Initiation (Xylon Warriors 1) (22 page)

“Really?” Braden cocked an eyebrow. “Could have fooled me, since at least two of us got away. Maybe
stupid
is a word better reserved for Marid assassins.”

Her hand lashed out across the face. “Mind your mouth, Warrior.”

Braden pressed his tongue into his cheek. Damn, she had a vicious whack.

“Where’s Leila?” Erik asked.

Rave’s eyes burned into Braden’s; pure evil shone in those depths. Finally, she moved away to stand in front of Erik. She studied him closely. “You care for the Healer.”

He glanced away, refusing to meet her eyes. “I care for all Warriors.”

“Yes…of course.” She caressed his cheek, smiling when he jerked, just before she touched him. Her fingers trailed down to the wound on his chest. She curled her nails into the scratch until he winced.

“What are you going to do with us?” Torque demanded, drawing her attention.

Rave relaxed her claw hold and shifted over to her third prisoner. “Whatever we want.” She eyed him up and down. “You’re a big one.”

“More than you know, honey.” He flashed a wolfish smile.

“Oh, really?”

Braden recognized the calculating gleam in Torque’s eyes. What was he up to now? Trying to distract her from inflicting pain on Erik was part of it, but not all. Flirting with the woman wasn’t going to work to their advantage. She wasn’t that stupid. Though it would be nice if she were. Maybe Torque would somehow muddle her thinking enough to release one of them. He’d worshiped his brother once, long ago. His own, personal hero, he’d thought, as younger brothers tended to do. But circumstances, which he’d rather not relive even in his memories, had changed that perception forever. He felt closer to Erik now than Torque. It shouldn’t be that way, but it was.

Rave rubbed Torque’s cock through his pants. Her eyes widened, and she looked down. Slowly, her gaze rose back to his. She casually shrugged, but even Braden could see her interest.

“So?” she asked.

“My brother’s equally…talented.”

Braden coughed, the air catching in his throat. Talented. He supposed that was one word for it. He didn’t like the direction this was headed. If he didn’t put a stop to it, the situation could end up getting out of hand. “Torque…”

Torque’s smile widened.

Whatever his brother was planning, it couldn’t be good. Torque’s plans never were.

Rave looked over at him, then dropped her gaze to his crotch. Braden shifted uncomfortably at her intense scrutiny. He doubted he could even get his cock up for someone like her.

She looked back at Torque. “I guess I should have paid closer attention when he was naked. But like I said…so?”

“How about a double-fuck for our freedom? Both of us in you at the same time.”

Braden held his tongue, but it was difficult. He glanced at Erik, who stood there with his mouth hanging open.

“There’s a whole Dome filled with people I can choose to fuck me whenever I want, however I want. Why should I—”

“Not like we can do you, babe. Believe me. We’re specially trained to work together.”

‘Specially trained’. Braden almost laughed, and he could have sworn he heard a snort from Erik. He knew his brother was just trying to get her to unshackle at least one of them.

If chains weren’t securing his ankles, he would have kicked out at the first opportunity. But then, incapacitating her without one of them being free to unlock the chains was useless. Still, he’d love to put her out of commission, simply for the satisfaction of doing so.

No matter what, with the camera monitoring them, freedom would be hard won. They needed a break of some sort—a mistake from her or one of their captors.

Rave chewed at her bottom lip as she looked between the two of them. She tugged open Torque’s pants. “I’ll have to see it first.”

“Of course.” Torque smiled. “Help yourself.”

“As if you could stop me…” Eagerness shone in her eyes. She yanked down his pants and his cock sprang forth. “Oh, goodness!”

Braden saw her visibly swallow. Torque had an impressive package. Too impressive for some women. And the man always seemed ready for action.

Her fingers curled around him.

He visibly stiffened, then a smile eased across his face. “You like? I’ll fill you up like you’ve never been filled,” he bragged. “You’ll come so hard, they’ll hear you scream on Xylon. What do you say?”

* * * * *

Kam pushed open a panel and peered inside.

Alexa shifted uncomfortably. It didn’t look promising. All she saw was darkness.

He twisted back toward her. “Through here.”

“There? Are you sure?” She peered around him again. “It looks like…nothing.” And she didn’t like the look of nothing. Badness and creepies hid in the depths of nothing.

