War For Earth: An Alien War Romance (Galactic Order Book 3)

by Erin Raegan

  Olynth put me down as Fihk shook hands with Kil. He was leaving to go back to his ship and relay orders before he most likely continued his search with whatever information he’d gathered at the signing.

  I leaned against the low concrete wall and looked out over the city. I saw little lights flickering in some of the buildings—candlelight—and I smiled. A part of me had expected only a handful of humans to have survived. For so long, it had felt as if Nate and I were the only ones left. But we as a species were more resilient then we gave ourselves credit for. We had survived this, and with that resilience, we would survive the Galactic Order too.

  Suddenly I swayed and caught myself on the edge. The ground moved and groaned, but I looked up and over the water. Fire was slowly filling the sky.

  “What is that?” Ford shouted over the loud roaring filling the sky.

  “The Vitat warship.” Tohn shouted and pointed. “It is going to crash!”

  I turned and looked back at them as they watched the enormous ship slowly fall into our atmosphere. Fireballs rained down over the water, and the streets filled with screams.

  “Tell the humans to get above ground, as high as they can. The water will crest over the city,” Fihk ordered before growling into his comm unit.

  Tohn flew from the building and dived toward the streets. Terrified, I watched as the ship drew closer. It was going to cause a tsunami.

  “Board all you can,” Fihk growled into his comm.

  Dahk flew down from the battleship toward the streets. Several other ships over the city took off, and I knew most of them held our leaders, but there were still civilians in the city.

  Survivors I had just been marveling over.

  “Bahyly,” Olynth growled and prowled toward me.

  I stepped toward him, but the ground shook again and the building rocked. I was tossed over the concrete wall.

  I screamed as I plummeted, wind whipping my face.

  Olynth and Fihk dived over the edge of the building, their arms reaching for me.

  I spun in the air, flipping over and losing sight of their terror-stricken faces. The wind was so harsh. I couldn’t even gasp. I saw the ground rise up and I tensed, my eyes clamping shut.

  Everything I’d ever cared about zoomed through my mind.

  Nathan’s excited little face the first time I saw him.

  Olynth’s glare the day he found Nate and me spying on him behind that car.

  Fihk’s enraged face as we sprayed him with bear repellent.

  I saw us laughing and teasing each other, their love for me and my love for them, and I sobbed in agony. I wasn’t ready to leave them.

  The ground rose up, and I nearly kissed it before arms came around me and flipped me over.

  Then we tilted and spun as Fihk’s wings flared and tried to slow us, but we still hit the ground hard.

  I cried out in pain and lay there, stunned. He was under me, and he wasn’t moving. I groaned and rolled off him. Olynth pulled me up, frantically touching my body. I shoved away from him and dropped to my knees beside Fihk.

  “He’s not breathing.” I listened for his breath. I felt for a pulse, but it was barely there. “Olynth, help him!”

  A loud boom sounded, and the ground shook again. I fell on top of Fihk and covered his body with mine.

  Olynth grasped Fihk’s face and snarled something. He felt along his chest. “He lives.”

  “What?” I asked in shock, my eyes pouring tears.

  “He’s alive.” Olynth tossed Fihk carelessly over his shoulder. “We must go.”

  I looked up and saw the Vitat ship as it crashed into Earth. I was knocked to my ass, and the buildings around me trembled. Fihk groaned and shoved away from Olynth. He stumbled and caught himself, looking around in a daze. Olynth snarled and stumbled to me.

  “Fihk?” I reached for him and fell again as a building came crashing down a few blocks away. “Fihk!”

  Fihk’s eyes went wide, and he turned to me in terror, sagging just as Olynth lifted me. I held onto Olynth’s neck and reached for Fihk with my other arm as a dark cloud of dust enveloped us. I was still holding Fihk’s hand as we launched into the sky. His wings faltered, and he dipped low before he recovered. Olynth aided him, pulling him up through the debris.

  “There!” someone shouted from below.

  I looked to see a gigantic wave crashing into the city. Olynth flew toward it.

