Page 54 of Rescuing Mara

“You have developed quite the bloodthirst, my mate.”I grin, pride shooting through our bond at her fierce protection of me.

“Well, you have shown me that when something is worth fighting for, you give it your all. I’ll check back in later.”

She leaves me to my lonely cell after that, giving me time to plot. I cannot leave her to figure out the plan by herself, so I have to step up. Usually, T’Rak does all the planning, but this time, it has to be me. One thing is absolutely clear to me: we need to get off this ship as soon as possible. If this cell is easy to break free from, we should go before morning.

As I think things through, a plan forms clearly in my mind. Immediately I reach out to Marra, hoping to catch her because it must be the middle of the night.

“Marra,”I try. When she does not answer, I try again, but this time, I push more urgency through the link.

“O’Rec?”A groggy thought returns.“Sorry, I was sleeping. Are you okay?”

“We need to go as soon as possible, Marra.”

“How do you know?”The grogginess from earlier is replaced by seriousness.

“I have this feeling, this urge. Things are going to get out of hand. I just know it deep down. We need to move and move quickly.”

“Okay. What do you need?”

“I need you to get here as soon as you can. We will sneak out before the Sterno are fully awake. You guide us to the landing bay, and I will pilot the ship.”

“Okay. It may be a while because I have to remain unseen and steal an access card. But I am coming. If anything happens, you’ll let me know, right?”

“Of course, my mate, be safe!”

* * *

The waiting is excruciating.The silence and bright lights are messing with my head, which is probably exactly what the creator of this cell had in mind. Minute after minute passes until suddenly, I feel the bond pulse. Marra is close.

“Marra?”Her response comes immediate.

“Yes, I’m here. Go to the door. I don’t want to turn the lights on in the hallway in case it alerts someone.”

I rush towards the door, and when she opens it, I quickly pull her in my arms. “You are safe.”

“We are safe,” she sniffs. She straightens immediately. “We have to go. It’s still silent, but I don’t trust anything on this ship one bit.”

I agree, and when she takes my hand, I let her lead me. We walk silently through hallways and hidden corridors until we arrive at the landing area. We are hidden in an alcove where the secret passageway opened.

“There!” she whispers and points towards sliding doors. “When we get through those doors, we enter the landing area. I have no clue of the outlook, but I think we need to sneak towards the outskirts - flying out will be easier if we’re already halfway there.”

“I agree on that one, but there is no way of predicting if we need to take cover or fight?”

“No…” Marra bites her lip, and I squeeze her hand.

“It will be okay. Are you ready?”

She nods, and we run towards the door, her hand firmly tucked into mine. She swipes the access card she brought somehow, and the sliding doors open with a hiss. The landing area seems strangely desolate and I get a bad feeling, something feels off. Marra tugs on my hand and points towards a cruiser that stands a little to the side. I look around the cargo bay, but the area is still quiet, too quiet to my liking. I cannot smell anything, and the stench of foul musk taints everything.

I look at Marra, squeeze her hand, and tug her against me as we creep through the landing area toward our goal.

When we reach the ship, I move toward the side panel and pry the stolen access card under a corner. I grit my teeth as I wriggle, and I wreck the panel's front and pull out some wires. It takes me a hot minute to reroute the wiring, but the door opens smoothly. The landing plate lowers, and I can almost see our freedom. But before we can set foot on it, I hear a very familiar and unwelcome voice calling out from behind us.

“Where do you think you’re going, Mara?”

We freeze, and I turn around. Ananta is standing right behind us, flanked by two dozen of her soldiers. Fuck, those are too many if I also have to protect Marra, whom I quickly push behind me. Ananta starts cackling, and when Marra shouts out, I look behind us.

My blood freezes when I see the High Commander, who also has a small army at his back. And in his arms, struggling and biting out profanities, he is holding my mate.

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