko caught the hem of my dress, pulling it up and over my head. My hair swished back into place, covering my shoulders, but that was the only part of me that was concealed. The removal of the dress meant I was naked. They moved in around me again. Hands cupped my breasts, and lips caressed my skin.

  It wasn’t only hands stroking me. Both Nad’s and Miko’s tails were also wrapping about my limbs. I knew what they were doing. They were claiming me as their own again, licking and kissing and stroking and fucking every trace of Borys from my skin. I was caught up in the sensation of hands all over me, not knowing which set of fingers belonged to who. A twin set of tails curled around each of my legs, like fast-growing vines.

  “I want you naked, too,” I told them all.

  Miko and Nad were quick to comply, throwing off their clothing to reveal bodies hard with muscle, their wrist-thick cocks jutting out in front of them. Diarus didn’t have much to remove—only his boots and pants.

  I ran my fingers lightly across the cuts on Diarus’s chest, remembering how bravely he’d fought on stage at the auction, and how he’d gone without killing the beast in the fighting pit. I wanted to thank him for everything he’d done, and there was one way I knew how. I reached down and fisted his cock, feeling him as hard as iron beneath the silky sheath. He was the same size as a human male and would be easier to take, and I didn’t have to worry about having to swallow anything I couldn’t handle.