The Alien Bounty Hunters Complete Series: Books 1-8

by Mills, Michele

  They’d landed in a canyon near the edge of Singapore, the same position Kayzon had used last time. It was still a good hiding place and the closest point to her house. Unfortunately Kayzon’s ship only had one transporter. It wasn’t able to lock onto objects and pull them in. Her family would have to be in a transporter hub themselves or have a beacon attached in order for the transporter to pull them onto the ship.

  So they had to do this rescue the Bounty Hunter way—old-fashioned extraction.

  They went in quietly, sight unseen. Dad was still wanted for treason, and there were many eyes focused on her house, eyes waiting for the opportunity to snitch and turn Dad in to the unigod enforcers. There was a reward on his head, after all.

  Their suits were synched so they could hear each other.

  The Xylan slip drive kept the ship invisible.

  “Follow me,” Kayzon ordered. They climbed out of the canyon and onto the flat hard pan above. Kayzon walked in front, Kia in the middle and Dad behind. In about thirty minutes they were nearing Singapore. She could see the shadows of low buildings in the distance. There was little vegetation blocking the view. Her lips thinned, thinking of Kayzon’s impression of her city. She’d seen “real” cities on the Black Market vid—tall, high-tech and sleek. In Singapore some buildings and homes were made out of local materials, out of bricks and stone, or wood. But many were just shanties thrown together with whatever discarded items that were available. Most dwellings were one story and only a few were two story. Singapore was not a colorful, cultured or pretty place. Instead it was serviceable. They’d done well considering they were captives of Hurlians and living on essentially a prison planet. She gritted her teeth, feeling for once a little proud of all the humans on New Earth. Hearing that her father was Gravian and that her parents had been fighting underground for the betterment of the planet was a nice revelation. It put a spring in her step, knowing the humans on New Earth hadn’t been completely forgotten. She’d always been bitter, wondering how they could be forgotten by the rest of the universe. It was a planet, after all, not a tiny moon. It was good knowing that at least the Gravian species had been trying to help this whole time.

  They neared the edge of the city and followed a dirt path that led to a main road. Kayzon was an expert at extraction. It was what he did, so of course they followed. There were a few solar-powered streetlights that gave off a weak glow, but mainly the streets were dark, with the addition of a bit of green moonlight. Her night vision through the Hunter suit was coming in handy. Watching Kayzon, his large body fluid and silent as he carefully made his way undetected through the city, was a joy she wouldn’t soon forget.

  “We’re almost there,” Dad whispered into his mouthpiece, letting Mom know of their ETA.

  “Hurlian ships will arrive in fifteen New Earth standard minutes,” the computer updated in their suits.

  They quickened their pace. Finally, they arrived at the house. It was a squat building, built with brick, in a line of dilapidated houses along a row. Kia’s nose stared to sting. Never did she think she’d be so happy to see the damn thing.

  Mom and Janet were right at the door. They must have been on the lookout. Mom was holding Harmony in her arms. Harmony was asleep and covering Mom like a blanket, her dark hair contrasted against Mom’s light brown hair.

  “Dad!” Janet gasped.

  Dago made a choking noise. Kia turned and noticed he’d willed his helmet to retract. “Mariah,” he rasped, his eyes suspiciously wet. He immediately swept Mom and Harmony in his arms. Janet went over and pressed close behind him.

  Kia stood back with a blaster in both her hands, grinning. She looked up at Kayzon’s impassive face. He looked down and met her gaze.

  She winked.

  His ridges went up in surprise.

  She turned away and smiled. It was good to keep him on his toes.

  Mom continued to hug Dad while holding Harmony. Janet was crying. It was all a bit of an emotional, messy reunion. Kia was about to break it up, because really, they had to get going, the Hurlians were arriving any minute.

  And then Harmony woke up.

  Kayzon now stood directly behind Mom’s shoulder. Harmony’s eyes blinked open and she stared right at Kayzon’s face, which happened to be illuminated by a beam of green moonlight—his cybernetic eye glowed ghastly white and that scar seemed somehow deeper and more tragic in shadow.

