by Mary Auclair
“I will not hurt you.” A voice came from the back of the cell in tones of broken glass and gurgling water. As though whatever the creature was, it hadn’t spoken in a long time. “I seek only freedom.”
Hazel locked gazes with the golden eyes again and something snapped deep inside her. Something that had always been there, but had always been too afraid to wake up. She took a step closer to the bars.
“We can’t leave them here.” Hazel spoke as she still locked gazes with the creature. “Not Celaith, not any of them. This isn’t right.”
The creature moved, fast as lightning, reaching through the bars. A long-fingered hand covered in fine, raspy brown scales closed around Hazel’s wrist. The stench of an unwashed body, rotting linen and disease assailed her nostrils and those yellow eyes sparkled bright and clear in the middle of a reptilian, noseless and lipless face.
“Freedom is all I seek.” That word again. Like a mirage far away in a merciless desert, something to hold on to with a despair born of long suffering.
A despair that echoed the very fabric of Hazel’s life up to the day when an Eok warrior and his human mate came to Aveyn to free them from Knut’s hold. But even that freedom had been a lie, because soon after, Facility Twenty-One, where Hazel had been, had rebelled against the new human government and things had gone downhill from there. There had been violence and death, then Bobbie. Bobbie, with his cutting words and his fists.
A hiss of fury sliced the air and Khal moved, his talons ready to slice flesh, but the creature had already retreated to the back of its cell, hunched and so defeated that Hazel wasn’t sure whether she had dreamed of those yellow eyes asking for freedom.
“You could have been hurt!” Khal’s voice brimmed with fury, but also with worry. “This creature is nothing but a savage, an animal. He would have cut off your arm and eaten it while you watched.”
His deep, too bright blue eyes stared at her like a wall made of anger. His large hand closed on her upper arm and Khal pulled her closer to him, further away from the creature in the cell. Her temper flared bright and hot as the hold on her arm tightened. Khal had already dismissed her, speaking in hushed tones with Zaxis about the best way to force Gerkin to release Celaith to them.
About how much bribing the Eok would likely need to do such a thing.
They have no intention of freeing the others. They don’t see them like I do.
For her entire life, Hazel had been behind the bars of some jail or another. No more. No more bars, no more jail. And she wouldn’t suffer anyone else to be locked up either.
But how would she free them? She was just one woman. She was powerless.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door to the jail opening and Gerkin’s tall, burly figure walking through the long hallway in their direction, his pale, angry eyes on Khal and Zaxis, his mouth twisted with displeasure.
As he walked, the jailed creatures huddled a little farther into their cells, instinctively trying to distance themselves from the monster in their lives. Gerkin paid them no attention, and nor did he pay any to her.
No, his only focus was on the female Arvak flattening herself against the back wall of her filthy cell.
As he stormed past her, Hazel’s eyes landed on the set of keys at his waist. They dangled carelessly, unprotected while he ignored her completely. Her fingers itched to make a move and grab them to free Celaith, but she resisted. Khal was a mighty warrior, but so was Gerkin, and they were too outnumbered anyway.
They would need an army to fight off the Eok garrison of Garana.
“You’re going to tell me everything you know about Knut, and you’re going to tell me now.” Gerkin didn’t wait, he lurched past Khal and Zaxis, picking up his key and slamming it against the magnetic latch. The door to the cell opened with a metallic click and Gerkin went inside. A brief moment later, he was dragging a screaming Celaith by her hair while she kicked and scratched at his hands with her nails, but with little effect.
“The reward for Knut will be mine and no one else’s.”
Gerkin jerked Celaith up, his hand on her upper arm like a vice and Celaith screamed anew as the audible sound of bone breaking pierced the air. Just to Hazel’s side, Khal moved, his face like a thunderstorm, but he was outmaneuvered by Zaxis.
The Avonie male jumped with surprising agility, his fist connecting with Gerkin’s face with a crunching sound. Gerkin roared in rage, dropping Celaith to the floor as Khal made his move to join in the battle.
In the next instant, Celaith scrambled away, cradling her broken arm, her face striated with deep, dark pink lines and her eyes wide with fear.
