Survivor: Survivor’s Heart book 3: Planet Athion

by Cassidy, Debbie

  Tide’s expression is wary as the yawning darkness opens to us. “Let’s not knock our good luck.”

  He leads the way into the ship.

  Darkness closes in on us, and then the doors are shut behind us. For a moment, we are standing in pitch black, and then twin red lights flare to life in front of us. The whirr of machinery echoes against the walls of the ship.

  “Biometric data not recognized. Identify yourselves.” The voice is mechanical.

  Fuck.

  The room is bathed in red light, and a huge machine clanks toward us. Weapons trained on us.

  “You have thirty seconds to comply.”

  “Xavier?” Tide looks to me. “What do we do?”

  My pulse is racing. We need a passcode. This thing will smoke us without one. “I need to deactivate it.” I take a step toward it, and one of the guns adjusts its aim to lock on to me.

  “Remain stationary. You have twenty seconds to comply.”

  “Xavier …” There is panic in Tide’s tone now.

  I grip the laser pen tightly in my hand. There are two guns and three of us. “We need to confuse it.”

  “You have fifteen seconds to comply.”

  “Yeah, and how do we do that?” Lore asks.

  “We run in different directions. It can only target two of us at a time.”

  “You have ten seconds to comply,” the machine reminds us calmly.

  “Fuck,” Tide says. “Fine. On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

  I rush the machine in a zigzag pattern.

  A laser shot misses me by a few inches. Then another. Fuck.

  I skid between the massive legs of the machine, bringing the laser pen up and slicing through metal, severing and damaging the mechanics of the guard.

  “Xavier, watch out!”

  I roll free from beneath the machine just before it hits the ground with a thunderous smash.

  Silence.

  Nice.

  “Well,” Lore says. “Let’s hope there aren’t any more of those on the ship.”

  21

  VEX

  The arena is a hive of activity. But with the excitement of the upcoming gauntlet, no one even gives me a second glance as I weave my way through the throngs and to the platforms that carry patrons from floor to floor. The air is cooler up here. Fewer bodies. Just a thin trickle of latecomers to the party.

  A party where they hope to watch the woman I love fight for her life.

  Fuck them.

  Fuck them all.

  I pick up the pace, walking against the grain. I’m the someone leaving amongst a wave of people arriving. Still, no one pays me any mind.

  There are two entrances to this place. One for regular patrons to be scanned to ensure they’re not officials and another for potential fighters.

  Braker has a fucking database of faces—criminals and significant creatures—but, thanks to Xavier, our faces are no longer on that database. The warrant on us is live, it’s active, and Braker has a record of it.

  I guess the reward money is nothing to him.

  The exit looms, and I’m out in the fresh air. Well, as fresh as it can get on this stinking port.

  The narrow roads outside of Braker’s tiny empire are busy. High sun time. High business time. I use that to my advantage, blending in the best I can as I wind my way toward the Cog’s scrapyard.

  My entrance to the tunnels is there. Hidden. Waiting. All I need to do is get Rogue out.

  Let’s hope the guys do their part and get us onto the ship.

  * * *

  TIDE

  The bridge is dark. Only base systems are up. Xavier has been trying to hack into the systems for half an hour. Time is slipping by. Rogue will be in the tunnels by now.

  My body feels tight, itchy with the need to act.

  “Xavier?”

  He doesn’t even look at me from his spot in the swivel seat at the main computer. “Dammit, Tide, I’m doing my best here.”

  He hits a stream of keys and then freezes, hands hovering above the keyboard. Data scrolls up the screen, and then a flashing image appears, red and angry with letters beneath.

  “You have thirty seconds to provide a passcode before voiding systems engage.”

  The room rumbles.

  “Shit.” Lore points to the ceiling. “Vents just opened up. They’re going to fill the room with gas. Probably poisonous.”

  “Shit.” Xavier wipes the back of his sleeve across his forehead.

