by Lisa Lace
Synic's crew was still cleaning up the aftermath of our previous rescue mission. Soldiers worked on machinery and transported raw materials to all levels of the chamber. On the floor, a team of technicians was restoring Synic's weapons and equipment.
The hostages drew attention from my eyes. They were difficult for me to miss, somehow remaining apart from all the distractions in the background. The brides lay in cages suspended from a rail on the second story. Below them, the construction crews had worked to excavate a hole, exposing a pit of sulfurous lava flowing underground.
The beautiful bride on the leftmost cage wept as she stared at the hissing pit below her. The human in the center relentlessly paced inside her cage as she twisted the ends of her bright copper hair. Gabriella's friend, Cheyenne, occupied the final cell. She slouched against the back of the cage, resting her head on her shoulder at an awkward angle. I saw a faint hint of dried blood under her nostrils.
I spotted Synic standing on a platform next to the lava pit, talking with a group of Xylo officials. I slowly looked over the scene again, taking note of all the potential targets. One of the soldiers on the ground had a card that I thought would open the door. Wyla led Gabriella to cover as I activated my communicator.
"Is everyone in position? Let's go."
The heavy metal doors groaned and started to open after I held the ID card next to the scanner. My men burst in from all directions, starting the raid.
The scene changed in an instant. On all levels, Maztek soldiers appeared, shoving the Xylo thugs against the wall. King Jacquim, Dallas, and Kraig moved toward Synic and the officials, raising their weapons and surrounding them. Two brides dropped to their knees and placed their arms over their heads; Cheyenne did not move. Synic raised his hands in surrender and urged his companions to do the same. The perplexed officials reluctantly followed suit.
King Jacquim broke away from the rest of our military. With his gold laser pistol glittering underneath the lights, the king marched toward Synic, only stopping when he reached the platform. He had acquired a pair of restraints somewhere.
"Synic, I am afraid it is the end of the road for you. Hand over your hostages and surrender to us. Let me tell you how this is going to work. As long as you and your men come peacefully with us, there will be no problems. We have you surrounded. It would be foolish to try anything."
It was impossible to decipher what was going on behind Synic's expressionless mask. Synic hung his head in defeat, taking a step forward.
"I don't think so." Without warning, Synic spun around and made a motion with his wrist, pulling a Maztek laser pistol into his hand. Apparent drawing a weapon was the signal for the Xylo resistance force to start fighting back. Synic opened fire around him, and a hail of suppressing blasts came from overhead. They hit two of my men on the second level. I saw their bodies topple over a railing, and I knew they were dead before they even hit the ground. Pandemonium exploded in the chamber, with Xylo and Maztek forces clashing on every level.
Dallas was still injured but extended his wings, grunting as he forced himself into flight. He soared directly to the hostages. Veins popped from his arms as he lowered the cages one at a time to the ground. Two of my men snipped off the locks on the first two cages, picked up the occupants, and headed for the escape hatch.
Overhead, Dallas pulled Cheyenne out from her cage himself. He scooped her into his arms as her thick black hair swept across the floor. As she slowly regained consciousness, Dallas spread his good wing and folded it over her. He made his way to the escape hatch after the other brides, firing at the guards in his path.
A Xylo soldier charged at me, swinging with an iron morning star over his head. But when I shot him in the chest, he fell to the ground. I pulled the spiked mace out of the soldier's grip and flung it in Synic's direction.
The morning star wasn't designed as a throwing weapon. Instead of smashing into Synic's face, it smashed into his cloak, tangling its spikes into the hem. The unexpected weight pulled Synic to his knees. I jumped at the chance to attack and pounced on top of him. I pinned Synic's arms against his body with my legs, immobilizing him as I reached for a set of handcuffs.
This close, I realized there was something odd about Synic. He was more slender than I would have expected. Did he wear a cloak for dramatic effect, or was there a reason he concealed his body? With a frown, I reached for his mask, sliding it off his face and letting it slide into the lava below.