The males faced each other as Hazel helped Celaith to her feet.
“Big mistake, attacking the commander like that,” Gerkin growled, wiping blood from an obviously broken nose. “I’ll have your hide for that, Avonie nobility or not.”
“You’re a disgrace to our nation, a disgrace to your post, and a disgrace to your troops.” Khal bit out his words as his talons pushed out of his fingertips, long and deadly. Facing him, Gerkin did the same, an ugly, bloodthirsty smirk spreading on his lips.
The males circled each other, ignoring Hazel and Celaith completely until Gerkin stood with his back to the females. Hazel stared at Khal, at the masculine, raw lines of face, the hardness of his lips, the brutal strength of his nose.
Someone will die here.
The thought sent a flash of panic up Hazel’s spine, because that someone might be the Eok warrior who had carved himself a place in her shy, aloof heart within the short time since she’d met him. She wasn’t sure she could live with what Khal had done, that lifelong bond he called a bloodmating, but she could no longer live in a world where he wasn’t alive.
She lurched, following pure instinct. At her side, Celaith’s mouth opened in a wide O as Hazel’s fingers closed on the keys dangling at Gerkin’s waist. Hazel jerked the keys free, ducking to the ground as Gerkin turned toward her, death in his gaze. His pale blue eyes locked on to the keys in her hands and he moved, slashing wildly with his talons.
Hazel cried out, falling to the floor as Khal leaped in. A flash of blue and red followed as Khal and Gerkin fell to the ground in a heap of murderous rage. Hazel’s heart stopped at the sight of blood, but she knew her time was short. Gerkin’s cries would have alerted the sensitive hearing of some of the Eok warriors, and the battle to follow was lost in advance.
Her panicked gaze went to the row of cells. The prisoners weren’t huddled in the back anymore. They stood, eyes on the fight, rage on their faces. Then Hazel had an idea. A stupid, crazy idea. An idea that might just save their lives.
The fight is lost without an army. We have an army.
Chapter 14
Hazel
Hazel turned to the cell where the brown creature stood, its hands closed around the metal bars, watching her with its expressionless, reptilian face. She reached out without hesitation, her hand pressing the magnetic key to open the door. Bright yellow eyes locked with hers as the barrier between her and the creature disappeared.
“Here’s your freedom.” Hazel pushed the key against the creature’s chest and its scaly fingers closed around her hand. “Free as many as you can. Fight.”
Its yellow eyes brightened and the creature nodded, once.
“Hazel!” Zaxis called and she turned to see him cradling Celaith against his chest. The Arvak female was unconscious, her features slack and her skin a sickly pale pink. “We have to get out of here.”
“We’re not leaving Khal!”
To her left, the brown creature was moving fast, opening cell after cell while prisoners stepped out. Never before had she seen so many various life forms, from long, spindly creatures with limbs made of soft looking, smooth skin to squat, tree-like creatures with skin that looked like bark.
And each of them was staring at Gerkin with deadly intent.
Then the door to the jail opened and a group of three Eok warriors pushed in, taking in the scene wit
h wide, disbelieving eyes. One of them spoke into the communication device at his wrist, his face set in resolve and anger, no doubt alerting the rest of the garrison.
Our time is up.
A roar of pain and disbelief sounded from behind her and Hazel pivoted in time to see Gerkin fall to the floor. Khal towered above him, his talons extended, blood marring his handsome face, his perfect chest.
There was so much blood, it made pools on the dirt floor. Something rolled toward her and Hazel’s stomach lurched to her throat when she recognized a severed hand.
Shouts and screams filled the crowded space, the coppery smell of blood mixing with the overpowering stench of the jail. Gerkin stayed down, cradling the stump of his arm close to his chest. He shouted orders accusing Khal as more Eoks crammed into the space. Khal turned to face the warriors, death in his eyes, rippling down his limbs, but he was only one warrior.
They’re going to kill him.
Someone far above her head called Khal’s name over and over again. The strain in her throat told her it was she who was calling, but it was like her body was possessed. Like her voice was an extension of herself.
