My Cyborg Savior (Crimson Romance) (9 page)

Houses were on fire, their ancient wooden flames not able to hold up. The camera panned over the whole region. A whole town was completely demolished.

The little caption finally gave the location. Haven District, Larus. The bottom dropped out of her stomach and she stood so quickly her chair crashed to the floor.

“Volume up!” she shouted as she stumbled toward the end of the table.

“ … twenty thousand dead. And an estimated one hundred thousand injured or missing. Look at that devastation! The government’s bombs ripped this area apart this morning just after four in the morning.”

Her insides churned at the excited tone in the announcer’s voice. She tried to halt her shaking. It would do no good to show William what this news was doing to her.

And then the asshole opened his mouth. “Good riddance, I say. The government said they did it because the people were breaking the law and going into the districts around them, but I say they have every right to kill them all. They’re nothing but trouble. Riffraff who want to take over the world and kill people like us. I hope they catch the people that were aiding them.”

“What?” Bile rose in her throat as she tried to wrestle her panic. They knew someone was helping them? She had to assume they didn’t know who yet, or agents would be knocking at her door. Well, not knocking. Kicking down.

“Yes, they think some people were smuggling them food, medical supplies, and weapons.” Weapons? She’d never run weapons. Maybe they would be catching someone else instead of her. Galen jerked and he glared at her, the muscle in his jaw twitching.

William picked a piece of lint off his cuff. “They should bomb all those places. Sometimes the government is much too humane.”

The camera panned the house where the children were. There was nothing left. The place had been leveled. God, where were they? Was anyone alive? She couldn’t believe this.

She turned on William, and strode toward him.

“Jamila, no.” Galen’s harshly barked order didn’t even make her pause.

She slammed her fist into William’s face and he crashed to the ground. “Get out of my house. Anyone who would revel in the deaths of so many people doesn’t deserve to lick my shoes. I will never marry you, you piece of shit.”

She aimed a kick to his ribs when she was lifted off her feet. Galen hauled her against his body and quickly carried her out of the room. She drummed her heels against his shins, trying to get him to let her go.

“Come on, dammit. Let me kick him a few times. Put me down.”

He shoved her in her room and she stumbled to her knees. She ground her teeth as pain shot up her thighs. He quietly shut the door behind him, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“I hate that man. You should have let me beat him a little more.”

He froze, and slowly lowered his hand. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

Her eyes filled with tears. Why did he have to remind her? She’d gotten those people killed. She knew that. If she hadn’t been trading with them they wouldn’t have died. “It’s my fault. I killed them as thoroughly as if I’d shot them. Do you have to bring that up now? I know I’m as guilty as the government.”

He growled, leaned over, and plucked her off the ground by her arms. He shook her. “You don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve revealed yourself, and you didn’t even hesitate to do it.” He pointed back toward the sitting room. “Those actions in there? Punching him? You’re obvious reaction to those deaths? He witnessed that. He knows you’re a damned sympathizer now. What if he suspects what you’ve done? Dammit, Jamila, why didn’t you think?”

She shook her head. This was why he was upset? She didn’t give a damn. So she’d revealed herself. It was worth it to get a shot at his smug face. “He won’t turn me in. He doesn’t know I was smuggling medical supplies and food to those people. He’s probably stupid enough not to even suspe — ”

He shook her. “Goddammit! Don’t be so blind. He might act like a damned moron, but he is an educated man. If you think he doesn’t suspect you now then you’re as stupid as he claims.”

He shoved her down on the bed, and paced away from her. He rounded on her again, and took a deep breath, seeming to reconsider his words. He walked away again, and when he turned he kept his distance.

“Were you giving them weapons, Jamila? I need the truth. You’re in horrible danger if you did. You’re the person they will hunt down first. I’d bet you anything the government already knows about your involvement. If you were running arms, you’ll be killed. If you weren’t, they might not even come after you. Tell me the truth.”

She shook her head frantically. “I never gave them weapons. I swear. Food and medicine. I was working with an orphanage, for God’s sake.”

