Free Illicit Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 2 by Tina Donahua Page A

Lukan squeezed his fists so hard his nails pierced the skin on his palms. He used the pain to feed his resolve. “There is no more time. Not even another day. Vakar means to do to Arez what he has to all the others her age. She may very well be with him at this moment, her life at risk.”
    “How?” Regina asked. “What does he do?”
    Lukan shook his head, unable to answer, unwilling to picture Arez’s fate once she came fully within Vakar’s control. His body ached from holding in a growl of frustration, a cry of hopelessness.
    “What?” Regina prodded.
    Lukan spoke through his teeth to Meelo. “Show her.”
    Damir stood. “I’ll do it.” She set up the equipment for them to view the hologram, evidence she and Meelo used to convince Nikoli’s father of E2’s corrupt government.
    “The images will be fainter than usual,” she warned, “because of the outside light.”
    It shone around the edges of the shutters, illuminating the room. Today, like all the others, Lukan hadn’t been able to wait until twilight to come here. Eager to learn Nikoli’s progress, he’d worn his hoodie and sunglasses to shield himself.
    There was no protection for the male slave in the hologram. He seemed younger than Lukan, with wavy black hair that fell to his broad shoulders.
    “He was our eleventh creation,” Damir said, speaking quietly, though not enough to hide her remorse.
    The slave’s lids were mere slits, heavy with sleep. He blinked slowly at the gloom well beyond the Palace’s doorway as though trying to understand an unknown terrain he’d never seen. His life, like all of the others except for Lukan’s, had played out inside the structure. It had been his world until now.
    Confusion sped over his features as to what he was doing here. Stark fear replaced it as two guards shoved him from the Palace. Arms flailing, the slave cried out, stumbling, then trying to right himself. At last, he did and hurried back to the door.
    The clang of the guard locking it echoed through Regina’s dining room.
    The slave’s cries followed. He pounded on the door. “Let me back inside,” he begged. “What have I done?”
    “He slept too long,” Lukan said, knowing it might have been him or any other slave outside that door. He trembled at the thought, unable to dismiss his residual fear. “It’s not only age that brings a slave to this point. Begging for more food, failing to perform adequately, looking at another slave too long, breaking any of countless rules can lead someone to this.”
    “Please, tell me,” the young man cried.
    No one answered or came to his rescue. The twilight outside the Palace’s periphery pressed in. Naked, without food or water, he had no defense against whatever was behind him.
    With his nails, he clawed the door as though he could dig through its metal. Streaks of his blood ran down the smooth, dull surface. A howl came from everywhere and nowhere, interrupting his pleas.
    Pressed against the door, he scanned the area beyond the Palace’s lights to determine the source of the noise. Another howl followed the first, along with rustling noises, indicating something moved swiftly through the dense vegetation.
    As groggy as he’d been minutes earlier, he was now as alert but seemed uncertain of what to do. He stepped to the left and froze for a moment, then went to the right. A gust of wind pushed past. Leaves swished. Startled, the slave crouched down, arms around his nudity, protecting himself.
    Overhead, a beam of light flashed, accompanied by a motor’s faint hum. Trembling, the slave squinted, then cowered at the added illumination. Brighter than a thousand candles, it exposed him to the unknown animals and whatever else lay hidden in the night.
    None of the creatures attacked. Instead, the rulers came forward, each of them resembling Meelo and Nikoli. All were dressed in mottled brown-and-gold clothing to make them indistinguishable from their surroundings. They carried weapons that