Her Alien Mates (The Drift: Haven Colony Book 1)

by Susan Hayes

  Kade reached out to touch the screen. “The Chism’ah is yours, now. It’s not the life I promised you, but it’s all I have to give. I’m sorry, Shadow. If I had known…” He flashed her a bittersweet smile. “Denz, I assume you’ll see this someday. Take care of our mahaya for me. You’ll have to love her enough for both of us. I know you can do that.”

  The message ended, leaving her staring at a blank screen. Anger, grief, and something darker than both welled up inside her. Tears rolled down her cheeks in a scalding cascade, and when she went to turn off the terminal, she noticed her hands were shaking. “We—” her voice cracked, and she had to start again. “We have to tell the council about this.”

  “We do. And I will, soon. But right now, I’m more worried about you.” He grunted. “And him. What the hell was that fraxxing fool thinking? He should have told us. You. Me. Someone!”

  “He should have. But he didn’t.” She swallowed hard against the lump of grief and anger in her throat. “Do you think he’s really…gone?”

  “I think he wouldn’t have sent the ship back on autopilot if he thought he had any chance of getting away. He planned for this.” Denz hugged her tightly. “So, yes, I think he’s in trouble. I don’t know how much. And there’s only one way to find out.”

  “Go after him.” Which meant becoming someone she never wanted to be again. But there wasn’t any choice for her. Not really. Kade was more important than her desire to lock that part of herself away forever.

  “We’re going to need a plan.” Denz kissed her cheek and then slid out of bed.

  Any other time, she’d have been able to appreciate the view he presented her with, his big body heavy with muscle and his dark hair tousled from their lovemaking. Part of her wanted to go to him, to lean into his strength, but there wasn’t time. Comfort could come later. “I have a plan. You tell the council what’s going on while I fly the Chism’ah… Wait. Did you say we?”

  “I did. You’re not going up there alone.”

  “But you’re not combat trained.”

  “No, but I’ve spent that last two years hanging around cyborgs. And if there’s one thing that group like doing, it’s beating each other up for fun. I can handle myself in a fight, Shad. I just normally choose not to.”

  Despite the situation, she cracked a smile. “So, you don’t really need me to protect you?”

  “From murder-chickens and cyborgs, yes. And Vardarians because those bastards have wings. But you’re not just my bad-ass protector. You’re the one I trust to watch my back.” He wandered over to his closet, pushing aside most of the clothes to reach for something way in the back. “And right now, you need someone to watch yours.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  He spun around to stare at her, one hand holding a full suit of military-grade combat armor. His black eyes narrowed and his jaw set in a hard line. “Yes. I do. That stupid son of a starbeast put this whole colony at risk, including you and me. He should have asked for help. I’m tired of watching the beings who matter to me choose to sacrifice themselves for some greater fraxxing good. If he’s still alive, we’re getting him back. I’ve already lost one member of my family this year. I’m not ready to lose another.”

  She wanted to hug him and celebrate the fact he’d just called Kade his family. But first, they needed to rescue him. Then, after she’d given him ten kinds of grief for doing this to them… they could celebrate. If they hadn’t already lost him.

  She shoved the thought aside. If that was the case, they’d know soon enough. Until then, she had to believe he was alive. He was her mayhoyen. She’d feel it if he was gone. Wouldn’t she?

  16

  Denz dressed quickly, though he needed Shadow’s help with a few of the fittings on his body armor. His family had bought it for him when he’d brought Zale’s body back home. Apart from the initial fitting, he’d never put it on.

  When they’d given it to him, he’d tried to refuse, but his mother had taken his hands and stared up at him with a haunted but determined look he would never forget.

  “What you’re doing is noble and right, my boy. But I don’t want to bury you too. If trouble comes again, wear the damned armor.”

  He’d promised her he would and then stuck the gear in the back of his closet, certain he’d never need it. Zale had wanted to fight against the corporations, not him. Zale had been part of the group of scientists who had first created the medi-bot technology all cyborgs carried, and he felt responsible for how Astek and the other corporations used it to ramp up their battles for corporate dominance.

  When Zale had chosen to stand up, Denz had stood with him because it was the right thing to do and because it was what Zale needed. Then, Zale had died. Denz had come to Liberty to help found the colony because that was a way of continuing his kinsman’s legacy. For the first time, he saw clearly what the others had been trying to tell him when they said he needed to start living. He hadn’t been. Not really. He’d been living Zale’s life because the damned fool wasn’t here to live it for himself.

  He checked the charge on his blaster and then holstered it. He wasn’t doing this for Zale, though. This was his fight. He was going to protect his home and his female, and if he could stop Kade from falling on his own sword in the process, so much the better.

  “Do you have another weapon?” Shadow asked, pulling him back into the present.

  “Sorry, no. Just the one blaster. I never expected to need anything else. This was supposed to be a peaceful colony. I’ve got access to the armory, though. We’ll stop by on our way to the ship.”

  Shadow perked up like he’d offered her candy. “Armory? We have one? Where?”

  “Uh huh. We don’t advertise its existence, but we have one, just in case things get less peaceful than expected.”

