Excitement roared through the crowd of Khonsu behind me, while terror choked me. I panted for air, legs and arms pumping as I ran up the mountain. Sharp twigs and rocks tore at my skin and embedded themselves in my feet. I was sure I was leaving a trail of blood behind me making it easy for them to track me.
A shadow fell over me. I glanced back swiftly, and a whimper spilled from my lips. A Khonsu, in his purple tunic, rushed up after me so fast, my knees wobbled with fear. He might as well have been as big as a bear! Huge arms, a broad chest, and he carried such savageness in his eyes. Determination on his face screamed he was ready to take me, and nothing would stand in his way.
I burst onward with sheer adrenaline.
Another woman screamed somewhere on the mountain, while a man howled like a monster, probably claiming her.
I searched the land for a weapon, for anything to beat them back. A branch or rock? Both would work.
The beast pounded the ground with rapid steps, his breaths on my neck, coming for me… to claim me. To rape me. This wasn’t okay, and I hated everything about these aliens. From the tests to being hunted down, I was put through hell and back only to still be in mortal danger. I wasn’t okay with any of this at all.
My heart ached. I was going to die on this planet, never to see Earth again.
An iron-grip hand grasped my shoulder, the other my hair, drawing me backward.
I let out a terrifying shriek and pivoted on the balls of my feet, swiveling around, hurling my fist, connecting it with the monster’s face.
He emitted a piercing guttural sound that had my skin shivering. Was it a battle cry, a sound these things made before they took a female?
He grabbed both my shoulders and wrenched me sideways, while my feet tangled and barely touched the ground.
“Let me go,” I chided and slammed my balled hands into his gut with everything I had, but he didn’t so much as flinch. “I don’t want you. I’ll hate you for eternity and never stop trying to escape.”
A sudden gust of air battered into us, tossing his messy black hair over his shoulders, bringing with it a delicious musky scent. Except, that was wrong… I’d never admire a single thing of these brutes. He had the kind of look I imagined on a barbarian. All strong and muscular, his face square and brutish, and when he’d speak, he’d made just incomprehensible sounds.
He growled, wrenching me into a cluster of trees. He was picking a location to rape me.
I screamed and hit and kicked. I’d die before I let him do anything to me.
Blue eyes pierced through me, but I fought and bucked against him.
“Silence, kitten.”
His words wove through my mind, but my brain cogs weren’t working today. Kitten. Why would a Khonsu call me that?
The answer smacked me in the face when the savage hauled me against him, our bodies pressed close, his lips mashed to mine. I gritted my teeth and winced, hands splayed against his chest, pushing him away. But I might as well try to move a mountain.
Kitten!
I glanced up into those now deep blue eyes. “Thane?”
His smirk lit up his gaze, and even if he didn’t look like my Thane, I saw him in his eyes.
“Surprised to see me?” he whispered.
“Oh, shit.” I threw myself into his arms, and tears of joy spilled down my cheeks before I pulled back. “You terrified the hell out of me. You could have given me a clue or something it was you. I almost had a heart attack out there.” I cupped the side of his face, his skin feeling so real. “What kind of mask are you wearing? You look like the real deal.”
He took my hand and pressed my fingers to the back of his ear. “It’s a disguise, a glamor to everyone else. An effect Corran designed.”
“Like magic?”
He tilted his head to the side like he didn’t quite comprehend the word, magic.
A sudden loud exhaling sound of someone running up the mountain nearby had us both frozen and turning toward the open mountain to my left. The trees around us provided a small, temporary cover.
“Hush.” His hand was on my mouth as he glanced out to a woman sprinting up the hill, two men charging after her.
She tripped over a tree root, and both men leapt into a fight over who’d claim her. “Get up,” I mumbled. “Run.” And she did.
I turned to Thane. “I hate this hunt. We need to get out of here.”
But Thane’s hands clasped my hips and hauled me against him, his lips on my neck. “We’re being watched.” His words were but a ghostly whisper in my ear. “We need to go through with the claiming ceremony.”
