One of the guards pushed Mia hard in the back and she stumbled. Raiden gripped her arm and kept her upright.

Her insides were churning, like she’d swallowed a deadly cocktail of acid. Vek. They had to help Vek.

Ahead, several tall trees speared up toward the roof of the dome. They had long, sturdy trunks, and thick, gnarled branches overhead. On the ground beneath the closest tree, she saw a large cage made of wood. The top of it was tied to ridged, twisted vines, thicker than her thigh.

The Nerium had disarmed the gladiators, and she watched two guards drop the swords, axes, and other weapons in a pile on the thick grass. In the distance, she heard Vek roar. She closed her eyes, the pain like a laser blast to her chest. She couldn’t imagine how he felt, being forced to fight and kill again.

And he’d done it for her.

The guards shoved them all into the cage. It was barely tall enough for the gladiators to stand up in. Thorin had to hunch over.

The Nerium guards locked the door, and a second later, the cage lurched off the ground. Mia stumbled against Harper, and she heard low curses from the men.

They were pulled jerkily upward, until the cage was high in the trees. Mia gripped the bars and looked down. Their location gave them a perfect view of the vegetation below.

But then she turned her head and gasped.

“What the drak,” Galen muttered.

The tops of the trees were filled with platforms, and wooden bridges linking them. It was a treetop city.

A number of Srinar and Nerium were walking along the platforms. Her lip curled. She recognized some large, horned Thraxian forms, as well. Anger exploded in her. All these fucking species who thought they had the right to enslave and hurt other people.

“What the hell is that?” Harper murmured.

Mia turned her head and saw where Harper was looking. On a large platform nearby, there were what looked like rows and rows of comp screens. Srinar manned each screen, watching intently, and occasionally tapping the screen.

An enraged roar filled the air, and Mia’s heart clenched. She looked back at the ground, and caught a glimpse of Vek. He was whirling and jumping, fighting against a pack of giant alien dogs. She pressed a fist to her mouth. There were so many of them.

“They’re streaming the hunts,” a female voice said.

Mia swiveled. She saw that Ryan was awake, sitting on the floor of the cage with her back pressed to the bars.

“Hi, Ryan.” Mia crouched beside the woman. “Are you okay?”

“I am now.” Ryan grabbed Mia’s hand and squeezed. “Thanks for coming—” Her voice broke, her lips trembled. “I’ve been alone for a really long time.”

Mia wrapped her arms around Ryan, pulling her in for a hug. It made her realize how lucky she’d been to have Dayna and Winter, and now the other women, the gladiators, and Vek.

Oh, God. Vek.

Ryan looked up at the others, swiping tears from her eyes. “It’s good to see all of you. I’m really sorry about this.”

Galen crouched. “We’ll get out of here. I am Galen.”

“I know.” Ryan’s gaze slid over Galen’s powerful form, before flicking up to Raiden, Thorin, and Corsair. “You guys pack an even bigger punch in real life.”

The corner of Galen’s mouth lifted, then his expression turned serious again. “Streaming?”

Ryan nodded. “From what I overheard when I first got here, they sell subscriptions for spectators to watch the hunts all over this part of the galaxy.”

“Sand-sucking scum,” Raiden bit out.

The imperator eyed Ryan. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Just a headache and a few bruises. They let me loose in the hunting grounds, but I didn’t last long. Got nabbed by…something. Everything went black. That’s all I remember.”

“Have you seen Dayna?” Mia gripped the woman’s arm.

Ryan shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone else from Earth.”

“How the drak will we get out of here?” Thorin’s big hands strained against the wooden bars. “Whatever the hell this wood is, it’s too drakking strong to break.”

As the gladiators huddled to discuss ideas for escaping, Mia looked back through the bars. When she’d been locked on the Thraxian ship, and then in the bowels of the underground fight rings, she’d missed trees, and flowers, and green. Now she looked out at the deadly playground below, and thought she’d be happy if she didn’t see another tree for a very long time.

Suddenly, she saw Vek burst out of some bushes and into a clearing not far away. A cry strangled in her throat, and she wrapped her hands around the bars. Even from a distance, she could see that he was covered in blood. So much blood.

She watched him stab his forks into a hunting dog. She bit her lip hard, tasting blood in her mouth. He was doing the very thing that he’d told her would destroy his soul.

And he’d done it for her.

Mia looked back at the Srinar and their fucking screens. She’d already hated them, but the hate festering inside her now was an ugly, angry thing.

A flash of movement directly below them caught Mia’s gaze. She shifted so she could look down. Someone had just run up one of the wooden ramps leading to the platforms. Mia tried to spot whoever it was, but they were moving fast and staying hidden.

She turned to look at the platform right beside the cage. Two Nerium silently stood guard. Suddenly, one of them was yanked backward and over the railing. He arrowed to the ground below, and landed with a thump. The second guard lifted his weapon, but was pulled around the other side of the large tree trunk. Mia heard the thud of something hitting flesh.

