Page 28 of Relyn (Warriors of Etlon #6)

Nora

G etting abducted by pirates while naked was not fun. The first time hadn’t turned out too bad, but this time, her captor was not a handsome stud. She was a short and squat dude that looked like a solid block of fresh asphalt. He wasn’t near as polite either.

“I’m naked,” she said.

“Don’t care.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Have you not seen the guy that I’m with? How do you think he’s going to react when you trot his girlfriend out in front of everyone with her bits hanging out?”

He motioned with the gun for her to put some clothes on. Nora grabbed her new fancy vest and pulled on a pair of jeans, trying to keep her back turned to the perve for the most revealing bits. She grabbed her coat and swung it on as she walked past the ugly alien.

They’d docked with another ship, Nora found out. Why was she always the last one to find these things out?

The alien led her out of the ship and onto another that was bigger than Clover’s but nowhere near the size of the ship that Rutra had.

They moved down a hallway and into a larger area full of stacked crates.

Bright was there surrounded by more of the black aliens.

Relyn was standing off to the side, looking as disinterested as possible, at least until she walked into the room.

“No,” he said. “Take me.”

Nora stared at him and then it took her a moment to parse the fact that there were two Brights in the room. Nora was able to pick their Bright out, simply because of the outfit, but it was clear the two were from the same species and… then she realized how she was being used in this negotiation.

“Do I get a say in any of this?” Nora asked. She’d been successfully able to stall several times now.

“No!” A resounding cry from all parties.

“If I’m going to be used as a bartering chip,” Nora began. Relyn interrupted her and threatened Bright Two in a voice that might have been quite sexy if he wasn’t promising to kill everyone and everything if Nora died.

Relyn approached Nora and gave her a toe curling kiss. It was quick and when he lifted his head, he said low and quiet, just for her. “I love you.”

“I know.”

Bright and Relyn peeled off, leaving her with Bright Two.

A quote from her favorite vid was the first thing that popped into her head.

It meant, I love you too. And she meant it.

Somewhere in this craziness that was her new life, she had fallen in love with Relyn.

It was unexpected and it changed everything.

And he had probably never even heard of Star Wars before. It was too late to run after him, and shout it from the rafters. If things went sideways, she was going to regret that for the rest of her life. Of course if things went sideways, the rest of her life was going to be pretty short.

“You’re not going to try anything stupid, are you?

” the woman said. Now that Nora had gotten a better look, she could see differences between Bright and this Etlonian.

Her nose was longer and she was a bit thinner.

Her face and her gaze was harder. Nora shook her head and with a nod, the woman dismissed the aliens who disappeared in various directions.

“Hi, I’m Nora,” she said, putting on her innocuous teacher voice. “I don’t think we’ve met.” Nora assumed from the previous conversation that this was the elusive and extremely dangerous Alana.

Alana took a deep sniff in her general direction. Nora tried not to be offended. If she’d known she was about to be abducted, she might have taken a shower and freshened up first.

“The Sangrin,” she said.

“Relyn?”

“He’s,” Alana reached out and flipped the collar of Nora’s jacket, revealing her neck. “He’s Mahdfel.”

“No, he’s a mercenary,” Nora said. Even as the words came out of her mouth all the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

He’d never come out and directly said, ‘I am Mahdfel,’ but that’s why Bright had trusted him right away.

That’s why he was unique. He’d been created in a Suhlik lab.

It’s why he had insisted on mating with her despite his mission.

Why he’d fallen instantly in love with her the moment she’d found him standing over her bed.

And the fucking glowing tattoos that kept appearing when he was all hot and bothered.

How had she been so stupid and blinded to see his true nature?

Bright had known. Had Wendy? She’d spent more time with the Mahdfel than Nora.

They all probably knew. Relyn probably thought she knew.

Even Alana had figured it out, just by smelling her.

“Mahdfel. He’s rather on the small side for one, though. Don’t bother to deny it. I can see that you are blinded by them,” Alana said. Her voice had more than a hint of pity, the kind Nora imagined a cult leader had for people before they were indoctrinated. Nora could run with that.