My stomach dropped, and I was fully aware of what that meant, and if anyone found Thane disguised, they’d kill him. So drawing as little attention to ourselves as possible was the goal.
He lifted me off my feet so fast, I lost my breath. “Fight me,” he murmured.
His earlier smile faded, replaced with a hunger I knew had nothing to do with play-acting, but everything to do with his attraction toward me.
I shoved my hands against him. “Put me down,” I yelled, wriggling out of his grasp.
The Khonsu wanted a show.
They expected Thane to mount me, to claim me like a savage.
I stumbled backward across the foliage covered floor.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled, his voice menacing, drowning in desire and hunger.
His mouth was on my neck, teeth raking over flesh, causing me to cry out in shock.
In an instant, he snatched the hospital gown I still wore and ripped it off me so fast, I stumbled on my feet from the motion.
Standing completely naked, I lashed my arms over my body, my mouth dropping open. I wanted to scream at him, but he just grinned at me.
Asshole. He was enjoying this show and tell a bit too much.
His gaze trailed up and down on my body, showing me his pleasure in his parted mouth, in the hardness in his pants.
He reached out for me, but I pulled away and spun from him.
The Khonsu in the audience wanted to be entertained, enjoy this show of dominance, of women taken against their will.
Bastards. The whole lot of them.
Greedy hands clasped me by the waist, stopping me in my tracks, his touch sending my body into a devilish buzz. I spun to strike him, hating that I was naked out in public and he still wore his clothes. But his grip tightened, and he forced his chest flush against my back. His hand clasped my chin and turned my head to face him.
Lips on mine, he kissed me hard, his tongue slid inside my mouth, making me taste his sweetness. My body responded to his touch and lips instantaneously, heat coiling deep in my gut. Nipples hardened, and my body betrayed me when it came to my three Vepar.
Except, this wasn’t about falling, but resisting him. I ripped out of his grasp and swung around with a fist aimed at his face.
He caught my wrist. “Not so fast, kitten.”
I kicked him in the shin, and he winced. I smirked and wrenched to leave and grab my hospital gown off the ground. But he held onto me and squeezed my forearm so hard, a sharpness shot up my arm. “Ow.”
“I’m in charge here, not you. You’re mine, and now I’m going to fuck that sweet cunt of yours.”
Raising my head, I was startled by this response, heat already burning through me to hear him talk so dirty. But it was all an act, right?
“Don’t touch me.” I chewed on my lower lip, while liquid fire burned between my thighs.
“I can smell your arousal.” One step closer, and he towered over me. His hand pressed to my back, holding me in place while he nuzzled my neck. “I missed you,” he breathed heavily, and when he looked at me, primal desire darkened his gaze.
He licked his lips, staring at me with such heat. I felt trapped right then… caught between the inferno inside me demanding I throw myself at him, but I couldn’t.
His hands grabbed my shoulders and he spun me around, then pressed a hand to my back, forcing me to bend over.
I placed my hands on the tree in front of me, quivering as my ass stuck into the air. His hand slid down my back, feather soft, and over my cheeks. I released a noise of protest, but his hand connected the flesh of my ass with a smack. Crying out, I pushed upright, but he shoved me back down.
Somehow, I was caught between this strange exhilaration that already soaked my thighs, and a searing pain that stung but quickly faded and left me eager for more.
He pushed his hand to the apex between my thighs, running his thumb gently along the sensitive skin of my seam, and my nipples pebbled in response. His other hand wove into my hair before fisting it, holding me.
“You’re mine,” he growled.
Something about his possessiveness sent a shiver of delight through my body. It shouldn’t have, but it did. Another slap to my ass, and I cried out with pleasure. Was it possible to orgasm so quickly?
“Spread your legs,” he demanded, and humiliation spiraled through.
But someone watched us, someone perverted, and our lives were on the line.
I shuffled my legs wider, when his hand slapped between my legs. A moan slipped from my lips, and I arched my back. He just slapped my pussy. Was that even a thing?
I loved it even if it left me feeling a bit dirty. I needed him like never before.
“You’re so wet for me.” A finger plunged into me.