He nodded. “That might save you too. I assume they went in because they heard that the underground was receiving guns. They might not even find out about you until they torture Alice, Darion, or one of the children.”

“Torture? You don’t think they’re dead? We have to help them if they’re being tortured.”

His gaze softened. “There’s nothing we can do, sweeting. They’re probably on their way to a core planet to be more thoroughly interrogated. Even if they’re still here, if we tried to rescue them, we’d end up dead.”

Pain radiated from her chest, making it hard to breathe. She rubbed her breastbone, but couldn’t seem to get a full breath. They were dead, or being tortured. What if she had gotten them killed? Had they been spotted crossing the wall last night? She buried her head in her hands.

She felt the bed dip under Galen’s weight. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. He didn’t say a word, thankfully. She didn’t need any dull platitudes about how everything would be okay, and it wasn’t her fault. She needed him to hold her for a while.

• • •

Galen laid Jamila’s sleeping form on the bed and stood. He crossed to his room and shut the door. He couldn’t wait now. He had to act. This wasn’t something he’d expected. He might not even be able to get what he wanted now, due to her criminal actions. He had to hope she was still worth something to her father. He hacked his slave collar and shackles and they hit the throw rug with a dull thud. They’d been blocking the transmitter under the skin on the back of his hand. The slaver had missed it, as they’d expected, along with the communications device under the flesh of his palm.

He opened his hand and whispered. “Change of plan. Come get me. Now!”

A deafening boom shook the house. Jamila hit the ground on her backside in a tangle of silk sheets and barely kept her head from striking the floor. What the fuck was that? She rubbed her bruised butt as she sat up.

It happened again and SkyTemple tilted violently to the left. Her bookshelf whined as it rocked. The house settled again.

“Galen?” He didn’t answer and that was as frightening as anything else.

She scrambled to get away from the bed. If the bookshelf fell, all her ancient leather bound books would crush it. She pushed herself to her feet, got stuck in the stupid silk sheets and hit the marble floor again. She needed to get into the hall where there was no furniture. In ships all the furniture was bolted down, but in Temples, after the initial launch they barely moved at all, and if they did they did it slowly.

“Galen? I need some help.” Where was he? He should have been in here. He’d been here when she’d fallen asleep.

Then she got help, but not the kind she wanted. The temple pitched again. The silk sheets, and her along with them, slid and hit the wall. Pain exploded in her head and she gasped for air trying to regain her balance. She touched her forehead and came away with blood.

The bookshelf crashed onto the bed and the whole mess slid a foot toward her with a groan before the house started to level out.

She kicked free of the sheets and crawled into the hallway, using the doorway to pull herself up. She had to get the servants and find a shuttle to get off this thing. She turned and crashed right into Galen.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling for you. I was frightened. The stabilizers must be malfunctioning.”

He brushed his hand over the cut on her forehead and she flinched. “Dammit. I thought you’d at least be safe in your rooms. I can’t leave you alone for a second. Sorry about that. I had to take care of some things.”

“What’s happening?”

“The stabilizers are fine. Your SkyTemple is taking fire.”

She gaped at him, not believing it. No one had ever tried to shoot down one of them before. “What? Why?”

“Because your father is a high ranking government official with numerous enemies, that’s why.”

“But he’s left. Elections are taking place and the Senate has one last meeting. Everyone knows where he is.”

“Yeah, well I get the feeling they aren’t here for your daddy, sweetheart.” Sarcasm and contempt colored his words. He’d never directed that much loathing toward her, even when he’d first been bought.

His hand tightened painfully on her arm and she flinched and smacked his fingers. “What’s wrong with you? You’re hurting me. Besides, what you’re suggesting is ludicrous. I’m of use to no one. My father won’t bow to terrorists.”

His grip loosened, but he didn’t let go. “I’m not necessarily talking about you, though you would be useful, despite what you think.”

She frowned. Why would they be attacking if not to hurt her or her father? He pulled her down the hallway. They’d made it a few feet before she realized they weren’t heading toward the shuttles and she pulled him to a stop.

