by Liz Paffel
The warrior’s footfalls were metallic, and she imagined they were in some sort of tunnel with a metal floor. Light began to seep in around the edges of the blindfold as she was put on her feet and the fabric stripped from her eyes. The fluorescents blinded her, the nausea jacking into her throat. Pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, she groaned and doubled over.
“The weapon, your Majesty.”
“Is she not well?”
Alora groaned as she rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that it made the pulse on the side of her neck hurt.
“I’m not well.” Standing tall, she steeled herself, blinked and focused her vision.
The Axxeon before her was at least a full foot taller than her five-nine, his broad chest and shoulders tapering into a narrow waist and hips…hips fitted with a leather holster that held a variety of weapons. Her gaze moved over him in degrees until she finally met his eyes.
Lavender eyes she’d seen before.
She did a double take, sure her foggy mind was playing tricks on her. She hallucinating… imagining things.
Wide lavender eyes with enviable lashes, a strong, sexy face with firm lips and high cheekbones and a square jaw. Her scalp began to tingle, her fingers curling as she itched to touch the softness of his bright blue hair.
“Is it really you?” Her voice was breathless and weak.
He cocked his head, eyes sparkling with interest. He didn’t respond but gave her a slow once-over as if he was remembering.
Her body remembered. Alora flushed from head to toe, the nausea making way for something much more primal. She wanted to touch him, to feel the lines of his body beneath her fingers. To press her breasts against that rock-hard chest and let her hands wander over his abdomen, to his hips, to the bulge between his legs. She hugged herself tightly.
The King turned to his men with his eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel chaos emanating from her, Quixx?”
The taller warrior stepped forward with his head held high and his hands clasped in front of him. He didn’t look at the King, but straight ahead. “Because she ran from us, my King. A chase ensued.”
“I see. And how was she subdued?”
“She surrendered willingly after we pursued her.”
The King was upon the man in two steps, his big hands gripping his warrior’s shirt and drawing him up nose-to-nose. “Did you endanger what she holds in any way with your pursuit?” The roar of his voice made Alora jump. Surely, she’d heard him wrong. Something didn’t translate.
What she holds?
“No, my King. She was simply followed and surrendered of her own accord.”
The King’s gaze snapped back to her, their eyes locking. The heat in her body intensified and just like the first time she’d seen him, she felt outside of herself, as if this were happening to someone else. She shook her head, but it didn’t go away. Must be an after-effect of the ride here.
“Were you harmed?”
She didn’t understand the question. It sunk in slowly. “I mean, you brought me here against my will. I need to be home, helping my brother at the fire station. There’s a—"
“That is not what I asked you. Were you harmed?”
A fresh well of nausea rose inside her and she doubled over, pressing a hand to her mouth to hold it back. “Harm is relative. Physically? No. But being forced here does its own set of damage, doesn’t it?”
He took two steps towards her. Startled, she backed up two. He advanced again and she diverted. Looking desperately around, she found she was in a literal box. White walls. No windows. No chairs. Just her and three Axxeon she’d never get away from.
“What do you want from me?”
“Stop running like a scared little mouse. I must touch you.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “What? No!”
He swirled a hand in the air and his warriors were immediately upon her, grabbing her arms and holding her still. Alora twisted. Their grips weren’t meant to hurt her, but they were enough to restrain.
“You are a healer, yes?”
She pulled and pulled, but it was futile. “I… no, I mean, I invent and discover cures. That allows me to help the people who heal.”
He slid a hand beneath her chin. His palm was large enough to cup her face, his long, strong fingers closing around her jaw and lifting her face up. His eyes searched hers as if he were looking for something deep inside her. Her body went limp and if not for the warriors holding her, she would have fallen to the floor.
His other hand rose to her face, but she didn’t have the energy to fight. She tracked his movements as he pressed three fingers between her eyes and closed his own. Her skin began to pulse beneath his touch, a slight pressure building inside her skull. All traces of nausea seemed to be pulled from her body, the queasiness, the cramps in her stomach, the burn in her throat. All gone.
The King shuddered, his eyes going wide, and stepped back from her. He took a deep breath through his nose. “Is that better?”
The warriors released her, and her legs felt strong, her body and mind centered and solid. With a gasp, she touched beneath her ribs and felt her forehead.
“How did you… wait, my hand. The day you landed in our field; I’d cut my hand. You fixed it, didn’t you?”
A knowing smile touched his masculine lips. “All Axxeon have the ability to heal minor discomforts.”
She searched his face. The thin thread of resolve holding her together began a final unravel. Her shoulders turned inward, her emotional well filling with grief. “I’d like to go home.”
“That is not possible.”
“Why not?” Panic filled where the nausea had been. “Look, I –”
“You will not bargain with me. You will not plead for your freedom. You will do as I say, exactly as I say it, or you will be punished. You are my captive and you will accept your fate.” His eyes hardened and when he took a step to her this time, she scrambled to hurry backwards. Nonplussed, he followed her until she pressed against the wall.
How could she have allowed her body to respond to him just moments ago? He was a monster. The shade of his skin seemed to have darkened in his anger, the glow of his eyes ethereal.
