Trapped (The Condemned Series #1) - Alison Aimes Page 0,58
say, but only one thing she could ask right now. “Will you help me find her?”
“Of course.”
That was all it took.
They spent the next several hours looking. They started at the last known sighting and worked outward in larger and larger circles, searching the caves and the surrounding area.
In the end, they found nothing. Which meant there was truly nothing to find. No footprints. No signs of struggle. No clues as to what had happened to Ava or the other soldier Pratt. Because Caine’s tracking skills were amazing and meticulous, and if there had been anything to find, he would have.
By the time evening came, despair and desperation had settled over her like a heavy cloak. Thoughts of her friend hurt or afraid played over and over in her mind until she thought she might grow mad.
“Bella, look out.”
Caine’s sharp warning brought her head jerking up. She took a hurried shuffle-step to the side. She’d been so focused on scouring the ground right in front of her that she hadn’t realized she’d ventured too close to the cliff edge.
“I think you need to stop.” His black gaze flickered in the light of the glow stick he pulled from his pack.
“No. I’m not stopping. You…you should go. I know it’s only going to get more dangerous as the night wears on, and I don’t want you running into Pogue and his men either. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”
He stared at her, his jaw tight, frustration pouring off him—and she braced herself for another scene like at his home—but he didn’t say another word. Didn’t bark an order. Or stalk toward her. Instead, after one more disapproving look in her direction, he turned and resumed searching again.
If she hadn’t been so terrified for Ava, she would have broken down with relief and gratitude. But now wasn’t the time so she blinked hard against the sudden sting in her eyes and returned to the tedious task of examining the ground for any sign that might tell her what had happened to her friend.
Another two hours later the glow stick began to fade while the hisses and howls of tigos and Dragath25’s nocturnal creatures grew louder and more frequent and the ground was literally starting to blur. So much so, she missed a big rock right in front of her face.
She stumbled and would have fallen flat if strong arms hadn’t caught her.
“That’s it.” This time Caine’s declaration brooked no argument. There was no anger in his voice, no wildness either, only determination. He set her solidly on her feet and dropped his arms.
She missed his warmth.
“We’re done looking for tonight,” he declared. “We both need to be alert and well if we have any shot of finding Ava.”
He was right. She knew he was right and still…it was hard to give up. “I don’t understand why we can’t find any clue of what might have taken them or where they went.”
“It’s definitely strange.” There was an unusual hesitance to his voice.
“Why does it sound like you known something you’re not telling me?”
He shifted his weight from one boot to the other. “I’ve heard rumors. Rumors of other prisoners disappearing into thin air.”
“Taken by something like the saybak?” The thought of Ava in the clutches of that flying beast made her sick.
“No, those creatures are vegetarians. They may use fire when threatened, but they don’t go around stealing people from the sky.” He worked his jaw as if he were debating whether to say more.
“Tell me, please.”
“When I first arrived, there was talk that Earth wasn’t the only one using this planet. Prisoners whispered not to get caught alone. Until today, I thought those rumors were just another scare tactic by 225 and his men to keep the others in line.”
“Not the only ones? Are you…do you mean…aliens?”
A few centuries ago, scientists had figured out how to travel to adjacent solar systems—an amazing accomplishment celebrated for a short time as the hope of humanity’s future—until it was discovered that no other habitable planets existed within. Plans to explore farther, to figure out how to travel greater distances had been in the development stages when the first waves of famine and blight had hit and efforts had to be abandoned. Still, speculation had been rife that further exploration would not only uncover more livable planets, but contact with alien life.
To think that it had happened already. On Dragath25. And that Ava had been taken by some of them….