Page 11

Someone pounded on the door, waking Aklan from a light sleep only a moment before his alarm sounded. Sonja lay curled against him, one arm flung across his chest. They had made love three times after he claimed her, each different from the last. Rough and quick, soft and slow, touching each other as they talked quietly, waiting for the pieces of his and Zoran’s plan to fall into place around them.

In this bed, they had found a moment of refuge, a space apart from time and the obligations of duty. They would find that place again, he vowed, but now, time had intruded once more, dragging them along in its eddying wake. No longer could he postpone the inevitable. Today, he would take his mate home. The warlords would regroup and execute an alternate plan. And humans would pay a costly price for their dishonor.

“Open up!” Missy shouted.

Aklan glanced down at his mate. Her eyes were wide and clear, her hands reaching for her discarded clothes.

Already, he regretted the loss of her touch.

“It is time,” he said gruffly, and checked his wristcom. Zoran’s last message, sent just a moment prior, relayed that their spaceship was entering the atmosphere. The remainder of their plans were also in place. Now it was up to Aklan to ensure that he and Sonja made the rendezvous point at the appropriate time.

Sonja found her shirt and undergarments as the door opened and Missy stepped inside. The smaller female stumbled to a halt just inside the door, her blue eyes wide as they landed on his bare chest

“Wowza,” she said, then turned a questioning look on Sonja. “You sure I can’t have him?”

“Mine,” Sonja retorted mildly.

Satisfaction welled within Aklan, filling him until he thought he might burst from the pleasure of hearing her claim him as her own.

Missy shrugged as she swung her gaze back to Aklan and closed the door. “You don’t have to look so smug about it, big guy.”

Aklan slid into his loose Ky-Lota pants beneath the sheet. “What news have you brought?”

“Nicholson knows something’s going down, and he’s not the only one. But since he’s essentially in charge, he’s the one rallying the troops. Have you arranged for an extraction?”

“It is done. Even now, our spaceship is only minutes away from landing.”

“They’d better get a move on. Looks like you might have to fight your way out.”

Sonja tugged her blouse into place as her eyebrows snapped into a frown. “What about you?”

Missy grinned. “I can take care of myself. Now, here’s the plan.”

Aklan snagged his skinsuit and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door open a hands width. He could easily hear the females’ conversation regardless, yet could not bring himself to completely shut his mate out.

She had taken so well to the mating bond. As soon as he’d sipped her blood, it had snapped into place, filling him with the most beautiful sensation he had ever felt. The world seemed sharper now, more focused, his place within it well-defined. So long as he drew breath, he would fight for her, protect her. Love her.

The bond was not yet as solid and strong as he would like; that would take time. But it was enough, for now. It was enough to feel the nascent thread stretching between them, enough to have her scent on his hands and her taste in his mouth.

He shimmied into the skinsuit, fastening it deftly, and glanced around the tiny room. He’d already cleaned out his belongings and stored them safely in his satchel, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

Now, he carried his discarded pants into the outer room, shoved them into the satchel, and retrieved his boots. The women spoke quietly, their heads nearly touching. He kept one ear on their conversation as he pulled on his boots.

“Are you sure about this?” Missy said.

“I’m sure. If I don’t leave now, I may never see him again. They’ll throw the book at me anyway.”

Missy made a disbelieving sound. “I’d like to see them try.”

“I don’t have your connections,” Sonja said wryly. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“I’m needed here. Somebody’s got to pave the way for the future.”

“Why do I have a feeling you already have?”

Missy affected an innocent expression, one Aklan knew as false. She might be small compared to a Xeruvian female, but she packed a big punch. Because of her and Sonja, he had stopped seeing humans as frightened, inferior little klika , too weak and fragile to be considered equals.

His gaze drifted to his mate and a sense of rightness settled over him. He and the other warlords had wondered whether humans would be strong enough to survive the challenge of rebuilding their civilization. His mate had shown him how strong humans could be. He could see why Nicholson had not wanted to let her go. If all females were as honorable as her and Missy, human males were lucky indeed.

Zoran signaled him with a brief now . Aklan stood, drawing the females’ gazes, one light and cunning, the other darkly satisfied. Already, he could feel the rumble of the spaceship’s landing vibrating through the earth.

“It is time,” he said.

Missy patted Sonja’s shoulder. “That’s my cue. Be careful. Don’t forget to write!”

Sonja wrinkled her nose. “You act like I’m leaving for a whole other solar system or something.”

Missy laughed, then slipped out the door and was gone. A moment later, a blatting alarm sounded, and the room’s lights flickered.

Sonja held out her hand to him and smiled when he clasped it gently in his. “I guess we’re going to have to make a run for it.”

“Do not fear, pjora-la . I shall protect you with my life.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

He kissed her soundly, hoping to erase the fear she had tried so valiantly to hide. Fear was better than confidence in moments such as these. It would keep her wary and alert, ready for whatever situation they faced.

He could wish it were otherwise, but such was the journey placed before them. Better to meet it head on than slink away from the fight ahead.

Sonja tried to familiarize herself with the stun weapon Aklan handed her—a flat, round device that fit perfectly against the palm of her hand—while he communicated with his spaceship. No one had bothered to shut the alarm off, possibly because of the steady rumble vibrating through the soles of her feet. Apparently, the Xeruvians’ spaceship was landing. Its engines must be incredibly powerful to shake the complex even here, two stories beneath the surface.

She blew out a nervous breath and checked the straps and ties of her borrowed backpack, making sure it was fastened securely against her back. Aklan hadn’t shared his plan. Fight their way out? Let him whisk her away to his planet?

