Alien Bride: A Dark Alien Sci-Fi Romance

by Penelope Woods

  There’s only one way down, and it’s absolutely crazy to think this might work. But I have to do it.

  I run.

  Relying solely on my gut, I dive toward the wide plate of glass.

  The universe cannot contain expansion. Eventually, there is a breaking point. That breaking point is me.

  I feel my shoulders shatter the window. Pieces of glass surround me.

  The hand of gravity reaches out and grabs me by the legs. I’m tumbling through the cool air. The pavement rushes toward me.

  When I hit, I feel my left leg shatter.

  But I am stronger than the sentinels thought.

  When they look down on the street below, I am gone.

  I vanish, like a ghost.

  Fourteen

  Lök

  My voice turns hoarse as the Sentinels drag me down the stairs. My fingers attempt to grip each step, nails clipping against the metallic ridges.

  Pain means nothing to me anymore. Hatred? Yeah, I’ve lived with it my entire life. They can do anything they want. It won’t change a thing. Even if they kill us, our people will manage to sway this Empire. They’ll topple their empty towers and rebuild.

  But nothing can bring Emma back.

  “Rekker!” I scream.

  It’s no use. The sentinels choke us, throwing us through the entrance of the building.

  Another sentinel prods me. “Comply.”

  “Where… are… you… doing… to Rekker?” I groan, body spasming.

  Vraik and I share a glance. It is just like the old days, fighting forces that seem impossible to beat.

  This is a noble fight. If we don’t hold onto each other, we will have no platform to build from.

  Vraik whispers, “Just keep holding on. Keep pushing. Keep fighting. For her.”

  “For her ghost,” I say.

  We fight for Emma, our golden goddess.

  In the center of the building is the tallest skyscraper known to our kind. To those on the outside, it is referred to as Slain’s Scepters.

  At the top are two large blades. In the center is blue light, not argonon but made of some unknown mass of energy. I am sure it is Resnyx.

  The sentinels carry us inside, through an elevator that rushes to the top floor. “No,” I mutter. “I can’t do it. I can’t be here again.”

  I’ve stepped foot in this putrid city before, right when it was first built. At the time, I thought it might serve as a hub for Slain’s soldiers. In the end, the plans were discarded.

  There is no justice in Empire City. The sentinels are hounds. And the Emperor is none other than the devil himself.

  He is the most powerful warrior in the universe.

  The door opens to a large hanger. The sentinels bring us into the darkness, punching and prodding whenever we budge.

  I’m a bloody mess, but eventually, it all starts to blend together. The pain, the glory, the love I felt. It all turns into one thing: life. Survival.

  And I’m ready to do anything to survive.

  The sentinels drop us on the ground near a large craft. Compared to our mothercraft, this is nothing. There are turrets and cannons constructed within every groove. Power vacuums rest on the north and south ends of the craft, designed to steal the energy from neighboring warships.

  It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

  The sentinels disperse, and a low voice curdles through the dense silence.

  Slain.

  “You have come back,” he says. “Why?”

  I spin. I don’t know where the voice is coming from.

  I feel the urge to bow, but I stand before the Emperor himself, bruised and broken, ready to destroy my name for the good of my people.

  Vraik’s wrists tremble against his cufflinks. “Slain, you have made a grave mistake,” he says.

  His voice booms. “No. For me, everything is going according to plan.”

  I run around the side of the great mothership, searching for the alien. “Show yourself, coward,” I shout.

  “The Resnyx,” Slain says. “Where have you hidden it?”

  I glance at Vraik and shake my head, warning him to keep his mouth shut. “You could give us the world. It won’t bring her back,” Vraik says.

  Slain appears from the shadows. I can still hardly see him. “You have made acceptance of your death?” he asks.

  I bow my head, but my eyes stay focused. “Dead or alive, what’s the use for me now? You have killed the one woman I could fall in love with.”

  “Pathetic,” he scowls. “Why have one woman when you can have hundreds?”

  I inch forward. “Is that your concession? More women?” I ask. “Our war against you has already begun.”

  He chuckles. “And where is your army?”

  Vraik stands with me. “We don’t need an army to beat you. We have already won.”

  The mothership’s outer lights turn on. A light-green forcefield appears to hover around its monolithic body.

  Over the years, I have spoken with him through hologram. Time after time, he appeared to look worse than before. But he hid his decaying body well.

  He looks so much worse than I thought. If it wasn’t for these cuffs, I would have killed him by now.

  Slain continues to walk toward us. “Do you really think you can beat me? I have killed your precious female. Rekker is now out of the picture. You cannot defeat that which you built. Each day, I grow stronger.”

  Rekker… It can’t be true.

  Slain is close enough to be seen.

  His face sags. A green, pustulating ooze drips down from his eyes, nose, and mouth. When he opens his mouth to speak, his breath smells like rotting trash.

  His body is… erasing. Turning immaterial.

  “What has happened to you?” I ask.

  “Nonexistence,” he says. “I am fading into the ether of this universe.”

  He’s barely there.

  I swallow, unsure whether to smile or scream. “I don’t understand,” I say.

  He laughs. “I found the source of life. Resnyx. It has made me stronger.”

