Stealing Mercury (Arena Dogs Book 1)

by Charlee Allden

  He fumbled with it for a moment before growing frustrated. “Fuck.”

  Samantha took pleasure in the momentary victory. He couldn’t get the fence back up as long as the small device still in her pocket was transmitting.

  “Give me your stun-stick,” he barked to someone outside her field of vision.

  “Sir?” The guard sounded confused and uncertain.

  “It’ll fry whatever jammer she’s using. Hand it over!”

  His boot lifted off her wrist and she tried to push up, get to her knees.

  “Faster than searching her,” he said.

  Lightning struck her ribs. Her muscles twitched—all of them tightening in agony at the same instant. Fuck, how did Mercury stand it? The pain blazed through her brain and time slowed. When the worst of the agony faded, pain still washed through her like water sloshing in a shakily held bowl.

  Howls filled the air in a sweet chorus that settled against her heart like a balm and terrified her at the same time. They sounded close, too close. Why weren’t they running far, far away?

  With the realization that she couldn’t yet give into the pain, she fought the lingering weakness. She could almost feel the surge of adrenaline. Her breath came easier and control of her limbs slowly began to return. She pulled her useless arm tight against her body. Her fingers pressed lightly against the cool metal of a low tech blade she’d taped to her belly. It had been the only weapon she could carry hidden beneath that skimpy dress.

  “That’s right, Mercury.” Vile expectation slithered beneath Drake’s voice. The remote was in his hand. “Come on over the fence.”

  Mercury’s answering howl rang with frustration. Stars, he was so close. He had to know the moment he touched the fence Drake would trigger the pulse system. He’d be stunned and Drake would have him back in a cage before he recovered.

  “Put down the remote.” Mercury’s voice vibrated with menace. “Then we’ll come over.”

  “He’s afraid to face us,” Lo growled. “Without chains and bars between us.”

  Something squeezed a fist around Samantha’s heart. She took a fortifying breath and lifted her head. Mercury crouched just beyond the fence, beautiful storm cloud eyes locked onto hers. “I won’t leave you.” His voice was so low and rumbling she doubted anyone could have understood, but she knew him. Knew his voice. Knew his soul. He’d promised her once. It was the only thing, he’d said, the only thing he had to give her. His promise not to leave her behind.

  “It would be smarter to leave me.” She whispered, but she knew he heard.

  “Sometimes,” he said. “It’s better to go with your heart and your instincts.”

  He used almost the same words she’d used back on the Gwendella and there was absolute certainty in his face. He finally understood. She groaned with a heart full of love and grief. Why now, when she needed him to be smart instead of giving into his emotion and instincts? He wouldn’t give up now, even if it got them all killed.

  Lo paced like a trapped animal, searching for some flaw in the fence that would allow him to get to her. “Be the man you claim,” snarled Lo, stare fixed on Drake with a laser focus. “Toss away the remote and let us in.”

  Samantha had been willing to give her own freedom to save Hera, to save them, but she wouldn’t allow Mercury or Lo to be put back in a cage. If they were willing to fight for her, she had to find a way to help them.

  Her hand closed around the blade handle and yanked, tape and all. Thrust it hard into Drake’s booted foot.

  “Fuck!” The remote hit the ground with a soft thud. Drake dropped to his ass, grabbing for the handle of the blade and pulling it free. “Fucking bitch.”

  Samantha batted a hand at the remote. She struck it with a rewarding amount of strength. It flew across the ground, well out of reach of Drake or any of the others.

  Mercury and Lo flew up the fence with the grace and power of dancers. They dropped to the ground in one, two, heavy thunks that sent dirt flying into the air.

  “Fucking, hell,” Drake swore as he scrambled toward her.

  A fist in her hair jerked her head back then pain exploded in her temple. Drake screamed. Mercury snarled. He pinned the whip-master to the ground. She tried to blink them into focus. Mercury’s hands held Drake’s head. He looked ready to crush the man’s skull.

  And then he hesitated. His muscles went slack. He landed in a pile atop Drake, who shoved him to the side and scrambled to his feet.

  Lo lay a few meters away, equally still.

  Tears welled and her belly revolted. What little she’d eaten that day came up and spilled onto the hard packed ground. Her belly heaved again, but there was nothing left inside.

  Samantha pushed away from the mess and rolled onto her back. Her energy drained away as the adrenaline rush faded and her injuries roared into her awareness.

  Through the blur of her own tears she saw two shapes form out of the shadows of the juvenile center’s roof. Blobs became columns—human columns with rifles cradled in their arms. They’d never really had a chance.

  What had she done?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  RomaRex Arena Medical Center, Roma

  Earth Alliance Beta Sector

  2210.185

  Everything hurt. It was the first thought Samantha had. Her head ached like a herd of cattle had trampled across it. And she couldn’t remember where she was.

  “I want her on her feet and ready for the arena in an hour.” She recognized that voice. Drake. She forced her eyes open to see a woman with ice-blue eyes and short blonde hair leaning over her. She wore a white med-coat.

  Samantha was in a med-bed, but she didn’t remember how she’d gotten there. As she tried to bring it back, grief swamped her.

