Dad Panther (Alien Guardians of Earth Book 3)

by Donna McDonald

  Her son gazed adoringly at both his children. Nyomi felt a rare tightness in her chest. “Long live the children of Prince Axel.”

  Everyone in attendance seconded her blessing.

  Axel walked alongside his rapidly recovering and completely blade-possessed mate to the hangar. Sugar’s body looked like she’d never carried a child at all. There was no reason for that fact to upset him, and yet it did. But instead of getting angry, he turned and looked into eyes that reflected only the being who lived inside his beloved mate.

  “Please bring Sugar back safely to me, Protector. She means everything to me. I need her to survive.”

  “Your heartfelt request is unnecessary, Guardian Axel of Rodu. We both value my host the same. I will guard her as you would guard her.”

  “I have no choice but to trust your words,” Axel answered. He put his lips to Sugar’s temple and whispered in her ear. “I know you’re in there listening. Come home to me. The children and I need you as much as the world does.”

  Not waiting for the sentient blade to answer for the female he adored, Axel turned and headed back to the throne room to relieve Caesar.

  Since the attack on his father, all the children of Rodu took their obligation to the throne more seriously. Caesar had become so lethal during training that the guards now feared to fight with him.

  Axel couldn’t have been more proud of his Lyran brother. If it had not been for the arrival of his children, he’d be going along on this trip. He no longer had any worries that his brother would let anything happen to their queen.

  Axel glanced back and saw both Protector blades watching him leave. He lifted a hand in a friendly farewell before marching on. She would come back to him. He would believe nothing else.

  Protector Lake walked over to Protector Sugar who was watching Axel stride away. He put a hand on her arm. “It is not you Axel of Rodu resents. It is everything in life that takes his mate’s attention away from him and the children. It is his humanity expressing itself in genuine concern.”

  “Sugar would dislike knowing we have upset him,” Protector Sugar said.

  Rodu appeared in the airship's doorway. “Board when ready. The ship is prepared to depart.”

  “Wait…” a voice called across the hangar. “Mother said it would be good if I went along to pilot. She wanted to make sure the three of you were free to do what was needed.”

  Rodu shrugged, as he looked at his more stoic blade host companions. “My daughter is useful. I wish her to come along. It will also keep my mate from worrying as much.”

  Protector Lake turned to Gina of Rodu and frowned. “I do not understand. You were not willing to risk your life when I first wanted to search for the Creator. What has changed?”

  “There were only the two of us and I was not prepared.” Gina pushed a button on her wrist. A force field covered her. She waved a hand over her person and glared at Protector Lake. “Now, I am ready.” Touching it again, the force field retracted.

  Protector Sugar looked at Gina of Rodu and back at Protector Lake. “Sugar was right in her assessment of your sexually tense condition. You two need to get a room.”

  Protector Lake frowned at the chastisement from his fellow blade. “I concur with the unresolved sexual tension, but why would another room be needed? There are many rooms in the Lyran fortress. Would not one the room my host uses now be adequate? His room has a sleeping platform. I do not understand Host Sugar’s comment.”

  “You don’t understand, but the real Lake would,” Gina replied bitterly. “It appalls me that I miss his nonsense. It astounds me that your emotionless response is equally annoying when I should not be reacting to you at all.”

  Protector Lake stared in shock. “It is not my wish to annoy you. Should I refrain from asking for information?”

  Protector Sugar looked at Protector Lake. “The reference to getting a room was a metaphor for engaging in mutual coitus. Host Sugar is teaching them to me.”

  “Metaphor,” Protector Lake repeated quietly. “My learning capacity for language is vast. How is it I did not understand?”

  “Not even all humans understand metaphorical references. Misunderstanding seems to be what drives expansion in their lexicon,” Protector Sugar stated.

  “Failing seems a strange way to expand communication.”

  “Yes.”

