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The service entrance is at the back of the club. I have my mask back on, and I realize I’ll have to switch the purifier to its highest setting in this dingy, low-level area, with its high levels of toxic pollution.

As I stride through the smog and smoke, I see a guy – already drunk off his ass at midday – who stumbles towards me.

His eyes are full of lust.

“Hey, little lady! You lost? Why don’t I…”

Thump!

The moment the drunk reaches forward to paw at me, I deck him across the head.

I’ve slapped and punched a hundred men before – but never likethis. I hear the satisfyingcrunchas the groping pervert’s jaw breaks. He falls like a rock to the sidewalk.

I look down at my hand with wonder.

So,thisis the power that a man has in his fist. Now, that power ismine.

I take the route through the back alley, weaving through the overflowing garbage cans and bags of refuse. The air is clear through my purifier – but I can almost imagine the fetid stench.

Eventually, the service door of The Rhino stands in front of me.

Stick to the plan, Allie: In and out.

Try to find her. Ask some of the girls if they saw anyone who looks like me. If they did–even if they deny it–I know I’ll see the truth in their eyes.

I pull the door, but it’s locked tight.

For a second, I stand there, running my tongue over my gums – thinking.

I should have been thinking before – thinkingclearly, at least.

Suddenly, I realize this was all a huge mistake. I should have stuck to my initial plan. I should have just taken the first flight off this rock and come back much, much later – with guards.

I need to come back with men who aren’t going to try to link me with them for all eternity.

A pang of sudden loss shudders through my body. I’ve fought down and muted the Bond all this time, butsomethingin me still clings to the idea of what I could have had if I hadn’t fled.

Part of me, I’m ashamed to say, wanted to live happily ever after with those three towering, gorgeous, devoted men.

That’s my heart talking. My heart has always been a fool.

I need to listen to my head. My head tells me that those three Aurelians couldn’t treat me as anything other than a breeding slave and plaything, even if they wanted to.

Reluctantly, I pull out the hilt of Kitos’ Orb-Blade. I’d been planning to sell it – but I figure it’s the only thing on my that could open this door right now.

I fondle the hilt, trying to figure out how to get it to work. There are no buttons, or controls - and I’m too scared to touch the Orb-Shard itself.

Work, dammit! Just work!

Instantly, the blade suddenly appears.

As if summoned by my thought, a long blue-black blade of nothing shimmers into life from the top of the hilt – humming with an otherworldly energy.

It’s terrifying, and I’m trembling as I take the Orb-Blade to the service door and press the shimmering, blue-black blade down against the metal.

It cuts through the door like the sheet steel is nothing more than tissue paper. I cut down the door in seconds, kicking down the broken pieces.

The barrel of a pistol greets me.