Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) Read Online Free PDF

she was just an object. A piece of
machinery.
    It could be her gift was a normal trait
of her people. If so, it was the only connection she had to them.
She had no idea what she was or where she came from. No memory of
her people. She’d been but a child when Darius had claimed
her.
    Analia knew what awaited her here on
the Hell Ship—a lifetime of suffering until Darius siphoned every
last drop of her will in his attempt to break her. Eventually he
would succeed.
    When she was sure the hallway was
empty, she braved a peek. Then she prayed for the luck of the gods
and eased the door shut till she heard the soft click of the lock
move into place. Any decision she might have made to turn back
disintegrated in that moment.
    She glided through the corridors,
toward the docking bay. Her bare feet made little noise as she
went. She knew this ship better than anyone. She knew it better
than Darius himself.
    When Darius hooked her up to the ship,
Analia had the ability to tap into the ship's heavy surveillance
system. It was as though the images from the cameras were displayed
directly into her mind, and she could see everything all at once.
As far as she could tell, it was the only real benefit of her
gift.
    Though it wasn’t much of a trade off,
considering the pain of being hooked up to the ship was nearly
blinding. The sensation of her energy being drawn out of her body
and into the ship’s power storage system was agony. To take her
mind off it, she watched the crew through the cameras, envying
their freedom.
    It was her only joy, but right now it
was her greatest enemy.
    Making her way to a small control
panel, she went to work infiltrating the system. For once, her
ability would benefit her.
    As she hooked herself up to the ship,
she felt the moment she became part of it, like one colossal
machine working in unison.
    Analia shook her head and frowned in
disgust. She really was a piece of equipment.
    Everything in the ship’s database was
her playground. Every piece of information, every secret, and every
code belonged to her. If Darius ever found out about the extent of
her ability, he would surely use her to spy on his crew. There were
not many under Darius' command who spoke highly of him in private
conversation.
    With the ship at her command, she
proceeded, first, to clear an easy path to the docking bay by
unlocking any door that might be sealed, and checked to see if any
crew members would be in her way. After ensuring a straight path,
she erased two solid weeks of recorded surveillance. Then she shut
it down completely and locked the system, changing the codes before
continuing toward the docking bay.
    The system was only checked
once every few months, and anything recorded was only viewed when
there was a discrepancy. No one would think to check it until long
after she'd gone. If they wanted in, they were going to have to
hack the system in order to gain access. And because she was the system, she knew
they would have a hell of a time of it.
    Only once, as she carefully traversed
the maze of passageways, did she come across trouble—a couple crew
members, advancing toward her. She heard them before she saw them.
They walked confident and loud, boots thudding on the hard shiny
floor.
    Dread engulfed her, almost overtaking
her senses. After a moment of panic, she was able to calm her
emotions, knowing she needed to find a place to hide. The voices
were close, laughing and talking with ease. Just before they
entered the corridor, she dove for a door to her right.
    Inside, the room was small and dark
like a closet, but empty and unused. Her body had begun to tremble
with worry; her hands were the worst, shaking uncontrollably.
Opening, closing, and rubbing them, she tried to relieve the
tremors.
    The voices became loud, just outside
the door. She froze. Her breathing stopped. Only when the voices
and footsteps continued past the door did her body
relax.
    She was tired, so tired.
    The couple of weeks without food