Chapter Fifteen
Winter felt the Thraxian doctor sticking things in her eyes. She felt the straps tying her to the lab bench. She was screaming, but she knew it never made them stop.
Then, she felt her body falling. She hit the ground on her hands and knees.
Disoriented, she heaved in air. She was sweating and she couldn’t see. She blinked and slowly, the room around her came into blue-hued focus.
She could see. She stared at the metal and glass, at the muscled bodies slumped on the floor around her.
She wasn’t in the Thraxian lab! She was in Catalyst’s desert lair.
She was with the House of Galen.
Fighting through the fading pain in her head, she focused on the gladiators. They were all lying on the floor, panting, their faces contorted.
Suddenly, a large hand reached for her and she reared back, faded memories of the Thraxians in her mind.
“Shh, Winter. It’s me. You’re safe.”
Nero’s rugged face appeared, and instantly her panic eased. She grabbed his hand and held on. “Nero.”
He let out a ragged breath, his arms closing around her. His lips touched her temple in a quick kiss.
“I…” Her chest hitched. “I was back in the Thraxian lab.”
“And I relived when I left Symeria.”
God. It seemed everyone had been forced to relive their worst memories.
“Everyone okay?” Galen asked.
Winter looked up and saw that Galen’s jaw was set in a hard line. She wondered what Galen had relived. She turned her face into Nero’s neck, pulling in the scent of him, waiting for her nerves to settle.
“Winter? Are you okay?” Ryan’s disembodied voice. “It took me a while to disable the field.”
Around Winter, the gladiators all stiffened and lifted their weapons.
Winter scrambled to her feet. “It’s okay. That’s Ryan. She’s another survivor from Fortuna Space Station. She helped us earlier by releasing the walls.”
“Ryan Nagano?” Blaine asked, frowning. “From the tech team?”
“That’s right,” Ryan answered. “I think we met once, Blaine, although you probably don’t remember. They kept us tech gurus locked in the bowels of the control room.” There was wry amusement in her tone.
“Glad you made it, Ryan,” Blaine said.
“Ryan, I’m Galen. How are you helping us?”
“I managed to hack into Catalyst’s system,” the woman answered. “But he knows I’m in and he’s working hard to lock me out.”
Winter pressed her palms to her trousers. “Ryan, we didn’t find Mia.”
“What?” A frown in Ryan’s voice. “She’s right there. The system says she’s in the same room as you.”
“Ryan, where are you?” Winter asked.
The woman’s sigh came through clearly. “I’m not there. I’m nowhere near you.”
Winter frowned. “Where are you? We’ll come for you.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.” A hesitation. “I’m at a place called Zaabha.”
There were gasps all around.
“The desert arena?” Winter asked. It was where she’d been headed when she’d been snatched from the House of Galen.
“Yes.”
“Are they forcing you to fight?” Nero asked.
“No, thank God,” Ryan answered. “They realized my tech skills, and now I’m locked in with the arena’s comp systems, forced to keep things running here. Look, don’t worry about me right now. Mia is who matters.”
“There’s no one here in this space,” Galen said. “The room is empty.”
“It can’t be.” Ryan’s voice was sharp. “The system says she’s there, along with twenty other individuals. And that’s in addition to your group. I can see a huge energy signature coming from that room.”
Winter frowned, studying the empty space. She walked forward and reached out.
Suddenly light rippled, as though she’d touched water. “There’s some sort of energy wall here. It’s concealing something!”
“Hang on,” Ryan said. “It must be some sort of holographic camouflage. I’ll see if I can shut it down.”
“Ryan,” Galen said. “Where is Catalyst?”
“I don’t know. He masks his signature.”
Galen frowned. “I know he has more robots. Does he have more cyborg guards?”
“Yes. But I have a program running…I’m trying to shut them all down.”
The energy wall shimmered again, and suddenly, it was gone.
Shock knocked into Winter like a sharp flash. She heard Nero and the others curse. Nero moved in close behind her, wrapping an arm around her.
Winter raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God.”
Twenty bodies were all suspended in the air on their backs, cords and leads holding them in place. She looked up and saw the ceiling soared high up above, all the wires snaking upward, disappearing into the darkness above.
Galen strode forward. “What the drak?”
“Winter?” Ryan said. “What is it?”
Suddenly, Blue let out a loud roar. He raced through the bodies, heading toward the small form of a blonde woman who hung there, so pale and still.
Winter pressed her knuckles to her mouth. She could see Mia’s body was nearly naked, just a strip of fabric across her breasts and a loincloth around her hips. Small suction cups covered her body, joined her to the metallic leads.
Blaine and Kace leaped forward, grabbing Blue, both of them straining to hold him in place as he struggled against them.
