Page 37 of The Hive

A few taps on the touchscreen later, a loud click sounded. “That’ll be the locks disengaging. It’s happened to most of the doors and airlocks on the station except the cluster we are headed to. Let’s go. We’ve already taken too long.” He continued outlining the plan as Grey and Valyx led the way into the corridor at a fast clip. “We can use the barcode that you so thoughtfully acquired to access the tunnels for a more direct route. With everything unlocked, there’ll be chaos in the halls, but I left the setting that required codes for the maintenance doors so we wouldn’t be delayed. If we hurry, they’ll be too busy dealing with the fallout to find us.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Alexi

Very few words were spoken as the four of us exited the detention cluster. Ax had unlocked the other confinement areas, but the Hive was a prison that prided itself on keeping its inmates unaware of their detainment. There would be little reason to hold anyone in the brig. Unless, of course, they figured out what was going on and didn’t appreciate it.

Despite the empty halls we moved through, we could hear the din of chaos rise in the distance just before we ducked into the darkened lift tunnels. Our grisly key unbarring our path as we ran like our lives depended on it.

Between Grey’s knowledge of the tunnels from studying the schematics, and Ax’s glimpse of the layout, we were able to make our way back to the drone clusters. The lifts were still, the silence unsettling. The Hive seemed asleep, whereas not so very long ago, this system of tubes had been buzzing with movement. I only hoped that the confusion we caused wouldn’t mean the loss of innocent lives. By instinct, the alphas would protect the omegas. The keepers would only be in danger if they tried to interfere.

Using the rapidly cooling appendage Valyx had given him, Grey unlocked the door leading to drone cluster three. Funny that we were back in the same place we just escaped from, but I wasn’t laughing. I could hear chaos beyond the door. We only had the limited weapons the single guard had carried and our skills. There was no time, and fewer options.

The doc pulled the airlock open, using it to shield himself, and I led my team into the hall.

Drones clashed with guards as they tried to exit the containment areas, so we skirted the scattered conflicts and kept our heads down. Few even looked twice at our group in the short distance through the corridor. Valyx and Axion were still dressed like Imperatrix soldiers, and the doctor was in his staff uniform. I was out of place, but it was easy enough to imagine I was a drone being escorted back to my cell after having escaped during the confusion.

The doctor swiped the severed hand under the code reader and the cluster airlock opened. In the middle of the aisle stood a scrawny-looking man with lank hair and twitchy eyes. He was backed by several beta guards. To my surprise, before anyone decided what to do about this new obstacle, Grey stepped forward.

“Corbin, would you kindly remove yourself from our path?” The polite words were overshadowed by his scathing tone.

The nervous handler glanced at the guards with him, as if to make sure he wasn’t in this alone before he spoke. “No, I don’t think so, 10225. I didn’t go through all the trouble of planting cameras in your omega’s room and reporting you to the Imperatrix just to let you go now. Maybe she’ll even let me fuck Saphyra as my reward after 6667 is done with her, if there’s anything left.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Corbin thought his handful of beta guards would protect him, but he obviously hadn’t been paying attention in the hangar earlier. We were outnumbered again, but not by anywhere near enough.

I didn’t even need to give the order. Ax and Valyx were already charging the line of men, and the doctor was wielding the severed arm and the charged baton. I wasn’t sure how effective that would be, but when Corbin saw our grizzly trophy, the color drained from his face and he ran.

I waded into the sea of flying fists. Blood coated the walls like buckets of spilled paint. Some of the guards fled and we let them go. We had no interest in whether they lived or died. Our only concern was reaching our mate.

By the time we were done with the guards, Grey had Corbin backed into a corner, trembling and sweating profusely. The doctor kept him in place using the taser baton much like a cattle prod.

Grey’s rich, cultured voice shook as he confronted this steaming piece of shit. “Lyrah should have been the one standing over your pathetic, cowering corpse, but I would save her from the weight of what must be done. The galaxy will be better for your absence.” He planted the baton against Corbin’s sternum and clicked it on, driving the beta to his knees.

From a pocket no one had noticed, the doctor pulled a thin silver scalpel and drew it quickly across the other man’s throat. Corbin gagged and gasped as blood gushed from the precise wound, only to be sucked down into the exposed trachea. He flailed, grabbing at his throat as if that would somehow help.

I hadn’t expected it from the doctor, but there seemed to be a deep hatred that needed purging. I understood that better than anyone.

We left the bleeding handler scrabbling on the cold metal floor in a pool of the blood of his misguided followers. A wound like that would kill him quickly, but until then, he would fear the starless void that awaited corrupted souls like his.

One last door and an alpha who was going to regret ever having been born was all that stood in our way now.

Chapter Thirty-Sixty

Saphyra

I was tossed unceremoniously into a room. The black blanket they had wrapped me in stank like rotten fruit and wilted flowers, but it cushioned the impact some. The airlock slid closed behind me. From my hands and knees, I took stock of where I’d landed. It looked similar to Lex’s drone cell except there was no furniture and deep gouges marred the metal walls.

A throaty growl rumbled from a shadowed corner, and the vision that stalked toward me was terrifying. A massive alpha with scars cutting across his naked chest strode from the murk. His hair was a familiar red, the color of embers, and his eyes glowed that same molten ochre.

My body didn’t care that he was a thing of nightmares. His rolling growl shuddered along my skin and slick gushed in readiness for him. Stupid hormones. Not now. I shook my head, trying to clear the lust fogging my mind. Yes, he was an alpha, but he wasn’t MY alpha. His cinnamon and fire scent was alluring and drew me in, but not the way my men did. My alphas’ scents sang to my blood and left me craving more.

I willed myself up from the floor, kicked the foul-smelling blanket away, and brushed myself off. “Hello, I’m Saphyra. I was hoping you could do me a favor and not fall on me like a sex-crazed maniac.”

Ignoring my words, he sucked in a lungful of recycled air and his otherworldly eyes flashed to me. “I can smell her, but you aren’t her.” He charged me and bellowed, “Where is she?”

The volume of his fury battered against me and my knees gave out as he crashed into me, throwing my body against the wall. His naked form pinned me there as he proceeded to sniff me all over, the rumble of his deep growl intensifying.

My omega nature preened, and I rubbed against his bare, sweat-soaked skin even while the pain from where my head impacted the wall throbbed. Some instinct saw him as a powerful alpha and wanted that, but the civilized part of me warred against it. My nails bit into his scarred flesh as I tried to push him off, but he was solid muscle and didn’t seem to feel my wild struggles.

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