  Gina pushed on Lake’s chest as she walked by him to climb the boarding ramp. “Stop trying to figure it out. We do not need to get a room. The last thing I want is our intimacy interrupted when Lake checks out of his body and you check in. No social engagement is worth risking such utter humiliation.”

  Protector Lake sighed when Gina disappeared inside the craft. He turned to Protector Sugar who was staring after her as well. “I would not interrupt them without extreme cause. Do Lyrans feel humiliation?”

  “I do not know about Lyrans. Gina of Rodu is also human. The amount of emotion she feels cannot be determined outside of a persistent anger that is also present in Guardian Axel.”

  Protector Lake bowed his head. “Thank you. I appreciate the reminder about her humanity. She is so logical that I forget her genetic origins. It has been a long time since I expressed emotions.”

  “Does Gina of Rodu remind you of the time before?”

  Protector Lake shrugged. “I have little recall of that time, but I think I must answer yes to be honest.”

  Protector Sugar bowed her head. “I have no recall at all. My programming states that I’ve always been a blade.”

  Protector Lake nodded. “You were unique. The Creator was filled with great joy when the life spark woke in you.”

  “Joy. Through Host Sugar, I have learned joy. The woman is not a warrior, and has no wish to be one, yet I find her bravery surpasses what exists in most others of her kind. I am learning each moment we co-exist together. My situation with Host Sugar pleases me.”

  Protector Lake looked down at his own host body. “Host Lake does not yet know what he wishes to be. I feel like I must help my host reach full adulthood.”

  “Like a parent helps a child?”

  Protector Lake shrugged. “I don’t know. I do not recall my parents. I merely observed parenting.” Lifting a hand, he pointed to her. “You are learning to parent now.”

  “Yes. That reminds me why we must leave quickly. Host Sugar wants to be well on her way before I let her have control back,” Protector Sugar said as she headed up the boarding ramp.

  Protector Lake raised an eyebrow. “If you wait until we are progressed in our journey, Host Sugar will miss seeing the location markers again. It grieves her not to know where we are.”

  Protector Sugar sighed. “Her continued ignorance cannot be helped today. I am following her orders. She was adamant about this.”

  “Understood.” Protector Lake bowed his head to acknowledge the response.

  They barely got to their seats before Gina expertly guided the airship into the air of the hangar and through the opening that took them out into the rest of the world.

  8

  Being twenty-two stories underground didn’t thrill Reva, but the thing posing as her jewelry seemed to approve of where they were. No TV, cell service, or civilization was present in the underground suite. They decorated the suite like a miner’s camp from the 1800s. It was a kitschy salute to the past but far from cozy.

  “How will the good guys find us down here?” Reva asked aloud.

  I passed the cavern’s grid coordinates to their airship. The pilot can use them to find us.

  Reva sighed and walked to a chair to sit. The sheer amount of travel was catching up with her sixty-year-old body. “I’m way too old for this much adventure.”

  Agreed. I regret your physical exhaustion.

  “Thanks,” Reva said with a chuckle, wishing that she hadn’t bothered to complain.

  I value your sacrifice, Reva Hunter. I cannot travel so far in my natural form. I must merge with a host to fulfill my purpose.

  “Tha
t makes you sound like some kind of parasite.” Reva lifted an eyebrow when the thing didn’t immediately answer her snarky remark. “If there’s another way to look at it, I’m willing to hear it.”

  I can offer no alternative. There is no word in any language on Earth that adequately describes my relationship with my host. Two entities are made into one, but it takes many years to perfect the combined being. Merging is a rebirth and a creation at the same time. The sentient blades are unlike anything in existence on any planet.

  Reva blew out a breath. “Look… whatever you are… despite the bookshelves in this suite being full, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing here that I would like to read. The books are from the 1800s. So as much as I may regret asking this later, will you explain merging to me? Maybe I’ll change my mind.”

  If our circumstances were not dire, I would do so. If captured by those with evil intentions, it is best you know little about how I work.