“It’s a small throughway. It connects to the transport bay, the security bay, some other places. I think.”

“You don’t know?”

“This is a modification. It’s the old water shaft line. Pipes used to run through here.”

A musty odor reached her nose, and she sneezed. “Sorry. Allergies.”

He urged her into the darkness. “Come on. I think we lucked out finding this. It should be safer than the ladder shaft.”

The panel shut behind them and a blanket of darkness descended. She didn’t feel lucky. Just the opposite. She rubbed her arms. “Cold.” And claustrophobic. She couldn’t see three feet in front of her.

Kam moved ahead of her, keeping her close. “Grab onto my belt and don’t let go. It’s slippery in here. I don’t want to slide away from you, especially as we keep going down.”

She worked her fingers between the leather and his pants. “Okay. Do you think the others are all right?”

“We’ll come back for them, if they don’t get out. We’ll bring a whole army of Warriors if we have to. Laszlo won’t stand for Marid taking so many high-ranking prisoners, nor will The Council.”

Alexa had her doubts. It seemed to her if Xylon could have stopped Marid’s evil with an army of Warriors, they would have done so long ago. But then, a lot of evil existed even on Earth that powerful nations couldn’t stop. Politics and war. Some things just weren’t intended to be understood.

* * * * *

He stepped out of the shadows, and Leila’s breath caught in her throat. Deformed?

No. A mask. He had on a full facemask with only eyes, nose, and mouth holes. He also wore gloves, she noticed. Strange. Maybe he’d suffered an injury, or he was sensitive to light. Not that much light existed in here. He wasn’t Egesa. His eyes weren’t yellow. So it definitely was Daegal himself, a highbred assassin, or maybe the Marid ship’s commander.

His voice had started to sound familiar. She’d really wanted to see his face. She swallowed hard as he approached. “So, do we have a deal then?” she asked in as steady a voice as she could muster.

He took off one glove, and she stared in fascination. Expecting what, she wasn’t sure. But it was a perfectly normal hand. That same hand rose to her face, and he grazed a finger across her lips. “Suck it,” he demanded, his voice hoarse with need. “Give me a demonstration.”

She took his finger into her mouth and sucked, keeping eye contact the entire time. He had penetrating eyes. Familiar eyes. The thought struck panic inside her. She knew him! Yes! Definitely. But from where?

He cocked his head, and his eyes narrowed.

Her heart thudded against her ribs. Did he suspect her thoughts? She swirled her tongue around his flesh to distract him.

A smile stretched the hole in the mask around his mouth. “Very…arousing.” He pulled out his finger. “On your knees. I’ll fill your mouth with something bigger now.”

She raised her chin. “You didn’t answer me.”

“About?”

“The deal?” Now she was getting nervous. She’d been certain he’d agree, or at least pretend to agree. She couldn’t appear too cooperative. He’d get suspicious if she complied easily. They couldn’t sterilize her, so death probably was in her near future, no matter what he said. She had to be ready for anything.

“Ah, the deal. Let me get this straight…” He opened his pants and pulled out his cock. His gaze shifted to one of the screens, which now showed the Warriors in chains, and Rave playing with Torque’s hunk of flesh. “You’ll suck me and fuck me, whenever I want. Willingly, as my slave. I destroy the file of your Initiation and allow your friends to go free. That’s it. That’s all you want.”

She avoided looking at the hard shaft he was slowly stroking. “That’s all.”

* * * * *

Kam stopped short, and Alexa’s nose poked him in the butt. She backed up. Her knees ached from all this crawling. “What is it?” she asked, as she felt him stiffen. She followed suit. If he was tense, she figured she should be, too.

“We’re not alone. Something’s with us.”

Her pulse kicked up a notch. “Some
thing
?” She didn’t like the sound of that. “What? Where?”

“Behind us. An Egesa. I can smell him. We’re going to move forward. Then when I say, you crawl like crazy.” He pulled her in front of him.

“Kam, no. We’ll be separated. And it’s too dark. I can’t see.” Fear struck her hard. She reached out in front of her like a blind person seeking obstacles to avoid.

