AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You did it!” I breathed out, watching Ravik painfully get up on his feet.
Legs numb from so many hours in that position, weakened by his wounds and blood loss, Ravik put up a good front as he edged towards my cell dragging his chain. He advanced slowly, mostly blind in the darkness.
“Mercy,” he whispered. “My beautiful mate.”
The reverence and love in his voice brought tears to my eyes. His shackled hand slipped through the bars to caress my cheek. I leaned in to his touch. My hand covering his, I pressed his palm even more against my face and closed my eyes, savoring a brief moment of tenderness. I kissed his palm and then pressed mine over the locking mechanism of his shackles. It quickly unlocked. My breath hitched, and my chest constricted, seeing the metal had chafed his skin raw no doubt during his effort to pull the shackles free.
“It’s okay, my love. I’m fine,” Ravik said.
But he wasn’t fine. He had too many bleeding wounds that could be developing infections. If it came to that, he wouldn’t be able to fight properly in this condition. I made quick work of unlocking his collar and the shackles around his other wrist and ankles.
“Check the counter to see if Lorik didn’t leave the healing cream he used on me,” I said, holding his hand, my thumb caressing his knuckles. “Look for painkillers, too.”
Ravik nodded. He made as if to leave, hesitated, then drew my face to his for a brief kiss. Awkward though it was through the bars, it comforted me nonetheless. He rummaged for a few moments before finding a work light on the counter, and then returned to me with his hands full.
“There’s the cream, but I’m not sure what those hyposprays are” Ravik said, showing them to me. “I can’t read them.”
Labeled in Guldanese, I had no problem reading them. “This one,” I said, picking it up from his hand. “It’s a good one, too, and has five shots left.”
Raising it to his neck, I injected him with a dose. Ravik closed his eyes, a soft moan rumbling through his chest at the instant relief it gave him. Taking the hypospray from me, he shot a dose in my neck. I made no effort to stifle my own moan of pleasure as the excruciating pain that had been my constant companion immediately started fading.
I took the cream from him and asked him to turn around.
“Based on the clock on the counter, we should have approximately two hours before Lorik returns,” Ravik said, complying with my request. “The Fifteen will be here at ten, but finding out you’re a Veredian hybrid has convinced Lorik to double-cross them. He’ll come to take you away before then. I suspect it will be around nine, but we should be ready for him as of eight.”
“Sounds good,” I said, applying some of the cream on him.
He hissed, but remained still. We quickly discussed our plan, deciding against him going out of the room to try to get the drop on Lorik. We didn’t know if they had cameras outside, and we needed to recuperate as much as possible before the fight. When I finished with his back and arms, he applied a bit more cream on me, then returned everything to its place on the counter.
While I completed our weapons, he explored the room in search of anything else that could be of use. He found a hose, which was probably used to wash the animals formerly incarcerated here. I considered cleaning off the blood covering me but that would give us away when Lorik returned. With one last kiss, I gave Ravik one of the two weapons and we returned to our respective spots, putting back on the unlocked shackles, and rested while waiting for our prey.
The sound of the door opening startled me. Ravik had been wise to expect Lorik to come for me two hours before the Fifteen’s agreed upon arrival. A little over thirty minutes ago, we’d both taken one last shot of painkillers before resuming our positions, lying in wait. It had to be only minutes after eight now. If all went well, we’d have plenty of time to escape before the others got here.
“Well, well,” Lorik said, with undisguised admiration, “look who’s still alive. You Braxians sure are made tough. No wonder you used to be such great warriors.”
Turning my head to the side, I observed him through my cell’s bars. My heart pounded when he stopped in front of Ravik, giving him a once over. I addressed a silent prayer to the Goddess that he wouldn’t notice his shackles were no longer secured. Even if he did, Ravik would easily take him down, but we needed him to open my cell first to avoid triggering any alarm.
“When those idiots you call your people are done with their in-fighting, Guldar will swoop back in and put them all to good use. You were born too early, Magnar Ravik. They’re too stupid to understand you were taking them on the right path,” Lorik said, pensively. “You deserve better than what those animals have planned for you. When I’m done securing my future wife, if you wish it, I’ll grant you mercy with a swift, honorable death.”
It didn’t surprise me. Guldans respected strength and despised weakness. Hagan’s obvious lack of spine had earned him Lorik’s contempt.
“I’m touched by your generosity,” Ravik said in a growl.
“I aim to please,” Lorik said with a smirk.
My pulse picked up further when he moved away from Ravik and towards my cell, but this time, due to anticipation and pre-battle adrenalin.
“I have a present for you, dear wife,” Lorik said, waving a pair of gloves in front of him. “I’m still having a hard time believing you have no power, so I had to improvise.”
Those weren’t the gloves normally imposed on Veredians to stifle their psi ability, not that it would have made any difference. The nanites in the gloves acted as gatekeepers, and nanites were my bitches. No glove had ever worked on me. The only way to block my ability was to deprive me from nanites or any type of software.
I made to rise from the mattress, but he indicated for me to remain still until I had the gloves on. That suited me, reducing the risk of my shackles falling off by accident. At long last, he unlocked the door to my cell and opened it. Lorik took two steps inside and tossed the gloves at me.
“Put these on, quickly,” he said.
I picked them up, examined them, and then looked up at him, pretending not to see Ravik’s massive silhouette rising behind him.
“Hmm, I don’t think so,” I said with disdain. “They’re not my style.”
