Taking Mercy Read online

  “You’re what?” The question comes out in a whisper.

  His hand reaches for me, touching my neck, sending a jolt of panic down my limbs. He’s so close to me, his perfect face, his intense eyes. Too perfect. Too intense. “I’m very attracted to you, Mercy, and it would be an honor to walk you back to your dormitory and get to know you a little better.”

  Fear courses though my veins, something I haven’t felt since I arrived on this planet. “I, I—I think this is a bad idea.”

  He frowns. “What?”

  “You and me, walking like this. It’s not appropriate.” I step away. “I’m leaving soon. I got my orders today—so whatever you’re thinking about is off the table.”

  He stands across from me—studying me closely. I can’t figure out what he’s doing—what he’s thinking. A beeping sound comes from the pad on his wrist and a thin, dark smile curves on his lips.

  “What?” I ask, but a loud siren cuts through the air. My heart seizes. “What is that?”

  Looking around, I realize there’s no one else on the street, we’ve lingered that long. All the other women would be in their dorms or down at the dining hall. I glance at Dr. Kane, who’s watching me closely. “Do you know what that means?”

  “No.”

  That same, slow, wicked grin lingers his mouth. “That means my ship is here, Mercy. It’s time for us to go.”

  “Ship? Go?”

  “You didn’t really think I wanted you, did you?” his eyes sweep over me. I spot the glint of silver in his hand. I’m caught in his grasp. “I mean, in a way, I do. I need a mid-wife. The best. Your beauty is a bonus. When I discovered you right in the medical clinic, I knew you were the perfect fit.”

  “Wha—what?” I tug away, but his fingers are an iron grip. He holds up his other hand and I see the needle—similar to the ones we use in the clinic. “No. Whatever you’re doing—stop.”

  He doesn’t respond, just quickly jabs the needle into my neck. The last thing I see is the disturbing smile on his face. My eyes flicker closed and my legs fail me, but I feel him lift me into his arms and hear the whisper in my ear, “When you wake up, Mercy Ladd, you’ll be miles away and no one from Athion will ever see you again. Your life as a servant to the men of Tradrych is just beginning.”

  24

  Kai

  The siren wails through the air, signaling trouble along the Southern wall. Custos pour into the area after securing the women and civilians in their dormitories. I’d just arrived on the scene, searching for anything out of place when Alex arrives.

  “Is the building secure?” He doesn’t need me to say her name. We both know she’s our number one priority.

  “Yes. Locked tight. No one will get in or out without approval.” He looks around, flinching a bit at the sound. “What’s the alarm for? See anything suspicious?”

  The security officer is scanning the wall while studying his data pad. His face is blank but it’s enough to make me think he can’t find a problem. I face Alex. “This is strange. Who would set off the alarm?”

  “Or how? There would have to be some kind of major trespass. Heat, wind, water, or movement.” I’d been here for over a year and not once had the alarm gone off like this—not even when the woman vanished earlier. Alex looks toward the sky and my eyes follow. I see nothing there, either. The force field is intact.

  The security officer walks over and points to his pad. “Do you see this?”

  We both look. It’s a small blip on the screen. Just outside the wall, a kilometer up. “What is that?” I ask.

  “An anomaly. Nothing we can track.”

  “But there is something there?”

  “Yes, sir. Heat recognition indicates it’s large enough to be a ship of some kind.”

  Dread spreads through my limbs but I push through it and wave to a group of Custos. “Suit up. Prepare to go over the wall. Weapons ready.”

  “You’re sending them out there without knowing what they’re getting into?” the soldier asks.

  I turn to him. “Do you want another woman taken?”

  He shakes his head and I order the doorway opened. The Custos have all switched on their combat gear, the transformation happening with the press of a button. They’re lined up and ready go to when a figure appears from our right. Dimka rushes over.

  “Kai,” he says, out of breath. How far had he run? “I got a message…”

  “What message?” I ask, distracted.

  “The one you sent me.”

  That gets my attention.

  “I didn’t send you a message.”

  He holds up his data pad and I see the message from my device. “It said for me go to the west end of the campus and wait. I’ve been there for an hour. When I heard the siren go off, I ran, first to the medical center, then to the dormitory, now here.”

