Free Beneath a Trojan Moon by Anna Hackett Page A

your heart can transfer your powers.”
    “If you believe that drivel, then you’re dumber than I thought,” she snapped.
    He drew back. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough. And even without you, I have the Moon to amplify my powers.” He strode to a comm panel on the wall. “Darrah, begin preparations for takeoff. I’d like to get off this backwater world and back to civilized space.”
    Relda’s pulse jumped, then raced. “The marshal will come for me.” Please find me, Hunt . “He’s a single-minded man who never gives up.”
    Li lifted a shoulder. “He isn’t coming, Ms. Dela-Cruz.” A sharp smile. “Who do you think sold you out to me?”
    Her vision blurred and everything inside her just…stopped. The pain was so great she felt like she was choking.
    “Everyone has their price.” Li’s smile deepened. “I’m very good at finding people’s weaknesses and exploiting them. The Marshal’s Office was very easy to infiltrate. Now, settle in, we have a long flight ahead.” His gaze slid over her body. “And we’ll enjoy it…together.”
    Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe. She couldn’t summon any reaction to her captor’s grand plans.
    She was shattered inside.
    Hunt…her mind shied away. She couldn’t even think about him. It hurt too much.
    “I’ll have one of my men come in and give you another dose of my special concoction. Can’t have you able to use those fabulous powers of yours.” Timothy Li strode out, bellowing orders.
    Relda sagged in her chains. She needed to find a way to escape and then she had to decide what to do next.
    She had to leave Souk.
    She looked out the window, at the crowded spaceport, and beyond it the shadows of the Jabaal Mountains and the shiny jewel of Lake Gameelah nestled at their base. She thought of her girls there, waiting for her to return.
    Hunt. Could he really have betrayed her?
    She managed to pull in a tiny bit of air. She moved, the chains digging into her wrists. The pain cleared her head a little.
    Memories of Hunt rushed in. His bright, vibrant energy field. The composed way he faced her attackers and the nano-droid. The intense, possessive look in his eyes as he loved her.
    Hunt, her tough, noble warrior who still honored the memories of the family he’d lost and the soldiers under his command who he felt he’d failed.
    A man who would die before betraying anybody.
    She had to get off this damn ship and get to Hunt.
    The door slid open and a familiar man entered. Wearing a familiar uniform. Deputy Westin.
    “Hunt will track you down and kill you,” she said.
    The man neared, a pressure-injector in his hands, his eyes were filled with misery. “I know. I guessed where he’d stashed you…”
    “Why did you do this? Do Timothy Li’s dirty work and betray Hunt?”
    “I’m sorry. I have a daughter…she’s sick. Abolian Plague.”
    Relda’s stomach clutched. It was an incurable disease that slowly destroyed organs.
    “I couldn’t afford the cloned organs she needs—” His voice hitched. He raised the injector. “I’m so sorry.” A ragged whisper.
    She lifted her chin and stared out the window. She was a survivor. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t accept this lying down.
    Suddenly, an alarm blared through the ship. The deputy raced to the comms panel and slapped a hand against it. “What’s happening?”
    “The fucking marshal’s issued a no take-off order.” Timothy Li’s voice thundered through the comm. “We need to go. Now! Inject her and get your ass up to the cockpit to help.”
    Relda scanned the spaceport. Gasped. She saw a crowd moving through the starships, headed by a small group in dark uniforms. One dark-haired man in front stood taller than the crowd.
    Her heart spasmed. He was coming.
    Westin stepped in front of her.
    “Please, don’t do this,” she said. “We’ll help your girl, but don’t do this.”
    He sighed. “It’s too late.”
    There was a faint roar and she heard the ship’s