by Amy Pennza
A jump from the rapidly moving vehicle would almost definitely leave her with serious injuries, assuming she survived it. Even if she did, there was little chance she’d make it through the night without food or shelter. With its thin atmosphere, Tolbos lost heat rapidly after sunset, and temperatures plunged low enough to cause hypothermia. Her options boiled down to jumping from the vehicle and possibly freezing to death or staying put and living out her days as a warlord’s personal sex toy.
She sighed and studied the backs of the men’s heads. Her options sucked. As if voicing its agreement, her stomach growled loudly.
Porter twisted in his seat and grinned at her. “Hungry?”
“I haven’t eaten since I landed.”
“Don’t worry. We’re almost there. Just over this ridge.”
Her breath caught when they reached the top. The “ridge” was actually the lip of a giant crater that stretched so wide she couldn’t see the other side. But that wasn’t even the most impressive part. In the center rose a mountain so tall it blotted out the descending suns, which created a hazy reddish-brown halo around the peak.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Porter asked, as Nadia threw up a hand to shield her eyes.
For someone who had spent the majority of her twenty-five years aboard a starship, it certainly was. There might have been taller mountains on Earth and other planets, but Nadia had never seen one in person. She gripped the back of Porter’s seat as Ivar took the vehicle down the crater’s steep slope. The mountain loomed over them, casting a black shadow that swallowed the vehicle and raised goose bumps on her exposed skin.
They hurtled down the side of the crater, and her stomach dropped as they headed straight toward the mountain. It was even more massive from this angle. Nadia stared up at it. Did they expect her to climb that thing? As they neared the base, two structures appeared. She squinted, struggling to make them out in the suns’ dying light.
The vehicle sped closer, bringing them into view. They were guard towers, she realized, spotting a handful of men on platforms at the top. Tall and white, the two identical towers stood like giant, lonely sentinels at the foot of the mountain. She wondered how many Tolbos trees it had taken to build them. She’d been taught they were scarce, but her teachers at the Academy had got it wrong. The stunted trees were everywhere. Fascinating. She’d love to get her hands on one. Maybe run a few experiments.
She tightened her grip on the seat. Remember where you are, idiot. Her heart sank. She’d just been sold at a slave auction. No one on Tolbos cared about science or experiments.
The men in the towers saluted as the vehicle passed between them. For a moment, it looked like Ivar would drive the vehicle smack into the side of the mountain, but the road dipped and curved at the last second, revealing an opening big enough for the vehicle. At last, he slowed down, and they entered a yawning tunnel. It was dark, but a blaze of light beckoned. After a few soft curves, they emerged from another wide opening and into the light.
Nadia gaped at the world that opened before her. They drove through an enormous cavern ringed with a network of caves that soared as high as the eye could see. There had to be hundreds of them. She craned her head to search for a ceiling. Each level of caves was set back from a wide path that climbed up and around smooth walls. Lights flickered in most of the openings, and she caught glimpses of people and furnishings. The inside of the mountain was practically hollow—an intricate honeycomb of caves dug from solid rock. She was counting the levels when Ivar stopped the vehicle.
The sound of the engine shutting off brought her crashing back to reality. They’d stopped in the middle of the cavern’s smooth stone floor, near half a dozen empty vehicles. Twisting around, she realized no daylight reached the inside of the mountain. The entire cavern was illuminated by dozens of torches set in hooks on the walls.
She was in the belly of the beast now—literally. Her heart beat hard against her ribs as Porter and Ivar climbed out of the vehicle and gathered their weapons. Despite the water she’d sipped during the long drive, her throat felt suddenly dry.
Porter stretched and ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair, grimacing when they came away coated with dust. “I’m in serious need of a bath, not to mention food. You headed to the dining hall?”
Ivar shook his head. “Nadia and I will eat upstairs. We need some time to get acquainted.” The way he said her name put the emphasis on the second syllable, so it came out sounding more like Na-dee-ya.
