Alien Sacrifice (Zerconian Warriors Book 9)

by Sadie Carter

  “What things?”

  “Whether someone is good or not.”

  Dex loved Elodie, and he thought she was very advanced for her age. However, believing that she could sense whether someone was good or not was too much of a stretch for him.

  “My own—”

  “I’ve spent time with her. We watched The Hangover together. She just isn’t the spy type.”

  “Perhaps that is exactly why she is such a good spy. The evidence does not lie, my own.”

  “All right, so what if she’s being forced to spy on us?”

  “Forced? By whom?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. But we don’t know all the facts.” She turned to look up at him, her hands moving in excitement. “That’s it. Somebody is forcing her to do this. Maybe they’re blackmailing her or, oooh, they could be holding someone she cares about, threatening to hurt them unless she comes up with the goods.”

  “What goods?”

  Zoey shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know why anyone would spy on us. Nothing interesting ever goes on here.”

  “No? Have you forgotten when you and my mother were kidnapped?”

  She waved a hand through the air. “That? That was ages ago. It doesn’t count.”

  It had not been that long ago. He had not forgotten the fear he felt when he realized she was missing, the terror that he would not be able to find her. That something might happen to her.

  He turned back to Annabel, hardening himself towards any feelings of leniency. No matter how innocent she appeared, Annabel was hiding something, and he would find out what it was.

  The door to the small room where they were standing opened and Koran walked in, looking grim. “They have not discovered anything on her tablet other than a few interesting stories.”

  “Interesting stories?” Zoey asked, looking intrigued.

  Koran gave her a quelling look. “Nothing for your eyes.”

  “Oh, those sorts of stories. Kinky. Funny, didn’t think she was the type.”

  “I do not believe she is anything like what she appears,” Koran said. “Macon said she does not need those glasses.”

  “How does he know?” Zoey asked.

  “She lost them the night she rescued Norman. And she moved around fine.”

  “So maybe she wears them for fashion. People do that.”

  “She lied,” Koran replied.

  She rolled her eyes. “A little white lie and I don’t think she ever actually told anyone she couldn’t see without them, so I don’t even think that counts as lying, guys. And really, what has she done that’s so bad? So she leaked a document about how much it cost to send some women here? Big deal.”

  “She snuck into our main computer room and stole information,” Dex told her calmly. He knew that Zoey was worried about Annabel, but there was no denying what she had done. “It does not matter what document she leaked.”

  “But it’s not important to us.”

  “No, but to High-Councillor Duncan it was,” Dex reminded her. “And this may prevent him from sending more human females here.”

  “Oh.” Zoey nibbled her lip. “Yeah, okay, I get it. If she is guilty, what will you do to her?”

  Dex exchanged a look with Koran. “That is not something I am willing to discuss with you, my own.”

  “But—”

  “No. And I insist you leave now.” He did not wish her to see the interrogation.

  “But—”

  “Koran, please have Zoey escorted back to our quarters and have someone ensure that she does not leave until I return home.”

  Zoey’s mouth dropped open, the look on her face so shocked he felt a pang of guilt. But he did this for her benefit. And his. He did not wish her to see how harsh he may need to be.

  “Dex, you cannot be serious! Dex!”

  Her voice faded as Koran drew her away. Dex took a deep breath in then let it out slowly. He was charged with the safety of his people, and it was a job he took very seriously. Still, this would be the first time he had ever interrogated a female. He could not engage his usual tactics to get her to confess. This would require all his expertise to get her to talk.

  ***

  “I’ll tell you whatever you want, just don’t hurt me.”

  Dex stared at her with wide eyes as he walked into the room.

  Annabel’s eyes filled with tears and she plastered a petrified look on her face as she gazed up at him. She added a lip wobble for good measure. There that should hook him in. She ensured that she kept herself from tensing up. She would only have one shot at this and she couldn’t mess it up. If she could catch him off-guard, then she might just make it out of here. It surprised her that Dex was alone, but then they would underestimate her. These warriors had the tendency to think that all human females were fragile and helpless.

