Vykor Page 2

  A white vapour poured out of the canister and Vykor knew exactly what was happening – they were being gassed. The problem was, he didn’t know what the hell to do about it. Though he was stronger than most humans, he wasn’t strong enough to tear off a door or shatter one of the windows, which were made of projectile-resistant glass.

  Megan was sprawled across Lily, hammering at one window with powerful two-footed kicks, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Dizzy and disoriented, he undid his seatbelt.

  Something heavy sagged against his side, and he groggily realized that Hanna was slumped against him. He should have been able to move her easily, but his arms were too heavy to lift, and he slumped in his seat.

  Who turned up the gravity?

  Chapter Two

  Lily woke from one nightmare into another. She’d been dreaming, drifting through dark recollections of a childhood full of angry words and hard fists, only to wake to find herself bruised and bound, her stomach roiling and her head pounding like a ten-kilo centipede was tapdancing on her head.

  It took her several seconds to work past the blind fear that tried to consume her, but she managed to push it aside. She needed to stay focused on what was happening around her. Megan had taught them both how to deal with a crisis, what to do if the unthinkable happened and they wound up captured or on one of their trips to the more dangerous parts of the world.

  She took stock of her situation. Something blocked her vision, a hood, she guessed, but her senses still worked. It didn’t take long for her to figure out she was in the back of a vehicle, a large one, based on the way it rocked and swayed. Her arms and legs were bound with thin hard strips. She was on her side, her hip and shoulder aching where they pressed against the floor. Whoever had put her in here hadn’t been gentle.

  The ride was bumpy enough to jounce and jar them every few minutes, and after one of the nastier bumps, someone uttered a low groan. She thought it was Hanna, and she rejoiced at the knowledge she wasn’t alone. A second later, her joy was squelched by guilt. She shouldn’t be happy her friend had been captured, too.

  “Hanna?” a male voice called out, then there was a thump and a grunt of pain.

  Another male, this one’s voice full of anger and hate, spoke, “No talking, ya alien asshole.”

  Well, that answered the question of who was behind the attack. There was only one group who hated aliens enough to do something like this: The Humanity First movement. They were a group of vile, vicious men who somehow thought that the women of Earth belonged to them and only them. They blamed the Pyrosians for their lousy luck with women, as if any woman would date a violent, brutal man with no manners when they might be matched to a Pyrosian male who wanted nothing more than to find their true mate and treat them with adoration and love for the rest of their lives. It was a no brainer, which was why she’d signed up for the dating service as soon as she’d learned about it. It sounded like paradise, which was why Hanna wanted to send more women there, where they’d finally be safe.

  She kept listening, hoping to hear from some of the others.

  “What about the other one?” another male asked.

  “The dragon? Boss didn’t say anything about him. We were only supposed to be bringing back three of them.”

  Her heart sped up a little. They’d taken Vykor, too? Then, the rest of what the man said sank in. Hanna, Jet, and Vykor were here, which meant Megan wasn’t with them. That wasn’t good. Where was she? What had they done with her?

  The men were still talking, and she tried to push aside her fear to pay attention to what they were saying. Something about Vykor being a freak with no magic and no ability to shift. Well, that explained why he hadn’t transformed already. He couldn’t.

  She felt badly for the Romaki. It had to hurt to hear himself described that way.

  The men with them were rough, and evidently prone to violence. During the ride, both Jet and Hanna were struck for speaking, but despite the risk she eventually found a moment to speak up and let the others know she was okay. It was all she could do. These were dangerous men, and it wouldn’t be smart to piss them off.

  By the time the truck stopped, she was too queasy to do anything but remain still and quiet as rough hands lifted her to the ground and cut away the bindings on her legs. It took all her focus to stay on her feet, a task made harder by the hood that covered her face and the occasional shove from one of the men escorting her. She could hear gulls cry somewhere nearby, and the air was heavy with the smells of the sea. Not that it helped much—Vancouver was a coastal city. Nothing she sensed gave her any real idea where they’d been taken.

  The unsteady tickity-click of high heels hitting concrete ahead of her had to be Hanna. A door swung on rusty hinges, and the footsteps faded away. Lily squared her shoulders and kept walking. Even if they separated them, she wouldn’t really be alone. She could do this.

  “Watch your step,” a male voice rumbled.

  She lifted her feet with care for a few steps, allowing her to avoid tripping over the threshold of a doorway. Voices in the distance, someone barking orders. “You and you, escort the prisoners to their cell. I’m going to go get something to secure the creature.”

  The creature. She wished she knew where Vykor was so she could do something. Touch his arm. Say his name. Anything to offer a bit of comfort, no matter how small. For that matter, she could use a little comfort herself. She was sick, scared, and achy from the rough treatment and uncomfortable ride.

  “This way.” Someone gripped her shoulder and hauled her in a new direction. Someone nearby tripped and landed hard. She heard the telltale thuds of boots striking flesh, triggering memories she didn’t want or need right now. “Stop it. Please stop.”

  “You an alien lover?” Someone snarled, the voice full of malice.

