turned her face and bit his arm as hard as she could. The
metallic burst of blood made her sick but she didn’t let go.
“Fucking cunt!” He backhanded her so hard her vision
went spotty. Another blow fell and then another. She
fought to stay awake but it was so hard. Everything was
fading now.
With one last burst of energy, she gouged at his eyes.
Her nails clawed at the soft tissues there. He shrieked as
she hit her target. Certain this was the only way she’d
survive, she clawed at him. His fist slammed into her
cheek. Hallie’s head flew to the side. Blood sprayed the
floor.
Both of his cruel hands gripped her neck. A strangled,
choking noise left her throat. Her brain began to misfire as
he starved her body of much-needed oxygen. Her legs
kicked wildly, her wet, bloody feet squealing against the
floor. Her lungs ached so badly. Her vision started to go
black.
This was it. She was dying.
Vicious
.
* * * * *
Vicious hadn’t ventured into the armory in a while. First
of all, it was on the worst side of the ship and pointed at
the sun that gave life to this particular system. It was hot as
hell down here. Secondly, it was the domain of their
weapons specialists, the chief warrant officers who knew
the ins and outs of every item in the arsenal. Those men
could be a little touchy about their space.
But it was also the one place Terror liked to hang out
when he was onboard the
Valiant
.
He heard the familiar voices of Terror and Menace
coming from the small office up ahead. He didn’t bother
knocking before entering. Both men instantly jumped to
their feet and saluted. Even though they’d been raised
together since the age of five and were the dearest of
friends, they still showed him the respect of his position.
He saluted and gave them an “at ease”.
“Good to see you, Vicious.” Menace shook his hand and
smiled. “How’s married life treating you?”
“Well.” Vicious glanced away from the Chief Warrant
Officer toward Terror. “Don’t listen to his opinions on the
Grab, Menace. He’s just jealous.”
Terror chortled. “Of what? Sleeping with the same
woman every night? It’s called variety, Vee, and I happen
to like it.”
Vicious shrugged. “Don’t knock monogamy until you try
it.”
Menace regarded him with curiosity. “It’s been three
days, Vee. It’s still new. What happens when the novelty
wears off?”
“It won’t.” Vicious believed that. “It’s different when
you have a woman of your own. It’s hard to explain.”
“Shit,” Menace said with a laugh. “Terror was right.
You
are
getting soft.”
Terror chuckled and leaned back in his chair until it
balanced on two legs. Vicious grunted and kicked the
chair. Terror scrambled and only narrowly missed ending
up on his ass.
“You’re getting slow,” Vicious remarked. “Maybe it’s
time for you to hang up the sniper rifle,
old man
.”
Laughing, Menace hopped onto his desk. “So what
brings you down to my little slice of hell, Vee? Not the
company, I’m sure.”
Vicious grinned at his friend. “I wanted to let you know
that your application for funding had been approved. I was
able to do some shuffling and get your money freed up for
those short-range plasma pistols. You’ll be able to get
enough for the covert-ops teams.”
Menace whistled excitedly and rubbed his hands
together. “Vee, I’m telling you. If you could have seen
those things in action at the expo, you would have creamed
your pants. Those damn things are so fine.”
“Easy,” Vicious said with a laugh. “It’s a gun. Not a
woman.”
“You’re forgetting, Vee. Menace prefers his guns to his
women,” Terror reminded him. “I swear, when we were
at the academy, I once caught him jacking off to a gun
catalog.”
Menace threw a tablet stylus at Terror’s head and
pinged him on the temple. Terror picked up an empty
ammo magazine and zinged it right back at Menace. It
bounced off the other man’s chest. Instead of getting angry,
Menace laughed and rubbed his chest. “You bastard!”
Vicious shook his head at their childish antics. Maybe it
was true. Maybe some men never grew up. “Terror, if you
can be serious for a second, I was wondering if you’d be
willing to—”
A beep on the communication console interrupted him.
Their gazes turned to the screen mounted on the wall.
Menace walked over and tapped the screen. “Yeah?”
“Is Colonel Vicious there, sir?”
Vicious recognized the voice of his secretary. The man
sounded panicked. He stepped closer to Menace so he
was in the vid screen. “What’s the problem, private?”
“Sir, it’s your wife.”
His stomach fell. “Hallie? What’s happened?”
“I’m not sure, sir. She called earlier when you were on
the bridge but you’d given me instructions not to disturb
you unless it was an emergency. It wasn’t an emergency
then but I think it is now.”
Vicious gritted his teeth at the young man’s yammering.
“Less talk, more information, private.”
“Yes, sir. It’s complicated. She called in because a
friend thought a neighbor was being abused and
Emergency wouldn’t respond because the husband said it
was just a domestic accident. I told her I’d contact the
sergeant’s C.O. While I was waiting for his return call, I
noticed the door alert on your quarters go off. I didn’t
think much of it, sir, because you said your wife was
allowed free movement aboard the ship.”
“Private, are you getting close to the point of this story
or not?”
The young man blanched at the gruff question. “Yes, sir.
Your wife has your emergency access card. She used it to
access Sergeant Crow’s quarters, sir. A few seconds ago,
a call came in requesting immediate Emergency response
for a possible murder.”
Vicious’ heart stuttered. Sergeant Crow? Wasn’t that
Sergeant Hawk’s neighbor? What exactly had been
Hawk’s complaint against the man? Was it something
violent? “Where is Sergeant Crow right now?”
