Dayna, Mia, and Winter were gone.
***
The meeting in the House of Galen living area was tense.
Blaine watched the angry gladiators pacing back and forth across the room. Raiden’s jaw was hard, Thorin kept slamming one of his massive fists into the other, and Lore was tossing a coin up in the air. Every now and then, the coin would burst into flames. Kace leaned against the wall, looking like he was running battle plans through his head, and Nero leaned beside him, deathly still, with the exception of a muscle ticking in the big man’s jaw.
Blaine knew the House of Galen had a secret business of rescuing unsuitable gladiators from the arena. They freed slaves, the injured, the weak.
But this was clearly the first time they’d been attacked in the heart of their own House.
Harper, Regan, Rory, and Madeline were huddled together around the table, all nursing mugs of tea. Harper and Rory looked furious, while Madeline had an arm around Regan, whose eyes were red-rimmed from crying. Rory’s robot dog, Hero, was curled up in Regan’s lap, nuzzling her.
Blaine glanced at Saff. He’d been keeping an eye on her since the attack. She looked fully recovered, but he could tell she was still the tiniest bit shaky. Her balance was a little off. Watching her go down earlier, poison frothing at her mouth, was an image that was going to take him a long time to scrub from his head.
Galen strode into the room, his face looking as though it were made of stone.
Saff stepped forward. “It has to be the Thraxians—”
Galen chopped a hand through the air. “Everybody sit.”
For once, no one spoke. They all obeyed the imperator’s order, and took seats around the long table. Galen stood at the head of the table, pressing his scarred palms to the surface.
“We have two dead Hermia healers, and several injured.” His tone was ruthless and cold. “The ones who are okay have moved what medical equipment survived the blast to temporary quarters. We lost one regen tank.”
“How did the attackers get in?” Raiden asked. “How did they get explosives and poison into the House of Galen?”
Galen’s mouth firmed into a harder line, if that was even possible. “We ordered new medical equipment. One container was filled with explosives, while the other shipment carried the four attackers, who laced the food and drinks in the training arena.” His gaze moved to Madeline. “I need you to work with the Medical team to replace the regen tank and any other damaged equipment as fast as you can.”
The former space station commander nodded. If anyone could create organization out of chaos, and get things done efficiently, it was Madeline.
“We also lost three recruits to the poison, and we have several injured gladiators.” Galen thumped a fist on the table. “This will not stand.” His icy gaze swept the room. “This attack is on me and mine, and we will retaliate until everyone involved is dead.”
Blaine had known some scary men before, and he’d seen some terrifying fighters in the underground fight rings, but even he felt an icy shiver as Galen spoke.
“Someone took three women under my protection.” Galen looked at Nero. “Nero, what did you find?”
“Nero’s from a barbarian world,” Saff murmured to Blaine. “They are hunters and Nero can follow a trail that I can’t even see. Guy’s good, really good.”
Nero gave one vicious shake of his head. “Whoever took the women was organized. I tracked them to outside the arena.”
Lore cursed. “I was with him. It looks like the attackers had a transport waiting. Nero followed it far longer than I thought possible, but we lost them in the middle of the District.”
Galen spun and slammed his fist into the wall. Rock crumbled.
At the table, Regan buried her face in her hands. “Those poor women. They’ve already been through so much, and we promised them a safe place.”
Instantly, Thorin was there, pulling his woman into his arms. She turned and curled into his chest.
Rory stood, rubbing her rounded belly and the child growing there. “The people who took them, were they Thraxian?”
Saff shook her head. “No. There’s no way Thraxians could hide their horns. The attackers were masked, wearing black, but they had no horns. Blaine brought one down.” She shot him a glance. “Beat him up close and personal.”
“Any identifying features?” Raiden asked.
Blaine shook his head. “Nothing. They were big, and in good shape, but that describes most people around here.”
Saff was frowning, her fingers tapping against her arm. “Before they were taken, Winter yelled something. Lemons. Does that mean anything to you?”