Page 12 of The Dreamer and the Deep Space Warrior (Xaal Alien Romance #1)

Ved

Ved had sensed them while walking with Isobel Nott.

They were the reason he’d insisted on escorting her all the way to the door and watched as her heat signature travelled to her sleeping quarters.

The forest was deathly quiet as he returned to his ship, betraying their presence. No matter how long he’d gone without being in the presence of their kind, their scent and impression were unmistakable. The ruthless, dead-inside bounty hunters and assassins of the galaxy.

Blood Vultures.

He’d been expecting the droid assessors that were often sent for such situations. Apparently, the Authority had decided to handle this particular problem with a heavier hand from the onset.

Though it didn’t happen often, it wasn’t unheard of for Blood Vultures to be tasked with bringing in a Xaal. It was usually for the offense of hunting somewhere or something they shouldn’t. Or an entire clan of Xaal for some atrocity the Authority felt they’d committed.

And now they were on his ship .

Ved took three steps inside his shadowdrifter. The Blood Vultures didn’t show up on any readings—meaning they were cloaked, and cloaked well. But he didn’t need to see them to know they were in the same space as him.

He waited.

When the dry, rasping voice finally came, it was but steps from him. “Late night excursions on sector 011 planets—an interesting pastime for a Xaal. You wouldn’t be out hunting, would you?”

Ved tilted his head. However, he let his arms hang at his sides to show he had no intention of pulling a weapon.

At least not to start with. Whatever they were there for, he was assuming it wasn’t to detain him.

Not yet, anyway. If that were the case, they’d have skipped the pleasantries.

Besides, though a fight with two Blood Vultures—they rarely worked alone—would be an easy way to release some tension, they were like the Nuqal.

Kill one and more would take their place.

Ved gestured with two fingers to the walls of his ship. “As I’m sure you’ve already ascertained, my ship is downed. And, as far as I’m concerned, there is nothing worth hunting here.” The Blood Vulture had spoken in the universal tongue, but Ved stuck to Xaala.

“Then what is a Xaal doing in this sector?”

Ved wondered if the creatures ever had a conversation or if they spent their entire time interrogating others with varying degrees of violence.

“I found myself here after battling an enemy clan. Their cannon fire opened a vector tear in space. It pulled us in and then this planet’s orbit caught us.

You know this already.” Instead of pretending as if he didn’t know exactly where the one who’d spoken was, he turned fully toward him.

“Do you plan on having this entire conversation while you’re cloaked? ”

Their cloaking dispelled immediately, and Ved wasn’t surprised to see the one that had been speaking was only paces from him.

The other one, he hated to admit, surprised him.

He was positioned close to Ved’s side, probably having walked around him to ensure all his weapons were disengaged.

If he had to guess, the Blood Vulture was probably smiling beneath his mask. Sneaky, undead bastards.

They were dressed in black worksuits with the Authority’s star symbol attached to the front.

Their armor was sleek and identical, another product of the agency.

But their masks were all their own. The second one stood as tall as him and Ved peered into his visor.

He’d never fully understood if their helmets were skull-like in form or if the glimpses he saw beneath the obsidian cover were their actual faces.

He resisted the urge to smash through it just to find out.

“ The one speaking is Sevrin Agent S3TT ,” Exxo reported. “ The other is Noxol Agent FF13. They are drovaya, and both are part of the Authority’s elite squadron .”

Nevskoln perfect.

“I’m also sure,” Ved continued, shifting so that both were in his line of sight, “that there are no bounties on my head. At least none that you would be interested in.”

The one near him—Noxol—spoke, his voice deeper. “Where is the other vessel? I know Xaal don’t let a kill go without seeing it through, yet there isn’t a trace of any other ship having been here. Your carbon signature is the only one reading.”

“The Xaal piloting the ship set it for self-destruct after I sank my blade into him. Plupalm.”

“Only one Xaal was on board?”

“There were two others—also dead,” Ved said evenly. “I didn’t rampage through the vaporizing ship to check for other passengers, though.”

“You didn’t see or sense anyone else besides three Xaal?” Sevrin clarified .

