Freed Read online

  Freed

  Star Breed: Book Four

  Elin Wyn

  Contents

  1. Ronan

  2. Nadira

  3. Ronan

  4. Nadira

  5. Ronan

  6. Nadira

  7. Ronan

  8. Nadira

  9. Ronan

  10. Nadira

  11. Ronan

  12. Nadira

  13. Ronan

  14. Nadira

  15. Ronan

  16. Nadira

  17. Ronan

  18. Nadira

  19. Ronan

  20. Nadira

  21. Ronan

  22. Nadira

  23. Ronan

  24. Nadira

  25. Ronan

  26. Nadira

  27. Ronan

  28. Nadira

  29. Epilogue: Ronan

  Letter from Elin

  Preview of Craved

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  About the Author

  Also by Elin Wyn

  Ronan

  Two Hunters on patrol passed below me.

  My lip twisted in a snarl but Erich shrugged as if to ask ‘what did you expect?’

  He was right. Hunters weren't the brightest things out there, but either they or their handler had some basic survival instincts.

  I’d been picking off every lone straggler I found on the ship for… well, not sure how long now. But someone had finally wised up, had them running patrols in pairs.

  Fine.

  Two at once would just make the overall job faster.

  I dropped from the shadowed beam over the passage to the lower cargo bay, my feet hitting the deck plates with only a whisper of sound.

  Erich was right by me, his moves silent as always.

  I tightened my grip on the long, narrow blade in my hand and plunged it between the shoulder blades of the Hunter to the left.

  The first one fell with an earsplitting screech as I severed the cords and cables that passed for a spine.

  Unfortunately, that gave its partner plenty of warning.

  Without a glance down for its companion, it swung at me. I rolled back, swearing. Darkness, I wished I’d found a blaster, a needle gun, something on the damn ship.

  It was just too huge. And in all the time I’d spent killing the bastards, I hadn’t found any real weapons. That was alright. I kinda liked ripping them apart, the way they’d done to us.

  When I stood up from the wreckage, I checked over the bodies again, tearing open their plated armor and exposing the tangle of flesh and wiring below.

  Still nothing I could use.

  I straightened, wincing a little.

  Not smart, but excellent combat drones, I’d give them that. I took a deep breath, and stopped myself at the stab of pain in my side.

  Bastard had cracked a couple of ribs. And from the dull ache radiating through my arm, probably did a number on my shoulder, too.

  Erich fell into step with me as I headed back towards my hideout. “You can't keep doing this, Ronan, not without medical care, not on those crappy rations.”

  I grunted, but couldn’t argue, just rubbed the long, raw scar across my throat.

  I healed fast, we all did. But even Wolves needed some downtime between missions. Here, it was just one long fight.

  “At least stop by their lab, see if there's anything you recognize, can scavenge.”

  Erich was right. Erich was always right. It was one of his more annoying traits these days.

  I changed directions, loping through the empty halls. Hunters had their routines, and I had them mostly mapped out by now. I’d caught the last two on their way to a part of the ship I hadn’t been able to gain access to. Yet.

  Which meant the lab was unguarded.

  I stopped at the door, bracing to go in.

  Not much bothered me, certainly not anymore, but this room of people strapped to beds, sliced and poked and prodded, shook something at my core.

  I looked at each still form as I walked through, teeth bared at the stink of sweat and pain and adrenaline.

  “You should help them.” Erich stood at the foot of a bed holding a middle-aged man, right arm removed at the shoulder. Drip lines of Void knew what ran into his chest.

  “Not a doctor,” I muttered. “I’d probably kill them just getting them out.” And there was nowhere to take them. My fist clenched around the knife handle. The only thing I could give them was a quick end. Maybe that would be enough, but I didn’t know. Couldn’t judge.

  Only six in the beds now. The remaining two lay empty, ready for new victims.

  I rummaged through the cabinets, looking for anything that would ease either my pain or theirs, but it was all labeled with strings of numbers. No telling toxin from treatment.

  A tube of wound sealant was the only useful find. Grabbing it, I turned, more than ready to get out of the creep show.

  And my gaze was riveted by a pair of wide green eyes, staring at me from a cage pushed to the back of the room.

  A woman, long, pale hair tangled and matted, crouched inside.

  “Help me.”

  Nadira

  Once upon a time a tall, bearded wild man with a tangle of dark hair, jagged tattoos spiraling over half his chest, and a scarred throat would have scared me.

  Once upon a time, back in my safe little world at the Capitol, I would have crossed to another glide, stayed out of his way and never met his eyes.

  Once upon a time was a long time ago.

  “Please,” I whispered, and he frowned, as if confused that anything in this hellish place was still alive. “They'll come for us soon. I've seen how they work.”

  He glanced from me to one of the empty beds and his jaw tightened.

  He knew.

  The next time those faceless things in black came, they’d drag me out, strap me to the newly emptied bed. Start their work, whatever the purpose was.

