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I ran to the bars, banging into them with my body as I reached for her to choke her.
She jumped back with a scream, then shook her head. “Xaden. All you have to do is mate with me or another female of your choosing and you can leave.”
“Never going to happen.” I pushed back from the bars. The Roulex wanted offspring to do experiments on and discover the power of my people’s rapid healing. I couldn’t let them get their scaly claws on that ability. They were hard enough to fight as it was, which was why our kind had built a protective dome around our mountains to keep us safe. But it was a prison just as this shithole was.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Sofria cooed. “We both know you secretly like me. Why else would you have swooped from your one chance of escape from this place rescue me?”
I ground my teeth so hard, pain splintered up my jaw. Sofria had pretended to be one of my people, stuck in a net with Roulex tugging her away. After all I had endured in this hellhole, there was no way I would leave an innocent behind. There’d only been three Roulex and I took them down easy enough. What I hadn’t counted on was her being a shapeshifter and jabbing me with something that froze all my limbs in place. Even my wings wouldn’t work.
She tapped her chin with a reptilian claw. “You know, my ruse with you worked so well, I think it might be time to try it again and closer to your mountain home.” She morphed into a male of my species. “Maybe lure out one of your precious females.”
My roar echoed through the cell as I dove for her again. This time, my fingers dug into the skin of her arm and I yanked her to me before she could scream. The bars vibrated as she struck them. Her eyes widening in alarm.
“Please, don’t hurt me,” she whimpered, her black eyes pleading and full of terror. “They made me do it. I can help you escape.”
Lies.I could smell her fear and an underlying scent of falseness. All of us Angeliminir healed quickly, but some had one extra gift, like the ability to heal others or in my case, smell when someone’s words were a lie. Of course, I had to be super close to them like this. Close enough to smell their breath. Close enough to smell the chalky taste of the lie.
“I’ve never lifted a finger or wing against any female, no matter her species.” I squeezed her neck harder. “But I’d gladly make an exception for you.”
“Help—” she choked out.
“Good, call the guards.” I boasted. “Let’s see if they can save you in time.”
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Sofria clawed at my hand. I wasn’t going to kill her as much as I wanted to. Just needed the guards to get close enough…
My gaze darted to the Roulex rushing straight at us. One raised his forcefield weapon at me, and I thrust Sofria into him, knocking them both down. The second was closer than he should’ve been, and I grasped the edge of his sleeve and jerked him hard into the bars, knocking him out. His body slumped. I placed his scaled hand over the lock and the bars groaned open.
I leapt through the opening, my wings knocking aside a third guard.
My feet pounded over the stone floor.
I bowled over two guards; freedom tasted like honeyed nectar on the back of my tongue. Blue sky peeked from a window a hundred feet away and reach the height near the ceiling. Enough speed, I might could break through. I had to try.
Panting, I pushed my beaten body faster than possible. Couldn’t allow these fuckers to take my abilities and twist them for their own use. I pumped my wings harder and slammed into the bars. The metal felt weaker than the ones in the cells and they were further apart. I jerked on the bars. Sweat beaded my brow and my body started to shake from the effort. Just a little further and I’d be free from the range of their weapons. Even from here, bending the bars out of my way, the sun warmed my skin. The wind felt like paradise as it blew through the window. Just a little further and I could wedge myself out. My arms strained to bend the bars a little more.
The first dart hit me between my wings, and I stumbled but kept upright. I launched myself into the air at the window. Even if I couldn’t fly, I’d at least have peace knowing I died free and not in this shit-filled nightmare.
A green buzz bit along my skin as the fucking tractor beam froze me in place.
No!I raged inside my head because I could no longer move.
Guards surrounded me and whatever asshole had me in the air, turned off the beam and I fell hard to the floor. Roulex’s tails and claws slashed into me like razor blades and I couldn’t do a fucking thing.
The dart’s venom burned through my bloodstream like oil lit on fire. My muscles cramped and seized. Limbs wrenched into my chest.
My bones strained under the pressure. Sickening waves of relentless agony shocked through me. I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs to scream.
Searing pain gripped me in a vise as my body clenched itself into a knot. I drew in shallow breaths of air. Each inhale felt like stabbing shards.
“Guess our latest torture for you was too easy,” one of the guards snorted. “Let’s increase the intensity up three levels and see if he complies.”
3
Riley
Iwoke from a shooting pain racing down my leg. Plus, the coldness from a hard surface seeped into my side. I sat up, blinking in the darkness. Where was I? A grainy taste filled the back of my mouth.
