They turned the corner of the building and Samira stopped short. The other women stopped around her and she knew that they were seeing what she was. Ahead of them she could see movement in the shadows of the building. Samira stretched her arm out to block the other women from moving further. They crouched down closer to the ground, staying close to the wall. The movement in the distance divided into four distinct figures and Samira felt a sudden surge of anger. Her husband, her mate, was somewhere in this building and she needed to get to him. If these figures had anything to do with it, she wasn’t going to back down.
Samira stood and stepped out of the shadow of the wall. Her focus narrowed on the figures and she started toward them. Suddenly she saw a flicker of something appear near the figures, then disappear. She took another step and it appeared again. This time it remained and she could see that it was a strange car parked close to the building. The figures stepped closer to it, moving further into the light, and she noticed that one of them looked extremely large, the size of a Denynso warrior, while the other three were smaller. They were walking around the car, examining it carefully. She wanted to call out to them, but at the same moment she didn’t want to announce her presence yet.
Suddenly one of the smaller figures stepped fully into the light and Samira realized that it was a woman. As if she could feel Samira’s eyes on her, the woman stopped and turned to look at her. She looked startled and stepped back against the car, reaching over the hood toward the massive figure still partially in the shadows. It stepped forward into the light and took her hand over the hood, then looked toward Samira. The impact of his gaze took Samira’s breath from her chest. She felt like her legs were going to give out beneath her, but she had to keep standing to continue looking at him, to ensure that she was seeing what she thought she was. It had been so long, but she knew the curve of his face and the smile that came to his lips when he seemed to recognize her.
“Jem.”
She thought that she had yelled out to him. She wanted to call out to him, but the name had come out only as a whisper. Zuri came up beside her and she felt the other woman’s hand grip hers at her side. Jem came around the side of the vehicle and an instant later they were running toward each other. The warrior swept Samira into a hug and she immediately felt the intense heat coming from his skin. It wasn’t as searing as it would have been if she didn’t have a mate, but it was enough that she needed to step back from him. This was a protective feature embedded in the genes of the Denynso. Once one of the men found their mate, his skin became unbearably hot to the touch of any other woman. It often lessened the longer that he was bonded to his mate, which meant that Jem’s bond was likely very new.
“You’re alive!” she said as she stepped back from him and looked up into his smiling face. “How? How is this possible?”
“Samira, it is so good to see you. Zuri, Leia. I can’t believe you’re here. There’s so much to tell you, and I’ll explain it all, but right now we need to find the others. They need our help.”
“The others?” Zuri asked. “You know that they’re here?”
The three others who had been near the car with Jem came up behind him, looking at the women curiously. The younger of the two men looked slightly familiar to Samira, but she couldn’t place him.
“This is Rilex,” Jem said, gesturing toward the older of the men. “He told me that two unauthorized vehicles appeared here. One is a shuttle and this is the other one,” he pointed toward the car. “He thinks that they’re from Uoria.”
“A shuttle?” Samira asked. “Another shuttle?”
“Another?” Jem asked. “What do you mean?”
“We arrived on a shuttle several days ago, but that was an authorized trip. If there is an unauthorized shuttle here, that means that others have come.”
“The more of the Denynso who are here, the more danger there is,” Rilex said.
“He’s right,” Samira said. “Ryan is luring us all here. This isn’t just about Lysander.”
“Lysander?” Jem asked.
Samira felt her stomach turn slightly. He hadn’t been there when Pyra and Eden’s baby was born. Lysander had become such an integral part of the clan as a whole that it was difficult to think of them without him, but she realized that in his mind that was the way things were. He didn’t know of any of the changes that had happened on the planet or within the clan since that last battle, from the moment that he disappeared from them.
“Eden and Pyra’s son,” she said.
“Their son,” he said with a soft smile.
Samira nodded.
“He was born a few months after you…” she paused, not knowing what to say. She was so accustomed to thinking of the moment when he threw himself into the sky in Loralia’s realm as his death, but now he was standing before her and she had to change the way she thought. “After you left. Now Ryan has him.”
She could see the panic rise in Jem’s eyes.
“What?” he asked. “Why does Ryan have him?”
“We don’t know. He sent creatures to my wedding and stole the baby.”
“Your wedding.”
It was another moment of painful reality.
“Ty and I got married,” she told him.
“Congratulations,” he said uncertainly. He reached behind him to take the hand of the woman she had first seen beside the car and guide her up to stand beside him. “This is Angela, my mate.”
Samira nodded at Angela, but didn’t greet her. They would have time to talk later. For now, they were letting precious moments slip away from them.
“Do you know where they are?” Samira asked. “You said Rilex knew the vehicles were here. Does he know where they’ve gone?”
“No,” Jem said, “but he has an idea.”
