He glared at her. “Do you really think I would do that?”
She studied him. “You’ve come to this planet to hunt a woman to give to someone to use as a breeding mare. You’ve already told me that you want me. The kids are just a bonus.” She lifted her chin. “Yes.”
Ouch.
“Do you have anything to say about that?” she asked when he didn’t respond.
“What’s to say? You have me all figured out,” he ground out.
She humphed. “Take the kids up first, then come back for me. At least that way, if you do decide to run off with me, they won’t be trapped anymore.”
Fanian stormed over to her, and without saying a word picked up the diaper bag and plucked Lexi from her arms. He opened the bag to maneuver Lexi, feet first, into it. He swung the strap across his neck and shoulders then lifted Adam to his back.
“Put your arms around my neck and legs around my waist.” When he did as told, Fanian added, “Squeeze tight. Don’t worry about hurting me. I’m stronger than I look. I’m just a robot, remember?”
Fanian stalked to the wall and, one at a time dug the weapons into the ice. Relying only on his upper body strength, he climbed by stabbing through the ice, pulling up and repeating the action. It wasn’t hard. He was up and over in record time. Miranda’s blood had restored him. He’d never felt this physically fit in his life.
At the top, he sat Adam and Lexi down in the snow, where they immediately shivered. He should’ve brought the sleeping bag to wrap them in.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He sat on the edge of the hole and slid down to where Miranda waited.
He turned and gave her his back and crouched. “Get on.”
Fanian didn’t know who he was mad at—himself for being the person she thought he was or her for recognizing it.
Miranda climbed on his back, and he straightened. He thought he would have a more challenging time because she was heavier than the kids, but he didn’t. With all the extra energy he had, he could’ve scaled a million walls, and wasn’t sure that he would’ve tired him out.
When they made it to the processing center, he would have the medics run a diagnostic on her blood. He had to know what was in it and make sure the substance could be added to the synthetic blood.
At the top, Miranda ran to her shivering kids. “Fanian, they’re freezing!”
“I didn’t have the sleeping bag. We can get the children warmed in the processing center.”
“No, they need the blanket now.” She pressed Lexi’s comlink.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Miranda turned to look at him. A smile slid across her face. The ground opened, and they fell into a pod and disappeared.
Chapter Sixteen
With a roar, Fanian launched the container full of synthetic blood across the suite. It hit the far wall with a clang, blood product splattered over pristine white walls. Immediately the cleaning bots clicked to life and on mechanical legs, ran to the wall, and began the cleaning process. Another picked up the container and carried it to the recycling receptacle.
They’d been cleaning up his messes for the past three days, ever since Miranda had slipped from his grasp. The cleaning bots were one of the advantages to having an executive suite.
He had a room to himself, didn’t have to worry about anyone trying to steal his belongings, wasn’t stepping over trash, and it smelled a lot better too. As if on cue, a puff sounded from the air vent, followed by a pleasing aroma.
“We’ve adjusted the synthetic blood compound to the exact specifications of the blood sample from human prey XI.9.” The voice of one of the game attendants came from the communication panel on the wall.
“You’ve said that, but something is still missing,” Fanian growled, running a hand across his messy hair. “This blood doesn’t taste like hers.”
“It should.”
“You keep saying that!” Fanian yelled, finally losing his patience.
“We will continue to work on the mixture.”
“What am I to do in the meantime?”
What if he injured himself and needed regenerating? What happened when this fantastic feeling from drinking Miranda’s blood ended, sending him to crash and needing more?
“There’s no reason why you can’t consume the synthetic blood until then.”
“My. Body. No. Longer. Likes. It,” he said as slow as possible because he’d told the attendants that over and over again. They’d had days to figure it out, and they hadn’t.
He hadn’t worried when he’d tried the synthetic blood the first night after Miranda’s escape and it tasted off. It wasn’t as if his body needed the blood right away to regenerate. Other than his pride he wasn’t hurt.
In fact, he felt good, better than he had in his life. With her blood pumping through his system, he felt as though he could go a week without needing to feed.
Instead of thinking too much about why his stomach had rejected the synthetic blood, he’d relaxed in his comfortable bed. The best he’d been in ever. He plotted his next move and used the map of the underground transportation system to get a lock on where she would’ve ended up.
The following day he’d awakened irritated with mild stomach cramps. He still hadn’t overthought it. He had a female to catch. Fanian had gone to where he thought she was. Her scent was there, but the area wasn’t saturated with her aroma. There also wasn’t a scent trail for him to follow.
She’d obviously used another pod after arriving. He’d traveled on foot to where the next pod should’ve taken her, but the results were the same. Her scent was there, but only lingering.
She was smart. He had to give it to her.
Before he could go to the next spot, the evening alarm had sounded, and he was returned to the lodge. Upon arriving, he’d gone straight for the food processor. His stomach cramps had worsened, and his head pounded. He’d wanted to strip from his clothes that now seemed too tight, constricting, and all types of wrong on his skin. He needed to eat.