They couldn’t mean Isobel Nott, so he remained silent. If they wanted to interrogate him, they needed to ask better questions.

“Any other living being?” Noxol prompted.

Did they mean her? If so, they might as well draw their weapons then and there. Instead, he said, “None.”

Sevrin inhaled audibly. Their senses, especially their ability to track by scent and blood, were stronger than even a Xaal’s. “And you were the only one on your vessel?”

“Yes,” Ved bit out.

They all stared at each other for a small eternity.

Exxo gave indicators of where their armor was the weakest if they were to attack, though Ved had already marked them—at their neck, beneath their arms, low on their stomach.

Though built like any strong Xaal, they were leaner-bodied, with a longer reach.

They would look to disarm and incapacitate him first, but if left with no other option, they would kill him. They’d be vicious and efficient.

Ved curled his hand into a fist. He’d relish a fight with them if only it wouldn’t bring the entire Authority down on him.

There was a long silence where the pair were surely contemplating if they believed him or not before they moved past him.

Sevrin stopped and looked over his shoulder as he added, “The Authority would want us to remind you that discovery by a sector 011 planet native has consequences. It is forbidden. So is any … trophy-keeping .”

A threat?

He fought the violent urge to snap his jaws. Had they scented Isobel Nott? They might not be there for him now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t return if he stepped further out of line.

“I’m aware what the Authority’s directives are,” Ved confirmed.

“We’ll be conducting an investigation in the area.

The vector tear, though under Authority control, is still destabilized.

There’s no telling who will try to use that to their advantage.

If I were you, Ved Qon Cleave, I’d get off this planet and back into sanctioned airspace before the Authority decides to clean up. ”

“You could always give me a ship, or a ride,” he rumbled. “Wouldn’t the Authority want me off this planet as fast as possible?”

They let out amused hisses that echoed hauntingly in the space.

Then they slipped out the entryway—shadows being swallowed by the night.

“ Quite unsavory company ,” Exxo declared when their grave-like presence had finally dissipated. “ However, do you recall that unidentifiable biological mass that was contained in the wing of the enemy ship? ”

“Yes,” Ved said, taking them deeper into the belly of his vessel.

“ The last recorded lifeform-created vector tears were accomplished by the Aruxa, and their inventions are often sold in dark sectors. And what pirates did we recently encounter that like to frequent said sectors? ”

Ved paused in his movements. “Are you saying someone, not Xaal, was on that ship?”

“ I still only have access to my local database, but that is the most logical scenario. Xaal capabilities do not extend to vector tears, after all, and I can see no reason why they would want to make one. ”

“For what purpose?”

“ Escape from the Authority? For the love of adventure? One can only imagine, Qon. Let us hope that whatever it is keeps the Authority’s hounds busy until we can launch. ”

Ved grunted his agreement as he grabbed the last basket Isobel had given to him.

It didn’t really matter how the tear had happened.

What mattered was his enemy was still out there, most likely thinking him dead.

Far more critical was that his clan also thought him dead.

Without him or Kravis, Ved wasn’t sure what state Cleave would be in. They were weakened .

Even when he got his ship functioning, it would take weeks to get back. He was racing against time.

But first…

Ved took off his gloves and helmet, setting them on the far end of the table.

Then he carefully laid out the contents of the basket.

Three wrapped bundles, tied off with a smooth material, sat before him.

Untying the ribbons, he unfolded the cloth and revealed the food that Isobel Nott called cookies . He could smell the lavender. Smell her.

There were twelve in total, and he lifted one up for closer inspection.

Xaal mostly needed meat for survival. Some fibrous vegetables and fruits also made up their diet.

These discs— cookies —were not necessarily desirable to his appetite, nor nourishing to his body. He’d have eventually thrown them out.

But she’d made them with her own hands. She had meticulously curated them, formed them with her delicate fingers. They were of her.

He placed the cookie whole in his mouth. It was soft and sweet and unlike anything he’d tasted before. He rolled it across his tongue, capturing its essence, before swallowing it down.

And then he picked up another.