“Galen, the shuttles are back this way.”

“Not the one I’m going for.”

Another blast rocked the house and she almost tumbled to the ground. Galen kept his footing with minimal effort. As he helped her regain her balance, her eyes narrowed on his bare wrists.

She tried to yank her arm from his grip. “Where are your servant’s bands?” If they were gone it meant he’d escaped them. She shivered. She was in danger if he had.

“Don’t worry about them. I need to get you out of here. We might be killed if we stay.”

She needed to stall him. She couldn’t place this uneasy feeling, but she didn’t want to go with him anymore. “But what about everyone else?”

“They’ll be alright.”

She tugged on him to get him to stop pulling her. “The servants might be killed. And I want to know why you don’t have your slave’s bands on? How did you get them off?”

He paused long enough to toss her over his shoulder.

“Galen, dammit! What are you doing? Put me down.”

“Nope. It’s my job to see that you’re safe, and I’m going to damned well do it, so you lie there and be silent.”

Panic froze her as her brain tried to work out what was happening. If he didn’t have his servant’s bands, he was at least twice as strong as he’d been with them on. And there was no way to incapacitate him remotely if they were gone. It couldn’t be good that he was without them. But he’d saved her life before. Could she really doubt him? He was being rude, but in a dangerous situation that seemed to be his way … but why did she get the gut feeling that he was lying to her face?

“Galen, please stop — ” Her protest died mid-sentence as they passed over a form crumpled in the hallway. One of the guards. They passed by so quickly that she couldn’t tell if the man was dead or not. Galen hadn’t even paused. Why? Did he know the man’s fate?

Galen can probably read his life signs without touching him.

Or had he killed him?

“Please tell me what’s going on. You’re frightening me.”

He grunted, and kept walking. She slammed her fists into his back, but she couldn’t cause him pain. She knew that. She could pummel his back until she broke her hands and he wouldn’t even flinch.

The lights flickered and then they were plunged into darkness. It didn’t stop him though. He walked like he could see perfectly in front of him. Like he had last night in the alley. She couldn’t do anything. She hung there useless over his shoulder.

There was one thing she could do. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and screamed for all she was worth.

“Dammit, woman. Are you trying to bust my eardrums? You can scream all you want but I’ll kill anyone who comes after us. I think I managed to take out most of the guards here anyway.”

Dead? “Did you kill all of them?”

He sighed. “Some. When they realized what was happening and who was attacking, I was their first target.”

Who was attacking? More cyborgs? It must be. Nothing else would make the security team attack Galen.

He kicked open the door that led out to the patio and set her down. Light blinded her. It was a beautiful, sunny day for the middle of winter but the cold still permeated her clothes. There was hum of a ship behind her. She whirled around and got a look at what was there.

It was a massive shuttle, with guns mounted haphazardly on it. It clearly hadn’t originally been fashioned with them. It was big enough to fit twenty passengers comfortably. More if they were traveling a short distance. Ten men were lined up outside of it, and one stood in front of the rest.

“Shit, Galen, don’t scare us like that. We were about to go in after you.” The man in front stepped forward, and grasped his hand. “Good to see you. A month is too long.”

Galen snorted. “Yeah, and I’ve only been here for two days. Being in the slave trade isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

The man leaned around Galen to get a better view of her. “But I see you got the prize. Which wasn’t guaranteed.”

“Yep.”

Got the prize? Like hell. She turned and bolted for the doors. She’d show him. He shouldn’t have released her if he expected to keep her. She slid in through the patio doors, right into the arms of another tall cyborg. She kicked his shin as hard as she could and cursed as pain shot up her foot. She was an idiot. She couldn’t hurt one of these men in shoes, let alone without them. All she’d get was broken toes for her trouble.

“Now, now, none of that. I believe you’re supposed to stay with the group.”

He grabbed her upper arm and hauled her back into the yard. “Galen, I think you misplaced someone.”

He shoved her toward Galen hard. She almost hit the ground when he saved her from the fall, wrapping his arms around her and pinning her to his chest.