Trapped: A SciFi Convict Romance (The Condemned Book 1) (20 page)

Epilogue

“Bella.” The furious roar shook the barrack walls.

Bella crouched low.
Left
up. Weight even.

A blur of movement streaked by her hiding space.

She leapt, her palms connecting with solid, warm flesh. By
rote, her arm hooked round his throat—for an instant. Then there was only air.

Damn
. He’d feinted
left.

With a curse, she went sailing overhead, the hard floor
coming up fast.

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact. Only to be
spared. Powerful arms hauled her close, twisting them both in midair. She
landed with a grunt atop a hard body. Per usual,
Caine
had taken the brunt of the fall.

“I almost had you that time.” Breathing fast, she stared down
at the bottomless black eyes she couldn’t do without. Her heart gave that same
flutter it always did when she saw him, her skin beginning that slow burn.
Nearly eight months later,
Caine
still drove her wild
with just a look. He may have been dressed in the trappings of Council
civility, but he’d never quite shed that dangerous wildness he’d had since the
day they met.

“Almost.”
Caine
lifted his gorgeous
head and kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re getting better.”

“I’ve had a good teacher.” Plus, she’d been practicing like a
maniac. For precisely this moment. Her gaze dropped to the disc in his hand,
the distinctive gold seal of the Council hard to miss. “That for us?”

The disc bent in his grip. “I told you not yet.”

She shrugged. She wasn’t afraid of
Caine
or his bark. She knew the reason behind his gruffness now. His history. His
instincts. His ingrained need to protect her. They were just some of the many
things she loved and appreciated about him. But she also knew he wouldn’t let
his fears rule either of them. They’d come to trust each other too much to let
the past stand in their way.

“Ava has already waited too long for us to come and find
her.” Bella’s heart still hurt every time she thought of her missing friend, of
how she must think she’d been abandoned, when the reality was totally
different. “I know you’re as sickened as me by all the Command Council delays
and excuses. It’s way past time to take this on ourselves.”

Bella didn’t know what kind of shape her friend would be in
when they found her, but she knew Ava would never have stopped fighting for her
freedom. After dealing with her friend’s family and fiancé, Bella had a better
idea of the source of her friend’s strength—and her wounds.

Besides a meek mother with sad eyes and a bruise on her chin,
Bella had found the rest of Ava’s relations arrogant, despicable, and creepy to
the core. They’d flat out told her and
Caine
to mind
their own business when they offered to help. It was clear from the way they
spoke—as if Ava was a possession to be retrieved—that they were committed to
recovering her, but that the homecoming wouldn’t be a happy one.

Before meeting them, Bella had thought Council families were
the lucky ones.

“Ava deserves the freedom she always wanted. She’s not going to
get that if her family finds her first.”

“You’re right.”
Caine’s
head
clunked back against the floor. “It is past time. For her. And for us. Besides,
even
tigos
and
pythiles
aren’t as dangerous as those asshole Council members.”

Actual jokes.
Caine
had been making
them more and more.

Her heartbeat picked up a notch. “So we’re a go?”

His sigh was long and loud. “You’ll probably be a hell of a
lot safer once we’re off this planet anyway.”

He wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t exactly the Command Council’s
favorite person thanks to her recent maneuvering—and not just over Ava.

Living up to her fighter girl nickname, she’d used the
insider information Winthrop had given her about the Command Council’s growing
precarious leadership position along with her findings about Dragath25 soil to
blackmail the Council into pardoning
Caine
. It hadn’t
been easy. Council members preferred to protect their own. But when faced with
the possibility of losing out on information about potential food and water
sources that could help them retain power, they’d tossed aside one of their own
easily enough.

Of course, she hadn’t stopped there. She’d also used the
information to wrestle better food and lodging for all non-Council people.
Nothing revolutionary, but enough to make things a little more fair. And put a
dent in established protocol. Something few in the Council welcomed.