  I can’t believe my ears. He’s taking the Resnyx.

  “You’re dying,” Vraik says.

  “No,” he mutters. “Soon, I will be God.”

  “Impossible,” I whisper.

  But the tightening in my chest seems to suggest a part of me believes it’s real.

  I take another step forward, but within the blink of an eye, Slain throws his hands up. Using his mind, he forces me against the outside wall of the mothership.

  Vraik runs to defend me, but he’s also subdued.

  “Don’t you care about this planet? About our rebellion? We were supposed to make things right,” Vraik says.

  “There was nothing to fix,” he says. “I never cared about progress. This planet was doomed from the start. Soon, I will abandon it. Right now, I need more.”

  More Resnyx. It’s turning him mad. I’d rather be a living, breathing entity than a God.

  “You can’t get more,” I growl, trying my hardest to push forward.

  It’s like fighting hurricane winds. Eventually, I turn breathless and desperate.

  He floats forward. “There is some left on planet Ferän,” he says.

  “No,” I groan. “The slaves were ready to rebel. We never found it.”

  The Emperor turns to Vraik. His voice turns louder than an air-raid siren. “Why must you lie to me?”

  A force of energy shoots out of him, surrounding Vraik’s body. He screams in agony. “Stop. Please, stop!”

  Slain closes his fist and steps back. “Tell me the truth.”

  Vraik falls to his knees, chest pumping. Tears soak his eyes. “Okay, okay,” he says, throat seizing up as he speaks.

  “Vraik, don’t do it,” I plead.

  But Slain uses his mind to close my mouth. My cries are quickly muffled.

  “He killed her,” Vraik says. “She’s gone, Lök.”

  I drop my head, ready to explode.


  Not only did the sentinels destroy the facility. They also destroyed the entire quadrant. Everything is telling me Emma is dead.

  But something keeps eating at me. Maybe it’s a false hope. Maybe I’m hanging onto an extreme impossibility. But what if we were wrong?

  What if she got out?

  “We have the Resnyx. It’s at Ferän,” Vraik says.

  The moving essence of Slain hovers over him. “You are honest. Well done,” he says.

  He may have been honest, but he left out one crucial detail. Akron has the Resnyx now. And if we want a rebellion to join our side, the slaves are probably ready enough to revolt.

  Slain is overjoyed. “Then we will go to planet Ferän.”

  The only question is…

  Where is Rekker?

  Fifteen

  Emma

  Akron and I stare at the raging storm ahead of us.

  The miners, hundreds of them, attempt to break down the walls of the electrified gate.

  Back against the wall, I try to think of a way out of this. Nothing comes to mind. “Come on, Akron. I need your help. What do we do?” I ask.

  The miners disable the gate’s security features. Once the crack has opened, the crowd roars with devilish cheers. They flood into the premises, heading toward the entrance of the med-bay facility.

  In a panic, Akron runs into the hallway. “Lock all the doors,” he says. “And turn on the security systems.”

  Frightened, I freeze.

  “Now!” he screams.

  “Where is the security room?” I scream.

  But he’s already at the door, holding it with his shoulders as the hoards force their might against him.

  I curse and dive through the other end of the hallway.

  Doors upon doors. There are so many fucking doors, I don’t know where to start.

  I try to turn the first handle I see. It’s locked.

  I move to the second, but that door is also locked.

  The hoard breaks open the entrance, overpowering Akron. He fires, but the bullets hit the ceiling.

  They grab his ankles. Screaming, he reaches for the railing against the wall. “Emma! Hide!”

  Slowly, I back up, watching as they break his arm and start to tie him up.

  Run.

  There’s no time to waste. I try the third door, and it opens to another hallway full of doors.

  “No, no, no,” I groan. “How is this possible?”

  Akron’s screams echo throughout the entire facility.

  I’m going to die here. This is it.

  But then I remember what I have to care for, my baby. Soon, I will be a momma.

  Instinct kicks in. I can’t let anything get in the way of my family.

  I stop running.

  The slaves force the door open, reaching for me.

  My eyes widen as they grab my ankles, forcing me onto the floor. One slave raises a hammer over my head. His eyes tell me he’s about to swing.

  I have one-second to get it all out.

  “I’m pregnant,” I say.

  The man holds his position. The rest of the crowd freezes.

  “I’m pregnant,” I say again.

  Rekker, Lök, Vraik. All of the memories come back to me. A deep, swelling emotion rocks me, but I can’t let it end me. I will get my alphas back. And when I do, we will finally be able to relish in the love we share.

  We will raise our child.

  The alien with the hammer lowers over me. “Empire filth. You are our prize,” he says.

  “I have been claimed. I participated in the fertility rite of your people,” I say, voice hurried.

  One of the aliens commands the others. “Take her.”

  They carry me and Akron into another room. His arm is broken, and he looks completely sedated.

  “Wait,” I say. “I am not from the Empire. I came to help.”

  “Lies,” the alien growls. “All we hear are filthy lies.”

  “It’s the truth. Keep the Resnyx. It’s not ours to have,” I say.

  Growls fill the room as they turn to argue their best move forward. I inch back, thinking about my alphas.

