A Hero’s Welcome (10 page)

“Think what you’
re about to do, Annie. Think real hard,” the Queen warned. “You
’
re endangering your career possibilities by holding that key in your hand. If you go any further…”

Her stern words dangled over Annie
’
s head as if it were a sharp blade ready to slice through her neck.

Annie stopped dead in her tracks.

Joe cursed beneath his breath.

The Queen was right. Helping Joe escape would be the end of her life here at the Hub. Her dreams of delivering babies at the Prison would be dead.

But what about Joe? It
wasn
’
t right to hold him here against his will. If she asked him to stay, he
’
d die inside. One day at a time. She knew it. She
’
d feel the same way if she were imprisoned and forced to do what they were planning to do to him.

Annie took a step forward.

“Annie, I gave you those rings for a reason.”
Annie heard Joe
’
s angry inhalation at the Queen’s soft spoken words.

“I granted you one day with the slave at your request because I sensed how much you wanted him. I was taking a huge risk by allowing this. You know it goes against tradition, Annie. Once you agree to be mine, you are mine, until I say otherwise. I thought you understood that. If you put the key back into my bag, we
’
ll
never speak of this again. But you
’
ll
have to do it now.”

“I’
m sorry,
Jacey
. We have to set him free.”

The look of hurt in the Queen’s eyes sent a shiver of guilt through Annie. She was denying the Queen. She was severing all ties with her own world.

She had thought she would be devastated at leaving her dreams behind.

Strangely enough, she
wasn
’
t.

Though she was frightened.
Terri
fied of the unknown.

“You let him go and we might be facing another Slave Uprising in the not so distant future,” the Queen said. “
Remember what happened the last time?”

Annie shivered at the Queen
’
s cold words but forced herself to slide the key into Joe
’
s ankle bracelet. It opened immediately.

“Put it on
Cath
’
s ankle,” Joe ordered.

Annie did as she was instructed.

“I’
m leaving. Will you come with me?” he said to her.

Cath
’
s eyes widened in shock at Joe
’
s question. The Queen frowned.

“I’
ll
throw some food together.”

With trembling hands she grabbed a sack and began tossing food into it.

“You can’
t be serious, Annie!”
Cath
had finally found her tongue. “Where will you go? He
’
s a slave. A beast.
Dammit
! This is treason. You
’
ll
be hunted down alongside him. You
’
ll
end up in the Breeding Prison, getting fucked by a machine and producing slaves for the rest of your life! Is that what you want, Annie?”

Her whole body was trembling by the time she joined Joe at the door. Power intermingled with confusion as Joe slipped his hand around hers.

She was doing the right thing,
wasn
’
t she?

“I’
ll
be with Joe. That
’
s all that matters.”

“You won’
t get far,” the Queen warned. “My women will hunt you down before you get a mile away from here.”

To Annie
’
s surprise Joe let
Cath
loose and pushed her away from him. She stumbled against the counter, gasping and holding her hand to her bruised neck.

Grabbing the bag of food from Annie, he nodded to the open doorway. “Let
’
s go!”

And before she knew what was happening he was tugging her through the open doorway and into the looming darkness.

Annie dared one last peek over her shoulder as they raced down the steps. One last peek at the only life she had known.

The Queen stood there in the doorway. Stood straight and proud. Annie had expected to see anger plastered across her. Anger, fury and betrayal. She saw none of that.

All she saw was the look of envy twinkling in her eyes.

But that had to be Annie
’
s imagination.

Chapter Twelve

Annie was tiring. Joe could hear it in her frantic gasps for air. Could feel it in the way she stumbled behind him. He was practically dragging her now as they burst through the tree line, their legs snarling with the tall ferns as they crashed through them and ran onto the sharp rocks at the river
’
s edge.

She
’
d fallen a few times since they
’
d escaped. But he never let go of her. If he did, he had the feeling she
’
d somehow disappear into the night and he
’
d never see her again.

His own lungs burned. Pinpricks of pain cut into his naked feet as he climbed over the jagged rocks. His limbs were afire with the need to rest.

Behind them came the women
’
s excited screams. The hunt was on and they were closing in fast.

Annie shouted for him to stop. She was at the end of her rope. And so was he.

In the moonlight he watched her breasts heave wildly with every tortured breath. Saw the way her eyes were scrunched tight as she sucked in the cool night air.

“We have to keep moving,” he urged.

“Can’
t! Need a break!”

Try as he might, he
couldn
’
t bring himself to tug on her and start running again.

Instead she plopped onto a nearby boulder, pulling him down beside her. Her head lolled forward and she sighed in defeat.

From behind them, the wild whoops of the women grew louder. Joe stiffened as the eerie sounds knifed through his body. The women were mad. Frenzied. Like sharks smelling blood as they honed in on their prey.

Damn! Why had he let Annie help him? Why the hell
hadn
’
t he just pretended to go insane and attack all three women instead of being friendly with Annie?

Hindsight was twenty-twenty. The damage was done. Because of his stupidity Annie would pay. She
’
d end up just like those other women he
’
d seen in the Sperm Bank section of the prison. She
’
d be strapped down to one of those merciless machines while the guards watched and laughed.

