Escape Read online

  Outside, I blinked at the harsh compound halolights invading my eyes and squinted around. Ahead, the large sirdar wall winked in the glare. It encircled the compound and kept Resistance fighters out—and everyone else locked inside. A low pulse throbbed through my bones, generated by the activated laserblade fence. Previously it’d been undetectable, but since the Resistance prisoners escaped several days ago, the current had been increased until it now gave off a sickening, white-noise vibration. If you got too close, the fence would slice you in two in seconds.

  “Open the gate!” someone shouted from one of the towers.

  A group returning from an early morning desert sweep?

  “Go,” Kinaert said gruffly. He prodded his pistol into my right flank, making my breath wheeze out of me from pain. His hand waved toward the path leading to the prison section of the compound, where they must’ve built some temporary cells after the prison exploded. Otherwise, where would they lock me up? “Stop dawdling.”

  With fear churning like a sandstorm inside me, I moved forward, but stopped to let a group of soldiers pass. They shoved each other and joked, and, from the reek of munga and rum clouding around them, it was clear they’d been out enjoying their free time at the sleaze-easies.

  The low hum dimmed as the laserblade containment system winked off in this part of the compound and the smallest section of the sirdar fence started to swing inward.

  While Kinaert commiserated with the soldiers—something about extra shifts of guard duty, plus longer treks in the desert to round up insurgents—I scanned the area. Other than this group of men, there was no one else around.

  Did I dare?

  No choice.

  The second Kinaert’s pistol shifted lower on my back, revealing his distraction, I ran for it, darting around the group of soldiers, aiming for the small door that was already closing after letting in a battalion of soldiers.

  I needed to find Maya and Herc and tell them what I’d discovered. My friend, Maya, had been a nurse in the clinic. I’d thought she worked for the Regime, like me. But then she left the compound, heading north across the desert. There was nothing in that direction except the Resistance stronghold—so I’d heard. Herc, the alpha of the cat shifters, had followed, intent on protecting her despite the orders of his Regime employers.

  I only suspected Maya was somehow aligned with the Resistance, but I had to take the chance. My odds were better with the Resistance than in a Regime prison.

  I pushed for speed as shouts rang out, and my heart thundered in my chest.

  The door creaked as the gap narrowed.

  Damn, I wasn’t going to make it!

  Pulse fluttering like an armatote caught in a trap, I drew closer, straining with everything inside me to reach the gate.

  “Don’t shoot,” Kinaert shouted from too close behind me. I swear, I could almost feel his hand slamming down on my shoulder. “The C.O. wants traitors taken alive. But don’t let her get through the gate!”

  I ran faster and reached the opening before it clicked shut, sliding my arm and then the rest of my body through the slim gap. It banged shut and locked, but I didn’t stop to make sure no one else was on my tail. The laserblade fence would be activated soon—and I’d be fried to a crisp trying to escape through it.

  I dashed forward. With my footsteps pounding the ground, I couldn’t hear any hum that might tell me if the fence had been turned back on, but, in truth, I didn’t know whether there would be an immediate noise, or if the generator would work up to it. Silent, but still deadly. I had to bank on the fact that Commander Smithton had complained recently about how long it took to reboot the laserblades each time they were disengaged. Minutes, if I remembered correctly.

  It was a risk I had to take. Death by laserblade? Or death by whatever waited for me inside the compound? At least the fence would be fast. Whoever was running the DNA experiments would silence me forever to keep me from telling anyone about the horror I’d discovered. And, from rumors I’d heard around the compound, there were worse things they could do before killing me.

  Invisible to the naked eye, only the narrow trench dug around the compound’s perimeter indicated where the laserblade fence operated.

  With a burst of speed, I jumped, thrusting my chest forward. Not bad for someone with no athletic ability. Terror made a wonderful motivator.

  I cleared the trench and tumbled onto the sand on the other side. Scrambling to my feet, I patted my body, unable to believe I’d made it past the fence before it turned me into a bigger version of the charred armatotes littering the ground on this side of the trench.

  The rise of a low, throbbing pulsation—and Kinaert and the semi-drunk group of soldiers standing a short distance away from me, cursing—told me I’d barely made it out in time.

  With the middle fingers of both hands lifted, and a wide grin on my face, I backed away from the compound.

  Hoping I’d find freedom somewhere in the desert.

  But when the soldiers lifted their guns, I dove sideways. Thuds sounded, and the ground where I’d recently been standing came under heavy fire. Sand scattered into the air and rocks pinged around me.

  Great.

  In minutes, they’d disarm the fence and grab me, determined to bring me back for questioning. Or execution. Or maybe they’d give me to the scientists working on the shifters and Resistance fighters; a new mouse for their Cat’s Play experiment.

  I dashed around a dune and headed out into the desert, my feet bogging down in the sand already. Pushing myself hard, I headed north.

