Read Online Rion by Susan Kearney - Free Book Online

Honor are brutal. Men
     are whipped until they can’t work. They kill women and children.” His face hardened. “I know taking you was wrong, but I’d
     do anything to save my people.”
    Was he feeding her another story? More lies? She spoke between teeth gritted with anger and embarrassment over how foolish
     she’d been. “What exactly do you want from me?”
    “Once we get to my world, I need you to send telepathic messages to Honor’s dragonshapers. Help me organize a revolt.”
    A revolt? “That sounds dangerous.”
    “I’ll protect you.”
    Like she could believe a word he said after he’d lied to her? Kidnapped her? She snorted. “I’m not interested. Send me home.”
    Rion pressed a microchip into her forearm.
    She jerked back too late. The device had already sunk painlessly through her skin. Although it didn’t sting, she frowned and
     rubbed the spot. “What did you do to me?”
    “I placed a subcutaneous translator under your skin. Now you’ll understand any language. And when you speak English, others
     will understand you.”
    “You could have asked first,” she muttered, a chill icing her blood.
    The public square was unfamiliar territory, but Marisa had traveled to many different countries on Earth. Humanity had basic
     needs. People required food, shelter, transportation. Most civilized societies had police or the equivalent.
    When a group of people surged past, she pointed. “Hey, that man’s waving to you. Is he your contact, Phen?”
    When Rion turned to look, she slipped into the group of people passing by. Within moments, the crowd swallowed her. Her nerves
     yelled at her to run. But blending in was the best way to hide. So she kept walking at the same pace, but at the first opportunity
     to change direction, she slipped into a new group.
    Behind her, she heard shouting and footsteps slapping the pavement. Had Rion called her name? She couldn’t be certain, but
     she didn’t dare turn back and look.
    Pulse racing, Marisa kept walking, feeling as if she were being chased through a nightmare. Overhead traffic vehicles looked
     as if they were about to crash but never did. Kids pulled behind them shiny red balls on leashes, which could have been toys,
     pets, computers, or a place to store their personal belongings. She had no idea.
    When a hand clamped onto her shoulder, her knees went weak. She turned to see not Rion, but a man wearing an official-looking
     gray uniform with piping on the collar. A black helmet with blue Plexiglas hid his face. Metal plates protected his chest.
     Between the chrome baton that hung from the holster at his hip, the knife strapped to his sleeve, and the throwing stars at
     his belt, he looked dangerous, deadly.
    “Come with me.” His voice, rough and mechanical, shot a shiver of fear down her back. Had she fled from a kidnapper to someone
     even worse?
    “What do you want?” She tried to step away, but he kept a firm grip on her shoulder.
    The crowd around them parted and kept swarming, paying no attention.
    “You have broken many laws.”
    “I have?” She glanced anxiously from the official to the crowd. Even if she could break his grasp, he might shoot her before
     she could hide.
    He ticked off regulations. “Landing without a permit or a license. Failure to pass through customs or decontamination. Trespassing.
     Evading Enforcers.”
    “I can explain.” She wished she could stop the dread rolling through her. Would he believe her if she said that this wasn’t
     her world? That she didn’t belong here? While she had no knowledge of Tor’s legal system or the consequences of breaking so
     many laws, her arrest seemed imminent.
    She should flee.
    As if sensing her rising panic, the Enforcer gripped her shoulder harder. “Let’s go.”
    “Where?”
    He didn’t answer. He simply marched her down the sidewalk. All around her, life went on. No one stared. No one shot her a
     sympathetic glance.
    Foreign smells hit her in a mélange of