She stopped to look at Sergey who was gripping her arm tighter. “We got back to the car with no problems. I thought everything would be ok. Then a gun metal gray car pulled up behind us, something that was fast, but would blend in.”
“It was a charger.” Dee spoke. “I remember comparing it to my baby. It came up short.”
“They tailed us. I was pretty sure they were military and tried to shake them. We went over the median strip, allowing us to go in the other direction. Before I could put some distance between us, they fired. Two of them, I’d say, since both Rena and I were hit.”
“Thank you Lorali.” Aran looked down at Rena and then at Dee. “Is that what the both of you were feeling?”
Rena shook her head. “No, I was definitely feeling the created. He was watching. Why he never made a move, especially since he’d the perfect opportunity, is beyond me. I’m sure he was around.”
“I agree with Rena. The created was there. Why is he back?”
“He’s fixated on us. That means he won’t stop until he has avenged whatever wrong he imagines we did him. He’ll reveal himself. When he does we’ll be prepared.” Aran said.
Dee nodded her head before leaning against Niko and letting out a tired sigh.
“Suggestions.” Aran looked around the room.
“Eliminate the targets. Why should we allow the military to put our sisters in jeopardy? We could’ve taken care of them long before now.” Ash the youngest brother said.
“Ash, this is our world now. We can’t just eliminate a human because they act in a way that is dishonorable. We took away their weapon that was harmless to us, but could’ve devastated the human population. We took away all knowledge of it having been made. This allowed us to protect our future mates, as well as the rest of the population.”
“We swore an oath, as a family. Two families.” Sergey raised his head to include Dante and his brothers. Aran met each of their eyes. Six set of eyes met his. Each group of brothers contained six males, it was how the scientist had created them. “To let the ones involved live, as long as they didn’t come after us. They swore the same oath. Now that oath has been broken. They will forfeit their lives, but we’ll do it right.”
“You can’t just decide to kill them.” Lorali interjected.
“What would they have done to you if they had caught you? What about Rena or Dee? Do you think they would’ve allowed them to walk away?” Sergey replied.
“No, they would’ve been collateral damage. You’re calling my military, my government evil,” Lorali said slowly trying to comprehend again, how this could all be happening.
“Wrong. We work with honorable men and women every day. We have contracts with them. The ones I talk about are deviants. They’re out for themselves. It seems every group has some.”
“What now?” Lorali conceded, remembering the look in the General’s eyes. If he ever caught her, she was either dead or a lab rat. Either way, her life was over.
“We eat. I didn’t prepare all this food to have it wasted.” Dante said.
“Dante, did you learn to cook on your home planet? You know I never learned the name of your planet.” Lorali asked.
“Cooking was forbidden to us.” Dante walked off. Everyone followed, except Sergey.
“We never say the name of the planet we were created on. We were conditioned to resort to a specific type of behavior once we say the planet’s name. We believe this was to make sure we never left. Each of us has gone through a rigorous deconditioning process, but we won’t risk ourselves or our brothers by doing something that makes no sense. I can show you our galaxy if you need to see it.”
“I want to understand more about you. What exactly does it mean to bite me? Why were you created? How did you come here? You want me to commit to you, but I know so little.”
Sergey sat, indicating the seat next to him. “We were created to fight a war. The people of our planet used to be warriors. They fought anything that moved, including each other. Over a millennia or more, they conquered every planet around them and moved into a peaceful time. They became heavily interested in the sciences and gradually gave up their warring ways. Over those years they became more interested in what they could accomplished with their minds. Slowly their bodies began to diminish until finally the race of warriors became a race of thinkers. Eventually, the other planets wanted the inventions they had come up with and began to attack. They were unable to successfully protect themselves for long. After trying many methods of self-defense, they came up with the idea to create us. They failed many times before they developed the right formula. I stand before you because they were unable to defend themselves.”
Lorali reached out and touched him, feeling his emotions rolling through her.
“I talked to your other side. The other you.”
“Why do you not call him an animal?”
“Because he isn’t. He’s sentient. Sorry, but that surprised me. I don’t know what I expected. I could see him looking at me through your eyes and I realized I was so human. It was hard for me to believe that something not like me could be something other than an animal.” Her confession was whispered with a hint of shame.
“Thank you. We thank you. My brothers and I come from the same female. I believe all created come from one female. It is the male donor that changes. Each group of six was given a specific group of male donors. This allows our talents to be similar without being a carbon copy of each other.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Nicolas feels that the male donors DNA was sliced and then other male DNA was added to it. Each time it was done, the DNA that was added may have been slightly different or in different concentrations. So the corresponding created came out different each time.”
“How could the officials, the people in charge, let this happen?”
“How could the military you gave years to, let you become a product of an experiment?”