  She’d use that to her advantage. She cursed herself for not escaping earlier. She thought she could bluff her way out of this, but as she’d thought it over, she’d realized they wouldn’t have made a move unless they had some good evidence against her.

  Yep, she was in deep, deep crap.

  The door opened and her breath whooshed out of her in a rush as her adrenaline spiked. Fuck! There went her advantage. Koran stepped into the room. No way she could overpower both of them.

  Okay, plan b. The only problem was she didn’t have a damn plan b.

  Fighting her way out was all she’d had.

  Fuckity fuck.

  “Did I miss anything?” Koran asked, leaning back on the wall next to the door and crossing his arms over his wide chest. He looked as intimidating as usual, and she knew he wouldn’t be giving her the benefit of the doubt.

  Bloody marvelous.

  She moved her gaze over to Dex. All right, he might be her best chance of getting out of here.

  “I was just about to ask Annabel if there was anything she would like to confess.” Dex stared down at her.

  The two of them had deliberately surrounded her, trying to intimidate her. Maybe with someone else, it might have worked. But Annabel had been in tricky situations before. She could still talk her way out of this. She hoped.

  “Confess? Okay.” If they wanted a confession, she’d give them a confession. “When I was four years old, I stole a juice box from the fridge at the care center I was in and blamed it on my best friend. When I was six, I painted the next door neighbor’s dog red because the neighbor wouldn’t give me back my hoverbee when it landed in his yard. I also snuck into his house and replaced all his sugar with salt. When I was seven, I snuck into his house and glued all of his remotes to hard surfaces. When I was eight, I—”

  “Enough,” Koran interrupted. “That is not the confession we were after and you know it.”

  “But you didn’t tell me what you wanted me to confess. Honestly, Dex, I really don’t know why I’m here.”

  “No?” Dex said his voice hardening. “Show her the vid.”

  Chapter Five

  Two minutes. That was all it took to ruin everything. Two minutes and all hope of getting out of this had been squashed like a bug under a shoe.

  “How did you get this?” she asked when the vid ended. There was no use denying it. The footage clearly showed her sneaking into the main computer room. She’d even turned her face toward the camera. How accommodating of her. With the full moon, there was no mistaking it was her.

  “Back-up vid,” Dex explained. “It was on a different loop.”

  God damn. Why hadn’t she thought of that?

  With a sigh, she dropped her head down. What to do now? Protocol said that she should shut her mouth. Say nothing. No matter what.

  “Still wish to claim that clothing is your sister’s?” Koran asked. “And before you answer, we know there is no sister.”

  She looked up at him but didn’t say anything.

  “Well? Have you nothing to say?” Koran asked impatiently.

  “What do you wish me to say?”

  “Oh no.” Koran shook h
is head. “We do not wish to hear your childhood confessions again. Why did you sneak into the main computer room? Why did you leak that document?”

  She was going to kill Rich. Seriously, if she got out of here alive, he was dead meat.

  “What document?” she asked innocently. “Has someone leaked something important?”

  “Yes. You. You snuck into the main computer room and gained access to our secure server,” Koran bit out.

  “But how would I do that? I don’t have the password.”

  Dex narrowed his gaze, studying her. Could she possibly bluff her way out of this?

  “What other reason would you have for sneaking in there?” Dex asked.

  Damn. Had her there. “I’m practicing.”

  “Practicing for what?” Koran asked.

  “A role.” This was all a role, after all. “In this musical. Do you know what a musical is? Where people sing and dance on stage. It’s about a female cat burglar. Do re me so fa… See?”

  They both stared at her in disbelief. “I know; I need a bit of practice.”

