Alien Mine (Zerconian Warriors Book 7)

by Sadie Carter

  Great, if this continued there was no way she’d ever get free and back to Thor.

  Thor. God, she missed him. More than that, she craved him. He filled her dreams until she woke up shivering with the need to see him, touch him. Now she understood what he meant. They couldn’t go that long without each other—she really had to get this show on the road. Tomorrow night. They were coming tomorrow night. That didn’t leave her a lot of time to convince Elika to help her. That is if she even got a chance to talk to the witch. She hadn’t seen anyone but Lor and Husan since they’d arrived.

  At least today she could move without wanting to pass out. Bruises covered her body and her right eye was still half-swollen shut. She moved like an arthritic eighty-year-old. But at least she could move. He hadn’t broken anything, which meant he’d been holding back.

  Suddenly, the door opened and she squinted as light filled the dark room.

  “Smells like shit in here,” a rough voice stated. Ernie. Husan’s assistant. He was an asshole. Someone else she would really rather avoid. “Boss wants to see you.”

  Much as she didn’t want to see Husan at least this was getting her out of this room.

  “Let’s go then. Chop-chop. After you.” She swept her hand out.

  Ernie frowned. “Something’s changed about you.”

  “You mean this eye.” She pointed at her eye. “Thought I’d try a new look. Don’t you like it?”

  “You’re not scared. Why aren’t you scared? You were like a frightened little lamb before.”

  Crap. Willa was rubbing off on her. She needed to act scared, last thing she wanted was to make them suspicious that she might have a reason to be unafraid.

  “I’m scared out of my mind. Makes it hard to think.”

  “I’d watch that mouth in front of the boss. He’s not as nice as me.”

  She wrinkled her nose, trying to keep her groans quiet as she pushed herself up into a standing position. Ernie just stood and watched, a smirk on his ugly face.

  Yeah, he was a really nice guy.

  Ernie kept a tight hold on her arm as he half-dragged her through passageways that should have seemed familiar but weren’t.

  “This seems unfamiliar.”

  “A new addition to the palace. Like it? Boss decided to add another wing onto the place. We were kind of overflowing. Too many people in one place ain’t good for people’s hygiene and health.”

  Umm, say what now? Like Husan cared about others health.

  “How many live here now?” she asked, a sick feeling developing in her stomach. When she’d escaped, Husan had about ten other prisoners like her, whose abilities he used to his advantage. Then he’d probably had around twenty slaves who took care of his other needs. The slaves that worked the land and mines had numbered around fifty, plus around two hundred others like Ernie who were with him out of choice. But most of them had their own houses. So how many were in the main house? Around forty or fifty she’d have guessed.

  “Oh, about two hundred,” he replied gleefully. “The boss is building himself a nice army. Time to take things a step further.” He shoved her through an open doorway. She fell to her knees, unable to stop the low groan of pain from escaping. Ernie thrived on the pain of others. She knew better than to react. But she was already battered and bruised, she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

  “Lucy, so nice of you to join me.”

  She raised her head to find Husan sitting on a large chair in front of her. At his knees sat Beau, her eyes blank and unseeing. Unkempt red hair lay straggled around her face. Husan patted her head, but she didn’t react, just stared right through Lucy as if she wasn’t even there.

  My God, what had happened to her friend? Beau had always been the positive one. The one who’d kept her going with her ability to laugh even in the worst of circumstances. Now she was reduced to this emotionless, blank person?

  “What have you done to her?” she hissed at Husan. She glared at him, knowing it probably wasn’t wise. Husan enjoyed when people fought back. Made it all the more enjoyable when he got to put them in their place.

  Or watch someone else do it. He never really got his own hands dirty.

  But she didn’t feel very sensible right now. She felt murderous. Not all of her ire was aimed at Husan, though. She should have come back earlier. How could she have left Beau here? How could she have just gone on with her life?

  No longer. She wouldn’t leave until everyone here was safe from this bastard.

  Willa was right. Asshole had to die.

  “Beau has merely learnt her place.” His eyes flashed with anger. “As you will.”

  He wasn’t native to Lazarun. He’d completely wiped the natives out when he’d taken Lazarun from them. She actually wasn’t certain what he was. He tried to appear human, but once you looked at him closer there were a few things that were off. His ears were slightly pointed at the ends and elongated. His eyes were just a bit too far apart and his nose too small. She often wondered if he had some sort of glamour. Because it wasn’t until you really stared at him that these differences became obvious.

  “What are you?” she blurted out. Maybe she’d taken a knock to the head when Lor was kicking her ass. She really needed to get some self-defence lessons. Okay, so they probably wouldn’t help her against someone of Lor’s size, but enough to help her protect herself at least.

  He stood abruptly. “None of your business.”

  Beau shrank back and immediately Lucy knew she needed a different course of action. She didn’t want to risk him turning his wrath of someone else. Lucy dropped her head. “Sorry, sir.”

  He grunted and she risked a glance up. He hadn’t sat but he appeared somewhat appeased.

  “I hope you have learned your lesson, Lucy. I would hate to have to get Lor to give you another one in obedience.”