  “Mercury. Lo.” The words cut free of her chest and across her lips like blades cutting through a fleshy scabbard.

  “They’re fine.” The woman spoke with confidence. “They were sedated using dart rifles. They’re being taken to the arena staging area,” the woman explained.

  Relief surged up and nearly took Samantha back under. Something pricked her arm. Gentle hands applied something cool to her cheek and temple. Across her lips. Slowly she became aware of distant cheers and low thuds from above. They must be directly under the arena.

  She tried to speak and nothing came out. She swallowed and tried again. “What will happen to them?”

  “You should be more concerned about your situation at the moment,” answered the medic.

  “Please.”

  The woman shot her a sympathetic look. “Owens is slating them into the arena schedule tonight. He wants them back in the arena one last time so that everyone can see they’re back where they belong.”

  “Then what?”

  “Oh, I don’t expect there’ll be a then anything. Owens doesn’t like to lose an opportunity to make profit, but he wants them dead and there’s no way he’ll risk anything going wrong again.”

  “He wants you there.” The man attached to the voice came into view. Short cropped hair and a med-coat. Another medic. “He’ll want you on display for the crowds. To show that no one gets away with stealing from Roma.”

  “Abel,” said the woman. “Don’t upset her.”

  “She’ll find out soon enough,” said Abel.

  Yes, she needed to know as much as possible, if she was going to find a way to stop it. Never lose hope. That’s what her father had taught her and she was finally ready to accept she was her father’s daughter.

  The medics moved away. Samantha didn’t think they’d gone far, but her head hurt too much to move, so she lay still staring at the ceiling.

  “Look at this,” The female medic whispered. She was speaking to Abel though. Not to Samantha.

  “Damn. Is that right?”

  Samantha decided she’d risk the pain. Slowly, she turned her head until she could see them huddled over a screen. The pain of moving was every bit as bad as she expected and she still had no idea what they were loo
king at. She glanced toward the door. No guards. Her desire to escape won over her curiosity. She lifted a leg a centimeter off the med-bed experimentally. She might have the strength to stand.

  “This could change everything,” said the medic.

  Samantha was working up the energy to roll off the bed when Abel was back by her bedside. “You don’t know that it’s one of theirs.” He was still talking to the other medic.

  “She’s been with them long enough.”

  Abel huffed. “Let’s stick to things we can do something about.”

  Sam made a useless grab for his arm. “What are you talking about?”

  He pulled a mender down over her chest. “Hold still now. I’m going to stimulate regen on that broken rib. It shouldn’t hurt. Tell me if it does.”

  Samantha felt the tingle in her chest from the mender doing its work. “What could change things?”

  “Don’t talk.”

  The female medic came around to Samantha’s right side and pressed an injector to her wrist. “This will numb your hand while I work on it. The good news is, this isn’t as bad as it must feel.”

  “Answer my question,” Samantha demanded. She was aware as she did that some of the pain in her skull had already started to fade. They must have treated it before she regained consciousness.

  The medic tilted her head and studied her like a specimen under a scope. “Have you been intimate with the Dogs?”

  “What?” Samantha sputtered at the too personal question.

  Abel put a hand on her shoulder. “Be still and quiet or I’ll sedate you.”

  Samantha lay in defeated silence while the two medics worked. When they’d done all they could for her injuries, Abel stowed the mender and the other supplies while the woman held her hand.

  “You’re a tough woman,” said Abel. “That whip-master needs a beating with his own whip. Why in hell did you go after Hera by yourself?”

  Samantha bristled at the implied criticism. “I thought she was pregnant.”

  Abel shook his head. “I heard they’d been putting out that rumor, but I can assure you she’s not.”

  “I know that now.”

  The female medic patted the back of Samantha’s hand. “Her lack of pregnancy is the reason they were so determined to get rid of her mate.”

  Samantha thought of the conversation she’d had with Carn back on G-45987. “Carn thought the match had been rigged.”

  “Finding a way to make more Arena Dogs is critical to Owens. If there’s a chance Mercury, Carn, or Lo is the father of your baby we have to get you out of here.”

  “What?” Her baby? Shock left her dazed.

  “Chelle!” Abel’s shout startled her.

  “We can’t hand her over to Owens,” said Chelle. “Not if there’s even a chance. If Owens knew human women can carry their children, there’ll be no stopping him. We have to get her out of here. And we need to do it before Myers and Mallow come on shift.”

  Chelle squeezed Samantha’s hand and looked down at her. “You should be feeling a bit better now.”

  “Please,” said Samantha. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “You didn’t know.” A sad smile ghosted across her face. “Hera isn’t pregnant, but you are.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  RomaRex Arena Staging Area, Roma

  Earth Alliance Beta Sector

  2210.185

  A familiar pain radiated through Mercury’s shoulders. He couldn’t feel his hands. For once the chants of the crowds, dully pulsing somewhere overhead, were a welcome promise of relief. If he was expected to fight, whatever he was being punished for would be forgiven.