  Koran paced back and forth. “You were caught sneaking in and out of the main computer building. A document that has information that has been leaked was kept there. You put up a camera feed so no one could see you. You moved like you knew exactly what you were doing. Even with Macon only a few feet away, you kept your calm. This is not practice for some show. Are you working for Councillor Harburg?”

  “Harburg?” She snorted. “That old fart is as black and white as they come. No.” Jesus, Rich had given the information to Harburg? It was a smart move, people might dislike Harburg, but he was completely above board.

  “Tell us who you work for, Annabel,” Dex demanded.

  She cursed.

  She heard someone take in a sharp breath and looked up to find Dex and Koran staring at her in surprise.

  “Annabel, you swore.” Dex looked shocked.

  She ran her hand through her hair. “So? Zoey swears. You can’t be that shocked by a woman swearing.”

  “I have never heard you swear.”

  Annabel snorted. Right, her cover. Well, that was blown anyway. “Yeah, well, I guess we’ve ascertained there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  “Like the fact that you do not need those glasses.” Koran pointed at her glasses.

  She smiled bitterly. “So Macon figured that out, huh? Took him long enough.”

  “When the High-Councillor accused us of having a traitor, I knew it would not be one of our people,” Koran said. “But it was Macon who brought his suspicions about you to us.”

  Christ, brought down by a pair of freakin’ glasses. She always knew Macon was going to be a problem. “Well, not like he ever liked me anyway, did he?”

  She took the glasses off and dropped them to the ground.

  “Why?” Dex asked. “Why did you do it?”

  She sighed, turning her gaze to the wall. It was easier if she didn’t have to look at the anger in Koran’s gaze, or even worse, the disappointment in Dex’s. Damn, she wished she didn’t like these guys.

  “Look, I’m not going to talk, so you can stop with all the questions. No matter what you do to me. I’m trained to withstand all sorts of torture. You won’t get a word out of me.”

  By the time she finished, both warriors were staring at her in shock. “You think we would torture you?” Dex finally asked.

  She’d forgotten how protective these guys were of women. Of course, they wouldn’t torture her. Relief filled her. She didn’t think she would talk, but this was going to save her a whole lot of pain.

  “Why would we torture you when we have other methods?” Koran added. He spoke into his communicator. “Get Racar in here.”

  Wait. What? What methods?

  “You’re bluffing,” she said, narrowing her gaze. This had to be a trick.

  Neither of them answered.

  Yep, she was so going to kill Rich when she got out of here.

  “So I could really go for a pizza, how about you two?” She didn’t feel anywhere near as relaxed as she pretended to be, but she didn’t want them to see how nervous she was. They might not torture her but who knew what else they planned on doing?

  Stay calm. Wait for your chance to escape. It will come, you just have to be ready for it.

  “No food. Not until after,” Dex told her.

  Did they think being hungry would rattle her?

  “If you told us why you are here, who sent you, we could move you somewhere more comfortable,” Koran added.

  “So you’re playing good cop now? Doesn’t really suit you.”

  “Good cop?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you know. One of you acts the asshole. Trying to intimidate and scare me. Then as a contrast out comes good cop who acts like my friend, my protector, and tries to cajole a confession out of me.”

  “I am not your friend,” Dex told her.

  Ouch. That hurt more than she cared to admit, even to herself. But she hid the pain behind a mask, burying the feelings deep the way she always had. She didn’t need friends. They were a weakness. Something she couldn’t afford. She didn’t have the time or patience. She was more interested in target practice and training than shopping or gossip sessions.

  She didn’t need friends. She was fine on her own. Always had been.

  She placed her hand on her chest. “Ouch.”

  “You are not at all who you pretended to be, are you?” Dex asked.

  Actually, she was starting to wonder who the real Annabel was. It was hard to remember. Because it didn’t feel like it had all been an act. Sure, she wasn’t quiet and sweet. But she could be shy around people she didn’t know. And she felt pretty awkward around groups of people. So this whole shy persona had been a relief.