  The battleship was hovering over the buildings that were about to be engulfed. It rose into the sky as the water crested over the tops of the buildings, and Olynth and Fihk flew higher. Fihk was shaking his head and dipping before he recovered and flew high again. He was going to fall.

  “Olynth, Fihk!” I pointed below us.

  Olynth snarled, dipping down. He hooked an arm around Fihk’s waist, grunting from the extra weight, and propelled us up. But we were too heavy for him, and the wave was coming.

  Something black came below us and jolted up under our feet. Olynth dropped onto the Dahk flyer, and I wrapped my hands around his neck so he could let go of me and wedge his fingers into one of the top panels. The flyer tilted up and over the wave as it flooded below us, soaking me with its freezing spray.

  Olynth dropped his weight on me to keep me from sliding and held onto Fihk with his other hand. Olynth’s arm was bulging and straining as the wind beat against us, but he didn’t let go. We flew up at a sharp angle, directly into the bay of the battleship.

  The flyer spun in a fast circle, nearly throwing us off, before it shuddered and lowered onto the bay floor. I gasped and shook under Olynth as he murmured words of comfort, petting my hair and nuzzling my cheek. Fihk groaned again, and I scrambled for him.

  “He needs a healer,” I choked as I saw his battered wings. He had fallen on his back to take the brunt of the fall for me. His wings were bent at odd angles.

  I couldn’t believe he’d tried to fly like that.

  Someone slid him off the top of the ship, and Olynth pulled me down after him. We raced through the halls, two Dahk carrying Fihk. In the med bay, he was laid on his stomach so Vylbor and another Dahk could inspect his wings.

  Fihk groaned and called my name. I ran to his side and crouched by his face. I gently kissed his cheeks and eyes and lips.

  “I’m here, baby. I’m here. You’re okay,” I chanted over and over, kissing him while they wrapped his wings tightly and bound them to his back.

  “He needs nano-nits,” Vylbor said grimly and filled a small cartridge. He pulled out an injection gun and placed it against Fihk’s neck.

  I stopped him before he could pull the trigger. “What are those?”

  Olynth’s arms came around me from behind. “They will help him heal.”

  As Vylbor injected it, Fihk groaned and stuffed his face into my belly. I held him to me by the back of his head as Olynth held me from behind, and I waited, tears coursing down my cheeks. I felt so stupid.

  Why hadn’t I immediately backed away from the edge?

  Why hadn’t I immediately boarded the flyer when we got to the roof?

  Fihk would be fine right now if I hadn’t been so stupid.

  “Olynth,” Tohn called from the doorway. “It was the Juldo. They have attacked Dahk One. We need you.”

  Olynth bent and kissed my neck. “I will be back shortly. Stay with him.”

  I nodded and kissed his lips. He clenched his jaw and stomped out of the room.

  Fihk passed out, and Nate came into the room. He hugged my side and stood with me as we watched over Fihk.

  Chapter 28

  Olynth

  “The Kilbus warship has engaged the Juldo alongside Dahk One,” Tohn said as we ran to the command deck.

  “Why the Vitat warship?”

  It made no sense. What did the Juldo have to gain by eliminating the Vitat after they had surrendered? It only decimated the remaining human population, which did not help their mission to capture the surviving human females.

  Tohn shook his head. “Th
ey arrived and fired on the Vitat warship. They did not even spare Dahk One a glance until we retaliated.”

  “Fihk did not take down the Vitat warship because it circled too close to the earth. The force would drive it onto the planet.” I ran through the command room and was greeted by the king’s emissary, Dyadus, on screen. He was to lead Dahk One in Fihk’s absence for the treaty signing. “Report,” I barked.

  “They are not engaging us,” Dyadus said in disbelief. “They repel our attacks but have not engaged their weapons system. They are—silent.” Dyadus held out his hands, startled and confused.

  “Hail them,” I growled. “And halt your attack.”

  I waited for the Juldo to answer my comm. The Juldo Master grinned from his command, Dahk One filling the portal behind him.