  “Looks like that day has come.” She pointed to her skirt and blouse. “Good thing, too, because unlike you, I don’t have body armor stashed in my closet. One day, you’re going to have to explain to me how that happened.”

  “It was a gift from my family the last time I was home. My mom made me promise I’d wear it if I ever got into another fight.”

  She laughed. “Really? I really have to meet your mom someday.”

  He took her hand and squeezed it hard. “I’d like that.”

  Their next stop was only a block away, and he left Shadow to pick out her arsenal and attire while he contacted Phaedra. He brought her up to speed on everything, including the plan to go after Kade.

  She was busy sending information to the rest of the council and scouring the cybersphere for anything relevant even while they talked. He hadn’t finished catching her up before she interrupted him. “I’ve got good news. The only ship to leave the platform in the last few hours is Kade’s. Whoever this Nesht asshole is, he hasn’t left yet. Hang on. Grabbing security footage now. This is so much easier when I’m actually an admin for the system instead of having to hack into it.”

  He waited, amused to discover that both Phaedra and Shadow made almost identical sounds as they searched through two very different inventories. Humming noises and little squeaks of excitement came to him in stereo.

  Shadow reappeared a few minutes later. She had donned a suit of curve-hugging black body armor and was carrying enough weaponry to outfit a small army. Her hair was gathered into a tight braid, and her gray eyes had darkened to the color of flint.

  He ignored the aura of lethal grace around her and pulled her into his arms for a kiss that lasted until the ice melted from her demeanor and she kissed him back.

  “What was that for?” she asked when he finally raised his head. There was still a hard edge to her words he didn’t like, an echo of the person she’d been before she was freed.

  “You look very sexy at this moment. I think you need to keep the armor. You know… in case of emergencies.” He waggled his brows in an overt attempt to make her laugh.

  It worked.

  She was still chuckling as she looked
down at herself and then back at him, all her hard edges gone now. “How is this sexy?”

  “Because it’s you inside that body-hugging suit of polymer weave. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. All I see is you.”

  The moment was shattered when Phaedra chimed in. “Some guys like librarians. Others like school teachers. Apparently, the big guy here likes assassins who could whip his ass one-handed. Which is going in my files, by the way. I do love it when I learn something new about my friends.”

  “Don’t you dare, Pipsqueak.”

  “Did you just call her…” Shadow waved at the monitor, too stunned to continue.

  “I did. She was hiding behind Zale and me the night she met her mahoyen. I’ve earned the right. Colonel Archer was not happy with us for helping her gate crash that party.”

  “Scott Archer? Tall. Dark hair going silver. Sexy in a grumpy sort of way?”

  “He is, isn’t he?” Phaedra agreed.

  Denz shook his head. “Nope. He isn’t. At all. Ever. And you’re not allowed to tell me you think other males are sexy, sweetheart. You already have two. That’s your limit.”

  Shadow’s smiled faded. “Or maybe I just have one.”

  “I can happily confirm that you do, in fact, still have two.” Phaedra crowed and sent an image to his terminal. “That was taken not long after Kade’s ship left the platform.”

  It was a picture of Kade, slumped between two human men as they carried him down one of the platform’s corridors. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like one of the docking areas. “Where was that taken?”

  Phaedra told him and then made another little squeak. “Gotcha! I know which vessel they took him to. I’ll send you two everything I have once I put a lockdown order on that ship.” She grinned. “Please hold.” The screen went blank.

  “She’s enjoying this way too much,” Shadow said.

  “Someone being in danger, no. The rest, though? Oh yeah, she’s loving every second.”

  “Dangerous woman. I didn’t realize that until now.”

  Denz looked at her. “Takes one to know one. I’m just damned glad you’re both on my side.”

  “And I’m happy you’re on mine.” She blew out a long breath. “Now, let’s go get the other member of our little triad before he does something stupid and tries to get himself killed…again.” Then she hesitated. “Fraxx. I’m not supposed to leave this planet. No one is going to try to stop me. Are they?”

  “No. Because I’m going to push for agreement on a proposal already on the agenda. Edge and I are making an argument that the platform is the property of the colony. Which means it technically is the colony. As such, you, and every other cyborg is free to go there.”

  “You think that’ll work?”

  “I think if we’re ever going to achieve unity, we can’t have different rules for different colonists. Either everyone is welcome on the platform, or none of us are.”

  “But it was built by Vardarians.”

  “No. It was built by colonists. Havenites. Libertarians. Libras…” he sighed. “We really need to decide on a name.”

  “Tratori. It means liberty in an older dialect of Vardarian. It’s a lot better than Havenites, and we are nowhere near the Libra constellation, so that won’t work, either.”

  “That’s it. Next year I’m nominating you for a spot on the council. In fact, you can have mine.”

  She cocked her head to one side, considering. “Maybe. But I’m not the one who just made an impassioned speech about unity, so for now, you need to keep that place for yourself.”

  “Deal.” He left the link to Phaedra open and threw out a hand, inviting Shadow to take the lead. “Ladies first.”

  She snorted, the light and fire back in her expression now. “You just want to ogle my ass.”

