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“I found the rest of your clothes as well,” Ravik said, pointing at them lying on the bed where he’d placed them. “Sadly, I didn’t find any com or computer, or that secret exit Lorik talked about.”
I reached for my clothes—black leggings and tank top that fit perfectly beneath my armor—my forehead creasing as I frowned at his words.
“It must be hidden,” I said, stating the obvious. “If Lorik didn’t tamper with it, my armor should be able to detect it. I’ll get on it as soon as I’m dressed.”
“Okay,” Ravik said. “Let’s get you fed while it scans. You need the energy.”
I wanted to argue, but I did feel weak from hunger and blood loss. “Get started,” I said, with a stiff nod. “I’ll catch up in a minute. Don’t argue,” I said, sternly. “You’ve been bleeding through most of the night and overexerting yourself ripping out your restraints. We’ve got fifteen crazies coming after us. I’m relying on your strength to get us through this.”
Yes, I was playing dirty, but we couldn’t afford for him to play tough. From the look on his face, he knew I’d aimed at his sensitive protector chord. Not getting his body in optimal state by feeding it would be a form of neglect.
“Fine,” he said with a growl and walked out of the room. I repressed a smile and hurried into my clothes. The thought of donning my armor over my naked body crossed my mind. The suit would automatically see my wounds and try to mend what it could. Being naked would facilitate healing and reduce the irritation of the fabric against my skin. But clothes offered an extra layer of protection if I had to remove my armor.
With my clothes and sandals on, I tied the belt around my waist and activated it. In seconds, the black, celesium suit wrapped around me. As I reached the bedroom door, the visor of my armor finished forming, the computer going online. The warning on the internal display of the visor indicated that Lorik had tried to mess with it but had been unsuccessful in hacking it open. Moments later, the nanites went to work on my wounds. I nearly moaned with relief. It couldn’t fully heal me, but their job was to maintain the body in as functional and healthy a manner as possible, especially in a combat situation.
On my way to the kitchen, I performed a wide range scan. Once again, it didn’t detect the presence of another floor. I would need to find out what technology was so efficiently fooling my scanner. Aside from Ravik, it also didn’t detect the presence of any other lifeform in the vicinity.
I took from the replicator one of the two freshly prepared meals Ravik had made while waiting for me. He’d already wolfed down one of the now cold or lukewarm plates I’d prepared earlier and was starting on the second one. I didn’t hide my smile this time. He’d been starving but would have endured through it. However, it made no sense not to fuel up considering we still hadn’t found a way out and my suit would be doing the search for us while we ate.
I set the computer to scan every com frequency to try to reach one of our allies. But the same dampening field that prevented me from seeing the floor above us blocked my attempts to communicate with the outside world. At the same time, it analyzed the structure of the basement. After a few minutes, it revealed two flimsier sections that could correspond to doorways. One matched the location of the lift. The other matched the dead-end on the left side of the corridor, near the cell room.
“Got it,” I said, breaking the silence otherwise only disturbed by us making quick work of our food.
“Let’s go,” Ravik said, swallowing his last mouthful.
I armed myself with my makeshift blade, secured Lorik’s blaster to the right side of my belt and the taser wand to the left. Ravik held the other dagger I’d made, as well as the whip Hagan had used on us. As we reached the end wall of the corridor, I ran my palm over it, pushing in my power. It took mere moments to find the hidden switch. I didn’t need my power to activate it, but without my suit to narrow down its general location, we probably never would have found it.
The entire back wall slid open, revealing a wide corridor which stretched far into the distance. My stomach knotted. I still couldn’t see any incoming threat on my scan, but there would be no hiding if they entered the other end before we made it out.
We went in at a slow jog, my suit helping numb the pain from my wounds. I cast a furtive glance at Ravik, his face a pure mask of savage determination. Hurt or not, I felt sorry for any man who would face his wrath. After nearly fifteen minutes, I thanked the Goddess when my radar finally indicated a lift ahead. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t have set up some kind of fast transportation to exit that tunnel, considering its length. We must have missed it on our way out.
As I still couldn’t detect anything above us, we had no idea what we would be facing. From the distance we’d crossed, it had to be somewhere deep within the forest behind the hunter’s lodge. I reached for the switch, but Ravik’s massive hand on my wrist stopped me. Surprised, I looked up at him. The intensity of the emotion in his eyes melted my insides.
“I love you, Mercy,” he said, drawing me into his arms. “If we survive this day, I would have you as my Dagna, if you would have me as your husband.”
I wrapped my arms around him and looked at him with adoration. We still had our problems, but if this nightmare had taught me anything, it was that I’d fight Gharah himself to be with this man.
“I love you, too, Ravik. I am yours, and you are mine, now and always.”
He smiled and kissed me, pouring all his feelings into the far too brief moment of intimacy. However, as soon as he released me, a severe expression took over any sign of tenderness. I braced, already knowing I wouldn’t like his next words.
“If things go bad, promise me you will run for safety,” Ravik said. “I need to know you will make it.”
“You know I won’t,” I said, giving him the ‘are you shitting me?’ look. “Don’t even waste your time arguing with me about this,” I continued when he opened his mouth to insist. “You are my soulmate, Ravik. Do you expect me to go on living, knowing that I just ran off and left the other half of me to be massacred by our enemies? We stand or fall together, Ravik Xeldar. But if you want me to lie to you, I can.”
“Mercy…” Ravik pleaded.
I covered his lips with my fingers. “There’s no time for this. You know I won’t leave, anyway. Your son asked me once if I would stand by you. The answer is yes.”
“Keran?” he asked, stunned.
I nodded. “You raised a fine heir.”
Without giving him time to respond, I pressed the button, and the platform lift took off. As soon as it began the short ride up, a panel opened above us, letting in the morning light of the sun. I set the long-range scan to run in a continuous loop. It showed nothing until we cleared the edges of the shaft. My com immediately went online and my radar, silent up to now, showed a couple of cloaked shuttles nearby and eighteen men closing in on our location.
“Incoming,” I said as we both stepped off the platform.
It immediately flew back down the shaft, a thick metal panel closing over it and a second one with dirt and grass sliding seamlessly back on top.
