Finding Lara (Distant Worlds Book 3) (11 page)

“Of course,” Forge
answered, and just like that she was given to the barbarian’s keeping.  Lara
swallowed the lump of anger and fear in her throat; she sought hard her cloak
of serenity, but with those gold satisfied eyes locked on hers, and the hunger
and fear of the children beating at her as their mutual captors casually
planned her rape, serenity was beyond her reach.

They stunned the
Baralians before releasing the heavy weight of chains.  The two golden-maned
Beasts had a short coat of fur that they shook, seeming to shake off the pain
of the stun almost fast enough to catch the guards as they were leaving the
cage.  Even knowing the intelligence of the beasts, they appeared more animal
than intelligent being.  The doors closed as the two beasts crashed into what
had moments before been the open hatch.  As young as she knew them to be, they
still dwarfed the doors they tried to crash through. The bang of their hit
shook the entire structure, making the guards around them shift and reach to access
assorted weapons. 

Shell shocked as she was,
Lara could still feel the bond of the two Baralians in her mind.  They held on
to her and their own small germ of sanity as if they were one and the same. 
She felt the feral nature of the beast take over.  It was if they each had two
minds.  It was enough to have her head aching almost as much as the ravenous
hunger they were projecting did.

The Gorgon who entered
the other side of the large gate was even bigger than the norm for their
species.  Well over ten feet tall, he towered over both the Hortiem coming in
from the other fight door, and the Baralians who, even as young as they were,
still reached five feet standing on four paws.  Their golden manes had yet to
develop fully, but somehow with that terrible hunger in their eyes, they did
not look like children.

“Tell them they will eat
only if they fight well,” Frot said from the other side of Forge.  Standing as
they all were just outside the big caged practice arena, they were close enough
that she could say it in regular voice and they would hear it.  She spoke,
trying to convey the message aloud and with the connection they had made with
her mind.  The young ones understood, but their feral beasts were not so easily
tamed as that.

The wall between the
fighters in the cage was clanking and starting to rise.  Lara thought of
closing her eyes to what she knew was about to happen but she had to see.  On
the other side of the cage were two more of the same, and beyond them she could
see the other fighters coming in single file for their daily training and
exercise.  She knew the second Barnos entered the room with the rest of them. 
Surrounded by armed guards, the fighters moved up to the other side of the cage
to see the show before starting their own practice.  Barnos found her
unerringly, his eyes narrowing when he saw the ravages of emotion and drying
tears on her face.  She tried for something reassuring for the angry question
in his eyes, but had nothing to offer at the moment.  She was still looking
into his eyes when the wall rose enough for the fight to start.  It was the
roar of hungry Baralians that trumpeted over them.  Then the screams started. 
The Gorgon and Hortiem never had a chance against the impenetrable hide of the
Baralians, or their razor sharp claws and massive jaws.

After one flash of blood
and death, Lara closed her eyes tight and tried not to hear the crunching. 
When the fight was over, the guards stunned the Baralians with enough juice to
knock them out, or so they thought.  They were wrong.  The slower but still
moving beasts killed and wounded six of the guards before Forge was forced to
run in with more guards and the blasters that could make an impression.  By the
time they had the creatures chained and unconscious again, the sand of the cage
looked like masses of carrion and blood-soaked mush.  It was questionable
whether the Baralians would be salvageable. 

Lara had fallen when the
great beasts had; she missed most of it unconscious on the sand.  Nothing they
did could wake her up.

Watching the great beasts
ripping into the other fighters, Barnos was not the only one who had gone
quiet.  There was very little doubt in his mind that the beasts would kill them
all if they got the chance, and he did not want to be here when it was time to
fight them.  He had heard of the Baralians, and understood them to be an
intelligent but primitive people.  They did not look like people.  They did not
act like even the most vicious fighters.  They more resembled wild beasts.  And
as big as they were, it was obvious even in their bloody path of destruction
that they were young.  What would they be like when they were full size?  It
didn’t seem possible for it to get worse.  Then the fight was over and he
watched Lara fall with the beasts.  He felt a kick in his chest that resembled
the fear he did not usually bother with.

The guards were
distracted enough that he made it to her side without being stopped; hell, he
could have made a run for it if he had the slightest idea where the landing pad
was.  But he was not about to leave without the Lady he came with, so it flew
through his mind and then out again just as quickly.  He lifted her into his
lap and brushed back her long black hair that had escaped the thick braid. 
Even with his heightened adrenaline, he could feel that her skin and hair were
damn soft.  In fact, every luscious inch of her was.  Gave a man ideas at the
worst times.

“Lara,” he said running
his thumb across her high cheekbones, “wake up, sassy.”  His rumble was low in
the hopes he would escape detection, but his luck did not extend that far. 
That blue bastard turned and saw him with Lara in his lap and roared his
displeasure.  The guards turned to see what he was looking at and several ran
to him, shock sticks out and ready. 
Shite.  This was going to be bad.
 