  I squeeze Xavier’s shoulder. “Can you bypass it?”

  But Xavier is already back at it, typing like a madman, streams of code too fast for me to catch, too complex for my rudimentary skills. This is Xavier’s forte.

  A timer ticks at the corner of the screen. Ten seconds left. A soft hiss fills the room. Gas cylinders engaging.

  My heart is in my mouth.

  Five. Four. Three. Two.

  Xavier hits enter. The screen goes black. The pulse in my throat is beating so hard I think it might burst.

  And then the whole room lights up. Every monitor, every screen. Blinking fucking lights.

  Xavier laces his hands atop his head and puffs out his cheeks. “We’re in.”

  22

  The chamber had to have been an addition to the map. An extra little something to make things interesting, which meant the schematics were off, but I kept to the route in my head and was back on track in no time.

  If my memory served me right, the access tunnel was around this corner. I was almost home free. My vision was clear again, and I didn’t feel like I was about to pass out. My body was recovering from the berserker rage, but it wouldn’t be back on form for a few hours yet. Hopefully I’d be done with this damn gauntlet way before then.

  I took the turn and froze.

  A figure blocked my path.

  Leather-face guy.

  He was big up close. Broad. Huge hands. Hands that could make me see stuff I didn’t want to.

  Shit, this was the last thing I needed. “Look. You don’t have to do this.” I held up my palms in a placating gesture.

  No weapons meant I’d need to get close to take him down, but his ability meant I couldn’t let him touch my skin.

  “I need the money.” His voice was a rasp. “Nothing personal.”

  “You think murder isn’t personal?”

  I could still feel blur guy’s pulse beating beneath my hands. Regardless of the circumstances, murder was always personal. It was a stain that could never be removed.

  “You’re here,” he said. “You agreed.”

  “Maybe I didn’t have a choice.”

  “And neither do I.” He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. “But I can make it pleasant. You won’t feel any pain.”

  “How kind of you.”

  He canted his head. “No, just efficient.”

  Boot falls had him tensing. Fuck, someone was behind me.

  I slammed my back into the wall as another figure appeared.

  Pincer guy again.

  Shit.

  “She’s mine,” leather face said.

  “Like hell.” Pincer guy lunged at leather face.

  I made a break for it, skirting around the tussling pair.

  But an arm snaked around my waist and propelled me backward. My butt hit the ground hard.

  Shit.

  “Stop. Wait,” leather face said. “What if we split it?”

  Pincer guy stepped away from his opponent. “Nothing in the rules saying we can’t. If we kill her together.”

  Ice trickled through my veins. In these close quarters, fighting them both off was going to be next to impossible. I stood slowly and fell into a defensive stance.

  “You can fucking try.”

  The two guys exchanged glances and then attacked.

  23

  VEX

  Dammit, where is she? She should be here by now. X marks the spot. I study the map in my hand, and unease crawls up my spine. There are no cameras here because Brak
er doesn’t expect the contestants to find this route. My shoulders brush each wall. I need to get the fuck out of here.

  The thought that she may be hurt, may be dead, flashes through my mind. But I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve seen her fight.

  Her body is a weapon.

  The radio in my hand crackles softly.

  “Vex. We’re in. We’re ready,” Xavier says.

  They did it. They fucking did it.

  “No need to finish the gauntlet. Get her out. Take the route we mapped, and get your ass here.”

  “She’s not out yet.”

  Silence. “Something’s wrong. Even with two interruptions accounted for, she should have been with you by now.”

  Fuck it. “I’m going in.”

  “Vex, if they see you …”

  “I don’t give a fuck. Fire up the engines, we’re on our way.”

  * * *

  BRAKER

  “Is this what you wanted?” Jaron asks from the doorway. “To see her torn apart like this?”

  I sip my drink. “How much money have we taken in tonight?”

  “Is that all you care about?”