Still seated, she took deep breaths in an effort to slow her heart rate. Get acquainted was an interesting euphemism for nonconsensual sex. Just her luck. She’d landed a warlord with manners. Great.
“Right,” Porter said, tossing her a quick smile. “It’s been a pleasure, Nadia. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” He swept her a courtly bow, adjusted his sword, and strode off.
She felt abandoned as she watched him go. He wasn’t exactly a friend, but he’d been kind to her. A small sound snapped her attention back to Ivar, who watched her with his odd-colored eyes.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll get you something to eat.” It was couched politely enough, but they both knew it wasn’t a request.
She got out of the vehicle on stiff legs and stood before him, her gaze darting to the kaptum sword in his brown hand and traveling almost against her will up the muscular arm, across his shoulder, to his face.
He wasn’t classically handsome. His face was far too cruel and hard for that. But she had to admit he was pleasing to look at. Golden skin stretched taut over deep cheekbones and a square jaw. His blade of a nose had a scar across the bridge. He had another scar on his forehead, where his black hair formed a prominent widow’s peak. It was buzzed so close to his head she could see his scalp, which sported several more scars. Either he was especially clumsy or someone had tried to kill him multiple times. Considering how she felt about him after less than a day in his presence, her bet was on the latter.
“Like what you see?” his deep voice rumbled.
Her cheeks heated at being caught staring. “Does it matter?” she dared to ask.
In reply, his gaze dropped to her legs, then traveled upward with an agonizing slowness that made her breath hitch. By the time his gaze settled on her face, she was certain her cheeks could have started a fire. She could hardly complain about his scrutiny, considering she’d just subjected him to the same.
He flipped the broadsword up so the flat of the blade rested on his shoulder and his wrist draped over the hilt. “Come,” he said and then turned and walked away.
She opened her mouth to tell him that, slave or no, she had no intention of sleeping with him, but he kept walking, the sword bouncing in sync with his stride. Clearly, he expected her to follow him like an obedient dog.
Screw him.
She spun in a slow circle. The cavern’s smooth floor was shiny, almost polished, and it showed no tracks from the vehicle’s tires. There were openings at various points along the walls. She could walk right out. Goodbye, asshole! She looked back the way Ivar had gone just in time to see him disappear through an arched doorway carved into the stone.
She stared after him, wondering what sort of game he was playing. Although she could hear the faint sounds of movement and voices drifting from the caves along the walls, the cavern floor was deserted. As far as she could see, there was no one to stop her from leaving. He probably assumed she was too terrified to make a run for it. His arrogance galled her, even if it was closer to the truth than she cared to admit.
She smoothed her sweaty palms down the tattered shirt. The chill she’d felt in the mountain’s shadow had been a strong reminder of how dangerous night was on Tolbos—especially for someone with no food or supplies. She glanced around at the various openings and muttered, “Pick a door, any door.” Even if she managed to make it out of the mountain, she’d still have to get past the guards on the towers. And what then? A quick, miserable death in subzero temperatures? Another run-in with Axos or Raddoc?
With a last, lingering look at the nearest opening, she headed toward the doorway Ivar had entered. Before she stepped through it, she stopped to stare at the torches blazing on either side. They glowed with an odd blue-tinged light unlike anything she’d seen before. The flames also behaved strangely, undulating so slowly they seemed to move as though underwater. She watched, mesmerized, as one twisted in midair and dipped toward her. Heat bloomed against her chest as a long tendril of flame crept closer. Nadia extended her hand.
“I wouldn’t,” a deep voice said from the shadow of the archway.
She jumped and let out a muffled yelp. The flame shivered in the air and retreated to the top of the torch. She glared at Ivar. “You scared me!”
He leaned against the doorway. “Don’t touch the flames. They’re infused with kaptum.”
“Are they?” She glanced at them. “I thought kaptum exploded when heated.”