“What do you want from me?”
“I understand that your work allows you to heal. However, I need you to kill.”
Her mouth dropped. Palms flat against the wall, she pressed herself back hard to try and make herself small. “I won’t kill anyone.”
“You won’t be killing just anyone, female. You’ll be erasing a stain from the galaxy and saving millions of lives.”
She shook her head in disbelief. Words wouldn’t come. Her mind wanted to retreat into its safe little place, it’s bubble, where she could block this all out.
“I won’t,” she heard herself say. “I’m not a killer. I’m not that kind of person.”
His hand gripped her jaw again, forcing her to look at him.
“You are. You just don’t know it yet.”
Chapter Five
“Perhaps you should have worn the flannel.”
Tryllin ignored his brother’s jab as he strode from the holding cell to the command center. He flexed his fingers and curled them, repeating the process several times but it did little to release the tension in his body. The woman had left him feeling on edge, needy. There was something more, something he didn’t recognize.
An emotion that almost seemed like a beckoning, a whisper that urged him closer. The strange sensations lingered, making him tingle with the desire to touch her again.
Alora.
She was tall for a human female, but slender and milky skinned with large, innocent brown eyes that made her appear much too inexperienced and youthful to be so accomplished. Her dark hair had been a wild mess of curls over her back, hanging over her face and curling every which way, giving her the look of, what did the humans call it on television? Yes, ‘mad scientist.’
He found it appeal
ing.
Just as he did when he’d laid eyes on her after first landing on Earth. She’d been terrified, but she’d held her ground. He admired that, yet it did little to sway him from his plan. He’d implanted a tracker chip in the base of her skull three years ago and had kept track of her daily movements ever since. The chip monitored her baseline health, temperature and energy levels. At the first sign of major illness or trauma, his warriors would have moved in to extract her immediately and bring her here. He’d run a scan on her as she’d been brought into the compound. Something was off, but the system was still trying to detect the issue. Maybe her mysterious health blip caused the odd sensations he’d experienced when he touched her.
“Your majesty, there’s another fire. The death toll is climbing. Two hundred and five.”
He strode to where his man was monitoring surveillance of the city. A large, rectangular brick building had flames shooting from the windows on all six floors. The flames twisted into spirals then burst free into huge sparks that shot into the air, spun and cascaded down into the flame. They almost seemed alive. The degarzee could manipulate their flames to some extent, and even retract them. The animal was deadly, but beautiful to watch. He peered closer, and saw it darting out of a window and diving into another. A collective gasp came from the humans lining the sidewalk across the street.
They’d all seen the creature.
Fire trucks lined the road. Humans in heavy uniforms and masks aimed water at the fire, but it seemed to be doing little. They’d already witnessed the firemen attempt to quench the flames with foam once before, and that had also had little effect. These fires simply burned themselves out.
Hahn strode into the room, his upper body encased in the war garment made from thick strips of white metafabric. Metallic threads were woven with fibers of the auckust plant, creating an impermeable fabric that stopped bullets, beams and blades. He wore his thick tactical vest and armored pants, two war belts filled with weapons, and a headpiece over his left eye.
“The fires appear to be getting stronger,” Hahn said. “We must do something to help the humans fight the degarzee.”
“We have no experience in killing the creature.” Tryllin gave his brother a steady look. “But the Nozing do.”
Hahn’s eyebrows went up. “Correct.”
“We promised the humans that we would protect them against interstellar forces. We need to keep that promise for them, as much as for ourselves. Our enemy has a plan with these fires. If we don’t intervene soon enough, it could impact our ability to collect suitable mates. We can’t have uncontrolled fires killing off more humans.” Tryllin turned to address the room. “The Nozing are here and I want captives. As many as you can overcome.”
He pulled his brother close and spoke low in his ear. “I want a Nozing commander.”
Hahn grinned sardonically and crossed his arms. “I will do my best.”
“Your best is not acceptable. I will suit up myself and accompany you.” Enough of this. He had a kingship to prove! His people were watching him, weighing him. Counting on him. The Nozing nearly destroyed the Axxeon race with a sneak attack once before. He wasn’t going to allow it to happen again.
“You cannot do that, brother. You are the King. Besides, you must prepare the weapon. And also choose a mate tomorrow.”
Tryllin considered this and backed down with a sigh. “Take the experimental scanners and see if you can uncover any hiding areas or ships that may be cloaked.”
The technical commander had been working with his scientists on scan technology that could break any cloaking code. So far, the prototypes had an eighty-percent success rate. It was risky to blindly search for an enemy with an upper hand in invisibility. It rubbed him raw to think the Nozing had slipped onto Earth, undetected.
Tryllin grasped his brother by the shoulders. Their father, the former King, was banished to the deep underbelly of the nearly completed base station, Axxeon 9, to live the remainder of his life as a hard laborer. Hahn was the only other direct bloodline they had left. It pained him to send his brother to danger, but as Battle Commander, there was no one he trusted more. Hahn’s body pulsed with chaotic energy. It was the energy of a warrior eager to begin his mission.