“That’s the thing, sir. I tracked his chip. He’s on his
way to his quarters, sir. I tried to hold the elevators but he
seems to be using the stairwells now, sir.”
Terror swore behind him and headed straight for the
door. Vicious tried to keep calm. “Is Emergency on their
way?”
“Yes, sir. A backup SRU team is on the way. Our main
team, Major Raze and his crew, are on the
Arctis
coordinating a drill. Team Two hasn’t reached the
quarters yet. I’ll reactivate the elevators in that section.”
“Do it quick.” Vicious spun on his heel and raced from
the small office. Menace was hot on his heels. Terror had
already started taking the stairs in the back access column.
Vicious raced after him, taking the steps two and three at a
time.
“Where are we going, Vee?”
“NCO housing, second floor of the section.”
“Right.”
They said nothing else as they rushed through the
bowels of the ship. It wasn’t the first time they’d been
racing against the clock. It wouldn’t be the last. When they
burst out of the access door on the second floor of the
NCO section, Vicious pushed in front of Terror.
Adrenaline burned through him. He had to get to Hallie.
He skidded to a halt outside the door of Sergeant Hawk.
He wasn’t sure if the neighbor, Sergeant Crow, was on the
left or right side. Before he could even ask, a muffled
scream pierced the door on the right. He immediately
lifted his foot and planted it on the door handle, shattering
the lock and forcing the door wide open.
“Fucking cunt!”
Enraged now, Vicious followed the unknown man’s
growl to the master bedroom. The scent of blood and
vomit hung ripe and heavy in the air. He heard the scuffle
in the corner. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. At first he
couldn’t even process what he witnessed. The sight simply
wouldn’t register. Those weakly kicking feet, the bloody
soles squeaking against the floor, tore him from the
momentary stupor.
“Hallie!”
He ripped the dirty bastard right off her and took him to
the floor. With an arm against the other man’s throat, he
started to snap the sergeant’s neck. He mastered his
bloodlust and stopped himself from giving Crow a
merciful end. The man had
hurt
Hallie. He deserved to
hurt now.
He rolled their bodies and pinned the dazed sergeant
under him. It had been a long time since Vicious had beat
the living shit out of someone but he hadn’t forgotten how.
He saw red as he mercilessly pounded the sergeant,
reducing the man’s face to ground meat. He started to
choke the life right out of the prick when Terror’s shout
tore through the haze of rage.
“Vicious! Hallie needs you. Now!”
The shout from his old friend cleared his head. He let
the sergeant drop to the ground, head lolling from side to
side as he gurgled and choked on his own blood. Vicious
didn’t care. He hoped the bastard died.
He jumped to his feet and hurried to her side. “Hallie!”
She turned her face toward him and his gut lurched.
Blood smears marred her face. One eye was already
swelling shut. Her jaw looked puffy and her lips were
busted. He gathered her into his arms. “Oh Kitten.”
Hallie tried to speak but her words were slurred and
garbled, probably from the shock of her attack and the
swelling around her mouth. “Sh,” he whispered and
rubbed her back. “The medics are on their way.”
Vicious fell back against the bed and cradled Hallie’s
battered body on his lap. She sobbed now, the sounds
ragged and raw as they escaped her. He kissed her
forehead and tried to swallow around the lump in his
throat. He’d sworn to protect her but she’d almost been
beaten to death.
Disgust soured his belly. Fear gripped his heart like a
vise. He’d failed her. He’d utterly and totally failed her.
Chapter Twelve
Hallie shifted in the uncomfortable hospital bed and
winced. They’d given her painkillers but only to dull the
pain. The medics were worried she might already be
pregnant and the drugs they kept onboard were formulated
for the larger Harcos population and their normal-sized
brides. Apparently, the Calyx women were the smallest
women they’d ever Grabbed. Even giving her a small,
diluted dose had sent the doctor into an apoplectic fit of
worry. Vicious had insisted they give her something. He’d
us ed
that
voice and everyone had rushed to obey his
order.
“Let me help you.”
It wasn’t Vicious who rushed to her aid now but
Menace. Vicious had stormed out of the room half an hour
earlier without saying a word. He’d left behind Menace to
guard her. The man with soft green eyes and white-blond
hair offered a timid smile as he adjusted her pillows.
“Better?”
“Yes.” With her swollen jaw and busted lips, she
couldn’t speak very well. Her mouth was so dry. She
gestured to the empty cup near her bed. “Water?”
“Sure.” Menace hurried to fill it and brought it back to
her. He held it to her lips as she sipped the water. With
one arm in a sling and the other so sore just moving her
fingers hurt, it was a blessed relief not to have to hold the
cup now. “Enough? More?”
“Enough.” She leaned back against the pillows and
closed her eyes. Flashes of the violence she’d endured
tormented her. She quickly opened her eyes to find
Menace studying her.
“It gets easier. You’ll go to sleep one night and not even
remember.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve been beaten.” The painkillers
dulled her senses. She’d never have said that to a stranger
if she’d been in her right mind.
Surprise crossed his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t hit me.”
He looked as if he didn’t know what to say. Finally, he
sat on the chair closest to her bed. Before he could say
anything, there was a knock on the door to her private
room. She perked up, hoping it was Vicious, but deflated