I took a sharp breath, pushing myself backward to take more of him, needing so much more. And he understood, fingering me rapidly, pumping. But it wasn’t enough.
Pushing two fingers into me, in and out, I rode him, groaning, so close to the edge already. He pulled out, and I whined in protest, looking over my shoulder at him.
He unzipped his pants, his hard cock bopped out, and I reached over to touch him, but he nudged me back around. “I didn’t say you could move.”
My mouth opened with a protest, when the tip of his cock lined up with my entrance. Desire stirred inside me, and I breathed hard, waiting, needing him. The rest of the world fell away in those moments. Just us two existed.
He thrust deep into me so fast and sudden, I gasped, not from pain but from that slick, hot cock filling me, hitting just the right spot. I grasped onto the tree, holding tight, Thane pumping into me.
My moans intensified, and the storm inside me rose quickly. And just then Thane withdrew from me, leaving me boiling hot and so wet.
I lifted myself up and turned to argue, but he grabbed my waist and lifted me off my feet against him. Automatically, I grasped his shoulders and wrapped my legs around him. The tip of his cock found me as if we were made for one another, and he lowered me onto him, stretching me, and I gasped for breath.
The edge of pleasure drew closer. His hands cupped my ass and his mouth latched onto my neck as he rode me. I closed my eyes, my groans intensifying.
A sharpness pierced into the side of my neck, and shock froze over me when I realized he had bit me and was feeding off me.
I welcomed the familiar feel of him as he began to drink down my blood. All of a sudden, he pushed himself away from me, clenching his throat. He let out a garbled roar as he tore at his neck. It was almost as if his throat was being burned from the inside.
I was aware of the confused stares of the Khonsu that were watching us just past the trees around us.
Thane began to spit out the blood he had just taken from me. He took a few frenzied breaths after spitting out more of my blood before looking at me.
“What did those bastards do to you?" he roared.
"What's wrong?" I whispered, not understanding what had just happened. Thane seemed to become aware of the many eyes that were watching us.
“We'll talk about it later," he said through clenched teeth. Thane stared at the blood on my neck and collarbone from his bite, an infuriated look on his face.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his gaze darkening, and I caught him taking a sharp side glance at movement from farther up the mountain. A Khonsu with no partner watched us, and I shivered. He was looking to see if he could claim me as his own.
Thane snatched my arm and kicked my legs out from under me with such force, I cried out. Strong hands caught me before I hit the ground and laid me gently on my back. But to an onlooker, it would seem like he had just readied me for the taking.
Hands on my knees, he pried my legs open, his attention falling between my thighs. He grinned.
“So fucking sexy.” Kneeling in front of me, hands gripping my hips and wrenched them up to meet him. As if on cue, the tip of his hardness found my entrance with such ease like he was practiced in finding the right spot in a heartbeat.
His hands slid up my legs and grasped my ankles, placing them over his shoulders before he slid into me, stretching me. I moaned so loud, despite the twigs digging into my back, all I could focus on was our point of contact. Him sliding in and out of me, picking up pace, his friction igniting a blaze inside me.
Despite the confusion about his bite, the terror of being watched, Thane managed to push ahead and make love to me like it was just the two of us in this world.
Going faster, I writhed, needing him so desperately, so much, I cried out in pure bliss.
In a sudden movement, he spread my legs on either side of him and collected me into his arms while he remained imbedded inside me. I now straddled him while he kneeled on the ground, and I wrapped myself around him, staring into his eyes. They belonged to my Thane, not the disguise he wore.
Hands on my hips, he moved me up and down with haste over his cock, the sound and smells delicious. I gripped his shoulders, riding him, my body shuddering as he thrust over and over. When I couldn’t take it any longer, euphoria snapped within me and tore through my body. I convulsed against Thane, and as if sensing my own climax, he grunted and stilled, his cock pulsing inside me with his orgasm.
Pressing me tight against his body, he held me, his mouth on my ear. “I meant what I said earlier. You’re mine and I’ll never let you go.”
