I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s go.”
Despite the severity of his injury, Duke was able to walk into the building without help. I tried to go first, holding the gun aloft, but he gently pushed me behind him.
“Even injured, I am a better fighter than you,” he intoned, brushing his lips momentarily over my temple before stepping in front of me.
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t have time. He started walking with purpose through the massive white lobby, at the center of which there was a large service desk with “Lady Liberty Records” on the front. I had to jog to keep up with him. I couldn’t hear anything, but he seemed to know where he was going. He led me to a narrow corridor lined with offices on both sides, bypassing all of the doors until we reached the last one on the right.
As his hand curled around the knob, I suddenly heard scuffling inside. He tensed, turned to me, and whispered, “Get your gun ready.”
I lifted it with trembling hands, and he turned the handle. The moment the door was open, I was overwhelmed with shouts. Three soldiers were inside the room. Behind them, on the ground, there were six A’li-uud, all unarmed.
“Drop your weapon! Drop it!” one of the soldiers bellowed at me.
I started to lower it, but, before I could place it on the ground as ordered, Duke whipped his sword. It flew from his fingertips in a smooth, horizontal spiral and whirled straight through the soldier’s navel. The A’li-uud behind him, who looked most like Duke, leapt to his feet and caught the sword a second before it cut through him too.
The soldier’s torso separated from his lower half, and he fell in two pieces. The other two opened fire. Duke shoved me out of the way just in time, but I heard the sickening crunches of bullets crashing through skin and bone as they met him instead of me. The A’li-uud who’d intercepted the flying sword lunged and speared the shooters one after the other until the only living souls in the room were the captive alien warriors.
There was a series of clacking sounds as the A’li-uud spoke to one another in their native language, and the one who’d killed the last two soldiers sprang through the doorframe to where I was cradling Duke in my lap. He knelt down and turned Duke over, clacking to him rapidly, ignoring me completely. I looked at them in panic, the edges of my vision going white with shock and denial as Duke’s face became paler and paler by the second.
“Help him!” I cried desperately.
The A’li-uud speaking to my beloved continued to ignore me, but the other warriors were gathering around us, looking down at the gruesome scene. Duke was covered in the mahogany-colored blood now, and his chest didn’t seem to be moving. Tears gathered in my eyes as I clung to his head and desperately looked from alien to alien.
“Please,” I choked. “Oh, God, please.”
One of the warriors reached forward and touched my shoulder. He was met by severe clacking from his counterparts, but he ignored them. I looked up at him, crying openly now and shaking so violently that the room seemed to be moving.
“This is the brother of Elder Du’ciact,” he told me quietly, gesturing to the A’li-uud who was leaning over Duke, speaking with him frantically. He spoke in a strange, clipped manner that almost made it difficult to understand him. “He will do all he can.”
“I don’t—I don’t even know where he’s hurt,” I gasped, my eyes scanning Duke’s outstretched body. “He was shot in the side earlier, and again in the chest, but I can’t—I can’t see where else he—”
“You must be strong,” he responded calmly. Again, the other warriors clacked to him, and he turned to address them in English. “She is no threat to us. Our Fierce One is in love with her; surely, you can feel the magic between them.”
Duke let out a long, shuddering groan, and I couldn’t hold back the wail of sorrow emerging from my throat. The warriors looked at Duke and me before looking reluctantly at the kind alien trying to reassure me. They nodded silently to him, and he turned back to me.
“You must let him go,” the warrior said, increasing the pressure on my shoulder where his fingers touched. “Dane will take care of him now.”
“No,” Duke said suddenly. His voice was coarse and breathy, almost painful to hear. “She stays with me.”
“She cannot,” his brother, Dane, contradicted. “You must go back to Albaterra immediately if you hope to survive your wounds.”
“Then she will accompany me,” Duke replied. Even in the midst of his agony, the sternness on his face was evident.
