The Breeding Experiment - Laurann Dohner Page 0,25

touch it until you identify it.”

Darla wasn’t planning on touching it at all. Raw meat could make her sick and probably give her some disease. She reached up, touching her ribs. The bones there were more pronounced. She’d dropped some weight in just the few days she’d been in captivity. The grass stuff didn’t settle well, so she only forced herself to take a few bites at every meal.

“Eat,” an Elth voice snapped from the speakers.

“Cook it at least. She’s a human. Their bodies can’t process raw meat easily.”

Darla felt gratitude toward Gnaw for sticking up for her. She doubted the aliens cared, though. They hadn’t so far, willing to do anything to get their way.

Without warning, the lights flickered and the floor under them vibrated.

A loud boom sounded.

Gravity became unstable.

Terror struck Darla, but before she could do more than gasp, Gnaw spun and grabbed her around the waist. He yanked her off her feet and rushed toward the exam bed, where he sat her before climbing up and pinning her down with his body.

“Hold on to me.”

“What’s happening?”

“I believe my grouping is attacking.”

There was another boom from somewhere and the lights flickered again. Darla clutched at Gnaw. “Why are we on the bed?”

“Gravity might be lost, or there is the risk of a hull breach if we are on a ship or space station.”

Breach. That one word terrified her. She may not have ever been up in space before leaving Radison, but she’d heard about hull breaches—and the results of them. Everything in the room would be sucked out into space, including the very oxygen they breathed.

It meant death.

“We’ll die if that happens.”

“Most ships have emergency shields that cover breaches when they happen, but it can take up to ten seconds. Hold your breath if it occurs and don’t let go of me. I’ll keep us on this bed. It’s bolted to the floor.”

She adjusted her legs enough to wrap them around his waist and clung to his big body tighter. His weight pinned her but if gravity failed, it wouldn’t for long. She remembered how it felt to be weightless in the shuttle.

Another explosion sounded, and that time the lights didn’t come back on after going out. A soft yellow light blinked on, near the part of the wall that could open, but it was faint.

Then Gnaw’s weight felt lighter, and she experienced a slight dizzy feeling.

“Gravity is going,” Gnaw warned.

“I feel it.”

“Don’t let go of me.”

“I won’t.”

Gravity faded but returned. There was a loud pinging noise and a hiss. She twisted toward the sound to see the wall to their cell had opened.

Gnaw must have noticed too. He moved fast, releasing the bed and sliding them both off the surface.

“Get behind me and stay there. Grab hold of the waist of my pants. Don’t let go,” he snarled.

She hated that she wasn’t wrapped around him anymore as she slid down his big body, but she didn’t protest. It was their chance to escape. She grabbed hold of the waist of his pants as tightly as she could and kept close to him as he stalked quickly toward the open wall.

They exited into the wide, tall corridor. “My sister and the other women are there.” Darla pointed to where she’d been kept before.

“Let’s find out what’s happening first. They might be safer locked inside a cell. If the Elth approach, release me, crouch into a ball against a wall, and stay down.”

Darla didn’t like those instructions. She understood them. He wanted her to make herself a small target and stay out of the way if he had to fight. But she still didn’t like it. She really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

A blast sounded to their left, and Gnaw headed that way, almost dragging her behind him. She wanted to protest. They should be running away from scary noises, not rushing toward them. But it wasn’t as if he was giving her a chance to offer her input.

He had admitted to having a job that involved fighting. She came from a mostly peaceful planet. Violence scared her, but then again, she’d never had a huge Veslor using himself as a human shield, either.

Gnaw moved down the hall—then halted so fast, she bumped into him.

“Release me and stay down,” he whispered.

She didn’t hesitate, even though she hated to let him go. Darla threw herself at the wall and slid down, her attention focused on the hallway. Squeals sounded, and then four Elth were quickly rushing toward them. One