Samira listened as Rilex explained the plans of the building and pointed out a section that could be covering a building that had been abandoned many years before. It was something that she would never have considered, but she had no other idea. There was no other option.
“How do we get to that section of the building, though?” Samira asked.
“If it’s sealed off so that none of us even knew that it existed, how would they have gotten to it?”
“I don’t know,” Rilex said. “We’re just going to have to look.”
“What about the locks?” Leia asked. “We’ll only be able to access certain parts of the building using Zuri and Samira’s codes.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Rilex said. “Where are the master controls.”
“They would have to be in the main administrative office,” Zuri said. “But none of us have authorization to the controls.”
“Just show me where to find them,” he said. “I’ll handle it from there.”
From the moment that they stepped into the laboratory building, Samira felt the energy shift again. It was thicker here, more intense, and she felt like there were eyes on her from every direction. They were walking through the darkened main hallway when she heard a scuffling sound behind her. She turned and saw a shrouded figured come around the corner. Something glistened by its side and it started toward them aggressively. Jem turned and leapt at it, directing the impact of his shoulder directly into the creature’s gut. There was a gasping sound as they hit the floor and Samira felt someone grab at her wrist.
“Come on,” Zuri insisted. “Now!”
Jem was still thrashing on the ground with the creature but she let Zuri pull her so that they started running down the hall in the direction of the administrative office. Rilex pressed an access chip to the sensor at the side of the door and she was stunned to hear it click open. As they streamed into the office she could hear thudding footsteps behind her and when she glanced over her shoulder she was relieved to see Jem coming toward her. There was a streak of blood along his arm, but he didn’t seem injured.
As if they could still feel the breath of the creature on their necks, they ran through each phase of the office until they reac
hed a massive steel door that protected the main controls of the building. Rilex pressed his access chip to the sensor, but it didn’t respond. Samira felt her stomach sink. Rilex took a breath.
“Step back,” he said. “Turn your back and close your eyes.”
“What are you going to do?” Samira asked.
“Please just do it,” Rilex said sternly. “We don’t have time for explanations.”
Samira saw Jem take Angela by the hand and guide her to the other side of the room. The man who had come along with them followed and they turned their backs to Rilex without hesitation, as if they knew what he was planning on doing. Samira, Zuri, Leia, and Valeria followed and took their places beside the others. Samira felt herself drawing close to her mother, seeking out the same level of comfort that she would have when she was a small child. Valerie reached down and held her hand, squeezing it tightly. For the first time in so long, she was the strong one.
Samira closed her eyes and almost immediately heard a deafening blast from behind her accompanied by a searing light that brought her hands up to cover her closed eyes. It intensified until she thought it would burn through her and then finally darkened again. She felt breathless and it took a moment before the disorientation faded and she could move again. Turning back toward the steel door she saw that it was standing open, the sensor now melted and smoking. She ran past it into the room with the main controls and found Rilex standing over them, examining them.
“Do you know how to work them?” he asked.
Samira shook her head.
“No. Only authorized administration does.”
“When I tell you to, I need you to leave the office as fast as you can. Go back out to the main hallway.”
Samira nodded her agreement and Rilex returned the gesture. She watched as he reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a small pouch that was dangling from a cord around his neck. He reached into it and withdrew what looked like a tiny pebble. Rilex settled the pebble into a crevice in the main control panel, then leaned down and blew onto it.
“Go,” he said.
Samira started out of the office and took only a second to glance back over her shoulder. She saw Rilex blowing on the pebble again, and where it was rested in the panel had begun to glow. The illumination began to intensify quickly and Rilex began to run toward her. They wove their way back through the office and out into the main hallway. They had just reached the body of the creature that attacked them when she heard another blast that made the building shudder and made her body feel almost liquid. Around her the air dissolved into the buzz of an alarm and a nearby panel in the wall flashed a red message.
Main Controls Deactivated. All Units Unlocked. Main Controls Deactivated. Please Utilize Alternative Security.
Whatever Rilex had done it had destroyed the main controls of the building, releasing all of the locks throughout it. They could now move through the building freely, but that still meant that they had to find their way to the abandoned section.
Chapter Twelve
Dizziness swept over Ivy and she felt her body sway. Arms caught her and started guiding her away from the panic room and back into the main chamber of the shuttle. When she felt the soft cushion of the lounge chair beneath her she opened her eyes and saw Lila standing over her. Her cool hand brushed across Ivy’s forehead and she gave a gentle, knowing smile.
“Rest,” she whispered. “You have more to think about than the rest of us.”
Ivy was surprised by the revelation, but she reminded herself that this woman was not only Mikana as they thought her to be when they met her in the kingdom. Instead she was a descendant of the Eteri, a beautiful and mysteriously skilled blend that allowed her to sense what was within those she came near. In that moment, she was utilizing her skill quite literally, sensing not just her, but the tiny child that she carried. She had told only Maxim, agreeing that they should wait to tell the others until after the conflict. Enough of her own thoughts and concentration were focused on her pregnancy. She knew that if she told any of the others about the baby that they, too, would worry about her and right then they needed each of them to be fully focused on the challenges that lay ahead.
