Naima: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

clothing was muddy and torn. She looked scared. I was relieved to see she was unharmed, but at the same time, I felt my gut wrench with a spike of fear.
    "Assemble the men," I instructed Dallas. "We're headed to Xylox."

Chapter 4
    GABRIELLA
    I cracked my eyes open one at a time. I was lying on the ground and my nose itched. As I tried to move my hand to scratch the tip of my nose, I realized my arms were stuck. I looked down at my body, feel a sense of dread overcome me. Heavy chrome handcuffs restrained both my wrists and ankles.
    My extremities were falling asleep. How long had they bound me like this? I whimpered, attempting to wriggle my ankles, but I got an unpleasant surprise. When I moved, blue bolts of electricity sparked from the handcuffs. A sharp jolt stung the bare flesh of my arms and legs. Shit. I guess I wasn't going anywhere soon. The electric shocks weren't the only thing causing me pain; my entire body was sore, riddled with painful sensations through my back and limbs.
    There were bars all around me. I was locked in one of many full-sized cages filling the vast space of a dungeon. It didn't hurt too much when I turned my head. Looking around, I saw other brides from the ship imprisoned just like me, one to a cage. Some were shivering uncontrollably. Others cried. A few whispered prayers into the dark. Blue fluorescent lights illuminated the room, which made the rusted industrial bars of our cages appear sinister.
    I was petrified. I wanted nothing more than to raise my voice and cry for help, but the gloominess of my surroundings and the aches in my body sucked up all of my remaining energy.
    Where was my friend? "Cheyenne?" I whispered. My voice surprised me. It was trembling and squeaky. Speaking the two syllables made me realize my throat was burning too. The beverage cart on the TerraMates shuttle was far away. I closed my chapped lips. I wouldn't be able to drink a cold glass of water any time soon.
    I heard a voice on my right croak out my name. As it turned out, Cheyenne was in the cage next to me. Her formerly springy curls were now frizzy and disheveled, erupting from her head at crazy angles. Her glazed eyes looked swollen and puffy. I was certain she had been crying for hours before I regained consciousness. She seemed to be in shock and stared straight ahead. If it weren't for her heaving chest, she wouldn't be moving at all.
    "Cheyenne, are you okay?"
    She turned toward me. Fresh tears started streaming down her face. One clung to the base of her quivering chin. Her nose had been rubbed raw, and streaks of red marred her cheeks. Although her emotional condition looked terrible, there were no signs of physical damage other than some scrapes on her neck and elbows.
    "Are you hurt?"
    She shook her head slowly.
    I felt like I needed to say something to cheer her up. "Hang in there. It's going to be okay."
    A harrowing scream pierced through the eerie quiet of the room.
    "It's not going to be okay. It's Synic again," breathed Cheyenne.
    "Huh?" I whispered. "Who's that?"
    Before I could get a response from Cheyenne, my question answered itself. I saw a flicker of motion and my eyes moved toward the far left of the cages across from me. An imposing figure wearing a crimson full-body cloak led a group of eight guards toward the cluster of cells. The leader's matching red mask was a frightening visual. It had tinted yellow goggles in the eye sockets, and a large hooked beak that covered his face and nose.
    I wondered if the mask helped him breathe or if it was supposed to enhance his appearance. I hoped he needed the mask for medical reasons because I didn't want to know what his natural face looked like, if his mask was that ugly.
    The alien guards following Synic looked just as terrifying. Their facial features and builds were humanoid, but the back of their bald heads had swelled up to twice normal size. On the back of their ugly deformed heads was a disgusting pouch that I couldn't help observing.