by Paige Tyler
“Enak,” Brantly said, offering his hand to the big man.
“You’ve outdone yourself this time,” the man said. “She’s beautiful. Absolutely perfect.”
Heart pounding in her chest, Laken immediately back-pedaled, edging around the nightstand as she moved away from him. With the wall at her back and the men blocking the doorway, though, she was trapped, and there was nothing she could do but stand there as Enak reached out and grasped her chin.
She jerked away from him. “Don’t touch me.”
Enak laughed. “Not only beautiful, but feisty, too. Just the way I like it. I’ll take her.”
Brantly smiled. “Excellent.”
Laken’s eyes went wide. “Like hell! You’re not taking me anywhere.”
Enak grinned down at her. “I can do anything I damn well please. You belong to me now, little girl.”
She shook her head. “No! You can’t do this to me!”
Enak ignored her. He glanced at the two men in the hallway and gave them a nod. They immediately came into the room. One held some kind of injection gun in his hand, and he shoved a cartridge of liquid in the chamber as he walked toward her. Her eyes darted frantically toward the door again.
“M-my father is a merchant with the Federation,” she said, desperately trying to evade the men. The one without the gun grabbed her shoulders, holding onto her easily while the other man pressed the nozzle of the gun against her arm. “Please. He’ll pay you whatever you want. Please...”
But the rest of her words trailed off as the drug the man gave her made everything go black.
* * * * *
Rade clenched his jaw as he stared down at the holo-screen. It had taken Dev a while to hack into the nightclub’s computers and even longer to go through all the footage from the security cameras, but she had finally managed to track down a name to go with the face. According to local police files, his name was Grant Landers, but he had a whole host of aliases, including names like Stanton, McCleavy and Vlanders. Worse, there was a whole list of crimes to go with those phony names. Dev had been right. The guy was definitely shady. And Laken had left with him. That had been nearly twenty-four hours ago. Who knew what had happened since then?
Kam’s voice came over the ship’s com just then, interrupting his thoughts. “ETA in ten minutes, Captain.”
Rade stared at the holo-pic of Landers for another moment, then grabbed his personal communicator and left the cabin.
Keir, Vance, Jorn and Finn were waiting for him down in the cargo hold. He eyed Jorn for a moment, but at the determined look on the other man’s face, Rade said nothing. Even healing from an injury, Jorn was better than most men in a fight.
It was a short trip to the address listed in Landers’ police file. When they got there, Rade wondered if they had the right place. It looked like it belonged to an upstanding, wealthy citizen, not a common thug. Then again, Landers’ file had indicated he was currently involved in the human slave trade, so he could definitely afford a place like this. Rade clenched his jaw at the thought of what Landers had down to Laken. If he hurt her in any way, Rade would leave the bastard dead in his own overpriced house.
Rade drew his weapon as he walked up to the front door. Keir and Vance followed behind him, while Jorn went around to the back of the house. Finn stood across the street keeping an eye out for trouble.
Glancing over his shoulder at Keir and Vance, Rade lifted his hand and knocked on the ornate door. No one answered. Rade was debating whether he should knock again or just kick in the damn thing when it opened a crack. Unfortunately, the man standing on the other side of it wasn’t Landers. Shit.
Rade started to put his gun away, but then hesitated when he recognized the man. It was the asshole who had been trying to hit on Laken at the club.
Tightening his grip on his weapon, Rade slammed his shoulder into the door, knocking the man backward. Grabbing hold of the front of his shirt, Rade shoved until the man was all the way across the foyer and wedged up against the opposite wall. Pushing his forearm against the man’s throat, he slowly placed the barrel of his pistol square in the center of the man’s forehead.
“Landers,” he ground out. “Where is he?”
The man’s beady eyes clouded in confusion. Then they darted behind Rade to where Keir and Vance were standing.
“Wh-who? I-I think you made a mistake,” he stammered. “I don’t know anyone named Landers.”
“Like hell you don’t,” Rade snarled. He rattled off the half-dozen aliases he remembered until recognition shown in the man’s eyes. “So you do know him. Where is he? And don’t even think about lying to me or I’ll shoot you right here and go looking for him myself.”
The man swallowed nervously. “Upstairs. He’s upstairs. Second door on your right.”
Lip curling, Rade let the man go and headed for the stairs. Keir took hold of the man and shoved him out the door, while Vance followed Rade upstairs.
Rade moved quickly down the hallway, less concerned about making noise than getting to Landers. When he got to the second door on the right, he didn’t check to see if it was unlocked, but instead kicked it open and strode inside. Lander was standing in front of a full-length mirror, and he spun around, his hands poised in the act of unbuttoning his shirt.
Rade advanced on the other man, weapon steady in his hand as he leveled it at Landers’ chest. “One simple question. Answer correctly, and I won’t kill you. Where is Laken Andara?”
