Chapter Fourteen
Winter threw her arms around Nero and held him close as he kissed her. It was hard and punishing and, far too soon, it was over.
“Wait.” Saff looked first at Winter and then Nero. “You two are—?” She waved a hand between them.
Lore grinned. “Sneaky, my man.” He slapped Nero on the shoulder.
Nero wrapped an arm around Winter. She looked up and saw Galen watching them, shaking his head.
“When we rescued Harper,” Galen said. “I had no idea these people from Earth would turn all my gladiators inside-out.”
“It’s called love, G,” Raiden said with a smile. “Maybe you should try it?”
“Oh, no,” Winter hurried to tell them. “It’s nothing like that for Nero and me.” She looked up at him and saw his face was unreadable. “I’m just using him for sex.”
She heard chuckles and saw raised eyebrows.
She elbowed Nero. “Tell them.”
Her barbarian just shrugged. “Yes.”
Galen shook his head. “Perhaps we should just focus on finding Dayna and Mia?” His tone was dry.
They all turned. The door the robots had used as an exit was still wide open. As the gladiators moved toward it, Winter felt a shiver of dread.
It was like they were being welcomed inside.
“Anyone get the feeling this is a trap?”
“Yes,” Nero said.
Blue paused in the doorway, sniffing. He scowled and shook his head. Galen gripped the man’s arm and looked inside. He went first, followed by Raiden, Thorin, and Blue.
Winter stepped inside, and took in the round, circular room. Everything was sleek, metallic, and very modern. It looked like a large, open storage area. Bits of equipment were stacked against the walls. And robots. Lots of robots.
They were currently all resting in rows, powered down.
Suddenly, Blue stepped forward, his body vibrating hard. “Mia.”
“She’s here?” Winter asked.
The alien man nodded, clearly agitated. He walked around the room, sniffing. “Mia.” He reached a closed, curved door, and slammed his hands against it. It opened suddenly, and he pushed through it at a run.
The gladiators followed. As they hurried through, they walked into a large room with walls of glass that overlooked the desert. Winter took a second to appreciate the beautiful view below. She could see the clear outlines of the setting suns in the distance.
This room was filled with tables and chairs, and a kitchen area was located along the back wall.
“This looks like living quarters,” she murmured.
“Keep moving,” Nero said. Ahead, Blue was already pushing through another door.
They moved down a long corridor. It was lined with a series of closed doors, and Raiden and Thorin slammed each one open. All were small, compact bedrooms. By the looks of the neatly made beds and lack of belongings, no one was using them.
Blue led them out onto a walkway made entirely of glass. Winter gasped, staring down at the rock below and the darkening sky overhead. Night was falling.
“Where is everybody?” she asked.
“I detect several scents,” Nero said. “But they’re old. And there aren’t any other signs of recent use.”
The walkway led them to a disc-shaped structure that reminded her of a flying saucer. When they stepped into this one, she saw Blue circling the room, sifting through things, and sniffing the air.
This space was filled with computers. She moved over toward Blue, as the other gladiators fanned out, searching the room. Concentric rings of desks had high-tech screens built into them. The screens were on, all of them showing a screensaver with a logo in the center. It was some sort of flame.
Suddenly, there was a huge bang.
Winter’s heart jumped into her throat and she spun. A huge metal wall had slammed down from the ceiling, cutting the room in half. Galen, Raiden, Thorin, and Kace were on the other side.
“What the hell?” Blaine said from the windows.
“Drak.” Nero moved over to look at the wall.
Winter looked up. The ceiling was seamless, with no hint of where the wall had come from.
Bang. Another wall slammed down, cutting off Saff and Blaine.
“Winter!” Nero shouted. She turned, her gaze meeting his. He and Lore were already moving in her direction. Another wall slammed down, blocking them from her.
Shit. Winter looked around and saw that she and Blue were trapped in a small, box-shaped space. She turned, bumping against the computer desk beside her.
Blue went wild, slamming his body against the metal wall.
God, this must feel like being back in a cage. “Blue? Blue, please calm down.”
She approached him slowly.
