The Tradrych Strain- The Complete Series Read online

  Nad’s arm wrapped around my waist from behind, fitting underneath my bump, and his other hand covered my mouth, telling me to be quiet. His hard body slotted against my back, and I inhaled the scent of his fingers. His proximity did strange things to me—things I didn’t think I should be feeling considering the situation—but I couldn’t help it.

  He pulled me backward, and the others stepped back, too, so we moved like one being. I hadn’t noticed a crevasse dug into the tunnel wall, but that was where we ended up, with me sandwiched between the males. Once more, the poor light was our friend, and Miko cracked the tube he’d been carrying, and its light vanished, plunging us into total darkness.

  I was aware only of our breathing, and heartbeats, and heat from our bodies, and the subtle shifting of the baby beneath my skin. We were paused in the moment, just waiting for whoever was coming to either pass by without noticing us, or for us to launch into an attack. I hoped I wouldn’t have to take part in any fighting. Not only was I not in the right condition for it, I was a croupier, not a fighter, and I couldn’t imagine I’d hold up too well against a gang of angry Trads.

  The footsteps grew closer and closer, and with it came a light, guiding the newcomers down the passage toward us. I held my breath, pressing myself in closer to Nad, sensing the other two gather tighter around me as well. I did wish that I was wearing underwear, but I’d gone from feeling completely exposed and vulnerable back at the facility, to never having been more protected. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve this treatment, but I was thankful for it.

  Shadows fell upon the walls, and then four large figures marched right past us, their feet landing in rhythm. They didn’t even hesitate and seemed completely unaware of our presence.

  We remained in position, giving them plenty of time to make it farther down the tunnel. Finally, Miko and Diarus stepped back out into the tunnel, and Miko cracked another of the fluorescent tubes, spilling pale light around the space.

  I was about to step out, but Nad’s hands on my shoulders held me back.

  “All clear,” Miko called.

  Nad released me, and I moved back out into the tunnel to join the others, Nad close behind me. I was relieved the other Trads had gone and we hadn’t needed to fight, but at the same time I also missed the feel of those three strong bodies pressed in around me.

  “Let’s keep going,” Nad said, “but listen out for anyone else approaching. The facility might have called for backup from Vrale because of the sandstorm.”

  We continued to walk, minutes turning into hours. So far, we hadn’t seen anyone else, but we remained as quiet as we could possibly be with two large Trads and an Athion all moving at the same time.

  My back was hurting more and more, stabbing pains that came every ten minutes or so, and then faded away for long enough to convince myself I was fine to carry on, right up until the next one struck.

  The others could see I was struggling.

  “We need to keep going,” I insisted. “It’s just backache from all the walking. We can’t stop here. Anyone might come along.”

  We were in the middle of a network of tunnels. It wasn’t as though there was a hotel or a café, or hell, even a bus stop we could hang out at for awhile. We hadn’t met anyone else since the first group of people, but that didn’t mean more wouldn’t be along.

  Another stab of back pain hit, this one wrapping around my middle. My bump tightened, becoming rock hard in response. The pain stole my breath, leaving me gasping and doubled over as I waited for it to pass.

  “This isn’t only discomfort from the walking,” Diarus said, his voice breaking through my fog of pain. “I think she’s going into labor.”

  I snapped my head up. “No, that’s not what this is.”

  “How do you know? Have you done this before?”

  I tried to hold back a gurgle of hysterical laughter and failed. “What, given birth to an alien baby? No, funnily enough—” I gritted my teeth as another wave of pain caught me in its grip. I only completed the sentence when it had passed, spoken in a rush of exasperation. “I’ve never done it before.”

  His lips twisted, and he shook his head. “Of course you haven’t. Sorry.”

  “Apology accepted. Now can we keep going, please?”

  I didn’t want to admit to myself that I might be having the baby. This was exactly what I’d been fearful of whenever I’d contemplated escaping the facility. I’d been terrified I’d end up somewhere far away from any kind of medical treatment, and I’d be alone.