“Please don’t say anything,” she said.
Lila shook her head.
“Of course not.”
Ivy had just let out a relieved breath when Elise rushed into the chamber. Her cheeks were high with color and her fists were clenched by her side. She strode heavily across the chamber until she reached the windows and then turned back around, taking another few steps before stopping. She looked like she wanted to say something, but the fury she was feeling was preventing the words from forming. Rain quickly came in after her and rested a hand to her back.
“How could they do this?” Elise finally said. “How could they just hide?”
Ivy looked at the entrance to the kitchen but didn’t see the three men who had been in the panic room.
“Where are they?” she asked. “You didn’t put them back in there, did you?”
Rain shook her head.
“No. They went back to their quarters to take showers and change clothes. I don’t think that they want to be seen in their uniforms right now.”
“I don’t blame them,” Ivy said. “I will admit, though, that it disturbs me a little that there were three men onboard that we didn’t even know were here. I mean, I knew that the ship had a crew when we got on it, but after we landed here, I just assumed…” her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “I don’t know what I assumed. They were just gone and I didn’t think about them again. Maybe part of me thought that the Valdicians had killed them.”
“Like when Leia was headed to Uoria,” Rain said.
Ivy nodded.
“Who’s Leia?” Elise asked.
“The men in the panic room,” Ivy said.
“Elon, Avery, and Michael?” Elise asked.
“Yes. One of them said that there had been a hijacking before and that’s why they implemented all of the safety protocols.”
“Yes,” Elise said. “That was Avery, the pilot.”
“Leia was on the ship that was hijacked,” Ivy explained. “It was taken over by Klimnu when they were headed to Uoria. They killed the pilot and the crew and then took Leia captive. They held her in a prison on Uoria for months before Elianna discovered her and brought her back to the compound.”
“So, they designed safety protocols that would protect the crew, but not the passengers?” Elise asked.
“Apparently,” Rain said.
“I’m sorry.” Ivy turned toward the voice and saw Avery step cautiously into the room. He was dressed in casual clothes now, but he still carried himself with the stiff formality of a pilot. “I shouldn’t have gone into the panic room. The others were following my command, and I take full responsibility for it. I should have stayed out with the rest of you and faced whatever happened.”
“You have no loyalty to us,” Rain said. “There’d be no reason for you to do anything but exactly what you did: save yourself.”
“It doesn’t matter who I give my loyalty to,” Avery contended. “I am the pilot of this ship and I should be the one that leads it no matter what happens.”
“Maxim is our leader,” Ivy said. “Even if you had stayed out, it wouldn’t have changed that. You don’t know what you’re facing.”
“You are the one who condemned us for hiding,” he said, starting to sound angrier. “You pointed out that there were so many species out there right now unified and fighting, and that none of you ever hid.”
“I know what I said,” Ivy told him calmly, “and I know what I’m saying now. You did as you were told and that is probably the best choice to have made, even if it wasn’t the courageous choice. You wouldn’t have known what to do even if you had chosen to stay. You pilot pleasure cruises. This is war.”
The man looked stung and he seemed to be getting ready to say something to her, but a loud knock on the door to the shuttle silenced h
im. His face went pale and he looked as though he wanted to run back into the panic room. Elise walked over to the door and stood close to it.
“Yes?” she called.
“Elise, it’s us,” Kyven’s voice called from the other side of the thick metal. “Unlock the door.”
Ivy turned to Rain, who nodded.
“It’s them and it’s safe. There isn’t anyone with them.”
“How does she know that?” Avery asked.
“My mate is out there with them,” Rain answered. “He can communicate with me through his thoughts. No one else can hear them. If one of the hybrids had captured them and was trying to get inside with them so that they could overtake us and the ship, he would be able to tell me without them knowing and I would tell Elise to keep them doors locked. I guess you can call that our safety protocol.”
Ivy watched as Elise input the codes to release the lock on the door and opened it. Maxim stepped in and moved out of the way to allow Zyyr inside. Kyven was draped across his shoulders and though his eyes were open, Ivy could see that the Mikana man was not well.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, standing from the lounge and crossing to Maxim. “Was he hurt in the fall?”
The rest of the group came inside and Elise promptly closed the door, inputting the codes again to lock them inside.
“There was something in the quarry with them,” Maxim explained. “Some kind of creature. It attacked him.”
“There were toxins on its fangs or claws,” Lynx said. “We tried the healing ointments that we brought with us, but it’s still influencing him. It’s getting stronger. We need to get the wounds completely clean and dress them again.”
The Alien's Return (Uoria Mates IV Book 1) Page 9
