by ML Guida
She quickly threaded the needle with the sutures and stitched up the hole. Blood coated her hands and she gasped to breathe. When she was done, she wiped away the blood and put a bandage over the wound.
One down. Two to go.
The one above wasn’t as neat as the first. From what she could tell, the bullet had shattered. This was way above her pay level, and she refused to even attempt to do anything. She gently put another bandage over it. God, the pain must be unbearable.
Last, she examined his shoulder. The hole was deep and when she looked inside, she couldn’t see any shrapnel. Poking or stabbing him with a scalpel would do more harm than good. The problem was that the wound keep bleeding compared to the other two. A bandage wouldn’t be very effective. Stitching was probably her only option until a professional could examine his injuries.
Once again, she threaded the needle with the sutures and pinched his skin together. Blood seeped through her fingers, but she held the skin tight. The needle pierced the flesh and she wove it in and out slowly until there were four stitches holding the flesh together.
She needed to do the other side, but Drake was face down.
“Drake,” she asked softly. “Can you roll onto your back?”
Silence was her only answer.
“Damn it.” She carefully placed her tools to the side and went to his other side. This wasn’t going to be easy.
She shifted her fingers underneath his left side and lifted, but it was like moving a passed-out football player. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Not willing to give up just yet, she snaked her hands underneath him and using her whole body, shoved her weight forward. He lifted up an inch and fell back down.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She jerked her hands back.
His black hair hid his face except for one golden eye that was filled with anger.
“I…I was trying to move…you onto your back, so I could finish….stitching you.” Her voice faded as he gave her the death glare.
“You’ve been doing what?” He glanced over his shoulder and winced.
“I’m sorry. But you were shot three times. Once in the shoulder and twice in the hip. I got one bullet out of your hip, but the other one shattered. I think the bullet might have gone through your shoulder, but I don’t know for sure.”
He slowly sat and rubbed the bridge between his nose. “Why would you do this? I kidnapped you.”
“You were hurt and in pain. I couldn’t leave you in misery. Also, I don’t know how to get home without you”
His jaw tightened. “Not to burst your bubble, but the pain’s still here.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any medical training. I tried…”
He lifted up his palm. “Stop.” He formed a steeple with his fingers and pressed them to his lips. “I appreciate what you did, especially since you don’t anything about Zalarians.”
“You’re a Zalarian?”
“Yes, I come from Zalara. We’re dragons.”
Her mouth fell open and she shook her head. “You’re what?”
He transformed into a silver dragon with light green stripes down his limbs and wings. He still had the bloody wounds on his shoulder and lower hip, but they were only bigger and bloodier.
She jumped back and put her hand on her racing heart. “No, this can’t be happening. The gas is making me hallucinate. There’s no such things as dragons. There’s no such things dragons. There’s so such things as dragons.”
Smoke puffed out of his nose.
She squeezed her eyes shut tight. Blood rushed between her ears and the only thing she could hear was her mad thumping heart. “No, no, no. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.”
Someone gently clasped her wrist. She cried out and her eyes flew open.
Drake had transformed back into human form. He immediately released her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but as you can see, we do exist.”
She put her shaking hand over her chest to keep her racing heart from leaping out. “I must be losing my mind.”
“You’re not.” His eyes softened, filling with an inner glow. “Chloe, you can finish, if you would like.”
She put her hand down. “Are you sure? I don’t know anything about dragon anatomy.”
He smiled wearily. “In this form, we’re built like humans.”
Her heart returned to normal. Her eyebrows furrowed, then released. “Why did the bullets harm you?”
“Because I was in humanoid form. If I had been in dragon form, the bullets would have never penetrated my scales. Unfortunately, what happens to me as a human impacts my other form and vice versa.”
“Oh, interesting. So as a humanoid, nothing else is different.”
Mischief flashed in his tired eyes. “Our cocks are bigger than your males and they have ridges to give women more pleasure.”
Her face and ears turned red hot. “Oh.”
He laughed.
She arched her eyebrow. “You’re not mad? You seem to get angry easily.”
He frowned. “Normally, I would…I’d be smashing things…yelling… but there’s something about you that seems to calm me. You know, beauty soothes my savage beast.”
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “Right.” She washed the wound just above his pectoral. God, he was magnificent, even if he was a kidnapper. He watched her every move, which made her eleven times more nervous.
Her hands shook as she threaded the suture through his flesh and then tied the knot. “There…All finished.”
He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. “Thank you.”
She lowered her gaze and heat flushed through her. “You’re welcome.”
Something slammed into the ship and it rocked.
Chloe jerked her head up. “What happened? Did we hit something?”
“No.” He put his hands on the floor and groaned. “Someone fired on us.”
“What?” Another hit and Chloe fell on her side.
“Strap yourself into your chair.”
“But…”
“Now!” he roared.
She scrambled to sit in her chair, her fingers fumbling to buckle her belt.
He strapped himself in and pushed buttons on the control panel.
He growled. “What the hell did you do? I told you to steer the ship, not to change the damn course!” Smoke flared out of his nostrils.