“The others will find a way out.” She kept her tone calm. “We won’t be stuck here.” She hoped to God she wasn’t lying. “Please don’t hurt yourself.”
He stopped banging, his chest heaving. “Get out of here.”
“We will.” She thumped her fist on the metal wall. “Nero?” She couldn’t hear anything coming from the other side, so she figured the walls were soundproofed.
She moved along the walls, running her hands over the smooth, slick surface. She couldn’t find any joints, or seams, or doors. Nothing.
Trapped. She stared at the metal walls, and her memories crashed in. The cold, threatening walls of the Thraxian lab. The freezing temperatures, the harsh smells, the pain. She doubled over, pulling air into her tight chest.
“Winter?”
Blue’s gravelly voice. She looked up and saw he was watching her, concern on his face. God, the man who’d spent a lifetime being imprisoned and tortured was trying to comfort her.
“I’m okay.” She slammed a lock down on the memories. She turned in the tight space, trying to come up with some sort of plan. The only thing in there was the computer.
She moved to the comp and touched the screen. The flame logo disappeared and alien text filled the screen. Great. Her lingual implant meant she could understand alien languages, but she couldn’t read any. She tapped a few more buttons and sighed.
Then the display blinked, the symbols disappearing. Then, new words appeared on the screen. She went still. These words were in English.
Touch the buttons on the screen in this sequence.
Was this a trap? Winter worried her bottom lip, staring at the screen. She weighed up her odds and realized that she had little to lose and no other options.
More words appeared. Quickly, before Catalyst catches you.
Winter reached out and touched the buttons on the screen in the directed order.
“Thanks.” A woman’s voice came through the computer speakers. “I can help you escape.”
Blue growled and Winter blinked. She heard a distinct Southern twang in the woman’s voice. “You’re human?”
“I am. I hacked into Catalyst’s system. I’m Ryan.”
“I’m Winter. Are you from Fortuna Station?”
“Yes. I was a systems specialist on the station. I kept all the tech systems running.”
“You were taken by the Thraxians?”
“Yes. Look, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m working to free you and your friends.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Once I get these walls to retract, you need to get to the next section of Catalyst’s place. The system shows that your friend Mia is being held there.”
“Ryan, where are you? Are you in another part of the building?”
There was a long pause before the woman spoke. “No, I’m not there. I’ll explain later.”
Winter pressed her hands against the desk. “What about Dayna? My other friend? Is she with Mia?”
“I’m sorry, Winter. Mia is the only human showing, apart from yourself and another of the gladiators who came with you.”
Winter closed her eyes. Where the hell was Dayna? She pressed her hands together. For now, she had to focus on freeing Mia.
“Okay, are you ready?” Ryan asked.
“Ready.”
There was a beep, and one of the metal walls shot back up into the roof. Winter swallowed a gasp.
And came face-to-face with an enraged Nero. His face twisted in desperate anger.
Winter ran straight to him, dimly aware of all the other walls shooting back up into the ceiling. The rest of their group crowded in close.
Nero wrapped his strong arms around her, and instantly, she felt safe. “We have to go. I know where Mia is.”
***
Nero stayed close to Winter, not wanting to risk losing her again.
He didn’t trust this place of Catalyst’s, with its slick metal surfaces and technology.
They headed out of the computer room, Winter rushing ahead. She’d promised to explain how she’d released the walls later. But right now, they had to get to Mia.
They moved into another glass walkway. This one was wider, and the glass was covered in a wire-mesh frame.
He was studying it as they walked through it. It was on an angle, leading them up to the next room. That’s when he saw the mesh charge up, electricity skating over it.
“Watch out!” Nero yelled. “The mesh just energized.”
He scooped Winter up and saw a blue laser arc across the walkway ahead of them, at about knee level. It moved toward them.
Nero leaped over it, and heard his friends doing the same.
Another streak of laser, chest height this time and moving fast. Holding on tight, he ducked under it.
More came at them, faster and faster. Nero spun, jumped and dodged.
Finally, he reached the end of the walkway and dived into the next room.
“Get them,” an electronic voice shouted.