  That made two of them.

  “I have,” she squeaked not needing to fake her fear. “I promise I won’t disobey you again.”

  “Good.” He sat and pulled Beau next to him, running his hand over her hair. He treated her like a pet. No, worse than that. Like a possession. Lucy fought hard to keep herself calm and limp. Jumping up and scratching his eyes out was not a good idea right now.

  Damn though it would make her feel good.

  “Because I need your particular talents. You have returned to me at just the right time.”

  Crap. She didn’t like the sound of that.

  “I have someone for you to trace. You and Beau will work together to find this person for me.”

  “Who is it?”

  His face hardened and she swallowed heavily. “Just so I can be certain that I’m getting the right person.”

  Jesus, Lucy. Get your act together.

  He stared at her a moment longer. “You will find out if and when you need to know. I am going to take back my rightful place. And you are going to help me. We leave in two days.”

  He his hand at Ernie dismissively.

  Two days? What the hell was she going to do?

  ***

  Lazarun was a beautiful planet. Peaceful and serene. Hard to imagine a monster lived here. Lucy had warned them to stay far away from where Husan had built his own little empire. The rest of the planet was unpopulated so they had managed to land without worry.

  Now they just had to wait.

  His stomach churned. “Something is wrong. I know it.”

  “You can sense her?” Darac asked.

  Thor shook his head. “Not exactly. She’s keeping me blocked.” But there was an underlying sense of unease that he couldn’t shake. “Wait. There she is.”

  Fear. Concern. Pain.

  Then it was gone.

  “She’s in pain,” he snarled. “Someone has hurt her.” He stood, moving. He had to find her. Protect her.

  Darac moved into his path and he roared. “Out of my way.”

  The other man shook his head. “You can’t. The wards.”

  “I do not care. My mate
is in pain.” The bond had been shut down quickly so he knew she didn’t mean for him to sense those things. That made it all the worse. She was hiding it from him so she had to be in a bad way.

  “And if you go off like this then she’s going to be in an even worse way because you will be dead. Do not let her bravery go to waste, Thor. Do not let her have to live with your death or worse.”

  She’d follow him into death.

  Thor took a deep breath then turned and sat again. “She needs me.”

  Darac moved back to sit across from him. “We’ll get her out. We will get them all out.”

  Willa sat next to him, cuddling close, Norman on her other side. “I kind of wish I hadn’t come up with this plan now. I feel like this is my fault.”

  Darac pulled her onto his lap. “This is not your fault.”

  “Darac is right, Willa,” Thor said. “Husan is at fault here.”

  “And he is going to die,” Koran added.

  Thor had argued against Koran accompanying them. But he would not listen. He was determined to get his revenge for the pain and injuries Husan had inflicted on Mila and his warriors.

  Rye stretched. “Waiting is the hardest part.”

  Thor nodded. He much preferred action. Around him, the thirty warriors who had accompanied them prepared themselves.

  “I’m going to send out scouting parties. Any of you want to go with them?” Darac asked.

  Rye and Koran nodded and Darac organised groups of warriors to scout around. Willa jiggled her feet up and down nervously. “I hope she can do this soon. There’s less than twenty-four hours left. Did we give her enough time?”

  “She can do this,” Thor reassured her, even though he wasn’t that certain. What if something went wrong? What if she trusted the wrong person?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Damn it. Who could she trust? She didn’t even know anymore. Tell the wrong person her plan and everything could go pear-shaped in an instant. She had to do something, though. If she got on a spaceship with Husan then it was going to make things that much harder for Thor to get to her.

  Or would it be easier? There would be no wards to get through. But they’d have to be able to track them. She didn’t even know anymore. She really wasn’t cut out for this stuff.

  At least Ernie hadn’t taken her back to the room she’d been in. She was still in the new part of the building, but he’d shoved her into a large room with about a dozen other people. Some she recognized, others were new.

  But they all had that tired, defeated look she knew too well.

  Beau had returned soon after her. Maybe that’s where she should start. Except the other woman was still staring blankly in front of her. No, not Beau. The person she really needed to get on side with was Elika, the witch. None of these people surely held any love for Husan, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t turn her in if they thought it might help them get out of here.

  So she needed to tread carefully. Very carefully.

  Slowly, she approached Elika. The witch had been here for years. She was here long before Lucy arrived. But she seemed to fare better than a lot of the others. Maybe because Husan knew he needed her. If she died then Lucy assumed the wards did as well.

  Could she get the other woman on board with her plan? Elika didn’t look like a typical witch. No warts or cackling laugh. She was very average looking. Light brown hair, pale skin, thin build. She looked human, unless you got a closer look at her skin. It kind of glowed. A soft, soothing glow, but Lucy had watched her while she creating a spell and her skin had shone so bright it hurt to look at her.

  Lucy sat beside her. “Elika.”

  “Lucy. I’m surprised to see you back here.”

  “I had to save some friends.”

  “No friendship would make me come back here. I’d rather have killed myself. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

  “You have?”