Hahn nodded, as if he knew the sentiment in Tryllin’s heart. “I will take care to return to you, my King.”
Tryllin nodded. “Good. In the meantime, I will –”
“Prepare yourself to choose a mate tomorrow.”
Ah, yes. Alora’s face flashed in his mind’s eye. By now, she should have been shown to her cell and given something to eat. Perhaps she’d be more amenable to talking. His brow fell as he recalled what she’d said about helping her brother at the fire station. He needed to speak to her again, immediately.
“Yes, yes,” he said absently. “I will choose a mate tomorrow.” And breed her so he could forget about it.
“For the sake of the Axxeon, please choose wisely.”
“I will.”
“Do not be lured by large breasts that hide a shrill voice.”
“I will not.”
“Or a large ass and tiny waist that take your focus from the fact the woman has questionable intelligence. There is an example I can give you from human reality TV. They are called the Kardashians and they fit this profile. Do not fall for a Kardashian.”
Tryllin gave his brother a sharp look. “Go, Hahn.”
With a wicked smile, his brother bowed and left. He watched until Hahn was out of sight and ignored the pang of worry. He spoke to a few members of his crew and, feeling restless, left command and headed to Alora’s cell. He should have explained better what he was asking her to do. Of course, she would be shocked to learn what he’d done to her years ago, and what he was demanding of her now. It didn’t matter how she felt about it. It only mattered that she obeyed.
It wasn’t like she had a choice.
Her cell had a solid door with a large window, the inside sparse and gray with the minimal necessities like a cot, one blanket, a toilet, and shower head with semi-private divider, and a small table and one chair.
Pausing outside the door, he peered in and felt an immediate pang of guilt. It was the most comfortable cell in the compound, reserved for non-violent captives. The extreme cells were below where the Nozing prisoners would soon find themselves. Even so, it was bland and cold.
He gave a cursory knock as was human custom and pressed the finger pad to open the door. Her soft gasp mixed with the whoosh of the door opening. She was huddled on the edge of the bed with her knees drawn up and her arms around them. Her skin seemed unusually pale. Wide, worried eyes were filled with emotion, but devoid of tears. She was scared, but she had not cried.
In fact, when she looked at him, she appeared almost drugged. Groggy and momentarily confused as if she were waking from a dream. She lowered her legs with feet on the floor and slowly stood, her hands out behind her, eyes wary. He imagined she was a quiet, almost subdued female. She seemed timid, yet her eyes shone with fire he wasn’t expecting. She didn’t appear afraid of him. Good.
“You may sit.” He cleared his throat, hoping to keep his tone even and non-threatening. “I would like you to be comfortable.”
“I’ll stand.”
“As you please.” Tryllin clasped his hands behind his back and stood with his feet wide, taking up space as he was used to doing. “I am here to discuss my needs with you.”
A few wild curls tangled around her brow and fell into her eyes. She smoothed them back with one hand. A blush formed on her cheeks when she noticed him watching her. How enticing, that flash of pink on her smooth, creamy skin. All that dark hair would feel like soft, tangled ujubee threads if he ran his hand through it.
Interesting. His pulse picked up as he browsed her body from the distance between them, taking in her smooth neck, small, firm breasts and the curve of her hips. Her nose was straight and blunt at the tip, eyes big and so very dark brown.
“Your needs?” Her voice tum
bled in a rush. “What about me? Do you really intend to keep me here forever?”
Of all the information he threw at her earlier, leaving was her main concern? He had a quick thought that made him tense. “Is there a lover you wish to return to?”
Her face scrunched. “What? No. Not unless you consider my work my lover, which in all honesty, it probably is.”
“I do not understand.”
She pressed her fingers to her forehead and then put her hands in the air. “So, I’m your prisoner then? Forever?”
“Not forever.” It seemed cruel to inform her that there was an end date to ‘forever.’ And it would be coming soon.
She lowered bonelessly into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t choose this. I didn’t ask for this. You’re taking my life away from me.” Her voice was thick, and he recognized it contained the tears she did not allow herself to cry. He cocked his head at her statement, then realized she was equating losing her freedom to her life—not realizing it in a literal sense.
“You are serving your nation in a selfless way. It is a sacrifice many have made before you.”
Doubling over on the bed, she put her elbows on her knees and put her forehead into her cupped hands. “Four years at Harvard. Suffering two semesters with the irascible Ms. Kranz. Having an honest to God mental breakdown at seventeen when I wrote my first thesis. I needed medication and therapy for crying out loud! I relented to my mother when she demanded I study instead of going to prom. For what? What was the point of all that if it led to this? Being forced by an alien to, what did you ask me to do yesterday? Oh, yes, kill people.”
Tryllin’s muscles softened a bit as he walked toward her. The grief-lined edge of her voice pulled something inside him. Her sadness reverberated through him. She jerked when she realized how close he’d come, her knees buckling as she crumbled to sit on the edge of the bed.
He looked down his nose at her. “I am sorry for your distress.”
She tensed, the wariness on her features increasing. Her lower lip trembled. “Get someone else.”
