Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 by Victoria Aveline (readict books TXT) 📕

“I’ve never heard that term, but it didn’t sound like a compliment,” he said, shoving his thumb onto the button and holding it down.

Luka was already limp and hanging from his wrists when the electricity coursed through him again, causing him to seize violently. Alice dashed out of her seat and attempted to pull Gishen’s large form away from the panel.

Her efforts intensified his laughing, and he flung her to the floor, seeming to draw pleasure from her screams of protest.

Alice swung her gaze around, trying to find anything she could use to stop him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the glint of metal. Crawling quickly over to Sal’s chair, she found his abandoned prod.

Pressing the button at the base as she’d seen Helas and Sal do, she shoved the electrified poker into the juncture of Gishen’s wings.

He released a high-pitched shriek. His wings jerked as though trying to flap and dislodge the poker, but the electricity restricted his movements, allowing Alice’s firm hold on the weapon to stay in place until he finally fell limp.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

She needed to act quickly before he woke up. She searched the room, finding a pair of magnetic cuffs. She opened and closed them experimentally, but they wouldn’t latch closed.

They need a fingerprint. Her eyes darted to the still form of Gishen.

A metallic cabinet, which she prayed was as heavy as it looked, sat against a wall a few feet from Gishen, slumped and unmoving in his chair. From that position, his wrist wouldn’t quite reach the cabinet, and she needed to attach the cuff to metal.

Knowing she’d never be able to drag his heavy form, she inched toward him, holding the poker at the ready.

Using all her strength in one quick motion, she pushed on his chest, causing the chair he was sitting in to tip backward. Gishen tumbled to the floor near the wall and groaned.

Alice dashed to his sprawled form, wrapped one of his large palms around the cuff, and manipulated his limp hand into cuffing his wrist. She did the same with his opposite wrist, then raised both his arms to the metal cabinet behind him. An electronic buzz sounded.

When she stepped away, his cuffs stayed glued to the wall. She let out a triumphant laugh, and quickly stepped out of reach. Once he woke, he’d be very mad, and although he no longer had use of his hands, she was sure his legs and wings would be just as deadly.

Adrenaline still pumping through her, she stepped to the control area and searched for the screen showing Luka’s room. Her heart beat wildly in her chest when she saw his body was still limp.

A groan behind her told her Gishen was rousing.

Alice turned to face him, holding the zapping rod in her hand. I can do this. I can do this.

In order for her escape attempt to work, she needed Luka free. Somewhere on that control panel was a button that could free him, but she had no idea which one would do it. If she pressed the wrong one, she might end up electrocuting him again, and who knew how much more he could take before his heart gave out.

Alice needed Gishen to tell her what to do, and she knew he wouldn’t do it willingly. Her grip tightened on her weapon. He’d need some motivation. As Gishen slowly began to rouse, she fought back nausea.

Even after everything these beings had done to her, she still felt apprehension about causing them pain. When she’d electrocuted him before, she’d done it to stop him from hurting Luka. Now, he was tied up and helpless. What she did next wouldn’t be in self-defense or in immediate defense of another. It’d be straight-up torture, and she didn’t know if she could go through with it.

Gishen let out a sharp cry of pain while attempting to sit up, and her grip loosened. Her breaths grew erratic while she tried to contain her pathetic tears.

“You miserable piece of Earth trash!” Gishen barked, pulling at his restrained wrists and flaring his wings. The cabinet shook with his struggle but stayed in position.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked, jumping back when he swept his long, talon-tipped wing across the floor, almost hitting her legs. “I n-n-need you to tell me how to release Luka and the other prisoners.”

Gishen stilled, then his whole body began to shake. A cackle erupted out of him. “Absolutely! Let me get right on that!”

Heat rose on her neck. She was standing over a chained man wielding an electric poker, and even he knew she was weak. “Don’t make me use this,” she said softly, holding up the poker to illustrate her point.

“Go ahead!” he challenged, leaning back against the cold metal casually. “I’ll never release that disgusting traitor or those Earth breeders.”

Breeders?

She stiffened and glanced back to the video of the small woman who was still crying silently on her bed. Alice felt a part of her being shift. Rage like she’d never known overpowered her.

Those women had been taken from their homes. They’d been taken from their partners, and possibly their children, and this asshole had the nerve to refer to them as breeders? She straightened and turned her cold stare to Gishen. To her delight, she noticed the smallest flash of concern cross his face.

All of the hesitation and worry she’d been feeling dissolved. The only thing standing in the way of those women’s freedom and enslavement was her, and she’d die before she failed them.

The strong, sure voice that poured out of her as she spoke was unfamiliar even to herself. “You’ll tell me how to free them, or I’ll shove this poker into your crotch so hard that you’ll never breed again.”

Gishen hesitated for a moment but