  My breathing soon chugged from between my pinched lips, creating white bursts in the chilly air.

  Really should’ve worked out more.

  Or worked out some.

  While I was unsure of the exact location of the Resistance headquarters, from the whispers I’d heard around the compound, it lay somewhere in this direction.

  Thankfully, part of my initial orientation included lessons in the general area and indigenous species. As a city girl, I’d be lost without that knowledge.

  It was going to take all my energy and attention to make it to the Resistance without being eaten by a viper. I’d have to avoid them, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fight them off. As a civilian doctor, I was not a soldier. Sure, they encouraged us to participate in basic military training, because we lived on the edge of Resistance territory, but I’d avoided it, partly due to a lack of interest, mostly due to the fact that I was so incredibly busy at the clinic.

  I also knew I’d need to travel at night and sleep during the day, avoiding the worst of the desert heat.

  With dawn cresting the horizon, I’d have to find a place to hide soon.

  The other thing they’d mentioned was to take in plenty of water. Which was another big problem, since I had nothing to drink. But I’d heard of hidden oases in the desert, and I’d find them. I couldn’t be the first person to cross this area without supplies, and I’d make it, just like they had.

  While telling myself all this helped me feel a bit more confident, my body still shook. It wasn’t like I had much choice. Die in the desert from starvation and dehydration or face possible torture back at the compound.

  At least out here, I could fight for my survival.

  Shouts rang out behind me, making me pick up my speed. I floundered up a dune with sweat pouring down my face, and pushed myself to hurry down the other side, my feet sinking into sand, making them drag.

  Gods, this was torture already, and the sun hadn’t yet fully risen.

  But, with the cloud cover blocking out the fading stars and partly eclipsing the moons, it would be a challenge for the soldiers to see me. Bonus.

  Hard for me to see where I walked, however, but I’d somehow deal.

  That’s what I got for choosing to become the hunted.

  The roar of motors made goosebumps pebble on my spine. With my head start, maybe I could—okay, probably not—outdistance the soldiers on foot, but if they tracked me on r
unners, my odds had taken a sudden dive. I’d be soldier-bait in no time.

  I ran for a short distance, but exhaustion soon slowed my steps to a limping jog, then to a walk.

  Whenever the sound of runners headed in my direction, I flattened myself on the sand in whatever depression I could find. Their lights would sweep over the area, but somehow miss me in the gloom.

  I doubted they’d miss me for long.

  Fear made me tremble. How was I going to escape capture?

  Overhead, a creature screamed, making me jump and dash ahead a few steps forward, before I slowed again. Had the sound been a broad-winged scree?

  Because I was of mixed race—half Median, thanks to the father I hated, half Glian on my dead mother’s side—I’d paid more attention during the lessons about this planet than those about the Regime.

  My knowledge barely scratched the surface, but I knew the screes hunted at night. They ate vipers, which was a good thing. And they didn’t enjoy human flesh, an even better thing.

  If they kept the vipers away, they could scream all they wanted.

  A scratching-scurrying noise came from my left. I froze, my teeth chattering in my skull, before hurrying forward again. Whatever it was tracked me, moving parallel to my steps as I sped north.

  Was this soldier playing a deadly game of catch, or something even more fearsome?

  Something heavy dropped on my shoulder, and my heart jolted against my ribs as if it hoped to escape. Cold sweat flashed across my body.

  I screamed as claws dug through my skin.

  Spinning wildly, I tried to shake off the creature clinging to my back, but it wouldn’t let go. I beat at it, hitting scaly flesh that rippled. A high-pitched squeal burst past my ear, and my wail joined in with the creature’s.

  I flung myself onto the ground and rolled, somehow dislodging it from my back. Springing to my feet, I ran until my lungs gasped for air and my pulse roared through my veins like runner fuel.

  Eventually, my footsteps slowed until my feet barely moved on the sand.

  I staggered to a halt, studying a darker stretch of soil ahead, but the thuds of something coming up close behind made me fling myself forward. Stumbling over a rock, I tripped and fell toward the black section.

  But instead of jarring on the ground, the world dropped out from beneath me, sucking me down, down. I rolled and tumbled into a hole, only coming to a stop when my body smacked on a rock-solid ledge some distance below.

  I lay there weeping and gasping, praying the creature that attacked me had lost my scent. That it would leave me alone. And that I’d be able to find my way out of whatever this odd pit was that I’d fallen into.

  Only when my roaring heart slowed to a more normal rhythm did I sit up. A net-like substance meshed across my face and body. Clingy. Sticky. Shuddering, I wiped the tackiness aside. Shivers wracked my frame, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what this stuff was.

  Where was I?

  Had I somehow stumbled into one of the underground cave systems the Resistance occupied? Doubtful, since I wasn’t far from the compound. From the little I’d heard about the Resistance and their main location, I got the impression it would take me days to reach their caves, and I’d only been moving on foot for a handful of clicks.

