Page 15 of Healing Creek (Arena Dogs #3)

Chapter Ten

It had only been a couple of days, but already Grace had fallen into a routine.

She shared meals with Creek, morning and dinner.

They talked about her family and his travels after leaving the resistance.

During the day, she worked in the med-bay and took her lunch with whichever watcher happened to be there that day.

Adopting the routine was easy for her. She had a lot of practice following—doing what worked for those around her.

What was harder was keeping an emotional distance from Creek.

She didn’t want that distance between them, but she needed it—she was keeping secrets from him, after all.

As she applied a headache inhibitor for a bridge officer, she offered a reassuring smile.

She’d often wondered what it was like to make your own choices, but her last choice hadn’t worked out so well.

Though she couldn’t regret meeting Creek.

When her sister told her about their aunt’s work on Arena Dog genetics, she’d been curious about them.

Jennifer had poured over their great aunt’s lab notes, hoping the genetic key to their accelerated healing could somehow be used to correct the genetic flaws that afflicted Grace.

Grace had researched what had become of the men and women her great aunt had helped create.

She’d been fascinated by their abilities and traits, then horrified by their enslavement.

Meeting them, meeting Creek, was entirely different.

The officer offered her thanks and was slipping off the med-bed when the doors slid open. Mercury strode in carrying Samantha in his arms.

Grace rushed over to the second med-bed where he lay his mate. “What happened?”

“She collapsed,” Mercury barked.

Samantha was alert and frowning. “I fainted. It isn’t serious.” She looked to Grace with an eye roll. “Tell him it isn’t serious.”

She placed a monitor on Samantha’s wrist. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed pale. “Let me get the medic.”

“No. Please.” Samantha’s plea stopped her. “You can read a simple scan.”

Grace nodded and reached for a scanner then held it out over the shorter woman’s torso. It revealed something Grace could never have suspected. Mercury’s mate was pregnant. Could it truly be the Arena Dogs’ child? According to her research, there had never been a natural pregnancy. Miraculous.

“From your smile, I take it everything is fine. Just as I said.” Samantha’s shoulders relaxed into the med-bed. She had not been as sure as she’d pretended.

As Grace returned the scanner to an overhead slot, Mercury put a large hand over his mate’s still flat abdomen. “Is she truly well?”

Grace pressed her lips together before speaking.

Speaking honestly might anger Samantha, but there was no real choice.

The child was the most important being currently in the room.

“The baby seems fine and there’s nothing seriously wrong.

But the monitor indicates you’re showing signs of fatigue and dehydration.

” Grace walked over to the storage drawers built into one wall.

“I’ll give you a dose of vitamins and some fluids.

” Her hands closed around the items, and she lifted them from the tray.

“That should help, but you should increase your daily intake of water, start taking an afternoon nap, and you should be under a medic’s care. ”

She hung the fluids on the bed and snapped the threader in place over a vein.

“Women all across the universe have babies every day without the aid of a medic.”

Mercury chuffed in his throat. “Those women are not having Arena Dog babies. And they are not my mate.”

Samantha grinned and her eyes filled with unshed tears. “And I have Grace. I promise to check-in with—”

Mercury huffed. “Grace is leaving us tomorrow. You haven’t forgotten.”

The medic finally seemed to realize the importance of their newest patient and strode out of his office. “What have we got here?”

Grace saw the plea in Samantha’s eyes. She didn’t want the medic to know about the child. That must be why Samantha, a very smart woman, hadn’t already been to the med-bay for a routine check.

“Nothing serious. A case of dehydration. I did a scan to make sure it wasn’t a symptom of anything more serious.”

“Oh. Well. Thank you, Grace. I’ll just take a—”

Samantha sat up on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest as if she needed to physically protect the child she carried. “No need.”

Mercury growled low, but Samantha ignored him. “I’m perfectly fine.” This time there was a thread of iron in her tone.

Samantha had been the one to vet all the crew, but her confidence in him must not run deeply enough to trust him with such a precious secret. Grace could understand that.

Secrets. She was keeping her own and she really hated it. Hated being dishonest with Creek and the pack. But some secrets had to be kept. She wished one of her siblings was there to tell her what do. They were so much smarter than her. She didn’t know what was right.

She’d been the only one in her family who’d known her sister was using their great aunt’s research on Arena Dog genetics.

They’d both known it could be dangerous if Roma found out their aunt had left notes that only Jennifer could read.

She had the skills to correct the flaw their aunt had intentionally inserted in the Arena Dogs’ DNA—one that prevented natural reproduction.

Grace had kept that secret, but someone working for Jennifer had not and it had put both their lives in danger.

It occurred to her that she could simply tell Roma that Samantha was pregnant.

Maybe there was no need for her sister to solve the problem of the childless Arena Dogs.

If Samantha got pregnant, others could, too.

But how awful would that be? Another generation of slaves.

And if they no longer needed her sister, would they release her and risk her bringing kidnapping charges against them or would they simply kill her?

How was she supposed to know the right path? What could she possibly do?

If she did go with Patel to where her sister was being held, did she think she had the power to rescue her? It was ridiculous. She couldn’t even rescue herself. She wasn’t like the Arena Dogs. They’d rescued Jupiter and Creek and taken over an entire ship.

Grace checked Samantha’s fluids and heart rate while Mercury pulled the medic aside to distract him with conversation.