The tyrant in front of me had a smooth face, and sleek, straight black hair. Synic didn't need the mask for health reasons after all. Synic needed the mask to conceal the fact that she was a woman.
I didn't think she was much older than myself. She was definitely from Xylox, but the years spent behind a mask had protected her from the physical deformities common to a native. Her gray-tinged skin revealed red and pink veins in her body. She had wide pupils, so large that they almost drowned out the whites of her eyes. Her eyes defiantly stared at me.
Her gender was irrelevant. Woman or not, this person and her family were responsible for all the Maztek lives needlessly lost and irreparably damaged from the Xylox wars. On a personal level, thoughts of Gabriella, Marshall, Upa, and father sprang to my mind. Thousands of families broken forever.
Synic cried out in anger. "Unhand me, you blood traitor!" Without the voice distortion behind the mask, her voice sounded eerily childlike.
I held Synic's wrists together with one hand, ready to apply the handcuffs, when Gabriella's screams rang out behind me.
"Laz! Look out!"
A shadow loomed behind me. I had to release Synic and roll off her. On my back, I could see what the threat was: a bulky Xylo soldier, unarmed but ready to kill with his hands. I pulled out my pistol and shot him twice in the chest. He fell backward and crashed to the ground, twitching.
"Oh my God!" Gabriella cried out behind me. "Laz, are you okay?"
I leaped to my feet as I caught sight of two soldiers approaching Gabriella. I needed to protect her more than I needed to feed my lust for revenge. I fired at the new threat and reached for her arm, pulled her in tightly.
"What are you doing here? Where's Wyla?"
"I don't know."
The sound of a door closing made us both turn our heads. We saw part of a torn red cloak slip through an escape hatch.
Chapter Eighteen
GABRIELLA
No one felt the need to explain everything to the Earth girl, but from the pieces of eavesdropped conversation I overheard, the Xylo soldiers who kidnapped me had also damaged the communication systems and engines of the Maztek shuttles. They said other things too, but it was all too technical for me. All I knew for sure was that the shuttles were temporarily unfit for travel. A repair crew was constantly working to service the spaceships and get them running as soon as possible. At a minimum, it looked like we were stuck on Xylox until dawn.
We had joined three tents together, making a relatively large space under the linked roofs. Inside the tents, the air had the taste of hesitant excitement. Synic had escaped, but the Xylo high command were now Maztek prisoners, ready to go to trial. The Maztek considered the battle an interim victory. After they delivered the human brides to Maztek, they planned to come back and permanently deal with the Synic problem.
I poured a small helping of stew into a bowl. The rich red stew was nice and thick, floating with meat chunks, potatoes, and fragrant spices. I had hit my physical limit over the past few days trying to evade the Xylo, and I felt like I could eat everything here by myself.
The cooking crew had pushed folding tables together and laid out platters of barbecued meat, vibrant salads, sweet cakes, and drinks on them. A few of the army men had brought out some musical instruments, providing live tunes for the get-together. King Jacquim wasn't afraid to dance by himself. He flipped over an empty fuel barrel, drumming along to the beat.
Two human brides sat together in a corner of the tent, talking among themselves behind brimming plates of food
. I smelled the aroma of freshly washed hair behind me.
"Hey, you."
An arm swooped in and squeezed me from behind. I set my bowl down on the side of the table and turned around. Cheyenne stood before me, beaming. Her right arm was in a sling, and she had changed into a loose long-sleeved nightgown. The swelling on her eye and busted lip had gone down considerably, but the bruising on her face was still prominent. My eyes welled up as I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"I can't believe you made it. We owe everything to the Maztek military." I broke away from her, pulling out strands of her hair from my mouth.
"Dallas said you wouldn't leave without being part of the team to get me." Her voice was still raspy from all her screaming. I felt a sharp prick in my chest. I hadn't known Cheyenne for a long time, but she was my best friend out in space. "I don't know how to thank you. I don't think I could have held on for much longer if the Mazteks hadn't shown up when they did. I was ready to jump."
