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He aimed his gun at him. “Where’s Eden? What have you done to her?”

The Pecket smirked. “That’s what you’re here for? Not the animals?”

“Them too. Where is she?”

The Pecket nodded at Blaze’s weapon. “Put it down, soldier. Final warning.”

Blaze gritted his teeth as his gaze cut from one group of Pecket to the other. He couldn’t take them all, and if he tried, he’d never see Eden again.

He lowered his weapon to the floor and then stood with his hands raised.

“Another prize,” the Pecket said. “Take him to the cargo hold. He can go in with the other beasts until we figure out what to do with him.”

Blaze snarled at the three Pecket who shoved him to the cargo hold on the lower deck of the ship.

The second he entered, a familiar gasp caught his attention. Eden was in a cage in one corner.

An ache from the pit of his stomach swelled inside him when he saw her. She was bloodied, bruised, and what little clothing she wore was torn.

“You’ll pay for doing that to her,” he growled at one of the Pecket.

None of them responded, simply opened an empty cage door and pointed at it.

He shook his head. “Put me in with her.”

“Get in here now, or I’ll shoot her.” The Pecket holding open the door lifted his gun at Eden.

“Go fuck yourself,” she said.

Blaze shot her a smile. She still had that saucy mouth on her.

He glowered at his captors as he headed inside the cage, and the door was slammed shut behind him. He raced to the side to get closer to Eden. “How badly are you injured?”

One of the Pecket banged his fist on the front of the cage. “Keep quiet. We’ll be back for you.” He marched away with his colleagues.

Blaze reached out a hand through the bars.

Eden did the same, and their fingertips brushed.

“I’m okay,” she said.

That was a lie. Pain was etched across her face, and fresh bruises bloomed on her skin, but there was only courage in her eyes. She was still fighting.

“I’ll kill every one of them for what they’ve done to you,” he said.

“You’ll have to beat me to it,” she said. “So, hotshot. How the hell are we getting out of this mess?”

His gaze cut around the cargo hold. It was full of terrified, stressed-out animals. This place was a nightmare. It had to end. And they’d be the ones to end it.