3013: CLAIMED by Laurie Roma Read Free Book Online

lightly over the tattoo of their initials. She watched his eyes flicker with agony as he let go of her, then watched them harden as he signaled to Arik.
    “We are trusting you with her.”
    “Understood. We will need complete silence while we do this.”
    “We won’t bother you. We would never risk her, or you. Thank you for this.”
    Arik smiled. “You may thank me after we know it has worked.”
    Gripping her hands together so she wouldn’t fidget, Serra forced herself to remain still. Her mind was churning with thousands of thoughts. Logic, she told herself again. She needed to approach this exercise logically. It was the only way she would get through this.
    Arik sat down on the bed beside her, those patient iridescent eyes calming her again. “I need you to relax. Calm your mind, and let me lead you where we need to go.”
    “I’m sorry, I’m nervous,” she blurted out. “I’m a woman of science. I know about the things your people are capable of, but I have a difficult time understanding how you can lead me anywhere in my mind.”
    “We are going to travel back through your memories to retrieve what you have lost. There is a memory hidden there of when you were tainted with the xili. Once we see what really happened, whatever suggestion was put in place will no longer be effective.”
    Her lips pursed in anger at the thought that someone had done that to her. “Let’s do this then.”
    Arik reached out and placed three fingers on each side of her head over her temples. Looking into his glowing blue eyes she felt like she was drowning for a moment. Suddenly, it was as if she were thrown back into time. A million thoughts shifted through her brain at light speed, making her throat burn with the need to scream out as the pain in her head increased.
    Then it stopped.
    Serra found herself drifting through her own memories, back through the years as Arik searched for the blank spot he’d sensed. It wasn’t like thinking back on something that had happened before. No, this was like seeing her own memories through Arik’s eyes. It was strange. Left her feeling off-balance and unsettled. Pushing aside her own emotional response, she tried to pay attention to what she was seeing in a clinical manner and let him lead the way.
    The images had a weird feel to them, as if she were looking through a camera that was slightly out of focus. She was fascinated by the experience, then a jolt shot through her as she realized exactly what she was seeing.
    It was her, sitting in some sort of chair in a dark room. There were straps attached to her wrists and ankles, holding her tied to the chair so she couldn’t move. She was young, so young. Serra could tell she was around seventeen, but she had no memory of the scene.
    That terrified her.
    “ Calm, ” Arik whispered softly into her head.
    She held onto the sound of his voice like she would have a life preserver at sea, reminding herself that she was not alone. She surveyed the room her younger self was in, and shock filled her to see she was in some sort of castle made of dark stone. She glanced at the wide window, out at the black sky that was filled with clouds that turned a hot, searing red as lightning crackled through the air. Red and black sky…there was only one place that she knew of had a red and black sky, but she had never been there.
    Not that she remembered.
    Known as the Dark Planet, Tartarus sat at the edge of Alliance regulated space. Aptly named for its frequent electrical storms and volatile inhabitants, Tartarus was a hostile world. The Tarins were known as the Lords of War, and were a barbaric, demon-like race that fed off the energy of others. They lived off the blood-lust they got when in battle, or the energy and strength they received during sexual release.
    These energy vampires existed under a feudal system. Centuries ago, the Tarins had gone to war with Earth, but their swords were no match for humans and their more advanced weaponry. For