“Abel,” said the woman. “Don’t upset her.”
“She’ll find out soon enough,” said Abel.
Yes, she needed to know as much as possible, if she was going to find a way to stop it.
Never lose hope.
That’s what her father had taught her and she was finally ready to accept she was her father’s daughter.
The medics moved away. Samantha didn’t think they’d gone far, but her head hurt too much to move, so she lay still staring at the ceiling.
“Look at this,” The female medic whispered. She was speaking to Abel though. Not to Samantha.
“Damn. Is that right?”
Samantha decided she’d risk the pain. Slowly, she turned her head until she could see them huddled over a screen. The pain of moving was every bit as bad as she expected and she still had no idea what they were looking at. She glanced toward the door. No guards. Her desire to escape won over her curiosity. She lifted a leg a centimeter off the med-bed experimentally. She might have the strength to stand.
“This could change everything,” said the medic.
Samantha was working up the energy to roll off the bed when Abel was back by her bedside. “You don’t know that it’s one of theirs.” He was still talking to the other medic.
“She’s been with them long enough.”
Abel huffed. “Let’s stick to things we can do something about.”
Sam made a useless grab for his arm. “What are you talking about?”
He pulled a mender down over her chest. “Hold still now. I’m going to stimulate regen on that broken rib. It shouldn’t hurt. Tell me if it does.”
Samantha felt the tingle in her chest from the mender doing its work. “What could change things?”
“Don’t talk.”
The female medic came around to Samantha’s right side and pressed an injector to her wrist. “This will numb your hand while I work on it. The good news is, this isn’t as bad as it must feel.”
“Answer my question,” Samantha demanded. She was aware as she did that some of the pain in her skull had already started to fade. They must have treated it before she regained consciousness.
The medic tilted her head and studied her like a specimen under a scope. “Have you been intimate with the Dogs?”
“What?” Samantha sputtered at the too personal question.
Abel put a hand on her shoulder. “Be still and quiet or I’ll sedate you.”
Samantha lay in defeated silence while the two medics worked. When they’d done all they could for her injuries, Abel stowed the mender and the other supplies while the woman held her hand.
“You’re a tough woman,” said Abel. “That whip-master needs a beating with his own whip. Why in hell did you go after Hera by yourself?”
Samantha bristled at the implied criticism. “I thought she was pregnant.”
Abel shook his head. “I heard they’d been putting out that rumor, but I can assure you she’s not.”
“I know that now.”
The female medic patted the back of Samantha’s hand. “Her lack of pregnancy is the reason they were so determined to get rid of her mate.”
Samantha thought of the conversation she’d had with Carn back on
G-45987
. “Carn thought the match had been rigged.”
“Finding a way to make more Arena Dogs is critical to Owens. If there’s a chance Mercury, Carn, or Lo is the father of your baby we have to get you out of here.”
“What?” Her baby? Shock left her dazed.
“Chelle!” Abel’s shout startled her.
“We can’t hand her over to Owens,” said Chelle. “Not if there’s even a chance. If Owens knew human women can carry their children, there’ll be no stopping him. We have to get her out of here. And we need to do it before Myers and Mallow come on shift.”
Chelle squeezed Samantha’s hand and looked down at her. “You should be feeling a bit better now.”
“Please,” said Samantha. “You’re not making any sense.”
“You didn’t know.” A sad smile ghosted across her face. “Hera isn’t pregnant, but you are.”
RomaRex Arena Staging Area, Roma
Earth Alliance Beta Sector
2210.185
A familiar pain radiated through Mercury’s shoulders. He couldn’t feel his hands. For once the chants of the crowds, dully pulsing somewhere overhead, were a welcome promise of relief. If he was expected to fight, whatever he was being punished for would be forgiven.
He forced his eyes open. Lo was by his side. The dull gray drapes that divided up the staging area blurred momentarily and the shadow of another place fell across his field of visions. It twined around the pillars and slipped along the ceiling like a ghostly phantom, painting his world with memories of a dream. A dream so sweet he couldn’t fathom how it could have come from his imagination. He had no frame of reference for a human medic that would treat him with respect and a woman who would stand at his side with courage in the day, then hold him in her arms through the night.
