Page 34 of Rescuing Mara (Warriors of Arracate #2)
CHAPTER 34
Mara
N o, no, no, NO! It was a trap. It was all a trap. Hot tears stream down my face as I yell and curse at the High Commander like I have never dared before. My foolish bravery turns against me when he hits me. Hard. I feel blood in my mouth, and guessing from the throbbing pain, I have at least a split lip. O’Rec yells and tries to get to me but is immediately surrounded by soldiers.
“Careful now, Prince. One wrong move, and we kill your Zarra,” Ananta yells.
“No, O’Rec, she’s going to kill me anyway.” I shout out, which brings me another slap in my face.
O’Rec growls, and I link my mind to his. “Don’t O’Rec, please. It’s not worth it. We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way, my star,” he responds sadly as the biggest wave of devastation I have ever felt hits me through our bond.
Ananta stalks forward towards O’Rec. Her hands move over his shoulders and arms, and then she shoves him to his knees.
“Did you really think I didn’t know? Did you really think you could fool me? ME?!” She shouts in his face. She hits him with all her strength, and he quietly takes it. She grabs his braids and unsheaths her dagger.
“The strength of an Arracate Warrior is shown in his braid. Well, O’Rec, your time is UP! You are not strong, and you are a disappointment.” Without any further warning, she cuts his braids right off.
She turns around and walks towards me, pointing her knife at me. “YOU! You had one job. ONE JOB! And you couldn’t even deliver me that. You are a useless piece of shit - a pathetic human. I really should have given you to my brother years ago, he would have enjoyed you, he would have loved to break you.
“Your brother was a monster!” I spit out. O’Rec may feel defeated, but I still have some fight left; I will not let them kill us without giving my all.
“A MONSTER? HE WAS THE BEST brOTHER IN THE WORLD. HE WAS MY EVERYTHING.”
She turns around but pivots back before even taking one step, pushing her knife in my face. “I hate you, and I will make you suffer,” she says quietly, and bile rises in my throat. She pushes the tip of her knife into the skin below my left eye. It is agony, but I grit my teeth and stare her straight in the eye as she slices my cheek from the corner of my eye to the corner of my mouth. She spits in my face when she’s done.
“There, that should teach you a lesson,” she huffs before she walks away.
“Take them to the Arena,” she commands her soldiers. The High Commander shoves me roughly to the ground before he walks past me.
I’m panting, lying on my hands and knees on the floor. Blood is dripping down from my face, mixing with my tears. I look up, and I see two soldiers dragging my mate away.
“O’Rec!” I yell, desperation filling my lungs. I can’t let them take him from me. However, before I can push myself up, someone hoists me up, moving me with them in his trail.
I struggle to stay on my feet, but they are so much faster, so I give up and let them drag me. My feet hurt, but I turn it all off and focus on my mate.
“O’Rec, are you okay?” I know it’s a stupid question because we are not okay. None of this is okay, but I need him now more than ever.
“Yes, my star. I am fine. Shut it all out. You can do it. Just focus on me. You will not feel a thing.”
I try to take a deep breath, but the stench keeps me from focusing, and I start panicking.
“No, my star, close your eyes,” he commands.
I huff. “You are still bossy even when we’re going to die.”
His sad reply is immediate. “We will be together so it will be fine. Focus on me; feel my love for you, my star. Let that be the last thing you will feel. Let it flow through your mind so you cannot feel the pain.”
I do as he says, and the bond opens up even more, filling my mind with O’Rec; how he feels when I smile at him, how the small things I do make him happy. He sends me images of what he imagined our life to be. Images of us on the Ring, with him crowned as King, me standing at his side. Images of me, round with his child, of me holding our child. It goes on and on, our whole life together plays off in my mind, and tears stream down my face. I’m not even truly aware of what’s going on.