Khal straightened, his shoulders tense and his talons stained with blood. He turned to meet Gerkin’s now feral gaze, ready to finish what he had started. Only he didn’t have the chance. Prisoners overran the commander of Garana like a wave, attacking with their claws, their fangs, their bare hands, all in total, focused silence.
Gerkin was barely visible as he fought them with his one remaining arm. Hazel stared at the display of violence, her mind a blank, her body frozen stiff.
Then Khal moved, fast. He was on her before she could realize what had happened. Arms like tree trunks closed around her body and she was shoved over his shoulder without further ceremony. Khal ran after Zaxis, passing groups of Eoks bent on saving their commander until they were up the stairs and in the garrison, then outside under the red planet’s constant dusty winds. Still, Khal ran with Zaxis just in front of him, carrying Celaith’s unconscious body. Hazel twisted to see ahead, but Khal jerked her back into place and all she could see was the door to the garrison banging open as they left it behind.
Until they both came to an abrupt stop.
Her feet met the red sand and Hazel twisted to see the young Eok from before, Hayro, standing in their way, an ionic gun pointed directly at Khal.
“I can’t let you leave, Commander Khal.” The young Eok’s voice shook, but his hands were steady as he stood between them and the Myrador. “You have committed a grave crime and you will need to answer for it.”
“There was no crime.” Khal quietly herded Hazel just behind his back and she had to contort her body to see what was happening. “Your commander is mad. At first, I thought his soul was lost to the bloodlust, but not anymore. He’s a dishonorable male, only interested in his own profit. Look what he did to this Arvak female. No Eok warrior should abide treatment like that. Now let us pass.”
“If this is so, then you will be able to prove it to the martial court.” Hayro shook his head, his mouth set in a stubborn line. Eoks were loyal to the bitter end, and his loyalty still lay with his commander. “Until then, I will keep your bloodmate safe. You have my word.”
“You are a young warrior and you have honor. It would pain me to send you to the Midnight God, but for the sake of my mission, I will.” Khal spoke low, but there was no mistaking the seriousness in his voice. “Prime Councilor Aav tasked me with retrieving something that could plunge the entire Ring into civil war, something that could cost billions of innocents their lives. Ask yourself this: is Gerkin’s greed worth your life? Your family’s life? Your tribe’s? Because that is what’s at stake here.”
Hesitation flickered in the young Eok’s face and he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Hazel’s blood turned cold as Khal’s talons extended again, and she knew he would kill the younger warrior.
Too much death. There’s just too much.
From somewhere behind them, other voices rang out. The troops would be on them in a few seconds. The time for talk was past.
“They will judge me for this.” The young warrior shook his head, then lowered his ionic gun. Acceptance settled in his features and when he moved aside, Hazel’s entire body filled with ice.
“Come with us.” Hazel spoke low, but Hayro heard her.
“I will get you as much time as I can.” His lips lifted in a sad smile and he shook his head. “Now go.”
“I will send a message to my brother, chief of the Erynian tribe.” Khal nodded to the young Eok. “Your bravery will not be forgotten.”
Then Zaxis ran into the Myrador, cradling Celaith against him like a sleeping toddler. Like she was precious. Khal grabbed Hazel’s hand and pulled her along. As the loading dock door closed behind them, Hazel turned to see Hayro one last time. He stood, his ionic gun raised, facing his brothers in arms. She knew the young Eok had saved their lives.
And had likely lost his in the process.
The Myrador shook and whined as Khal piloted it through the red clouds above Garana’s sand. Hazel sat in the back of the control room, cradling Celaith close as the ship shot out of the red planet’s atmosphere at an ungodly speed.
Already, the ship had shot through the clouds and out of the atmosphere, leaving behind the red planet drenched in the blood of more innocents. Hazel stared, nausea twisting her innards, as its bloody trace faded to an angry circle in the endless void of space.
She had no idea how much time had passed, only that her entire body ached and hurt as she still sat on the edge of her seat. On her lap, Celaith’s head rolled to the side and Hazel pulled her closer.
