Cyberella: Preyfinders Universe by Cari Silverwood Read Free Book Online

they’d at least check her over when she came in. The doctor had about three medics and several others roped in to handle an influx of casualties, as well as robotic nurses. Four beds. Pallets on the floor. This place would be chaos soon.
    They brought Ella in first and he joined the men pushing the hover stretcher, pretending he was supposed to be there. A lot of blood stained her shorts and top, and also her legs and her feet. Her eyes were shut and her head rolled from side to side when they moved her. Unconscious or drugged? Bad cuts too. Many bruises. He felt himself grow cold then hot. He clenched his fists. Frack them.
    “Who did this to her?” he snapped.
    The medic’s eyes widened. “Sir?”
    The doctor gave him a searching look. “Lord Rakkel?”
    “Yes? This is my slave, Ella.”
    “You need to leave, lord. I have multiple wounded coming and little time to get her assessed. Cut her clothes off, Gedda.”
    The medic brandished a safety cutter. Torgeir frowned at the man and he blanched.
    “Lord.” The doctor nearly growled the word. “Leave, please.”
    He sucked in a breath and decided glowering and shouting was not the best route. “Bring her to me, soon as she’s okay. If there’s anything bad, tell me, immediately.
    The walk back was a sober one. Again he was trapped into doing zero.
    An hour later, a man in the navy-colored uniform of a medic delivered her to his room.
    Ella lay curled on her side on the hovering stretcher. Her unplaited hair cascaded over her shoulders like spilled night, tangling with her hand where it rested beneath her chin. She was covered with a single white sheet that was dotted and splotched with blood.
    “Lord?” The medic looked at her then at him, peering from beneath his eyebrows. “She had mostly bruises, a few cuts. All repaired. The deep lacerations at the front of her ankles seem to have been from some thin restraints, possibly self-inflicted.”
    “Okay.” He nodded, holding back the storm inside him.
    “She’s still sedated with what they gave her on the Finatar . The doc thinks it best to let it wear off naturally. It’ll take up to twenty-four hours. We’ve done scans and found no internal damage. Right now we’re swamped with casualties from the Finatar and I need to get back. If you have any worries, message us.”
    “Okay. Who did this? Who can I hurt?”
    The man cleared his throat. “The crew said the captain beat her. He’s dead. They said it’s why they didn’t fire back. They were just running. Stupid, but there it is. I have to go.” Some thumping and scraping sounds made him turn to the doorway. “One last thing. Is this yours?”
    Mimi leaped into view, making a clonk as she landed on the deck. Her little ears tweaked eagerly forward and she pattered into the room. She found the far corner between the end of the bed and the wall and splattered herself down, changing color to match the whiteness of her surrounds before she shut her eyes.
    “Uh. Yes, she’s mine. Where did she –” But the medic was gone.
    The door slid across, only to be halted by a hand. Dresdek appeared. He glanced at Ella then up. “Are you okay? Do you need my help?”
    Slowly, he nodded. “I’m fine. No, I don’t need help.”
    The twitch at the corner of Dresdek’s mouth said he was worried, but he backed away. The door shut.
    Ella.
    After swallowing once, he slipped the sheet down her body, revealing more and more of her naked body, all the way to her thighs, where he gently laid the bunched sheet. Bruises and blood patchworked her skin. Most of the injuries were on her back.
    Torgeir towed the stretcher over beside the bed then carefully lifted her and shifted her over. Her small moans made him shush her while he stroked her forehead. He covered her with the bedsheet, after one last heartfelt study, then brought over a chair. This way he could sit beside her without accidentally hurting her.
    All those bruises made him want to make them go away. The