The gladiators stood, quiet and tense, watching and waiting.

A hooded figure appeared, and touched the lock of the cage. The door swung open.

Mia stared at their rescuer. The person wasn’t very tall. Leather trousers covered lean legs, scarred, leather gauntlets peeked out from under a dark, rough, hooded cloak that kept their face hidden. Their savior was carrying a large, black bundle.

Galen moved forward. “Who are you?”

“No time for chit-chat. We need to move.”

It was a woman’s voice.

The woman dumped the bundle on the floor of the cage. It clanked as it hit, and when the woman kicked the edges of the blanket out, Mia spotted the gladiators’ weapons.

Instantly, the men and Harper reached for their weapons. Suddenly, a Nerium guard rounded the trunk of the tree. As he spotted the open cage, his eyes widened.

The woman moved. Fast. She kicked the Nerium in the gut, and then whipped a wooden staff out of nowhere. She swung the weapon with quick, vicious hits, her ragged cloak twisting around her body with each move.

The Nerium slumped to the platform with a groan, and the woman shifted her staff behind her back. She flicked her hood back.

Mia saw golden-brown skin, and long, black curls pulled back at the base of her neck. She had pale green eyes.

“You’re human,” Mia breathed.

“Yep.” The woman relaxed her fight pose, moving her staff up against her shoulder.

“Who are you?” Harper lifted her swords from the pile, her gaze on the woman. “I don’t recognize you from Fortuna Station.”

“And you weren’t on my ship,” Mia added.

“I was on Fortuna. I was a cleaner.” The woman cast a look at Harper. “Most people don’t have any time for the people who scrub up the messes, so that’s probably why you don’t recognize me. Now, like I said, we need to move.”

The woman disappeared along the platform. Galen and the others strode forward, and Mia hurried to follow her. The woman led them on a twisting path through the treetops. Once, they had to stop and crouch down, as Srinar passed by on an adjacent platform. Finally, the woman led them down a ramp and into the trees.

She didn’t stop, following some path only she could see.

After a few moments, she stopped and pointed ahead. “You can get out that way. Go straight for another twenty meters, and you’ll find a hidden door. Don’t stop, don’t turn. The plants will try to confuse you.”

“Wait!” Mia said. “We aren’t leaving. We have to get Vek.”

The woman frowned. “The blue beast?”

Mia straightened. “He’s not a beast. He’s a man.”

The woman raised a brow. “Sorry.”

“And we have to find Dayna. She’s another woman from Earth. We learned that there was another Earth woman here, and I guess that must have been you.”

The woman’s frown deepened. “There’s no other woman here.” She glanced over at Ryan. “Other than her. And she was just brought in a little while ago.”

“How did you get here?” Corsair asked, studying her carefully.

“The Thraxians sold me to some desert traders. I escaped, but got nabbed by the Srinar.”

Who was this woman? Mia blinked. She’d survived alone all this time? “What’s your name?”

“On Fortuna, I went by Linda Taylor.”

Harper nodded in recognition. “Lab cleaning crew.”

The woman inclined her head. “But my real name is Neve. Now, I never saw her, but I did hear talk of another woman held here. They said she was a good fighter.”

“That has to be Dayna,” Mia said. “She was a former cop, and trained in martial arts.”

“Wait.” Harper held up a hand. “Hang on a second. You were on the space station under an assumed name. You were a cleaner, but you took down three aliens without breaking a sweat, and you hold that staff with a hell of a lot of experience.”

“Was there a question in there somewhere?” Neve asked.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I work…or rather, worked, for Titan Corp.”

Harper nodded slowly. “You were a corporate spy. Axis Corp spent a lot of money ensuring no one on Fortuna Station was there to steal secrets.”

Mia’s mouth dropped open. She knew corporate espionage between the companies going after the lucrative space market was fierce.

“Not enough, obviously.” A small smile tipped Neve’s lips, then it was gone. “I guess it doesn’t really matter, now.”

“What matters is that we all get out of here,” Mia said. “Dayna? Any idea what happened to her?”

Neve shrugged. “She’s not here now. Maybe she was killed.”

Mia sucked in a breath, her chest going tight. No.

Harper touched Mia’s shoulder, and Galen stepped forward.

“We’ll worry about Dayna after,” Galen said. “For now, we need to get to Vek.”

Neve tilted her head. “If you go now, you’ll get out safely. If you turn back…there is no guarantee the Srinar will ever let you leave this place alive.”

Mia didn’t wait for Galen to answer. “We aren’t leaving without Vek.”

* * *

Vek was tired. Pure rage was the only thing driving him now.

He swiveled and thrust out his weapons at an incoming alien fighter.

In his head, all he thought about was Mia. The thought of her kept him going. The thought of his time with her kept him swinging and dodging. It was the one special moment in his life that wasn’t stained by blood and death.

He cut down another fighter.

Galen and the others would keep her safe. And she had her friends.