“Samantha.”
“You say her name like it’s some fucking prayer.” Drake sneered then shoved him from behind to set his body swinging.
The pain spiked, but not enough to steal his consciousness and send him back into the blackness. Not enough to distract him from Drake’s words. Not enough to disperse the intense anguish that came with the return of reality.
Samantha was no dream. She was real and, because of him, she was in the hands of the worst of monsters. He’d brought her here. He was to blame.
Mercury snarled at the man who’d been his trainer and his tormentor. “Where is she?”
“Don’t worry,” said Drake. He circled them as if he were tethered to them as surely as they were tethered to the cold metal rings over their heads. “I’ll make sure she has a good view of your match.”
Lo’s snarl snapped Mercury’s attention to his brother and the whip-master taunting him from a safe distance.
He didn’t see Carn or Hera. He could only hope they’d managed to evade recapture. They’d be free. But at what cost?
“Will this match be as fated as the last?” He still remembered the horror of watching the Game Master’s thumb dip down.
“Oh, much worse,” said Drake. “The medic will be here with the drugs shortly.”
Lo shuddered. Normally, Drake would have jumped on the opportunity to torment him and draw out his fear, but he was focused inward and he continued speaking.
“Grande wanted me to whip you first. Try to get you to tell us where Carn is hiding. I convinced him that would be pointless. Pointless and bad for our image. The crowd should always see you looking strong.”
They’d heard that axiom often enough.
Mercury coughed up a bitter laugh. “Still trying to earn your way into your master’s good opinion? I’m surprised he let you live after how badly you failed.”
A flush crept up Drake’s neck. If his features tightened any further his face would crack. He turned and stalked a few meters away.
Mercury locked gazes with Lo. “She told me you didn’t follow because of my strategies or my success. After stumbling at every turn this day, I’m thinking she must have been right.”
“She
is
right.” Lo yipped. “She wouldn’t want you to waste time blaming yourself.”
Mercury dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “We have no time for regrets.”
“No regrets,” echoed Lo. His voice dropped and turned wistful. “I regret nothing.”
“She also said there’s always hope, brother. We won’t give up now.” Mercury howled and Lo joined him. All around them, other voices rose up and merged into a song of grief—an expression of agony known to all Arena Dogs.
Drake spun around to face them. “Shut the fuck up!” He turned in a small circle and shouted the command out to all the Dogs being prepped for matches. “Shut up!”
Mercury let his howl fade to nothing and the others followed. “We are Arena Dogs!”
“We are Arena Dogs!” The shout came back to him, clear and strong with the power of every Dog close enough to join in.
Mercury sucked in air and shouted again. “We are strong!”
“We are strong!”
Mercury’s heart surged with the combined will of all Dogs. “We will be free!”
The chant thundered back to him. “We will be free!”
“We will never give up!
“Never!” Their voices drowned out the arena crowds as they broke into howls and hoots and discordant cheers.
Mercury met Drake’s blood-red complexion with a smile of satisfaction. He wouldn’t give up. Samantha would not die on Roma, nor would she live under the thumb of the owners.
Mercury forced all his energy and breath into making a low-sound alert. Many of the others joined him. He took another breath and dove back into the silent booming of their infrasound calls. It had to be enough to alert Saber. It had to be enough to give them some small opportunity to fight back.
RomaRex Arena Medical Center, Roma
Earth Alliance Beta Sector
2210.185
Could it be true? Samantha’s hand went to her belly. “I had a blocker. It should be good for another year.”
“I double-checked the test results,” said Chelle. “Just four weeks. It is their baby, isn’t it?”
“We’ve always suspected the males had sturdy swimmers,” said Abel.
Chelle scowled at him.
“Uh, sorry. We’ve suspected for some time that the females are the problem.”
Samantha had no reason to trust them. “Why should I tell you anything?”
“Because we’re on your side,” said Chelle. “We’re going to help you get out of here.”
“You can’t do this,” said Abel. He pulled Chelle around to face him. “Think what you’re doing.”
“There’s nothing Owens wouldn’t do,” said Chelle. “If he knew. Nothing would stop him from breeding a whole new generation of Arena Dogs.”
