Page 14 of Rescued By the Convicts
A chill raced down her spine. Ivan was hiding something from her.
* * *
Melina woke,feeling sticky. She hadn’t expected to fall asleep, but her body hadn’t had enough sleep after pulling three double shifts in five days.
Unlike the miners, her schedule was fluid. Ivan couldn’t be predictable when taking her to and from the med-center. And Thorne didn’t seem to care. She could remain in the bunker full time and there was nothing Thorne could do about it. He didn’t know where her unit hid her. Jayce was convinced the planet’s manager didn’t know about the handful of bunkers left behind from the war decades before.
Thanks to Jayce’s hacking skills, no one beyond the five of them had access to the bunker. But that didn’t mean Zev could reach the underground sanctuary to take refuge there.
Zev was on his own now.
Jayce, Reece, and Ivan worked extra shifts to build up their food supply. They now had a three-week surplus which could be stretched to four or even five weeks if they ever had to shelter in place, but Ivan pushed the men hard, saying it wasn’t enough. She loved how he worried about her and the others, but she hated how the responsibility weighed on him. He didn’t seem to be sleeping well.
“Anyone home?” she called out as she made her way to the shower. No answer. Aside from the corridor lights automatically flicking on for her, there was no movement or sound anywhere in the bunker.
She must have slept through the shift change. Besides the confining feel of the bunker drawing out her anxiety, the lack of windows confused her system. She had no sense of day or night down here, and no clock to allow her to adjust mentally. Jayce would find a zurlite-powered clock for her if she asked, but she felt selfish asking for personal items.
The shower spewed warm water, thankfully, though showering definitely wasn’t as much fun alone. Melina towel-dried her hair the best she could and gathered the long locks into a loose braid.
A smile erupted on her face as she ran her fingers along the tattoo at the back of her neck. She no longer worried about anyone seeing Namir’s brand. Her men accepted her, tattoos and scars included.
“I’m no longer yours, Namir.”
Still wearing a smile, Melina padded back to her room in nothing but a towel. Thanks to the thermal fissures underground, the floor and bunker remained a constant seventy degrees. After she dressed in a plain black pair of pants, white shirt, and boots that fit thanks to Jayce and one of his deals, she headed toward the kitchen to take inventory for Jayce.
A hand locked over her mouth.
She screamed, but it was too late as a needle sank into her flesh by her neck, and the world around her faded.
* * *
Melina’s head throbbed,and she was shivering.
A slight breeze brushed over her skin, herbareskin. She forced her eyes open. Darkness surrounded her. She’d been stripped naked and left on a concrete floor in the dark.
Her world began to spin. She took a calming breath, willing herself to push the fear away. She hated the dark, and Ivan knew that. Why would he do this to her again?
“Ivan?” she called out, hoping he’d let her out of the room.
Shame filled her that she could suspect Ivan of tormenting her like this. He’d left her naked that day he’d taken her from Hawke, back when he thought she’d killed his men. As much as he’d hated her then, he’d never left her cold like this. He wouldn’t harm or willingly terrify her like this, not after all they’d been through together. He cared about her; she was sure of it. He’dringedher even.
The cold air stung her throat and lungs. She’d get hypothermia if she remained exposed like this too long. Her hand went to her neck, the sudden memory of being stuck with a needle creeping to the surface. She’d been drugged with something.
“Interesting that you would think Perilov would leave you in the dark, naked and cold,” a deep voice said.
She jumped to her feet and backed away from the voice. Her bare back struck an exceedingly cold metal wall. An exterior wall perhaps, in a room with no heating, or too far off the ground to benefit from the heat of the thermal fissures. She couldn’t see anything. Her body began to shake, and not only from the cold.
“Where am I?”
“You took samples from a spindle tree. Why?” The man’s voice had moved closer.
“A what?” she asked, moving along the wall until she found herself in a corner with no place to go.
“A tree in Section B.”
She could feel his hot, rancid breath pouring over her from above. The man towered over her. She tried pushing him away, but the hard body in front of her didn’t budge.
“Answer me!” he shouted.
