Alien Sacrifice (Zerconian Warriors Book 9)

by Sadie Carter

  She paused, turning to look back at him in shock. “What was that?”

  “I do not know.”

  “I’m getting out of here.” She strode off, moving quickly. But he had much longer legs and easily caught up to her as she exited the medical building.

  “Wait,” he commanded.

  She kept walking. “No.”

  He paused in shock. No? Well, she was human. What did he expect? They were an undisciplined race.

  “Stop. I command you.”

  She held up her middle finger and kept on walking. He did not know what that meant, but he had the impression it was a disrespectful gesture. Perhaps he should attend those seminars that Mila held about understanding human culture.

  “Annabel, you will stop. I wish to speak to you.”

  “You know what they say if wishes were horses…”

  “No. What do they say?” And who were they?

  She did pause then and looked up at him. “Actually, I don’t really know.” She shrugged then kept moving. “It’s not important, what is important is that you can command me all you like, but I don’t have to do what you say.”

  He reached out to grab her arm, and she swung, moving into a crouch and bringing her arms up to cover her body. He stared down at her in shock. She almost looked as though she was prepared to fight him. But that was ludicrous.

  Wasn’t it?

  But there was no mistaking the look of determination on her face. The way she watched him carefully, warily, but with confidence.

  This was not the shy, timid female he knew. In fact, she hadn’t acted that way all night. At least, not with him.

  “Anna—”

  “Is everything okay here?”

  Macon looked up, shocked to see Lucy moving towards them, her face filled with concern as she stared back and forth between them. How had he not heard her approach them? What was it about Annabel that stole his entire focus? It was unforgivable. He was a warrior. He was supposed to always be on alert.

  “Everything is well,” he told Lucy.

  He turned to Annabel, expecting her to reiterate that everything was fine. Instead, she shocked him by turning and almost throwing herself into Lucy’s arms. Lucy stumbled back a few steps but kept her balance as Annabel sobbed against her.

  Sobbed.

  What was happening? Less than a minute ago, she’d looked as fierce as any warrior. Now she was sobbing like her heart was breaking. And Lucy was glaring up at him as though he were to blame.

  He wasn’t, was he?

  Uncertainty raced through him. What should he do? Should he try to hug her? But she had her arms wrapped around Lucy. There was no way of separating them gently. And then what would he do once he had? He didn’t know how to soothe an upset female.

  Macon could feel sweat gathering on his brow, panic swirled through his stomach.

  “I think you’d better go, Macon,” Lucy told him.

  Go? Go where? Go and get help?

  “Go home,” Lucy added, a little more gently. “I don’t think Annabel wishes to speak to you right now.”

  “If you are certain?”

  He did not want to leave her.

  “It is for the best.” Lucy gave him a firm look.

  Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he nodded and moved away.

  He could still hear her sobs in his ears as he returned to his small house. He lived higher up than most, preferring the privacy. His house jutted out from the cliff face, a steep drop leading off the balcony, which ran half the length of the house. He rubbed at his forehead as he moved out onto his balcony.

  Confusion filled him. His mind raced as he went through the whole evening. There was something tugging at him again. Feeling surprisingly exhausted, he sat back on a chair.

  Images raced through his head. Annabel standing in the distance, smiling at something someone said. Annabel racing off towards Norman as he struggled in the ocean. Annabel staring up at him, her hair wet and tangled, her clothing molded to her body. He groaned out loud, sitting forward as his cock throbbed. He imagined sliding his shaft inside her. Touching, kissing her. Holding her. Caring for her.

  No. She was not for him.

  Hagartha was. And yet he had never once imagined joining with Hagartha. He hadn’t even kissed her. He got up and paced. There was something he was missing. What was it?

  Annabel fainting in his arms. The feel of her body against his. Her scent surrounding him. Annabel watching him, her eyes filled with fire and confusion.

  Her eyes.

  She hadn’t been wearing her glasses. Yet she hadn’t acted like she couldn’t see. In fact, she’d had her glasses off when she’d seen Norman take off. She’d hadn’t been wearing them in the water. They must have fallen off. She hadn’t been wearing them when she’d strode out of the medical ward.

  Clearly, she didn’t need them to see so why did she wear them?

  What was going on? Why would she pretend she couldn’t see? Why did she act so timid around others and yet she’d nearly attacked him for touching her?

  There was something going on. Something he was pretty certain he was not going to like.

  ***

  She was most definitely going to hell. In fact, she kinda thought she was already there. Annabel turned and slumped back against the door to her room, letting herself slide down it. She wrapped her arms around her bent legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

  Her trainers always said learning to cry on command would be a handy tool to have. She’d scoffed, telling them she’d rather fight than cry her way out of her situation.

  Well, she had to eat her words now.

  Lucy had been a godsend, helping her get out of a tricky situation. Shit. She had totally blown her cover. Shy, timid Annabel wouldn’t flip the bird to Macon. She wouldn’t stride off, ignoring his commands, and she definitely wouldn’t have nearly attacked him for touching her.

