Sekkol: (Scifi Alien Romance) (Galaxy Alien Warriors Book 2)

by Lara LaRue

  “Where am I?”

  “This is the pre-death chamber,” Father answered without hesitation.

  Of course. I wouldn’t have seen this place before. Only those about to die would.

  I thought of the last man I had witnessed being disintegrated; he had struggled, but the armed guards had been too much for him. My Enforcers were also on hand to ensure he wouldn’t escape, and I wondered now if they would use my own men to safeguard me. Each time I thought I was ready to die, Keira’s face would come into view and everything would rearrange in my head and make me want to live. For her.

  “I don’t understand,” my father murmured.

  “Understand what?”

  “What is it like with the human?” he asked and then turned to face me.

  I was not in the mood for small talk, not right before my execution. I would rather spend my last moments with her. “Where is Keira? I need to see her.”

  She was all I cared about and wanted. I hadn’t known how empty my life had been before her, and now that she had become a part of me, her absence was remarkably noticeable. She snuck into my heart when I least expected it and had swiftly become my entire world.

  “For centuries, no resident of Jupiter has ever imprinted on a human. There is nothing in our jurisdiction that provides for such an improbable thing and, therefore, no reason before to change the laws.” I looked at him and saw genuine confusion written all over his face.

  “You have the power to rewrite the old laws, and I am Jupiter’s heir. I should not be here.”

  “Am I expected to change the laws because my son fell in love with a human?” he asked. “What happens next, when someone commits an act that is uncommon again? Do we keep changing the laws?”

  “No, Father,” I told him. “You simply make room for compromise.” I heaved an exasperated sigh. “Especially when one doesn’t have a choice.”

  “Interesting. That was the same argument your human presented.”

  I whipped my head around, the fog in my mind lifting a little more each time he mentioned Keira. “You spoke with her? I didn’t think that was customary.”

  “It is not,” he replied. “But she refused to be quiet. Fought off my men to get to you whilst you were still unconscious. Given her predicament… she’s a very brave human.”

  I stormed over to him now, feeling stronger. “Where is she now? What have you done to her?”

  “We haven’t decided as yet what to do with her,” he snapped. “You stand to die, and all you care to ask concerns her?”

  “You speak like a man who has never imprinted. Surely you must remember what it’s like.”

  “I do.”

  This time, I touched him on the shoulder. “Then how can you do this thing?” It was like he was killing me twice. “Do you remember how you felt when you first saw Mother? How you felt when she died, leaving you all alone?”

  He did not respond. His face became even more serious.

  “There is no difference in what I feel with Keira, except you got your chance to be with Mother, who only left you when she died. She was not taken from you. You were not denied being with her. What you’re doing to us is cruel. Perhaps if I was not the one facing such a harsh judgment, I would feel no sympathy, too.” I turned away from him then. “But I am the one.”

  This was my harsh reality, and there was no escaping it. Being so close to death gave me much clarity and, in a way, greater prepared me for a leadership role. The position I had long avoided and that my father had constantly thrust upon me. I was his only heir, and he had been waiting for me to create my family and take my position at the top. Now, when I was most open to it, I was also furthest away. Despair clung to me like an ally, and I returned to the bed and sat down, weakened by the weight of it.

  “And I am the one burdened with the decision to overturn a law that has stood for centuries or watch my only child die,” he retorted. “Do you understand the gravity of the situation?”

  “Are you really trying to get me to understand and accept my own execution?” I could hardly believe the impossibility of his unspoken request. “I will not die here. You hear me?”

  He lowered his head, but his hands remained neatly tucked behind him. In that small cell, he did not feel like my father. We had not been close of late, especially since I had been rebellious of so many things he wanted me to do or be. This was my greatest rebellion, and it seemed to have driven an even greater wedge between us.

  “Your human seems to care for you. And ready to die to protect you.”

  And what good would that do? I did not respond. But the thought that she had come to the trial to speak on my behalf had proven that she was worthy of me, as I was of her.

  “Bring her to me,” I told him and then lay back on the bed.

  He sighed, but he didn’t speak another word before he walked to the bars and went out.

  As soon as he had gone, I sat up again and started pacing the room. I was growing frustrated at my limited possibilities of escape, and I punched into the wall. My knuckles throbbed with pain, and I saw the bruise that quickly appeared. But the sharp sting from the wound was incomparable to the pain I felt inside. I was so lost in thought I didn’t hear the footsteps approaching in the hallway, until I heard Brom’s voice.

  “Sekkol?”

  I wheeled around. “What are you doing here?” I rubbed my hand down my face and went back to sit on the bed.

  “I had to come. I saw Keira,” he said softly. “She wants to see you.”

  “Where is she?” I charged to the bars and gripped them in my palms.

  “They are holding her over at The Great Pike. Lord Magnus has not yet made a decision on whether to have her resold or…”

  He didn’t need to say. I already knew. My eyes bulged, and for the first time in my life, I felt helpless.

  “Brom, you need to get her out of there,” I implored.

  “She is well guarded,” he said. “There is no way for me to get in there.”