Joe closed his eyes. What the hell kind of world was this? A world where women treated their own with such violence. Sentencing them to producing children in prison simply because they
’
d done something wrong.

He remembered the blond woman named Virgin. Recalled how the hatred had shattered her pretty face when she
’
d been told she would have to bear another male child. She
’
d been horrified at that thought. He wondered if she would hurt herself or the baby.

Joe caught himself. Shit! Their baby.

How many women had been impregnated by his sperm? How many of his male offspring would be subjected to this degrading world? His daughters made to fuck the Queen, like Annie was supposed to do.

Joe shivered as he remembered the two giant black double ended dildos in
Cath
’
s hand.
Cath
and the Queen had obviously been expecting Annie to participate in something with them. He
’
d seen the teasing smile on
Cath
’
s face as she
’
d held the dildos out to Annie. Seen the wetness between the Queen
’
s legs as she
’
d lain on the bed, her legs wide open waiting for Annie to join her.

God! What Annie must have agreed to do with them just because she
’
d wanted a day with him and her dream job.

Joe opened his eyes and he saw a flicker of light just beyond the jungle line.

His heart sank.

A torch.

The women were coming. In a matter of moments, they
’
d be discovered and the horrors would begin.

“The river!” Annie gasped. “Into the river! They can’
t follow our tracks. We
’
ll
go upstream.”

Joe nodded. Why the hell
hadn
’
t he thought of that?

Grabbing her hand, he slung the food bag over his shoulder and both rushed into the cool water.

A heavy current whipped against Joe
’
s torso as he pulled Annie
’
s smaller frame upstream with him. It was hard going. One wrong slip with a foot and they
’
d both be plunging into the churning waters and carried away. Most likely drown if the women
didn
’
t catch them first.

They had just snuggled into a dark bend in the river, when Joe spotted the handful of women holding torches rush onto the same shore they
’
d rested on only moments earlier.

His heart crashed against his chest. Beside him, Annie shivered and her teeth chattered violently. So loud he hoped the newcomers
couldn
’
t hear it above the rushing sound of the water.

One of the women pointed downstream and in one solid mass, they splashed into the water with violent screams and whistles. They disappeared down the river.

A moment later another group emerged from the forest. This time there were at least a dozen women. Joe recognized the naked leader
’
s voluptuous body. The Queen.

Beside him, Annie leaned into him, trying to bury herself against his frame.

Joe
’
s heart picked up speed as the Queen
’
s gaze raked along the river where the other women had vanished. Her narrowed eyes scanned every rock and crevice. When she saw nothing downstream, she turned her head in their direction.

Annie
’
s breath hitched. He sensed her fear and he held her hand tight in case she decided to bolt.

For the longest time the Queen stared directly at them.

A horrible sinking feeling hit Joe deep in his gut as an odd smile curled her lips. If he
didn
’
t know any better he
’
d swear the Queen knew they were here. Suddenly she turned her head and pointed downstream. In a flutter, all the women scrambled into a single file and headed down the river.

Joe exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. The Queen had let them go. Why? And how had she known they were here?

His answer came fast. From the corner of his eye he saw the metallic glints shine off Annie
’
s breasts. Shit! The moonlight had reflected off her nipple rings.

“She saw us,” he whispered.

“The Queen? That’
s not possible. She would have sent the women after us.”

Joe shook his head slowly. “She definitely saw us. What I want to know is why she’s letting us go?”

“Maybe she decided I was right? Maybe she realized you should be free?”

Uneasiness churned through Joe.
“I think she’
s up to something.”

“What?”

“I don’
t know. Maybe they
’
re swinging back up along the trees. Coming in from behind us. Taking us by surprise.”

“Whether she is or not, we have to leave,” Annie whispered.

“The only way is upstream. But if the Queen decides to come after us we won’
t get far in this current.”

“There may be another way. We head up as far as the falls. Just above it is another river. If we stay in the river we won’t leave tracks. They’ll have to split up if they come this way.”

“How many rivers run through this area?”

“Three.”

Joe
’
s stomach sank. So much for trying to find out which river he’d been at when he’d been shot. It would take too long to search for the right river. Too long to try and locate his equipment and food.

There was only one choice left.

“I need to get to the sea.”

“
Freedom
Sea
?”

“That’s where my brothers are.” And the spaceship, he added silently. Hopefully they hadn’t been captured and had just gotten lost and found their way back to the ship and were leisurely sipping some ice-cold beer, lounging on the beach, waiting for him to return.

“Brothers?”

“Two more males, like me.”

“There are more of you?” She gasped in shock.

“Just two more. Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you. I promise.”

She nodded, but he could see the worry lurking in her eyes.

“The river above the falls will lead us to the parallel river. The other river goes through the hunt camp. From the camp a trail will lead directly to
Freedom
Sea
.”

“How far away is this parallel river from this one?”

“Twenty or so miles east over land. Longer if we follow the waterways.”

“I remember coming to at one point and the women were talking about a hunt camp.
There was one giant tree in a meadow. With a river running right by it. Is that the hunt camp you mentioned?”

Annie nodded. “It
’
s where…” She bit her bottom lip.

“Where you bring your male slaves after you’ve captured them.”

“Yes. But I’
ve
only been there once. When I had to catch and bed my first male.”