All of the warriors, including the one who was being so nice to me, exchanged looks of disbelief, and Dane shook his head. “Your first priority is to heal, brother. You will come back for her when you are well.”
“She could die if she stays behind,” Duke snapped. Fire flashed in his white eyes, and his weakened body stiffened with resolve. “The war is not over, and she might be a casualty. I will not allow that to happen.” His eyes narrowed at Dane. “Do not forget, brother, I am your Elder.”
Dane set his jaw stubbornly but yielded. “As you wish, Fierce One.”
“Is there a ship here we can take him to?” I asked. All gazes turned to me, and Dane shook his head again.
“No. We will have to take him back to our ship.”
“That’s all the way across the country,” I whimpered, stroking Dane’s gauzy hair. “He’ll never survive that kind of trip on top of the journey from Earth to your planet!”
“I will have to fly,” Duke murmured.
Everyone looked at him now, and I gaped at him wordlessly. Dane, however, said, “You would still have to wait for us to get back there, brother. That is time we cannot afford.”
“I will fly all of us,” Duke clarified in a strained whisper. “It is the only way.”
A horrible feeling of dread spread from my stomach to the tips of my fingers, and my limbs went numb. I flicked my eyes to Dane. “Doesn’t flying take a lot of power?” I asked fearfully.
“Yes,” Duke answered, not giving Dane the chance to speak. I looked back down at him. “And energy.”
“Energy you do not have,” Dane said forcefully.
“What other choice is there?” Duke asked, sounding a little angry now. “I must return to Albaterra as quickly as possible, and I need a crew to do so. As you have pointed out, we do not have time for you to make the journey on foot back to the ship. Thus, we have no other option. I must fly us all back to the ship despite the damage it will cause me, and I must hope it does not kill me.”
Dane stared at his brother, the alien I’d fallen so madly in love with, and then he nodded. I wanted to cry out, to shriek my protest, but I knew any effort to dissuade Duke would be futile and would only cost us precious time. As Dane helped Duke to his feet, I felt the room around me spin as I realized I might be witnessing the love of my life’s last few moments.
15
Duke
In over two hundred years of life, I had never been in so much pain. What I found strangest about the pain was that it was overwhelming and debilitating, yet its severity forced me into a state of numbness which allowed me to clumsily function. I stumbled as Dane helped me stand, and the apathetic tolerance I’d developed while lying on the ground seemed to disintegrate. Agony wracked my body like ocean waves upon a shore, and I let out an animalistic groan.
Emily’s expression was one of such fear that I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and comfort her. She stared at me with tears rippling down her lovely cheeks, and her enchanting eyes were so wide I could practically see my reflection in them. I hated to see her in so much distress, but it took all I had to just remain standing, and I was unable to offer her the reassurance she needed.
Dane guided me down the corridor into the large hall at the front of the building. When we stepped outside, I was greeted by the sight of the soldiers I’d killed; their lifeless and dismembered bodies sprawled across the ground like the trash decorating the streets. My warriors and Emily trailed behind us. Da
ne remained by my side, one arm draped around my back to prop me up against his body. I extended one of my hands backward and twisted my head painfully to lock eyes with Emily. She took the proffered hand.
“Everyone needs to hold onto me,” I said in A’li-uud. “Tightly.”
Very few A’li-uud had traveled by the winds, it was a huge risk to try and take eight hangers-on at once. If one of them lost their grip, they would fall miles from the ground to their death. Nevertheless, it was a risk I was forced to take, and I tried not to wince as my warriors closed their hands around any part of me they could firmly grasp: my ankles, my forearms, even my hair. Then, I turned my head up toward the sky, closed my eyes, and jumped.
I had never felt such weight when flying on the winds before. In fact, wind travel typically made me feel weightless as if I myself had become nothing but a wisp of breeze. This time, however, it was a battle just to stay aloft as gravity took hold and attempted to wrench my men free of my body. I desperately wished I’d pressed Emily against me and held her to me rather than leaving her to grip my hand, but I knew she would have adamantly refused for fear of injuring me further. I closed my fingers even more tightly around hers as we soared through the air.