  “Are you Tahk’s replacement?” he asked in Juldo, a maddened grin on his red face, his mechanical eyes whirring erratically.

  “I am Olynth. State your intention,” I snarled.

  “I am here on behalf of the Order.” He looked out of the portal behind him and crossed his enhanced arms. “I have saved the humans,” he crowed.

  I stepped closer and glared at him. “The Order gave no such command.”

  “Ah, but yes, they did. You were allowed to intervene on their behalf, but the humans owe a debt. I am here to collect.”

  “They will not be paying that debt.” I grinned menacingly. “You have attacked an ally of the Dahk. We will defend them.” I nodded to Dyadus. “Engage if they do not retreat. You are to fire on their left flank. It is vulnerable, and their shield will not last.”

  The Juldo Master flushed and sputtered, spittle flying from his mouth. “You know no such thing.”

  I stepped closer to the screen. “I was a Juldo slave, vermin. I know where you are weakest. I built your ships.”

  He flushed again.

  “The Kilbus Lord is here. I know you do not wish to tempt him. I believe he has a vendetta against you, Hishin.” I called him by his old name. The name of the Guhuvin he once was.

  The Juldo Master roared and clicked off.

  “He will retreat,” Kil comm’d me directly.

  I spun and clicked my comm on in my hima. “Where are you?”

  “On my warship. I will engage him if necessary, but it would anger a friend of mine if I were to kill him, disrupting his plans.”

  “What friend?” I snarled. Why not eliminate him now?

  “Now, Olynth, I do not reveal all my secrets.” He clicked off.

  I snarled in frustration. But Kil was correct. The Juldo Master fled quicker than he had arrived. But he left a planet in peril in his wake.

  Only a small portion of the Vitat warship broke off and crashed to the Earth, the rest blown out of orbit. The humans' world may survive the blow, but it would not be without consequences. Their orbital route would be thrown, and their atmosphere was now compromised. They would suffer wild atmospheric shifts, their weather unpredictable and more volatile.

  “Return to Dahk One,” I ordered my pilot and comm’d the king.

  Uthyf sighed and rubbed his brow. “Tahk believes the Order did, in fact, give the Juldo Master an order to interfere. They know we do not plan to allow the humans to pay their debt to them. We will keep them from enslavement.”

  I filled him in on Fihk’s injuries and the humans' current state.

  “Dahk One must return. I have spoken with the Kilbus Lord. He will aid the humans in their recovery and track down the remaining Vitat. We have information the Juldo are initiating an attack on Home World.”

  “We will abandon them?” I asked, shocked. The Kilbus were more than capable of defending Earth, but it did not sit well with me to leave them after such a blow.

  “Leave the commander’s battleship and a unit. I will send more aid, but we need Dahk One here,” he said firmly. “Tahk has sent a list of earthen goods. Did Fihk acquire them?”

  “Yes, but I do not know to what extent.”

  “There is no time for it now. You may leave a large unit of Dahk on Earth and communicate with the human leaders. Stress our commitment to their safety and leave within the next few sunrings. I want direct communication set up with the earthen leaders.”

  I nodded and scrubbed my crown. “I do not know that I will be accompanying Fihk.”

  He scowled and sat forward. “Why?”

  “My mate does not wish to return to Home World.” I would not force her to leave. Fihk had yet to express his desires on the topic.

  “You share a mate with Fihk, do you not?”

  “Yes, but he has not expressed his plans to her nor me.”

  “He must return. Bring the human female.” He looked away, and a Dahk spoke in his ear. “You are needed here, but I would be accepting of your loss if Fihk returned. You both cannot stay.”

  “She wishes to remain with her species, my king.”

  He was already dismissing me. I understood his urgency, but I would not harm my mate or force her to return as my commander had done with his Pythe.

  He sighed. “Olynth, stay if you wish, but Fihk must return. If the human female refuses, he will suffer. Do not give her the option.”

  He clicked off, and I gnashed my teeth. I had great respect for Uthyf, but he lacked compassion.

  “Olynth, the human leaders have hailed us,” a Dahk to my left called.