  While I might not be alone, none of the males looked anything like midwives, and I was deep underground, traversing unlit tunnels with a hard stone floor and crumbly walls. This was definitely nothing like the clean, steel interior of the facility, and I experienced a crazy pang of longing for Kaja and her trolley full of equipment.

  “I know somewhere we can take her,” Miko said. “I have a friend who’s experienced with births. It’s not ideal, but it’ll be better than nothing.”

  Nad looked at him and nodded. “As long as you’re sure you can trust them?”

  “Yeah, I can. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise.”

  “How long to get there?”

  “They live outside of the city, so I’d guess another hour. Possibly a little more.”

  Another band of pain wrapped around my middle, and I sucked in air over my teeth, my hand inadvertently finding Nad’s forearm, my fingers digging hard into his skin until the contraction faded away.

  Contraction. Shit. I had to admit it now. The baby was coming.

  Nad frowned at me in concern. “Think you can make it an hour?”

  “I have no idea,” I managed to grunt from between gritted teeth.

  “Velos!” he swore. “Let’s get moving then. Are you okay to walk? I can carry you, if that helps.”

  The last thing I wanted was to be carried. “I can walk. We just might have to stop every now and then.”

  “We can do that,” Miko said. He took a small capsule from his bag and handed it to me. It fitted into my palm, the outside a thin membrane, and it contained some kind of liquid.

  I stared down at it. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Break it into your mouth. It’s water with some added extras. It’ll help keep you going.”

  I narrowed my eyes doubtfully. “Is it safe?” I didn’t want to take something that might harm the baby or make the birth more difficult—I was already terrified of the prospect.

  He chuckled. “Of course. It’s just salts and sugars, and some vitamins.”

  I nodded and lifted the capsule to my mouth. The moment the outer skin hit my tongue, it dissolved, and the sweet and salty liquid inside filled my mouth. I quickly swallowed. I felt better almost immediately—some strength returning to my legs, my head clearing from the fog of pain.

  “Thanks.”

  He smiled at me—an expression I hadn’t seen often on him, or on any of the Trads for that matter—and it changed his entire face, his blue eyes flaring with heat. “You’re welcome.”

  I had no choice but to keep going.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mikotaj

  I HOPED I WASN’T MAKING a mistake.

  They’d put the survival of the human woman, and the Trad baby inside her, in my hands, and I didn’t want to let any of them down. Nadeusz would be seriously pissed if I screwed this up, and I’d never forgive myself either.

  I didn’t think it was just a case of us being desperate for female companionship as to why we’d helped Tara when we hadn’t helped any of the others. It wasn’t as though we didn’t intend to help them at some point, it was just that Tara’s need had been greater than theirs.

  The times between us needing to rest and allow Tara to go through a contraction were getting shorter. She’d suddenly stop, and we’d wait it out, with her holding on to me with one hand, and Nad the other, while Diarus rubbed her lower back in the place she said it hurt the worst.

  It fuckin
g killed me to see her face screwed up in such pain, and I’d have done anything to take that pain away from her. It made me want to turn back and go and hunt down Rhetarz and beat the shit out of him for getting her in this mess. She didn’t deserve it—none of the women did. No one should be forced to go through a pregnancy they’d never wanted, especially when it wasn’t even for their own child. Their own species. I was ashamed of what us Trads had become.

  “Not far now,” I told them. “We’re almost there, Tee.”

  She gave me a grateful smile, and my heart expanded. She was being incredibly brave, especially considering everything she was going through. Other women would have run off screaming by now, but she was putting her trust in the hands of the same people who had put her in this position, even though I thought every fiber of her being probably told her no good would come of it.

  “This way,” I said, leading the others away from the main tunnel and down one of the side passages. The ground sloped up, slowing our progress further as Tara struggled with the incline.