  “No one in their right minds would come to give us the Resnyx. So why are you really here?” he asks.

  “Because I think we can help each other,” I say.

  “Talk, cunt.”

  “Put down your weapons, and I’ll tell you everything,” I say.

  When they follow, I cautiously stand and keep my hands visible. “The sentinels of your planet stole the alphas that claimed me,” I say. “It was an illegal seizure, and I believe they are bringing them to your leader, Slain.”

  A few of the miners chuckle.

  “He is not our leader,” the alien says. “Out here, we elect our own leaders.”

  “But don’t you see? Slain will kill them,” I say.

  “This sounds like your problem,” he says

  Feeling trapped, I fall forward and grab the alien’s wrists. I squeeze and look into his eyes. “If you let Slain kill them, he wins. He’ll come here next with his warships. He will destroy you,” I say.

  He pushes me off of him. “We will fight,” he says. “And we will win.”

  “No,” I mutter. “You have no real weapons. You will gain nothing. At least, not without my help.”

  The aliens whisper among themselves, but their leader can’t stop staring at me. “Speak,” he says.

  “You can build a new world on that Ubara. You don’t have to be enslaved. You can be free.”

  “There is no freedom,” he says. “It is every alien for himself.”

  “There is freedom. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it. And if you help us save them, I will make sure you get a chance at experiencing it yourself.”

  It takes a moment for him to think this over. He doesn’t even engage with the others. He simply looks off to the side and bites his lip, forehead creased with worry.

  “How can I trust you?” he asks.

  We can’t let this crumble to dust.

  Before I can give him a definitive answer, a familiar sound comes from overhead. It’s the same sound I heard on the day of Earth’s invasion.

  I glance at the door at the other end of the hallway. Without thinking, I push through the crowd. I run toward that door.

  I expect the outside sun to pour in, but it is completely dark.

  Above our heads floats a monolithic mothership, far superior to the one my alphas owned.

  I turn back to the pack of slaves. “You’re going to have to trust me. You have no choice.”

  Sixteen

  Rekker

  If I don’t find a med-bay, I’m going to die.

  My skin sags. I’m covered in wrinkles. I’m still alive, but I’m not in any condition to fight. If Emma were around, she’d be mortified of my looks.

  Sometimes, I can still feel her. I can hear her heart beating against my chest. But then I remember what happened.

  The entire city lit up in flames. That was the moment we lost, but I can’t help but feel like it’s the time we also won.

  I’m probably delusional. Probably some leftover PTSD after everything we’ve gone through. After all, I was just blasted with enough Resnyx to kill someone, and I lost the mate I love.

  When you have nothing else to lose, you stop caring about the consequences. You just take down as many enemies as you can.

  That’s the way we won the rebellions. That’s the way we’ll win this.

  If we live...

  I’m not doing too well. The concrete broke my fall, as well as my left leg. The radiation doesn’t have to be permanent, but the only med-bay pod I’ve seen work is on planet Ferän. If there is one in the current vicinity, I wouldn’t know where to look.

  Sentinels search the streets of Empire City. I can’t take too many chances. I hide in an empty building, trying my hardest not to scream out in agony.

  Glancing down, I finally get a good look at my leg’s condition. Through the sentine
l mask, I can see the bone inside my flesh, broken from impact. My vitals flash before my eyes. I need a fucking doctor, but there’s no time.

  I know what I have to do. It’s not going to be pretty.

  Inside the vacant building, I crawl, searching for something long and sturdy. When I reach the corner of the room, I find the tool I need. It’s a long, metal beam, strong enough to withstand another storm. It’ll have to do.

  “Now comes the fun part,” I whisper.

  As I take my leg in my hand, sharp jolts flash through me. Every time my heart beats, the pain spreads. This is going to fucking suck, but I’ve been through worse.

  Losing Emma broke me harder than that fall.

  Quickly, I reach down and tear my pants around the break. Draping the cloth inside of my mouth, I bite down.

  With my hands cupped around both sides of my leg, I grip tighter and breathe erratically. “Okay, you can do this.”

  Sweat runs down my forehead as I shift my bone back into place. I bite down harder, closing my lips as tight as I possibly can. “Agh!”

  Snap!

  The bones crack back into place, but I’m laying on the ground, absolutely floored with pain. Tears run from my eyes, and I can feel the cool trickle of blood trace down my ankles.

  This is hell. But I can get through it. I can get through anything.

  I place the metal beam against my leg and quickly fasten the cloth around it. When it’s nice and tight, I pull myself up and stand, stumbling into the door.

  Breathing, I close my eyes and whisper, “This is going to be one hell of a night.”

  I’m not going to let Slain get away with any of this. When I see him, I will make sure to end his life, even if it means ending mine.

  It takes minutes to get through the door. Once outside, I slide against the wall and groan. I have to keep pushing, but a sentinel craft flies by, forcing me to duck into the shadows.

  I can feel my bones rattle, and every muscle seizes. My body wants me to give up and rest, but I am a wicked and changed alien.

  I want my woman back.

  There is a building not so far away, the tallest of them all. It looms like a dark mountain, a tower of pure evil and destruction.