  “What I am is cold, sick, and scared. Please, just take us to our cells so I can sit down. I really don’t want to throw up inside this hood.”

  The same gruff voice that had told her to watch her step spoke up. “Bossman didn’t say nothing about beating up the alien. Just told us to take it to the cell and secure it. You want to get him pissed at you?”

  The other man answered with a surly growl, and she was led forward again.

  “Step up,” the man told her.

  She did so, and the flooring changed again. Metal maybe? She couldn’t be sure.

  Someone grabbed her again, spun her around, and lifted the hood from her face. The light was dim enough it didn’t hurt her eyes, but it still took a few seconds for her to get her bearings. Before she could take in any details, a blade flashed in front of her eyes and she stepped back in fear.

  “Relax. I’m just going to cut you loose.” The man across from her was older, with dark hair and a weatherworn face. His grey eyes were flat and cold, and his expression was unreadable.

  She stayed frozen until he’d finished cutting through the straps that bound her arms, her eyes never leaving the knife.

  Once she was free, he pointed to a shelf-like bunk welded to the back wall of her cell, and she went over to it and sat down.

  “Good. I like a woman who knows her place. You stay quiet and well-behaved and you’ll be on your way home soon enough.”

  She hated herself, but she forced herself to nod her head slightly. She’d be well behaved…until it was time to fight. Megan had taught her that, too.

  Two men brought Vykor in, while another heaved a battered office chair into the cell. It was one of the high-backed styles executives seemed to favour, well-worn but still solid looking.

  “Sit.” One of the men shoved Vykor into the seat, while another held it steady, so it didn’t go rolling backward on its wheels.

  In a few minutes they had him tied to the chair, though the arms were too thick for them to use more of those awful straps and they had to use rope instead. That was good. Rope she could deal with.

  They didn’t even take his hood off before leaving.

  “Don’t talk to it. D
on’t feed it. And if it bothers you, you let us know. We’ll take care of you,” the one who had cut her free told her as he left. She didn’t like the way he said it, or the way his eyes lingered on her once he was outside. It took two men to haul a heavy gate made of welded bars along a track and into place. The gate was locked into place, and then they were gone, leaving her alone with Vykor.

  She rushed over to him. “Are you alright?”

  “You’re not supposed to be talking to me.”

  “Then we better keep our voices low, so they don’t hear us. And you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay?”

  He uttered a wry chuckle. “Depends on your definition of the word. How about you?”

  “Not even close to okay, but at least I’m not tied to a chair.” She pulled off the black hood that covered his head, and for a moment she just stared. Somehow, he’d gotten better looking since the last time she’d seen him. Either that, or being terrified was playing hell with her perceptions.

  He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Hello again.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “Hi.”

  She is so lovely.

  Not the first thing he should have been thinking, considering their situation, but apparently being close to Lily turned off all the logical parts of his brain.

  “Do you think the others are okay? I’m worried about them. Megan, too. They didn’t bring her with us.”

  He looked around the metal box they were trapped inside. There was a rough bunk welded to the back wall, a squat, beige object in the corner, and not much else. “I heard the males say that Jet and Hanna weren’t to be hurt. They’ll be alright.”

  “I guess I should be more worried about us.” Her hand touched his shoulder. “I wish they’d stop being so mean to you.”

  “I’m used to it.” He rolled his shoulders in a dismissive shrug.

  Her smile faded. “No one should have to get used to being treated like that. Is it true, what they said?” She blanched. “Not the way they said it. You’re not a freak, or a creature, you’re Romaki. But…one without magic?”

  She’d heard. He swallowed his shame and gave a small nod.

  “And your people gave you crap about it? I thought the Romaki were an advanced species. All enlightened and wise.” Her mouth formed a moue of disgust. “Doesn’t sound very advanced to me. That’s the same petty nonsense we have here on Earth.”

  “It’s not the same thing. I represent something that shouldn’t be. Daga and Solun, the Gods we follow, represent the two clans, Fire and Snow. Every Romaki is claimed by one of the Gods at birth. Gold eyes, fire dragon. Silver eyes, snow dragon.”

  “And you have one of each colour.”

  “Exactly. I don’t belong to either God, which means I have no clan. My parents abandoned me outside a shrine to both Solun and Daga when I was still an infant. No one wanted anything to do with me.”

  Instead of looking at him with horror or pity, Lily cocked her head to one side and pursed her soft lips thoughtfully. “Who decided you didn’t belong to either God?”

  “The priests.”

  “The ones who raised you?” Her voice was tinged with shock. “They told you that? You were a child!”

  “They’re priests. They won’t lie. Not even to protect a child.” The priests who raised him hadn’t all been comfortable around him, but most of them had been decent, if distant.

  “How do you know they were right? What if they’re wrong and you belong to both Gods. I mean, if you weren’t claimed by either god, wouldn’t your eyes be some other colour?”

  He stared at her in shock, too shaken to speak for what felt like forever. Eventually, he managed to dredge up some words from the shattered mess she’d made of his head. “That’s not—. I mean, it couldn’t be. Romaki only have two eye colours.”