  There is disgust in his tone, and for a moment, I feel the prick of an old friend called guilt. But only for a moment.

  “Yes, Jaron. This place thrives so that we can remain untouchable. Don’t pretend that you don’t enjoy the notoriety and power that comes with our station.”

  Jaron is silent. “I enjoy it. But not at the cost of an innocent life.”

  “She’s a murderer. She’s killed plenty on Vesper.”

  “To survive. She killed to survive.”

  “And what do you think this is?” I shoot him a flat look. “This is how we fucking survive. Don’t forget where we came from. Don’t forget what waits for us if we lose the power.”

  Jaron snaps his mouth closed, and his eyes go to the screen that fills the wall of my private quarters.

  “She’s a fighter just like Elena,” he says softly.

  The name is like a vise squeezing my heart. “Fighting didn’t save Elena. And it probably won’t save Rogue. But it’ll make good viewing. And that’s all we need.”

  24

  I couldn’t hold them off for much longer. I ducked and kicked and punched, moving fast to avoid the snap of the pincer or the brush of leather face’s fingers. The goal now was to simply stay alive. I couldn’t kill them both. Not without a weapon, not when two of them were attacking simultaneously.

  Despair surged up inside me like an inky black cloud, and then rage burned it away. I wouldn’t die. Not when I was finally free. Please. I pleaded with the beast inside. I need you again.

  Can you hear me? I was too exhausted to rage. My swings were getting clumsy. I needed time to recharge.

  A lick of heat unfurled in my belly.

  Was that her?

  The monster inside opened its eyes as if assessing the situation.

  Come on… I die, you die. Get it?

  My body tingled and then the periphery of my vision bled to crimson. Power flooded my limbs. Power that belonged to the beast inside. She couldn’t come out, but she was offering me what she could.

  I’d take it.

  I let myself go, falling into instinct mode. There was the crack of a throat being crushed. The wet tear as I snapped off pincer guy’s hand. The crunch of bone as I slammed it into leather face’s nose again and again.

  My blood sang in my ears, a new melody of triumph.

  “Rogue. Rogue. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

  I knew that voice … I loved that voice. The crimson haze ebbed and then retreated. “Vex?”

  What? How was he here?

  I dropped the pincer and took a step toward him, but my knees gave way.

  He caught me and swung me up into his arms. “I got you. I got you, Rogue.”

  Vex was here. Why? “Have to finish. Need to win.”

  But the world was spinning, and exhaustion claimed me.

  * * *

  “She’s waking up. Give her some room.”

  Lore? I opened my eyes to three concerned faces. Lore, Tide, and Xavier.

  “What happened? Did I win?” My brain was fuzzy, and then memory came rushing back—blur guy, the monsters, leather face and pincer guy attacking, and beast mode helping me kick their asses, but then …

  My gaze flicked to Vex. “What the fuck? Why’d you pull me out? What …” I tried to sit up, but my body was still weak from berserker mode. My arm throbbed a little where the ratspiders had cut me. But when I reached up to touch the wound my fingers met fresh bandages.

  “You’re healing quickly,” Lore said. “The bandages are just a precaution.”

  But I didn’t care about that. The wounds didn’t matter because I’d lost. We’d lost.

  “I had it. I had them … what the fuck?”

  My eyes pricked with heat. I squeezed them shut. I would not cry.

  “Braker was never going to let you go,” Tide said softly. “Vex overheard his crew talking. We had to get you out.”

  Not let me go? God, I was so stupid. I was a one-percenter, an anomaly. I was money in his pocket, but he’d loved someone like me once, and I’d allowed that to cloud my judgment.

  I ran a hand over my face. “What are we going to do?”

  Tide held out his hand. “Can I show you something?”

  I gave him my hand and allowed him to help me up. My legs trembled, unsure whether they’d hold me up.

  With a growl, Vex swept me into his arms and followed Tide out of the room … Wait a minute, this room … These weren’t the arena quarters.