  Elika snorted. “That bastard Husan just gets his healer to patch me back up. Can’t have his pet witch dying, can we? Beaten, starved, that’s okay. Dead, not so useful. Hope your friends were worth the sacrifice.”

  “I hope they were too.” She stared at Elika, willing her to understand.

  Elika’s eyes widened and she stared around. “Us? You came back for us?”

  She nodded. She’d done it for Mila and Koran, of course. It was her fault that Husan bought them. But she had also done it for Beau, Elika and the others.

  “Are you crazy? You can’t get us out of here.”

  “Alone, no.” She needed to figure out what side Elika was on. “Why have you never worked a spell to get you out of here?”

  “Where would I go?” Elika snorted.

  “Do you want to stay here?”

  Elika’s eyes flashed with fury. “No. Do you not think I would leave if I could?”

  “Then why? I know you’re powerful.”

  Elika snorted. “Only as powerful as Husan allows me to be. People think I can just create spells out of nothing. I need magic to create a spell. I draw that magic from the sky. Not a lot of that down here.”

  There were no windows in this room, no light. Disappointment surged inside her. Their plan just feel apart. “So you can’t take down the wards without being outside?”

  “Oh no, I can do that. I can take down a spell, I just can’t create a new one.” Elika’s gaze narrowed. “You want me to take down the wards? But he’ll know. He’ll come for me and it’s not going to help us get out of here.”

  “What if I said I had help to do that?” She was all in now, there was no turning back.

  Elika’s gaze turned calculating. “You have someone out there. On the other side.”

  “Yes.” God, please don’t let her have made a mistake in trusting Elika. She could have just signed Thor’s death warrant. “But they can’t get through your wards.”

  Panic entered the witch’s gaze and she stared around her. “There are spies here. I know there are.”

  “Yeah, I guessed that. But I trust you, Elika.”

  “You think we’re friends?”

  “Maybe not typical friends. But we’re friends of a sort. Right?”

  The other woman nodded hesitantly. “I can’t take the wards down. He’ll know. He’ll hurt me.”

  “He won’t have a chance to.”

  “No? What if your people can’t get to us quick enough? It won’t take him long to realize something is going on then it’s me he is going to blame.”

  “No, he won’t. Because I’ll kill him before he can do that.”

  “Bloody hell. Are you insane?” Elika gaped at her.

  “Maybe. But it has to be done. The wards are going to be attacked, when that happens, you bring them down and then we’re all getting out of here, got it?”

  She had to turn away from the doubt she saw on Elika’s face. She already doubted herself enough for the both of them.

  ***

  Thor stood, looking out at the distance lights of the compound where Lucy was being held. “I will come for you, my mate.”

  He’d stepped away from the others for a bit of quiet. He needed to calm himself. Being apart from his mate, not knowing whether she was well, it was eating at him, eroding his control. He took a deep breath in then let it out slowly. He needed to keep himself calm. Grounded.

  For Lucy.

  The ground under his feet suddenly shook and he hastily stepped back in shock as the ground literally opened and a small head popped out.

  “What the stars?” What kind of animal was this?

  It chirped at him and he shook his head. He could almost swear it was trying to speak to him. The being shook its head then jumped entirely from the hole. Short, it’s head didn’t even reach his knee. It was covered in short, brown fur and stood on four legs with claws and a long, pointed nose.

  Then suddenly the air shimmered and in front of him stood a naked male. Short and rounded with dark brown skin, the male studied him closely as Thor just gaped at him.

 
“Who you?” the male asked in a husky voice, using Standard.

  Thor opened and closed his mouth. A shape-shifter? But like no shape-shifter he had ever met. His voice sounded harsh, as though he seldom spoke.

  “I am Thor. Who are you?”

  The male bent over at the waist. “I am Dunar. I Lazarun.”

  “Lazarun? I thought all of you were wiped out.”

  Lucy seemed to think that all the natives had been killed by Husan’s people.

  “Few of us. Survive.” The male studied him, his nose twitching as he sniffed. “You here?”

  Thor struggled to gather his thoughts. Should he tell this strange creature? He could be a spy.

  “Are you an ally of Mortef?” he asked.

  The little creature spat on the ground and said something so fast Thor couldn’t understand him. But he did understand the fury on the creature’s face.

  “My mate is being held by Husan Mortef. I am here to rescue her.” In less than two hours they planned on attacking the compound with fire bombs. According to what Lucy knew, the fire would deflect off the wards, which would alert the witch they were here and to take them down.

  Danur turned to look at the compound. “He powerful. Evil. Difficult.”

  “I know. But I must get her back.”

  “You kill Husan?”

  “Yes,” Thor said firmly.

  The small male grinned and Thor was taken aback by his sharp pointed teeth.

  “Good. We help.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thor almost wondered if he was asleep. Dreaming. He studied the small group of Lazaruns then looked over at Darac and Rye who appeared just as shocked as he was. Danur had disappeared, promising to return with help before Thor could question him further.

  Sure enough, ten minutes later eight other Lazaruns, along with Danur had appeared, digging their way out of the ground. By then, Thor had gone to find Darac and the others.