One taste of the synthetic blood and his body immediately rejected it. He’d called a game attendant thinking the food processor was broken. They’d replaced it. When he’d tried again, he experienced the same result. He couldn’t eat. Every time he tried, the taste was off. He struggled to swallow the liquid. It felt wrong in his stomach, and he couldn’t take another sip.
The game attendants had reconfigured the mixture of the synthetic blood to that of a human compound. They’d said they fixed it. They may have included the elements of human blood, but it wasn’t what his body craved. He needed Miranda’s blood and it was very apparent that without her, he wouldn’t be able to eat again.
With a growl, Fanian stormed over to the food processor and tried again. Desperation made him take a healthy gulp of the product, forcing it down his throat while his stomach tried desperately to heave it out.
Wrong.
“What if there is nothing wrong with the synthetic blood?”
“What do you mean? I keep telling you that it’s off!” he roared.
Fanian lowered himself into one of the comfortable seats in the room. No matter how many times he told them, the attendants just didn’t seem to get it. They were eager to please. His zvodny had something to do with that. With Miranda’s blood, not only was he stronger, faster, and sharper, but his zvodny was also more potent.
“Maybe it’s not the blood you crave, but the female?”
Fanian scrubbed a hand down his face. “That would indeed be a bigger problem.”
A problem he wasn’t willing to face just yet.
“YOU.” Stab. “Will not.” Stab. “Get your hands.” Stab. “On me.” Stab. “Or my children.” Stab.
“Mommy, I think you broke that robot,” Adam pointed out.
Miranda’s chest heaved, and her lungs burned. Killing was hard work, but luckily she didn’t experience any pesky feelings of guilt that went along with it. She didn’t feel anything at all.
With knees planted dee
ply in the snow, she hovered over the hunter who’d been following them for days, stalking her. She’d tried to shake him off her tail like she’d gotten rid of Fanian, but this one was good. He showed up always within a half of a day to wherever she’d escaped to, and when he knew she’d run out of pods, he’d made his move and attacked.
Who exactly had told him she was out of pods? She had.
In her defense, she hadn’t planned to tell him. An animal that looked like a cross between a bear and giant bird was about to attack her. The hunter had yelled, telling her to use a pod to escape, or else it would eat her and her kids. When she’d replied that she didn’t have any pods left, the animal had magically disappeared, and the hunter advanced. He’d used some type of holographic projection to scare and trick her.
Well, I showed him.
He may have had the fancy projection gadget, but she had the taser and knife. “I think you’re right. He’s broken.”
“Yay!” Adam clapped, and Lexi giggled and imitated him.
I’m officially the worse mother ever.
Miranda used the snow to clean her knife and fingers. Adam picked up the taser and handed it to her. “Here, momma.”
She took it and stuffed it in her coat pocket. “Make sure to clean your hands on the snow, honey, and don’t touch anything until you’ve cleaned them good.”
“After I’m done, can I ask robot Fanian to tell me another story?”
Miranda sat back on her heels and sighed. Fanian had made an impression on Adam. Adam had been asking about him ever since she’d escaped. She would never admit it out loud, but Fanian had also made an impression on her.
Fanian had been concerned about her kids. There was no faking that. There was also no faking how she’d felt in his arms. Which had scared the hell out of her. How could she be attracted to someone who hunted her and was going to pass her on to another alien? Her feelings for Fanian were all types of stupid.
But if she was all types of stupid, so was he. He liked her. It was in his eyes when she’d awakened from being almost drained to death. She’d wanted to melt against him again. Luckily, her commonsense had kicked in, reminded her of what was at stake and allowed her one last brazen move to escape.
“If he were here, I’m sure he would love to tell you a story,” she said.
Adam’s expression brightened with excitement. “But he’s here. He’s behind you.”
Miranda stopped breathing. The world seemed to close in on her.
“I would love to tell you another story, Adam.” That voice.
“No.”
She tried to push to her feet, but with a firm hand on her shoulder, Fanian kept her in place on her knees.
“This story will be about my ship. Have you ever been in a spaceship, Adam?” His voice was so calming.
“I don’t think so.” Adam’s voice didn’t sound right to Miranda. It was slurred.
“You were probably brought to this planet, I mean to the North Pole, in a spaceship, but don’t remember the journey.”
“Can I see it?” Adam asked with child wonderment.
No! She wanted to run. Fight. But she couldn’t do either. She didn’t have the willpower to move. All she wanted to do was sit and listen to Fanian talk. Forever.
“You sure can. I’m going to take you, Lexi, and your mom to my ship. I’ll show you all the controls.”
“Can I help fly it?”
“Of course, it’s part of the adventure package. Now, let’s all get close together. We’re going to take a short trip. Are you ready, Mishka?”
Miranda mustered up the strength to shake her head. Fanian ran his fingers across her forehead, moving tendrils of hair out of her eyes. “It’s going to be okay now. Don’t you want to stop running? Aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to get the children out of the cold?”
Yes. The warm trickle of a tear ran down her cold cheeks.
“It would please me greatly if you would get rid of your weapons.”
No. No. No. “I don’t want to.”