I wanted to stay in his arms like this forever, to never face reality, to not be running for our lives constantly. But when the siren went off somewhere in the distance, the horror of where we were punched me in the gut.
He lifted me to my feet as he climbed up, and hot liquid dampened the inside of my thighs. What I wouldn’t give for a bathroom break right now.
The savages were now headed down the mountain, their women over a shoulder, and I grimaced. Before Thane grabbed me and did the same, I hurriedly snatched the hospital gown and slid it over my head.
“Let’s go,” he snarled as he did up his pants. He then swept me off my feet and threw me over his shoulder. His hand sat perfectly positioned over my ass so I wouldn’t flash the whole world. Thank goodness for small gestures.
I jostled over his shoulder, the world upside down, my stomach churning with sickness at being shaken about.
By the time he slid me down to my feet, my world spun, and it took me several moments to find my bearings.
Thane walked over to a table strewn with pieces of clothing and came back with a midnight blue dress. He pushed it into my hands. “Put that on.”
I glanced around to the other couples in the small field, the spectators watching us from farther away. The other females were naked and were just pulling on their new garments, so I quickly took off my hospital gown that was splattered in blood from my neck, dirt, and bits of leaves.
I quickly dragged the blue dress over my head and down my body. It hung like a sack over me, falling to my knees, sleeves loose to my wrists. I looked like some cult mistress but at least every other woman was dressed the same way.
Thane grabbed my hand and hauled me after him and the rest of the couples. We walked quickly over the grounds and headed for an oversized building up ahead. Black as the night, the one-story building had a flat roof with windows peppered all along the walls.
What in the world now?
By the time we stepped inside, my heart was pounding. I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take. Being taken by Thane in public was pushing me to my limits. We needed to escape and get as far from the Khonsu as freaking possible.
Behind others, we headed inside hand in hand to find an enormous hall set up with rows and rows of wooden tables layered with platters of food and drinks. Down the middle of each long table was a roasted animal. I didn’t recognize any of the species. The walls were lined with large wooden wine barrels and taps on each one, surprising me they looked so human like. On the far-right hand side, an enormous fireplace roared and crackled, warming up the room. Yellow lanterns dangled from the ceiling, giving the place a magical kind of feel, which was so wrong. This was a celebrational feast for savages who had just hunted down and raped their new wives.
Everyone moved with haste to a table, and Thane took me to one closest to the door. He pulled out the long bench that was lined with fur pelts and I sat down. In front of each place setting stood a hollowed-out horn sitting inside a metal bracket that was evidently meant to be used to hold the wine according to Thane.
Thane collected both our horns and headed to the barrels on the wall. He filled them up and then returned. He handed me the horn and I sniffed it. It certainly smelled like wine, and a quick taste confirmed it. I needed to drink a whole barrel to forget what I went through today.
In front of me, I stared at the flowing cuts of meats, fruits and strange vegetables. There were also piles of nuts and breads strewn around the table.
“Eat,” Thane commanded. “Fit in.”
A quick look around to the rest of the room showed that the women were smiling and eating, while the Khonsu drank and laughed with their friends. This was a wedding festival I realized. It was amazing to me that the women seemed to have recovered so quickly.
I piled my plate with roasted root vegetables and something that resembled grilled fish.
Two Khonsu came and sat at our table on my free side, one of them so close that I gave him a death glare to try and get him to move. Two beefy looking brutes, both with short hair, one cleanly shaven, the other with a scruffy beard. They stared at me like I might be their meal.
I trembled and shuffled closer to Thane who wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
When the newcomer’s hand reached for my thigh, I slapped him away. “I’m taken.”
Please don’t let there be another rule about mate sharing.
“You don’t need to be scared of me,” he said, and I recognized that voice in an instant. “Derrial?” I gasped.
He gave a small nod and smirked, then I glanced over at the bearded one. “Corran?”
“Holy shit, what are you doing here?”
Corran leaned forward, his disguise had a scar running down the side of his face, and it pained me to look at the scab. Then again, it matched the rest of the ferocious Neanderthals in this room.