  She banged her head against her knees. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  What was she going to do? Macon had to be suspicious of her. Although he hadn’t even realized she’d been moving around fine without her glasses the whole time, so maybe he wasn’t as observant as she thought. Racar hadn’t noticed, either.

  Lucy had, though. She’d kindly asked if Annabel needed her to guide her home. Annabel had gratefully agreed, inwardly freaking out as she’d realized for the first time that she didn’t have her glasses on.

  “Of all the stupid, foolish things to do.” She banged her head back against the door. “Idiot. Idiot.” Maybe she’d gotten away with it. Maybe her cover wasn’t blown. But she couldn’t take that chance. She needed to get out of here. Now.

  That transporter that was leaving the day after tomorrow was going to have her on it and she didn’t care what Rich thought about that. Until then, she’d just remain in her bedroom and pretend to be ill. That was all she could do.

  Her tablet dinged, and she rolled her eyes. “Could this night get any worse?” Sighing, she grabbed her tablet and placed her thumbprint over the sensor to unlock her tablet. Then she entered the twenty-two digit passcode. Maybe by the time she unlocked her tablet, he would give up and go away.

  Nope. No such luck.

  She tapped on the incoming call and Rich’s voice blasted out at her. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for the last hour!”

  “Hi to you too, Rich,” she said tiredly. This was the last thing she needed. “Listen, I haven’t had time to check for bugs—”

  “I rattled him!”

  “What?” she asked as she quickly set up the bug scanner. She didn’t think she would find anything, but it always paid to be careful.

  “Duncan. I caught him out in a lie.”

  “You did?” The scanner beeped. All clear. Thank God because Rich was headed off on one of his rants.

  “Yep. I bribed one of his people, and they gave me a document that clearly showed the amount he’d told everyone had been spent on sending the transporter t
o Zerconia was considerably less than the actual cost. Oooh, you should have seen his face.”

  She sat up, her heart beat racing. “You didn’t.”

  “Yes, of course, I did.”

  “Rich! I thought you agreed you wouldn’t make any moves until I was away from here.” Jesus, what had he been thinking?

  “I didn’t use anything you gave me. How could I when you haven’t given me jack shit?”

  “Yeah, but they’re gonna wonder where you got the information.” And she had a funny feeling one of the documents she’d downloaded had outlined the cost of sending the transporter of women to Zerconia.

  “Damn it, Rich, what if they grow suspicious of me!” But what did it matter if she’d decided to leave anyway?

  “I thought you would be happy for me.” God, he could be like a petulant child sometimes. “Relax,” he told her carelessly. “I sent the document to another Councillor, anonymously. Nothing will come back on either one of us. You are my sister I would do anything to protect you.”

  She snorted. “That’s the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard.”

  “Annabel!”

  God and now he sounded offended. “What about the person you bribed? What if they blab?”

  “Don’t worry, I paid them enough to keep them quiet.”

  “Just be more careful, Rich. I’ve got to stay here for two more days and I can’t afford for you to make them suspicious of me.”

  “What do you mean, two more days? You’re staying until you find something I can use.”

  Now, this was the Rich she was used to.

  “I can’t stay. I think I’ve compromised my cover.”

  “What? Haven’t you just been lecturing me about that very thing?” There was accusation in his voice, and she couldn’t blame him. He was right. She had fucked up.

  “I can’t stay any longer.”

  “Of course you can. You said you think you’ve compromised your cover. That doesn’t mean you know for sure. You’re probably imagining things.”

  No, she wasn’t.

  “I’m coming home, Rich. Deal with it.” She ended the call.

  He tried to contact her so many times during the night that she actually turned her tablet off, something she never did. It didn’t help her sleep, though. There were too many thoughts running through her head.

  And every time she closed her eyes, Macon was there. Teasing her. Tempting her. Arousing her.

  Damn him.

  Chapter Four

  “You have a leak.”

  Macon had to force himself not to react, knowing that High-Councillor Duncan had a 360-degree view of the room, even though he was staring straight at Dex, who sat behind his large desk in his office. The holographic image of High-Councillor Duncan blinked in and out. Earth’s technology was not as advanced as the Zerconians was.

  “Excuse me?” Dex asked, looking remarkably calm considering what High-Councillor Duncan had just accused him of. Koran, who stood across the room, frowned and Darac folded his arms across his chest. They’d all been in a meeting when the councilor had interrupted. Normally, he would have to go through Annabel, but she had not come in this morning. Dex said she was ill. Worry stirred through Macon. He wondered if he could get away to check up on her.

  No. It was best he stayed away from her entirely.

  “Yesterday, in front of our general assembly, I had one of our councilors challenge the number I previously released regarding the total cost of sending that ship of women to Zerconia. The number I released was one I believed to be correct. I have since learned that one of my staff members changed the number. Now, I look like a liar and a fool. I have since fired that member of my staff.”

  Uh-huh. Macon didn’t believe a word of that. He had never fully trusted High-Councillor Duncan.

  “What about that leads you to believe that we have a spy?” Dex asked coolly. The other man didn’t seem to notice the chill in Dex’s voice.