“Crawl straight until you get to the end. Don’t go out any side panels. Wait until you find a grate. Don’t panic. Keep your focus. I’ll be right behind you.”

A low growl reached her ears. The sound vibrated ominously against the walls. Hair stood up on the back of her neck and on her arms. This was not good. Standing hair meant bad stuff was about to happen. “Kam?”

“Shh. Get ready.”

* * * * *

A group of Egesa threw Braden, Torque, and Erik into another cell. Braden tugged at the collar around his neck. “What are these things?”

“Remote-controlled torture devices. Effective, so don’t underestimate them. They also transmit our location and vital signs,” Torque explained.

Braden turned sharply toward his brother. “How do you know?”

“I’ve been in enough trouble and cells in my life. I picked up a few things.”

Probably more than a few, Braden thought.

“Well, your planning skills leave something to be desired, Torque,” Erik complained.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know the bitch preferred women? She practically salivated at the sight of my cock.”

Braden had seen her interest, too. She’d stroked him like a woman ready for a good, hard ride. Something more was going on here. There was another reason Rave had turned cold so quickly.

* * * * *

Rave turned off the vibrator on her belt. The signal to report immediately. Braden and company could wait until later. She planned to have lots of fun with those three, or at least the two brothers. She wasn’t so sure of the other one. She didn’t like his eyes. She’d seen the look before—the eyes of a man who felt like he had nothing to lose. Except when she had mentioned Leila. There was something there. Something that might prove useful or at least interesting.

Quietly, she slipped into the ship’s main chamber. Leila stood not far from the monitors. She had wondered what had happened to the woman. Interesting. She listened, knowing
he
had seen her, but Leila hadn’t. She tinkered with the controls on the monitor panel. A little emotional torture for her three collared boys.

“There’s one adjustment to the deal, my dear. Then I’ll give you what you want.”

“What’s the adjustment?”

Rave heard the shakiness in Leila’s voice. The sound excited her. Fear was a powerful emotion, and she loved to exploit it to her advantage.

He spun her around and held her arms behind her. “First you’re going to make Rave come a couple of times for my entertainment, then you’ll do me.”

Rave laughed at the panicked look on Leila’s face. He sure knew how to have a fucking good time. She stepped forward. “Sounds like a deal to me.”

* * * * *

“Go!”

Alexa crawled as if her life depended on it. She couldn’t see and hoped she wouldn’t smash into a wall. She heard Kam breathing hard as he crawled behind her. And she heard something else.

A growl. Close. And a foul smell. Moving closer. Fast.

“Go, go, go!” Kam urged.

The panic in his voice spurred her to move faster. Her lungs burned. Her side hurt. Her legs were starting to cramp. He could have easily out-distanced her. But he stayed behind, protecting her back. Her heart swelled with emotion. She heard a disruptor shot.

Kam screamed out in pain.

Alexa skidded to a stop and turned around. He was no longer directly behind her. She reached out. “Kam! Kam!”

“Keep going.” His voice carried to her. “Save yourself.”

Another sound, electrical, reached her ears in the darkness.

“Kam!”

Nothing.

She whimpered. Indecision held her frozen for longer than was prudent. Then finally, she turned and crawled for her life. Tears streamed down her face. Please, please, please…

She saw something. Light. Yes. The open grate. She could make it. Almost there.

Without hesitation, she pushed open the grate and tumbled out, unable to move another inch. She was breathing hard—half from fear, half from lack of oxygen.

The transport bay. She saw ships. And thankfully, that’s all. No Egesa, or other humanoids, were wandering around. At least, not in this section.

She shifted back toward the opening. Nothing came out after her. No creature. But also, no Kam. She wiped her eyes and took in a lungful of breath. “Kam,” she whispered.

The only response was a vacuum of silence.

* * * * *

“Can you pick the lock?” Braden asked Torque.

“Not while the camera’s on. It’s a shitty lock, too. One of those Earth-like models.”

Braden felt his brother’s frustration. “We have to figure out a way to get free fast. Before they can get to us, even if they see us on the camera.”

“Good luck.” Erik paced the cell. “With these collars on, they have complete control.” He peered through the bars. “Hey, look!”

Braden and Torque turned at the same time. “What?” they asked in unison, then frowned at each other.