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swallowed her mouthful of dumpling. “You are a wonderful cook.”

Kim laughed. “I didn’t make those dumplings. My daughter made them. She’s very

talented.”

“Yes, she is.” Rory took another bite. She fell deep into thought. The blockade still

awaited them. What would she do? Another shudder ran through her.

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“Are you cold? Here let me wrap my shawl around you. You look quite chilled.”

“No, I couldn’t…that is….” But Kim had already tucked the shawl snugly around her

shoulders.

“There. That’s much better, isn’t it?”

Rory smiled. “Yes, I suppose it is.” Rory wiped her fingers on the napkin Kim had given

her. Suddenly, she was really sad to see the last small piece of dumpling. Shrugging her

shoulders, she popped it into her mouth. Oh, well, it was only one dumpling. It couldn’t last

forever.

Opening her water bottle, she drank almost half of it in one long drag. The bus was

stopping. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Out of the corner of her eye, a bright color on the

horizon caught her attention. It looked like a purple hover motorcycle. Squinting, she tried to

make out what the person looked like that was riding the hover motorcycle.

A loud keening noise blared through the hover bus. It seemed to be coming from Kim’s

carpetbag. Kim quickly closed the carpetbag. Rory raised one eyebrow. She slid her tongue over

her teeth. There was no question about it; her teeth needed a good scrub.

“Well, I’ll be getting off at the next stop…and I expect you will be as well,” Kim

murmured.

“What?” Rory asked. “Oh. I won’t be leaving the bus at the next stop. So, I guess we’ll

be saying goodbye.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kim’s eyes glittered dangerously.

Rory’s eyes gravitated to something sparkly on Kim’s lapel. Why hadn’t she noticed it

before? A brooch with an engraved bonsai tree and dragon met her eyes. Time froze.

“No.” Rory shook her head, hoping to wake herself up from a dream.

“I have always stood in awe before the majestic sight of the Aurora Borealis.” Kim

tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

Rory licked her lips, and dropped her water bottle. “This can’t be happening.”

“Oh, but it is. You and I have become great friends, Aurora.”

Rory’s heart raced, at the sound of her birth name sliding over Kim’s tongue. Kim knew.

Kim was another hired gun.

“So....” Rory forced herself to keep her voice from wobbling. “How much does The

Master pay you?”

“I am not a hired member of The Triad.”

“Enslaved, then?”

“No. I’m not a slave either. My loyalty runs much deeper than most.”

Rory felt her ears ringing. Blood rushed through her head. Her vision went wonky.

“What are you, then? I give up.”

“I am the Matriarch. The Master is my grandson.”

“You must be really old,” Rory gasped.

“My years are long and true, but with age comes a great amount of knowledge. You will

be a great asset to The Anasazi Triad. Anasazi was my husband’s name. Did you know that?”

Rory shook her head. Sparkly orbs fluttered in front of her eyes. She took one hand and

tried swatting them away.

“You will make a fine wife for the next generation of my family.”

Kim didn’t make any sense. Rory felt SO sluggish.

“I don’t know what you mean. I just want to go home.”

“Home? Why my child, that is where I will be taking you. I will take you back to The

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Palace. Lucky for you that Leon pulled through. He might have a slight scar from where you shot

him, but other than that he will be fine. I’m sure he will like you once the irritation of your

shooting him wears off. The Anasazi men can be very forgiving when it comes to their women. I

shot my own husband before we were wed. He fell in love with me that day. He knew that I was

an Alpha Female, and therefore ready to be his wife and mistress of his entire domain.”

Rory felt sick. If she didn’t know better she could have sworn Kim had just told her she

was going to be married into The Triad.

“I was supposed to be a slave.”

“No. I never had you kidnapped to be a slave. No. When I saw you that day last Autumn I

knew you had the makings of a great woman. The slaves are only used for pleasuring among the

men of The Triad. They have no real power. I have power, and my grandson recognizes my

power. No, I chose you as a birthday gift for my grandson, Leon. He never asks for much, but I

knew he would like you, from the posters he has strung about his bedroom.”