"Are you kidding me? I would have done it again if I had to. We're about to start a new life on a new planet. I need a friend to hang with, go for an ice cream social with, compare alien cock sizes, whatever."
"Ice cream socials, huh? That does sound like a peachy good time." Cheyenne's eyes twinkled. She sighed, and her smile vanished. "The fact of the matter is, I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay on Maztek."
"What do you mean?"
"It turns out my husband thought I was one of the brides who died in the crash." Cheyenne shrugged, but her voice was thick with disappointment. "He went ahead and got himself a new bride already. We've only been away from Earth for less than a week. I'm not bitter, but my citizenship converted back to a visitor's visa. King Jacquim told me he could extend it a little longer. Hopefully, a royal edict will help grease the wheels. I hear it's a tedious process."
As my gaze floated over Cheyenne's shoulders, a smile returned to my face. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Cheyenne furrowed her brows and turned around, following my line of sight. Sargeant Major Dallas sat across the room with a handful of his comrades. The soldiers tipped back mugs of ale as they played an obscure game with several pieces of four-sided Maztek dice.
"Dallas?"
"He's looked over here four times since we've started talking." I ran my tongue over my lips. "Trust me. I've been here for half an hour, and he didn't take his eyes off the game until you came around."
"I should go over there and thank him, shouldn't I? I mean, he did get me out of that horrible place," Cheyenne said thoughtfully, nibbling on her thumbnail. She nodded, answering her question. "Yeah, I should. I guess I'll see you a little later then."
"Make sure you do everything you possibly can to thank him."
Cheyenne tentatively started moving toward the handsome Zagwog soldier. I picked up my bowl and reached for a spoon from the utensil station, leaning against the table. Mindlessly stirring but not eating any of the perfectly good soup, my eyes wandered around the tent.
My face froze when I spotted Wyla and Laz. Quietly, I inched toward the tent pillar closest to me. I partially concealed myself behind the pillar as I shoveled a spoonful of stew into my mouth.
Wyla couldn't relax. She stood at attention, with her arms behind her and her feet apart. Her bouncing pink hair was the only thing that moved when she spoke. The more I looked at her oddly-colored hair, the more it reminded me of cotton candy. It was strange – as I stayed away from Earth longer, unusual sights began to trigger memories of the most insignificant things from back home. I didn't even like the sticky pink treat but knowing that I no longer had the option to decline the candy made me want it all the more.
Laz's brooding face didn't change expression as he stormed out of the tent.
"I'm sorry I let her get away from me, General," Wyla called out after him. "You have my word it will not happen again."
I left my bowl on the table and hurried towards Wyla.
"I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble."
She glanced up at me, her violet eyes flashing angrily. "Not now, Gabriella."
Wyla deliberately moved away from me and stalked off to the drink station. Sighing, I hung my head. Maybe I would have better luck with Laz. Not wanting to burst any bubbles with a bad attitude, I navigated past the celebrating army men with a smile plastered on my face. After halfheartedly obliging the King with a round of a Maztek folk dance that I didn't know, I finally made it out of the tent.
The music and gaiety faded into the night as I moved across the site. I rubbed my arms, shivering in the cold. Laz's quarters were in an exclusive area. King Jacquim, Laz, and the brides were the only ones with private tents. The rest of the crew were sharing rooms together. They were rotating shift duties for shuttle repairs and guarding the campsite.
I lingered for a while in front of the tent. When I finally gathered my courage, I pulled back one side of the opening and peered inside.
"Can I come in?"
"If you must." Laz grunted.
I slipped quickly into the tent but promptly froze after I entered. Laz was naked from the waist up, bench-pressing a barbell with four heavy weights on both sides. Every hollow of his abs and every jutting vein on his sweaty tanned muscles gleamed with sweat. I turned away, not wanting to seem creepy but wanting to look back at the same time.
"I'm sorry. I can return later if you're busy."
Laz put down the barbell and sat up, reaching for a towel next to him.
"Do you need something?"
