There were prison cells. Rows and rows and rows of them as far as I could see. Five cells on either side of this area each held giant aliens I recognized at once. Atlans. Like my friend Elena’s mate, Tane. Atlan Warlords. Except these all had metal on their bodies or sunk into their skin like tattoos. Every Atlan had his eyes trained on Cormac. Wary. All but one.

THUMP.

The Atlan in the center on my right slammed his fist into some kind of energy field that made up the front of their prison cells. His knuckles were bloody, some so mangled I could see bone.

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll stop soon. Eat. Sleep. Wake up and destroy his other hand.” The voice came from the first cell on the left. Cormac turned to face the Atlan. “His name is Stryck, but we just call him Thumper.”

“Like the rabbit from Bambi?” I blurted out.

The Atlan who had spoken focused on me, and I stepped closer to Cormac. Holy crap, these guys were huge. Yes, Tane and the others I’d met were big, too. But I knew them. Knew they were good guys. Being stared at by an angry Atlan who had been left to rot in a prison cell? Not fun.

“What is this place?” Cormac asked him.

“Obvious, isn’t it?”

“Why are you here?” Cormac asked. “Why did they leave you here?”

The Atlan on my right answered. He was obviously in beast mode because he was huge. His jaw was too pronounced, and he had to bend his neck to prevent his head from hitting the ceiling when he stood up from his matt on the floor and walked toward the front of his cell. “Break us.”

“I don’t understand. What good does it do to lock you up when they aren’t even here?”

“Be back.”

“Fuck.” Cormac lifted his hands and removed his helmet. I did the same, thankful for new air to breathe. It wasn’t exactly fresh, but it was better than the hot air inside my helmet. I was really tired of smelling my own breath.

THUMP.

The repetitive sound had not broken its cadence. I looked at the broken, bloodied hand of the offender once more and shuddered. If the Hive left them here to make them lose their minds, it appeared to be working, at least on one of them.

Cormac walked to stand before the first Atlan who had spoken. I wandered a couple steps farther down the corridor and craned my neck to see what lay beyond. More cells. Were they all full of Atlans? Did they have other alien species in here?