Zar shook his head. “We will never escape on foot. It is too dangerous.”
Her puzzled look would have made him smile were they not in such dire circumstances. Tugging on his hair, she pointed the other way again.
Stubborn female.
He set her down gently. When she was on her feet, Zar stepped away and faced the barricaded storeroom in front of him. With a grunt, he rushed the door and stomped it down.
Relief swept through him when he saw his zapten waiting amidst the Heronas’s spoils. The female gasped loudly when she saw the machine.
Zar did not give her a moment to hesitate. Scooping her up again, he threw her roughly on his zapten and took flight.
Five
Simone
Everything was happening too fast. Her head spun as she tried to focus on escape, but it was impossible to process the craziness around her.
That included her rescuer and his brutish strength.
Simone shuddered as she recalled the way the blue alien’s spine had rippled up and out of his body like a flagpole. He’d snapped it like a chicken bone and stabbed that lion alien straight in the neck. His tail had swished with enough power to crush one of the guards against a wall. A mighty roar had flown from his lips.
He was both fierce and magnificent.
She should have been scared of him. That had been trapped in a prison with her? That beast could have taken advantage of her? Could have gotten on the cot and…
Simone should have been terrified.
But she wasn’t.
In that moment, her heart had leapt, and she’d felt an infusion of courage burst through her.
She had an alien like him on her side.
Instead of running away, she wanted to help. She’d wanted to be brave too.
One of the fallen guards had kicked his glowing laser sword near her feet. There really wasn’t that much involved in setting explosions. Three components were necessary—a means of ignition, oxygen and a fuel source.
Since she was breathing without the help of a tank, Simone assume that some form of oxygen existed on this planet. The laser-sword-thingies had to use fuel to create the bullets made of light. And ignition…
Well, she’d taken a leap of faith with that one.
It had worked.
Miraculously.
But they weren’t out of danger yet.
The blue alien grunted at her and pointed to a huge hulking metal dinosaur waiting in the darkness. What on earth was that? The terrifying contraption stood several feet taller than her already imposing blue alien. Its gaping mouth opened and snapped at the sight of them. Was it… alive? She nearly fainted when the blue alien threw her on top of it like a frisbee.
“What the hell is this?” She trembled, staring at the intricate metal hulk that formed the dinosaur’s neck.
The alien ignored her question. Urgently, he wrapped her fingers around the glowing sword and nodded. He expected her to use this thing?
Simone gulped.
Point and shoot.
She could do that, right?
Even if the thought of it made a lump form in her throat, this was a fight for her life. One of many. She could pull the trigger. Maybe if she’d been this brave on earth, she wouldn’t have…
The dinosaur lifted off, jarring her from her thoughts. She never would have guessed this giant, animal-shaped metal would be used for transportation, but this close she saw the handlebars and glimmering silver chrome and realized it was made exactly for that purpose.
If she wasn’t currently sweating and frightened out of her mind, Simone would take the time to appreciate everything about this moment.
Since they were still trapped inside the evil alien dungeon and she had no idea how they’d get out, she’d reserve the fangirling for later.
Hopefully, there was a later.
The blue alien touched her side and warmth flooded her body, sending tingles down to her stomach. He reached around her, his fingers clamping on the handlebars. The position felt like a hug and Simone’s fingers almost slipped on the sword.
She wasn’t a small woman by any standards, but the blue alien warrior dwarfed her. His hair fell against her cheek as he leaned over and guided the metal dinosaur into the air. His blue lips were set in a firm line and his jaw clenched.
Anger.
It spilled from him. Seeped from him.
Crackled in the air.
He was made of it.
That rage.
For a moment, she wondered what had happened to make him that way. She wondered what hurt he was burying beneath the fury.
The alien grunted as a bullet flew past his head and nearly caught her in the shoulder. He shifted his body slightly, causing the metal dinosaur to tilt. Adjusting himself on the machine, he covered her so his body was protecting hers.
Simone’s heart bucked against her ribs.
Why was he doing this? Why was he going out of his way to protect her? It didn’t make any sense.
The alien gave her a hard look and nodded to the laser sword as if to say now’s the time.
She sucked in a deep breath and tried to lift the sword again, only managing to get it up about an inch off her lap. Undeterred, Simone tried harder to balance it in her hands.
The evil aliens gathered below them. They looked like her idea of a ‘conventional alien’—tall, thin creatures with beady black eyes and a long neck. Their torsos were so scrawny that it seemed they had no bones. Their color was a light, unbroken green. They wore heavy masks as if they couldn’t breathe the planet’s air.
When she’d heard their guttural voices earlier, she’d assumed that they were more… human-looking. She’d pictured someone who looked like Bob, her sleazy manager in the IT department at the company where she used to work.
Locking someone in a room and spying on them while they were taken advantage of was something she could see Bob doing. It was something similar to what he’d done in the past, if the whispers around their company could be believed.
And she did believe it.