Landers didn’t even so much as look at the gun that Rade had pointed at him. “There must be some misunderstanding. I don’t know any Laken Andara.”
“Wrong answer,” Rade said. Lifting his arm, he backhanded the man with his pistol, knocking him backward. Rade caught him before he hit the floor and slammed him against the wall, shoving the barrel of his gun under the man’s chin.
“You should have just answered my question,” he said. “Not that it matters, I suppose. If you don’t give me the information, then I’ll get it from your friend downstairs. After I kill you.”
Rade thumbed back the charging lever. The pistol began to hum as it charged to a higher level. The move was completely unnecessary since, but the sound had the desired effect. Landers went into grovel-mode immediately.
“She’s not here.”
“Where is she?”
Landers hesitated. “The buyer picked her up this morning.”
Rade clenched his jaw and shoved the gun into the underside of the man’s chin so hard that it bent Lander’s head backward. The man winced.
“That’s not an answer to my question,” Rade snarled. “Where is she?”
“The buyer left with her hours ago,” Landers said, voice trembling. “He lives on Yerel.”
Shit. Yerel was almost two days away, on the far side of the system. Not only that, but it was in the opposite direction from where they needed to be. If he went after Laken, he would almost certainly be late for his rendezvous on Marlon Prime.
“What’s this buyer’s name?”
Landers swallowed hard. “Huden Enak.”
Rade shoved the man away with a growl. “If you’re lying to me, I’ll be back for you. And next time, I will kill you.”
Turning on his heel, Rade strode out of the room. He looked at Vance as they headed downstairs. “Get on the com and let Kam where we’re going.”
Rade swore silently. This was not the worst outcome he could have expected, but it was pretty damn close. The only thing that kept it from being a complete disaster was the hope that Enak wouldn’t hurt Laken while he had her on board his ship. A scumbag like that would probably want to savor the moment until he got back to the privacy of his home. That meant Rade only had to make up six or eight hours of lead time. Though God knew, a lot could happen in that amount of time.
* * * * *
Laken felt like she was drowning in a sea of confusion. She had no idea how much time passed because there were no clocks in the small room she was kept in, and they had taken her
watch along with the rest of her jewelry. It wouldn’t have helped anyway. She wasn’t sure she could even have read a clock after all the drugs they’d pumped into her. She had no idea why they kept her drugged because when she did wake up, she had no idea where she was most of the time anyway, but every time she climbed her way out of the fog, they would come back with another injection.
The times she was lucid, she considered trying to escape, but then knew that was foolish, especially since she probably couldn’t even walk ten feet without falling down. Besides, she was on a ship. Where would she go?
Since escape was out of the question, her mind turned to thoughts of rescue. To her surprise, she didn’t imagine Mallin coming to save her, but Rade. She even convinced herself that at any moment, he would come bursting through the door to sweep her up in his arms and take her away to safety.
But every time the door opened, it was one of Enak’s men with another dose of drugs.
When she finally came come out of her drug-induced haze, it was to find herself no longer on a ship, but in a small room. It was dimly lit by a small bulb in the center of the ceiling, but even that was enough to make her head hurt and her eyes tear. She winced and closed them again.
A moment later, she felt a hand brush her hair back from her face. Terrified it was Enak, she jerked upright, scrambling across the floor to get as far away from him as she could. But it was only another woman. Blond and pretty with blue eyes, she was around the same age as Laken.
“Who are you?” Laken asked, her voice trembling. “Where am I?”
“My name is Pammay,” the woman said. “And you are in Enak’s house.”
Laken looked around the room. “H-how long have I been here?”
“Not long,” Pammay said. “I saw them bring you in a few hours ago. I came to see if you were okay.”
Laken pressed her hand to her forehead. The rapid move across the room had cost her, and her head had started to throb again. “My head is pounding. What did they give me?”
The girl got up and walked over to her, only to stop when Laken scooted across the floor to get away from her.
“I’m not sure what it was, but if it was the same thing they gave me, then it will wear off quickly,” Pammay said.
Laken’s brow furrowed. “You were drugged, too?” The other woman nodded. “How long have you been here?”
Pammay looked away, her eyes filling with pain. “I’m not sure, but it’s been a long time. Two years, maybe.”
Laken’s eyes went wide. “Two years. Why hasn’t anyone tried to rescue you?”
“There was no one to know I’d been captured. It’s why Enak picked me. He usually takes girls who won’t be missed.”
“Girls?” Laken echoed. “How many of us are there?”
“Since I’ve been here, there have been many,” Pammay said. “Maybe six or seven besides myself. Enak grew tired of them, though, and they’re all gone now.”
Laken frowned. “What happened to them?”