Which was why
Caine
was so worried
about Council reprisal. He’d been doling out his share of intimidating looks
during the mandatory Council meetings. And though he hadn’t mentioned it to
her, she knew he’d engaged in more than a few physical ‘discussions’ in the
corridors with displeased Councilmen and their hired muscle. All to keep her
safe.

“And you once thought Dragath25 was the most dangerous place
in the solar system,” she teased.

He snorted.

She kissed the corner of his lip, pleased to see the hint of
a laugh line at the edge of his mouth. It was a good sign. Despite the issues
with the Council, he was happy. They were happy.

Though he’d grumbled and protested about risking herself for
his sake, she could tell a weight had been lifted since his pardon had come
through. Reuniting with extended family and friends had also gone a long way to
healing old wounds. But what had really made him smile was when Councilman
Hendricks and his brother were found guilty of over fifteen counts of murder.
They were already serving triple life sentences on, irony of ironies, a new
penal colony rumored to be even harsher than Dragath25. Gwen had finally been
given justice.

Now another woman needed them to fight for her.

“A sanctioned shuttle is being prepared for our use. Supplies
and food included.” Bella kissed the other side of his mouth. “Council clearly
wants me off this planet as soon as possible.”

This time he didn’t laugh. A new sadness had entered his
gaze. “Hunter and Chloe aren’t going to be happy. They’ve gotten used to having
you around.” And
Caine
had gotten used to being
around her brother and sister as well. After so much time alone, he was clearly
enjoying being part of a larger family.

“Did you read the full assignment?” she asked.

A sheepish look surfaced on
Caine’s
face. “Only the first paragraph saying we’d been cleared to return to Dragath25
air space to look for Cadet Davies. After that…I, ah, stopped reading and took
off to find you.”

So he could roar at her for speeding things along.

“Well then,” she said, happy she could give him the good
news, “you’re going to be pleased. Hunter and Chloe have been cleared to come
as well.” At eighteen, Hunter was almost as tall as
Caine
and, thanks to better access to food, finally starting to lose the gaunt look
that had always worried her. Chloe, too, looked healthier than ever, her
blossoming beauty garnering more than her share of looks. As big sister, she
would have worried about leaving them behind again, but thanks to their
training in piloting and astrophysics respectively, she didn’t have to.

Satisfaction swelled within. Her family. Whole. Healthy.
Together. After so much struggle. She couldn’t be more grateful.

Of course, she wasn’t a fool. She’d lived on Dragath25
before. She understood there were risks to returning. But she had no choice.
Her friend needed her. And what’s more, scratching out an existence on Earth
under strict Council rule didn’t hold the same appeal it once had. Not when
she’d learned there was so much more life could offer.

 
This time, though,
they’d be returning to a planet plunged in battle. After hearing her report on
the Oasis and
Caine’s
testimony regarding 225 and his
pack, the Council had declared war. Hundreds of soldiers had descended on
Dragath25, too many for 225’s jammers to affect. Thousands of prisoners had
been slaughtered, but there were still substantial pockets of resistance, and
225 had yet to be caught or killed. Dragath25 remained a dangerous, lawless
place.

As if he read her mind,
Caine
ran a
finger across her brow, smoothing out her worry lines. “Don’t worry, I’m not
going to let anything happen to you or your siblings—and we’re going to find
your friend. Whatever it takes.”

Steady once again, she wrapped her arms around his wide
chest. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, either.” She kissed his
lips hard and fast. “We’re going to be better than fine.”

“Together,” he agreed.

Love and hope surged through her. Sure, the future was
unknown and there were challenges yet to face, but with
Caine
by her side, she knew she could handle anything. Together, they could find
pleasure and joy and beauty anywhere. That’s what love made possible, even on
Dragath25.

*****

Want to know what happened to Cadet Ava Davies after her
disappearance from Dragath25? Read an excerpt from:

TAKEN,

Book Two in the Condemned Series

by Alison
Aimes
.

Chapter One

She was caught. Her arms pinned to the wall. Her legs, too.
Every limb twisted at an impossible angle. No manacles necessary. Just the
cruel indifference of spinning, plummeting centrifugal force.