“Are they in pursuit?” Zaxis spoke, breaking the silence. His voice was tight as his fingers ran over the controls.
“No. They can’t spare the troops to track and pursue us,” Khal answered, his demeanor controlled, collected. As though he wasn’t affected in the slightest by the violence, the death they had just escaped. “I doubt Gerkin survived the uprising, but even if he did, his first priority will be to regain control of Garana. Many Eok warriors will meet the Midnight God before this day is over.”
Dread followed Khal’s words and Hazel felt the pangs of guilt bite at her heart. It was her fault the Eoks stationed on Garana would die, but still, she regretted nothing.
“Many more prisoners will die.” Her voice was small, high pitched. She knew she sounded every bit as weak and powerless as she felt. “And a great many more died before we even got there. Gods know how many souls perished in that jail over the years.”
Tension hovered in the air following Hazel’s words and she locked gazes with Khal, ignoring Zaxis. His hard set of lips flattened in anger and too-blue eyes gleamed as Khal glared at her.
“How many do you think escaped?” Hazel couldn’t help the hopeful tone in her voice. “Can they even get off the planet?”
“Even if all the prisoners got out of their cells, there’s very little chance they managed to take a ship and leave.” Khal’s tone was cold and the look he gave her was even colder. “They’re too undisciplined, too savage. All this uprising did was to provide us with enough distraction to escape.”
Undisciplined. Savages.
Hazel felt the slight all the way to her cheeks. A burn spread over her face as anger twisted her innards. How easy it was for him to judge the prisoners as unworthy of freedom. As untrustworthy, as savages. Just as humans had been deemed too weak to survive by themselves.
She wanted to answer back, wanted to spew out something snarky and sassy, something that would make Khal grit his teeth and brew a thunderstorm in those deep blue eyes. But for once, she was voiceless.
All that misery had killed something inside her.
Zaxis exhaled forcefully and leaned back in his chair, finally looking up from his controls.
“We’re out of range of their scanners. Unless they immediately sent a tracker, we made a clean escape.”
Silence descended o
ver the small group of people, soon broken by Celaith’s painful whine.
“She’s awake.” Hazel brushed a strand of amazingly silky brown hair from the Arvak’s brow. Her gaze went to the sickeningly misshapen arm wrapped across Celaith’s slender chest. “Her arm is broken. She’s going to need medical attention.”
Zaxis got up and walked to Celaith, then squatted in front of her. Concern and something else—something akin to tenderness—crossed the normally impassive features of the Avonie male and he reached for Celaith’s brow, running his fingers over the pale purple skin.
“I won’t be able to fix her bones completely with the medical equipment we have on board.” There was sadness in Zaxis’s voice as he spoke, and he stared at Celaith’s face with fascination. Her dark pink eyes fluttered open, then shut again as she fought to regain consciousness. “She won’t suffer much after I’ve immobilized the break, but it will take time to heal. There is no telling what other injuries she sustained under Gerkin’s care.”
Zaxis spit out the word care like a curse, then cradled Celaith against his chest. The Arvak cried out in pain as her arm was moved, but didn’t completely wake up. Hazel watched Zaxis leave with Celaith, then turned around to face the Prussian blue warrior whose deep eyes of the same shade gleamed with an expression that made her belly quiver and her throat close up with fear at the same time. Blood still marred his features, dried and dark against the blue of his skin.
Hazel bit down on the inside of her cheek, hard. She couldn’t show weakness now. Not when she was at his mercy.
“What you did was irresponsible, dangerous and downright insane.” Khal’s voice was heavy with anger, but he kept it low and controlled. No emotion showed on his hard features, only the remote sternness of a military commander who had been disobeyed and who wasn’t accustomed to it. Somehow, it made him even more frightening. “Moreover, you directly disobeyed me.”
Hazel’s skin crawled with a current of fear and adrenaline as Khal’s mouth pursed into a stern, thin line. She was suddenly very much aware that they were alone for the first time since that mind-bending sexual encounter just a few hours before, but which now felt like it had happened in another lifetime.
