Page 33 of Rogue Enforcer

“This can’t be.” He used both hands to clear larger sections of the controls. Forced to let go of him or be swung around like a wet towel, I stepped to the side to give him a bit more room. I could still see the panel, but I had no idea what had him so rattled.

“What?”

“There are multiple subterranean levels. That is to be expected. But this…” He pointed to a section near the top. Every light was on. Different colors. But every single one was flickering or flashing or just shining like a light bulb. “This should not be.”

I leaned up on tip-toe to get a closer look at the symbols etched into the panel and waited impatiently for my NPU to figure out how to communicate the meaning to my brain. One moment I had no idea, and the next…

“Prisoners? Does that say something about a prison?”

“Yes.” Cormac spun around and grabbed his gear, throwing everything he’d just removed, his pack, rifle and second rifle, back into place on his large frame. “I’m going down there.”

“Who would they have down there?”

Cormac took several steps toward what looked like elevator doors at the far end of the room. I chased after him like a hungry kitten. “Wait.”

“You will remain here with the doors locked.”

I shook my head before he finished his sentence. “No way. It’s creepy in here. Besides, what if whoever blew up your ship finds us before Styx does? I’d be up here alone.”

“Fuck.” Cormac slammed his palm against the elevator door. It was a dark gray, like pencil lead, not shiny like the elevator doors on Earth. As if the elevator heard him, the doors slipped open the moment his hand lifted. “Do you have your blaster?”

“Yes.”

“Stay behind me. Do everything I tell you to do. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” I did not want to get between my mate and anything he thought needed killing, that was for sure. I was short. I wasn’t stupid.

Cormac gently placed me behind him as the elevator doors closed in front of us. I was expecting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach like I experienced on elevators at home. This was ten times worse. We were falling at exactly the speed needed to keep my toes touching the floor, but the stopping was really going to be rough.

“Cormac!”

He grabbed me at once, turning his back to the door and holding me to his chest as the elevator slammed to a stop. He absorbed the shock easily. Had he not been holding me, I would have crumpled into a mess. One, I wasn’t as strong as he was. Two, my balance was far from gymnast level. I would have been on my ass. Probably slammed my head into the wall. Sheesh.

“What kind of stupid elevator is this?”

“Hive. Their limbs have been enhanced to withstand much more than their normal biology would allow.” Cormac released me, using one hand to ensure I was steady enough to stand on my own as he turned back around to face the doors. He completely blocked my view, but I didn’t try to peek around him. Nope. I’d stare at his magnificent ass instead. Not monsters. Damn it.

All I could think about was a stupid movie I’d seen as a kid. One of the science fiction movies that hadStar somethingin the title. They’d had these evil enemies that flew around space in giant cubes. They were half human and half robot, and their queen had a squiggly robot spine that came out of her body and twisted around like a worm. Disgusting.

I’d had nightmares for weeks. Was that what the Hive was? I was beginning to think maybe I should have stayed up top and taken my chances.

Dim light filled the corridor beyond us. Cormac stepped forward, and I followed, staying about three steps behind him. A loud thumping noise came from up ahead, like someone was hitting a mound of dirt with a baseball bat. Every few seconds…thump.

I wanted to ask Cormac what that could be, but he was moving like a ghost, so quiet if I couldn’t see him right in front of me, I wouldn’t believe he was there.

We came to the end of the short corridor, and Cormac turned to his right, blaster raised. I froze, waiting to see what would happen.

Thump…thump…thump.

“Fuck.” Cormac put his blaster back into its holster on the side of his suit and cursed some more. He looked over to me and motioned for me to come closer. I moved to his side as fast as I could manage. I looked down the new corridor and felt my heart sink into my stomach.

There were prison cells. Rows and rows and rows of them as far as I could see. Five cells on either side of this area each held giant aliens I recognized at once. Atlans. Like my friend Elena’s mate, Tane. Atlan Warlords. Except these all had metal on their bodies or sunk into their skin like tattoos. Every Atlan had his eyes trained on Cormac. Wary. All but one.

THUMP.

The Atlan in the center on my right slammed his fist into some kind of energy field that made up the front of their prison cells. His knuckles were bloody, some so mangled I could see bone.

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll stop soon. Eat. Sleep. Wake up and destroy his other hand.” The voice came from the first cell on the left. Cormac turned to face the Atlan. “His name is Stryck, but we just call him Thumper.”

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