“Not trace amounts.”
“You put it in the fire? Why?”
“Everything on Tolbos contains kaptum. The soil. The air.” His eyes gleamed in the torchlight, which now leaned in his direction. “It’s all around you.”
The light played over his face. Not for the first time, she felt small and fragile standing next to him. At nearly six feet, she was tall for a woman, but he dwarfed her. “You can’t force me to sleep with you,” she said in a low voice.
One black eyebrow lifted. “I bought you. The word ‘force’ doesn’t apply to slaves.”
She gritted her teeth. “I’m not your slave. A person can’t own another person. The Council—”
“As you might have noticed, the Earth-Space Intergalactic Council does not maintain a presence here. This is a prison planet, and you’re a prisoner, which means you’re no longer entitled to the Council’s protection. As it happens, however, I have no interest in forcing anyone to sleep with me.”
“But you—” She glared at him. She’d almost said ‘bought.’
His smile was slow and wicked. Oh, yes. He knew exactly what she’d been about to say. He gestured toward the cavern. “You decided to follow me rather than escape—a wise decision, I might add—and you’ll decide to share my bed. Force won’t be necessary.”
“Don’t count on it.”
To her consternation, he winked at her before turning and walking through the arch once more. “As you say, Na-dee-ya,” he said over his shoulder. “Come.”
The command set her teeth on edge. She was getting awfully tired of being ordered about like an animal. She followed him down a narrow corridor lit with torches set high in the walls. His broad shoulders almost touched either side. The memory of being flung over the one-eyed giant’s back sent a phantom ache through her middle.
At least Ivar hadn’t done that. Compared to Axos and his men, he’d been downright courteous.
His words from the auction came back to her. “You want to get out of this place alive?” He’d gripped her arm as he’d pulled her through the crowd, but he hadn’t hurt her. Unlike Axos, he hadn’t tied or threatened to maim her. Most people were more honest in their actions than their words. Ahead of her, the bluish light of the kaptum torches glinted in the broadsword he still carried.
He’d said he wouldn’t force her to sleep with him. So far, he’d given her no reason to doubt him.
With the threat of rape off the table, she was free to indulge her curiosity about his home. Although crude by Earth or starship standards, the network of caves was an amazing feat of engineering. The walls bore chisel marks here and there, and she marveled at how long it must have taken the prisoners on Tolbos to dig this place out of the mountain.
The corridor ended in a spiral staircase carved into the cavern wall. Ivar grabbed a torch and, holding it aloft, began to climb. Nadia followed, wondering just how high it went. Her stomach was rumbling again, and her temples throbbed. She propelled her body up stair after stair.
Every fifteen steps or so, they passed a landing that led down another corridor. Her side pinched. Another landing. Maybe this time he’d stop and say, “We’re here!”
Nope. He kept climbing.
She stared blearily at the bobbing light from Ivar’s torch. Did he intend to summit the stupid mountain?
Just as she was about to sink onto the step in front of her and beg him to leave her for dead, the stairs leveled out into a broad passageway. Ivar tucked the torch into an empty holder and watched her drag herself up the last few steps.
“You get used to the stairs,” he said.
She sagged against the wall, her shaking legs threatening to collapse under her.
Without warning, he scooped her into his arms. She squawked and struggled to tug her shirt back down her thighs. The hard arm under her legs skirted dangerously close to her bare backside.
“Stop wiggling.” He hefted her higher up on his chest. The movement further dislodged her shirt, making it puddle around her stomach. Her entire lower half was bared to his gaze. Before she could protest, he carried her through another doorway and set her down in a large room dominated by the biggest bed she’d ever seen.
In the middle of it, a beautiful blonde sat on her knees brushing another woman’s hair. Nadia gasped. So that was what he kept in his mountain hideaway? A harem?
The woman with the brush stopped mid-stroke and nudged the other, who glanced over her shoulder. They regarded Nadia with identical curious expressions.
