Alien Betrayed

by Marie Dry

  “The better question is, why he would do that. He can do a lot more. He’s lived for a long time and each year he grows stronger.”

  “Do you know of any other warrior who forced his change, besides me?” Zurian asked.

  “Your father forced your change and, no, I don’t know of any other cases. But The Zyrgin could have blocked the knowledge from the general conscience.”

  “Will The Zyrgin pass judgment?” Larz asked.

  “Yes I will pass judgement,” the leader of all Zyrgin and its territories said from behind him.

  Larz considered himself a good warrior, knew one day he’d be one of the best. The way his spine tingled and his legs wouldn’t hold his weight for one terrifying second was a testament to The Zyrgin’s presence. Never before had Larz experienced such weakness.

  Larz didn’t make the mistake of turning. No one knew how The Zyrgin managed to appear at will. It was more than mere hologram technology. A hologram couldn’t reach out and choke you to death or draw a sword and decapitate you. The Zyrgin had been known to do that.

  If he wanted to, he could strike Larz down where he stood. It was rumored that he could cause the death of anyone in the territories, doing it while working through a training exercise or hunting down a meal. It was said the corrupt leader on one of the more distant planets in their galaxy had thought himself beyond The Zyrgin’s reach when he’d helped himself to some of The Zyrgin’s tribute. The man’s head had been found on a pike outside the castle. A recording showing The Zyrgin beheading him had played continuously for weeks.

  The Zyrgin’s breath slithered over the back of Larz’s neck. “You forced you third change, knowing it is forbidden.”

  Larz willed himself to stay still. Not to instinctively defend himself from anyone coming at his back this close. “Yes, my leader.”

  “Knowing it is forbidden.”

  “Yes, my leader.”

  “You did this to take to breeder the human who is known to be a spy. The human who hurt my breeder in the camps. The human who continues to threaten her.”

  “Yes, my leader.”

  If Marcie hadn’t hurt Sarah in the camps, she could’ve gotten away with trying to kill the guard. Zyrgins respected strength and the courage it would take for a woman to take on a Zyrgin warrior. Doing it while screaming threats at Sarah was another matter. For that, The Zyrgin might yet kill her. No leader could touch another man’s breeder and would expect their warriors to take their punishments if the breeder committed a crime. Something that hadn’t happened yet.

  Most breeders never did half the things Marcie was capable of. The Zyrgin had the authority to strike down a breeder. Or punish them in any way he saw fit.

  “Why?”

  Larz could only be honest. “I don’t know, my leader. From the first moment I saw her, I knew she had to be my breeder.”

  The leader paced up and down behind him. In front of Larz, Zacar carefully tracked him. Natalie would make him miserable if anything happened to Larz. No matter what happened, The Zyrgin was too powerful for Zacar to stop. Larz also knew Zacar would never stand by and allow The Zyrgin to harm his blood or any of his warriors. In a century, Zacar might be strong enough to go against The Zyrgin. If he tried now, he would die.

  “She is an ugly woman with a most annoying voice. You should’ve chosen better. Earth is overrun with young breedable human women.”

  Larz suppressed a sigh. “I choose her.”

  The Zyrgin came around to stand in front of him. His hologram was more than a head bigger than Larz. Zacar had told him that, in reality, The Zyrgin was about half a head taller than Zacar. “It is said that, in the old days, each Zyrgin had one special mate and no other. Some of our scientists think it’s our instincts still functioning the way they were designed that makes some Zyrgins fixate on certain women.”

  He pointedly looked at Zacar, who seemed tempted to show him a claw. It was rumoured that Zacar and The Zyrgin had a fight before Zacar left on this mission. Zurian wouldn’t talk about it, but Zanr swore he saw Zacar leave the palace torn and bleeding. Which was the only way you’d leave the fort alive after an altercation with The Zyrgin.

  Larz didn’t care what happened millions of years ago, but he was careful not to show any of this. What did it matter if instinct made him fixate on Marcie? Whatever it was, he wouldn’t give her up.

  The Zyrgin kicked Larz’s ankles out from under him, and Larz landed on his knees with a dull thud.