“I’m sorry. I pushed in coordinates.” She trembled, too afraid to tell him that she’d leaped into his mind. God, he’d be so pissed.
“Good job,” he snapped. “Because we’re totally off course and approaching another unknown solar system.”
She bit her lip and hung her head. Her chest tightened. She gripped the arm rest hard, wishing she were anywhere but here. She pressed her lips together tightly. It wasn’t her fault they were in this mess. He was the one who had kidnapped her. She hadn’t asked for this. First chance she got, she would jump into his skin and find the coordinates back to Earth, so she could run away from her red-hot-tempered dragon.
6
Drake shifted in his chair to bring up the rear review screen and pain stabbed his left hip. He clenched his jaw. Fates, it was as if steely knives were cutting into his flesh. He panted, trying to stay in control. He had to focus. A Kamtrininan small fighter ship was pursuing them and preparing to fire again.
He frowned and his gut turned rock hard. “Damn it, it’s a small Kamtrinian fighter. Luckily, it’s not powerful enough to destroy us. The Leo’s shields are holding. However, a ship that small usually isn’t far from the mother ship.”
“Who are the Kamtrinians?”
He glanced over at Chloe who sat rigidly in her seat, her fists tightly clenched.
“They’re our number one enemy,” he said forcing his voice to be patient.
“You mean yours,” she said softly.
The Kamtrinian ship fired, and he maneuvered away, their ruptors barely missing them. “Yours as well. If it wasn’t for my people, all
of yours would be dead!” All his good intentions flew out the space ship. His voice was much sharper than he intended, and Chloe didn’t answer.
He locked onto their ship with a photon ruptor and fired. Every time he shifted in the chair, agony pounded in his hip. His shoulder was stiff and the stitches pulled, but the pain was manageable––not so with his hip.
The Kamtrinian eruptor sizzled, missing their ship. But when they fired again, the ruptor hit the Leo’s bridge. Their shields held, and the ruptor failed to cause any damage.
The Kamtrinian ship fired again, nearly missing them. He had to get Chloe out of here before the Kamtrinians were joined by their larger ship.
He launched the Leo into ultra-drive five. Stars whizzed passed them faster and faster. “Maybe we can out run them. If they contact the mother ship, more fighter ships will be dispatched, and we wouldn’t survive a fleet of Kamtrinian star fighters.”
Chloe failed to respond once again. He glanced over his shoulder. Her face was pale, and she stared at the screen with wide eyes.
The Kamtrinian ship went into ultra-drive and kept pace with them. He increased the drive to six…seven…eight…nine. The Leo shook and whined, but he didn’t care. They had to outrun the Kamtrinian fighter.
“Drake, the ship’s breaking apart.”
“No, she’s not,” he lied. The Leo wasn’t built to go past seven.
Up ahead was the Centaurus Star System, which was always risky to enter. Rumors of ships disappearing and never returning had been circling the United Planet Confederation for months. Topaz had ordered they stay away, but he didn’t have a choice. If they stayed out here much longer, more Kamtrinians would arrive.
He signaled Topaz. “Captain, this is Drake, we’re under attack.”
Nothing.
“Topaz, are you there? Can you read me?”
More silence.
“Does anyone read me? Answer me.” He scanned the Leo for any damage to the communications but found none.
“There’s something wrong. The Kamtrinians aren’t jamming our communication system.”
Chloe finally answered. “Then, who is?”
He tilted his head. “Something up in Centaurus Star System is.”
“You don’t know?”
“I just said that,” he snapped, hating himself for losing his temper again.
He plotted a course to try to get back to Zalara, but the Kamtrinians fired again. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play.”
He maneuvered the ship around and headed straight for the ship, determined to blow them out of the space.
“Drake, what are you doing!” Chloe yelled. Her fearful voice did nothing to deter him.
“Shut up!” He repeatedly fired ruptors at the Kamtrinian ship. Blasts of ruptors ricocheted off their ship’s shields. They were weakening but holding.
The ship fired at Drake, but he was ready and shifted the Leo wide to one side and then the other. Their ruptors rushed past them. The distance between their two ships lessened.
“Drake, stop. You’re going to get us both killed.”
“No, I’m not. Trust me!” He thought if he could force the ship to change course, then maybe they could out distance them, giving him a chance to contact Topaz.
For some reason, the Leo lost speed as if she’d just run out of fuel, but her tanks were full. Ultra-drive six…five… The Kamtrinian closed the distance between them.
“What the hell’s wrong?” Drake rapidly jabbed his finger on the accelerator, trying to make it go faster, but the ship continued to lose speed. Ultra-drive four…three…two…one. He slammed his fist down on the button hard. “No!”
Chloe screamed.
He gritted his jaw, waiting for their two ships to crash, killing all of them instantly.
Sweat drenched Drake. His damn temper had gotten the best of him, and now he was not only going to kill himself, but his mate. She didn’t deserve a fiery death.
He jumped out of his seat and transformed into a dragon. He wrapped his arms around his shaking mate, shielding her from the upcoming blast.
His heart raced and he lowered his head, waiting for the ships to burst into flames.
