Cold Mark (28 page)

I hissed when he jabbed the pointy end into the crook of my arm. I knew for a fact he could be much gentler than that with sharp objects. Again, it was a recap to not fuck with him.

In a matter of moments, he was standing and striding away with my blood. "Have a pleasant night, Ms. Valorn."

I growled as I bent my arm tight to stop the blood flow. "I hope you die, Rule."

He laughed in good nature as he left me behind.

I hissed and bared my teeth. "Do you really need to be in here? You said it's the middle of the day. Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I needed to be sleeping. Being exhausted did not go hand-in-hand with dealing with his nightly rituals of agony.

Rule flipped through his handheld halo-screen. "I feel the need to watch over you today."

"Why?"

"Now that you know you might be genetically engineered as a science experiment, I'd rather you not try to hurt yourself." Absently, he lifted the taser-rod and pointed it at me. I held perfectly still on the table, not wanting to be electrocuted. "If I see anything suspicious, I'll stop it."

"I'm on suicide watch?" I blinked at his inanity. "You do know I want to kill you, right? I won't off myself until your corpse is burned to ashes."

He merely hummed and stared at his halo-screen.

Ignoring me.

I cursed, "Mother Joyal, just leave me the hell alone."

"Do you want me to give you something to sleep?"

Instant. "No." All he had to do was remove my underwear to understand he was pointing his finger at the wrong person. I wouldn't give him that access easily. I rolled over on the hard slab and growled, "Just breath quieter. Or you could stop breathing altogether. That would work, too."

I slammed my left palm down on the hov-toilet seat when the ground slanted sideways. It continued tilting, almost at a ninety degree angle. My hands were slippery from my midnight slurp, but I grabbed onto the base of the toilet to keep from sliding down into a taser wall. I hated doing it, but I shouted, "Rule? If you're not up, I think your auto-pilot is mess—"

I
shrieked
when a gust of heat fanned through the taser wall on my right, along with a screech of an explosion. The floor tipped the other way in such a brutal lurch, my body swung around on the ground. My ankle caught the edge of the anchored table, and I gritted my teeth through the sharp jolt of agony. Rule's chair smacked against the table and tumbled over it, flying through the taser wall.

"Rule!"

"I'm on it!" he hollered from the left—now above me. "We're under attack!"

My eyes widened, and I begged, "Shut down the barricade. It's going to kill me if I hit it." The constant electric current would give me a heart attack if I tumbled into it again and again.

Rule wasn't so deranged to kill me.

If he did that, then the Plumas of the west would die—talk about treason.

Proof he understood showed when the red glare of the tasers diminished, leaving an old-fashioned living room surrounding me. Except for the ginormous gaping breach in the wall directly to my right, showing the night sky ... and part of Center's skyline from the over exaggerated tilt of the hov-craft.

With cautious actions, I swung my body farther to the right, timing it ...

I released my hold on the hov-toilet. The rush of air kissed my flesh in a harsh assault until I landed with a grunt six feet away from the tear. Careful of the shredded metal, I peered outside of the hole. I couldn't see any other spacecrafts flying near us. I shouted over the whistling press of wind, "I think your wrong, Rule! There's no one out there."

"Get back," he cried. "They're targeting us again."

"Who?"

"It's a Kireg ship. They're here."

I swallowed, not thinking I heard him correctly. "
What?
"

"The Kireg are here!"

"Ah, fuck." It didn't make any sense. "Land this goddamned thing!"

"I'm trying. Get buckled in!"

I lifted my arms and grabbed onto the back of an anchored recliner. Using the minimal strength I had in my weakened muscles, I pulled myself up and over it. Sitting on it correctly was an issue with the tilt of the hov-craft. Once I buckled one side of the belt, I was able to press into it to buckle the other side, then the lap belt. "I'm secure! Take us down."

My stomach jumped into my throat as he veered the hov-craft straight down. I grabbed onto the seatbelt with a white-knuckled grip, and my mouth opened in a silent scream as I watched a missile fly by through the hole and explode just above us. The floorboards rattled under my feet from the detonation, the entire interior shining with an iridescent orange glow.

Rule laughed in an uproar. "Damn, that was close."

"You're fucking cracked!" I yelped, the skin on my face pressing back from the categorical free-fall. My hair rushed out behind me, and I contained my bladder from letting loose. "Holy.
Shit!
"

Rule even shouted from the thrill, his eyes glowing bright blue on the navigation system.

I held on as he parried left, and then right, my bare toes curling down on the floor to keep my legs from flying about. I swallowed down bile as he jerked back on the controls, taking us up into the night sky before we started a zipping ride to the ground.

"We're landing in the forest. It's about to get bumpy," he warned, grinning like a fiend. "Part of the landing flight's damaged."

"No, no, no, no, no ... " I grunted, the breath rushing from my lungs as we touched down. We fucking bounced. Not once. But twice. My head jarred on my neck forward and backward with the chaotic arrival.