  I sat in Fihk’s command chair and waved for them to accept the comm. I wanted nothing more than to return to my mate, but I could not in good conscience leave the humans with the Kilbus without informing them.

  I spoke to them for long spins. The east of the continent had suffered major damage, but it was not as devastating as it would have been had the Vitat ship not broken and split, one half propelled into the deepness of space and the smaller piece bludgeoning the earth. Most of the wreckage burned up in their atmosphere but many parts of the planet suffered from devastating blows. Had the entire ship hit, the human species very well could have become extinct.

  The humans agreed to allow the Kilbus to aid them on our behalf, and I sent a team down with the means for them to communicate with us directly. It was not received well, we were abandoning them in their time of need, but they had no choice but to accept aid from their other ally. A team was put together to stay behind with the warship, and I ordered Dahk One prepared for travel.

  It was late the next morn before I could be pulled from command to check on my mate. I had received updates on her and Fihk, but I had been gone too long. I needed her touch and scent to calm me.

  We were leaving one war to return and defend our home from another.

  But I did not know if I would be there to fight with my brethren. Or if I would remain here with my mate. I did not know if it was possible for Fihk to leave her behind and how that decision may devastate my mate.

  We were out of time.

  Chapter 29

  Bailey

  Olynth found us in our room. Nathan was reading to Fihk about wizards and witches when Olynth walked in. Fihk was dozing. I climbed carefully off the bed so I wouldn’t disturb him.

  “Keep reading to him,” I murmured to Nate. “He likes it.”

  Nathan nodded and continued in a low voice as I stepped out of the room, closing the door softly. Olynth picked me up and walked to a chaise lounge. He laid me down and came down on top of me. He rested his head on my breast and sighed.

  I smiled and ran my hands over the back of his neck and down the sides of his face. “He’s doing a lot better.”

  Vylbor had said Fihk would make a full recovery and be back on his feet in a few days. I couldn’t believe it after seeing the damage done to him.

  “The Juldo have retreated,” he murmured into the top of my breast. That was good. I didn’t think I could handle another invasion so soon. “The king has ordered Dahk One’s return.”

  That wasn’t bad. I had expected it to happen, but it was fast. Humanity had just suffered another blow, but the Dahk couldn’t be expected to help us
do everything. I knew the Kilbus were staying to help us keep the Order away, so we weren’t exactly being abandoned.

  He looked at me when I didn’t reply. His face was clouded in worry. “Fihk has to return.”

  Oh. Oh.

  “That’s okay,” I said softly. I hadn’t realized he was so worried about that. He was really hard to read.

  He sat up and studied me closely. “He will suffer so far from you.”

  I smiled at him. “I know. I’ll go with you.”

  He squinted at me. “To Home World?”

  I squinted back. “Yeah.”

  “I remember a fierce little warrior who drew a blade against me to stay on her world,” Olynth murmured with a twitch of lips.

  “And I remember a big guy who told me his actions would speak for him,” I said back, smiling.

  He licked the smile right from my face. “And my actions, they have earned your trust?”

  “Big guy, I let you order me around and toss me all over the place to have your way with me.” I bit his lip. “I let you protect my brother and trust you with who you have guard him.” I dropped my head. “Of course I trust you.”

  I widened my eyes at him in wonder. When had that happened? I never trusted anyone, and he had burrowed his way inside me and stayed there. Him and Fihk both.

  I trusted them with Nathan. I didn’t think that would ever be possible. Not ever. I thought I wouldn’t ever trust another living soul with him. But I did. I knew deep down, so sure I would stake my life on it, they cared for Nate on his own, but they would die to protect him because I loved him.

  “Go on, big guy, take us home.” I kissed his chin and sat up. “I’ll tell Nate.”

  “You do not want to discuss it with Fihk first?”

  I shook my head. “No, he doesn’t need to worry about that right now.”

  He nodded and walked to the door. I followed him and circled his neck with my arms. He dropped his hands to my ass and boosted me up.

  “Are you okay?” I asked softly and kissed the corner of his eye. “You’ve been busy. Are you tired?”