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He caught my forearms and I raised my legs to kick at him instead. He leaned into me, wrapping his arms around me tightly and preventing me from escaping.
I shoved him off me but he was too strong. I fought to escape but at the same time, I wanted him to keep hold of me and never let go.
I hated him. And I loved him.
His mouth was beside my ear and he whispered to me.
“He’s alive,” he said. “The baby. He’s still alive.”
I froze immediately, trying to gauge if what he said was true or if it was another emotional attack.
I pulled back and looked him in the eye. He maintained his powerful grip on my arms.
He nodded and even, vaguely, smiled.
But how could I trust him?
I looked inside myself. Wasn’t a mother supposed to have some kind of mystical connection with their children? I searched myself but among all the grief I felt no kernel of hope that he might still be alive somewhere.
“I need you to come with me,” he said. “Come with me now and I’ll get you somewhere safe. You and the baby.”
Could it be true? Dare I even believe it?
More than that, what other choice did I have?
These monsters controlled me and I had no way to fight them.
I had no choice but to go with him.
I got to my feet and, having been lying in bed for most of the day, felt a little woozy and lightheaded.
Trayem braced me and held me upright.
“Take me to him,” I said.
The other Prizes must have heard me creeping across the room but they didn’t stir from their uncomfortable cots.
They were good girls, I reflected. They could get into a lot of trouble if they stood idly by as we made our hasty escape.
I didn’t speak until we were out of that backroom. We snuck across the dais where we usually presented ourselves to the victorious fighters.
It was the last time I would likely see this place—whether we succeeded in escaping or failed. Success meant I would never think about this place again save for my nightmares, and awake each day thanking God I was no longer in this hell hole.
And if we failed… Krial might give me mercy and end my miserable existence.
“I’m going to put you on the shuttlecraft and give you coordinates to a planet far from here,” Trayem said.
“You’re not coming with us?” I said, suddenly struck with desperation.
Fear stoked that emotion. I wished it wouldn’t be the last time I laid eyes on him. More than that, I didn’t want my child to grow up without knowing his father.
“I’ll stay behind and delay the others from following you,” Trayem said. “I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to notice you’re missing and that the child is still alive. You need to get far from here or they’ll come after you.”
“Why would they do that?” I said as Trayem led us up the stairs to the science lab.
“Because Krial’s process of regeneration isn’t complete if the original host is still alive. There’s a link between Krial and the host. The only way to break it is to sever it for good. To kill the original host. It’s the only way to sever the link.”
I’d been in this place for five years and I was still overwhelmed by the underlying rules of the abilities and powers each species possessed. It was like an entire world existed beneath the one I’d grown up understanding.