A sudden stomping of feet had me lifting my gaze to several Khonsu who walked into the room wearing crimson robes that fell to their ankles and hoods over their heads. They held chains that were tied to several women behind them. Beautifully stunning women, some were Vepar by their horns, wearing corset type blood-red dresses that flowed to their feet. Furs warmed their shoulders, while the chains around their throats reminded them, they were nothing but eye candy. A possession. A slave.
My insides tightened to see women treated this way.
There was no sign of Bruda though. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.
With the females’ arrival, a band started playing music on a string instrument, not too different from a violin, the music building up to a crescendo. Everyone broke into chatter and dug into their foods. Thane nudged me as he got up to fill his horn and mine, even though I hadn’t drunk any yet.
Derrial and Corran reached for the food, and I picked at my plate, not sure I could stomach too much right now. “So, what’s the plan?” I whispered to Derrial.
“We eat and wait for everyone to have their fill of what you call pumpkin wine.”
My eyes widened. “We don’t have pumpkin wine.”
“Those grape things. Just the Khonsu use pumpkin. It’s probably the best thing to come from these vermin invading our planet.” His words were barely a whisper, and I looked up to see the elite were sitting on the table next to us with their new women. I was surprised the women were allowed to even sit at the table with them.
Thane returned, already drinking from one of the horns.
“Take it easy with the pumpkin wine,” I murmured, but he didn’t hear me as he flopped back down next to me and set to eating. Food was probably good, so he didn’t get drunk. Though could you get drunk on fermented pumpkin juice?
A conversation at the next table caught my attention. One of them mentioned the word "humans." All of my attention immediately gravitated towards the two Khonsu speaking. They were both dressed in crimson robes I’d seen the elite wear, so I assumed that whatever they were talking about was probably important.
"Why have the other humans showed no signs of possessing the same traits as this one," one of them said, gesturing over to where I was sitting. The other one looked over at me and I immediately averted my eyes, trying my best to pretend like I wasn't listening.
I elbowed Derrial, who was paying attention to another conversation between another group of crimson robed Khonsu.
"Just a minute," he said as he tried to listen. I elbowed him again.
He looked over at me impatiently. "What is it?" he asked. I blanched for a moment at how fierce he looked in his Khonsu form. It was only his eyes that looked anything like my Derrial.
"They're talking about other humans. Do you think that it's possible that there's other humans that were taken to this planet?" I asked, my voice a mixture of eagerness and concern.
A look passed over his face, one that I couldn't read very well.
"They’re talking about other humans on Veon?" he asked, sounding concerned.
"Yes," I responded, this time more eagerly as I continued to listen to the conversation taking place between the Khonsu’s. I was only faintly aware of the looks being exchanged between Derrial, Thane, and Corran.
"You have to do more testing, especially after those numbers that she displayed," one of them said. The other one nodded, a look of pure excitement all over his features.
I shivered at the thought of what tests they had in mind. I'm sure they were even worse than the ones used by the Vepar during their fertility treatments.
"We have to find out where they are keeping them," I said urgently, pulling on the side of Derrial’s tunic.
I immediately dropped my hand and adopted a demure expression when I saw a few of the other Khonsu at the banquet table watching me suspiciously. I knew in their culture that the women were extremely subservient to the males, so it probably looked bad how I was behaving towards Derrial.
Corran reached out and touched me gently. "Of course we will do everything we can if there are other humans on this planet," he said. Thane nodded beside him. "Anything we can," Thane repeated.
I was surprised that they were being so agreeable about this. I'd expected them to say something about how my safety was more important than any other humans or other crap like that, but they seemed to agree with me.
Maybe our short separation had gotten through their thick skulls that the rest of the human race wasn't completely worthless.
I doubted that was actually the case, but I took the victory where I could.
At that moment the two Khonsu that I had been listening to got up from the table and began to walk away together.
I looked at Derrial frantically. “They didn't say where they're keeping them. How are we going to find them?" I asked urgently.
Derrial had a determined look on his face as he looked after them. A quick look at Thane and Corran’s faces showed that they were on the same wavelength as him. What were they going to do?
