Assassin's Bride

by C. J. Scarlett

  “The heart?”

  “You’re the one who was brave enough to stand up to Lana and stand up for Diego. I was pissed, but I let it happen. So, you’ll be our moral compass; you’re certainly very good with directions when it comes to that,” he said with a small smile and Alessia fought down the urge to launch forward and hug him. Diego was still hanging on his shoulder and they hadn’t exactly gotten down the whole touching thing. She didn’t know if it was something she should try to do yet, until they had a better grounding for the elephant in the room between them.

  It worried her that she felt more likely to touch him with Drake not here. It felt like it was somehow his presence that kept them from connecting better. That worried her because of what it could mean.

  She didn’t get the chance to ponder it too much, however; the next thing she knew Erik shoved her down onto the ground and someone shouted.

  Chapter 16

  She understood, first and foremost, that they were being attacked. Someone was coming after them. No—someone was attacking them, right on them. She tasted dirt as her face slammed into the ground without the warning to protect herself. She tasted blood next from where her teeth had slammed into her cheek and popped the skin. She’d check later to see if any of them had been knocked loose.

  For now, all she focused on were the vital parts of her body. Her head and her neck and her stomach. These were all the places that instinctively she tried to cover as she curled up in on herself, hearing shouting and pounding feet all around her. In a single instant, their quiet hideaway in the woods had turned into a battlefield. She had no idea how many people were assailing them but she suddenly felt heat. She opened her eyes.

  A fire roared around them. She watched more flames pour out a dragon’s moth like water from a hose. It joined the licks of flames already sinking its teeth into the dry grass and trees. This was a wildfire that would spread instantly, and dangerously. Alessia found herself hoping they weren’t near any civilization. She didn’t want to be the reason some little kid in the rural parts of California lost their home.

  “We need to move,” Erik shouted over the roar of the flame. The heavy heat pushed down on her, keeping her flush to the ground as if trying to press her right in.

  Erik was right. She had to get up. That was the first step in making any of this right. She needed to get on her feet. She needed to stand. But fuck if everything didn’t hurt. The heat rose. It was fascinating how painful and real something so invisible could be. She pushed up, using every ounce of muscle strength she hoped hid in her arms and shoulders, and then in her legs when they touched the ground. She stood. Then she moved to pull Diego up; he was worse off than she was and completely confused.

  “Get him out of here,” Erik called, looking around wildly.

  The dragons in the sky circled them like vultures. She wasn’t sure what they planned to do to all of them, but she knew that they were here, first and foremost, for Diego. She needed to get him to safety.

  “Come on,” she whispered to Diego, squeezing his arm and trying to inject some type of inspiration into his movements. They had to get out of the flames before the circle the dragons above created, completely closed them in.

  Ultimately, Alessia settled for just throwing Diego and herself out into the air, and across the heat. She felt a sting as her ankle was touched, just briefly, by the lick of a flame. She’d been burned before on ovens and hot food. But it didn’t feel like the fire. This wasn’t just a burn, this was a melting pain. Tears were in her eyes before she could stop them. She was afraid to look at the damage; she was sure all she would see would be painful, awful clawing and scaring. A bite mark from the fire itself would be forever imprinted on her skin.

  But she needed to keep moving, they needed to get Diego to safety.

  But then it occurred to her. Erik wasn’t with her. She turned around. He ran around in the circle of fire, trying to draw the attention of the dragons overhead. He tried to keep them watching him while they got away. She knew how this went in movies. She was supposed to run away because the person creating the diversion was sacrificing themselves for you. You needed to not waste that sacrifice. That was the point of things like this.

  But Alessia didn’t want to leave him there. She didn’t want to leave him to be hurt, to be killed. She would have no way of surviving in the woods without him and, more than anything. He was her friend. She didn’t want to lose him. Especially not like this. She couldn’t handle losing someone else and she wouldn’t be guilty the rest of her life because of it.

  But she also didn’t know what to do about it. She felt completely powerless and understood, just for a second, why people were so scared of shifters. She was an ant on the ground; the dragons circling for the kill above might as well be gods waiting to strike.