“You are one sick lady. I’m only fourteen.”

“I know. It makes no difference to me what age you are. You are perfect for Leon. We

will train you in the ways of The Triad. Soon, you will become a part of our family.”

“No. You can go to rot, lady! I’m not going anywhere with you. I’d much rather jump out

of the hover bus than become a member of your family.”

“You insult me. But no matter, I can see you are a passionate girl. Some of that passion

will be put to use…the rest will be tamed out of you.” Rory tried to pull away from Kim, but the

woman’s long slim fingers were too quick for Rory’s slow reflexes. “Don’t you see? I only had

you taken on the pretext that you were for Rick. Rick has enough women in his harem. He does

not need any more. Especially, one as young as you. Now, come. There is no need to make a

scene. The dumpling you ate was laced with a drug to slow your physical wits and mental ones. I

knew that since you had escaped Leon, I would need to have some special tricks up my sleeve.”

“How did you know I was on this bus?”

“I’ve been watching you. I had my men transport me on this bus while you were dozing.

That’s how you missed my arrival. You must learn to overcome your physical limitations, my

dear. Had you not fallen asleep, you never would have missed my arrival.”

“So basically, you’re telling me that it’s all my fault.”

“In a matter of speaking, yes. But you should never have fled in the first place. You are in

way over your head, Aurora. New Beijing is far, far away from New Earth. You are in Triad

Territory.”

“I hadn’t realized we were so far into The Rim.”

“Yes, you are. But you should try to make the best out of an unfortunate situation. I will

make sure that you come to no harm. If, you come with me without fighting. I might be old, but I

still know a thing or two about survival. Your first instinct is to run. Deny it. It will be the best

for you. Once we get back to The Palace, I shall give you a bath and tuck you into your own bed.

When you are rested, I will take you to see Leon. He no doubt will love to see you once he

knows you are his.”

“I belong to no one!”

“What about your father? Did you not belong to him?”

“Shut up. I’m his daughter, it was his job to look after me and protect me.”

“Yes, he did a stunning job of protecting you, didn’t he? Now that he’s out of the picture,

you will trust me to look after you. The Matriarch always looks after the legitimate women in

The Triad.”

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“Legitimate women?”

“The Wives. And I have handpicked you. You will be one of the lucky ones.” Kim

smiled. Her catlike eyes glinted.

“Out of the picture?”

“Yes, didn’t you know, Aurora? My men killed your father.”

Her heart drummed against her chest. She gasped for breath.

“Aurora?” Kim looked genuinely worried.

“I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“Don’t.”

Rory struggled to stay with the land of the living. Her eyelids drooped. Pure shock

coursed through her. She felt numb from head to toe. The world swam. And then, despite the fact

that Kim’s fingernails were digging into Rory’s hand, Rory passed out.

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Chapter Seventeen

“Rory is on the bus that’s dead ahead of your current position, Samantha.” Charlotte’s

voice blared out over the communication system.

“That bus is currently being circled by a shit load of Triad Hover Cars. Things are going

to get nasty in, I’d say about five minutes.” Samantha had an itch behind her ear and since she

was wearing a helmet she couldn’t scratch it.

“I’ll fire a warning shot, Samantha.”

“Warning shot? Charlotte, they aren’t going to get scared by one teeny tiny missile.”

“My weapons array is quite formidable.”
Eleanor’s
stiff voice teetered on the brink of

anger.

“I know. Eleanor, I just want to get Rory back.”

“And you think I don’t?” This time it was Charlotte’s turn to sound angry.

“Stop the bickering this instant. Everyone calm down.” Devlin’s voice shot out over the

com signal. “Let’s just blast our way through their stupid armored vehicles and get Rory out.”

“She’s lost consciousness,” Charlotte murmured dread filling her voice.