  Harmony opened her mouth wide and let out the mother of all screams. The type of scream that could carry for miles.

  Oh shit.

  Everyone shushed her, but it was too late. Lights in windows flicked on. Kia could hear voices shouting. Animals started barking.

  And then there were lights shining overhead.

  Kia looked up and blinked.

  The fuck?

  “Hurlian hovercraft is above Singapore,” the computer announced in their helmets.

  “Run!” Dad shouted. He scooped Harmony off Mom and into his own arms. They all started running down the dark street that was slowly coming to life. Mom stumbled, not being able to keep up.

  “Dad, give me Harmony,” Kia yelled. Suddenly the little girl was shoved into her arms, tiny hands tight at the back of Kia’s neck. Dad scooped up Mom. Janet was securely in Kayzon’s arms. Kia ran as fast as her pounding legs would take her. Her breath burst in and out of her chest as she ran faster than she’d ever run. Faster than she’d run in the forest. She had a precious package in her hands, and there was no fucking way the Hurlians were taking her family.

  No. Fucking. Way.

  They ran back the way they’d arrived, rounding the corner of the street and onto the main road that ran along the side of the marketplace. The hum of the hovercraft and the lights retreated behind them, but they could still hear sounds of the city coming to life. Doors slamming, the murmur of voices. The occasional shout or scream. The Hurlians were snatching humans.

  Oh shit.

  “We will regroup in my ship and use my weaponry to disable the hovercraft before it lifts off with humans,” Kayzon broadcast from his suit.

  Kia’s lips curled. He didn’t even sound winded.

  They made it to the canyon, and Kia couldn’t stop the grateful tears that welled in her eyes. She lowered Harmony, and they climbed down the side of the canyon together. In minutes everyone had made it down and they were at the ship, which materialized before their eyes, coming out of the slip drive.

  The ramp lowered, and Kia started to guide Harmony up when something weird happened. There was a thunderous noise and her hair whipped around in a torrent of wind. Lights were everywhere. She gasped and looked up and around, twisting to see what was going on. An enormous spaceship was landing near them in the canyon. “Who is that?” she shouted to Kayzon. “More Hurlians?”

  He grinned. “No. Reinforcements.”

  “What?”

  “Incoming message from Xylan Imperial Fleet,” the computer announced in their helmets.

  Dad chuckled. “Perfect.”

  “More Hurlian ships are detected in long-range scanners,” the computer said.

  “Oh wow,” Kia whispered.

  “Dago, what’s happening?” Mom asked, her eyes wide with fear.

  He put an arm around her. “Don’t worry, Mariah. Everything is going to be fine. The Xylans are here to kick out the Hurlians.” He grinned.

  “Indeed,” Kayzon confirmed. “That appears to be what’s happening. The Bounty Hunter Guild must have informed the Xylan High Command of what I’d discovered here on New Earth when I came to extract THX690. They were not pleased. Humans have recently been declared a Rare Indigenous Species. This whole planet is now unlawful and against the Scales of Xylan Law. It is unacceptable.”

  “Oh wow,” Kia repeated, unable to say much else.

  Her husband turned to her and pierced her with a glowing stare. “Stay here and keep your family safe and comfortable,” he ordered. Then he gave Dad a barely perceptible chin lift. Dago nodded back, grabbed Mom by the waist
and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips. He let her go and strode away. Mom stood there, her cheeks red, as the two warriors pounded down the lowered ramp and into the night in the direction of the other ship that just landed. The ramp closed after them with a resounding finality.

  Shoot.

  It sucked being left behind. She was a soldier now, and she wanted to go with them. But…Kayzon was right. Someone needed to stay and take care of Mom, Janet and Harmony. And she was the one with the least fighting experience.

  And she was pregnant. She was certain Kayzon had that in the back of his mind. He probably figured she’d done enough already.

  Shoot.

  Mom stood close, grabbed her hand and squeezed. Harmony grabbed her other hand.

  “Don’t worry,” Janet said, her words filled with bloodthirsty eagerness, “They’ll be back. They’re out there kicking Hurlian ass.”

  “Oooh, can we watch?” Harmony asked.

  “Can we?” Mom said.