  “Captured? How many more snake men do you think might come after me?”

  Not all evil presents itself in such a horrific manner. Some evil is beautiful to human eyes. I do not have any data yet on the human-made hybridized creatures you call snake men.

  “Data?” Reva repeated in surprise. “Are you some sort of computer?”

  My original essence merged with an advanced programmed intelligence to create what I have become.

  “Is that a yes?”

  When her question went unanswered, Reva reached up and touched the necklace. The vibration traveled through her fingers and up her arm. Typically, she would have lowered her hand, but some urge she couldn’t explain made her leave her fingers in place.

  Reva slowly lifted the other hand. When all her fingertips were in contact with the necklace, the vibration reached her chest through her shoulders. Then knowledge suddenly hit. It was like a lightning bolt of hyper-awareness shooting a million facts into her brain at once.

  “They’ve found us, haven’t they?” Reva shouted.

  She rose from her seat and stared up at the ceiling. Somewhere above her was the danger she’d just seen.

  Silence met her outburst.

  Reva ran to drag a chair across the door to the room as a barricade. Then she realized there was only one exit. If she hoped to leave this place, it would have to be through that very door. She pushed the chair back where it had been before she panicked.

  She was twenty-two stories underground. Most of it was rock. Could the snake men tunnel through stone?

  No.

  “I’m having a meltdown here. What are we going to do?”

  You will unlock the door to this room then hide in the storage area with the door that locks from the inside. The odds are high that they will find me and leave. My power is what they seek. You are insignificant to them, Reva. Their kind does not understand how carefully all humans were created.

  “We’ll debate your creation theories later. Where are your friends? Isn’t there another way for us to escape that doesn’t involve giving you up to the bad guys?”

  Reva ran her hands through her short spiky hair that she’d cut after Hank had died. Hide? The thing she carried had killed a snake man. Why couldn’t it just kill the ones coming after them?

  Her questions were met with silence again. Reva didn’t like it. She preferred the chatty version that enjoyed bossing her.

  “Hey,” Reva shouted, tugging at the necklace. “Isn’t there another way for us to get out of here?”

  Only if we merge which you do not want to do. Thank you for trying to save me. You are as good as I imagined.

  “Wish I was good enough to come up with a plan we could both live with,” Reva muttered.

  Protectors were created to plan—to lead—to decide what is best. I created the Destroyer to banish relentless evil. I made the Creator to develop and restore and save what is good on the Earth.

  “Does that mean the snake man wasn’t worth saving?” Reva asked.

  If he hadn’t threatened you, I might have restored him. Reva, I must assume my natural form to leave you, but I will wait until the last moment. Our direct communication will cease once that is done. I will only be able to speak to you in a limited way.

  Reva thought the only thing scarier than talking to alien jewelry probably was being alone when another horrific creature came to her door. “Your friends are still coming to get you, right?”

  Unknown. Message not yet received.

  Reva paced and shook her hands to keep them from going numb. She could not afford to hyperventilate… or worse—faint.

  Those seeking me are close now. It is time for you to hide.

  “Wait…” But it was too late. Reva felt the metal leave her body. It melted and stretched until it found a flat surface. The bulk of it collected there in a blob of shiny green liquid before slowly turning into a shiny, golden knife.

  Reva moved closer and peered down at the weapon. “So you really are a sentient blade…” She reached out and let her fingertips rest on the metal surface. She felt the energy pulsing there and one word appeared in her mind.

  Hide.

  Reva heard the voice in her head, but not nearly as strongly as before. It was faint—more like a nudge than an order. “Too bad you didn’t pick someone bolder and braver. I hope you find the right person next time.”

  Reva heard the knock and jumped. Luckily, she didn’t call out. She looked down at the blade. Why make it this easy for them?

  Ignoring the second knock, Reva picked up the blade. She glanced around for a hiding place and then saw the perfect one.