Their time together in the cave filled his head—her taste, her smell, the feel of her skin. The way she’d given herself to him completely.

It would be enough to sustain him until he found death.

He saw more of the small metallic balls whizzing through the air, circling each of the fighters. He stood over his last fallen opponent, chest heaving.

Ahead, the vegetation looked different. The lush green gave way to spiked, gray leaves that were long and narrow. They grew in clumps, reaching up as tall as Vek.

He approached carefully, one part of him listening for any incoming attackers. He knew he could track down other opponents, hunt them one by one using his skills and senses. But that would be giving his captors what they wanted. He would defend himself, but he wouldn’t drakking hunt.

Suddenly, the gray plants started to move, and a gray substance began to ooze from the bottom of them. He stepped back, but it flowed quickly, covering his boots. He tried to lift his feet, but the goo was sticky and drying fast.

He was stuck.

An undulating war cry echoed through the trees.

Vek tensed and lifted his forks. He kept trying to move his feet, fighting against the hold of the plant’s secretion.

Two orange-fur-covered aliens burst out of the bushes. One leaped at Vek, and he lifted his forks, stabbing at it. It yelped and flew over him.

The second one prowled by the edge of the sticky ooze, growling. Its eyes glowed with intelligence…and the will to live.

Abruptly, one of the spiky gray plants moved. The sharp edge turned into a blade, stabbing into the alien’s leg, severing it.

The alien fell, its piercing wail filling the air.

Vek strained more forcefully against the ooze, and managed to get one foot free.

The gray plants moved again, one of those wicked spikes whipping around and rushing at him. He sliced out with his forks, cutting the spiky end off.

He freed his other boot and jumped onto the grass. He took one step, and saw another pointed spine racing at him. Fast.

Too fast for him to avoid.

It rammed into his gut, blood spraying. Agony ripped through his stomach. Vek looked down, and saw the branch had pierced him deep. More gray ooze flooded around him. It covered his boots, and then he saw it shift and start to run up his legs. Through the pain, he tried to kick it off.

It reached his knees, and now he felt it burning, eating through his leathers.

More wild, undulating cries echoed from ahead of him. He tried to move but the pain made him groan. The plant was holding him in place so the incoming fighters could tear him apart.

Vek let his fighting forks fall to the ground.

He wouldn’t give the Srinar the chance to see him struggling, to see his feral despair. In his head, he saw Mia’s face, and a sense of peace drifted over him.

The gray plant discharge reached his thighs and started to solidify. His attackers flew out of the trees, screaming in blood lust. Their fur was already covered in gore from previous kills.

Vek kept his eyes open, watching his death approaching. Goodbye, Mia.

A flash of movement to the right.

A woman leaped out of nowhere, swinging a wooden staff. She was lightning-quick. Her staff slammed into one alien, driving it to the ground. She swung the staff behind her, and sent another alien flying.

“Drak, woman, you can fight.” Corsair appeared, firing a wicked-looking crossbow.

“Hit the plant with the flames,” the woman yelled.

Corsair lit his next bolt on fire and sent it sailing into the heart of the gray plant. Flames ran up the spiky leaves and the plant shriveled in on itself, snuffing out the blaze.

Vek’s vision blurred. His legs gave out from under him, and he fell to his knees. He was so tired. He closed his eyes.

“Vek! Oh, God.” Mia stepped in front of him, her horrified gaze on his legs. Her shaking hand cupped his cheek.

Galen, Raiden, and Thorin materialized. Galen hacked away the now-hard ooze trapping Vek. He felt more burning pain, and a second later, he was being lowered to the ground.

He looked up, blinking slowly, staring at the dome high overhead, and the clouds beyond it.

“The wounds are bad,” Galen said. “The plant secretion has eaten his legs down to the bone beneath the knees.”

“And he has skin burns from earlier plus a bad gut wound,” Raiden added.

Mia leaned over Vek, tears sliding down her cheeks. One dripped onto his face. “You’ll be okay. Hold on.”

He stared into the face that meant so much to him. His Mia. His mate. “Everything I’ve suffered, I would suffer again for the chance to hold you in my arms.”

“Vek.” More tears poured down her cheeks.

“Mia, don’t cry.” He felt hands pressing against his legs, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Something was wrapped around them. “I die free and mated.” He smiled at her.

“No.” She cupped his cheeks, forcing his gaze to meet hers. “Don’t leave me, Vek. I’ve searched my entire life for you. I traveled across the galaxy to find my place, and it’s with you. All I’ve ever wanted is to find the thing that clicks, that feels right, that feeds my soul. All I’ve ever wanted is a person to love me just as I am. A person I love just as they are. Vek, you’re my one thing. I love you.”

Warmth filled him. He wanted to respond, but he couldn’t get his lips to work anymore.

Then there was no pain. He blinked slowly, seeing Mia was sobbing, but no longer hearing any sound.

She leaned down and he felt the soft press of her lips against his.

But then the darkness swallowed him.