Page 14 of Stealing Mercury
“The man was drunk, Drake. You need to get him under control.”
“You don’t get it, Sam. Resler wasn’t the problem here, you were.” His glaze flicked to her bruise with a concerned look. His lips turned white from being pressed together before he went on. “If you hadn’t interfered, no one would’ve gotten hurt.”
“Except Mercury. And Carnage.”
The mender’s task complete, the screen went dark. Drake moved around to stand beside Samantha as she guided the mender back into its storage slot.
“I don’t want to fight, Sam. I don’t want any of this keeping us at odds.”
He reached for her wrist and brought her hand up as if he meant to press a kiss to her knuckles or maybe tug her in for something more. Stars, where had he gotten the idea she wanted any part of that? And why did it seem so offensively presumptuous when Mercury’s touch that first day hadn’t bothered her at all?
She tugged her hand away and tried to sound sincere. “Drake, I’m flattered, but—”
Cruel arrogance swept back onto his face as if the nicer Drake had been a holographic mask, easily dismissed. “Do you know what my job is with the Dogs, Sam?”
She had to think a moment, all the way back to Sevti’s introduction. He and Resler hadn’t talked much about their work in the time they’d been onboard. At least not in front of her. “You’re a trainer.”
“That’s right. So, I know what I’m talking about when I tell you Mercury can take a lot more than Resler could dish out with a single stun-stick. The Dogs are tough bastards and Mercury is too well-trained to fight a guard.” He huffed out a breath and shook his head, clearly realizing that recent events had disproven his assertion. “At least he never would have before.”
Samantha took a breath and turned away to adjust the settings on the med-bed. “You’d expect him to just take the abuse?”
“It would be the smart thing to do. It would be over quicker that way and there’d be no repercussions. I chose him, you know? Chose to work with him. Because he’s smart. Aggressive, tough, but also trainable. I had to bust my ass to keep up with him. To find new tactics to keep them alive and winning. I researched military and history vids for hours every night. You have no idea how much I hate fucking history.”
For a moment, Samantha entertained the notion that maybe he cared for the Arena Dogs, that maybe he believed he’d been helping them. When she turned back around, he’d propped against the wall and his attention seemed to be focused on the past.
“I spent the last five years of my life working with those Dogs and they had to fuck it all up. Fuck up everything I worked for. Fuck up my career.”
No. She hadn’t been wrong about Drake. This was a man who saw only his own interests. Cared only for his own wellbeing. He would never have compassion for anyone or anything that stood in his way. Samantha watched him shake off the barely leashed rage and head for the doorway.
And for once she showed prudence and kept her mouth shut.
***
When the hatch opened, Mercury was prepared to repeat his edict for the woman to stay away, and he was oddly disappointed when it was Drake that stepped inside. Her willingness to stand up to Resler on his behalf confused him. He could see no purpose to it, if she was allied with the whip-masters. A game? But why? She’d stopped him from doing more damage to Resler. But she’d seemed to believe she was protecting him. She’d rushed Resler like a young warrior, all courage and no thought for her own safety. He shook his head and studied the cold eyes of the whip-master.
If she was not in league with Drake, she was in danger and her failure to recognize the extent of the masters’ cruelty only gave him more reason to warn her away. Such ignorance was dangerous for her.
He got to his feet slowly, watching the whip-master’s hand tighten around a dart gun. Carnage panted heavily, sprawled across the floor of his cage, still hurting from the effects of the stun-stick on his healing internal injuries. With no food or medical care and nothing but abuse since the Owner had sentenced them to death, his injuries where healing more slowly than they should. In the cage beside him, Lo’s muscles tensed. Mercury knew his pack brother was fighting against his fear. Lo feared almost nothing.
Almost.
But the drug in the dart, like other drugs the masters of the arena used against them, had the power to render a Dog helpless. That was the one thing they all feared, and Mercury knew Lo had fallen to the drugs enough times to foster a fear so complete it coated his insides like a syrupy poison.
Drake’s gaze raked over them, landing intensely on Mercury. A smirk slithered slowly into place, but his attention never wavered. Not even when his arm extended toward Lo and fired in one smooth motion. Lo slumped to the ground in a thump of dead weight. Drake’s smirk slid back off his face when Mercury failed to respond. He knew Drake well enough to know what was coming, and Lo wasn’t the target of the whip-master’s rage.
Drake’s arm lowered, the hand holding the dart gun hanging against his thigh. “You know the penalty for injuring a guard.”
Mercury nodded. “Death. But you’re not going to kill me now.”
“No. You’re right. I need you alive at the end of this journey. So, what am I going to do with you?” He tapped the gun against his thigh. “I could keep you unconscious. But then you wouldn’t suffer the anticipation of your death. No. That’s off the table.”
Mercury remained silent. There was nothing to say. Drake had decided his punishment long before he’d entered the cargo-hold. Mercury could only be thankful Drake wasn’t looking to target the others. Mercury had no intention of giving him any reason to hurt them. He would take whatever Drake dished out.
He heard Carn shift as if he might try to stand, but he didn’t want Drake’s attention on his weakened pack brother. “And will you punish Resler for injuring the female?”
Drake ignored his taunt, walking directly to Carn’s cage. He stood there watching the wounded Dog breathe for a moment before dismissing him.
Mercury knew why Drake wanted Lo unconscious—his cage was too close, but Carn was too far away to be a threat. He almost wished Drake would put Carn out as well. It would make what was coming easier on them both.