People looked the other way, she acknowledged. It was easier to pretend they didn’t see what was happening. To see meant to acknowledge. To acknowledge meant to make a decision to either do something or walk away.
“Tell me about the bite.”
“When I bite you, we’ll become one. DNA will be exchanged that will allow you to connect with me mentally. If you allow Aran to exchange DNA with you, then you’ll be able to connect with the rest of the family mentally.”
“Why Aran, not you?”
“It is how we’re programmed. Some sequences were programmed into our DNA. One of them was birth order. On our planet, many things are related to birth order. I was the second born, which makes me the second in command. If I were to die, Niko would move up and take my place.”
“How does that work now that you’re on a different planet?”
“It doesn’t. The things we have no control over, like when we meet our mates, doesn’t seem to care what order we were born in. Other internal functions are still in working order. Aran is in charge and we follow him, unless he no longer has our best interest at heart. That won’t change. I have a feeling that our children will be born in order.”
“Explain.”
“Our lives have always been about order and our internal makeup determines where we fall in line as a family. I can’t help but believe that same order will be seen when we have children.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lorali hummed as she cooked. She was becoming quite domesticated if she did say so herself. She’d been with Sergey for almost two weeks. There had been no more attempts on their lives. This was how life should be, she thought.
She looked at her crispy bacon and frowned. That bacon wasn’t crispy. It wasn’t even extra crispy. It was burnt. She knew Sergey would choke it down and tell her she was a fine cook. She turned to the eggs. Were they supposed to run like that?
Sighing, she opened the trash can and dumped the plate of food she’d just spent a grueling thirty minutes on. Going to the cabinet, she pulled out some hot cereal
and added milk. She put two pieces of bread in the toaster. It was all done just as he walked into the kitchen.
“You made breakfast.” He leaned over and gave her a long kiss. “Morning, little one.”
“Morning. Sit down and eat.”
“Where’s your food?”
“I’m not hungry.” It was the sight of those runny eggs that had turned her stomach. “Do you have plans for the day?” She asked as she sat down.
“Do you like rides?”
“Rides?”
“Rollercoasters, merry go rounds and the whip? I was thinking we could go to the amusement park. They will close soon for the year.” Sergey replied.
“I haven’t been to the park in forever.”
“Forever is unacceptable. I think we should remedy that.” The smile on her face made him glad he’d decided to do something unusual.
“What’s your favorite ride?” Lorali asked.
“I never rode before. We went when we first came to earth so that we would understand what everyone was talking about. None of us chose to ride that day.”
“We’re going to have so much fun.”
She kissed him and left the kitchen to go get ready.
***
“Sergey.” He picked up the phone, preventing him from following her.
“We have a problem.” Aran’s voice came out the other side of the receiver. “The safe house has been compromised.”
“The created?”
“Looks like both the military and the created.”
“Why would they be working together?”
“I was hoping Lorali could answer that question. How long will it take you to get here?”
“Not that long.”
He put his phone away with a frown on his face. It had been almost two weeks. He’d made love to Lorali, his little one, as many times as possible. They had spent hours talking. He’d told her about his home world and the life he’d lived there. They had talked about the people and the politics of his planet.
She’d made several comparisons between the two planets. She’d even explained some of the earth’s history that allowed him to understand some of the off the cuff remarks Rena or Dee would make.
The biggest thing she did was accept him. She never expected him to act differently. Even with the need to bite her, she understood and accepted. Having accepted the need, she made it clear he had to accept her need to be part of the decision. He did, which is why she didn’t bear his mark yet.
His feet felt heavy as he climbed the stairs. He wasn’t looking forward to telling her the change of plans.
She greeted him with a big smile that turned to a frown. “We aren’t going.”
“Aran called. The house I told you about with the females in it.” She nodded her head. The created had attacked several females, the brothers had put them in protective custody of a sorts. They were watching over them and making sure they got the treatment they needed to recover.
“The house was compromised. Aran wants you to look around the scene to see if you can pinpoint positive signs of your military being there. After that, we’ll have to find a new place for them.”
“Let me change.” She took off her shorts and crop top and replaced them with a pair of jeans, a long tee and boots.
“We can go to the amusement park on another day.”
“Stop. No apologizing for who you are or what you have to do to keep me and your family safe. I know who you are and I accept it. To be honest, I like it. You’re straightforward. You don’t hide behind misdirection or false words. You accept responsibility for what you do. I like it and you.”
She went and grabbed her gun. He watched her deft movements and wondered if she realized he was never going to let her go.
She grinned over her shoulder. “Waiting on you.”
He followed her out of the door and into the garage. Her red mustang was sitting in its spot. It had been fixed and returned with no problems. He strode over to the jeep.
“We may need the extra room.” She nodded and hopped in.
“What will you do if this created decided to infect a whole mall?”
