Light of Kaska by Michelle O'Leary Read Free Book Online Page A

his pantomime with his pants again to Clavis’s crass amusement and mulled the situation over while he relieved himself. As he pretended to have problems refastening his pants, he finally succumbed to the question.

    What would they do to Sukeza when he was gone?

    Not my problem,
the survivor in him answered with grim certainty. She came to this place of her own accord—she could leave the same way. He’d warned her not to mess in whatever was going on here. What she did with that warning was her own business. She was not his responsibility.

    No?
A voice in the back of his mind asked. Even though she’d defended him, helped him, tried to free him, made herself a target because of him?

    Her own choice,
the survivor said.
I didn’t ask for it.

    In response, his better self conjured an image of Sukeza’s face, absorbed as she stroked his hair.
They’ll call her an accomplice and tear her to pieces.

    Stryker sighed and turned to Clavis, who was laughing fit to burst by this time. “Seriously, man, could you just push the cuffs up so I can work the clasp?” he pleaded and held out his arms.

    Laughter still shaking his copious form, Clavis tucked the gun under his arm, stepping closer and reaching for the cuffs.

    “Kessu,
you’re a fucking idiot,” Stryker snarled while he smashed his forearm into the man’s face. He caught the gun when it fell from under Clavis’s arm and used it like a bludgeon on the side of the staggering man’s head. The fat bastard fell like a stone. Blood pooled around his head, but his chest still rose and fell so Stryker hadn’t killed him.
Damn.

    Swiftly Stryker searched his jailor and retrieved the keys to his shackles, freeing himself within moments. Then he clipped the cuffs around one of Clavis’s meaty wrists and attached him to the stall. Heart hammering with eager anticipation, he stepped over the body on the floor and headed for freedom. In the middle of the large hall, the lantern light dragged him to a halt.

    She was there, waiting for them to return. He could see her slim form pass the doorway while she paced.

    He cursed softly, caught between imperatives. Taking her would make escape more difficult, and what the hell was he supposed to do with her off-world? But he knew, as surely as he knew his name, that these people would use her as a scapegoat in his place. He was fooling himself—there was no choice, really. He still wasn’t a baby killer.

    With a harsh sigh, he headed for the light.

    Chapter 3

    Sukeza heard a soft sound and glanced at the doorway idly, not expecting to see anyone. She would have heard the noisy chains clanking if they’d returned, so the man materializing out of the darkness came as a complete shock.

    Her heart jack-rabbited in her chest, nearly leaping out from between her ribs while she backpedaled in panic. He wasn’t chained anymore and the dreadful purpose in his expression as he bore down on her washed her in terror. “No!” she tried to scream, but it came out in a whisper. “Please!”

    He ignored her plea and the upraised hands warding him off, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward the darkness. She struggled, but it was like fighting an avalanche. He dragged her inexorably along, out of the lantern light and into the dark. Fighting to draw in enough air to speak or scream, fighting to stay on her feet, she clawed at his hand, but he seemed impervious to her efforts. “Stop!” she managed to cry when he dragged her out of the town hall and into the open.

    He whirled, shoving her against the wall and pressing her there with his big body. “Be quiet, Sukeza,” he said with deadly calm. His face was nothing but shadow. “Not another sound. Got it?”

    Passing out was a distinct possibility. Making a sound was currently impossible. Her chest hurt as though she was having a heart attack. She gave him a frantic nod and he stepped back, grasping her upper arm in an unbreakable hold and quick-stepping her away from the