Razor's Traitorous Heart: The Alliance Book 2 (25 page)

“I can’t believe Arindoss would be stupid
enough to have purchased a Trivator warrior for the fight rings,”
Hammer muttered in a deep voice. “He has to know that we would come
after him once we knew for sure.”

Trig shook his head. “Arindoss was killed a
week ago. A Dreluthan has taken over. Those bastards only care
about profit. They’d sell their own offspring to the whore houses
if it meant making a credit.”

Razor’s mouth tightened. The Dreluthans
lived on the edge of the Alliance boundaries. The single planet in
their Solar System was a dry desert and the Dreluthans lived
underground due to the scorching temperatures above. They returned
only to breed. Trig wasn’t kidding when he said they would sell
their young if they could make a profit.

“We need to find Dagger and Jordan and get
out of here,” Razor said, studying the bars again. “Do you know
where are they keeping him?”

*.*.*

Kali was almost to the entrance of
The
Hole
when a small, cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows in
front of her. She started to push past it, thinking another
merchant was trying to pawn their wares on her, when a pair of
hazel eyes locked with hers. The very human face of a young woman
about her age stared back at her.

“Jordan?” Kali asked in a husky voice.

A hint of a smile lifted the girl’s lips
before they tightened. Jordan’s head nodded once before her eyes
darted to the three men standing slightly behind Kali. They widened
before shifting back to Kali.

“Yes, come with me,” she murmured, turning
back toward the back alley.

Kali glanced at Sword. He nodded to her
before murmuring quietly to the warrior named Cannon. Cannon turned
on his heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Kali looked back at the figure who was
waiting in the shadows. She took a step forward knowing that
whatever was happening could not be good if the girl was alone.
Kali, Sword and Race silently followed Jordan down the dark alley.
Several minutes later, Jordan pushed aside a fabric covering a
doorway and disappeared inside.

“Wait,” Sword said quietly, placing his hand
on Kali’s arm. “Let me go through first.”

Kali wanted to argue, but knew he was right.
It was important to know when to lead and when to follow. She would
let Sword make sure everything was safe before she entered.

“Come,” he called out quietly after scanning
the small room that was bare except for a pallet on the floor and
Jordan. “Race, keep watch.”

Kali stepped through the entrance and
stopped. Her eyes took in the tiny area. Except for the makeshift
bed and a small container for water, it was empty.

“Who are you?” Jordan asked quietly. “Did
Hunter send you?”

Kali smiled at the stubborn look that
crossed the girl’s face. She could totally relate to what the girl
was feeling. She had no intention of leaving without Razor so she
could understand Jordan’s determination to save Dagger.

“No, I am here to find my
Amate
,
Razor,” Kali said with a reassuring smile. “He was looking for you
and Trig. Hunter did send him.”

Jordan’s face softened at the mention of
Hunter. “I knew he would be worried. I had to come. Dagger…” Jordan
drew in a deep, steadying breath, but Kali could still hear the
tears in her voice. “Dagger has been lost for too long. After…
after seeing what he has been through, I can’t leave him now that
I’ve found him again.”

Kali took a step closer and gently gripped
Jordan’s hands in her own. She squeezed them in comfort. Jordan’s
lip trembling and a tear escaped to slide down her pale cheek. Kali
pulled the young woman into her arms and they held each other
tightly.

“It will be alright,” Kali murmured. “We’ll
get them all out. I was going to go have a ‘talk’ with
Arindoss.”

Jordan shook her head. “Arindoss was killed
a week ago.”

Kali pulled back and looked at Jordan with a
frown. “How do you know that?” She asked.

Jordan pulled away and wiped at her damp
cheeks. She gave a nervous glance at Sword who was standing
silently by the door, listening to everything. Releasing a shaky
breath, she wound her arms around her waist.

“Trig and I saw him. One of his security
guards turned on him in the lower markets. Shortly after he was
killed, a strange looking creature came and ordered the man to get
rid of the body,” she explained.

“What did the creature look like?” Sword
asked.