  But that strike never came because another dragon joined the fight. It didn’t take long to figure out exactly who it was when they slammed into the other dragons, full force, head on, trying to do as much damage as possible.

  Lana.

  She dove on the other dragons, knocking them to the ground. She was a beautiful creature of shimmering gold and pure rage. Alessia found her eyes locked in on the image as she knocked her fellows to the ground and engaged them in a brawl. It was like watching something on the Discovery Channel, beasts of immense power looking to destroy each other.

  I was captivated by the image, drawn in, not realizing I made the same mistake again, ruining her ability to save me if I didn’t help myself as well.

  “Alessia, we need to go!” Erik yelled, coughing through the smoke.

  His face was covered in sweat and it dripped in places, showing through the soot from the smoke. He was bleeding above his eyebrow in one spot and the sight of it seemed to knock me out of my trance. They needed to move. They needed to run. So we did.

  She let Erik take her hand and pull and they ran. Diego was latched onto her, perhaps the last bit of adrenaline he had left pushed his legs forward. As they moved, there was a swooping sound overhead. Lana flew over them, running interference as the dragons behind them let out anguished cries and painful howls. Lana had wounded them enough to give them a chance to run and Alessia didn’t have time to wonder if it would be because she was leading them into a worse trap. Her instinct said run so she did.

  ***

  They found shelter in the form of a mouth of a cave. Alessia thought it was only in movies that people hid out in caves but there they were, hoping a bear wasn’t hiding in the deeper parts of the cave. No one elected to travel farther in and look. They all wanted to be at the mouth, a place where they had a good vantage point and an easy escape if they needed it.

  “How did they find us?” Erik asked Lana, in human form once again, with barely disguised accusation in his voice.

  “I heard them,” she said. “We have ways of communicating that humans can understand. I could hear them. They followed your scent and the blood that Diego dropped with every step you took.”

  “It’s not his fault,” Alessia defended quickly and Lana rolled her eyes.

  “They were looking for him but I don’t doubt they wouldn’t love to do you two in just to prove a point,” she said. “You’re boring old humans, incredibly weak, no skills to speak of, and yet you managed to evade James.”

  “With your help,” Alessia said with a frown.

  “Yeah well, it pissed them off all the same,” she said. “Where’s the professor?”

  “He went to find help,” Erik said. “He hadn’t come back yet.”

  “The chances that they have him are pretty high,” Lana said. “James is trying to rally together some fractured groups of shifters. I got that much from dumb and dumb out there. There’s a bounty for all of you, courtesy of Damien Orlando and James wants to use you as leverage against him. We’ve got a very difficult road ahead, especially with that little show back there. Are you ready for some serious running?”

  “I’m g
etting tired of running,” Alessia said.

  “Well, sometimes you’ve got to run before you can stand,” Lana said. “We get to safety and then you can decide if you want to join this fight against Orlando. I won’t hold it against you or force anything on you. The decision is yours to make. But first, we have to run.”

  Alessia had spent so long running, so long protected. She didn’t want to be that person anymore. If she did this, if she ran away, it would be the last time she ever did it. Because when they got to the safe house or wherever it was they were going, she would take a stand. She would put an end to the running and the helplessness and the fear.

  So she nodded. She’d be ready the next time she faced James and try to show no fear the day she inevitably faced Damien Orlando.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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  With Love,

  C.J. Scarlett

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  Glossary of Celestial Mates Terms

  Slin – A cute little creatures that grow larger than horses. They are a cross between a pig and rodent.

  Garon – A shaggy, mammal similar to a huge wolf. Beasts are ridden for recreation on Krylon and Sylon home worlds.

  Krylon – Home of the Krylon Imperial house.

  Shardon – Originally Sylon was a mining colony ruled by a Krylon prince. The Sylon Alliance offers the citizens of Earth one the continents on their world in exchange for human brides. Since Earth is a dying world with a surplus, women volunteer in droves.