  I shoved open the huge trapdoor, the two halves parting to the sides like an old fuel cellar. I climbed out first and then bent to help the others up. Diarus took my hand and allowed me to haul him out, but Nadeusz batted my hand aside and then turned to Tara to give her a push up. Both Diarus and I stooped to help Tara up, ever mindful of her bump. Nad followed, then closed the trapdoor behind us.

  “Where are we?” Nadeusz asked, looking around at the narrow street we’d emerged into.

  It was night now, and the sandstorm had long gone but had left everything with a thin coating of red sand, so it crunched beneath our feet. The residents must have mostly been asleep, since there was no one else around.

  “A little hamlet called Azarc, on the outskirts of Vrale. It’s this way.” I jerked my head in the direction we needed to go.

  Tara stopped again, sucking air in over her teeth, and hunching over, as was her way of dealing with the pain. There was no point in any of us asking if she was okay. She clearly wasn’t, and there was absolutely nothing we could do to help her.

  We waited patiently, until she nodded to tell us we could continue.

  Moving as quickly as I dared, not wanting for any of the locals to see us and report the strange ensemble of beings, I led them down a side street, and then another, until we reached the property I’d been aiming for. I stepped up to the front door and rapped my knuckles against the wood. It was late, and there was a good chance the person I wanted to see was sleeping, but footsteps approached from the other side. The door opened a crack, and a brown eye, with orange around the pupil, peered out at us.

  The eye widened and then disappeared, and a moment later, the door opened fully.

  “Mikotaj, what are you doing here?” she said in our language.

  Ewa was a female Trad. She’d long been made infertile by the virus, but, unlike many, had managed to survive it.

  “I need your help.”

  Her gaze traveled past me and alighted on my companions. She caught sight of Tara, and her mouth dropped open.

  “Oh no.” She shook her head. “That’s not what I think it is.”

  “Please, Ewa. We’re desperate.”

  “You bring a human woman here? A pregnant human woman?”

  “She’s on the verge of giving birth.”

  Ewa rolled her eyes. “Velos! Are you trying to get me locked away for all of eternity?”

  “Please, we have nowhere else to go.”

  As though on cue, Tara cried out from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see her stooped over, hanging on to Nad and Diarus as though her life depended on it. I looked back to Ewa.

  She exhaled a huff of exasperation and stepped back. “Fine. You owe me.”

  “I do, thank you, Ewa.”

  She had thirty circles of the sun more than my own twenty-eight, almost putting her in her sixtieth year. When the virus wiped out most of the female population—my own mother included—she’d stepped in and helped to raise many of us. Those of us who had a strong female figure in our lives also learned to respect them, but sadly that was not the case for the vast majority of male Trads. The males all raised each other, a swirling hotpot of hormones and violence, and battles for dominance. Many of us were also mourning females we’d lost, and we had no way of dealing with our feelings, except by lashing out. We hadn’t only lost the pleasure of having females around—we’d lost the binding of our families and societies, the thing that kept us all together.

  But I’d been one of the lucky ones, together with Nad and several others. Ewa had stepped in to raise us, and she’d taught us that simply taking what we wanted wasn’t always the right way to do things. I was forever grateful to her for teaching me a different way of seeing things, as were many of the rebels, and I felt bad that I might be getting her in trouble now.

  I didn’t have any choice, however.

  We helped Tara into the house.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I stepped into the house, protected on all sides by Miko, Nad, and Diarus.

  The female Trad was clearly older than any of the males, and she ushered us through the building and out to a second area, which was joined to the main house via a white tiled corridor.

  “It’s through here,” she said in English and opened a door which led onto another room.

  A silver metal table was in the center of the room, and the pungent tang of cleaning products assaulted my nostrils. Shelves filled with pots and tubes, and glass vials covered one of the walls, and a trolley containing surgical equipment was pushed up against the opposite wall. This was clearly some kind of medical room. Had Miko brought me to a doctor?