It only took about ten minutes to traverse the country and reach my ship back in the desert, but it felt like hours. My limbs were heavy and limp, and my mind was starting to become fuzzy as consciousness began to wane. When my feet hit the dry earth, I fell forward onto my face and shouted in gut-wrenching howls of pain.
“Oh my God!” Emily shrieked, leaping forward to me.
“Do not touch him!” Dane ordered. I heard a thud as he swung his arm out and caught her across the chest, blocking her from collapsing on top of me. “We must get him into the ship. There are treatments onboard.”
“There are?” Emily’s voice was high-pitched and wavering. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We do not have time for idle conversation, human,” Dane barked, wrapping his arms around my midsection. I howled again as his skin pressed into my wounds, but he ignored me and hoisted me up. Through blurry eyes, I saw several warriors stepping forward, taking my legs to assist Dane in carrying me to the ship.
Though the sun was glaring unapologetically, my vision seemed to be growing darker by the second. I was unable to think clearly, and the only thing I was alertly aware of was Emily’s presence by my side as I was moved from the desert floor to the ship’s boarding ramp. Each step my fellow A’li-uud took jostled me and sent me into spirals of crippling pain. Finally, just as I was about to fade into unconsciousness, I was placed down gently. Cold metal perked me back into some semblance of focus, and I stared straight above me at the ceiling. I was in the command center.
I could hear rapid footsteps as several warriors ran through the ship to retrieve medicines and poultices and anything else they thought would help me. Emily, however, remained next to me. She lowered herself to the ground and knelt beside me. There were tracks from her tears on her face, but she was no longer actively crying.
“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered, stroking my cheek with the tips of her fingers. “I promise.”
“I am not worried. I am with you,” I murmured back.
Once more, tears bloomed in her eyes, but she did not break down into the sobs I expected. Instead, she gave me a beautiful, watery smile and tilted her head to the side. A moment later, her lips lit upon mine, and she kissed me deeply.
The footsteps that had become distant and faint now grew louder again until they were vibrating thumps in my ears. I saw Dane appear above me, his arms laden with small pots and string-tied bags. He, too, fell to his knees next to me as he began rooting through the items my warriors had gathered for him.
“This will sting, brother,” he said quietly.
I felt his hand press to my abdomen, and I grunted with discomfort. The place where he touched me became instantly warm. He repeated the action with another wound, and this one started to burn rather than smolder. The next seared so painfully I accidentally squeezed Emily’s fingers until they were blue, but she didn’t flinch. On the contrary, she offered me a slightly tight smile and ran her fingers through my hair.
After the stinging ointment, Dane started applying a root cream. It had a strong, tangy odor which made everyone in the room wrinkle their noses, but it immediately soothed the pain rendering me nearly paralyzed. I took in my first deep breath since the assault of injuries and let it out slowly. Then, I smiled softly up at Emily, and I saw relief flood over her face.
Finally, Dane sat back on his heels. “This will have to do until we get you back to Albaterra,” he said in A’li-uud. “I did quite a good job on you if I do say so myself.”
If I’d had the energy, I would have given him a look of disdainful amusement. Something more pressing was on my mind than casual banter, though, and I didn’t have much time to execute it. I turned to look at Emily again.
“I need you to excuse me, please,” I told her. “There is something I must speak to Dane about.”
“But what about—?”
“I will be fine,” I interrupted. Rolling my head back, I glanced at my warriors and said in A’li-uud, “Please give us a few moments alone.”
They immediately started to leave the room. Emily, however, seemed reluctant to move. She stared down at me uncertainly, and it was only when one of my men gently took her arm to guide her away that she relented and left.
“What is on your mind, brother?” Dane asked. “We have little time to spare. It is imperative we get you home.”