  Kia blinked. Well, actually… “Computer, can you show a live vid in the bridge of the action happening in the vicinity of the ship? In particular, can you show Kayzon and Dago Cho?”

  “Affirmed.”

  “Come on, follow me.” She led them out of the cargo bay.

  “This ship is so cool,” Janet whispered as they walked down the halls.

  Kia grinned. Pride for her husband warmed her chest. It was a very nice ship. She led them all to the bridge, and they settled in and watched on the large vid screen as the Xylan Imperial Army literally slayed the Hurlians. It was amazing.

  “This is the best day of my life,” Mom whispered. A slow tear rolled down the side of her cheek.

  Kia crooked an eyebrow.

  “Well,” she amended, “the best day besides the day I married your father and gave birth to you girls…this is the next best day.”

  The vid slow-mo’d on Kayzon striding away from a grounded Hurlian hovercraft blowing up behind him, the wind whipping his gleaming rows of hair about his head. He had his helmet off and his gloves retracted. In either clawed hand was a large blaster. His shoulders were wider than wide. Powerful and sleek. He was epic. His scar and glowing cybernetic eye only made him, like, ten times sexier. If she wasn’t already pregnant, just looking at him would make her pregnant.

  Janet stood next to her, watching Kayzon, too, and sighed. “So…what’s going on with you and that Bounty Hunter? Are you going to tell us?”

  “Uh…well…” Sheesh. She didn’t know where to start. She felt her face growing warm, thinking about all the hot sex she’d been having with her Xylan warrior.

  “I think our Kia has found her husband,” Mom said, a wide smile on her face.

  “Well, yeah,” she admitted. “He’s my husband. My mate.”

  “And?” Janet said.

  Oh gosh, she should tell them everything? She had to, right? Or should she wait to tell them about the baby? She glanced over at the damn countdown clock. Nothing was considered final to Kayzon until the time of review. The time she was allowed to make her decision, which was a load of crap because she was pregnant and she loved that idiot warrior, so of course her decision would be to remain. But her stubborn husband thought he was unworthy or some such shit, and because of this she was in limbo.

  It fucking sucked.

  Three pairs of eyes stared at her, eagerly awaiting more information. It was weird. Normally she told them everything. Mom, her sisters, her dad…they were her everything. It was the four of them against the world. They were a team.

  But for the first time ever, Kia realized her allegiance had changed. This was still her family. But Kayzon was her mate, her husband. It was time to put him first and put their relationship first. So she decided to keep the baby info to herself and the details of their relationship private, just until that countdown clock was over and the time for review was past. Then it would be official. She knew it was what Kayzon would want. After all, they hadn’t told her dad about the baby yet either…

  Damn, she felt so grown up.

  Adulting was hard, wasn’t it?

  Mom watched her closely, sensing her struggle. “You’ve mated with the Xylan warrior?” she asked.

  Kia blushed hard, her face red. Because yeah, she’d mated with him. Again and again.

  “Xylans mate for life,” Mom pronounced. “And your dad seems to like him and trust him. That’s good enough for me.”

  Kia sighed with relief. “Thanks, Mom,” she whispered.

  “What? That’s it? That’s all we’re going to get?” Janet huffed. “Come on. That’s not fair.”

  “Shut up,” Kia muttered.

  “She’ll tell us more when she’s ready,” Mom answered.

  “Oh fuck you, Kia. You’re always the nosey one, the one who wants to know everything. And here you are, showing up with some badass Bounty Hunter with one eye and a scar across his face and suddenly he’s your husband but I can’t ask you about it. That’s bullshit.”

  “Janet,” Mom gasped.

  “No. No. Dad was gone for weeks. Then Kia was gone, too. We heard nothing from her for a whole day and then finally we get a message from the Bounty Hunter saying she’s okay and not to worry. Of course we worried. How do you think we felt when you were gone? At first we were all crying because we thought the Hurlians had snatched you. It turns out you were just on your honeymoon or something. It’s like you didn’t even care about us. That’s not right, Kia.”

  Kia’s face continued to heat. “You’re right. That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.”

  “I think we all need a nap,” Mom said.

