Chapter 2

He sat on a low, flat rock overlooking the small decaying city down in the valley below. The chill of the earth beneath him seeped into his rough clothes, but he was used to it by now, as he was to the icy air in his lungs. He gazed from one end of the city to the other, quietly watching. Billows of steam rose above at one end, and drones hovered low as people walked along the paths, working, dealing, fighting. The wind kicked up, throwing back the hood of his coat. He caught the scent of metal and fire in the cold air.

What had once been the hope of a new colony was now turned into an industrial wasteland where the righteous threw the scum of the galaxy. Prisoners from every part of the cleave… killers, gang leaders, disturbed folk with nothing to lose.

But there was one out there who was unlike the rest. A little gem in a sea of blood and piss.

He'd gotten a taste of her, a real good taste in the heat of the water. He'd smelled her first as he climbed his way up to the pool, and it had struck him like a blade to the chest.

Shock had engulfed him at first.

Then he saw her.

And, oh, did he see her. The way her body moved, rising and falling and arching in the water. Shivering and shaking. He hadn't expected that. Not at all.

He'd felt himself harden almost instantly. That confused and shocked him even more.

He closed his eyes and imagined the scene even still. It had been several rotations since then and still his memory of it was clear. Pure. Her scent overwhelmed his senses, her sweet taste in his mouth.

He couldn't believe he'd let her get away from him. He had her and there she went, disappearing down the mountainside. He probably could have tracked her, but he had gotten cocky thinking he'd find her once he'd dealt with Margrul's clan. But he had been wrong. She'd hidden herself well. Either someone was helping her hide or she'd found a nice secret little hole no one thought to look for.

Still, he wasn't going to give up easily. Eventually she had to come out. Someone would see her and report back.

He hadn't explained to the others why exactly he wanted her so badly. Maybe he didn't understand it yet himself.

"Just a new toy to play with? You get bored so easily, Draka." Freys had smiled, teasing him. The kyrwori had one bad eye and patches of fur missing, but he was a good fighter and a decent second.

"He just wants his cock to be warm for once," Kreed said, a burly ashora with a scar across his bare head. They had laughed and laughed, and Draka had smiled.

"We've got a lot to fix," he told them, kicking a piece of metal away, the area trashed still from the fight between his men and Margrul's. "Run your mouths all you like but do it while you work."

He'd sent out several men to go searching across the prison for her and not one had come back with any good news.

It was unacceptable. Someone would have seen something.

"Where are you, pet?" he whispered to the wind as he stared down at the scattered buildings. For one awful moment, he wondered if another pack did have her and were keeping her locked up or whether someone had grabbed her while she fled down the mountainside and eaten her, bones and all.

No, he wouldn't curate such thoughts. In time, he'd know for sure.

The black scarf in his right hand whipped along with the wind. He gripped it tight. It was the one thing she'd left behind, the only thing now that carried her scent. He wrapped it around his neck and mouth, tying it.

He felt the presence of one of his men behind him but didn't look to see which one.

"We got some bad news," Freys said.

His body tensed. She was dead. They'd found her and someone had already left their mark. "What?" Draka said.

"Jaxis is gone."

His body relaxed. Then the heat of anger rose. "How?"

"He got caught by the bonelickers in one of their storehouses, trying to steal some of the fuel capsules they'd collected."

His eyes narrowed into slits. Idiot. He had told him not to attempt stealing from them, but the fool hadn't listened. So desperate to speed up their plans. Now they would be halted until another with his expertise could be found.

A low growl slipped from Draka's throat. Damn him.

Draka rose from his seat and turned on Freys who looked annoyed but also on edge, if not wary of him. Everyone always did when he was in a bad mood.

"Start sending out scouts tomorrow morning, see who you can find to replace him as soon as possible. We can't have our plans be delayed any longer." He scanned over the city one last time, his gaze wandering to the west, to a less populated, rockier area where scavengers were said to hide in caves. "Send a few into the cave systems to search."

Freys didn't ask what for. He slipped away. Draka watched the last of the sunlight sink in the distance before he turned back to the entrance within the rock, passing by a row of impaled corpses that had once been Margrul's men, now swinging in the wind. A warning to any who dared try to attack them again.