  “And they’re supposed to be of the same colour, right? So, that rule is already out the window.”

  “That’s not how it works.” He wasn’t even sure why they were talking about this. He knew what he was, and this conversation wasn’t doing anything to address their current problems.

  She straightened her head and flashed him a smug little smile. “Says the guy who just said no one on his planet knows how he wound up with eyes two different colours.”

  “Two eye colours and no dragon. No magic.” He tried to gesture with his hands and grimaced in frustration when he remembered he was still tied to the chair. “If I had even a small amount of magic, we wouldn’t be here right now. I could have stopped this from happening.” I could have protected you. The thought came with another irrational flash of anger.

  “What could you have done?” she asked.

  “More than I did.” He’d never forget the moment Megan had asked him to protect them, assuming he could wield magic like every other Romaki.

  “Even if you could turn into a dragon, you couldn’t have done it inside the vehicle. You’d have squashed us flat if you’d tried. Do your people have a spell for magically removing gas from the air?”

  “I…uh. Well, no. But I’d have thought of something. Summoned my dragon’s strength to tear off the door, maybe.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “We had less than a minute from impact to losing consciousness. None of us managed to do much, not even Megan, and she’s a trained professional. I think you should cut yourself some slack. All I managed to do was try to call 911, and I didn’t even manage that before I passed out.”

  “Are you always this logical?” After everything she’d endured today, her calm assessment and lack of anger astounded him. Most beings he knew would be reacting emotionally - lashing out, seeking to cast blame or at least vent their frustration. The only being he knew with that kind of emotional control was him. And today, even he was having trouble with his temper.

  Her demeanour changed instantly. Her shoulders tightening, gaze dropping to the floor. She exhaled once, then lifted her head again, her expression shuttered, now. “Sorry.”

  He didn’t know what just happened, but he didn’t like the change one flaming bit. Again, he tried to move his hands, only to be frustrated by his restrains. He needed to touch her, Comfort her. Bring back her smile. “What are you sorry for, razdi? I meant it as a compliment. Since you don’t seem pleased by my question, I should be the one apologizing.”

  “Oh.” Her expression softened slightly. “Most people don’t like it when I’m too practical.”

  “One thing you can be sure of is that I’m not like most beings.” He smiled. “I am certifiably unique.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Her cheeks went pink and her smile returned, as bright as starlight in the darkness. His chest tightened and an unfamiliar warmth flowed through him. She had noticed him.

  He belatedly realized he was staring and tore his gaze from hers. He really should be focused on their bigger problems right now – like the fact they were locked in what appeared to be an oblong metal box with only minimal comforts. If he could walk, it wouldn’t take him more than maybe six long strides to travel from one end to the other, and it was maybe half that from the back wall to the makeshift door. Apart from a single, shelf-style bunk, the chair he sat in, and a boxy object that he guessed was a toilet based on the roll of toilet paper beside it, the cell was empty.

  “Not exactly a five-star room, is it?” she asked as he finished looking around.

  “Is there such a thing as a no-star rating? If so, we found it. Do you have any idea what this structure is? It doesn’t look like it’s part of a larger building.”

  “It isn’t. I don’t want to annoy the guards by wheeling you closer to the door so you can see for yourself, but we’re in a large building, a warehouse, I think. This is a shipping container. A big steel box they pack full of goods to ship back and forth between countries.” She pointed to one end. “That’s the real door over there. The gate must be so they can keep an eye on us from out there.”

  “You don’t think they’re watching us remotely?”

  “
If they had that ability, they wouldn’t have cut another hole in the container,” she looked around thoughtfully, her brow furrowed as she toyed with a silver bracelet decorated with a variety of figures and beads. “Damn,” she murmured in low, frustrated tones.

  “More problems?”

  She bent down so they were face to face, then raised her hand so her braceleted wrist was between them and whispered, “One of these charms is a tracking device. It should tell Megan exactly where to find us. Only, all this metal is probably blocking the signal.”

  “You wear such a thing all the time?” The concept shocked him. Even knowing that this world was dangerous, and that Lily’s work took her to some of the most unstable areas, the idea that she had to carry that kind of security measure made his heart twist in his chest.

  She nodded and lowered her wrist, but kept her voice to a hushed whisper, their faces so close together he could feel her breath on his cheek. “Megan gave one to each of us. Hanna’s is part of her necklace.” She straightened suddenly. “Hanna!”

  Without another word she slipped over to the gate and peeked out, using the wall to shield most of her body from view.

  “What can you see?” he asked.

  “Two guards. They’re armed and standing between us and another shipping container on the other side of the warehouse.” She bounced on her toes. “Oh! That one has two doors. I think that’s where they must be holding Hanna and Jet.”

  “How far?”

  Lily shook her head. “I’m really lousy at judging distances. Maybe thirty metres? The guards are spaced out in line with the ends of the shipping containers, facing each other.”

  “Better field of view that way. Interesting that there are only two of them. Do you see anyone else around?”

  Lily peered around, then hissed in dismay and ducked behind the wall again, out of sight. “There’s a group of men headed this way.”