  I glanced down at the thin woman curled behind me in the cage, burning up with fever. They’d do the same to her, she just wouldn’t last as long.

  I waited. The giant knew what happened here. If that wasn't enough to get him to save us, nothing I said would matter.

  He glanced at the corners of the lab, at the shiny black half-domes mounted in each vertex. The panels around them lit and blinked during the experiments. I'd wondered if they were cameras, but at the time it didn't matter.

  The man reached for the door of the cage and frowned, his eyes looking behind me to Loree's still body.

  “You have to help us both. She needs me.” She was my patient. Which might sound ludicrous here, but it was all I had to hold on to anymore.

  With a twist of his hand the lock on the cage door crumpled.

  I reached for Loree to pull her out with me, and winced. Her clammy skin was dull, and she no longer responded to my touch.

  “Move.” The word was a low rumble, and I flinched, eyes wide.

  Our rescuer stood by the cage, waiting for me to get out of his way.

  Come on, Nadira, you don't have any other choices. I stepped back and watched as he reached through the door and eased Loree out and into his arms with surprising gentleness.

  He stood, bearing her weight on his left arm, her head and arms flung over his shoulder like a sleepy child, and headed toward the door.

  “Wait, what about the others?”

  I glanced back at the six remaining patients. Patients wasn't the right word. Victims. Sacrifices to some angry god of pain.

  He disappeared with Loree, and I knew he was right. There was nothing I could do for them now.

  “I'll be back,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. And then I followed the stranger into the dark corridor.

/>   At first I couldn't find him in the dark hall, my eyes too used to the bright lights of the lab. I strained my ears, but heard nothing.

  Fine. Left or right. Right?

  Turning sharply, I kept my hand trailing against the right wall of the corridor.

  Instead of the cold metal plating I’d imagined, soft fabric ran under my fingers, interrupted in places. Any other time, I’d have stopped, curious to explore the mystery. Now I just wanted to put as much distance between me and the horror as possible.

  My heartbeat pounded in my ears. Shouldn’t I be able to see the man and Loree ahead of me by now?

  Two, three more tentative steps, then a warm hand engulfed my upper arm.

  “No. This way.” He tugged me along and as we moved through the empty halls, tiny lights flickered by our feet as we went and I began to make out some details of our surroundings.

  Rich red fabric upholstered the walls, but it was ripped and stained, the pattern faded. I squinted at it as we passed, a distant memory tickled.

  “Where are we?”

  “Base.”

  Right, then. Not long on conversation. As long as he could get us to safety, I didn’t care.

  Before long, a hatch blocked the corridor, lights flashing red and yellow around the seal.

  “What are you doing?” I pulled back, but there was nowhere else to go. “There’s no atmosphere beyond there!”

  Every child raised on a station knew that pattern, and every passenger on every ship throughout the Empire was taught it.

  Hull breach. Unsurvivable.

  He muttered something, then set Loree on the deck, leaning her against the wall. I rushed to her, but she was the same: burning hot, unresponsive.

  “Why would you save us from the cage to bring us here?”

  He grunted, massive arms bulging, as he wrenched the wheel of the manual release.

  Even as I flung myself over Loree, I knew it was pointless. There wasn’t anything to hang onto, and, after the cage, I wasn’t strong enough anyway.

  But the rush of vacuum didn’t rip through the hall. Not a flutter.

  Rolling off Loree I sat, blinking. The man stood above us, and through the sliver of open hatch I could see a perfectly safe-looking hallway, just like the one we’d been in.

  “Coming?”

  Ronan

  I set the unconscious woman down on the bunk of the room I had claimed as mine. The other, with the huge green eyes that sucked me in, hurried to her side, smoothing the tangled hair back, checking her pulse.

  She bit her lip, shoulders slumped, then straightened.

  “Thank you. No matter what, we're better off here than in that cage, waiting for them to take us.” She held her hand out. “I'm Nadira. This is Loree. She'd thank you, too, if she could.”

  "Ronan."

  I watched her turn and take in the room, the surprise on her face a mirror of mine when I’d found this section of the ship.

  A stateroom of some kind, with a wide plush bunk, small desk, and storage for clothing and personal items. Trinkets were still scattered about behind plexi-covered shelves.

  She wandered over to the desk, tapped an old holoplate mounted on the wall, and smiled at the portrait that emerged, a man and woman, two kids between them.

  “Is this your family?”

  “No.” I stretched my shoulder gingerly, trying to feel how much damage I'd taken in the fight with that last Hunter.

  “Likely that's the poor bastard who had this berth when it blew.”

  “Blew?”

  “Yeah,” I tore open the sealant, twisted to try to reach the wound on my back.

  “Here, let me.” She reached for the tube, expectantly.

  I stepped back. “You’ve already got one patient. I can take care of myself.”