  Pulling the tiny penlight from my lab coat pocket, I turned on the beam.

  Black beady eyes reflected back at me, from a nest of whatever they were covering the walls around me. Above me. Behind me. My flesh crawled, and I quaked, brushing my arms and thighs feverishly, as if the creatures crawled all over me.

  I rose onto my shaky feet and gasped as I peered around.

  The net-like substance I’d wiped from my face had been spun by these creatures, and they watched me, their gazes tracking my every movement.

  No, they watched me as prey.

  I’d fallen into an armor spider den. One sting, and I’d be thrown into a temporary paralysis. By the time movement returned to my limbs, it would be too late. I’d already be spun into their web and placed near an egg sack. Once the young hatched, they’d eat me alive.

  My scream rang out shrilly.

  “What the…” someone said from above me. Footsteps ran closer. “Who’s that? Identify!”

  Lights swept across the opening overhead, and within seconds someone squinted down into the hole. “Janie?”

  I knew that voice. The deep husky tone had haunted my sleep for months.

  For whatever reason, Leo, the lion shifter of Herc’s alpha pack, could turn me on with just a glance.

  I hadn’t shared how I felt. Leo would not consider me—a plump, thirty-something Regime doctor—worthy of any kind of relationship. A gorgeous, younger, self-assured man like him would only pick the best, and that wasn’t me.

  Not that being rational about him kept me from overheating in my sleep.

  I’d held off getting closer to him, just watched him from afar. Because, once I’d proven I was not for him, my dreams would crash in the desert and burn.

  “Leo,” I gasped. I flashed my light around. “Watch out. I’ve fallen into a spider den. There are thousands of them down here with me.”

  They scurried closer. Darting my foot out, I stomped on a bold cluster that was drawing near. Greenish goo squirted around my shoe, and my stomach heaved.

  “Fuck,” Leo said. “Hold on.” He called over his shoulder, “Jag, grab my feet and I’ll lower myself inside.”

  “Jag’s here?”

  Leo studied my face for a long moment, as if trying to decide if he dared trust me. Something in my expression, or maybe whatever he might have heard about me, must have reassured him, because his shoulders relaxed. “He’s come from…further north, with a message for me and Khal.”

  With a few words, he confirmed what I’d suspected. Herc and Maya were with the Resistance. And, even better, I was heading in the correct direction. “You and the guys have to leave the compound, right?”

  “Yeah. It’s over for us here. We’re…”

  He must’ve decided he couldn’t share anything else, but I’d already guessed.

  “You’re going to join the Resistance,” I said with awe in my voice.

  Saying nothing, his silence confirmed my suspicions.

  “Get me out of here, and I’ll go with you.” I pulled the computer drive from my pocket. “I’ve got something here I need to get to Maya right away. The Regime…”

  A loud scraping-scurrying sound from behind me made my breath grind to a halt. Something big was coming my way. How large did these spiders grow? The ones I’d squished were about the size of my palm. But maybe they grew to the size of a knee-high narlol?

  The sound came closer.

  No way could I handle this by myself.

  “Hurry,” I said. “I’ve got to get out of here. Now.”

  Leo leaned forward, his arm extended. “Grab my hand, and I’ll pull you out.” He peered over his shoulder. “Jag? Where the hells are you?” He scowled. “Great. He’s gone.” He shook his head. “Something’s going on here, and I don’t like it.” He waved his hand. “Come on. Grab on to me.”

  I stood on my toes, straining to reach.

  Face taut with determination, he slid further into the hole, reaching to connect.

  The creeping, crawling sensation on my legs told me the armor spiders were not waiting for their bigger friend to join them. Gulping, I shook my legs, dislodging the boldest of the spiders. But more kept coming, seeking, their sharp, claw-like forelegs extended.

  “Gods, please,” I whimpered, reaching toward Leo. Sweat poured down my spine and made my palms slippery.

  “Hold on,” he said, reassurance filling his voice. “I’ll have you out in no time.”

  If only.

  Our fingertips touched.

  My widening eyes met Leo’s as lightning bolted across my skin like liquid fire. From his flinch, I knew the same sensation had jolted through him, as well.

  “Janie.” His amber eyes on mine, his golden hair s
wung forward beyond his shoulders.

  An awareness I could not name burst through me.

  “Bondmate,” he shouted. He leaned even further into the hole, desperation digging crevasses into his rugged face. “Grab my wrist!”

  A body blocked out the wispy moonlight as someone leaned over and shoved Leo from behind.

  Angry curses burst from his throat.

  And he fell inside the spider pit with me.

  CAT SHIFTERS OF AAIDAR: ENGAGE

  Leo & Janie

  AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON AND KINDLE UNLIMITED

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