“Why did you trust me with this?” Grace whispered. “I know you didn’t trust me before. Why now? Why something so important?”

“Because Creek trusts you. And I can see you care for him.” Samantha relaxed, stretching out her legs to let them dangle over the side of the bed.

Did Creek trust her? And could it be that simple? Grace looked away as her eyes teared up. She wanted to be trustworthy, but nothing about her current situation was simple.

***

Creek came early to walk her to dinner that evening.

When they reached the mess hall Samantha and Diablo were sitting at a long table with two Arena Dogs and two human women she hadn’t met before.

The Arena Dogs were clearly a couple, male and female, sitting close.

The female, a beauty with ebony hair and big black eyes, bowed her head and smiled shyly at her mate.

He was the largest of the Dogs, with impossibly broad shoulders and a silver scar that cut across his jaw.

As Creek and Grace approached the table, the smell of seared meat drifted across the space along with the sweet scent of fresh fruit. When Samantha noticed them, she tried to stand. Diablo stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and a growl. Samantha huffed at him and rolled her eyes.

“I’m so glad you could join us,” she said.

“Let me help you get to know everyone.” With that she made the introductions.

The Arena Dogs were Carn and Hera. The humans were Celestia, a redhead with a sea of freckles, and Cosmo, a stocky woman with a short cap of brown curls.

They were both shuttle pilots that had come aboard with Mercury’s pack.

“We’ll be piloting the shuttle to the space station tomorrow,” said Celestia as she lifted her drink.

The thought of leaving so soon should have been a relief, but Grace felt it like a slug in her gut.

“Is that safe?”

Ears pricked all along the table and four sets of Arena Dogs’ eyes focused on her.

“I mean, the crew you’re releasing are all locked up now, right? Creek explained that you didn’t trust them not to try to retake the ship.”

“That’s true, but they’re unlikely to sabotage their own release,” said Samantha.

“Several of the humans who were former slaves will also be there to help protect the pilots,” added Creek.

Cosmo reached for a ripe red berry looking nonplussed. “The Neella is a medium range passenger shuttle. So, we’ll have plenty of space and a bulkhead between us and the passengers once they’re loaded.”

Cosmo’s confidence did nothing to loosen the fist in Grace’s gut. “You’re very brave.”

Celestia smiled wide through her freckles. “I’ve always loved the wild tales from the Beta Sector expansion. I pretended to be a refugee runner when I was a kid. Smuggling hapless civilians from war torn planets out of the sector. Now, they were heroic.”

Samantha’s lips tipped in a wistful smile. “In the heart of every indie pilot there’s an adventurer waiting to come out.”

Most at the table chuckled agreeably, but Grace couldn’t force herself to laugh with the others.

She’d be traveling with Patel starting tomorrow.

She wished she had Celestia’s courage. She was being ridiculous thinking she could somehow help her sister escape once they were together.

She had to be the least courageous person on the ship.

Creek took her hand. The rough tip of his thumb brushed across her pulse point.

“Are you afraid of riding with the crew?” Grace suppressed a shiver and shook her head.

“No, of course not. You’re right. They wouldn’t jeopardize their release.

” His hand enfolded hers in warmth and safety.

“None of them were cruel to me, before you arrived. Mostly, they were indifferent.”

“Indifference to cruelty is no less cruel,” Creek said.

Jennifer, the sister who was known almost as much for her lectures on ethics as she was for her work in genetics, would agree with him. A knife twisted in Grace’s gut every time she thought about how she was being used to force her sister to go against her most precious beliefs.

The worry in his eyes squeezed her heart. She wasn’t worthy of such a good man, but she wanted to be. She cupped his cheek with her hand. “I’ll be fine.”

The realization that they’d drawn the attention of everyone at the table had her pulling her hand back.

Creek released her hand as she pulled it under the table and tapped out her anxiety.

“Yes,” said Carn, surprising everyone. “Inaction can be as cruel to those suffering as the action causing that suffering.”

“Or too little action,” added Diablo. “I don’t think Mercury is going to be satisfied with the progress the resistance has made in freeing our people.” He spat out the word progress as if it tasted bitter in his mouth.

Samantha stroked him soothingly. “Oh, Lo. You can’t discount the good they’ve done.”

He put a hand under her chin. “Would you have been satisfied to rescue Mercury and leave Carn and me to die?”

“No, of course not.” Samantha scowled at the idea.

Diablo huffed in approval then leaned over to rub his cheek against hers.

Thoughts bounded through Grace’s mind like cats in the night.

She wished she could be as certain of the right thing to do as Samantha and Diablo seemed to be.

She’d been thinking of her choice as being between her sister’s life and doing the right thing, but maybe that wasn’t the choice at all.

Her chest tightened and she wanted to scream.

Creek cleared his throat. “It might be difficult to convince the resistance to do things differently, but I will stand with you and so will many of the other Dogs at Haven.”

He didn’t even want to return to Haven, but he would face the ones who’d hurt him to do what was right.

“There must be a better way to end the enslavement of our people,” Creek finished.

Grace noticed the hand Samantha moved to her abdomen as if she needed to protect the life that grew there.

Jennifer would never be able to live with herself if she was part of creating a new generation of slaves for the arena. Could Grace? Tears tracked down her cheeks and fell into her lap. The answer was finally easy. No.