Another shudder passed through her body, making her teeth chatter. She desperately wanted to light a fire, but even a small one would attract attention to her hiding place. Although it was something she would consider tomorrow, if she could find some clean water to bathe in. Not because she hated being dirty, but because, as darkness fell, she realized just how easily she would be seen if anything tracked her through the night. They wouldn’t need to see her hidden in this tree, they wouldn’t need to hear her, or scent her: they would just have to follow the glowing trail right to her door.
The bog was made up of something phosphorescent. It covered everything that she wore, everything that she touched, and lying there she knew there was nothing she could do about it. Just as there was nothing she could do to save Larka.
Tiana thought of the poor child, all alone, in the possession of men who wanted to use her. At thirteen, it was only a matter of time until the slavers were offered enough coin to sell her as more than a kitchen slave. She tried to shut those thoughts out. She would get to her in time, she would save her, just as she had promised Larka’s mom, Kilma, when she had sent the radgraph with the message saying Larka had been ripped from her arms.
If Kilma had ever got the message. The way the bandits had intercepted Tiana’s ship, she wondered if her return message had been intercepted too. Had they known the princess from Kalisov was out in space all alone?
She turned over, hating the mess she had made. Taking the message at face value had been a mistake; she should have had it confirmed. Instead, afraid that if her father had the slightest idea that his daughter planned to leave, he would have grounded her completely, she had left. No consideration to her own safety, only focusing on Larka. Lying here, she had gone over the sequence of events, and it had come to her that either Larka had been taken to purposely lure her out, or the child was still at home with her mother and the whole thing had been a ruse, to get her to leave her planet.
Foolish, foolish, she chastised herself. She had been only too happy to run away. So easily she had persuaded herself it was because Larka needed her. The reality was, she knew her father was planning to marry her off, not understanding that it wasn’t that she couldn’t find a husband. It was because she didn’t want one; instead, she wanted a life of her own. She wanted freedom. How her mom had given up her freedom to become a queen was beyond Tiana. Jolina must have really loved Tiana’s father, and those two young boys who she treated as her own.
Marriage was not going to play the same trick on Tiana; she wanted to remain free. No husband, definitely no children. She could serve the people of Kalisov in other ways. She had to make her father see that.
A noise close by made her alert, but she didn’t move. The slightest sound could be enough to bring one of those creatures crashing through the dried wood she had piled up against the entrance to her makeshift shelter.
She listened, the silence broken by her heartbeat. It drummed in her chest, pounding in her ears, leaving her straining to hear anything above it. Using small shallow breaths, she tried to calm herself. It might have been nothing: perhaps a small creature sniffing around after food.
Or it might be a big beast who wants to rip your head off.
A vision of the snakelike creature, and its deadly, sharp teeth replayed in her head. Not helping.
Just as she had convinced herself that there was nothing out there interested in her, there was the sound of scuffling footsteps, and then a whoop so loud, it must have been right outside.
The whooping was cut off by the sound of a laser, and replaced by a snarling that made her start, so loud, so vicious, so full of hatred was it. Full of death.
The laser sounded again, followed by a male voice, shouting. “Victor Ulha!”
Who the hell was out there? And who the hell did he think was in here.
“Victor, if you are in there, this would be good time to come out.” He sounded as if he was exerting himself and the steady swish of his laser lance told her he was fighting something, something angry, something that had been stalking her, waiting outside for her to emerge, perhaps?
Or another trick?
A new sound mingled with those of the battle already going on outside. A howl, deep, full of unspeakable rage, made the wood rattle. It wasn’t close, not yet. But she had no doubt it soon would be. This was perhaps her best chance of escape.
Pushing the blanket off, Tiana raised her glowing foot and kicked at the wood piled across the entrance to her not-so-safe sanctuary. As she reached up to wrap her hands around the edge of the tree to pull herself forward, she noted every part of her skin and clothes glowed. She would have been so easy to find, an easy meal for the creature already here, or the one on its way.
Giant thunderous footsteps made the ground tremble, and a crashing sound told her that trees were being crushed underfoot as the thing made its way towards them.
Them. Who was this man? He was fighting a creature, similar to the one in the bog, but with short sturdy legs. Crashing branches told her the other thing heading towards them was perhaps one more step up on the evolutionary ladder. She didn’t want to meet it; she just wanted to get out of here.
“You are not Victor Ulha,” the man said, looking at her with a mixture of surprise and disappointment.
Obviously, she thought, hoping she looked at least female to this monster of a male alien who towered above her. “No, I am not,” she answered.
A swipe from the creature made him direct his attention back to his adversary. “We need to run,” he said, as he jabbed at the whooping creature, whose sinewy neck weaved from one side to the other, looking for a way past the laser that stung it every time it lunged forward in attack.
Tiana’s legs hated the idea of running. Her body had shut down, the cold, and exertion from earlier, zapping all her strength, and so far, her fear of what was coming had not kickstarted her adrenalin.
“Hey. Can you use one of these?” He took out another laser and held it up.