  “Then get me out.” I shook the bars as I spoke. “She cannot remain there.” I gritted my teeth and watched as my knuckles grew white. I felt sweat beads where there had been none. An enormous pressure descended upon my chest. I became dizzy, and I rested my forehead against the cold metal of the bars.

  “I’m sorry, Sekkol,” Brom said as he touched my fingers. “There is nothing I can do without joining the both of you on death row.”

  “I understand.” I grimaced. It was senseless for me to return to Anon to save Brom, after he was held for ransom until I did, and then have him face the same fate still.

  He walked off then, his head hung and his steps echoing off the walls, creating a sad melody that seemed to remain even after he had gone.

  I went back to the bed and sat. My body began to shake as fear overcame me. But it wasn’t fear that I was about to die. I was more concerned she would. The idea of her dying crippled me, and I felt my body grow limp as I fell against the bed. I closed my eyes, and when I did, I saw her standing there the first night she had been at my house. She had found me naked, and I remembered clearly the way her eyes had bulged before she had run off again.

  I was not ready to let her go, but I was yet to find a way to keep her.

  Chapter 23 / Keira

  “Guard!” I called as I pressed my head against the bar. “Guard.”

  I touched the spot at my neck where the communicator was still implanted and wondered if it had been dislodged. It would be the worst time for me not to be able to communicate when I needed them to understand me now. There were two guards posted outside my cell, which was somewhat different from the one I had seen when I first arrived on Jupiter. Jonas, the alien in charge of all humans who arrived on the planet, had tossed me and the other humans into a cell that seemed more like a dungeon. At least here, the walls were a pale shade of gray and the bedding was soft. But there was no toilet or sink or anything of that manner, which gave me the idea that this was not a place where one was held
for any considerable length of time.

  “Hey!” I shouted still, until one of them moved and looked over at me. “I need to see Lord Magnus,” I called, but he just looked back around and kept ignoring me. “I want to see Lord Magnus. Hey.” I started shaking the bars until the other guard stormed over to me.

  “If you don’t remain quiet, I will personally disintegrate you,” he said. He glared at me with small, beady eyes that flashed with danger.

  “Please, I need to talk to Lord Magnus.”

  My words fell on deaf ears as he walked off again. I was growing frustrated, and I slid to the floor as the first tears began to fall from my eyes. I wiped them back and closed my eyes as I tried to control my breathing. I could feel the tension growing inside, and I pressed my fingertips against my temples as I began to experience something that felt like brain freeze from drinking cold water too quickly. I had been spirited for the first few weeks I had been here, fighting Sekkol the entire time and sometimes wishing I would die. Now that it was a real possibility, I no longer desired it. The difference was this was not my home; these were not my laws. I had no legal representation, nor would I have a trial. I was a stranger in a strange place, just waiting to die. I thought then that maybe seeing Sekkol would make this burden bearable.

  I didn’t even move when I heard footsteps approaching; they were probably those of the men sent to take me away. If I were lucky, I’d wind up a foot servant to the cruel commander. I was afraid to think of other ways to remain alive.

  “Why is it so important for you to speak to me?” the voice asked.

  My eyes flew open, and I twisted my body far enough for me to see Lord Magnus standing there. I clawed at the bars as I struggled to stand and wound up slipping a few times.

  “Lord Magnus.” I felt relief wash over me just before I realized he was possibly there to escort me to my death.

  “I don’t think we have ever had a human on Jupiter who was as stubborn as you are, or as vociferous,” he said as he swung his hands behind him.

  “Can I see him?” I was gripping the bars now as I tried to understand the meaning of his visit. I had been pressing my luck. I didn’t think the guards would have actually passed on my request to see him.

  “You stand here facing death, or worse, as does he, yet the one thing you ask for is not for your freedom, but to see my son?” he asked.

  “Yes,” was all I could say.

  “Hmm,” he grunted.

  “I don’t want him to be alone,” I told the man.

  Up until that moment, I hadn’t acknowledged how much I wanted that very thing. I was a social handicap back on Earth; I didn’t have many friends, didn’t go out much, and had little experience with men. It was ironic that it wasn’t until after I was kidnapped from home that I found one where I belonged. It wasn’t until I was made the slave to an alien that I realized how badly I wanted to be possessed, not until I was facing death that I had never felt more alive. And if I could share those last moments with the man who had triggered it all, then I was willing to risk it.

  Lord Magnus stood there looking at me in an odd way that was beginning to make me feel naked. I looked down at my clothes, ones I hadn’t changed since I had showered at Geneva’s.

  “Guards,” he said after a while. One of the men hastened over, bowed, and stood rigidly beside Lord Magnus. “Release her.” Then he stepped back and gave the man room.

  I had been asking, but I was still surprised when he gave the order. I stepped back when the guard pushed the bars inward, sidestepped them, and quickly walked past.

  “Follow me,” Lord Magnus said as he started walking.

  I looked around as I followed him, observing the plainness of the building. Like Sekkol’s home, everything was of a uniform color, but instead of white, this was a shade of gray. There were bars connecting several cells down a long passageway, and I wondered how often they needed these. How often they killed here.

  “Will I see him?” I asked as I skipped to keep up with his long strides.