  Running to the front closet, she spun the dial on the wall safe as quietly as she could. Opening the safe, she put the blade inside and closed it. They carved the wall safe into the wall of the cavern. Hopefully, the rock would stifle the sentient blade’s signal.

  She spun the dial to clear her security settings before sliding the hotel’s ironing board over it. If a person looked hard enough, they might see it, but the space had been carefully designed to look like just another cavern wall.

  An instinct to save them both now flared hotly in her gut. Reva moved her clothes to the other side of the closet, hoping they’d be a distraction.

  This time when there was another knock, Reva stopped to listen… and feel. But there was nothing.

  Without the sentient blade wrapped around her, she was back to being plain old Reva Hunter. What were the odds of her ever escaping? If she had to make a call, Reva’s money was definitely on the blade surviving this better than she would.

  Whispering a prayer to God and calling her late husband’s name, Reva rushed back to her bedroom. She threw open the half-packed suitcase and rummaged until she found her jewelry case. She gathered up the meager gold pieces she’d brought with her and put it on her fingers, wrists, ears, and neck.

  Then she hurried to the alcove in the bedroom where the door of the storage area was painted to blend into the wall.

  Reva glanced into the dark closet-like space before entering to hide among the vacuum cleaner and other tools. The deadbolt slid into place moments before she heard the door to the room being blasted open with a gun.

  Reva flinched at the sound and shook in fear. Her stomach rolled in protest of all the stress. She squatted down and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to get sick. How had she gotten herself into this mess? She was no one’s hero.

  When someone yanked the door to the storage area off its hinges, Reva called out and automatically stood. Her first awareness was not that they’d found her—she’d expected that to happen—any infrared scanner would have picked up her heat signature. No, her first feeling was one of great relief because the man pointing his weapon at her had a mask pulled on over his entire face.

  “Out,” the man ordered, waving his gun.

  Reva nodded and stumbled her way past the vacuum as he backed up and kept her in his sights. In her bedroom were two other masked men.

  “She’s wearing the thing like jewelry so don’t touch
her or speak abruptly. The thing activates at a show of provocation. Our orders are just to bring her and her crazy jewelry back with us.”

  One man walked toward her. He pulled a piece of folded leather from his pocket and flipped it open to reveal a badge. She couldn’t read what was on it without her reading glasses, but wouldn’t have believed any of it if she had.

  “You’re safe with us, Dr. Hunter. I know this may sound strange, but we think an alien entity may have taken control of you. We’ve been tracking you since your return from Cambodia.”

  “Alien?” Reva repeated it like she’d never heard the word before. She looked at the gun barrel pointed in her direction and swallowed hard. The badge-flashing man reached forward and pushed the gun barrel slightly away.

  Reva visibly shook in relief not having to fake it all. She relaxed a bit more when she saw that none of them held the blade.

  “Why were you hiding in the hotel’s storage closet?”

  Reva ran a hand nervously through her hair and wondered if they’d know she was lying. She was a lousy liar. She’d never been able to even lie about her age or weight. Would Hank be there waiting for her when she died? She’d always wondered if those stories were true.

  “I… I’m not sure.” Reva pointed toward the destroyed front door. “When I heard knocking moments ago, I had a panic attack. All I could think to do was hide. It was impossible not to do it.”

  “Dr. Hunter, why did you go to Cambodia?”

  Reva chewed her lip. “Before my husband died, he bought tickets for us. It was supposed to be an anniversary trip. I just found out a few weeks ago.”

  “You came home early from it and then immediately came here.”

  Reva chewed her lip harder. She finally nodded. “Something happened at my house—I don’t remember what. Next thing I know I’m on a plane to Arizona. It’s all so… crazy.”

  “All of that checks out with her file. A third party attempted to pick up before we located her,” the third man reported.

  “Ma’am,” the badge-flashing man said politely but firmly, “will you remove your jewelry for me?”