Nerves jangled in her stomach. Could she really leave everything behind for him, her job, her home, her friends?

Yes , she could, absolutely. And was probably about to.

Aklan hefted his satchel onto his back. He’d done something to it after Missy left, vacuum sealed it or something, reducing it to roughly one-third of its original size. Now, it sealed to his skinsuit, providing a rough sort of armor at his back.

She knew a lot of soldiers who’d love to get their hands on that technology. And to think, it could’ve been Earth’s, too.

Bitter much?, she thought, and shrugged it off. One day, maybe Earth’s politicians would wise up to what the Xeruvians could offer them. Until then, she had to get Aklan out of this place. No one would carve him up in the name of pseudo-scientific research, but somebody might get the bright idea to try to detain him.

Try being the operative word.

He pushed her behind him, then cracked the door open. The corridor sounded chaotic. Aklan’s quarters lay much closer to Area 51’s central hub than hers, which was both good and bad. Good because they didn’t have far to go to reach the exit. Bad because…more people.

Aklan snagged her hand and pulled her behind him as he stepped into the chaos. Oddly enough, people were running away from the exit. Civilians, Sonja noted as she trotted along behind Aklan. Had his people already infiltrated the complex?

As they approached the exit—a round room holding two elevator shafts bracketed by two staircases, all leading directly to the surface—the crowd grew denser. More people milled toward the cafeteria, ducking into its relative safety as the few soldiers among them trotted toward their assigned posts.

She and Aklan met no resistance, shocking her to her core. Had Missy’s distraction been that effective, or had the soldiers on duty been rerouted to the surface?

He guided her into a stairwell, pushing her firmly into the lead. Up she went, taking the stairs at an even pace with him hard on her heels. Here, the alarms were accompanied by flashing red emergency lights. The overheads flickered on and off, and the few people they met going in the opposite direction paid them no attention whatsoever.

They had just reached the next landing when a door squeaked open below them and Mike’s voice drifted up.

“As soon as you’ve cleared the stairwell, let me take the lead,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” a male voice barked.

Sonja’s stomach sank like a stone. “They’re onto us,” she whispered.

Aklan patted her butt, urging her to hurry.

Just one more flight and they’d reach the surface.

She pushed herself then, taking the stairs two at a time, and burst into the innocuous lobby not knowing what she’d find. Her steps slowed as she faced the room’s other occupant, a towering Xeruvian dressed in a skinsuit, holding an Uzi-like stun gun at his side.

“Uh, hello,” she said.

Aklan skirted her, giving her a look as he passed. Yes, her carefully cultivated perfect diplomatic attaché expression had failed her. So sue me , she thought grumpily. It’d been a long week.

Aklan and the other Xeruvian clasped each other’s wrists in an apparently universal handshake.

“Zoran,” he said. “My apologies for the delay.”

Zoran’s bright green eyes flicked to her and back. “If my mate were as beautiful, I would not be able to tear myself away either.”

“May you find yours soon. Have you met much resistance?”

“None. We merely distract them now, firing low-energy pulses into the ground to keep them at bay.”

“At least one squad of Marines is behind us,” Sonja said. “Aklan said we’re on a schedule?”

Zoran bowed his head. “Indeed, Sonja Mathis of Clan Phyrz. Shall we?”

A thrill ran down her spine. Clan Phyrz . How easily he’d accepted her as Aklan’s mate. If things worked out and the Xeruvians could, somehow, meet other human women, would they all be as accepting as Zoran?

Would Aklan’s family accept her?

She had no time to ponder that. The elevator doors opened behind her, and Missy popped out, the Chinese ambassador’s daughter in tow.

“Go!” Missy yelled. “They’re almost here!”

At that moment, Marines spilled out of the stairwells on both sides of the elevators. Missy shared a hard look with the ambassador’s daughter, then they sprang into action, each one attacking the Marines closest to them.

Shit, Sonja thought. They’ll never survive.

But the Marines weren’t firing on the women, just trying to get past them, a feat made harder by the mixed martial arts mojo Missy and the other woman threw at them. Sonja recognized some well-practiced Ky-Lota moves before Aklan snagged her arm and hissed, “Move!”

Mike pushed into the lobby then and shouted, “Sonja, stop!”

Aklan was already dragging her away. She glanced helplessly at Mike, wanting both to yell at him to let her go and reassure him that she was fine.

“I can’t,” she yelled back. “We’re about to take off.”

“Please, Sonja. I’m trying to—”

The rest of his words were lost in a volley of earth-shaking thuds. Aklan picked her up and flung her over one shoulder. The breath whooshed out of her, stealing the reassurances lodged in her throat. She reared up long enough to wave at Mike, then they were outside and things got loud . She caught a glimpse of nearly a dozen Xeruvians spread out to either side, forming a barrier between the building and the ship, which she could hear but not see. Dust swirled along the ground, lit by floodlights and a golden, early morning glow.

Aklan ran up a ramp, Zoran shouted to the other warlords, who backed into the ship still firing. The ramp closed when the last one made it inside, then Aklan let her slide down his body until her feet touched metal and tucked her between his body and a wall as the ship took off and a hard hand pressed her downward.

A few minutes later, the pressure eased. Aklan drew away from her, and her hands started to shake. Adrenaline , she thought dimly. That’s all this is .

But a small part of her wondered if she’d ever see Earth again, if she’d ever stand on the green grass of home surrounded by family and friends.

Aklan wrapped his arms around her, one hand tangled in her hair. “Do not fear, pjora-la . All will be as it should.”

She let the words soothe her, let him lead her deeper into the ship as her world fell away beneath them.