  Framed images of creatures I didn’t recognize, each pointing out different body parts, hung on the areas of walls not covered by shelving. My gaze flicked around the rest of the room. There was equipment, like back at the facility, but there was also a wall made up almost entirely of stainless steel cages.

  What I’d been brought to dawned on me. “This is a veterinarian, isn’t it?”

  Miko nodded. “Yes, the Trad version of one, anyway.”

  “Oh, fucking hell.”

  Another knot of pain compressed me from all sides. I wanted to argue—felt like I should protest about the fact the person who was about to help me give birth normally worked on alien animals—but right now I figured I needed all the help I could get.

  The female Trad, Ewa, turned her attention to the worried males. “You can leave now. I’ll take care of her.”

  Panic that they’d abandon me here shot through me. “No, no, please. Don’t go.”

  Diarus stepped in. He was the calmest of all of them—cool, resolute, unruffled, despite the circumstances. “We’ll be right outside the door, Tara. We won’t go anywhere without you, I promise.”

  I grabbed his hand as another contraction took me in its grip, and nodded. While I didn’t want to be on my own, I also knew that the next few hours—or however long this took—were not going to be pretty. It seemed silly to think about my vanity right now, but they’d already seen me in a bad state, and I didn’t need them seeing what was going on down there either. I wasn’t sure I’d have wanted my own husband, if I’d had one, to see that, never mind three handsome alien males.

  “I’ll take care of her,” Ewa said.

  Even so, the two Trads and the Athion remained around me, all of them concerned.

  “You can go,” I told them from between gritted teeth. “I’ll be okay.”

  Miko nodded and clapped Nad on the shoulder. “Yeah, come on. We’ll be right outside.”

  Nad stared at Ewa. “Don’t let anything happen to her.”

  “I’ll do the best I can.”

  “Not good enough,” he growled.

  She shrugged. “You got a better option?”

  Miko practically got Nad in a headlock to wrestle him from the room.

  “Okay, okay,” Nad said, shaking him free. “I’m going.”

  I didn’
t get the chance to watch them go. Another contraction hit me. They were getting closer together, barely a minute between them now. I wanted drugs—lots of drugs—and I told Ewa so.

  “Sorry,” she said, giving me a sympathetic smile. “It’s too late for that. You’re very close.”

  I let out a sob, covering my face with the back of my arm. I hadn’t even had the chance to think about the fact I was giving birth to an alien child—one spawned by the person I hated most in this world. I was locked in the moment, just trying to get through each contraction, feeling as though I was splitting apart.

  Ewa covered the silver table in paper sheets, and then helped me up onto it. I still only wore the slip of a dress so didn’t even need to remove my clothes, but I kicked off my sandals to make myself more comfortable.

  Ewa helped me to lie back. “What’s your name?”

  “Tara,” I told her between gasps for breath.

  “I’m just going to check you over, Tara. I know it’s hard, but try to relax.”

  I spread my legs, not even caring that I had a complete stranger between them.

  “You’re almost there,” Ewa said. “I can already see the crown of the baby’s head.”

  Images of the baby’s skull, topped with nubs for horns filled my mind, and I gulped back a whimper of fear and pain. I just wanted for all of this to be over.

  The waves took over my body, and I bore down, my teeth gritted. I’d never known anything like it—the utter agony and feeling of helplessness.

  “Don’t push too hard,” she said. “Pant when I tell you to.”

  But I had no control over my body. The baby was coming whether I liked it or not.

  “That’s right, now pant a little, let it come slowly.”

  I was still pushing. I couldn’t have stopped if I’d wanted to.

  “I can’t help it!” I screamed. “It’s coming.”

  The pain was acute, focusing my mind purely on that one thing. I didn’t care about anything else in that moment—I only wanted this to stop.

  Between my thighs, there was the slither of one body leaving mine, followed by a gush of hot wetness.