Mikko (Stolen Warriors #2) - Ella Maven Page 0,1

like hell my nose remained clear, so I didn’t suffocate.

A day ago, I’d been in my one-bedroom apartment in Baltimore, sinking into my sheets after a long day of secretarial work followed by a lonely dinner for one. When I woke up, I was on a spaceship—for real—with dolphin-faced, one-eyed aliens watching me. When we docked, it was on this dry, dusty-ass planet where I’d promptly been sold to ol’ four-eyes as a… Well I wasn’t sure what my role was supposed to have been. I just knew I didn’t want it. I didn’t want any of this.

My life wasn’t roses back on Earth, but at least it was mine. I’d overcome a hell of a lot to have what little I did, and it’d been snatched from me in my sleep. What a bitch.

I rattled my chains and received a smack on the thigh from the Pliken next to me with the flat of a blade. I hissed at the pain and glared at him but quickly had to close my eyes as a gust of sand blew into my face.

I hated these caped guys. They were scary as hell but hadn’t hurt me too badly yet—just some rough handling—although bruises were already blooming on my arms. Before I’d arrived, the dolphin aliens had implanted a translator device behind my ear, so I could understand the Plikens’ language. Which was why I listened closely when the four of them started talking about our destination.

“They’re going to tear her apart down there.”

“Commander said to give her a weapon and make it last. The guards were promised a show.”

The one beside me in the back seat made a weird rumbling sound that might have been a laugh. A hand gripped my curly hair and wrenched my head back. I gasped and got a mouthful of sand for it as I opened my eyes to see him sneering down at me. “Seems like a waste, don’t you think?”

“Commander wants her untouched before we send her to the Pit. No one wants to hunt a wounded animal.”

I shuddered as the Pliken holding my hair let me go with a shove. My head bounced off the bar and I saw stars for a moment. Where were they sending me? They mentioned guards, which gave me flashbacks to the few months I’d spent behind bars on a theft conviction. Not one of my finer moments, but I’d been desperate. Honestly, desperation felt a little like my life theme, and I was over it.

We drove for what felt like an hour but could have been drastically longer or shorter. My head pounded, and I knew I had at least a mild concussion. By now I could see nothing but red sand in either direction. Just when I thought they were going to dump me in the middle of nowhere to fend for myself, we came upon a small structure and a massive crater in the ground. A long metal arm extended over the edge, like a crane, and at the end was a cage.

They dragged me from the buggy just as the crane began to move, and I realized with a dawning horror that I was going in that cage. As they led me toward the edge, I could see nothing but darkness. I dug my heels into the sand, fought, and screamed, but it didn’t matter. There was no one out here to hear my screams and those that could weren’t going to help me. Eventually I stopped only to save my strength. I had no idea what awaited me below.

They tossed me in the cage and locked it. One of the guards peered in at me like I was a bug. “Welcome to the Pit, human.”

“What’s the Pit?” I gripped the bars just as the cage rose off the ground and begin to move out over the crater.

“What’s the Pit?” They mimicked my voice, and all began to make a weird cackling sound I guessed was laughter. One finally gave me an evil smile. “Vixlicin’s prison. It’s where we throw the worst of the worst. There’s no way out, and we drop in food every three rotations. But I doubt you’ll make it three yoras.”

“How am I the worst of the worst?” I nearly shrieked.

He shrugged. “This was our order.” He tossed something in the cage, and I dove for it.

My fingers closed around a handle seconds before it could slide out from between the bars. When I held up my catch in front