Cold Mark (25 page)

"Wait. Should we leave the intel they stole off the hov-craft?" Leo asked.

I opened my eyes and glared at the four of them.

As if they could feel my heated gaze, the four glanced at me.

Killeg hummed quietly, eyeing my features. "We did kill their President. Let's leave them the information as a truce." He stretched his back muscles, his shirt pulling in the front. "I'd rather the Humans not completely die off—by natural catastrophe or by the stupidity of an attack on us. They can be entertaining at times."

"Plus, we'll have the specimen we wanted," Phila added.

"Exactly."

Triaz. I was back on the damned planet Triaz.

The Plumas hadn't killed us.

But they sure as hell didn't love us.

I gripped the ancient bars of the jail cell I was in, the peeling iron stabbing into my palms. I shook the cell door with all my might. "Hey, asshole! I want to talk to the Plumas of the east!"

The Mian guard flipped a page on his halo-screen, completely snubbing me.

The door rattled as I jerked it. "I know you can hear me!"

"Braita, for the love of all that is holy ... shut up," Jax grumbled.

I glared at the cell across from mine where my best friend lay on a steel cot. "This is bullshit. We've been down here for two weeks. What the hell is taking them so long?"

He groaned and turned on his side to face me. "Has it occurred to you we may be down here ... indefinitely?" His brows rose at my resulting scowl. "They can't kill you. Stiller won't let them kill me." His stare was pointed. "We're traitors in their eyes, but they're stuck."

I shoved the door one more time, growling under my breath. I paced the floor of my tiny cell, rubbing my sore back. "I know that." I just didn't want to accept this as my fate. This could not be how I end. I turned and kicked the door with more force, turning my attention to the guard once more. "Hey,
cow
. I need to talk to the Plumas of the east."

Jax shook his head in aggravation and rolled again, gifting me his back. "Go to sleep, Braita."

"We don't even know if it's day or night."

"Does it really matter?"

"Dammit!" I shouted to the caged ceiling before I flopped on my cot. My life just kept getting worse. I heaved in five calming breaths. Feeling sorry for myself wouldn't help anyone. I muttered, "Jax?"

"
What?
" he groused.

I closed my eyes. "I don't want to die here."

Jax had waited a full minute before he responded, his words quiet. "I know."

Picking dirt out from under my nails, I hissed out, "I stink worse than a Lavano." A full month. An
entire
month
we had been rotting down here in this damned dungeon. The only information I had been able to garner off the rotating guards was that we were in Center. And how the Plumas were still in this city dealing with business, too busy to see us. After much thinking—I had plenty of time for that now—I had decided they were still handling the aftermath of the battle on Joyal. That theory was what got me through my days—and nights. "When did they give us our last shower?" And 'shower' was a generous word for them hosing us down inside our cell.

"Three days ago," Jax answered while he craned his neck to see the guard's halo-screen. Jax enjoyed this particular fusia-haired guard the most since he always watched shows while on his shift. It gave Jax's eyes something to focus on other than the bars for a good six hours. Too bad for me. I could only listen since the damned guard always sat the same way each time—facing me. Jax tilted his head an inch to the right, pressing the scar on his left eyebrow into a bar. "Two more days until next time."

"Wonderful," I growled. "I'll just sit here and rot in my own stench."

Jax's lips twitched. "You still smell better than you did when you housed with an actual Lavano."

"Hush."

"I'm merely saying that you stank then."

"I get it."

"Like ... stank-stank."

"Jerk."

"That's better than stank-
stank
."

"Be careful, or I won't flush my toilet for five days. I'll show you stank-
stank
."

He blinked, his lashes pressing crooked against the bar. "You're evil."

I flicked dirt out from under my thumbnail. "When I need to be."

The brutal spray of water ended. The goosebumps on my flesh would last for hours. Two days ago, I had said I smelled like a Lavano. I would be perfectly happy to smell that way again instead of freezing bone deep. Shivers wracked my body, making my clinging clothing vibrate on my small frame, and my teeth chattered so obnoxiously, the Mian guard holding the hose glared at my mouth with green, glowing eyes. I hollered, "What the hell, asshole?" I hated this damn guard, the original guard. "
Cold
water this time?"