“Ryan, Mia’s here and lots of others…” Winter’s voice was shaking. “They’re all attached to a whole bunch of cables.”
“What?” Ryan breathed.
Winter scanned all the still bodies. There were several different alien species, including several with the patterned skin of desert wraiths.
“What is this Catalyst doing to them?” Nero asked.
“Dammit.” Ryan’s voice was shaky. “I’ve broken through into some of his deeper-encrypted files. He’s…using them to power his computer system.”
Winter spun. “What?”
“He’s tapping into their brainwaves…I don’t understand it all.”
“I don’t care what the drak he’s doing,” Galen bit out. “Can we disconnect them?”
“I think so,” Ryan replied. “There could be brain damage to those who’ve been plugged in the longest, but I honestly don’t know for sure.”
“We’ll disconnect them.” Without saying another thing, Galen drew his sword. He strode over to Mia and sliced through the cables attached to her.
As her body dropped, Blue raced forward and caught her in his arms. He curled his body protectively around hers.
Winter hurried over to her friend. Blue growled, taking a step back.
“You need to let me check her,” Winter said.
Nero stepped nearer, staying close to Winter, and watching Blue carefully. “Let her help Mia.”
A muscle ticked in Blue’s jaw, then he reluctantly loosened his hold on Mia. He sank to the ground, cradling Mia in his lap.
Winter crouched down beside him, dimly aware of the other gladiators cutting down the remaining victims. Quickly, Winter checked Mia’s vitals.
“Her breathing seems steady, and her pulse is strong. Despite her unconsciousness, physically, she seems fine.”
“Free them all,” Galen ordered.
The House of Galen gladiators were busy laying the bodies down on the floor. Soon, all the captives were free, none of them conscious.
The lights flickered.
Winter stood. “Ryan, something’s going on with the lights.” Silence. “Ryan?”
There was still no answer.
“Ryan?”
“What have you done?” A booming, angry male voice echoed through the space.
A door on the far side of the room slid open. The gladiators all stood, lifting their swords.
Winter’s gut clenched. A humanoid male stepped inside.
He was as tall as the gladiators and at first, she thought he was wearing body armor like his cyborgs. But as her gaze ran over him, she realized that wasn’t the case.
His lower body up to mid-chest was metallic and it looked like his organic upper half was plugged into the synthetic lower half. His organic skin was a mottled pale color and several cords snaked into his skin, including his bald scalp.
One of his eyes glowed brightly and she guessed it would be neon green.
“Catalyst,” Galen said.
“Yes. This is my place. My property. And you have come here and destroyed what is not yours.” He took a few steps closer, the floor vibrating with each one of his paces.
“They are people, asshole,” Winter bit out. “You can’t own a person. You have no right.”
The man shot her an arrogant look. “I do as I please. I am a genius.” He held his arms out, light gleaming off his enhancements. “I use my superior intelligence to test, experiment, discover great things. To invent new technology to enhance our lives and to improve on our frail bodies.” His gaze swept over Winter. “I see your vision is impaired and subpar. Imagine a world where that can be rectified. Where all imperfections can be fixed and all beings can achieve flawlessness.”
“She doesn’t need to be fixed, you crud-spawn,” Nero spat.
Nero’s words warmed her insides. With a smile, she looked back at Catalyst. “My barbarian is right. My imperfections are a part of me. My vision doesn’t make me better or worse than someone else, or more or less useful. I’m just me and I’m fine the way I am.” She wrinkled her nose. “So you can take your perfection and shove it.” She waved a hand at the still bodies laid out nearby. “You have no right to do this to another living being.”
“My genius gives me the right,” Catalyst declared arrogantly.
Winter couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
He was no different than the Thraxians. They used their superior strength and technology to overrun people. Catalyst believed his intellect allowed him to do the same thing.
“These people and their brains, they power my systems and allow for more complex functions.” His gaze bored into Winter. “And do you know what I discovered from your small, blonde friend?” An ugly smile stretched his lips. “I discovered that human brains from Earth are especially efficient and powerful when plugged into my system.”
“This ends now,” Nero growled.
Catalyst made a scoffing sound. “You think a thuggish barbarian gladiator can stop me?”
“Yes, he can,” Galen said in an ice-cold tone. “Because he stands with me. He stands with the House of Galen. And that woman whose brain you covet, she is House of Galen, too. She isn’t yours, she’s mine.”
Catalyst’s eyes flared brightly. “You want a fight?” His voice was now flat and metallic. “I will give you a fight you cannot survive.”
Flames ignited from the bottom of his armor, and he launched himself forward in an attack.
Winter backed up a step, and a second later, Nero tackled her, and knocked her out of the way.