  “Where are we?” I looked up at Vex and noted the hint of a smile on his handsome face. “What’s going on?” My chest fluttered with anxiety and excitement.

  No … don’t jump the gun …

  We were in a corridor. Gray walls, strobe lights on the ceiling.

  My pulse kicked up. “Are we on a ship?”

  My question was answered a moment later as we stepped through a set of double doors and into space. At least it felt like it. The stars winked down at me from above.

  “You like it?” Xavier was sitting on a cushy seat in front of several monitors. “Cool feature, right? Now you see them, now you don’t.” The stars above vanished and a ceiling replaced them.

  My throat tightened. “This is the bridge of a ship. I thought we didn’t win?”

  Xavier vacated the seat, and Vex lowered me onto it.

  “It is,” Tide said. “Braker’s ship. We stole it.”

  “What?”

  He shrugged. “It was the only option.”

  Xavier frowned and patted his cargo pants pocket. “Shit, remind me to go back to the cargo bay and look for my laser pen. I think I dropped it after slicing open the killer robot.”

  Panic gripped my throat. “Are you crazy? They’re going to come after us. Another person who’s after us.”

  My heart sank, and anxiety bloomed in my chest.

  “I’ve reset the systems,” Xavier said. “We’re in stealth mode and already thousands of light-years away from the port. They won’t find us, Rogue. No one can.”

  The realization bloomed in my mind, momentous and breathtaking. “We’re free?” My voice trembled.

  Lore smiled, his ember eyes warm. “Yes, Rogue. We’re free.”

  * * *

  Free. The word reverberated inside my head as I showered. It circled my mind as I sat on the edge of my mattress and brushed the tangles from my hair. I glanced at the map on the bedside table. A map of this ship, our ship. It was the beginning of my training on how to run a ship.

  Xavier had given it to me. My first task was to familiarize myself with the vessel, the layout, including the access ducts. Apparently, the ducts were also used as exit routes in case parts of the ship were compromised by fire or toxins.

  This was our home now, for a while at least.

  We were free. The word held so much meaning and yet…

  I hadn’t f
elt free, not even after escaping Vesper, and I’d been semi-right considering Tide had intended to hand me over for experimentation. I hadn’t felt free, not even when we’d escaped the satellite station and run from Marick and the Athion government, and even now, on this stolen ship, thousands of light-years away from our pursuers, my body and mind refused to believe I was truly free.

  There was a knock on the door.

  “Come in.”

  Tide stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He was barefoot, dressed in loose, dark-gray joggers and a black vest that hugged his torso. His silvery gaze swept over me and snagged on the towel wrapped around my body.

  “We’re free, Rogue. On a ship and free.” His voice was husky with the sexy kind of rumble that made me instantly wet.

  Heat spread across my chest. “You want to sleep in here tonight?” I licked my dry lips. “I want you to.”

  His lips curved in a determined smile as he padded toward me. “Oh, Rogue, we aren’t going to be doing much sleeping. I assure you.”

  25

  Tide

  My cock is painfully hard. These past few weeks, the wait, her scent, the sounds she makes when with the others. I need to hear those sounds for me. I need to feel her wrapped around me, pulsing, throbbing.

  Her mouth parts as if she can taste my thoughts.

  Taste. I want to taste her. I reach over my shoulder, grip the neck of my vest, and tug it over my head. The tiny gasp she makes has my cock jerking. Fuck, I need her.

  She lies back on the bed and opens the towel. Exposing herself to me, every delicious inch. I want to be controlled, take it slow, but my resolve crumbles to ash, and I am on her in an instant.

  God, her mouth, so sweet, so fucking sweet. I fuck her mouth with my tongue, plundering while my hands touch and knead. Her hand slips down my waistband and grips my cock and squeezes gently.

  I can’t breathe. Fuck that feels … “Rogue, I, damn …”