“There is no ‘we,' Dane,” I said calmly. His brow furrowed, but I went on without giving him a chance to ask me anything. “You will not be joining us on the journey back to Albaterra.”
“I do not understand,” he replied, shaking his head.
“You will remain here on Earth. We are still at war, and there must be a leader,” I explained.
He pulled back slightly in stunned silence. Finally, collecting himself, he said, “Brother, you need someone to captain the ship while you are injured. How do you—?”
“I will make do,” I interjected. “You are more needed here than you are with me, Dane. You have a duty to our people to get them out of this war safely.”
With one blink of incomprehension, Dane repeated, “Get them out?”
“Yes.” I pushed myself upward until I was sitting up. He reached forward to stop me, but I waved him off. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as badly as I’d anticipated. The medicine had done its job well. “We are greatly outnumbered here, brother. To remain and fight would be a suicide mission for our brave warriors. We must extricate them and bring them back to Albaterra, back to their families.”
He squinted at me slightly, and I could see he was trying to absorb what I was saying. “It will take me days, if not weeks, to return back to our point of capture, let alone where the others are. I am not sure there is enough time.”
“There is plenty of time if you fly on the winds,” I said, meeting his gaze.
For a moment, Dane stared at me. Then, he shook his head again and said dismissively, “That is an Elder’s power, brother, one you are unable to share.”
“You are absolutely correct. That is why I am making you Elder.”
Dane’s eyes narrowed. “Only the Council has the ability to bring someone into the Elderhood.”
“Father was an Elder, as was Grandfather. The Elderhood runs in our veins, Dane. I was heir to Father’s throne, and I am able to relinquish that throne to you as the second of Father’s heirs. That is if you wish to accept it, of course.”
As I’d explained, Dane had become very still. His mouth had become a very thin line, and his jaw had jutted forward slightly. When I finally fell silent, he stared unblinkingly at me for a long minute. Then, in a crackling, emotional voice I had never heard from him before, he asked, “Are you certain about this, brother?”
“I am,” I said firmly. “It was my lifelong dream to take Fa
ther’s place when he was ready to pass, and I achieved it. There is only one thing I want now, and that is to spend the rest of my life with Emily. I wish to take her back to Albaterra and make her my wife. I have left my legacy as Elder, brother. It is your turn.”
I reached to my side, took my blessed sword from my hip, and extended it outward. His eyes skimmed the blade, settling on the hilt where I shakily gripped it.
“Take it,” I told him.
“I cannot,” he whispered. “I have not earned the Elderhood.”
“Do you wish to be Elder?” I asked harshly, narrowing my eyes at him.
He swallowed hard. “Of course, but—”
“Then, you will take it. It is my final order as your Elder,” I commanded.
Dane slowly held out his hand. Then, one by one, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt. The moment his littlest finger curled beneath mine, I clutched his hand with my free one and began to chant. It was an ancient A’li-uud spell, one that hadn’t been spoken in centuries to my knowledge. As the words rolled off my tongue in the native A’li-uud language, I felt tingling all over my body. From my very center, boiling power began bubbling before shooting down my arm and bursting out of my fingertips. The fuchsia blade of the sword glowed brighter and brighter until it was blinding, and, in the deepest part of my ears, I heard the low, faint voices of Elders past chanting along with me.
Suddenly, my hands were thrown from the sword, leaving only Dane to hold it. He tried to let go as well, but he was unable. His arms trembled with his efforts to release it, but the sword remained completely still, immune to his quivering movements. His eyes were glued to the blade, and his mouth was open. There was a golden aura in the air surrounding us, and I knew the power of the Elderhood was flowing through him, taking him just as it had taken me all those years before.
Then, all at once, Dane’s arms fell. The sword swung down to the ground, and its intense glow dissipated until it was back to its normal luminescence. Dane breathed heavily and hoarsely, and he slowly turned look at me.
Duke: A Paranormal Scifi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 2 Page 10