“He won’t. It would be counterproductive. If he brings too much attention to himself, he may find himself the target of artillery he’s unable to handle. If he brings to much attention to us, we may move locations or planets. Again, that would be counterproductive for him. He does just enough to try and throw us, while he plans his real attack.”
She nodded and sat back, watching the scenery pass by. The safe house wasn’t in the city, but a quiet little suburb. The houses were far enough apart not to be bothered by each other, but close enough to walk to.
“Nice neighborhood.”
“Dante set this up. He was hoping it was far enough out that the created wouldn’t look here.”
“I guess he was wrong.”
“Maybe, but I’ve a theory that might prove him right.”
They pulled up to the house where several other jeeps were parked.
Sergey got out and went around to open her door. She looked at him.
“Television. It is so educational.” She shook her head and took the hand he offered her.
They walked up to the path leading to the house before Lorali stopped. She dropped to her knees and inspected the grass without touching it.
“Don’t walk on the grass.”
“Why?”
“Do you see how the grass has been disturbed leaving a slight horseshoe looking mark? When I was still enlisted, there was rumor of a new invention. I was allowed to see it. More like I and several of my platoon snuck in to see it demonstrated. They displayed a device that would burrow under the grass, barely making a mark. It was able to discern how many people walked on it, their relative weight and height. If you stepped on it barefooted, it would take a blood sample that could be used for DNA. Depending on where it was placed, you would be able to tell who lived in a house without wasting man power to stake it out.”
“No one will ever accuse your species of being dimwitted or less than innovative. How did the Military know they were here?”
“That I don’t have the answer to.”
“Has the created been here?” Lorali asked, looking between Sergey and Aran who had just walked up.
“Yes, we picked up faint traces of his tainted smell. There is something about that smell that bothers me.” Aran replied.
Sergey nodded his head. That smell bothered him too, but the knowledge of why, kept alluding him.
“Is Tina here? Did she have access to a phone?” Sergey asked Aran. Tina was the female who the created had targeted along with Vance. He had used both of them for his sick games.
“You don’t think…”
“It would make sense.” Sergey nodded yes.
Aran pivoted and walked towards the house. He met Dante on the porch and began talking to him in a lowered voice.
Lorali stood up. “What is your theory?”
“The military had no reason to even suspect this house existed, yet they found it. The created could care less about spending his resources to find a house with women he has already terrorized. Like you said earlier, he could terrorize a mall of females if he wanted to.” Sergey responded.
“So if no one on the outside is looking for them, then someone on the inside must have reached out.”
“Yes. I believe it could only be one person.”
“What will happen to her?”
“Before you.” He shrugged. “After you, leniency.”
They walked into the house to find one of the women crying as she was looked at by all present in the room.
“Why?” Dante asked, the scar on his face making him look like an alien thug.
The woman cried harder. Her shoulders shook, the tears coming down her face like torrents of rain.
Sergey leaned over Lorali and whispered in her ear.
Lorali walked over and sat by the crying woman. She placed her arms around her. “Did you love him?”
The woman cried harder and nodded her head yes.
Chapter Nineteen
Lorali held her closer. Rejection, no matter the reason, was devastating. Tina cried until her tears turned into loud hiccups, then faded to soft ones. She sat back and wiped her eyes, taking in all the face’s surrounding her.
“Tell them what happened.” Lorali was still touching her, rubbing her back in small comforting circles.
“I thought.” Tina’s voice came out small and tentative. “No, I needed to believe he cared for me. That his love or desire for me made him do it. He didn’t even remember.”
Her tears flowed again. This time they were a silent testimony of a woman who was violated and couldn’t find an answer to what had been done to her.
Aran walked over to Rena. He lowered his voice talking to her. When he was done, Rena walked over to Dee. The two of them then gently took the other women away.
Dante came a little closer, then crouched down. He was far enough away that Tina wouldn’t feel threatened by his presence.
“When did you remember?”
“A week ago for sure, but I’d been having nightmares before that. I see monsters in my sleep. I hear a voice calling me names, telling me I’m good for nothing, except to breed. Then I remember what it felt like for him to touch me. So very cold. I find myself pretending it didn’t happen like that. I’m sorry. I called Vance. I had too, I felt like I’d die if I didn’t.”
“Cold, as in impersonal?” Lorali asked her softly.
“Yes, but so much more. His touch was cold. I remember shivering, thinking why was I so cold when my heart was racing and adrenaline was pumping through my body? Every place he put his hands or his body on me shut down like death. What’s going to happen to me now?”
“We’re going to move you. Take you somewhere else safe.”
Tina lifted her eyes to focus in on Dante. “What if I call him again?”
“Trust me. You won’t.”
“Lorali, will you go and help her pack?” Sergey urged.
Lorali led Tina out of the room.
“That’s impossible.” Sergey said out loud.
Sergey: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 9