  “Many warriors in training think they’re capable of outwitting our laws. Did you really think it would be so simple? Force your third change and she’d be safe.”

  Larz’s hearts missed a beat. In tandem. She had to be safe. He wanted to endure her sharp tongue, pretend he didn’t find her red hair ugly, for the rest of his life. He would use their many centuries together to teach her honor.

  “I will take her punishment.”

  “Silence.” The Zyrgin’s voice echoed around the room with a power that rattled anything not nailed down.

  Larz stayed on his knees and stared in front of him. Zacar stood to his right and Larz saw him rest a hand near his hip. Larz could live with any punishment meted out to him, but he didn’t want his actions to harm Zacar or anyone else.

  The Zyrgin stared down at him. “In all our centuries, only sixteen warriors forced their change. Five died. Eight went insane and were put down. One came through it deformed. Two of them appeared normal and hid what they had done. What do you think happened to them?” The Zyrgin asked.

  “I do not know, my leader,” Larz said as respectfully as he could manage with his neck within slicing distance of The Zyrgin’s claws.

  “They are responsible for the crazed bloodline that nearly crippled our society.”

  Larz knew he was one very dead warrior. The Zyrgin would never allow him to live knowing this. It was a miracle he allowed Zurian to live.

  “You think you had the right to ignore our laws for your own convenience? For a human woman with no honor?” The leader stepped closer and Larz braced. “You are not a warrior in training anymore, you will merely be citizen Larz.”

  Larz’s hearts seemed to stop beating. He didn’t know how not to be a warrior. But he would live, and that meant Marcie might still be allowed to live.

  “You are stripped of rank and privileges for two hundred years,” The Zyrgin said.

  “Yes, my leader.” Larz wanted to beg for death instead, but Zyrgins didn’t beg and he had to live to protect Marcie. He could learn to be a citizen for two human centuries.

  The Zyrgin paced again. “In fifty years, you may earn back the right to be a warrior. I am in a forgiving mood.”

  Larz resisted the urge to duck for cover. He saw Zacar and Zurian check themselves as well. The Zyrgin was never in a forgiving mood. Larz braced for the worst. As long as their leader concentrated on him and ignored Marcie, he could endure anything.

  He would do anything. “I will do anything.”

  The Zyrgin smiled and it took all Larz’s courage not to jump up and reach for a weapon. “On the first day of every third standard Earth month, you will fight one of the warriors stationed on Earth. They will be armed. You will not. If you live through four Earth hours of battle, your woman will be safe for three more months. The first battle will be right now. Against Zurian. Your last battle will be against me.”

  I will die with honor. “Yes, my leader.”

  The leader paced, reminding him of Zacar. “You may renounce her and I will allow you to earn back the right to be a warrior after twenty-five years.”

  “Never.”

  Larz saw Zurian clench his hands ever so slightly. Zacar shifted his weight.

  The leader spoke to Larz, but turned slightly so his back was not exposed to Zacar and Zurian. “Your insistence on keeping her safe shows you have mekrin bar gera, honor.”

  Larz concentrated on keeping his head high. Panic wanted to take him. How could he not be a warrior?

  “Your breede
r tried to kill mine. Uttered threats against her. That is an insult to my honor.”

  The Zyrgin stood, as if deep in thought, and Larz didn’t know how he managed it but he appeared even more dangerous. “The punishment for your breeder trying to kill a warrior is twenty lashes.” He threw back his head and laughed. Larz had to battle the need to go for a weapon. He saw Zacar and Zurian move and then check themselves.

  “We need breeders with such fire. She will breed us strong warriors.” The Zyrgin turned and all laughter disappeared. “She hurt my breeder. Twenty more lashes.”

  Larz kept his head up, his shoulders back. A Zyrgin warrior didn’t fear--

  His hearts pained him. He was not a warrior anymore. That knowledge hit him like a wounded Eduki stomping on him.

  Two hundred years of not fighting or training and defending himself against armed warriors, knowing if he lost, Marcie would die.