  Candorian – Aquatic species with no home world until they created the Sylon Alliance along with a Krylon prince and a group of Shardon clones. Candorians specialize in trade and deliver of merchandise. They are the only members of the alliance not in need of females.

  Shardon – Species of aliens who have relied upon cloning technology to propagate their species for generations due to their women’s fragile DNA collapsing.

  Clans – Krylon society is divided into clans. To be clanless is to be shunned.

  Holt – Piece of property designated by the emperor for a Clan Leader to house his entire clan.

  Clan Leader – Head of the clan. His wife is called a Clan Mother.

  Kryogen – Sea creature with shell.

  Tuvel – Ten

  Kelver – An equivalent of three metric tons.

  Lakarian – Species Inhabiting a Home World on Krylon’s Eastern Boarder. Their society is matriarchal and they are traders.

  Laser Pistol – Just as it sounds. It is a common weapon used in battles and self-defense.

  Jūnihitoe – Is a complex and elegant kimono worn for formal occasions in feudal Japan. Fell out of favor for decades then reemerges as the choice of high fashion for formal occasions. Composed of several layers, usually with a heavy ornate brocade outer layer.

  Karaginu Mo – Short train on a Jūnihitoe.

  Sokutai – Formal traditional dress for Japanese males.

  Kinbaku – A Sexualized extension of Hojojutsu.

  Hojojutsu – Japanese martial art that incorporates rope as means of restraint, specifically designed not to cause physical or mental injury.

  Shibari – Outsiders consider shibari a sexual bondage technique. The Japanese use the term to describe any form of decorative tying, such as ribbons around presents.

  Orochi – Eight headed snake monster from Japanese legend.

  Aquaglyceroporin membranes – Set of membranes running under the primary dermal layer of a Maruvian’s skin, which facilitates the transfer of sorbitol throughout their bodies. It is critical to help us regulate our body tempters in extreme weather conditions. The organ responsible for maintaining this system is Scaragyla.

  Dragon – Though mythical creatures on Earth, they litter the Krylon home world. They are favored by the Krylon for riding and have been transplanted to many worlds in the sector of the space surrounding the Krylon home world.

  Golugua – Race of ancient sentinels who appear similar to gargoyles to human eyes.

  Halabow – The word used by Maruvians to denote a drone performing oral sex on a queen.

  Heart Stones – Crystal like substance harvested from the core of a dead planet. Glows in low light situations and provides extremely pleasurable sensations when rubbed against the skin of most species.

  Insectoid – Slang term for Maruvian. Creatures who evolved from insects into sentient life forms. The currently strive to become more humanoid thorough intermingling of DNA with other species. They have developed technology that alerts them of worm hole opened by other beings. They jump behind them to new parts of the ‘verse.

  Magnolite – Extremely rare and valuable gemstone.

  Micron – Unit of time.

  Mimics – Insectoids hoping to protect innocent worlds from the more aggressive elements of their society used Shardon cloning equipment to mix cone genetic material with their own in hopes of creating a being to act as an intermediary with humanoids.

  Parsec – Unit of distance.

  Parthenogenesis – Maruvians are asexual, however, the males require the presence of pheromones to initiate parthenogenesis, which is reproduction from an ovum without fertilization in this context.

  Plasma Pistol – New weapon introduced by the Maruvians. They are more powerful than laser weapons.

  Sylon – Home world ruled by the Sylon Alliance. (Krylon, Candorian and Shardon). Originally Sylon was a mining colony ruled by a Krylon prince. The Sylon Alliance offers the citizens of Earth one the continents on their world in exchange for human brides. Since Earth is a dying world with a surplus, women volunteer in droves.

  Terillian – Three Legged Reptilian Humanoids

  Tricon – Unit of thickness.

  Chelva – Type of Maruvian flatbread.

  Leavings – On Earth, human scruffs grab the leftovers from plates when the wealthy eat at restaurants.

  Wing Hider – Game played by Maruvian children. It is mash up of hide and seek and tag, only while flying.