Jordan’s eyes flashed to his before she
looked down at the floor and bit her lip. The creature had scared
her. Its eyes had been large and black. No emotion at all shone
from them. Its skin was hard and yellow with touches of black and
red in it.

“A Drethulan,” Sword cursed. “I wish the
Alliance would have let us kill the bastards when they refused to
join.”

“He is the one that has been bringing in the
creatures for those… for the fighters. He said it is more exciting
and profitable, according to the information he has been sending
out,” Jordan whispered. “Dagger and two other men are the only ones
who have survived the fights so far this week.”

“He will need to replenish his fighters,”
Sword commented.

“From what I’ve seen in the past couple of
days, the… Drethulan, has been sending teams of men out to find new
fighters. Two days ago, they attacked Trig. They didn’t want me as
I was too small but Trig fought them.”

“That may be why they attacked Razor and
Hammer,” Sword said. “Trivator warriors are fierce and will fight
until the death.”

Kali’s mind turned with ideas. Her eyes
flickered to Sword before turning back to Jordan. They needed
warriors, she needed to get inside. A smile curved her lips.

Men always underestimated a woman,
especially ones that were small and fragile looking, she thought as
she bit her lip.

“Jordan, how good are you at sneaking
around?” Kali asked as a plan began forming in her mind, taking
root and growing. “Can you get inside
The Hole
unseen?”

“Yes, I’ve been searching for Dagger and
Trig. I stole an access key from one of the kitchen workers,” she
replied. “I have a good idea of where they are being kept.”

Kali watched as Jordan pulled a small tablet
from a pouch at her waist. She swiped her finger over it and tapped
in several codes. Before long, a schematic of the huge complex
appeared. She stepped closer looking at it. It was the plans from
the original construction of the building.

“Where did you get this?” Sword asked in
surprise.

“I hacked into the Space Station’s building
archives,” Jordan murmured as she moved through the diagrams.
“There are three levels under the complex that are used to hold the
fighters. The first one isn’t in use right now. The second and
third one are. I think that’s where they are holding the men.”

“Jordan, you are a genius,” Kali laughed in
delight.

Jordan shook her head. “No, I’m desperate.
I’ve been studying and learning the coding so that I could find
Dagger. He’s there. I have to help him before… before they put him
back into that cage again.”

“We will,” Kali said with determination. “I
have a plan.”

Sword winced at Kali’s words. If her plans
involve what he was thinking, he was definitely going to be a dead
man. Not only would Razor kill him, but Dagger and Trig, for
exposing the women to danger. He knew the brothers well enough to
know that they were very protective of those they cared about.

Yes,
he thought as he listened to
Kali.
And it is going to be a very long and painful
death.

“Lady Kali,” Cannon murmured as she tightened
the cuffs around his wrists and neck. “Are you sure this is a good
idea?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Kali said, looking at the
three other creatures that he had returned with. “Are you sure we
can trust these guys?”

Cannon glanced over at the Raftian, the
Trusset, and the Jawtaw. Each male was dressed in the dark uniform
of
The Hole’s
security personnel. Cannon knew each of the
males from previous missions. The Raftian, a small but fierce
reptilian species, was working undercover on a slave trading issue.
The other two were
working
on missions as
well.

“We can trust them,” Cannon said.

“If you say so,” Kali murmured. “Now, Jordan
will lead Sword down to the lower cells and release the prisoners
there, while Race takes care of making sure the transport is ready
to leave the moment we get out. I’ve captured you and need to sell
you so I can return to my home world.”

“The Dreluthan will not believe that you
captured a Trivator warrior,” the Jawtaw grunted out.

“Yes, he will,” Kali replied.

She tightened the strap holding her
switchblade. She would have to remember to thank Destin for this
small gift. It had been his, but she found it in the items he had
packed for her before she left Earth. A sense of comfort came
from
knowing that a little piece of her
brother was with her in this upcoming mission.