Cadet Ava Davies struggled to get air past the acrid terror
squeezing her lungs. One minute she’d been hustling down one of a million rocky
cliffs on Dragath25 toward fellow junior scientist and friend Bella West, her
mind racing with the implications of her recent soil findings, the guard Pratt grim-faced
and unfriendly at her side, and then…nothing.

She’d woken up here. To searing heat. Her head spinning. Her
jaw throbbing while her stomach plunged, her right cheek slammed into the wall,
and her mouth contorted into a shocked O. Around her, ear-shattering screams
ricocheted through the small space while dim bile-colored lights flickered
overhead and twisted bodies flashed in and out of visibility.

Where in God’s name was she?

“Davies?....What…happening?” The sound of her name startled
her. The voice came from behind.

A shameful wave of relief crashed through her.

Though the sound was distorted, she recognized the speaker.
Pratt. The soldier assigned to guard her while she collected soil samples. Like
the rest of the Command Council soldiers assigned to protect the scientists,
he’d never warmed to her. Nor she to him. Still, right now, his familiar voice
was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

“Pratt…” It was hard getting the words out, the force of the
drop driving her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “No…idea.”

“Hear…me?” Pratt’s distorted voice had grown shriller.
“Help!”
 

“No…panic.” Even knowing it was futile, she tried to turn. She
only succeeded in exhausting herself further. “Nothing…to do.” She let her
muscles go slack. It offered no change in her position, but it did conserve
energy. “Other…crew?”

There was a momentary pause. As if Pratt was assessing
whatever he could see.

“No.” Pratt’s single word was laced with despair.

“For…the…better,” she pushed out. Whatever this was, it wasn’t
good. She didn’t want Bella or any of the others anywhere near it.

It was almost impossible to believe only two weeks had passed
since she’d quietly slipped onto the Academy shuttle, part of the scientific
team charged by the Command Council with exploring distant planets for viable
plants that could be cultivated on Earth.

Of course, she’d had her own reasons for coming, but she’d
been excited to think she might, thanks to her expertise in soil ecosystems, be
a part of the team that found a way to save Earth’s remaining survivors and
break the cycle of famine, blight, and death that had been plaguing their
planet since the disappearance of the great forests and the onset of the dust
storms.

It would have been a tremendous triumph. Especially for a
girl who’d only been allowed to return to school and study such an undignified
subject as a twisted punishment. After all, as her esteemed father had said,
who better to study dirt than dirt itself?

And if that ‘dirt’ somehow found her sister
Khyla
alive…well, that would have been the answer to every
prayer she’d had for the last two years.

“Where…are…we?” Pratt’s terrified bellow reverberated off the
walls.

They were spinning and dropping so fast the walls had begun
to shudder. The others’ screams grew louder.

“Don’t…know.” She tried to shout above the noise. Were they
still on Dragath25? The heat was all too familiar, but the walls of this
container were curved like the transport holds at the non-Council barracks back
on Earth. She strained to turn her head a quarter inch. They seemed made of the
same dull, gray-flecked metal, too.

Her heart beat a little faster.

Maybe she was crazy, but she almost would have preferred some
kind of unfamiliar technology. Anything that might suggest whoever had stuck
her on this plummeting hell wasn’t human. Because while being the first to
encounter alien life might have been dangerous, she already knew how monstrous
humans could be.

She shifted her focus to the men in her sight. The flashing
light offered up brief glimpses of bodies barely covered in tattered scraps of
fabric or nothing at all, their contorted limbs and torsos covered in crude
tattoos that looked as rough as the men themselves. Some looked emaciated, the
lines of each rib laid bare by the flickering lights. Others had the kind of
thick bulk that came from eating more than their share. But one thing was
constant. All had
225 PROPERTY
carved
somewhere on their skin. The big, bold letters blinking in and out of
visibility like some terrible broken sign.

Her heart, already overworked, slammed harder against her
ribs.