  Something bounced on the floor. Zacar picked it up and his jaw hardened. Larz didn’t need to look at it to know that it was the serum that went on the whip. Their bodies were tough, bred to withstand most weapons in battle. A whipping wouldn’t be painful enough to count as a punishment.

  “Zacar, prepare the whip, I will give the punishment,” the leader said.

  The serum The Zyrgin gave Zacar to put on the whip would burn like acid and take months to heal. It was rumored the serum was made from poison secreted by The Zyrgin’s tongue, anther ability unique to him.

  “I should be the one to give the punishment,” Zacar said.

  Larz appreciated him trying to spare him, but it wouldn’t work.

  “I will give the punishment and satisfy my honor. My breeder was hurt by his human,” The Zyrgin said.

  Zacar prepared the whip in grim silence and handed it to the leader.

  “Rise and take your punishment, Larz. You show no sign of the madness.” He swung the whip and it snapped in the air with a sound like human thunder. “If you ever do, I will put you down and dispose of your human.”

  Larz nodded and, stripping his shirt, stood with his hands against the wall and clenched his teeth until his jaw ached. He remained unmoving. A snapping sound and then fire stung his back. The force of the whip rocked him on his feet, and he firmed his stance. He was not a warrior, but he would endure this with the same courage a warrior would. Larz focused on the wall, concentrated on staying still, not to dishonor himself as the whip came down again and again. It lasted forever, until he was only aware of endless pain.

  When it stopped, it took every bit of strength he had to remain on his feet. Zurian came to stand next to him. Zacar on his other side.

  “Never defy me again,” The Zyrgin said and disappeared.

  Larz didn’t have to open his eyes to know he had left. The oppressive atmosphere that always came with The Zyrgin was gone.

  Larz sensed some communication between Zurian and Zacar. “Zurian prepare yourself for the challenge.”

  Zurian nodded and left, passing Viglar on his way into Zacar’s office. Viglar didn’t say anything, merely held a pressure needle against Larz’s neck and injected him with something that burned through his body like fire.

  Zacar helped him to his private practice chamber. “You stay away from Natalie until you’ve healed.”

  Larz nodded.

  “You won’t feel much pain, the injection will allow you to get through the next four hours. Zurian doesn’t dare go soft on you and he wouldn’t dishonor you in that way.”

  Larz nodded. He still couldn’t speak without groaning.

  “Don’t try anything fancy or to win the challenge. You stay on your feet for the next four hours. You breeder’s life depends on it.”

  Larz looked up at Zacar. “I won’t fail her.”

  He managed to stay on his feet but, if the fight had lasted longer, might have been down. Zurian bowed to him and Larz forced himself to bow as well. The strength the injection had given him had worn off.

  “You will report to me an hour early every day,” Zurian said.

  Larz nodded.

  “You will bring weapons.”

  The humiliation of his reduced station seared through him until every cell in his body burned as much as his back. “It is forbidden for me--”

  “I need a sparring partner. Part of your new duties will be to allow me to practice on you.”

  Larz’s heartbeat sped up. If he trained with Zurian regularly, he might beat the challenge and keep Marcie alive.

  Zacar took his other arm. “I also need a sparring partner. After your new duties, you will work with me for an hour every night.”

  Larz understood now why Natalie sometimes cried at strange times. The support from his leader and Zurian affected him greatly. They helped him to the door outside his dwelling and left. He was still full of strange thoughts and feelings over Zurian’s actions when he entered his home.

  She sat on the floor, looking lost and frightened, obviously waiting for him so that she could act the victim. He had his doubts about her amnesia and--with his back on fire, stripped of his warrior status--couldn’t work up any sympathy.

  She looked up at him with eyes brimming with tears. “Please tell me how I came to be here? Who you are? What’s going to happen?”

  “I am going to shower. I have to go on duty in a few hours.” He needed to be strong--to be seen to execute his duty like a Zyrgin who could take the leader’s punishment with ease.

  He left her sitting on the floor and went to the shower, took off his clothes, and stepped inside. Zyrgins did not bleed as much as humans, but the blood running down his back itched. It bothered him almost as much as the woman trying to sneak up on him. He swung around and she stopped just outside the shower, appearing strangely hesitant. They stared at each other while the water streamed down his head and over his body, washing away the blood.