  “Can you guys keep it down?” Harmony yelled. “I’m trying to watch the show over here.”

  The three of them were quiet for a second, and then they burst out laughing. “Yeah, okay, you little hellion, we can keep it down,” Kia said as she reached over and mussed Harmony’s hair. Harmony frowned but scooted closer. Kia wrapped an arm around her and settled in to continue watching the siege of New Earth. Xylan vs. Hurlian.

  Kia stayed up late watching the vid and listening to her Dad and Kayzon talk to each other on the com through their helmets. She spoke to them occasionally, joining in the conversation when necessary, warning them if she saw something through the vid they couldn’t see themselves. It was a tense and amazing couple of hours as the Xylan military took back New Earth from the Hurlians. Finally, the battle for New Earth that raged above and around Singapore ended. The Hurlians were gone, their soldiers dead on the battlefield and their ships blown into space dust.

  Kia took the helmet off and looked around the bridge and found everyone asleep in seats.

  She went and removed the rest of her Hunter suit she still wore and changed back into her tunic and loose pants. Then woke her mother and two sisters and used the food dispenser to give them late-night snacks and drinks. They all paused to have a tearful mental breakdown over the enormity of the food dispenser. Then she showed them the fancy Xylan toilet and all the buttons. They cooed with delight at the choices. Harmony chose the vibrating seat option and everyone laughed until there were tears in their eyes. And then Kia walked them to the stacked sleeping bunks that lined the cargo bay. And everyone went back to sleep. Kia went back to the Bridge to wait and keep watch.

  Kayzon returned to the ship a few hours after the two suns rose. Dad was with him and another Xylan warrior with royal pigment. The ramp lowered, and Kia squealed, ran down and threw herself in Kayzon’s arms. She couldn’t help herself. She’d been worried sick the whole time. Worried a stray blast would hurt him, or that a ship would explode too close. At first, he melted at her embrace, his claws digging into her hips, and he burrowed his face into her hair, filling his lungs with her scent. Then he stiffened, patted her awkwardly on the back and stepped back.

  Dammit. She did her best to suck up the tears that wanted to flow. That countdown clock from hell was nearly up. The time for review was almost here. She could hold it together until then.

  “Kia
of One,” her husband intoned with formality. “May I introduce you to Zhoryan of Eighty-Two, the Imperial Warlord of Sector One.”

  Oh. Oops. She turned to look more fully at the new guy, and her jaw dropped. Kayzon was considered a Xylan warrior of royal pigment, but wow this other warrior was so dark, she swore he pulled all the surrounding light in and refracted it from his body. His skin was darker than any she’d ever seen before, and it shone with a metallic brilliance. There were even threads of sparkling gray that ran through the ridges of his forehead. The majesty before her was so blinding, she couldn’t even speak. Which everyone knew almost never happened to Kia.

  The warlord tilted his head toward her. “It is an honor to meet you, Kia of One, daughter of Dago Cho, Gravian Priest of the Thirtieth Line.”

  Kia smiled and blushingly mumbled some sort of weak reply and glanced at her father, who winked back.

  Oh, jeez.

  Dad was filthy.

  Dark matter that looked suspiciously like blood and gore smeared across his neck and forehead. His face was sweaty. But Dago Cho looked happier than she’d ever seen.

  Mom, Janet and Harmony stumbled over and muttered greetings. Harmony yawned and rubbed her eyes. More introductions were offered, and then the warlord stood taller and made a general announcement.

  “I am here as a representative of the Imperial fleet. The Xylan High Command is thankful to Kayzon of Twenty-Six for exposing the unlawful practices of the Hurlian Empire. You have done well, warrior. This helps renew faith in your Banished line. And…” His gaze flicked toward Kia for a moment. “It will help in the outcome of the review you have requested.”

  He continued. “The humans of New Earth are now officially in the hands of the Gravian empire. The planet now belongs to the humans who live here, in conjunction with the Gravians who will monitor and aid in their survival. Xylan formally wishes you the best in your efforts at future autonomous nation-building. This planet is under the protection of the Xylan Empire. May honor follow you in whatever path you choose.”