covering if they’re lucky.” Rummel rubbed his chin. “Might be able to get my hands on those. All right. I’m in.”
Wait a minute, had he agreed to bring the other male with them? Still, they would still have been trapped without his assistance, and his female was obviously fond of the older male.
He sighed. “Where are these supplies?”
“Down here. Follow me.”
As they turned to follow Rummel down the corridor, another rumble sounded in the distance, and the ground shook slightly. He braced himself, preparing to shield Joan despite his pounding heart, but it quickly died away. George too had paused, but then scampered ahead.
“Is this common?” he asked.
Rummel shook his head. “No. So far most of the damage is over at the new dig. Several of the tunnels collapsed. I reckon that’s why no one has come looking for you yet—they’re all focused on trying to get the walls shored up.” He shrugged. “Might make it easier to get away. If we don’t get caught in another collapse.”
As they resumed their journey, Varga noticed gratefully that there was little damage to the walls. Apparently, the tremors hadn’t caused any real damage to this section of the mines. They turned a corner, and another cell came in sight. Joan came to an abrupt halt, her eyes filling with tears.
“Oh my God. There’s another human here. Rummel, why didn’t you tell me?”
The male shrugged uncomfortably, avoiding her eyes. “Wouldn’t have made any difference.”
“Another woman,” Joan whispered.
He followed her gaze to the creature huddled against the wall and almost doubted her statement. The cell was filthy, the female equally so. Frightened, hostile eyes glared at them from beneath a wild tangle of hair.
“Hello there. I’m Joan. What’s your name?” Joan’s voice was low and soothing, but the female started to sob, and Joan turned back to him despairingly. “We have to get her out of there.”
He understood her desire to rescue the female, but the wretched creature wailing in the cell looked to be on the edge of madness. “Sweetheart, I’m not sure she’s capable of understanding what’s happening. She could endanger your escape.”
“I don’t care! I can’t leave her here. That… that could have been me.”
He found himself giving Rummel a helpless glance, but the other male only shrugged. “Can’t leave her here.”
Giving in to the inevitable, he used Ukhaan’s keys to open the cell door. When he started to step inside, the female began to keen in a low, penetrating wail. Joan hastily stepped in front of him.
“Don’t be scared. Varga isn’t going to hurt you. He’s my… boyfriend.”
Boy? Did she consider him a child? Before he could demand an explanation, the female started to laugh. The noise sent a chill down his spine—but at least it was better than that eerie wail.
“Boyfriend?” The voice sounded rusty, strained, but the words were clear enough. “This isn’t a fucking prom. He’s just another one of these animals.”
“No, he’s not. He came here to rescue me.”
The female snorted. “Lucky you.”
“I’m sure he would have come for you as well if he’d known. Isn’t that right, Varga?”
“I promised to assist the human females taken by the Derians,” he admitted. But how fortunate that he’d met Joan.
“You’re really going to get me out of here?” the female asked, a wild light in her eyes.
“Yes. Varga has a ship.”
A ship that was getting increasingly crowded.
“Which we need to get to as soon as possible,” he said firmly.
“Just a minute. What’s your name?”
“I was… am… I’m Polly.”
“Won’t you come with us, Polly?”
The female reared back against the wall, and he thought she was about to refuse, but then she nodded and climbed slowly to her feet. Fuck. She was naked, without even the thin gown that Joan was wearing, and the bruises and scrapes that marred every inch of her skin were clearly visible. How could anyone treat a female this way?
“Let me have your shirt please, Varga,” Joan said softly, and he silently obeyed.
She offered it to Polly, but the female backed away. “I don’t want anything from a male.”
“I understand.” Before he could protest, Joan slipped off her own gown and offered it to the other female. Polly studied it warily, then snatched it away and pulled it over her head. When Joan started to hand his shirt back to him, he shook his head and told her to put it on.
“We need to leave,” Rummel grumbled, darting a nervous glance up the tunnel. “It’s too quiet.”
“I know you,” Polly said, staring at the small