With Nero’s weight on top of her, Winter couldn’t see what was going on. She heard laser fire, shouting, metal striking metal.
“Get him down.” Galen’s deep voice echoed across the room.
“Stay down, Winter,” Nero growled. “I need to help.”
“Nero—” She grabbed his arm. “Stay safe.”
His gaze burned into her. “I can’t promise that. I will keep you safe and protect you with my life.” With those words, his weight lifted off her, and he was gone.
She raised her head, and saw the gladiators converging on Catalyst. In front, Raiden and Galen were deflecting laser shots with their swords.
Catalyst pressed something on the chest plate of his armor, and copies of him blinked into existence around the room.
Winter’s mouth dropped open. They looked identical, and there was nothing to give the holographic copies away. The five Catalysts all drew swords that glowed with a spark of blue electric energy. They rushed forward, attacking the House of Galen gladiators.
“Focus on the real Catalyst,” Galen yelled.
Winter skittered back against the wall and watched the gladiators fighting. Across the space, she saw Blue backing Mia away from the fight.
Nero charged into the fray with a roar, swinging his giant sword. Catalyst and his copies were fast, almost blurring as they ducked and dodged. But Galen calmly yelled out orders, and as the gladiators boxed the real Catalyst in, she realized they had something Catalyst would never understand.
They were working as a team.
Where one had a weakness, another had the skill to compensate. When one fell back, another rushed forward to attack. She watched Nero charge in high, working with Lore who was moving his weapon low.
Thorin and Raiden finally managed to pin the man, slamming him against the wall. Galen moved, striking fast. He sank his sword into Catalyst’s shoulder, the blade slicing through mottled skin.
Catalyst screamed, struggling wildly. Electricity arced over his metallic half, knocking the three gladiators back.
Catalyst stepped forward, his face a terrible mask. “I want your humans!”
He turned his head and his glowing gaze settled on Winter. He charged in her direction.
Oh, God. Winter had nowhere to go, and no weapon to fight him with. Using her small knife would be like facing a charging lion with a toothpick.
A big figure rushed in from the sidelines. Nero slammed into Catalyst, and the two of them crashed into the floor.
The two men rolled, straining against each other.
“She is mine,” Nero gritted out.
“Not for much longer, barbarian.”
Catalyst rolled, gripped Nero’s head and slammed it into the floor.
“No!” Winter screamed.
Catalyst leaped to his feet, his lower armor dented in places. He ran to a control panel on the wall and thumped his fists against the controls.
Blinding white light shot through the room.
Pain speared into Winter’s eyes. She threw her hands over her face, dropping to her knees. The explosion of white slowly faded, but the searing pain didn’t. It burned, drilling into her skull.
She heard pained groans, and dropped her hands. She could barely see through the bright light, but she saw the shapes of all the gladiators on the ground, writhing.
Nero was on his knees, his face twisted in a grimace. He was crawling toward Catalyst, tears streaming down his face.
Saff and Blaine were curled around each other. Thorin had his palms pressed to his face, an agonized roar tearing from his throat. Raiden, Galen, Lore and Kace were all struggling.
When she looked at Nero again, Winter saw a bloody tear slide down his cheek.
He’d die for her. She knew deep inside that he would keep after Catalyst, fighting to protect her, no matter what. Her loyal, protective barbarian would give his life for her.
She wouldn’t lose him.
Winter pushed to her feet, locking her knees to fight the dizziness and pain. She’d already lost everything that mattered to her when the Thaxians had destroyed her life. She wouldn’t lose her barbarian as well.
As Nero lunged at Catalyst, tackling the man to the ground, she yanked the knife from her belt. She took a step toward where Nero and Catalyst struggled. The white light was still pulsing through the room.
She knew what she had to do. She reached up and tore her vision device off. In the blessed darkness, she used the sounds of the fight to keep moving toward Catalyst.
“Winter, no!” Nero’s shout. “Stay back.”
She ignored him. She had to protect Nero. She had to protect her friends.
She lifted her knife and, trusting her instincts and her hearing, she leaped at the madman.
“Get off me!” the man yelled.
Her knife sank into flesh and Catalyst screamed.
She jabbed it into him again. She gritted her teeth against his screams, and the slippery blood coating her hands. She felt him toppling over backward, and she fell with him.
“Winter!”
Beneath her, the man’s struggles turned sluggish.
“We will die together, human,” Catalyst said, his voice a gurgle.
“Screw you, asshole.”
She felt his hand moving, groping for something.
She stabbed at him once more, but then a giant, explosive force knocked her off him. Winter felt herself flying, the room a whirl of gray shadows. Then she slammed into something hard and hit the floor.
Pain speared through her chest and as she fought to take a breath, unconsciousness dragged her into darkness.