  Nadira puffed her lips in exasperation. “All I can do right now is make her comfortable. You, on the other hand...” She stepped forward, only pausing for a moment at my growl. She continued her advance, green eyes narrowed with determination.

  “Turn around. I'm sure you're perfectly capable, but I'm a doctor and it would be foolish of you not to let me assist you.”

  Something that looked like pain crossed her face and her step faltered. “Besides, it would be nice to feel useful after…” her voice trailed off

  But I could fill in the blanks. The people in the lab. The experiments.

  I handed her the tube and turned around.

  Instead of the expected gasp or fussing, her voice was professional, her hands cool as she examined my back, gently testing for swelling, injury.

  “What happened?”

  “Fights. Lots of them.”

  “Tell her,” Erich urged from the corner where he stood, but for once I ignored him.

  “You're going to need more than just sealant,” she muttered, but the cool sting of it slid across the worst of the cuts anyway.

  “Let me see what supplies you have. I doubt there will be anything that can do more than basic care for Loree, but I’ll take anything I can find.”

  “I've checked for meds, trust me. There's nothing I recognize.” I turned back to meet her flat stare.

  “Are you a doctor?”

  “Nope.”

  “Medic training?”

  “Basic.” I shifted my weight from side to side. For a little thing, she didn’t seem too worried about pissing off someone twice her size.

  “Then maybe I'll recognize something you didn't.”

  “She's got a point,” Erich called out from the corner.

  I wasn't arguing with both of them.

  There wasn't any point in replacing my shirt, the man who’d had this room hadn't been my size, and it would just get destroyed in the next fight anyway. I headed to the corridor, pausing when I realized Nadira wasn’t behind me. She stood by the bunk with the unconscious woman, lightly touching her wrist.

  “Will she be safe alone?”

  “No one else's here,” I shrugged. “No one living, at least.”

  Nadira glanced at the holoplate, the frozen mementos of a life long gone, and followed me.

  I wanted to get this errand over quickly, but my steps were sluggish. It was time to rest. Soon the Hunters would return to the decks I had access to and with them came the time to fight.

  Maybe she could be useful, if she was anything like Doc. I snorted.

  The blonde looked up. “What's funny?”

  “Just thinking about a friend.” I fell silent. With us captured, Doc’s defenses would have been swept away. But she’d never allow herself to be taken. The Wolves might have pieces of what the Hunters and their handlers were looking for, but Doc’s clever brain held the entire puzzle.

  When I didn't explain further, Nadira forged ahead on a different path. “When you said blew... Was there actually a hull breach on the ship?”

  “Yeah. Most of the damage was further down.”

  The result had been the perfect refuge. The Hunters avoided the section, lacking the imagination to double check what their readouts told them.

  “When did the breach happen?”

  I shrugged. “Don't know. A while back, looking at the tech.”

  She ran her hand over the faded fabric covering the walls, frowning. “I know I recognize this. I just can’t pull it to mind.”

  But she didn't follow up on the thought. We'd arrived at the storage room.

  It wasn't much. Couldn't have been a supply area for the entire ship, more likely just an auxiliary location. Emergency supplies for this section, something like that.

  Nadira rifled through the shelves, mumbling to herself as she went.

  “Bed linens, bed linens, who needs so many bed linens? I guess they’ll be bandages if necessary. Rations, that’s good.”

  She picked one up and glanced at the date code stamped on it and raised her eyebrows. “Well, maybe good.”

  I couldn’t lie to her. “I wouldn't say good, but they’re edible.”

  She glanced at me and coc
ked an eyebrow. “I'll take your word for it for now.”

  Nadira continued sorting through all the random junk that someone had thought was important enough to store. None of it had been of any use to save the people in this section.

  I’d stacked the bodies as I found them in a cold locker at the far aft of the ship. All suffocated in their living quarters, none of them near emergency breathers. Whatever had caused the breach had been quick, unexpected.

  “Wait a minute…”

  Curious to see what she’d found, I peered around the corner of one of the shelving units to find her glaring at a wall.

  “This panel is cold, colder than the rest of the walls around it. I think there’s a door that slides, but it’s stuck. Can you help me open it?”

  I moved to stand behind her. Her head only reached the midpoint of my chest, so it wasn't like there was any danger she’d block my view of the wall.

  Darkness. I’d never noticed it, but she was right. An inset panel, faintly outlined between two of the shelving units.

  I studied the door and then reached around her with both hands, jamming the tips of my fingers into the thin crack at the top of the panel.

  “I can move, you know,” she muttered, but I focused on finding a weakness to the door.

  Tugging down, I could feel the resistance in the seal. Probably automated at some point, hadn’t moved in years, stuck solid now.

  Nothing a little brute force couldn't solve.

  With a groan of metal, the panel slid down, revealing shelves full of vials.

  “That's what I need,” she breathed, as she grabbed the closest one, my arms enclosing her apparently forgotten.