  Alex and I share a glance. “You’re saying you weren’t with Mercy?”

  “Sir! We’re ready to proceed,” the leader of the unit calls out.

  “Hold!” I shout, before looking at back at Dimka, waiting for his reply.

  “The message told me to go to the west end. That Mercy was being taken care of. I assumed…” his voice becomes a whisper.

  I turn to Alex. “Did you see her in the dormitory?”

  He shakes his head and the taste of fear, bitter and terrified, fills my mouth.

  “No. I thought she’d already arrived when I secured the building,” he says.

  We all stared at one another, the shrill siren still rolling over us like a tidal wave. “Someone find her,” I say, barely above a whisper.

  The security officer walks over and says, “The anomaly? It’s gone. Whatever it was, it’s vanished.”

  That’s when we know—we understand what has happened. It was all a ruse. An elaborate setup to get us away from her—to leave her unprotected.

  Someone has taken Mercy.

  25

  Mercy

  Queasiness is the first sensation I feel when I wake, along with frigid air and a terrible stench. My back is pressed against something hard and I know without a doubt I’m no longer on Athion.

  I’m on a ship.

  I spent six months traveling on a space vessel and although I was asleep through it all, I’m certain about where I’m being held.

  Yep—held.

  I feel the weight of chains around my wrists. Kane. He’s one of them. He tricked me. Took me. God knows what his plans are from here.

  I look around the dark room, somewhere deep in the bowels of the ship. It only takes a moment for my eyes to adjust and see that I’m not alone. There are other women here.

  I nudge the one closest to me with my foot. Her blonde hair is dirty and she wears a thin dress over her skinny body. She rouses at my touch and curses under her breath.

  “What?”

  “Where are we?”

  “Huh?” She blinks and I must finally come into focus.

  “Where are we?”

  “Ah, we got a new one.”

  “A new what?”

  “Product. Object. Item for sale.”

  “Sale?”

  She shifts until she’s sitting. Her hands are bound, just like mine. “You really don’t know where you are?”

  I shake my head, wishing I hadn’t asked. Wishing I could wake up from this terrible nightmare and find myself with Kai, Dimka, and Alex in the bunker.

  “It’s your unlucky day, you’ve found yourself on the Master’s ship.”

  “The what? Who?”

  “The Master—our master. Yours now, too.”

  “And what does he want?”

  She laughs darkly. “He has everything he wants, girl. You’re just part of his collection. Another piece of his game. He’ll sell you, trade you, fuck you. Whatever he wants.”

  “No.” My hands begin to shake.

  “Yes,” she says, without a trace of doubt. “You’re a slave. Just like me.” She nods out to the rest of the room, where other figures lie on th
e floor or on small, metal bunks. “Just like them, and the Master owns all of us unless he decides to sell us off.”

  I want to call her a liar but I can’t. I feel it in my bones. The missing woman on Athion. The alarm. The constant vigilance by my Custo. They knew there was a threat. I felt it in their kisses and in their protective care.

  My Custo.

  They’ll come for me.

  “Ah, I see that look in your eye.”

  “What look.”

  “Hope.” She smiles wickedly. “Toss that out now. It doesn’t exist down here.”

  “They’ll come for me.”

  “Who?”

  “My…the…” I clamp my mouth shut. I don’t want to speak their names down here.

  “No one’s coming for you, girl. No one. Don’t you think they would have stopped the Master before if they could? They can’t. He’s too strong and he owns us. He owns me and all these other women.” She looks at me with hard, soulless eyes. “He owns you.”

  I turn away from her, shutting my eyes, blocking her out. She’s wrong. I’ve been claimed by three men already. They own me, not some human trafficker.

  That’s what I tell myself as the ship rattles on and I grow colder and more and more frightened.

  They’ll come for me. They’ll rescue me.

  And if they don’t?

  I’ll follow my sister’s lead and let death claim me first.

  About Planet Athion

  Planet Athion is a shared world that once you’ve dipped into will have you hooked. To immerse yourself in other stories about Earth women’s struggle against the Trads and their hot romances with Athions find more fantastic reads by following these links.

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