  There were bits of frumpy Annabel and pieces of kick-ass Annabel that crossed over and blended. Now she was confused about where she started and the act began.

  She should never have left her old job, never have let Rich talk her into doing this.

  Because she had this feeling her problems had only just begun.

  ***

  “I do not believe Annabel to be a spy,” Racar said loyally as Macon led him into the lower area of the palace. These rooms weren’t considered a prison or dungeon, even though they were secure.

  “You are being blinded by your feelings for her,” Macon told him.

  Racar paused and looked up at him in disbelief. “My feelings for her?”

  “Yes, you are attracted to her.” Macon ignored the way his gut tightened.

  “Attracted to her? My only feelings for Annabel are that of friendship. Even if they were not, I would not go after another’s mate.”

  “Annabel is not mated.”

  “You really have no idea who she is, do you?”

  “Who is she?” The door to the viewing room opened, and Koran stepped out. Dex moved out behind him.

  Racar cleared his throat nervously.

  “Who is she?” Macon repeated.

  “I-I can’t believe you do not see it. But I did wonder why you would allow them to interrogate your mate.”

  Macon rocked back, almost as though he had been hit.

  “She is not my mate.” He did not know what had brought Racar to this conclusion, but he was wrong.

  “You have gone pale, Macon, are you well?” Racar asked.

  Macon could sense the smile the healer was trying to hide. Anger filled him, and he grabbed the smaller male by the neck, pushing him back against the wall. He ignored the shouted warnings behind him and leaned in close to Racar.

  “She is not my mate. Hagartha will be my mate.”

  “Hagartha did not faint when you touched her. Hagartha has not been suffering from increased arousal.”

  His anger morphed quickly into a blinding rage, and he pushed Racar up the wall until his feet dangled off the floor. Racar was smaller than Macon but still a large man. It should have been a strain, but he felt nothing as he held the othe
r man up, his fury blinding him to everything else. Koran and Dex’s voices became background noise, and he shook off their hands as though they were annoying bugs flitting around him.

  “And what would you know about her arousal?”

  “I know it’s a symptom of a mating that hasn’t been fully completed. Just as your irrational behavior is.”

  “My irrational behavior?” Suddenly, he was shoved back, and in his surprise, he let Racar go. The other man leaned over, coughing slightly. When he raised his head, his eyes glowed red.

  Macon knew his own eyes were glowing the same color, his fury so strong his body actually shook from the force of it.

  “Macon, stand down.” Dex got between him and Racar. “I command you to stand down.”

  Macon breathed slowly, in then out. Bit by bit, he managed to bring himself under control. He looked from Racar to Koran to Dex. “I apologize,” he said stiffly.

  Koran shook his head. “You are stronger than I gave you credit for. Stars, I think you would be a match for Talen in a fight.” Talen was huge, well over seven and a half feet and thick with muscle.

  “I think his fury gave him added strength,” Racar told them.

  “I have never seen like this.” Dex studied him.

  Macon nearly flinched. As the Emperor’s personal guard, he had been trained not to show emotion. To never lose control. Had he ruined his career in one stupid move?

  “Is there any chance you are her mate?” Dex asked slowly.

  “No.” He filled the word with certainty. “Hagartha will be my mate.”

  “But you do not have a mating bond,” Racar muttered.

  Macon growled.

  “Enough, Racar. You have said enough. Have you bought the serum?” Dex asked.

  Racar frowned. “Yes. But it has never been used on a human. I do not know how she will react.”

  “We have no choice,” Koran said grimly. “We do not know what she knows or who she has told.”

  Macon followed the others into the room. Annabel looked over from where she had been secured to a chair. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw him, but otherwise, she didn’t react. She stared at him for a minute, then looked away. He could have sworn he’d seen a glimpse of pain in her eyes. He glanced down at the hover cuffs securing her ankles. A chain ran from them to a bolt on the floor. Hover cuffs also secured her hands behind her back. Was that really necessary?