Derrial and Thane got up from the table, and Thane took one last drink of his wine before leaving Corran with me, I supposed as my guard. I watched as they followed the two Khonsu, keeping their distance from them so that they wouldn't suspect that they were being followed.
I thought I remembered them saying it was rare for a human to be on their planet, yet these Khonsu spoke about them as if it was common practice. How many of us had these savages kidnapped and brought back here?
I prodded Corran in the arm. “Hey, did you know the Khonsu were bringing humans on this planet?”
He looked at me for a long pause and gave me a small shake of his head, and kept eating, so I did the same.
Several servants came to our table to collect empty plates, while others delivered more food, and when I looked up at the young man with short blond hair, he smiled. “Thank you,” I said.
He leaned over to pick up an empty platter and murmured, “Did you just arrive on this planet?”
His question threw me off at first, and I tried to make sense of it. “I’ve been here a bit, but I really wanna go home.”
“Me too,” he sighed, and something shifted behind his eyes, something that had my heart clenching. I knew the look… it was someone who had been ripped from their home.
“I miss pepperoni pizza so much,” he said. “You’d think I would miss my family, and I do, but it’s normal food I crave.”
I bristled in my seat. “You’re human? How long have you been here?”
“I think five years. I lost track, but there are others who’ve been here longer.”
“More drinks,” a male Khonsu yelled nearby, and the servant stiffened and rushed away, leaving me drowning in his admittance.
I looked over at Corran who hadn’t even paid attention as he leaned away, listening to another conversation from other Khonsu. I got it, this was time to gain intelligence on the enemy, but these monsters built their empire by stealing humans and who knows what other aliens as their slaves.
“Corran,” I mumbled, poking him in the arm, and he turned toward me with concern behind his eyes.
“Is everything okay?”
“There are humans at this party. They’re working as slaves, taken from home. We need to save them.”
He swallowed loudly and lifted his gaze as if searching for the other two. “Let’s wait for Derrial.”
My knees were bouncing under the table and all I could do to distract myself was stare at the others in the huge room. Drinking, laughing, groping women. I could have sworn I stepped into an ancient world of barbarians, and I wanted to get out of here… get off this planet if possible.
By the time the other two returned, I was jumping out of my skin.
“Derrial, there are humans here, kept as prisoners.”
He stared at me just as Corran had.
“I want to free them, please. This world is terrifying, and they’ve been here for years.” I reached out, my fingers curling over his arms, my whole body trembling with fury. I couldn’t stand how they treated females and other species and wished there was so much more I could do to help those in need.
“Once the dance starts, we go and scour the place, then leave. Alright?”
I turned to Thane, who looked a bit pale around the face. “Are you feeling okay?”
It wasn’t long before the music changed to something upbeat, and most of the Khonsu got to their feet, heading for the open floor near the fireplace. Thane climbed to his feet, and I joined him. His hand clasped around my forearm in a possessive manner, and I followed him around the tables, keeping my gaze low.
Thane wobbled into a table, sending the whole thing, food and plates, into a tremendous wobble. My heart soared with fear.
Luckily its occupants were dancing, and I grabbed his arm, trying to hold him up. “You’re drunk,” I whispered, and we hurried out a back door into a hallway. I assumed this was used by the servants.
Thane erupted into laughter, and his face seemed to grow fuzzy, almost like static on TV. Was this disguise playing up?
“Shit,” Corran blurted. “How much did he have to drink?”
I shrugged. “Three, maybe four horns. Maybe more. What’s going on with him?”
“Pumpkin wine has an enzyme in it that interferes with our technology. It’s my fault. I should have told him, and I didn’t even notice him drinking.”
“Don’t worry about that now. We need to leave,” Derrial snapped.
“No.” I dug my heels into the stone floor. “I want to free the humans, then we can go. Please.”
They stared at me for so long, and all I could do was give them my best pleading look. They had to understand how I felt about being taken against my will, how it hurt me to see others who had lost their families and lives also stuck here.
