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"Without warning, the barrier to my isolation pod disengaged and my confinement collar fell away along with twelve other lifers in Annex 1. I didn't hesitate to make a run for it, getting lost in Zune's thick forests. I used what husti flowers I could find to cover my scent and waited for several cycles, hiding in the trees to see if the guards were coming back. When they didn't, I snuck back into the prison during lockdown to see if I could make sense of why they left in such a hurry."
"What did you find?" I lean forward on the stool, totally engrossed in Mordox's story.
"Nothing in the prison except signs of a rapid evacuation," Mordox says. "It was what I found in the forest that explained it all."
"The underground lab?" I guess.
Mordox nods gravely. "I stumbled on the sunken stairs first, then the broken lift shaft farther away. Both entrances were locked up tight, so I hid and surveilled the area, waiting to see who was coming and going. After thirty cycles, I nearly gave up, thinking it empty, when a small group of scientists ran out into the forest, boarded a shuttle hidden in an underground bunker, and left Zune. Gruxt followed, or the beast that he had become, ripping his way through the double doors at the sunken steps. He bolted into the forest, but what followed was much worse."
Chills race down my spine. My throat grows tight, and I'm so afraid to ask.
"After Gruxt took off into the forest, creatures straight from nightmares emerged." Mordox's expression grew bleak. Haunted. "I counted nine of them plus Gruxt."
"So twenty prisoners were taken under the guise of mining, and you think they were genetically altered into creatures?"
"I know they were. That was the conversation I overheard. I remember seeing Gruxt on the transport from Ziaria to here. He was the most Ziarian-looking of the genetic alterations. The others look nothing like my kind. The ones I was able to track and kill were more insectoid than male."
"What happened to the other ten? Where are they?"
"I don't know."
"How many have you been able to kill?" Panic rises, knowing we are unprotected in the forest with genetically altered creatures on the loose for days.
"Three are still out there that I know of. I never ventured inside the lab, so it's possible the other ten miners are still inside. Or maybe they're dead. I don't know." Mordox shakes his head. "Gruxt was the easiest of the creatures to track. He ripped apart eight of the lifers before I lost his trail. I don't know what happened to the other four. Maybe they're using husti oil like me to mask their scents, or maybe they're dead. Wherever they are, I can no longer scent them.
“I was able to track most of the creatures to the dark side of the moon. I killed six before three others vanished into the darkness. Then, after your ship crashed, Gruxt emerged from wherever he'd been hiding and was coming for you. The only smart thing Drax did was move you when he did."
"He was taking us to the lab where it's safer."
"The lab is not safe, lula." Mordox. "There are ten miners unaccounted for who could still be inside the lab."
"Or they could be dead," I say, hopeful the girls haven't walked into danger.
"There's no way of knowing until the lab is thoroughly searched."
"You said Drax downloaded the files about what your government was up to. He has to know what went on down there. He and Stacy were holed up inside the lab for a couple of days and say it's safe. Surely, he would have searched it first."
"Drax is a techy not a warrior. Then again, he would never put his mate at risk," Mordox ponders.
"We have to warn Drax and my friends, Mordox," I plead. "They're walking into a dangerous situation. We have to tell them everything you just told me."
"The ground is too dangerous." Mordox set aside his empty bowl and knelt before me. "There are three creatures still out there. I won't risk your safety, lula."
Even with Mordox on his knees, I am eyeball to eyeball with him. The guy has to be at least seven feet tall and four feet wide.
"Why me?" I shake my head, not understanding why I'm the only girl he saved. Why I'm the only girl whose safety he's concerned with. "Why just me?"
Mordox tilts his head in the most endearing way, his verdant gaze glowing bright with unspoken emotion. "Because lula, you are mine to protect."
CHAPTERFIVE
Mordox
How this tinyfemale talked me into this, I haven't a clue. I stuff more rations into my pack, enough for the two of us for several cycles of travel, along with the medical cuff.
No. Idoknow how she convinced me to leave the safety of my treetop home. As my mate, I can deny her nothing. She is determined to return to her friends, and I know she will never rest until she knows they are safe. I admire her loyalty, but taking the risk that she might set off on her own isn't an option.
"Come here, lula." I wave her over after she dons the foot coverings I fashioned out of leather strips and cloth padding.