  He did not respond. His eyes remained trained before him as we went through a series of long passages until we wound up on a platform. There was an opaque tube of sorts that ran as far as I could see on both sides and resembled oversized pipelines.

  “Where are we?” I asked as I looked around.

  “Chute number eight approaching.”

  “What was that? What is this?” I asked. Suddenly, I got the odd feeling he was taking me elsewhere, and I started backing away, looking around me at the same time for some place I could escape to.

  Something whizzed along the tubes and then opened inches away from our feet.

  “Get in,” Lord Magnus said and moved off.

  I was not inclined to do the same. I folded my arms across my chest and tilted my body forward as I tried to look inside the thing. He stepped inside and then turned when he realized I wasn’t following.

  “Do you think I would have entered if I had meant to kill you here?” he asked.

  He had a point. I inched slowly toward him and stuck my neck in. The interior was empty of people, but there were seats embedded into the walls of the chute, and I sat in one across from him. As soon as I did, I was strapped in, but I relaxed somewhat when I saw the same thing happen to Lord Magnus.

  The doors closed then, and the vessel shot forward, shifting everything within me as it did. I gripped the sides of the seat until I felt my fingers grow numb. I felt like I was on an amusement park ride, and I was beginning to feel nauseous. I closed my eyes and was relieved when I felt it slow down. As soon as it stopped, the belts slid back, and I stood. My legs were shaking, and I thought I saw a hint of amusement in his eyes before he turned away.

  We walked across the platform and to a huge chrome-like door. He tapped the transparent screen, and numbers illuminated the surface. A few swipes across the device and the door whooshed open. I walked behind him down another corridor, passing a few other barred cells and guards placed strategically along the way, until I saw him stop before one. I hurried past him, and my heart did a somersault when I saw Sekkol.

  “Sekkol!” I cried as I rushed to the bars.

  He sprang from the bed and raced to the bars. Immediately, his hand came through, and he cupped my face with it. I leaned against it as his warmth seeped through me, and I closed my eyes as I reached up and held his hand there.

  Then he looked over at his father, and his hand left my face. “Allow her inside,” he said to the man.

  “This can only be a brief meeting,” Lord Magnus said as he stepped forward and entered a code on the screen to the right of the bars.

  They had barely started to open before I charged inside and into his arms. My act surprised even me as I flung my arms around him. Instantly, he started kissing my neck, all the way around, before he planted even more on my face. And when he found my lips, all the noise in my head died and there was only him. I gripped his nape and pressed him farther into me as his hands wound tighter around me. I felt like I’d been drowning and he was my air, and I sucked him in with large gulps.

  Then I pulled back and looked him in the eyes. I saw pain, and then I smoothed the loose hair falling onto his cheeks.

  “Why is this wrong?” he asked as he began to kiss me again. His lips were harder than they had been before, like they were chapped, and I felt weak inside thinking of how much he had suffered for loving me.

  When he pulled back, I saw him look intently behind me, and I turned and saw Lord Magnus standing there, observing us. He seemed in awe, and he jerked his head and looked away when he realized we were both looking.

  There was so much I wanted to say to Sekkol, but he said it all when he pulled me to him and just stood there holding me. I would have never thought I would have fallen for an alien. For him. I had kept my heart guarded for so long, trying to block any possibility of pain. But little did I know when I built that wall around me, I was also keeping love away. It had found me still, when I least expected it, and I c
ould feel the tears rolling down my cheeks when I thought I might need that wall again. If I was spared.

  “That is enough,” Lord Magnus’s voice broke through, and I ran my hand down my face to rid it of the residual tears. I saw him signal to someone, and instantly, two guards appeared.

  They entered the cell and stood by us. Sekkol looked at them and then at me, and then his lips dipped once more and connected with mine like a magnet to a steel plate. I could feel his resistance to let go, and I didn’t think he would. Except the guards held on to my arm and pulled us apart. I reached out to him, and he gripped my arm as he tried to pull me back. The guard was strong as he pushed me, while the other braved Sekkol’s wrath.

  “Father, don’t do this!” he shouted as I was pulled out and the bars slid in place again.

  I looked around, but Lord Magnus had already walked away. I stood there for a while longer, recognizing too well the anguish on his face. My head began to spin when I realized that might be the last time I saw him. I clutched my chest when I felt like I was suffocating. Moments later, I heard Sekkol call my name in a faraway voice just before I crashed to the floor.

  Chapter 24 / Sekkol

  I kept my face pressed against the bars as I strained to see what they were doing to her. Keira had fallen, and the guards had taken her.

  I called to my father, but they all kept walking until there was the loud whoosh as the doors closed and then silence as thick as a cloud enveloped me. My heart felt like someone was holding it in their palm and crushing it. I paced the floor, waiting for something to happen, though the likelihood of anything happening that would alter my fate was slim to none. The hours went by until I wasn’t sure anymore if it was night or day. I went to the bed and fell backward onto it and stared at the ceiling until my eyes got tired.

  “Sekkol,” someone called, and my eyes fluttered open.

  My eyelids were heavy, and I got the impression I had not been asleep for long.

  “Sekkol,” the voice came again.