She nodded. “Yes.”
He threw it at her. At first she fumbled it, nearly dropping it to the ground, but her fingers closed around the hilt, her brain telling her she had to wake up or she would be asleep forever. Dead. Tired was no excuse for winding up dead in the ground.
Her thumb flicked the switch to charge it. This was a newer model to the one she had used to spar with her brothers, but those fights had been some time ago, and technology moved on. She briefly thought back to those carefree days, so long ago.
Her eldest brother was married, his wife with child, and an heir to their kingdom, while Cralik was head of the armed forces, no longer in a position to be caught sparring with his younger sister. He was above all childish games now; his role was too important to have his authority undermined by play fighting with his younger sister. That was what he had told her, but she was sure he was simply scared one of his men might see her whooping his ass.
“It’s charged,” he called across to her as the laser went green.
“I know,” she said, and aimed it at the snake creature, firing off two shots, hitting it just below the eye. It reared up at the male alien. Although, at seven-foot-tall, with broad shoulders to match, the creature didn’t quite tower above him. The alien looked as if he could hold his own if it came down to a fight. He appeared to be all muscle, but was light on his feet. He ducked as the creature’s sharp teeth snapped at him, and then weaved to the side, telling her he was fit. Very fit. And used to a good fight.
The creature reacted to her onslaught as she fired two more shots, then hit recharge on the weapon. That gave the male alien a chance to fire his own laser, hitting the creature under its chin. The thing whooped in pain, the ear-splitting sound answered by a roar from the other approaching creature.
“We go. Now.” He fired again and ran towards the beast. Stunned at his bravery, she saw the flash of a blade and the knife in his hand dug into the flesh of the snakelike creature. Blood spurted from the wound. Not red, but the same ph
osphorescence color as the gloop from the bog, as if it was born from the earth itself.
He dodged back out of the way of the glowing bodily fluids. “One of us being lit up like a celestial body is enough, don’t you think?” He grinned and she caught white teeth, but his eyes were dark, almost unreadable, apart from the tinge of blue that flashed across them. He reminded Tiana of the laser, a sparkling current passing through him, bringing him to life.
Taking her hand, he pulled her toward him, and then turned them both around, dragging her with him back towards the bog.
“You know what’s in there, don’t you?” she asked.
“Big teeth, brother of this one?” he asked.
“Yes.” Her legs were not cooperating fully, and she was glad he had hold of her, dragging her away from the monsters. But where were they heading? Who was this mysterious alien?
And more importantly, what did he want with her?
Slowing down and asking him now was not a good idea. The ground still trembled under the footsteps of the big creature who was following them. This tall alien was her best chance of escaping, and once they reached safety, hopefully the safety of his space ship, then she would deal with him.
Her grip around the laser tightened, and she set it to charge, knowing she might very well have to turn it on her rescuer. Because the more she thought about it, the more she figured him being here wasn’t a coincidence.
Someone had shot at her out in space. Had that someone managed to track her as she jumped to light speed? Was that same someone holding her hand, and leading her to his ship? To what?
Tiana had no idea, but she was going to find out, one way or another.
Chapter Seven – Mak
What the hell were those things? He could still hear them, the larger, unseen one especially, it howled, filled with an anger that he didn’t need to be able to understand it to know it was telling them to get off its planet. Which was exactly what he planned to do.
“My rover is just through these trees,” he said, pulling the grid from his pocket and checking the location. If he led them the wrong way, they didn’t stand a chance. Hell, he didn’t know if they stood a chance even if they reached the rover.
They would have to go back across the bog, and the rover did not move fast in hovercraft mode. They would be out in the open and vulnerable. The thing chasing them was fast; he could hear it crashing through the trees, cutting a deep swathe through the ancient forest.
Maybe that creature was even more ancient. It would explain why no one ever settled here permanently. No one probably lived to tell the tale either. He would update Stellia’s data banks accurately when they were safely on board and out of the thing’s reach. This planet should have a giant flashing warning sign hung on it.
That reminded him, Stellia had not sent him a rendezvous point. Did that mean something had happened to his ship? Being stuck here with that thing was not happening—this was not where he was going to die.
Cursing, he looked behind him at the woman he had found, who was glowing like a beacon for anything to see. They had to reach the rover and try to outrun it. Hiding was not an option, not unless she stripped her clothes off and he covered her in his coat. The thought of stripping her drew his eyes to her voluptuous breasts, which were exaggerated by the glowing clothing. If her naked breasts were the last thing he saw before he died, he might die happy.
Mentally kicking himself in the ass, he tightened his grip on her hand and propelled them both forward faster. He was not dying here.
“Keep going, only a couple of hundred feet left to go.” He looked at the taptab and then lifted his head to scan the trees for the rover. It was here somewhere.
