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“I don’t know.” I shook my head, panic and hope warred within me.
The electrified bars between us and freedom flickered, then suddenly vanished. Instead of running out of our holding cell, we scrambled backward, pressing ourselves against the solid stone wall in a frenzy of confusion and fear as we tried to make sense of what was happening.
Three figures solidified before us. A blue female with the same strange tubular hair as Zorin, a massive horned male with golden skin heavily marked on his arms and chest with wicked black designs like tribal tattoos, and—Gunnox!
“You came back,” I muttered. Joy and relief flooded my senses, threatening to overwhelm me. I took a staggering step forward, then broke into a run with tears burning my eyes as I flung myself into the stranger's arms.
Gunnox caught me effortlessly, his embrace strong and sure. I buried my face in the crook of his throat, breathing in his musky scent.
"We need to hurry!" Gunnox announced over the shrill alarm, not just to me but to everyone in the cavern. “The alarm has sounded too early. Tyrk, any word from Vennox?”
“Not yet?” yelled back the male with thick black horns.
I reluctantly eased away from the huge silver male, my trembling hands betraying the depth of my emotions. "Thank you," I managed to whisper, overflowing with appreciation, then remembered the wounds on his back. “Oh! Your back. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“You didn’t. I’m almost healed.”
“How?” I moved to look at his back only to see thin, dark lines where the whip had struck him. “How is that possible?”
“All thanks to you.” Gunnox's gaze met mine, his soft smile sending a wave of warmth through me that weakened my knees.
“Me? What did I do?” My hand fluttered to the incessant tug behind my sternum made greater with Gunnox’s presence.
He captured my hand in his and placed it between his rounded pectorals. “You breathed life into my ancillary heart. It pumps the adrenalyne that now flows through my veins causing me to heal faster than normal.”
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head in astonishment, not just because his words baffled me, but also due to the surge of heat that ignited my blood from his innocent touch.
“You will, but now is not the time,” Gunnox said, hastily. “We’re not out of danger, and we must hurry. The window of opportunity for escape is fleeting.”
“There will be more guards coming,” I warned him. “Last time the alarms sounded, the Valosian who was taken by the queen escaped.”
“Vennox,” Gunnox nodded, “but he’s done more than escaped. Those alarms mean he’s killed the queen.” His pointed ears cupped and perked. “I don’t hear any guards approaching, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t on the way. Gather the females.”
I pivoted toward the group of women huddled inside the holding cell and urgently beckoned them forward with a wavy of my hand and a determined nod. As I turned back, several Valosians had circled Gunnox, offering their forearms in quick clasping exchanges.
“That must be Zorin’s wife.” Bridget sidled up to me with a curious gaze at the embracing couple.
Zorin held the blue female close to him, her trembling form seeking solace in his comforting embrace. Tears streamed down her face, leaving glistening trails on her royal blue skin as she clung to him with fierce desperation.
“What’s with you and the new guy?” Leah eyed me with a lopsided grin.
“I don’t know.” I pressed my fingertips to my sternum, worried over the tightening knot that felt as if someone was clamoring to be set free. “Something…”
“That was Vennox,” the horned male called out over the blaring alarms and pointed to a boxy device he held high in the air. “The palace is being swarmed with Gorken, but he’s made it inside the conveyor tunnel and is on the way. Anyone able to fight, take the weapons off the guards. Blasters out but let’s try and get out of here without alerting every Gorken on the planet that we’re here.”
Our three rescuers brandished what looked like laser guns from a science fiction movie as the Valosians and Zorin stripped the guards of their whips and daggers they wore strapped to their spindly thighs. The rest of us who were weaponless were rounded up and kept in the center of the group while the horned male led the way out of the cavern we’d been slaving in for an eternity.
I glanced back to find Gunnox poised at the entrance of the conveyor tunnel, scrutinizing the length of the passage. “Come on, Vennox,” he uttered.
I pushed my way out of the crowd and ran back to his side. “I’m not leaving here without you.”
Gunnox cupped my face in both hands and peered down into my eyes with such reverence, my heart skipped a beat. “Vennox is on the way. I will not leave a warrior behind, but you must go with the others to the ship. I’ll be right behind you.”
I shook my head as Gunnox’s elfin ears swiveled back toward the mouth of the conveyor tunnel as the male the queen had chosen raced out. “The guards are flooding the pupa chamber. We don’t have much time.”
“Let’s go.” Gunnox grabbed my hand and the three of us ran to catch up with the others. I stumbled unable to keep pace with the length of his strides.
Gunnox didn’t miss a step as he swung me into his arms and cradled me against his chest. I slung my arms around his neck and hung on tight and within a few strides, we were moving in behind Lucy and Bridget.