We’re chained to the floor in the center of the Arena. The battleground is where contests are held and punishment is dealt with. I feel how the Sternotheri manhandles my body, throwing it to the ground, putting the chains on too tight, but it’s like it’s happening to someone else. I am floating above it all, wrapped in images of O’Rec, O’Rec, and our son. Our son, becoming a big brother. The images are wholesome, and for a minute, it feels like I’m really living the life. O’Rec’s tail tucks around my ankle, making the connection burst with the physical touch.
“I love you, O’Rec,” I tell him. “I am so grateful you showed me love. Thank you for sharing your good heart with me. If we had lived out this fantastic life, it wouldn’t have been enough. No time with you will ever be enough, but I’m so grateful for the time we did have.”
Throughout everything; the shouting of the Sternotheri and the High Commander approaching with a longsword, O’Rec is all I can focus on as we look into each other’s eyes. He is all that I can see, and everything else just fades to the background.
“I love you, my star. I love you beyond words.”
I barely register the change in the shouts around us, but all of a sudden, the ground shakes, and I fall. O’Rec jumps up and grabs me. Blasts come from all directions, and I see the High Commander dropping his sword and running away - the coward.
“O’Rec,” I whisper. “What’s happening?”
He grins a feral grin. “Back-up has arrived.”
* * *
O’Rec
My mate looks up at me in confusion, but I heard T’Rak’s voice in my head; loud and clear. They are here and will get us out, taking down as many of the Sternotheri as possible. I yank the chains that have me bound to the floor, and they immediately split. I carefully take Marra’s wrists and yank them away from the chains as well. She looks at me dumbfounded.
“Did you just break those chains like they’re nothing?”
“Yes.” I grin before tucking her against me and moving us to safety.
I start making our way to the nearest side of the arena, but Marra pulls my arm. “No, O’Rec, look! The High Commander dropped his sword!”
Grinning, I change our direction. It is tricky maneuvering us across the open area, but nobody seems to pay us any attention. Debris falls from the ceiling, and I curse beneath my breath.
“Did you leave any part of the ship intact? We cannot breathe in space, my friends.” I send it out to my crew
“Make your way to the belly of the ship. We are hooked on it there and working on cutting through the hull,” D’Var responds.
We run toward the side, and I swipe the sword off the ground with my tail before tucking it safely into my harness.
“We need to get to the belly of the ship. They are waiting for us there!”
Marra nods. “I know how to get there. Follow me!”
Just like earlier Marra guides me through a maze of corridors and hallways, only this time, it is buzzing with activity. I kill every fucking Sterno we encounter. Marra does not even seem phased, she just guides me with soft mental directions. We are getting closer to my crew, and I feel their presence grows, but to get to them, we have one last obstacle: the science lab and adjoining cell block.
Shouts and cries come from just around the corner, and I push Marra against the wall. “I need you to stay safe. Can you do that for me?”
She nods, and I rush around the corner, bloodlust filling my veins. Six Sternotheri are panicking in the hallway, they look like civilians, but I cannot leave anything to chance. I know I made the right move when one in the back pulls out a gun. Luckily, I am faster, throwing a knife I stole earlier, which lodges firmly in his throat.
After I am done, the hallway looks like a blood bath. Insecurity flickers through me. This is not a side of me Marra has seen. Will she be scared?
“Don’t worry so much,” she says, squeezing my hand.
“I thought I told you to stay safe?” I grumble.
“Yes, and I did. You keep me safe. All those Sterno will not hesitate to kill, hit, or abuse me if they get the chance. I know you never hurt innocent people; if you do not kill them, they will kill you.”
Grim determination flows through me. Right now, my only way to protect my mate, to protect my people, is to destroy everyone who stands between us and my crew.
Determined, I continue down the corridor, holding Marra close to me. We turn another corner and come face to face with an air-lock. A security measure, I immediately notice. Escape pods are hidden in the wall, and it kind of looks like a giant bubble separating the hallway in two.
I hear shouts coming from behind us, and I curse. We need to hurry. I quickly hack into the system, opening the doors. I repeat the process once more so we can step into the hallway, where I see my crew crawling up from underneath the floor.
“We made it!” Marra cries, but then we hear shots firing behind us, and when I look over my shoulder, Ananta is moving toward us.