She knew 225. Bella had mentioned him often enough. He was
the leader of the largest Dragath25 prison gang. Which meant the men in her
line of sight had likely been his gang-mates, the most notorious of rapists and
killers exiled from Earth by the Command Council.

She’d find no allies among them. Only another threat.

“P—pretty.” The ominous word issued from the giant whose
outstretched hand was an arm’s length from her nose

He was staring at her. Or more aptly at the telling Command
Council tattoo seared into her neck.

“Going…fuck…then…break…Council…bitch.” Though garbled, the
giant’s underlying threat reached her loud and clear.
“Can’t….wait…hear…scream.” The man’s long, matted rust colored hair stood up at
all ends, exposing a low sloping forehead, pug-nose, and a raised, white scar
that snaked from his eyebrow to the corner of his mouth. His eyes were beady
yellow slits glittering with lust and the promise of pain.

It was a look she knew all too well.

She shrank within herself, her mouth going dry, memories
turning her blood to ice, shattering in seconds all the progress she’d made
these last few months.

Her gaze sank to the floor, obedient, submissive. If not for
the force cleaving her to the wall, her body would have followed. Her head
bowing, her knees folding under her, her legs sliding wide as was only proper.
Compliance the only way to lessen the blows.

You will do as you’re
told.
Strike
.
The birch cane—an
expensive rarity in an era when the forests had long ago disappeared—lashed her
back, sending fire licking across her skin, the flimsy silk of her expensive
Council robe affording little protection. She didn’t need to look up to know
her father stood just behind
Ren
, his expression
harsh and unreadable as always.
You will
behave in a manner befitting a man in my position.
Strike. Strike.
Do you understand me,
Ayanna
?
The punishment stick, well-polished and strong despite its advanced age,
showed no sign of breaking. No matter how she prayed. But then again, Lead
Councilman
Ren
Hollisworth
took exceptional care of every possession he acquired, except perhaps his
future wife.

The lurch of the container smacked her back to the present.

She shook off the memory. Buried it deep. The past couldn’t
touch her now. And whatever happened next, she wasn’t
Ayanna
Talis
anymore. She was Cadet Ava Davies, a trained
Academy scientist, not some bruised and broken pathetic girl who had no choice
but to take it.

“Pratt?” She forced herself to return eye contact with Yellow
Eyes. To pretend they both hadn’t registered her momentary cowering.
“….weapon?”

Pratt’s lack of an answer was answer enough.

The killer’s outstretched hand twitched, his dirty
fingernails stretching toward her.

But she wasn’t down for the count yet. If she hadn’t been
searched before she was stuck in this hold, the small, homemade spear Bella had
insisted she carry everywhere was still tucked inside her boot. It might not be
enough, but it was something. Yellow Eyes wasn’t going to find her the easy
target her fiancé had. Her days of folding without a fight were over.

A disembodied, nasal voice filled the hold. “Condemned of
Dragath25, you are now the property of the Tribunal.”

The hair at the back of her neck prickled. She’d heard that
name before.

Around her the others had gone silent.

“Your sole purpose,” the voice continued, “is to mine the
veins of silver ore found in the caverns. Meet your quota of fifty
kitloms
per day and you will live. Fail and you will die.”

Roars of protest shook the hold.

“Descent will end in forty seconds.”
 

Her breath left in a rush.

Her gaze locked with Yellow Eyes. From the way he looked at
her, she didn’t think she’d have a chance to make her quota. Frankly, she
didn’t think she’d survive five minutes past release from the wall.

Time slowed. Blood pulsed through her veins. Her gaze
narrowed until all she saw was the twisted half-smile of the threat in front of
her.

She’d been here before. She’d done what she must to survive.
She would again.

The hold shuddered once more. The lights flickered and went
out. And, just like that, the hold lurched to a stop.

She tumbled to the floor, pain winding up her wrists as her
hands shot forward, just managing to save her face from slamming into metal.
Around her, the thump of other bodies echoed.

She was already fumbling for her spear, her fingers just
closing around the precious shaft, when a meaty hand closed round her ankle.

Copyright © 2015 by Orchid,
Inc.

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