But that didn't stop me from unbuckling my belts and racing to jump out the hole in the side of the hov-craft. First priority? Get the hell away from the pain-loving-torturer.

Sticks jabbed into the pads of my feet, but I kept my legs moving as fast as they could, a spurt of energy I hadn't felt in months rejuvenating my system—adrenaline.

"Ms. Valorn! Wait!" Rule demanded his voice too close. "Not that way!"

My arms windmilled as I came to a screeching halt. Perhaps I should have picked a better route.

Rule stopped directly next to me, even shoving himself in front of me, like a protector.

The Kireg were indeed here.

Under the canopy of lush trees, five stood directly in front of us.

I had never viewed a full-blooded Kireg before. It was too bad they had guns pointed at us. I would have enjoyed analyzing them thoroughly. The only common factor I noticed from all was their shimmering white hair that appeared to glimmer in the moonlight and a bluish glow hovering around each individual like a reflection of themselves.

It was frightening in the extreme. And majestically stunning at the same time.

The man in the middle stepped forward, his gun aimed directly at Rule's forehead. "I want her."

Rule's mouth had bobbed for all of a heartbeat before he squared his shoulders, his own hand hovering over the gun on his side. But not thoughtless enough to draw against five of them. He pushed me a little further behind him. "You can't have Ms. Valorn. She belongs to the Plumas of the west."

The man glanced at me, his gaze running over my features. "Not this one." His attention snapped to Rule. "The other one."

Rule's brows hammered together. "There are only two of us here."

Their leader's head tilted.

Instantly, the air turned to frost.

I gulped, ready to scream.

But paralysis took hold too fast.

Rule was stuck too, a gurgle echoing from him.

We were ensnared by the Kireg's power.

The five Kireg lowered their weapons, and the leader walked forward to stand directly in front of us. He didn't even appear to be putting out much effort to keep us contained for his pleasure. He raised both of his hands and placed a palm on each of our foreheads. His touch was heated, unlike his stifling power.

I sucked in a strident breath as the Kireg's voice echoed inside my mind.
Where is Madeline?

I answered, but it was through my thoughts, unable to make a noise.
I don't know Madeline.

He rifled through my point of view, feeling for my honesty. He found it.

Suddenly, a picture of a Human girl, near my age, appeared like a mist before my eyes.

I answered again. She isn't here. The last time I saw her was on Joyal when the President was calling her name to leave for your planet. That was months ago.

Again, he rifled. Found my truth. His eyes were closed, but he tilted his head slightly to Rule.
I've now seen what this Mian did to you. Would you like me to kill him?

My options hung in the silence. At this stranger's quiet tone. His seeming honesty. And possibly the lack of time I would have to off the prick since there would be Mian surrounding this area anytime.
I would like to kill him myself.

I can make it much more painful.

I may be too trusting of this Kireg, who tried to wipe us from the sky ... but that idea had merit.
Such as?

His mind will be in ruin ... just watch.
He pulled his hand away from my forehead, and instantly, the air around me was a mere cool night breeze, not a bone chilling gateway to the depth of the oceans. I quickly took two steps away as Rule began to scream the most horrifying cry, the kind that would even terrify a pregnant Lavano.

As calm as a falling leaf, the Kireg leader stepped backward until he was in line with his group.

But Rule still cried out in repulsion.

In pain. In fear.

It was beautiful.

The leader's whisper chilled. "
Tear apart your flesh with your fingernails until you bleed out."

My jaw dropped as Rule began to pick at his own skin little by little. "Oh ... fuck, yeah."

The leader glanced at me. "Will that do, Ms. Valorn?"

I watched in awe as Rule continued to slowly kill himself, screaming the whole while. "Yes."

"Good." The leader's lips lifted in a small smile. "Ms. Valorn?"

"Huh?" I couldn't look at him again. The bluish glow around him frightened me. Instead, I watched the blood begin to pour from Rule's skin, almost to the muscle on certain spots. "Oh, yes. I'll tell Madeline you're looking for her if I see her."

"Don't you wish to know my name?"

"Not really." And that was the truth. "Rule was right. I do—somewhat—belong to the Plumas of the west. Since I'm sure Center's radar picked up the squirmish up there," I pointed to the sky, still not looking at him, "it would be best if I didn't know your name."

Abruptly, he chuckled. It was deep. Nice. "From what I saw, Ms. Valorn, who you belong to is up to you. The east or the west."

My eyes narrowed, and I flicked a wrist to their waiting spacecraft. "Get going before the authorities arrive. You may have a shot of leaving this planet alive."

Wasting not a moment longer, their entourage turned to leave. But, at the last second, the leader peered back and shouted over the screams of the soon-to-be-dead, "My name is Geo. Tell Madeline that Geo will find her no matter how far she runs."