The Kamtrinian ship lost speed as well, as if slamming on the brakes. The nose of the Leo and the Kamtrinian ship just touched. Close enough for them to see into each other’s bridge.
He shuddered. He could never get used to the Kamtrinians’s three black eyes and white marble skin. Their eyes had no reflection, as if they were statues. As far as he was concerned, they were mindless killing machines that all needed to be destroyed.
There were two people on the bridge––a male and a female, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more of them. The females looked exactly like the males except they were smaller in build and their lips were bright red. They glared as if they wanted to jump through their screen and rip both him and Chloe to pieces.
Drake transformed back into humanoid form and slowly released his mate.
“Oh, God.” Chloe gasped. She shrunk back into her chair as if trying to melt away.
He returned to his seat and mumbled, “You just came face to face with your worst enemy.”
“Why, why did we both stop?” Her voice quivered.
“I have no idea.”
“I can answer that,” a mysterious voice said, which sounded like it was inside the space ship.
Drake clutched his chair and whirled it around, hunting for the intruder. Had the Kamtrinians developed a weapon they didn’t know about? His main objective was to protect Chloe at all costs. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. He unbuckled himself and stood in front of her. He drew his eruptor. “Who said that?”
“Drake,” Chloe whispered behind him. “The voice is coming from inside our ship.”
He held his eruptor ready to fry an intruder. He wouldn’t let anyone harm his mate. “I know. I know.” He glanced over his shoulder at Chloe. Her eyes were damp and overly bright. “Stay behind me.” He braced his feet shoulder length apart, ready to battle, ignoring the warning sharp pain stabbing his hip. He lifted his chin high. “Show yourself, you coward.”
A glittering starlight flashed on the bridge so bright that Drake had to shield his eyes.
The light dimmed. “We are the Seps, and you’ve entered our solar system uninvited.” Each time the voice spoke, the light changed shape. Its slow tone promised retaliation.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Drake growled. “The Kamtrinians were chasing us.”
“Nevertheless, you came, bringing violence. You turned and attacked. You’re not innocent.”
Drake’s adrenaline spiked. He pulled his upper lip, baring his teeth. “Zalarians are nothing like Kamtrinians. We’re not the murderers. They are.”
“Violence is something we don’t tolerate. Both your species are too violent for our taste.”
He glared. “Show yourself! Why are you hiding behind the light?”
“We can take many forms. This is only one of ours. We do not like to get so close to such violent species.”
His vision clouded red. “Do you have any idea what these bastards have done to us?” He gnashed his teeth, wishing he could rip the light into shreds.
The light burned brighter than it had before. “Your temper indicates you are reaching the point of savagery.”
“I’m not a savage.” All of a sudden, the eruptor turned red hot, and pain sizzled his palm. He dropped the weapon and waved his hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I can see the rage inside of you, Zalarian. Your weapons, along with the Kamtrinians’, are no longer viable.”
“What do you mean?” He stared at his hand in disbelief. He actually had blisters on his palm.
“It means your hand-held weapons, and your ship’s weapons, are too hot for either of you to manage.”
He rubbed his burned hand onto his pant leg. “You don’t understand. The Kamtrinians fired upon us first.” He thrust his chest out. “We had every right to defend ou
rselves. You have no right to interfere.”
“On the contrary, I do. You entered our solar system. I’m simply putting an end to this growing brutality.”
“Punish me if you must,” Drake said. “But spare my mate. She had nothing to do with my actions.”
“Her background is no different than yours.”
Behind him, Chloe gasped.
Drake shook his head. “She’s not a dragon.”
The Sep ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken. “You and your female and the Kamtrinian male and his female will all be put on a planet where you will fight each other. The winner and his mate will survive, while the loser along with his mate and their ship, will be destroyed.”
He released a guttural roar. “No! You can’t do this!”
“We are not without compassion. There are weapons on the planet, which you will be able to use to destroy each other. Also, we will make it so you can understand and communicate with each other.”
“You’re not listening to me! Let my mate go! Punish me if you must.”
“It’s done.” The light burned brighter and brighter and brighter.
“No, wait!” A slight shiver rippled down Drake’s back.
“Drake.” Chloe clutched his arm, her nails digging into his flesh.
Drake turned around and cradled Chloe’s shaking body against his. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” Hoping he could protect her, he turned away from the light and shielded Chloe with his body.
The light exploded, then all went dark. Wind rushed around them. Chloe’s dark hair whipped his face, and he spat out strands of hair. He cradled her against his chest, but he was lifted off the floor and flung into the spinning stars.
Chloe clutched his arms. “Don’t let go of me!”
He gripped her arms tight and shook his head. “I won’t. I swear.”
The roaring wind drowned his voice.
Chloe was ripped away from him, screaming. He stretched out his arms and his fingertips brushed against hers.
He yelled. “Chloe!”
But all he heard was her faint screams as if she’d be tossed down a well.
Drake fell, tossing and turning. The Leo remained at a dead stop in space. Cold air beat against his skin, and he gasped for breath. He drew on his dragon power, his arms and legs flailed, but no tingles gushed over him. His bones and muscles refused to stretch or bulk out.