I folded my hands. "I saw you with Wyla earlier. I thought you should take it easy on her. It wasn't her fault. The Xylo soldiers came out of nowhere, and she was fighting them off. I saw the other soldier coming up on you. I reacted without thinking."
"You should have stayed where you were like I ordered you to." Laz rubbed a towel over his face and chest. "I was close to getting that fucker, but she still got away."
"I don't know what to say," I muttered. I took a deep breath. "I'm not sure how many more times I can apologize to you before the universe explodes. You guys saved all the human brides. Doesn't that count for something, even if Synic is still roaming free?" I held my breath. I didn't know if it counted for anything in Laz's book.
"You're right." Laz shifted in his seat and leaned forward. The bench creaked under his weight. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. It's not Wyla's fault. It's not even Synic's fault. I have no one to blame but myself. The General of one of the most elite forces in the galaxy choked under pressure.
"Move over." I prodded him with my finger until he made space for me, then I sat next to him on the bench, crossing my legs. "Are you refusing to join us in the other tent so you can have a pity party for yourself in here? Shit happens that we don't have any control over. Many things could have made a person freeze. Realizing Synic was a woman after thinking she was a man your entire life and reacting to the daughter of the asshole who killed your family were both terrible things. You shouldn't blame yourself for the one time out of a hundred you make a mistake. Instead, you should celebrate the times you succeed."
Laz exhaled from the corner of his mouth, stroking his beard. "It could be because I'm exhausted, but I think you're starting to make a lot of sense."
"Funny," I snorted, raising my hand to punch him lightly on the arm. Laz caught my fist and squeezed it. I laughed, biting my lip. "Damn you and your cat-like reflexes."
I blushed as I gazed into the green ocean in his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn he fully intended to look at me with a smoldering expression that set my body on fire. As he let go of my hand, I let my palm fall on his knee. He didn't move it away.
I tilted my head and leaned closer to him, licking my lips seductively. Laz said nothing, but I could see he was breathing faster. Once I was close enough to feel the soft hairs of his beard tickle my chin, I pressed my lips against his, kissing him deeply.
As soon as our lips connected, I felt something. It was like all our pe
nt-up sexual energy came crashing through a dam.
Laz spun me around on the bench, prying open my legs, and pulling me close to him. He licked my bottom lip and sucked it hungrily. My tongue desperately invaded his mouth as I ran my hands over every delectable inch of his toned chest. I whimpered, feeling a trickle of my juices beginning to moisten my panty lining.
I pulled my mouth away from his, moving behind his ear. I ran my tongue across the cartilage of his ear and down his earlobe, following the natural progression to his neck and chest. I could taste the faint trace of brine from his hot, sweaty workout on my tongue. The insides of my thighs quivered eagerly. I was ready for more. The taste and touch of the raw masculine form in front of me was quickly becoming too much to handle.
"Hold on," I purred in his ear. "Let me make it easier for you."
I crawled away from him and hopped off the bench. Laz stared intently, his eyes boring into me as he watched every move I made. I pulled the zipper of my jumpsuit all the way down to my belly button. I seductively wiggled my shoulders, sliding out of the jumpsuit, which fell to my ankles. I felt the rush of cold air brush against my bare flesh. Covering my breasts with my arm, I sat daintily on the opposite end of the bench, cradling the seat between my legs.
With a wink, I lowered my arm to my side, exposing my chest to the cold air and Laz. My breasts spilled out clumsily. The nipples were erect and pointed directly at him. I eased my legs apart, nudging my hips forward. The wetness leaking out of my quivering pussy lips left a shiny damp mark on the bench.
My rasping moans cut through the air as I taunted him. I pushed two of my fingers through my lips and swirled them around my mouth to lubricate them. Then I circled my wet fingertips around my nipples before moving between my legs. I played with the button of my clit before rubbing up and down my slippery folds.
"I'm nice and wet."
There was no going back now. I knew my body possessed the power to make him do anything. I had him in the palm of my hand. This knowledge filled me with an electrifying force, energizing every move.