Nero’s head snapped up. Laser fire sprayed the wall above them and he dived, covering Winter with his body.
Ahead, he saw a group of armed guards wearing familiar silver armor.
“Cyborg guards,” he shouted as his friends rushed into the room.
“Let’s do this,” Galen yelled. “Take them down.”
The imperator charged past Nero, using his sword to deflect the laser fire. Raiden, Thorin, and the others were right behind him.
“Stay here,” Nero told Winter. “And stay down.” He spied Blue and pointed at Winter. “Protect her.”
He waited a beat, saw the blue alien crouch protectively in front of Winter. Then Nero rushed to join his friends, swinging his sword.
He struck one of the cyborgs in the shoulder. The guard spun, and Nero knocked the laser weapon out of the man’s hand. Nero thrust his head forward, his forehead crashing into the visor covering the man’s face. It cracked into splinters. Then Nero slammed his fist through the broken visor and the guard jerked before flopping to the floor.
Soon, the gladiators had overpowered the guards.
Raiden and Thorin made short work of trussing up the cyborgs, leaving them on the ground, tied together.
Nero turned back and saw Winter and Blue moving forward. The blue-skinned alien growled.
“Mia is close,” he said.
Nero scanned the room beyond the guards. The space was completely empty. No furniture, no computers, nothing. There were just huge glass windows that revealed the night-drenched desert below.
“There’s nothing here.” Nero studied the shiny floor, and saw no tracks or marks.
Winter shoved forward. “She’s supposed to be here.”
Blue sniffed again, a scowl on his face. “I can scent Mia.”
All of a sudden, a blinding blue light flashed through the room.
Drak. Was it another laser security weapon? Nero had to get to Winter.
But as Nero tried to move, he realized his feet were stuck to the floor. He tried to shift his legs but they weren’t budging. The blue light was somehow holding them in place.
“I can’t move,” Winter said.
“We’re all stuck,” Galen growled. “It’s some sort of energy field that’s locked us down.”
The blue light grew brighter, spearing into Nero’s eyes. He felt a pain growing in his head and gritted his teeth. It was like a vise clamping down on his skull. He looked over and saw others grimacing as well. Winter’s eyes had gone wide and she was panting.
“Fuck,” Blaine bit out.
“What’s happening?” Saff asked.
Thorin gave a loud, enraged roar, scales flickering over his skin.
Suddenly, Winter screamed.
Nero saw she’d thrown her head back, and he thrashed against the force holding him. He needed to get to her. His muscles strained against the restraint, sweat beading on his forehead, but he couldn’t move.
“Leave me alone,” Winter cried out. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, her eyes staring ahead. “Stay away from me!” She screamed again like she was in agony, her back arching.
That sound tore through Nero. What could she see? What was happening to her?
Suddenly, Nero felt a pressure in his head, like something trying to burst open his skull. Memories poured through his head like someone had opened floodgates.
He was a child again, dragged from his bed and tossed out in the cold for his harsh warrior training. His father’s shouts, the loud boom of the warlord as he’d berated Nero for not being strong enough. His siblings being dragged away by the slavers. Pain tore through him. Then all he saw was his father’s harsh face as he handed Nero over to the slavers. Those frenzied weeks locked in a tiny, metallic cell on the alien ship. His first time stepping into the Kor Magna Arena—afraid, angry, and hurting.
Then other images cascaded through his head. He saw himself holding Winter’s small form nestled in his arms on a tarnid. Him telling her she was weak.
“No.” That last memory made him grit his teeth. He didn’t believe that.
Another image. This one was of Winter, tears tracking down her cheeks, as she turned and walked away from him.
He tried to reach for her, but he could feel he was losing her. “Winter. No!”
Suddenly, Nero realized that he loved her. She had a strength he was in awe of. With her quick words and determined attitude, she’d cracked through the shell around him. The day his father had thrown him away, Nero had locked his heart away.
But Winter hadn’t just freed it, she had it wrapped in her small hands. She was his heart.
And she was leaving him. Just like everyone else who had mattered in his life had left him.
He heard a pained scream, and this time, he realized it was his own.