  “I demanded that this councilor gives me his proof. When he provided a document of the budget, I originally thought that one of my staff had leaked it to him. Then I realized that I had also sent this document to you. So equally, this could have been leaked on your side.”

  “You think one of my people leaked this information to this councilor? How? We do not know this councilor. And why would we do anything to undermine our agreement?”

  “Your ambassador has met this councilor before.”

  Koran growled and took a step forward. Dex discreetly waved him back. Koran stilled, but he had a ferocious look on his face. The councilor was lucky he wasn’t physically here. Macon saw him swallow nervously.

  “I would prefer that you did not accuse my people without evidence. Especially as Mila is a very close friend.” There was steel running through Dex’s voice, and High-Councillor Duncan actually took a step back despite the fact he wasn’t even in the same room.

  “Of course, of course, I wasn’t actually accusing Mila. Just pointing out that there could be a possibility of a leak on your side. You need to investigate.”

  “Which I will do. I will be in touch.” Dex ended the call abruptly. Then he stood with a growl.

  “How dare he accuse my mate of such,” Koran snarled. “If he was here-”

  “Koran,” Dex interrupted. “Nobody believes Mila would leak any information.”

  Koran nodded, but Macon could still see he was furious.

  “But could someone else have?” Darac asked.

  “Why would anyone?” Koran answered. “What interest is it of ours if High-Councillor Duncan wishes to lie? The leak has to be from within his own people.”

  “The information could hurt our relationship with Earth,” Dex said, his brow furrowed.

  “You think it could be someone here who does not agree with the alliance?” Koran asked. “But who?”

  Dex rubbed his forehead. “First, we need to discover who had access to the information. Then we can narrow down who it could be.”

  “It was not one of us,” Koran stated, loyally. “It must have been one of the humans.”

  Macon found himself nodding even as his stomach tightened, his instincts tingling.

  “I wish Annabel was here today, she could easily track down who had access to that document,” Dex said.

  His instincts screamed.

  “Annabel had access to the document?” he asked in a low voice. She couldn’t be the spy. She was too timid.

  She’s not timid around you.

  But why would she leak that document?

  Dex frowned. “No, actually. The document came through when Hagartha was my personal assistant.”

  Relief filled him, the intensity of the feeling catching him by surprise. Why did he care if Annabel had leaked the information? She was nothing to him. Nothing at all.

  “It would not have been Hagartha,” he said, feeling he should support his future mate. He ignored the uneasiness in his stomach. He still had to have a talk with Hagartha about her actions the previous night.

  Dex shook his head. “We cannot keep guessing at who it could be. We need proof.”

  “Proof that it is none of our people,” Koran stated firmly.

  Dex nodded. “Get Parin and Zoal on the task. I want them to check that we haven’t had a breach in security.”

  Parin and Zoal were their best tech experts, if anyone could discover what was going on, it was them.

  ***

  The knock on the door had her silently groaning. She thought she had the house to herself for a few hours. Her roommates were out, and she’d told them she had a headache. She needed to think of a new excuse because she used that one a lot.

  She felt antsy, on edge. She told herself it was because she was concerned her cover had been blown, but there was something more going on. Her nipples were constantly hard and aching, her pussy throbbed with the need to be filled. It was annoying, humiliating, and damn confusing.

  She moved to the viewing panel and was surprised to find
Racar standing there. She pressed the release button on the door and it slid open.

  “Hello,” he said almost shyly.

  “Hi, Racar. What are you doing here?”

  He looked nervously down at the bag he held in his hand, and she realized she had been a bit abrupt.

  “Sorry, I mean, come in. I have a headache and I’m a bit out of sorts.”

  “Oh, yes, so I heard. I brought you dinner.” He held up the bag.

  She stared at him in surprise. Had he brought her dinner?

  “Annabel? Are you all right? Have you taken some pain relief?” he asked with concern. She kind of wondered if Racar had a thing for her, but she had tried not to dwell on the idea too much. He was a nice guy, but even if she were looking for a relationship or just some fun, he was the wrong guy for her. She’d walk all over him in a second.

  “I’m fine. Sorry, you just caught me by surprise. That’s really nice of you.”

  He shrugged. “I had an ulterior motive.”

  “You did?” She looked at him in surprise.

  He blushed slightly. “One of the human females believes she is my mate.”

  “And is she?” Ah, so he was hiding. That was so cute that such a big guy felt he needed to hide from a woman who was probably half his size. Although knowing these women the way she did, it shouldn’t really surprise her.

  “No.”

  “Come in. Sit down. I’ll find us some plates. You can hide out here for a while.”

  He ducked his head but came in. “I know it is foolish to hide from a small female, but she is very persistent.”

  “How can you be so sure she isn’t your mate?” she asked, partly teasing him, but she was also interested.

  “Oh, um, well, I touched her.”

  “Touched her? That’s all it takes?”

  “No, although it happens that way for some. Apparently, the Emperor knew as soon as he touched the Empress. But also the human mates often feel dizzy or even faint when they first touch skin-to-skin with their mate. We believe it has to do with the chemistry in their body starting to change.”