The implications were terrifying, But Samantha couldn’t think about that now. If she was going to have a baby, she wasn’t going to raise it without the father. “I’m not leaving without Mercury and Lo.”
“Don’t be stupid,” said Abel. “Chelle is already—”
Another look from Chelle shut the man up. “Abel, don’t you see. It really is theirs. She’s trying to save the baby’s father.”
“Leave that to me,” said Abel. “I’ll do my best to get them out.”
Chelle shook her head. “If I get her out, security will be tightened. The usual way won’t work. I have to do this.”
Chelle took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I’d like you to let the leaders of the resistance know I wouldn’t have blown my cover for any other reason.”
“You shouldn’t do it at all,” said Abel. “You have any idea how hard it’s going to be to get any more of them out of here without you?”
“What are you talking about,” asked Samantha. “What usual way?”
Chelle smiled sadly. “Not all Dogs that die in the arena stay dead. Abel and I save some of them, like Mercury’s pack brothers.”
“They’re alive?”
“We got them out to the resistance. After I’m gone, Abel will have to find a way to carry on without me, but that will take time. I’m afraid that’s not an option for Mercury and Diablo.”
Samantha didn’t want Chelle to risk anything for her, but she didn’t have a lot of options. “If you can get us all to the port, we can take you with us.”
Chelle smiled like she was dealing with a naïve child. “Let’s focus on getting you out first.”
Two guards burst through the med-center door, dragging a bulky Arena Dog into the facility. Chelle urged them toward a second med-bed. “From the Arena?”
“No,” said one of the guards as they lifted him onto the table. “There was a brawl in one of the kennels. This one is alive, but we can’t get him to come around. He may have a head injury.”
Chelle stepped over to the table, watching as Abel fitted the restraints and strapped the Arena Dog down. “Thank you,” said Chelle to the guards. “We’ll take it from here. You can wait outside.”
The men were barely out the door when Abel released the restraints and the big man on the table pushed up and looked right at Samantha.
Chelle stroked the large man’s arm like she was stroking a pet. “Saber. Thank goodness you’re all right.”
“Mercury and Lo were recaptured?” He spoke without dropping his gaze from Samantha.
“Yes,” said Chelle. “I’m afraid so, but Carn and Hera haven’t been found.”
The man called Saber gently pushed the medic aside and jumped off the table. He approached Samantha like a wild animal approaching an offered treat. She kept still and waited. The medics clearly weren’t afraid of him and he seemed to know Mercury.
“You’re hurt,” she said, choosing to focus on the obvious. “You should let the medics help you.”
He lifted his arms and looked down his torso, crisscrossed with claw marks. Blood welled along the marks. Raising his arms also showed off his lean, muscular frame. His torso was as lean as Mercury’s but those broad shoulders made him seem much bigger.
“This is nothing but scratches,” he said. He big shoulders rolled and he dropped his arms. He stepped closer, bent over her and inhaled deeply. Scenting her, no doubt.
“Who are you?” Saber’s browse wrinkled.
Samantha knew exactly what response she needed to give. Not for him and not for the medics, but for herself. “I’m Mercury’s mate,” she said. “My name is Samantha.”
“You don’t scent of him.” Saber stated it matter-of-factly.
“It was a long journey…and we were separated for most of that.” And she was a fool. That she left unsaid. She pushed up into a sitting position and swung her legs over the side of the bed, grateful that the pain and dizziness didn’t knock her back onto the bed. “Now that we’re acquainted, there’s only one thing I need to know.” She closed her eyes and took a shallow breath before facing him again. “Are you going to help me rescue him?”
“Saber,” said Chelle. “We have to help her. She’s pregnant with his baby.”
Shock painted his face a shade lighter. “Does he know?”
“No,” said Chelle. The medic stepped over to a counter and started preparing two dosing-wands. “Drake will be here any moment to escort her into the stands and I’m supposed to make sure the match doesn’t go well for Mercury and Lo. I’m replacing the usual drugs with a performance booster, but I’m not sure what else to do.” The medic shoved the two prefilled wands into the big pockets of her white coat. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”