Page 30 of Angel Captive

“Tell…me…where…she…is.” Charred’s fists punched each word.

I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on the image of Riley. How her eyes sparkled whenever she talked with me about anything other than the Roulex. The way her skin shifted colors from a light pink on her cheeks with the fascinating tiny dots along her nose to the red deepening across her chest and face when she orgasmed.

How her lush mouth felt on mine and how I wanted to know so much more about her. I wanted to experience everything with her. Wanted to feel her in my arms as I flew through the sky with the sun shining on her chestnut hair and her smile taking away all my cares.

“Answer me!” Charred’s roar shattered my fantasy.

I grinned despite my whole body feeling like a swollen, pulsing bruise. He punched me in the face and the metallic tang of my blood filled my mouth.

An icy burn seared through me as my body struggled to mend my wounds. But I couldn’t shift into the deep sleep I needed, not with beatings and the second dose of adrenaline zipping through my veins.

“Give me the saw,” Charred shouted, then yanked my head back to glare into my eyes. “I will hack off pieces of you until you talk.”

The saw vibrated as he switched it on, and my body tensed.

“Let’s see how many parts of you can come off before you can’t regrow them, before your healing shit stops.”

The fact Charred was so animate about Riley gave me comfort the Roulex didn’t know where in the hell she was. With any luck, she was on the shuttle and far from these fucking monsters.

If my death saved her, then so be it.

19

Riley

Ipounded on the door. “Melody, please, let me out.” Whatever had made my best friend lock me up, there had to be a way to reason with her.

Was it money troubles? She’d complained about overdue bills earlier, but I would’ve never believed that she’d sell me out.

Then again, what if she was more in debt than she had let on? I bet the price for a breeding-age female was pretty high among the Roulex from everything I’d learned and experienced since being here.

I swallowed hard. Betrayed. I still couldn’t believe Melody had sent me here, then faked being in a cell to lure me in here.

Okay, there had to be a way out. No windows. There was a door to the side, but when I turned the knob it was locked. Probably a supply closet and the only door that didn’t have an access panel I could see, but there had to be some way to open the door and get the hell out of here.

I dashed over to the tray of wicked medical-looking instruments. If I could pick a computer’s insides, picking a lock should be a synch. I decided on two small scalpel-like tools. Thinking about how helpless I’d felt when the Roulex had given me that shot, I picked up another.

Carefully, I used the blade to cut a small hole in the hem of my prison pants, well shorts now since I’d used the bottoms to wrap Xaden’s wings. Then I pushed the instrument into the seam and pointed the sharp part away from my skin. Wasn’t as good as having a blaster gun or even a knife, but it was better than nothing.

I took the smaller tools to the door and sank down to the knob. The keyhole was jagged and tiny. My hands shook as I tried to get the lock to spring.

All of my thoughts were on Xaden and what had happened to him. No doubt the Roulex had punished him for helping me escape and then I’d gotten myself in here. No doubt Melody had run off to tell someone important that she’d succeeded in capturing me again.

Tears clouded in my eyes as I thought of how she’d thrown our decade-old friendship away merely for money. I believed I knew her and that she’d never stoop to something like this, then again, I guess I was a pretty rotten judge of character.

I blew out a breath, trying to force my racing mind away from my fears and back to the doorknob. This time my hands were steadier. I could do this. It was just like a puzzle I had to fix. Carefully I wiggled the tips into the lock, it was a tight fit, but these were the smallest tools I could find.

Minutes later, I was no closer to discovering how to open the damn door as when I started. Sweat coated the back of my neck and it felt like a bomb was ticking deep inside of me.

I glanced around the room again. What I needed was a computer, then I could rig something up to—

The knob turned and I scrambled to jump back and stand. Charred strode into the room along with Melody and a Roulex in a white lab coat.

“Well done, you’ve proven your worth today,” Charred didn’t take his slanted eyes off me.

Melody bowed her head, her beaming smile looked off for some reason.

I brandished my two weapons at them. “Get back.”

---