The guard's lips tilted up in a wicked grin before he turned his back on me.

Jax gritted his teeth as the spray hit him full on.

I crouched in the corner and wrapped my arms around my legs. Tucking my head down, I shivered in the damp coldness of my cell. If I yelled anymore at this guard, he wouldn't give me my next meal. He really was an asshole.

I ground my teeth together as I heard the water turn off, fully expecting him to turn the water on me once more just for the sadistic fun of it. But my head shot up when I heard the bars on my cell door creak open. The jerk guard walked inside and tossed a clean shirt and a pair of pants on my dripping wet cot.

He ordered, "Get dressed. You have an appointment in ten minutes with the Plumas."

My eyes widened. "We're getting out of here?"

His chuckle was evil, making me shiver all over again. "I didn't say that."

Jax and I stood against a wall with our hands bound behind our backs with laser-cuffs. I knew this hotel. It was the same one where my Vaq had requested the Plumas of the east bring me after my escape. The thirty guards who had escorted us here didn't even bother me, nor did their continual glares. I cracked my neck and sighed in delight at the heater's vents blowing down on us. The lights were too bright for my eyes, used to having hardly any light in the jail, but Jax and I were warm. And not in jail right now.

The door across the hall from us opened. My groan was soft. I didn't want to leave this spot yet.

Rule, a Mian litigator for Triaz, stepped into the hallway. His eyes roved over us in a calming fashion. "The Plumas will see you one at a time." He crooked a long finger at Jax. "You first, Mr. Waterston."

Jax jerked away from the wall, hurrying to the man. He glanced back at me and saw my surprised expression at his excitement. "Stiller's in there."

"Ah." I nodded my smile small. "Tell him I said hi."

Rule gripped Jax's bicep, keeping him from charging into the room. But he peered directly into my eyes. "This isn't a jovial meeting, Ms. Valorn. You should prepare yourself if you think otherwise."

My smile faltered, and I snapped my mouth shut.

He raised one brow. "I think you get the point."

The door shut after he herded a mute Jax inside.

I muttered under my breath, "
It's better than jail, Rule.
"

I walked at a composed pace into the room.
Show no fear.

When Rule had come for me, Jax hadn't been with him.

I still didn't see Jax anywhere.

The room was some type of a conference room with a wooden table in the middle.

Though, there were no chairs. No windows. Another door was located at the end of the office.

At least, it explained Jax's disappearing act. Stiller was also suspiciously missing.

Rule closed the door behind us and motioned for me to stand at the end of the table.

My Vaq stood to my left while the Plumas of the east stood to my right.

By the tightening of Malik and Leo's lips, they weren't taking delight in this.

Malik cleared his throat and rested his left hip against the table. "Braita, we'll keep this short."

"Thank you," I mumbled, keeping my tone respectful.

He stated, "The litigators of Triaz have formally charged you with treason."

My brows furrowed, but I kept my silence. Except, damn, I wanted to turn a harsh eye on Rule.

"You've also been found guilty."

Okay, I couldn't keep quiet. "That makes no sense. I haven't even been to trial."

"The rules here contrast with the rules of Joyal." Malik shook his head, his black hair brushing over his shoulders. "For women, no trials are needed if there is enough evidence." He rubbed a rough hand over his chin. "And you've been sentenced ... " He cleared his throat once more. "You've been sentenced to a lifetime in prison."

"That's shit!" I spewed, shaking my head. "I am no different than a man."

Rule snorted softly ... and his gaze caught on my heaving breasts. "I would beg to differ."

"Fine. My mind is just as strong as a man's mind." I peered between my Vaq, pleading into each of their gazes with my own. "I cannot go back to that prison. I
cannot
." I would find a way to kill myself if I had to live in that hell forever.

"The prison you will be stationed at will be in Center. But it won't be the one you've been in."