“He’s a lot bigger than he looks.”

Alana’s eyes narrowed. “You were not a matched bride.” She let out a huff. “He took you without a DNA match. The old way. Many of my sisters died that way.”

“Relyn wouldn’t hurt me,” Nora said.

“To be fair, the big brutes don’t mean to. It’s their children that kill you, if the match isn’t strong enough. But if he’s small, maybe his child will be too.”

Nora blinked at Alana. She hadn’t even been thinking of a child. What kind of child would she and Relyn have? Would it come out as a puddle of ooze? Or a Sangrin, or white like the alien he fucked in the form of last night?

“Come, let’s get more comfortable. It will be a few days at the least before they return,” Alana said.

She led Nora through the ship to a corridor of cabins.

She reached the third one on the right and opened the door.

It was small, about half the size of her bedroom, but it looked to have all the amenities of a standard hotel room.

Alana pushed a button on the wall panel and extended two chairs and a small table from the wall across from the bed.

Nora took a seat opposite Alana. She stared in silence for a long while before speaking.

“The Mahdfel are parasites created by the Suhlik. They are weapons. Most of them are little better than walking meat shields.”

“Were you-” Nora searched for the right term, but wasn’t sure which would be the least offensive.

“ I had a husband before, but after, it was better to pretend he never existed. We all came out of cryostasis, and everything we knew was gone. The planet. Any pure Etlonian males. All wiped from existence. So the Mahdfel just started over. I mated and I was expected to do my duty and continue the line. I was one of the lucky ones that had a child without complications. They started a new city and the men went back off to war.”

“Etlon must be a lovely place. I met some Etlonians and they all seemed very-”

“Etlon is dead. The Suhlik destroyed the planet. All the Mahdfel that call themselves Etlonian are pale imitations. They took all the violent most destructive traits and weeded out all the compassion and art. They replaced my kind and burned every trace of its existence from the universe.”

“Except you. You are here, and your children.”

“They sent my son off to war, and he went gladly. Then they came back to tell me how bravely he died.”

“I’m sorry.” Alana’s pain was beginning to make sense now. Why she was so set against the Mahdfel. “Bright said you were working for the Suhlik. Aren’t they just as bad?”

“At least you know where you stand with the Suhlik. They are willing to deal for the right price, and when you want something, you have to deal with people who are less than desirable.”

‘We’ve got a saying on Earth. If you lay down with dogs, don’t be surprised when you get up with fleas,” Nora said.

“Isn’t that what pesticides are for?”

Nora sighed. “Sometimes there’s got to be a line that you won’t cross to get what you want. The question is, do you know where that line is?”

“The line? Let me tell you how the Mahdfel really do things. They watch, they wait, they gather their strength and then, only after the Suhlik attack a planet, do they come in with an overwhelming force and drive them away. Only after millions are slaughtered, and the citizens of the planets are deeply indebted to their protection. So that they may take their females without complaint or resistance. That is the line for the Mahdfel.”

“I know on Earth, if the Mahdfel had landed, and said, the scary lizard aliens are about to invade, that would not have gone over well. Our governments panicked with the idea that we weren’t alone in the universe, and the Suhlik would have just invaded anyway.

I’m not sure coming in before the invasion would have done any good. ”

Alana wrinkled her brow, as if she’d expected Nora to deny her allegations that the Mahdfel were only out for themselves.

If there was one thing Nora had honed over the last ten years, it was getting students who thought they knew all the answers to think a little deeper about the facts that were generally parroted from their parents.

“I refuse to cater to the morals of the Mahdfel. We will reach our destination in a day or two. Until then, you will remain here,” Alana said as she stood and stared down at Nora.

She seemed to enjoy the height advantage.

Nora let her have it and remained seated until Alana exited and closed the door behind her.

Then she headed to the door, just to check. Yup. It was locked from the outside.