Page 15 of Stealing Mercury (Arena Dogs #1)
Helpless to bend her to his will, Mercury keened low with worry and pain.
She had no reason to think them more than the animals Drake had labeled them.
Yet, she had protected them at every turn.
That spoke more of her heart than her fear.
This plan of hers was set, and they had to see this through, but it would kill him if anything happened to her.
“I promise, courra . For me and my brothers. We won’t harm them.
” Once spilled, the words left a burning hole in his gut.
He didn’t blame her for the shrieking ache.
She couldn’t know how many times the whip-master’s lash had torn through skin to strike at his pride.
How many times watching it dig into the flesh of his brothers had left his heart in tatters.
She nodded, pulling out the code-key. “And you won’t try to go after them now, either? You’ll stick to the plan?”
Her jaw tightened and her eyes searched his face, as if she wasn’t sure he would keep his promise. He didn’t want to, but he had little choice but to rely on her knowledge of how to survive beyond the world of the arena. He nodded. “I’ve promised. Will you trust me, courra ?”
“Step back away from the doors.” She took them all in at a glance, making it clear her command extended to them all. “It’s going to be okay,” she said, pressing the code-key to the lock.
She moved on to the other locks and Mercury fought instinct.
His muscles trembled with the need to claim her and keep her safe.
He wanted to shove open the cage door and pull her into his arms even more than he wanted to track his tormentors down and end their lives.
The damn woman had him in knots, so he would keep his distance.
There wasn’t time for what he wanted. What he needed.
As she stepped back, putting as much distance as possible between them, Mercury finally stepped free of the cage and led his brothers to the cargo-drop.
The interior was lit in low red light. He walked inside and turned to see her with her hand on the door.
“You’ll be fine,” she assured, unaware that she was the object of his worry.
Somehow, he promised himself, he would get to her before Drake and Resler hurt her. As he watched, the hatch swung shut. The click of the lock sealing scraped against his sensitive eardrums like sandpaper.
A jolt threw him against a container. It knocked him off his feet and emptied his lungs of air.
A moment later, the floor fell out from under him.
He scrambled for better footing. Bones rattling, oxygen deprived brain screaming in protest; Mercury knew Samantha had been right.
She never would have survived the cargo-drop’s rapid descent to the planet’s surface.
His belly lodged somewhere near his throat and the vibrations were so intense the ligaments all through his body strained to keep muscle and bone together.
Lo and Carn had to be experiencing the same sensations, but he didn’t have enough air in his lungs for a whimper, let alone a comforting howl.
When it finally came, the sudden deceleration proved no less agonizing.
He huddled with his brothers in the center of the space, clinging to the cargo clamps and each other.
The bottom of the drop seemed to have some mechanism to minimize the vibrations; if they were fortunate, it would be enough to prevent injury.
Mercury couldn’t afford to be injured. Not when he needed to get to Sam as quickly as possible. He would honor his promise not to harm the whip-master or the bully that had tormented Carn, but that didn’t mean he’d let them harm her.
The sudden stop of the cargo-drop put an end to his wandering thoughts. For a full minute, he and his pack brothers remained near motionless. The slight huff of their breathing the only sound.
“Ready?” He studied their faces, now back to normal, and could see they knew what he intended. Lo blinked his agreement. It was Carn who hesitated. Was he thinking of Hera? Did he think going after Sam too much a risk when they had to get back to Hera?
Carn dipped his chin in a slow nod.
Mercury pushed to his feet and studied the hatch controls. It wasn’t meant for passengers, so there was no obvious handle. He slid his hands over the smooth surface, stopping over a red shape. There was writing, but he couldn’t read it.
“Why doesn’t it open?” Carn’s voice showed no trace of his earlier hesitance.
“Maybe it is not yet safe to go out,” rumbled Lo.
Mercury’s fingertips found a slight unevenness around the red shape. “I think there’s something here.” He pushed gently at first, then with more force. A small section of alloy sprung open to reveal a recess with a metal ring. The small curve would fit perfectly in the grip of a human hand.
Carn’s boots scraped against the floor as he shifted his weight. “Doesn’t red usually mean warning?”
“The air grows thin.” Mercury knew they had no time for debate. He pulled the ring.
A heavy clunk sounded as alloy shifted inside the hatch. A pop as the seal broke took with it some of his worry. At least they wouldn’t all die in a metal canister.
Mercury shoved the hatch wide.
Light filtered in, washing the small space in contrasts of bright and dark. The new scents it carried with it overwhelmed his sensitive nose, but the air was rich. It filled his lungs and cleared his head. He stretched and took a deep, exhilarating breath.
Outside, the ground beneath his feet was spongy, but it didn’t shift under his weight like the sands in the Arena. He stepped aside to let the others pass, watching as they too enjoyed the richness of the air. Carn stood tall for the first time in many days.
Awash in color, the vegetation surrounded them like a visual feast. Purple flowers decorated the nearest trees. Green and blue-leaved bushes spread across some areas like blankets tossed carelessly on the ground.
Unfamiliar sounds came at him from every direction. Small creatures moved along the ground or up and down the trees. Until he became accustomed to them and the sounds they made, he would have to rely on his eyesight.
Lo crouched down and lifted a handful of dirt to his nose then inhaled loudly. “Smells different here.”
“Yes, but the air is good.”
Lo nodded his agreement, but Carn shook his head. It didn’t appear to be a sign that he disagreed. He looked more like he was shaking water from his ears after a dunking. “Carn?”
“I’m okay.” But he squatted down and slumped forward.
Mercury moved to him and rested a palm on his back. “What is it, old friend?”
“Can you hear it?”
“I hear many things.”
“No.” He grimaced. “A low thump, thump, thump.”
“Low?”
“Yes. Very.”
Lo crouched nearby. “Could it be a natural part of this planet?”
Mercury couldn’t hear the thump, but he knew both Carn and Lo had better hearing in the lower ranges. “I don’t know.”
Of course, this was the first time any of them had stepped onto a planet surface outside the domes of Roma.
Mercury patted Carn’s shoulder. “Let me know if it changes or gets worse for you.”
Carn nodded as they got to their feet.
Mercury started a slow circle around the drop.
Shattered wood covered the area behind the small transport device that had carried them down from a ship above the planet.
His gaze followed the trunk of a tree. The cargo-drop had skimmed all the branches from one side as it had fallen to the ground.
The top of the tree stretched high above.
Taller than any tree he’d ever seen. There were trees near the Arena Dogs’ training grounds, but nothing like this living tower.
The sky overhead was a bright blue and impossibly far away.
Somewhere above, the ship they’d fallen from hung in the vastness beyond the blue.
He’d been told of space and the distant worlds beyond, but it hadn’t been real to him.
Standing in the place that was clearly not the same as the one he’d come from, his world had suddenly become vast.
“How will we find her?” Lo spoke from next to him.
Mercury started to speak but a flash drew his gaze to the sky. A puffy white trail of smoke traced across and downward. Mercury pointed. “There. We will find her close to where the smoke meets the ground.”
He glanced at Carn again. The man looked stoic and paler than usual, but he stood straight and tall. Mercury could only hope his need to get back to Hera would drive him more than it hurt him.
“Let’s go.”