Her breathing was labored, coming in short rasping gasps, but he was not going to let her give up. The grim determination of her face told him that choice was not going to be his to make, she had no intention of dying here either. Something in him shifted slightly, this might not be the bounty he was hunting, but if his senses were anything to go by, and he trusted them as much as he trusted Stellia, then she was no ordinary woman. And he intended to interrogate her thoroughly once they were safely off this damn planet.
“Is that it?” she asked, and pointed into the distance.
“Certainly is,” he said. “And not too soon. That thing is gaining on us.” The steady thud of its footfalls had already told him it was still moving, but now he could see its body heat on his taptab. It was gaining on them quickly.
“We have to get on board fast, and try to outrun it,” he shouted, dodging through the trees to the small clearing.
“I’ll ride shotgun,” she said as he pulled the door open at the back of the rover.
“Good idea,” he agreed, pulling himself inside, and then reaching his hand out to help her. She took it, and he could feel the strength in her upper body as she climbed in. “Are you some kind of bounty hunter too?”
She looked up at him, those green eyes flashing and he wondered if he should be as scared of her as he was of the beast that was now within two hundred feet of them. “Don’t you think you can start the engines? Or is this thing eating us for its supper?”
He grinned, thinking how he would very much like to eat her, in the most intimate of ways, and then grabbed the back of his seat and hauled himself into position, slamming his hand on the ignition. Mak grabbed the steering wheel, then his foot hit the gas and they lurched forward. He turned the steering wheel hard, turning them around one hundred and eighty degrees in a split second and then accelerating away. The tires bit into the dirt, sending stones flying upwards, and then as they approached the bog, he switched to hover mode.
Immediately they slowed, the transition from wheels to air slowing them down.
“Stellia,” he called into the radio, worried there were still no rendezvous coordinates flashing up on the screen. Silence. He tried again. “Stellia, do you hear me?”
“Who’s Stellia, your girlfriend, or your accomplice?” the woman yelled from the back of the rover.
“She’s our only hope of getting out of here.”
“I’m so pleased you have at last acknowledged that you need me,” Stellia’s voice said.
“Good to hear from you. Where are you?” he asked, not in the mood for her jibes, but needing her to act fast to pull them out of here. In the back he could hear his new acquaintance letting off a couple of rounds from her laser, followed by an enraged roar from the creature.
“I’m close. I can’t land anywhere, some kind of worm tried to eat me.” She sounded affronted. From Stellia, that was not good.
“So do you have a plan?” he asked.
“Of course.” The withering sarcasm was back, which relieved him.
“Care to share?”
Then in front of him, he saw her big bulk, flying low to the ground, and he knew they were going to board her in the same way he had exited.
Well, if he ever planned to impress a woman, this was it. “Hold tight,” he yelled and throttled forward, as Stellia’s cargo bay opened like a gaping mouth to swallow them up.
Chapter Eight – Tiana
Hold tight! What the hell was he thinking? She looked past him, through the windshield of the rover, to where a ship of some kind was slowing, bringing them onto a collision course.
They were going to die. She could see it, she could feel it, and when she turned back to look out of the rover, she could smell it, the dank stagnant breath of the beast that had somehow caught up with them.
“Hurry!” she yelled, over the howl of the creature. Its jaws were open; she could see its teeth, sharp, jutting out like shards of deadly glass.
Aiming the laser, she let off two rounds, right into its mouth; the thing barely flinched. Risking the laser not being up to full power, but needing to buy them some time, she grabbed hold of the door of the rover, swinging herself outwards to change the angle, and fired at the monster’s eye.
A direct hit. It reeled back, the howl escaping its mouth so loud, it le
ft her ears ringing. She had bought some time but at what cost? The rover was accelerating forward, and she was in danger of being left behind.
“Damn it.” She scrambled back towards the door, looping her leg around the opening and pulling herself back in. The rover jolted forward, and she had to jam her foot against the back panel to stop herself falling back out.
Knowing there was nothing else she could do, and that their fate now rested in the hands of her alien rescuer, not that she would ever call him that to his face, she slammed the door of the rover shut, and hauled herself to the front, sliding into the passenger seat.
“Are you sure you can make it?” Tiana asked.
“Yep.” The concentration on his face was intense. He was checking the speed, lining up the rover with the space ship, while a woman’s voice counted down from ten.
“I’m glad you are so confident,” Tiana said, her knuckles white as she gripped the edge of the control console.
“Well, if I’m wrong, neither of us are going to know anything about it. If I miss, we’re either going to crash and burn, or be eaten by that thing.” He turned to her and grinned. “So I might as well sound as if I know what I’m doing.”
She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
“Do you know a lot about men?” he asked.
“Not the time,” she said. She hated to admit that the only man she wanted to know more about was him. He was so different to anyone else she had met. Even on the planets she had visited with her father, when he decided to drag his lowliest heir around to generate good will, she had never met a man so big, and so, well, charismatic. His smile made her insides squirm, and she figured if her father would find her a man like this to marry for the good of her people, she might just agree with it.
The Princess and her Bounty Hunter: Alien Romance (Fated to the Alien: The Psychic Matchmaker Book 2) Page 4