He fought to keep Lara in his arms as long as he could even knowing it was a
bad idea, but she never woke up, and he was pulled hissing at each hard strike
of pain through his body, with no idea what happened to her after that.

He was back in his cell. 
Not the luxurious one he had ‘earned’ with his fighting, but the original small
box he woke up in that was basically four walls, a hard pallet, and a shite hole. 
He was more worried about Lara.  Watching her fall with the Baralians when he
was stuck half a room away was driving his rage at being caged to furious
heights.  He would pace off some of it but the room just wasn’t big enough.  He
was giving it his all though.  Two steps, turn, two steps turn, when that
fucking voice floated into him.

“Fighter 45821, you have
a visitor; any deviant behavior on your part will be met with extreme force. 
Please step to the center of the room, on your knees, hands clasped behind you.”

Barnos bared his teeth at
the ceiling but did as he instructed.  When the hatch opened and the blue
barbarian stepped in, he was tempted to launch himself from his kneeling
position and beat the bastard to death, but the blaster in his hands convinced
him otherwise.

It did not stop him from
watching the man for his chance.  Barnos was aware he was not being subtle in
his aggression; his eyes narrowed with deadly intent on the bastard, but fuck him. 
If he did not know Barnos would kill him if he had the chance he was stupider
than he looked.  From the intent look in those gold eyes sizing him up, he was
not that stupid.  The bastard did not look anywhere but at Barnos, not that
there was much to see, and Barnos kept his mouth shut with an effort waiting to
see what he was up to now.  Hell, maybe he wants to bring Lara for another
visit to torment him.  At this point, Barnos would gladly accept the blue balls
he always got in her presence to not knowing what the hell was happening to
her.

“You will tell me what I
must do for my woman.”  The unexpected words had Barnos raising a brow in
surprise.

“Come again?”

“She still sleeps,” the
other man bit out, as if asking for advice from Barnos was the most painful
fucking minute of his life.  Come to think of it, it just might be.  “You will
tell me how to wake her.”

He thought about
tormenting the man, but he wanted information more.  “Lara hasn’t woken up?”

“Would I be here if she
had?”  The words were bit out and angry, and Barnos smiled at the man just to
piss him off, but it was a halfhearted effort at best.

“Take me to her,” he said,
starting to stand, but ending up with a blaster against his skull.

“You do not give the
orders here, pirate,” the other man gritted, and Barnos froze, the barrel of
the blaster pressing hard enough against his head to bruise.  If the man pulled
the trigger he would be very, very dead.

“You came to me,
barbarian,” Barnos growled out as reasonably as he could, which admittedly was
not reasonable at all.  “Now let me fucking help.”

“Tell me what I need to
know.”  He ground the baster harder, making Barnos growl.  “You do not need to
see her for that.”

“How the fuck do you know
what I need or don’t need?” He left
you stupid bastard
implied, but
unsaid.

“You saw her when she
fell; her circumstances have not changed.  You do not need to see her again.”

Barnos contemplated how
fast he could move, but even he wasn’t fast enough to dodge a blaster point
blank, no matter how much he wanted to bludgeon the man holding it.  He cursed,
thinking of how still and just gone Lara had been in his arms.

“What is happening with
the Baralians?” he asked finally.  “And can you get that fucking blaster out of
my skull?” again,
you stupid bastard
was implied but not spoken.

“What does that matter?” 
Since he ground the blaster in further, Barnos had to grit his teeth before he
could answer.

“She passed out when they
were taken down.  I assume you had her there to talk to them; if they have
telepathic abilities it might have affected her.  So what the fuck happened to
them?”

He felt one last hard
press of steel before the bastard moved away from him.  When Barnos looked up,
the blaster was still pointed at him but the man’s mind was elsewhere, his gold
eyes thinking a little too hard.  When he was back at the hatch, he gave Barnos
one last parting comment that made him wish he had tried for the bastard after
all.

“The girl has been given
to me.  She comes to my bed tonight.”  He seemed to take a malicious delight in
saying it and Barnos was up and slamming against the hatch where the man had
been standing almost without thinking.  His cybernetic arm made a dent that
would have been more satisfying if the blue bastard was still standing there to
take it.

The voice drifted down
around him again.  “Further hostility will not be tolerated.  Move away from
the entrance.”

“FUUUCK YOU!” Barnos
roared, his helpless anger feeding his aggression.  He ground his teeth until
his jaw ached, gave the hatch one last thump and then moved back before he got
his stupid ass gassed.  At this point, he even welcomed his next fight.  At
least he would get out of this box and get to do something.  It was less than a
minute later that he was pacing again.  Two steps, turn, two steps.

What the fuck was
happening with Lara?

