Read Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) for Free Online

last chanced a look. She'd never seen
the man before, which meant he was a member of the merchant ship,
and was standing there for the sole purpose of keeping people, such
as her, from trespassing.
    Her plan had been simple, well…in
theory. She planned to sneak onto the merchant ship, hide until it
next docked, and then sneak off the ship, disappearing forever from
Darius' reach. Easy, right?
    She just needed a little more luck,
just a little to get her on that ship, one step closer to freedom.
She deserved it, dammit! How much more should she be made to
suffer? How much more could she take?
    “Calic!” a male voice
shouted.
    Analia jumped at the sound. She peeked
to see the guard's attention diverted to something inside the other
ship.
    “What?” the blond guard
snapped.
    “The last load is stuck!” the other
voice yelled. “We can't get it through the doorway! It won't
fit!”
    “It helps if you're smarter than the
door,” the blond guard muttered before yelling back, “We got it in
there, didn't we?” He sighed before disappearing into the ship and
out of Analia's view.
    Her heart beat heavily in her chest.
She waited a few seconds, expecting him to return quickly. When he
didn't, she sucked in a breath and moved forward, hesitant at
first, and then she dashed for the opening. She could hear nothing
but the rush of blood in her ears and the quick thud of her wild
heart.
    Closer. Closer.
    Her breath caught when she crossed the
threshold onto the other ship. No sign of the blond
guard.
    She took in her new
surroundings. The room was significantly smaller than the docking
bay at her back, suggesting that the merchant ship as a whole was a
fraction the size of Extarga .
    There were two doorways, one to her
front and one to her right. As voices came from the right, she
sprang for the opening to her front. Spying ahead first, she moved
through the door and into a long hallway. The air was warmer here,
and a soft tan carpet tickled her feet. She was shocked by the
sight of color on the walls, a mocha brown warmed by the touch of
soft overhead light.
    Ignoring the exhaustion and hunger that
loomed over her, she moved quickly, seeing no promise of shelter.
She was exposed, and if anyone spotted her now, all would be
lost.
    After passing through a few empty
corridors, guided by instinct alone, she spotted an open doorway.
Beyond it, a sight she hadn't seen for a very long time.
Disbelieving, she was drawn forward.
    The room was round with computer
consoles wrapped around the edge. A center console near the back
wall to her left stood alone. A large window blanketed more than
half the room and revealed a sight she'd been callously deprived
of, a sight she had longed for. Awe overpowered her as she gazed
through it.
    Space!
    Black. Deep. Vast. Space, speckled with
pinpricks of light. Endless possibilities masked in darkness. The
power of it held her where she stood. Her tightly wound emotions
nearly exploded at the beauty of it. Only one thing was able to
tear her eyes away and bring her back to reality.
    She was not alone.
    A young dark haired male sat facing the
encompassing window with his back to her. His attention was on his
computer console, clicking away, oblivious to her.
    “Cargo's unloaded!” a distant voice
came from behind. Someone was coming toward her. “The captain wants
the ship ready to go as soon as he returns!”
    Her stomach tightened, and a bead of
sweat ran down her spine. Slowly, she edged away from the door and
crouched behind the main console, the only place where she could
hide. Unfortunately, she was only partially hidden. The approaching
male might not see her upon entering, but if the other man sitting
at his station turned, he would spot her instantly. She watched him
intensely, holding her breath.
    Shit. Shit.
Shit.
    After glancing around,
realization hit her, and her throat went dry. She swallowed hard,
taking in the rest of the control room. The heart of the ship! A room that will