“Fine,” Derrial answered. “We do a quick look around and help those who are willing to leave. Then we leave.” He exhaled loudly and spun around. We all followed him down the narrow corridor, where the waft of food was strong. At the end lay an open door and we rushed outside, coming out at the back of the building where I assumed they had landed their ship and covered it with invisibility.
Derrial took my hand and we ran, Corran aiding Thane who stumbled about, his eyes glazed over. How had that wine hit him so fast?
Farther on the property stood several sheds, and I hoped we had stumbled upon one of their holding facilities. “Let’s check there.” I pointed to the sheds.
“Good, as our ship is just behind them,” Derrial snarled.
Clearly, he wasn’t happy with my idea, but I didn’t care. We moved quickly, but luckily no one was around, probably partying too much.
In the first shed, Derrial stepped toward the door and looked inside. “Empty,” he called over his shoulder. I had already moved with Corran to the next one.
Up on tippy toes, I peered in through the glass window in the door but found only wooden crates.
“Shit.” I looked back to the main building. “Maybe there are none being held captive since they’re all being forced to work. I want to free them as well.”
Corran took my hand in his. “You can’t risk your own life. Not like this. We’ll come back when we’re ready and with ammunition.”
“Let’s go,” Derrial whispered loudly. “There’s nothing here.”
My stomach churned and my blood ran cold at the idea of leaving them behind.
“Hey,” Thane slurred. “There are little humans in here.”
We all snapped around, and I burst toward him into another small metal shack that had been hidden behind the others.
I pushed past him and ripped open the door to find a huge cage inside. A dozen males sat there, wearing torn clothes, dirt on their faces and arms. They looked human to me. No horns or strange horns or eyes. I closed the distance and reached for the lock, then throttled the door. All three Vepar stepped alongside me.
The men in the cage stared at us with terror behind their eyes, a couple standing up, backing away. It killed me to see their fear, recognizing it all too well. “We’re going to get you out,” I said, my words coming out croaky.
“What are you doing here?” A raspy male’s voice came from behind, and I flinched around.
A bear of a guard hovered in the doorway, heaving breaths like a grunting beast. Before I could respond, Derrial and Thane lunged at the Khonsu, throwing him off his feet. An explosion of groans, fists and punches burst out into the night. I turned to Thane.
“Get them out, now!”
He grabbed the lock and yanked, but the metal held tight. He rushed outside, and my heart pounded against my ribcage.
“Ella,” a soft male’s voice came from within the cage, and I looked up to find who belonged to it.
A man with graying, messy hair stepped forward.
I didn’t trust what I was seeing. There was no way it could be him…
“Ella,” he said again, in that same soft voice he had always used with me growing up.
I walked towards him as if in a trance, my hand outstretched. His hand reached through the bars of the cage, trying to reach me.
I tentatively touched his hand. He wasn’t a mirage. It really was him.
It was my father.
A siren blared, and I flinched. Shouts and voices rang from outside, but I couldn’t move.
“Dad.” My voice squeaked, but heavy footfalls rushed in behind me.
“We’ve been found!” Derrial barked. Strong hands wrapped around my waist and ripped me from my dad, our hands slipped apart.
“No,” I cried. “Put me down. Dad.” I bucked and fought.
“Silence,” Corran snarled in my ear. He spun me around and we were out of the room. My heart splintered and tears drenched my eyes as he forced me away.
“My dad was in there; we have to get him out.”
But no one listened to me. Corran ran through the woods, holding me tight against his side, and in seconds his black space cruiser shimmered into sight. The door slid open and we rushed inside. I glanced back to see Derrial and Thane running toward us with a horde of Khonsu charging after them like a pack of animals.
Fear shackled through me when Corran hauled me deeper into the ship and pushed me into a tiny room before the door slid shut.
I burst forward and slammed my fists into the door. “Let me out. We can’t leave my dad behind. Can you hear me? Please, Corran. My dad.”
Tears fell and I slid to my knees. When the tiny vibrations beneath me started, I knew it was too late. We were taking off and we’d left my father behind.
I wanted to die knowing we’d left him behind with those savages.