“What?” Quinn sounded frantic. “I don’t care what anyone thinks, just let Samantha lead

the way. I want my baby back!”

“Follow my lead everyone. Do what you have to do. Take no prisoners, just make sure

Rory gets out alive.” Samantha shot off her orders like a general.

“Got it.” Charlotte and Devlin said at the same time.

This was it. Samantha zeroed her gaze in on the bright red public hover bus. Squinting

her eyes, she just barely made out the silhouette of Rory. An old Asian woman had her lifeless

form cradled in her arms. Dry mouthed, Samantha licked her lips. Her heart ached. Whoever the

Asian woman was, she wasn’t on their side. Why didn’t Rory pick up on the rioting emotions the

woman exuded? Tightening her grip on the handlebars of her hover motorcycle, she looked to

her right to meet Devlin’s gaze.

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll get her back.” Devlin gave her a confidant smile.

“Yeah.” A hollow feeling entered her stomach. Despite what Devlin said, she still felt

uneasy. Charlotte was on edge as well. Her twin was broadcasting like no tomorrow. If calm,

cool and collected Charlotte was on edge then what did that mean for them?

“We have to think positively.”
Charlotte’s mental voice fluttered against her mind like the

gentle whisper that it was.

“Don’t act all confident on me, Charlotte. I can feel the uncertainty that’s coursing

through you at this very moment.”

“Whatever you do, Samantha, we can’t let on to Quinn.”

“Let on what?”

“The shit is about to hit the fan, Samantha. Things might not go the way we expect them

to. But in the end, when it comes right down to it, all will turn out the way it’s supposed to. We

all must have faith.”

“Don’t go all oracle on my ass, Charlotte. I want it straight.”

Before Charlotte could answer, Samantha had to go into a deep dive when jets of laser

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fire flashed past her. Even though her shields were at maximum power, she still couldn’t take the

risk of getting hit.

“Samantha? Are you unharmed?” Devlin sounded just a little afraid.

“Fine, fine. As you know, it’s all....”

“In a days work,” he finished. She could hear the grimace in his voice. By now, the Triad

vehicles had spotted them.

“Okay, guys. This is going to get hairy scary. So, I say let’s get this party started.”

Samantha reached down with her left hand to activate the weapons array. She took out two of the

Triad hover cars in one fell swoop. She hit the first car, which in turn crashed into the second car.

“Sweet.” She turned the hover motorcycle and aimed it toward the hover bus. “Charlotte,

give me cover fire. I can maneuver the hover motorcycle more than
Eleanor
can, so I’m going to

go in and recover Rory.”

“I’m with you.” She glanced back at Devlin who was hot on her trail. Smiling, she

watched him take out a Triad hover car that had gunned for her ass.

“Thanks.” She held her hand up to him.

“My pleasure. No one picks on my Samantha and lives to see another day.” Her heart

soared. Taking Devlin with her on this trip was the best decision she’d made in years. Pushing

Devlin away all of those years ago—was the worst decision she had ever made.

Her heart slammed against her ribcage when she watched the Asian woman stand up and

walk toward the front of the bus. “Oh, no, you don’t.” She couldn’t let her escape with Rory.

Setting her hover motorcycle on autopilot, she stood up and deactivated the shield at the last

possible moment.

“What are you doing, Samantha? Have you gone completely batty?” Devlin’s angry

voice made goose pimples erupt across her flesh.

“I’m doing what I have to do. I’m going to use my jet pack to get down to the bus. Then,

I’ll use the remote control homing beacon that’s in our communication pieces to call back the

hover motorcycle. Don’t worry, it’s a walk in the park.”

“Uh, huh. Well, I’ll keep close on your tail.”

“How’s
Eleanor
doing?”

“We’re holding our own.” Charlotte sounded stressed to the max. “Just get to Rory. Our

time is running out.”

“Running out?” Quinn sounded like he was going to bounce off the walls of
Eleanor
. “I