***

Lara was aware of
everything that was going on around her; she just couldn’t seem to react to
it.  It was as if she was stuck in her own mind, and the Baralians had been
holding on so tightly to her mind to keep their sanity while their primal
natures ruled, they were stuck in there with her.  It was disconcerting to say
the least, but the Baralians were not panicking; more waiting, snuggling around
her like great cats while they dozed.  They waited for their bodies to heal
enough so that they could return.  What she did not want to think about was
what would happen if their bodies didn’t heal.  What happened if they died? 
She had a strong feeling she was not going to like the answer so she
concentrated on other things.  Like the way Forge kept returning to hover at
her side.  He did not speak to her, but she could feel him watching her,
waiting.

At one point Frot was in
the infirmary, because she heard his voice, and got the impression of contained
anger.  “Tell me, Forge, how are the Baralians?”  The voice was hard and
snide.  “That is why you keep leaving your other duties to come to med bay, is
it not?  To check on my investments?”

“They are still healing. 
The doctor is keeping them sedated while their natural healing ability does the
work.  I do not want them waking up unexpectedly and rampaging through medical.” 
The voice was matter-of-fact, but Lara could feel both the anger and
frustration behind the words.

“So you are claiming
diligence for your job, but tell me, Forge,” the voice lowered and hardened, “Why
do you hover around the girl’s bed, rather than the cage if you are concerned
only with the creatures?  And why do you ignore my calls until I have to come
find you myself?”

There was a long
silence.  “You gave her to me.  I protect what is mine.”  The words were
implacable for all his careful tone seemed to say nothing.

“I gave you a woman for a
night, not to mate.”  The words had an icy core to them that Lara could feel
biting along her skin.  “And since I have been informed that Cor Warrung is
coming here to see both the pirate Barnos and the girl he came with, you will
not even be getting that.  We both know what it means when Warrung wants a look
at the merchandise.”

The silence was longer
this time, but Lara could feel Forge’s emotions running the gamut so fast she
had a hard time keeping up, or understanding what he was feeling, but the
leading emotions seemed to be anger, with a great tide of fear washing over
everything.  It was as if the name Warrung coated everyone in the room with
terror.  The Baralians woke up inside her, but stayed quiet, as if watching for
a predator to pass.

“When is he coming?”

Frot made a tisking
sound.  “You know as well as I do, if he is telling me to expect him he is
already on our doorstep.  Now do your job or I will find someone else who will.”

Forge did not react to
the threat, his voice going low and gravelly.  “He will destroy her.”

“Without question.  It is
unlikely I will see any return on her purchase, but we all answer to him, not
the other way around.”  There was a huff of annoyance.  “Do not get attached to
things you cannot hope to keep, Forge; I taught you better than that.”

“You taught me many
things,” Forge said almost too quiet to hear.

She heard nothing else
for a time, the men having left, but the Baralians never went back to their
cozy snuggle.  It was as if they were on guard.  They sat inside her head and
waited.  Lara had heard the name Warrung and knew it stood for villainy and
vice, notoriously so, but that was all she knew.  From everyone’s reactions
this was not a person she wanted ‘looking her over.’  Lara tried again to wake
up but she could not get past whatever barrier the Baralians had erected for
protection in her mind.  So like them, she waited and watched, and did not go
back to sleep.

***

The hatch he had dented
opened with a swoosh, without the usual warning from on high.  Barnos looked up
from his crouching position, his back to the wall, his arms resting on his
knees.  When he saw who was at the door he raised a brow.

“Back again?” he asked
with a taunting smile.  “Need more advice on how to handle women?”

“Warrung comes for the
girl,” Forge said with a grim finality that sounded like a death knell in
Barnos’ ears.  Then, as an afterthought, he added “and you.”

“Shite,” Barnos bit out,
standing in a moment, his smirk melting away.  Not exactly the ideal situation
he envisioned seeing Warrung again.  He eyed the other man, who stood alone
without his usual back up, and seemed even more excessively armed than usual. 
There was a sword across his back and his armor was stark black nanite that
clung to his massive muscled form without apology.  He carried a long black bag
in the hand not resting on his blaster.

Barnos narrowed his eyes,
assessing the situation.  “And that means what to you?”

“I have seen what he does
to those that interest him.”

“Yeah,” Barnos said
grimly fingering his cybernetic eye.  “I’ve seen the show as well.  Get to the
point.”

“Put this on,” Forge
growled throwing the bag at Barnos, who caught it against him chest.  It
clanked and he recognized the feel of at least a long sword through the thick
fabric.

He raised a brow at the
other man, his look eloquent in his doubt.

Forge flexed a hand on
his blaster and then dropped his arm to his side.  “We get her out of here. 
Then we will see who keeps her.”

Barnos looked the other
man over, thought about gift horses and opened the bag.  “Agreed.”

***

The Baralians healed.  
Lara felt them thank her and then depart, taking their mental shielding along
with them.  She opened her eyes and breathed deeply.  Carefully, she looked
around the room, but the guards she was expecting to see were absent and only a
single man in a white coat was puttering around a com screen in a clear room on
the other side of the med bay.  There was no one else in the empty beds around
her.  She looked where she knew the Baralians were by feel and found
intelligent eyes staring back at her through a shock field.  They sat very
still inside their cage, well fed and no longer the feral beasts.