  “Please tell me what’s happening? Who am I to you?”

  He didn’t want her to see his wounds. She probably didn’t associate the lesions on his back with wounds. If she even noticed his back. He’d heard her coming fast enough to hide his back from her.

  “You are my woman.”

  She wore a pair of jeans and a red shirt that clung to her breasts. She belonged to him. He’d taken punishment, given up everything, and he wanted her. Now.

  “Take off your clothes.”

  Her eyes widened and, if he believed she had amnesia, he would’ve thought she was shocked. The way she tried not to look at his body, at his penis specifically, was too contrived. He wouldn’t be fooled by her innocent act. This was the woman who’d shared sex with him, not caring that he didn’t give her the first knowing. She only cared that it saved her from the consequences of her own actions.

  He watched her closely. “Do you think my body too ugly to look at?”

  Her head jerked and she stared at him with round innocent eyes. “No, you’re well built. I mean you’re handsome, in a reptile kind of, I mean--” She looked down at her feet. “I don’t know what I mean,” she mumbled. She took a deep breath, doing interesting things to her shirt, making him forget the fire burning in his back. “It’s just that you’re naked,” she said. “I know we’ve made love before because I woke up with stuff on my--I mean, um I know we made love before. But you’re still a stranger to me.”

  Larz stepped out of the shower, took her hand in his, and placed it on his chest. “You are not a stranger to me. I have known you many months. You are my woman and I want you.” He would allow her this subterfuge for now. Soon he’d make her admit that she lied about having amnesia.

  Her face became red and she stared at her hand on his chest. “You’re so warm,” she said.

  He released her hand and she kept it on him, moving it in a subtle caress that affected him more than it should. “Zyrgin bodies run at more efficient temperatures,” he informed her.

  A strange smile shaped her beautiful full lips. He wanted to kiss her. She stroked her hand over his chest, every now and then trying to press
a finger into his skin, or following a vein over his body. Now he was certain she called him man reptile merely to taunt him. If she didn’t want him, she wouldn’t touch him like that.

  “Take off your clothes.”

  Her face turned red again. She shook her head and continued exploring his chest, going down almost to his stomach and then returning. Taunting him by pretending she would touch lower. His penis strained toward her, desperate for her touch.

  “Why not? You are not a shy woman and I have seen you naked before.”

  She didn’t answer, her face becoming more red, and he picked her up and carried her to the bed. When she didn’t protest, he put his hands on the bottom of her soft shirt and, keeping his hands against her skin, pushed it up her body. His hands glided over her delicate middle, the sides of her breasts, and, when she lifted her arms, the outside of her arms until she stood before him only dressed in her jeans. She trembled but didn’t protest his touch.

  “You are a beautiful woman.”

  “Not horrible anymore?”

  “I suspect you are still horrible, but you are a beautiful horrible human.”

  She cocked her head in a very Zyrgin way. “Well, in that case, I’ll admit you are a handsome man reptile.” Her smile was flirtatious and shy. Not Marcie at all.

  He took her hand and moved it down until she cupped him. His hips jerked when her small cool hand closed around him.

  She wrapped both her hands around him and moved them up and down, all the while staring up at him with what he would’ve sworn was shy green eyes, if he hadn’t lived with her taunts these last months.

  His hips jerked, he was close to losing control and shaming himself.

  A Zyrgin warrior would never have his pleasure before his woman, and he took her hands away before he dishonored himself. He took off her jeans and then laid her gently down on the bed. His back was on fire--not even the bombs had hurt this much. Determined to ignore the pain, he touched the soft dark hairs between her thighs. Her hips jerked, her hands reached for him, touching his chest, exploring with the same aggression she had before she claimed to lose her memory.

  If he could have her, he didn’t care. He’d take any pain, any punishment, as long as he could have this horrible human of his. He kissed her breasts, took the pink tips into his mouth. His incisors wanted to come out and, the more she moaned and squirmed, the harder it was for him not to bite her. She stilled suddenly and then grabbed his head and jerked him up. His back protested and he snarled at her.