His fingers lingered over the side of her face then trailed down her cheek. “But you do. Please don’t try to fight this, Mishka. My determination is greater than yours. I need you. Now, get rid of the weapons for me.”
Resist. She wanted to make him happy. Resist. She didn’t want to hurt Fanian. Resist. She wouldn’t dream of it. Resist. How in the world had she ever hurt him before? Resist. What kind of terrible person was she? Resist.
She tossed her taser away.
“Ready?” he asked.
Miranda angled her head to glance at him. He was so wonderful. So beautiful. She would do anything for him. “Yes.”
Chapter Seventeen
Why the hell am I going along with this?
Miranda clutched Adam and Lexi to her chest as the pod raced along a track. Fanian had told her they were going to a processing center where the gamers would officially declare them as Fanian’s property. There was no more fighting. No more running. No more surviving.
She’d lost. Fanian had sealed her future, and it didn’t look good. Tears burned her eyes. Breathing hurt. Thinking hurt.
“It’s okay, momma. Everything will be okay. You don’t have to cry.” Adam’s skinny arm curved around her shoulder while his little hand patted her back. “I was getting tired of being in the North Pole anyway. I really want to go on the next adventure.”
Adam was too sweet. Too forgiving. If he knew what life she’d just condemned them to, he would be crying too. When he was older—if he lived to be older—he would look back and remember this moment as the time his mother had failed their family.
Wetness overtook her eyes. Her vision blurred as fat tears instantly gushed down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I should’ve fought harder to stay. This is all my fault.” She rocked them as she spoke, crying into the tight gap between Adam and Lexi.
“Maybe we can see Santa some other time,” Adam said.
“It’s not your fault,” Fanian said. “You’ve survived this far even when the odds were against you. You should feel accomplished in that.”
“Accomplished in what? I failed!” She opened her eyes and glared at him. Her rage and tears made him a blurry outline. “If I’d been smarter, I would’ve won, and we’d be on our way back home and not being sold off to some alien with an uncertain future hanging over us.”
“Stop it!” Miranda startled at the tone of Fanian’s words. “You’ve been strong, stronger than many people I’ve ever encountered. Six humans have left The Hunt before you, and none of them had the burden of children. You’ve eluded some of the best hunters here. You’ve proven yourself as a formidable opponent. If I hadn’t used my zvodny, I would be chasing you still. You are not weak, and I refuse to allow you to wallow in self-pity any longer. Az’ud paid for a human female, but he’s getting someone who’s strong, worthy, crafty, smart, and fierce.”
While Miranda processed Fanian’s words, he growled and looked away from her. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
Miranda blinked back her tears, shocked at the praise he’d leveled on her. “But I failed. We aren’t going home.”
He let out a sigh. “Mishka, I told you before, you were never going home. The Okuthyu protects Earth. They ensure that no other species invade your world. They also maintain the balance there. That means humans who leave can never return. I didn’t lie about this, the Game Warden lied.”
“I’ve never met the Game Warden, whoever and whatever that is.”
“He’s the person who owns this planet and the reason you’re all here. You may know him by Xrez.”
Miranda’s jaw fell open. She’d known Xrez had an agenda but never thought it could be anything as heinous as this. He’d taken them from Earth, thrown them in a game where they were hunted for sport, and worse, he’d led them to believe they had a chance of returning. “Why would he lie to us?”
Fanian’s lips tightened, and he glanced away. She didn’t think he would answer. Then, “Hu
mans are seen as weak, not very bright, easy prey. He wanted to ensure that some of you advanced through the Levels. He wanted to motivate you, so the hunters had a pleasing experience in the game.”
Her chest tightened. Her breaths were hard and shallow. Esme was in love with Xrez. Miranda had seen it on her face when she’d talked about him. If what Fanian said was true, her friend was in for horrible heartache and possibly so much more. “I-I...”
Fanian turned to look at her once again. “I’ve never lied to you. About anything. Not once. If I’d wanted to, I could’ve told you that I’d planned to free you from this place and take care of you and your children. I didn’t. I told you exactly what my motives were from the beginning.”
She whimpered because he was right, and the gravity of his words finally settled over her. She never had a chance of going home. She and her kids were stuck in space.
“I’m sorry,” he said belatedly.
She hadn’t thought about any other scenario besides winning and returning home. When she was home, she’d planned on reclaiming her life instead of wallowing in the depression Lucas had caused. She’d vowed to be a better mother. She’d made plans to spruce up her resume and put herself back out there. If The Hunt had taught her anything, it was that she was stronger than she’d given herself credit.
“Was there ever any reward for making it through all three Levels?”
“Freedom. You would’ve gotten enough credits to start a new life any place you wanted. But returning to your home and mate was never an option.”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and chuckled. “Mate? I don’t have a mate.”
He frowned and glanced at the kids. “Did I misunderstand Adam? Didn’t he say his father paid for this adventure?”
“Maybe in your species fathers have one family, and they stay, but on Earth, things are a bit more complicated.”
“Is daddy also paying for the adventure on Fanian’s spaceship?” Adam asked.
Hunted by the Alien Vampire Page 15
