Worlds Apart 2: Hunter's Revenge (6 page)

Several moments passed without an answer. Just as he began to believe she’d deny his request, he heard a breathy sigh through the intercom.

“Are you alone?” she asked, her voice sounding both wary and resigned.

“Yes,
moya
.
I’m alone. If you’d like to have Eve here with you, if you’d feel more comfortable with another woman with you, I can arrange it for you. I live only to please you,
moya
.
”

Another pause, this one shorter, then, “No.
No, you can come in.”

Hunter shrugged his shoulders and rolled his neck, trying to ease the tension that gathered there as he awaited her answer. After once again entering his access code into the security keypad, Hunter slowly entered their quarters, keeping his hands by his sides in full view. He would do nothing to alarm her if he could help it. Though, by the confident way she held his sword in front of her, maybe he should be worried about his own safety. Both pride and humor swept through him at the thought of his very willful mate brandishing his own sword at him in his own quarters. It struck him as very ironic.

“Is there a reason that you feel the need of a sword in your hands,
moya
?
” he asked, trying to keep the smile from his face. If she only knew how much more enticing she looked standing there, her hair still in wild disarray as she held his sword pointed at his chest.

“I hear you have a prisoner aboard this ship.”

She kept looking at the door behind him as though she expected an army to follow him through. Hunter reached back and pressed the button to close the door, perhaps that would settle her nerves a bit.
Then again perhaps not.

“Yes,
moya
,
we have a prisoner here. We are waiting for the healers to announce that the rebel is well enough for interrogation.” He frowned, wondering what her interest was. He wouldn’t blame her if she wanted the rebel dead, but they needed information. With luck, they would find at least one more of the Black Rose’s outposts.

“I want to talk to the prisoner.” She licked her lips, her gaze darting around the room. “I need to talk to the prisoner.” Tears began to trickle down her face. “I have to see him. I have to know why they’re doing this.” Her breath hitched on a sob and the sword wavered in her hands. It grew
heavy,
no doubt, she was still weak from her injuries and malnutrition.

Hunter glanced over at the tray of food next to the bed. It was untouched, even the glass of water was still full.

“Is there a reason you haven’t eaten,
moya
?”

She stiffened at that, as though his words made her wary. “What does it matter? Will you beat me if I don’t eat? Will you force your drugs on me, your potions, to ensure I’ll want to do as you say?”

Hunter moved over to the tray. The disappointment he felt was sharp. He’d hoped that Eve’s visit would have proven to her that they had no intention of harming her.

Picking up a slice of the meat on her tray, he took a bite and drank down a good portion of the water. “See?
Nothing in there that will harm you.”
Turning back, he gave her a sad smile. “I’m sorry for what you suffered,
moya
. I cannot change what they have done to you. I can only show you that you will never be treated that way here. I wish there was some way to prove to you that you can trust us.”

She thinned her lips. “Then take me to your prisoner. I want to talk to the rebel. I
need
to talk to the rebel.”

He thought it was more that she needed to take the sword she held and run the rebel through with it, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“If that is what it takes to begin your healing,
moya
, I will gladly take you to the rebel we captured. But, be forewarned. You will not find any satisfaction in revenge upon this one. This one is merely a pawn. One that, when healed, will see the harm they caused.”

“You’ll take me now?
Before I eat.
Before I do anything you wish of me?”

“If that is your wish,
moya
.
I only want your happiness.”

“Then take me to the rebel scum. I can’t wait to show him my wrath.”

* * * *

The only thing that could have surprised Amy more when they walked into the prisoner’s cell was if her father materialized in front of her.

“Why?” she asked, her heart breaking as she watched the woman pace the cell they’d put her in. Tears streamed down Amy’s face as she stared at her best friend. Or, at least, the woman she’d though was her best friend. “You told them when I didn’t eat, Chrissie. You told them when I cycled so they would better know when to come to me.” She slammed her fists against the nearest wall. “Only you knew I could mask the scent of my cycle. I should have known when they allowed you to visit those first few weeks after I woke up in that frozen hellhole.”

Amy stared coldly at the woman she once called friend. How could she face this betrayal? How would she ever know who spoke her the truth and who didn’t? If she couldn’t trust her best friend, someone from her own pride back home on earth, whom could she trust? No matter the circumstances, she would never have sold herself out for another. She’d die before putting another woman through what she’d been through—through the pain, the humiliation, the shame.

She continued to stare at the woman with hate-filled eyes, rage filling her mind as the need for revenge filled her heart. Behind her, she could feel Hunter’s surprise then his anger as she’d spelled out Chrissie’s crimes against her.

Tired of waiting for Chrissie’s answer, Amy turned toward Hunter. “If she refuses to answer your questions, terminate her. I have no desire to waste my time or anyone else’s on someone who refuses to answer for her crimes.”

Hunter nodded. “If that’s your wish,
moya
, I’ll see it done.”

Amy forced herself to walk away from her one time friend and toward the cell door. She put one foot in front of the other, praying she wouldn’t collapse until after she’d made it off this level of the ship. She wanted no one to witness her breakdown. As Hunter stepped away from the door to let her pass, Chrissie’s shaky voice echoed through the cell. “Please,” she whispered. “Please, wait.”

Amy stopped, keeping her back toward the woman. She couldn’t look her in the eye, not knowing how she’d betrayed her to her captors. Fisting her hands by her sides, Amy kept her voice even as she said, “Answer my question, Chrissie. Why would you betray me this way? Why?”