Pammay shrugged. “I don’t know. One day they were here, the next they weren’t.”
Laken could only imagine what Enak had done to the girls before he had gotten rid of them, and she looked at Pammay with pity. Laken knew she would go out of her mind if she had to be at the mercy of a man like Enak for as long as the other woman had.
“Why haven’t you tried to escape?” she asked.
“I did try. We all tried at some point. But Yerel is a slave planet. There is no escape from here.”
Laken frowned again. She had never heard of a slave planet; she didn’t think a place like that could exist. “But there has to be a way to get out of here.”
Pammay’s eyes shimmered with tears. “There is no way out, and even if we were to get away, the fate that awaits a runaway slave is much worse than what Enak could ever do to us.”
Laken wanted to press the girl for details, unable to believe that anything could be worse than what Enak could do to her, but it was obvious Pammay was too terrified to talk about it. The other woman was so scared of what might happen to her if she tried to escape that she was willing to stay there regardless of what Enak did to her.
“Who is Rade?” Pammay asked suddenly.
Laken blinked in surprise at the question, wondering how the other girl knew about the pirate. “Why do you ask?”
Pammay offered her a small smile. “You said his name in your sleep.”
Laken felt her face color. Once again, she had visions of Rade kicking in the door to come and save her. She opened her mouth to answer Pammay’s question, but the door opened before she could. Startled, she instinctively took a step back as two men came into the room.
“The master wants to play with his new pet,” one of them growled.
Realizing that she was the “new pet” the man was referring to, Laken retreated back into the corner as much as possible, but he was on her in two quick strides. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room.
Laken threw a helpless look over her shoulder to see the other guard leading Pammay down the hallway after them. Unlike her, the other woman offered no resistance, and Laken couldn’t help but wonder whether she would end up being as docile as Pammay if she couldn’t escape from Enak. Never. She’d die first.
As the guard dragged her down one hallway and then another, Laken kept her eye out for possible escape routes. There were a lot of windows and doors she would have liked to try, but she would have to wait until she didn’t have a guard dragging her around. But how long would that be before they trusted her enough to let her out of their sight? And what horrors would she have to endure between now and then?
Abruptly, the guard stopped and pulled her into a room. Ornately decorated like Brantly Vlanders’ home, it looked overdone to her, as if Enak thought he could make himself seem high class by surrounding himself with expensive possessions. Even dressed in fine clothes, Enak looked like nothing more than the common thug he was, and she returned his gaze defiantly.
The guard holding her arm released her, and after a quick bow in Enak’s direction, he went to join the other guard who was standing with Pammay off to one side.
Laken lifted her chin to glare at Enak. “You don’t realize how big of a mistake you’ve made. When that scum Vlanders kidnapped me, I was with my boyfriend, Rade Karsten. There’s nothing he won’t do to find me.”
She hadn’t planned on mentioning Rade when she’d first come in, but it was out before she’d even realized it. Vlanders had obviously known him, though, so maybe Enak would as well. Rade’s reputation might even buy her some time.
Though Enak tried to hide it, she could see the surprise in his dark eyes.
“So, you do know him,” she said.
Enak’s lip curled. “I’ve heard of him.”
“Then you know what he’ll do to you if you touch me.”
Enak laughed. “You really think he would come after you?”
While a part of her hoped he would, she wasn’t betting on it. Rade had told her that he wouldn’t come to her rescue again, and she had no reason to doubt him. But Enak didn’t know that.
“He’ll come for me,” she bluffed. “If for no other reason than to kill the man who would be so stupid enough to steal anything that belongs to him.” She had no idea if that was true, but it certainly seemed to fit with Rade’s nasty reputation.
Enak snorted. “Karsten is a pirate and a womanizer. He’s probably already forgotten all about you and moved onto some other woman.” He reached out and grasped her chin between his fingers. “Though if he does, he’s a fool.”
Laken knocked his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
She held her breath, waiting for Enak to retaliate, but instead his gaze went to Pammay. “Show Laken what happens to slaves who defy me.”
Without a word, Pammay turned and began unbuttoning her dress. Pulling her long, blond hair to the side, she let the garment fall to her waist. Laken gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared at the dozens of scars cri
ss-crossing the other woman’s slender back.
“I will whip you as many times as it takes to break that spirit of yours,” Enak said, his voice close to her ear. “And after I break you, I will whip you again just because I enjoy it so much. And then, I will spread your legs and shove myself inside you.”
Laken swayed on her feet and thought she might actually have fallen if Enak hadn’t grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She braced herself, though for what she didn’t know. Luckily, she didn’t have to find out because at that moment, one of Enak’s men ran into the room and whispered something in his ear.
Enak’s face went dark, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at her. Swearing under his breath, he shoved her toward the man. “Get her out of here.”