  He forced his eyes open. Lo was by his side. The dull gray drapes that divided up the staging area blurred momentarily and the shadow of another place fell across his field of visions. It twined around the pillars and slipped along the ceiling like a ghostly phantom, painting his world with memories of a dream. A dream so sweet he couldn’t fathom how it could have come from his imagination. He had no frame of reference for a human medic that would treat him with respect and a woman who would stand at his side with courage in the day, then hold him in her arms through the night.

  “Samantha.”

  “You say her name like it’s some fucking prayer.” Drake sneered then shoved him from behind to set his body swinging.

  The pain spiked, but not enough to steal his consciousness and send him back into the blackness. Not enough to distract him from Drake’s words. Not enough to disperse the intense anguish that came with the return of reality.

  Samantha was no dream. She was real and, because of him, she was in the hands of the worst of monsters. He’d brought her here. He was to blame.

  Mercury snarled at the man who’d been his trainer and his tormentor. “Where is she?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Drake. He circled them as if he were tethered to them as surely as they were tethered to the cold metal rings over their heads. “I’ll make sure she has a good view of your match.”

  Lo’s snarl snapped Mercury’s attention to his brother and the whip-master taunting him from a safe distance.

  He didn’t see Carn or Hera. He could only hope they’d managed to evade recapture. They’d be free. But at what cost?

  “Will this match be as fated as the last?” He still remembered the horror of watching the Game Master’s thumb dip down.

  “Oh, much worse,” said Drake. “The medic will be here with the drugs shortly.”

  Lo shuddered. Normally, Drake would have jumped on the opportunity to torment him and draw out his fear, but he was focused inward and he continued speaking.

  “Grande wanted me to whip you first. Try to get you to tell us where Carn is hiding. I convinced him that would be pointless. Pointless and bad for our image. The crowd should always see you looking strong.”

  They’d heard that axiom often enough.

  Mercury coughed up a bitter laugh. “Still trying to earn your way into your master’s good opinion? I’m surprised he let you live after how badly you failed.”

  A flush crept up Drake’s neck. If his features tightened any further his face would crack. He turned and stalked a few meters away.

  Mercury locked gazes with Lo. “She told me you didn’t follow because of my strategies or my success. After stumbling at every turn this day, I’m thinking she must have been right.”

  “She is right.” Lo yipped. “She wouldn’t want you to waste time blaming yourself.”

  Mercury dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “We have no time for regrets.”

  “No regrets,” echoed Lo. His voice dropped and turned wistful. “I regret nothing.”

  “She also said there’s always hope, brother. We won’t give up now.” Mercury howled and Lo joined him. All around them, other voices rose up and merged into a song of grief—an expression of agony known to all Arena Dogs.

  Drake spun around to face them. “Shut the fuck up!” He turned in a small circle and shouted the command out to all the Dogs being prepped for matches. “Shut up!”

  Mercury let his howl fade to nothing and the others followed. “We are Arena Dogs!”

  “We are Arena Dogs!” The shout came back to him, clear and strong with the power of every Dog close enough to join in.

  Mercury sucked in air and shouted again. “We are strong!”

  “We are strong!”

  Mercury’s heart surged with the combined will of all Dogs. “We will be free!”

  The chant thundered back to him. “We will be free!”

  “We will never give up!

  “Never!” Their voices drowned out the arena crowds as they broke into howls and hoots and discordant cheers.

  Mercury met Drake’s blood-red complexion with a smile of satisfaction. He wouldn’t give up. Samantha would not die on Roma, nor would she live under the thumb of the owners.

  Mercury forced all his energy and breath into making a low-sound alert. Many of the others joined him. He took a
nother breath and dove back into the silent booming of their infrasound calls. It had to be enough to alert Saber. It had to be enough to give them some small opportunity to fight back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  RomaRex Arena Medical Center, Roma

  Earth Alliance Beta Sector

  2210.185

  Could it be true? Samantha’s hand went to her belly. “I had a blocker. It should be good for another year.”

  “I double-checked the test results,” said Chelle. “Just four weeks. It is their baby, isn’t it?”

  “We’ve always suspected the males had sturdy swimmers,” said Abel.

  Chelle scowled at him.

  “Uh, sorry. We’ve suspected for some time that the females are the problem.”

  Samantha had no reason to trust them. “Why should I tell you anything?”

  “Because we’re on your side,” said Chelle. “We’re going to help you get out of here.”

  “You can’t do this,” said Abel. He pulled Chelle around to face him. “Think what you’re doing.”

  “There’s nothing Owens wouldn’t do,” said Chelle. “If he knew. Nothing would stop him from breeding a whole new generation of Arena Dogs.”

  The implications were terrifying, But Samantha couldn’t think about that now. If she was going to have a baby, she wasn’t going to raise it without the father. “I’m not leaving without Mercury and Lo.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” said Abel. “Chelle is already—”

  Another look from Chelle shut the man up. “Abel, don’t you see. It really is theirs. She’s trying to save the baby’s father.”

  “Leave that to me,” said Abel. “I’ll do my best to get them out.”

  Chelle shook her head. “If I get her out, security will be tightened. The usual way won’t work. I have to do this.”

  Chelle took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I’d like you to let the leaders of the resistance know I wouldn’t have blown my cover for any other reason.”