Behind her, Chrissie sobbed and Amy stiffened her back in reaction. “I had no choice. They have my baby brother. Unless I do as they say, report to them, they’ll kill Donny.”

Amy whipped around, needing to see Chrissie’s face, gauge her truthfulness. “They have Donny? How long ago did they take him? How did they get him? Get you? I just assumed Taliff took you and I just never ran into you on the ship before we were attacked.”

Chrissie shook her head then dropped onto the metal bunk. With head down and shoulders sagging, she whispered, “No, I guess about a year ago was when two women showed up at the Pride. One called herself
Myra
.”

Hunter eased away from the wall and headed toward the rebel. “And the other?” he asked. He remembered Taliff telling him that his sister had taken
Myra
when she took Amy and the others. His brother had been happy when that troublemaker disappeared.

“
Haeda
.
At the time, she went by
Haeda
. They said they’d been banished by their pride and needed sanctuary.”

Hunter gasped and turned away, leaving Amy to finish questioning the traitor. When Chrissie didn’t say anything more, Amy walked over toward her, stopping directly in front of her. “And the Elders gave them sanctuary?” Amy prodded.

Nodding, Chrissie lifted her head, finally meeting Amy’s gaze. “Yes,” she whispered. “We took
Myra
into our home, while
Haeda
spent the night with your parents. The next morning, the village was overrun with men. Several of the women were taken while they slept. The villagers that fought back were killed. When we refused to cooperate, they rounded up all the children and told us they’d kill them if we didn’t come willingly.”

With tears trailing down her cheeks and her shoulders slumped in defeat, Chrissie looked completely broken. She didn’t look like the carefree girl she’d grown up with any longer. What could Amy say? That it was all right? It wasn’t. That she forgave her? Right now, when the memories of her captivity were so fresh, she couldn’t. That she understood?
Maybe.

Then something the other woman said occurred to her. “Did you just say the other woman spent the night with my parents?”

Chrissie bit her lip then lowered her head, nodding. “Yes, she stayed with your family.”

Amy’s gut tightened. Her hands started to shake and her legs began to quiver. Oh, Goddess. Amy shook her head. She couldn’t take any more bad news.

Hunter must have sensed her unease because he moved behind her, placing his hand against her back. Terrified of what Chrissie might say, she didn’t have the strength to worry about the fact that a male had his hand on her. “What happened to my family, Chrissie? What happened to my parents, my siblings?”

With head still bowed, Chrissie lifted her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as she began to rock back and forth atop the bunk. “They took them. They took them all. They took them all,” she repeated.

“Where, Chrissie? Where did they take them?” So worried about her family, she barely noticed when the hand on her back started to move in soothing circles, warming her there, when the cold fear slipped past her defenses and gripped her heart.

“It was so dark there.
Always dark there.”

Amy’s heart pounded against her chest. Her stomach clenched in fear. A part of her wanted to shake the information out of the other woman.

Chrissie snapped her head up, finally met her gaze.
“To the Black Rose’s home base, of course.
Where else could she keep an eye on them?” She looked away, staring at the far wall. “She knew that’s where she needed to keep anyone who was of importance to her cause. She wanted leverage against the House of
Chantrea
. That’s
all
I know.”

“You know where the Black Rose calls home? You know where her base is?”

Hunter moved closer behind Amy, wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her against his chest. So caught up in her fear and rage for her family, she didn’t protest when he brought her body up against his. She couldn’t worry about that now. She only had enough energy left to worry about her parents. What were those beasts doing to her mother, her sisters,
her
baby brother?

She knew that Hunter had just as much need for revenge against the Black Rose as she did. When he splayed his large hand over her stomach she felt his anger at the Black Rose—his utter disbelief that his sister was capable of such a thing. She could feel the tension running through his frame as he waited for Chrissie’s answer, so she didn’t try to evade his touch even though being so close to him set her nerves jangling and sent a strange feeling into the pit of her tummy.

“Tell us, Chrissie, please,” Hunter added. “Help us find the others she’s taken. The others she’s tormented as she has you and Amy. Where does she call home?”

Amy held her breath and waited for Chrissie’s answer. Knowing her family needed her, she’d do everything necessary to save them from whatever fate the Black Rose planned for them.

She watched as the other woman sat on her cot, her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. Her anger at her dissipated a bit as she wondered what she would do—what sort of bargains would she have made—had she known her parents and her siblings were in the clutches of the same animals who had abused her?

Chapter Five

With his mate held securely in his arms, Hunter waited impatiently for the woman’s answer. Did she know where
Haeda
based her slaving operation or didn’t she? He’d much rather spend this time with his mate so close trying to convince her she could trust him than stand here knowing the only reason she allowed his touch was because of the news she’d received.

Once they learned the location of the planet where his sister hid, where Amy’s people were hostages, he could tell
Mikel
. Then he could focus on his mate while they traveled to their destination. Did he wish he could order Amy to stay out of the coming battle? Of course he did. But, as he held his mate’s trembling body in his arms, felt her fear through their connection, he knew that no matter the danger involved, his mate needed closure. He wanted her to heal emotionally, and to do that, she needed to feel useful and in control. And, that’s something he
could
give her. Even if the thought of what could happen to her made his heart squeeze in terror. Besides, the followers of the Black Rose would never believe that a
true
Chantrean
woman would ever be the warrior he knew his mate to be.