Page 28 of Stolen By the Wraiths
I was about to respond when my portable scanner detected incoming communications traffic. Someone was using the facility's long-range transmitters, and the signal patterns looked familiar enough to make my blood run cold and my arousal vanish like it had never existed.
"Ressh," I said urgently, my professional focus snapping back into place with jarring intensity, "I'm picking up external communications. The encryption signature... It matches patterns we've seen before."
He was at my side instantly, the predatory alertness replacing sexual tension so completely that I almost missed it. Almost. Our connection made the shift impossible to ignore—protective fury building to dangerous levels while his hand found the small of my back in unconscious reassurance.
What we discovered made the bottom drop out of my world.
"Subjects secured in detention level three," came a voice I recognized with horrible clarity. "Infiltration successful. Recommend immediate extraction for transport to the primary research facility."
Kess Vain. Not hunting us, not pursuing us, but coordinating our capture like we were livestock being delivered to slaughter.
"Facility security confirms bonded pair status," Vain continued with casual satisfaction that made my stomach churn. "Perfect subjects for advanced experimentation. Initiate separation protocols once the subjects are secured."
The betrayal staggered me. This wasn't pursuit, it was delivery. We'd been led here deliberately, guided into a trap that was always meant to end with us in those torture chambers, subjected to the same systematic breaking we'd witnessed in the database files.
"The whole thing," I said, understanding flooding through me like ice water. The conversation in the lounge on Kairos:Primary asset needs extraction within thirty-six hours.It wasn't another job. It was us. "The ambush on Dusthaven, the pursuit, even finding us at Kairos Station. It was all coordinated to drive us here. We were the primary asset."
"Son of a bitch," Ressh snarled, his rage exploding through me with such intensity that thinking became difficult. The fury was magnificent and terrifying, a mate's protective instincts pushed beyond all reason. "He sold us. Not just our location—he sold us to them."
But even through horror and betrayal, I felt the dark satisfaction of his fury. This was the price for threatening his mate.
"Priority alert: Security breach detected in the research wing," announced the facility's automated systems. "All personnel implement lockdown protocols immediately."
The trap was closing. Security forces would be moving to our location within minutes, equipped with specialized gear for separating bonded pairs. The brief window we'd had for intelligence gathering was over. Now it was about survival.
"Move," Ressh ordered, grabbing my hand as urgent sirens echoed through the station.
RESSH
The corridor exploded into chaos. Security forces poured from every access point, moving like they'd done this before. Not regular facility guards—these were specialists with gear I'd never seen. Electromagnetic pulse weapons, neural disruptors, and restraint devices that hummed with nasty energy.
"This way," Alix shouted, her scanner already mapping routes while plasma fire scorched the walls. She moved like she was born for this, turning her tool kit into a weapon as she triggered lockdowns that sealed doors behind us.
I stepped between her and the incoming fire, dropping the first attacker and grabbing his rifle. The weapon felt right in my hands as I put down two more before they could set up. But for every one we dropped, two more appeared. They weren't trying to kill us—every shot was for capture, every move designed to take us alive.
"Extraction team," I realized, ice forming in my gut. "They're set up specifically for bonded pairs."
"The research wing," Alix called back, steady despite the chaos. "If we can reach detention, maybe we can free the prisoners. Create enough mess to?—"
Something hit her mid-sentence. A neural disruptor, designed to screw with the pathways that kept our bond stable. She stumbled, crying out as static tore through our connection, making it feel like her emotions were being ripped away.
"Alix!" I abandoned cover to reach her. The separation was agony—not pain I could fight through, but a catastrophe that tore at my very essence, making thinking nearly impossible.
She fought the disorientation, her hand finding mine even as the weapon's effects shredded our bond. "I'm okay," she gasped, though I could feel the interference like acid in my system. "We need to?—"
The stun net hit us both. Bio-reactive energy that sent electricity racing through our bodies. But worse than the paralysis was what it did to our connection—cutting it completely, leaving me blind to her for the first time since we'd bonded.
For one terrible moment, I caught a fragment—her voice, raw with pain, calling my name. Then nothing. Silence where she should be.
I fought the restraints, everything narrowing to her face as the team moved in. She was struggling too, her eyes locked on mine even as paralysis spread.
"Don't let them separate us," she managed through the static, barely audible but carrying absolute conviction. "Whatever they do, remember—I choose you. Always you."
The dart hit my neck before I could respond. I felt her take the same hit through our fading connection. As consciousness slipped away, the last thing I saw was Alix being lifted by people in hazmat suits, her eyes still on mine with desperate love and unbreakable determination.
Then darkness, and agony I'd never imagined possible.
I woke with molten metal in my veins.