  “Hell yes. You can’t see yourself right now, but you can take my word for it. You are hotter than a supernova in that gear.”

  She marched in front of him, putting an extra bit of swing in her hips with every step.

  They didn’t get far before Shadow’s terminal beeped. She checked the screen and then stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide. “It’s from Kade. Another recorded message.”

  He had to admire her composure. Her hands were rock-steady as she accepted the message and turned the screen so they could both see it.

  The first image was of Kade, his face bloodied and bruised. He glared up with naked fury at whoever was taking the vid.

  A voice spoke from off camera. It had a sibilant quality to it that hinted the owner was Jeskyran. It had to be Nesht. “Greetings, mate of Kade D’vrayn. Your male has stubbornly refused to give us your name, but after some…encouragement, he did agree to send you this message. I doubt you are aware of this, but Kade owes a significant amount of scrip to a consortium of businessmen I represent—”

  “He means he’s the muscle for the bastards holding on to my gambling debt,” Kade interrupted.

  A shadow moved to one side of the screen and Kade tensed as if expecting a blow.

  “Not while I’m filming, idiot!” Nesht hissed and then continued in a smooth, oily tone. “Where was I? Oh yes. The debt, which apparently you already know about. Unfortunately, Mr. D’vrayn has failed to make his required payments and is now in violation of our deal. I will make this simple for you, female. I propose a trade. You bring us his ship, and we will return your mate to you. His debt will be considered paid, and you two can continue your lives together. This is a limited time offer, and it comes with rules. Be here on the orbital platform within the next two hours. Tell no one about this. Come alone. Fail to follow these rules, and he dies. It won’t be quick or merciful. If you agree to these terms, simply reply with a text message confirming your agreement. Once I have that, I will send you instructions on where to meet for the exchange.”

  “Anything to add, D’vrayn?”

  Kade lifted his head and managed to smile despite the damage to his face and then spoke in Vardarian. “I love you, my sunshine. If I get another chance, I promise to make better choices. And if I don’t, I understand why. I fell into the trap of thinking I needed to make decisions for both of us. I’m sorry.”

  “What the fraxx did you just say to her?” Nesht demanded.

  Kade switched back to Galactic Standard. “I apologized for being a fool and asked her to do what you said. My dyna is a timid, obedient female, as gentle as a moonbeam. She’ll do as she’s told.”

  “She’d better. Your life depends on it.”

  The message ended abruptly.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Shadow said, her voice sharper than a knife’s edge. She typed out a short message and hit reply. No doubt confirming she was on her way.

  “Which one?” he asked, only half joking.

  “Nesht. Kade needs to survive this because he owes us about fifty years of apologies, and another five years for calling me a timid soul who does what she’s told.”

  “Yeah, he does. But maybe give him a break about calling you timid. It’s not like we want the enemy to know that a one-woman wrecking crew is coming to kick his thorny ass.”

  “Fair point. But I think he needs to grovel a bit for mentioning it was a trap. I mean, it’s obvious that’s what we’re walking into. He didn’t have to come out and say it.”

  “He’s worried about you.”

  “I’m more worried about him.”

  “So am I,” Denz admitted. It was clear to him that Kade didn’t realize just how dangerous their female was. When he figured it out, he’d need to speak carefully, or Shadow might start hating this part of herself again. If that happened, he’d kick Kade’s ass himself… or maybe hire someone to do it for him.

  Denz held out his terminal. “If you transfer that vid to me, I’ll send it to Phaedra. She can disseminate it to everyone else who needs to see it.”

  She touched her terminal to his, and a moment later he had the file.

  “We’re going to need a new plan,” Shadow said.
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  “I don’t think so. What we need is more stealth. In fact…” He tapped out a quick message to Phaedra. “I don’t think there’s any reason for more than one or two ships to leave the planet at all. At least, not if Phae can work a little magic for us.”

  “What are you up to?” Shadow asked.

  “I am unleashing the full fury of the pink pipsqueak on the defense grid. Want to bet she can have it up and running before we reach the platform?”

  Shadow’s smile was bright enough to light up even the darkest night. “You are a devious, clever male, and I love you for it.”

  He held out a hand to her. “Come on, we need to get to the spaceport. We can work out the rest of the details on the way up. The clock is ticking.”

  “And some thorny ass needs kicking.” She grinned at her rhyme and took his hand. “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “Reminding me who I am now. I think I forgot for a bit. I felt like if I put all this on again, I had to be who I was the last time I wore it.”

  “Neither of us are the beings we used to be. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take the best parts of them with us going forward.”

  She stepped in close and rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. “You are a very smart male.”

  “Not always. If I were, I’d have asked you out weeks ago. But…” He shrugged. “I’m not the male I was then either.”

  “I like this version better.”

  He thought about that for a second and then nodded. “So do I.”

  And then they were running hand in hand down the street toward the spaceport and the fight that lay ahead.

  Thanks to his nanotech, Kade was already healing, but he still had to deal with the pain. His face throbbed, his ribs ached, and he was pretty sure his wrist was broken. At least, it had been. It wouldn’t be long before he’d be ready to fight back, which was good because he planned to take out the next being to walk through that door. He needed to get to Shadow.