“How? You are too small and weak,” the
Raftian hissed out. “You could not overpower a Trivator.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Kali replied. “To defeat
an enemy, sometimes you need to use your brains over brawn. Never
underestimate the power of a woman on a mission. Just make sure you
follow the plan and we might just make it out of this alive.”

“Might?” Cannon snorted. “Even if we do,
Razor, Trig and Dagger are going to kill us for bringing you here.
Not to mention Hammer just for the fun of it.”

“Quit belly aching,” Kali muttered as her
own stomach fluttered at the thought of Razor’s reaction to what
she was about to do. “He’ll understand.”

“He will understand what?” Cannon asked as
he rolled his neck.

“Nothing,” Kali muttered before turning to
the other three men. “Are you ready?”

The Trusset grinned. Well, its lips opened
to reveal rows of jagged teeth so she assumed it was a grin. The
creature didn’t really speak as much as make a series of clicking
and popping noises that the other men appeared to understand. The
translator in Kali’s ear didn’t so she was left to communicating
through the other men.

The group stepped out of the small area
Jordan had been using and moved down the narrow alley toward the
entrance to
The Hole
. Kali hoped that Jordan and Sword were
able to get down to the lower sections. If everything worked out
tonight,
The Hole
might be shut down permanently before it
was over.

*.*.*

“This way,” Jordan said in a quiet voice.
“There is one guard at the far end. He runs the controls for the
lower levels.”

“How do you know that?” Sword asked.

Jordan turned dark, haunted eyes up to his.
“I delivered food to him yesterday.”

“You….” Sword bit off what he really wanted
to say. “Stay here.”

“No,” Jordan said, pressing her hand to his
chest to stop him. “I’ll go. He will sound the alarm if you
do.”

She glanced around. Seeing a small discarded
tray that had been left by one of the cell doors, she picked it up,
ignoring the dust and what looked like dried blood that covered it.
Instead, she wiped it off as best she could with the end of her
cloak and placed a dented cup on it.

“I’ll take care of him,” she whispered in a
trembling voice.

“Jordan,” Sword hissed, but she had already
stepped around the corner and was walking down the long
corridor.

*.*.*

Jordan’s hands trembled as she carried the
tray. She knew the guard had seen her. He rose out of his chair in
the small control room and stretched. Her fingers tightened around
the small laser pistol she held in her hand as he stepped out of
the door. She had never killed anyone before and the thought of
doing so made her sick to her stomach. The only thing keeping her
going was her memories of Dagger locked in battle in the cage. She
couldn’t let him go through that any longer.

“What do you want?” The guard demanded.

“I… I brought you refreshments,” Jordan
responded hesitantly. “I was told by the man in the kitchen to
bring it.”

She lowered her eyes when the filthy male
rubbed the front of his pants before rubbing his hand across his
mouth. She knew what she would see, the same look that was in his
eyes yesterday when she had delivered his food. If it had not been
for a small group of guards bringing two other men down, she didn’t
want to think of what the male would have done to her.

“No interruptions today,” the guard sneered.
“I want something more filling.”

A shiver of distaste ran through Jordan at
his lascivious laugh. Her hands trembled so violently that the cup
on the tray rattled. When she felt like she was close enough, she
dropped the tray. The laser pistol shook as she pointed it at his
chest and fired.

The guard roared out in pain. Her hands had
been shaking so badly that she hit him in the shoulder instead of
his chest. In rage, he reached out and gripped the pistol. He
twisted it away from him at the same time as his other hand wrapped
around her throat.

“You shouldn’t play with weapons if you
don’t know how to use them,” the guard growled. “What type of
species are you? I have not seen your kind before. It doesn’t
matter, I’ll show you what happens when you miss.”

Jordan’s slender hands desperately gripped
the man’s wrists as he lifted her by her neck and slammed her back
against the hard, stone wall. She choked and tried to kick him, but
everything was beginning to turn dark. She stared into the furious
eyes, fighting to break away from the long, forked tongue that
slowly slipped out from his mouth.

“Lucky for me, I don’t miss,” Sword said as
he slid a long blade through the male’s side. “And I know how to
use a weapon.”