Apparently unfazed by the scene, Ivar moved around her and crossed to a big desk made of Tolbos wood. He lay his sword on the surface and settled himself behind it. “Eleni, Annika, this is Nadia. Nadia, meet Eleni and Annika.”
The women smiled. They could have been sisters with their long, wavy hair and clear blue eyes. Although they weren’t dressed provocatively, their clothes couldn’t hide the fact that they both possessed lovely figures.
Nadia looked at Ivar. “You have a harem?”
He shrugged.
“You…have a harem.”
“Ladies, do me a favor and bring Nadia and me something to eat,” he said.
They climbed off the bed and brushed past her, their bare feet quiet on the stone floor. Giggles floated behind them as they disappeared out the door.
Nadia watched them go, then turned back to Ivar, who stared at her from behind his desk. “Did you buy them too?”
He shook his head slowly.
“How nice,” she said weakly. “They’re volunteers.”
He pointed to a chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”
“I’m going to start begging for treats,” she muttered, but she obeyed. She didn’t think her legs could hold her upright much longer. Like the desk, the chair was made of Tolbos wood. It was surprisingly comfortable, with a seat that had been braided together out of long, thin strips of the white bark.
Ivar leaned back and plopped his booted feet on the edge of the desk. He stared at her openly. A large chunk of brown soil fell from one boot to the polished wood surface. She grimaced.
Uncomfortable under his scrutiny, she let her gaze wander around the room. Carved from the mountain, it was really just a large cave, albeit a clean and spacious one. The furnishings were well-made but minimal. Besides the bed, desk, and chairs, there were just a few simple stools scattered about. Clearly, his decorating tastes tended toward the martial.
The wall behind him held an impressive assortment of weapons. There were daggers and swords in a variety of shapes and lengths. A wooden-handled whip with a tail made of metal links hung just behind his head.
“What is your full name?” he rumbled, making her jump.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Nadia Green.”
“That’s fitting.”
“Why?”
“Your eyes.”
She stared. Was he…flirting with her? After several awkward beats, she said, “What’s your name? Your full name, I mean.”
The little flicker of amusement crept into his eyes again. This time, she definitely was
n’t imagining it. “Ivar Holok.”
“Oh.”
Another long silence, then he said, “And why are you here, Nadia Green?”
Like he didn’t know? “You bought—”
“Why are you on Tolbos?”
She looked away as blood rushed to her cheeks. “I…stole.”
His tilted his head. “What did you steal?”
She sighed. What did it matter if he knew about her crime? It’s not like she had a reputation to protect—not any longer. She met his gaze. “I broke into the medical unit on my starship with the intent to burgle five units of crush.” That’s precisely how the head magistrate had worded it—intent to burgle. It seemed impossible that such a silly-sounding word had earned her a sentence on Tolbos. It shouldn’t have been possible.
“Are you a doctor?”
“No, I—”
“Did you work in the medical unit?”
“No, but—”
“Where did you work?”
“If you’d stop interrupting me, I could tell you!” The last word bounced off the cavern’s walls. She waited for him to erupt, but he just watched her, his expression calm.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Ah, before my arrest, I was training to join a Mars field team.”
“To do what?”
“Study pollution. The Council is concerned about the air quality, so we were going to run some—”
“What’s crush?”
Of course, he had to ask that. “It’s an anesthetic, but it’s also used for…”
“Yes?”
She clenched her jaw. She couldn’t tell if he really didn’t know, or if he just wanted to make her say it. “Some people use it to heighten arousal,” she mumbled.
“I didn’t quite catch that.”
She threw up her hands. “It’s an aphrodisiac, okay? Harmless. I got caught before I actually took anything. My trial happened so quickly, I didn’t realize they intended to send me here. I shouldn’t even be—” The outrage she’d felt during her sentencing rose up, threatening to choke her.