Simone found it easy to believe the worst of people. Her rose-colored glasses broke a long time ago. She’d never experienced the innocence of childhood. Alien planets? Monsters with neon swords? She’d seen them all.
There was evil in space and on earth.
No mercy.
No good.
She couldn’t remember being protected.
Ever.
Until now.
Until this brutish blue alien with the purple eyes and the chest full of tattoos.
But he probably had his secrets too. His skeletons in the closet. His sins.
She hoped she never became a victim of them.
Seeing her struggle, the blue alien removed one hand from the metal dinosaur and wrapped it around hers. With his strength supporting her, she was able to lift the laser sword.
The blue alien’s deep voice rumbled in her ear.
Together, they pulled the trigger.
While he focused on navigating the dungeons, Simone took aim at the evil aliens, emptying bullets as they made their harried escape.
Finally, they shot out of the dungeon through a hatch that opened up into the outside and the sword slid down her lap.
She didn’t even care. The breeze on her face was sweet, sweet freedom. Her mouth fell open and she sucked in deep breaths of the heavy, alien air. The fact that they’d escaped the dungeon blew her mind. The fact that she was even here on this planet still felt like a cruel simulation.
But it wasn’t.
Simone glanced down.
Those strong blue arms were real.
The scales dripping with evil alien blood were real.
The blue tail draping the metal dinosaur was real.
He was real.
Who would have thought that the alien her captors had intended to harm her would save her instead?
The blue warrior met her eyes, an eyebrow nub arched. Her breath quickened and she turned completely awa
y, letting the sword slide further down her thigh in the process. He caught it quickly, his fingers brushing against her skin.
Shivers slid up her spine. Not the dangerous kind. Not the ones that erupted when she felt cornered and scared.
No, these tingles were different.
Hotter.
Sharper.
Something wicked and sultry.
Something she’d never felt before.
Simone gulped, closing her eyes to get her body in check and explain away that sudden jolt of desire. The attraction she felt was the effects of a near-death escape. The blue alien had shown her kindness. He’d taken bullets for her and risked his life for her without even knowing her name.
The tingles meant nothing more than gratitude.
Yes.
And shock.
Of course.
Definitely.
Her eyes fell on the lush landscape before them. The sprawling expanse was earth-like in the thickness of the trees and the fineness of the sand, but the colors were all wrong. Blue instead of green for the foliage. Orange instead of brown for the dirt.
Whatever.
She was safe for now.
Stuck with this brutish blue alien.
And the rest…
“Denizi,” the blue warrior snapped under his breath.
Simone glanced up and saw his lips tightening into a frown. He squeezed his eyes shut as if he were meditating and the metal dinosaur gained speed in response. Feeling his urgency, she twisted around and peered over his shoulder.
Seven big hovercars—like the ones that she’d been transported in—rose from behind the walls they’d escaped from. Her heart galloped and she dug her fingers into the sword in her lap.
A second later, glowing bullets started flying at her head.
Six
Zar
Those blasted Heronas.
If he didn’t have the female in his arms, he would face them. He would tear them all limb from limb until their eyes bulged and their lips gurgled as they begged for mercy. He would pierce them until his scales ran red with their blood.
His finger itched to blow the roofs off their hover cars and start a massacre. Zar could already see himself plummeting into the cabins and ending the lives of every Heronas inside. He would take command of the vehicles and steer them into the hovercrafts that followed him. The Heronas would perish in the collision.
And maybe the burden in his heras would lessen with their deaths.
The female whimpered softly at the sights of the hovercrafts and his fantasy was blown to ashes.
Abandoning his zapten and enacting such a plan would spell the end of this female. She could not steer his machine and, even if she could, the bullets would pierce her fragile flesh and she would die.
Zar gritted his teeth. Neh. He had put himself in death’s way countless times. He was not scared to face what Destin had waiting for him on the other side. But he refused to put this female’s life in jeopardy chasing the peace that eluded him.
Zar braced himself for the shock of the bullets that fired from the Heronas’s machines. He had not expected them to attack in full force. After all, he was far from the first Plutonian to bust out of their prisons.
Their desperation to apprehend them bothered him, but he did not have the time to linger on such a small thought.
Survival.
This moment was about keeping himself and the female alive.
The human dug her fingers into Garbas’s frame, brown digits welding to steel. Her body pressed against his as if she wished to disappear. Her hair lifted in the breeze and she bit down on her bottom lip to keep quiet.
He admired that bravery.
She was a strong, little thing.
Zar jerked his gaze away from her and sought refuge in the shrubbery below. This landscape was unfamiliar to him. He’d ventured this far on the hopes of picking a fight with the Heronas, but he never thought they would take him to their city.
Zar’s eyes sharpened on a small cave. It bled into the mountain, disappearing beneath the earth. The Heronas’ hover crafts would not be able to follow them inside as they were far too large to fit.
“Hang on,” Zar growled.
She let out a little shriek as he pointed the zapten down. Using the connection he shared with Garbas via the neural translator, he urged the zapten to go faster.
The machine responded instantly.
The Heronas followed him, speeding up as well. They sensed his plan and tried to encircle him, but Zar was too far ahead.
He grunted as Garbas crashed to the ground. The human jumped so high he had to grab her by the ankles and drag her back to him. She landed in a huff in his lap, her skirt gathered at her waist and dark fingers desperately tugging at her tunic.
But Zar’s gaze was not on her exposed heat. He slammed his foot on the ground and tilted the zapten. Garbas bent in half, folding so far back that they could slide inside the narrow opening.
The Heronas’s hovercraft lingered outside.
Success.
Zar wiped the sweat from his brow and strained to see past the shadows in the cave’s narrow tunnel. He dragged the female to the ground and tapped on his flickering interface. It took two more tries than usual before Garbas transformed.
The human gasped at the way the giant zapten shrunk to its portable form, but they had no time to admire the technology. They were running in blind, at the mercy of whatever beasts lay waiting in the mountain.
Still, it was better than falling into the Heronas’s hands again. If those bastards were wicked enough to force a mating, they would not hesitate to do much worse.
And if they ever managed to capture the human again, she may not meet a Plutonian with his convictions.
The truth was that the Plutonian traditions were not followed by everyone in his species. The principles of restraint, self-control, commitment and integrity did not appeal to those who only wished to gratify themselves.
If this human came into contact with one of those Plutonians…
The Heronas wouldn’t need to drug them to accomplish their plan.
The very thought of this human being in such peril made Zar’s spine dagger shoot out.
Denizi.
Focus.
He needed to focus.
They weren’t out of danger yet. Even now, the Heronas could be coming after them. Or they could be circling the mountain, waiting for them to exit through the back.
“We need light,” he growled.
The female’s eyebrows pulled tight together. She did not want them to stop. Her slender fingers pointed forward. “Muv.”
Zar slid a hand into the pocket of his pants. He always kept supplies on hand for emergencies. Thankfully, when the Heronas took him and confiscated his zapten, they had not found the cases in his hidden pocket.
Zar took out a box that was made from the same technology as his zapten. He pressed his thumb on the cover and tiny gears began whirring to reveal his supplies.
The human leaned forward, staring at him. At first, he assumed she was in awe, but impatience snapped through her eyes. “Hoora uhp!”
Zar took note of the urgency in her words, but he did not let it push him. The Heronas would not be able to fly their crafts in. If they gave chase, they would not get as far on foot as Zar could.
They had a moment to stop. He grabbed the torch, lighted the flame and held it up. Purple fire chased the darkness and caused the human to draw back. Lifting her hand, she shaded her eyes from the blaze.
Zar watched her and, for a moment, he was struck immobile. In the prison, he had not given himself the opportunity to truly observe her face. Now, he could not turn away.
The creature was stunning. Her hair was plaited back in three thick rows, allowing him a perfect view of her brown skin, her high cheekbones, a pert nose, and two dark lips that begged for his own. His heras throbbed erratically.
The female swung away from him with a huff and peered at Garbas in his portable form
. She pressed her fingers against top of the box and then glanced up. “Diziz cul, buh cun weh plez lev?”
Zar handed her the light and gestured for her to follow him. Despite his attempts at focus, he kept peering at the human from the corner of his eye.
She smelled like a sweet Plutonian dessert. Like something hearty and filling.
Or perhaps he had lost his mind. Spending two sun rotations next to his own vomit might have made him desperate for a change of fragrance.
Zar stopped abruptly at the mouth of the cave and peered out at the terrain. The female tried to edge past him.
“Do not move,” he told her. Taking the sword from her hands, he stepped carefully through the exits. His eyes scoured the skies, searching for any Heronas hovercrafts that might be lurking nearby.
Stars gleamed in the darkness.
Silence met his trained ears.
The Heronas were gone.
He returned to the human female and nodded. She muttered words in her earthen tongue and then she smiled. Her eyes glittered like etherea marble. It rivaled the sparkling of the stars and made his heras lodge in his throat. Made it pound so violently that he felt he would drop to his knees.
Zar had succeeded in escaping the Heronas prison but something told him, he was now face-to-face with something far more dangerous.
Seven
Simone
She liked to be prepared for events. In any situation, Simone showed up on time. And by ‘on time’, she was there early. Half-an-hour earlier. Just in case things didn’t go according to plan.
Simone didn’t believe in crying after the fact. Crying was for the weak. For people who didn’t prepare and plan ahead. Maybe if they did, they wouldn’t be in a mess.
But now she wished she hadn’t subscribed to such a harsh philosophy. How was she supposed to prepare for an alien abduction?
Right now, she felt like she was spiraling.
Simone hated that lack of control. She hated that she couldn’t bring order to this chaos. And the only person she could depend on wasn’t even really a person.
The Alien Warrior's Heart : A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Plutonian Warriors Book 3) Page 3