by Liz Paffel
“Priya.” Static punched between each word. “Gather Brandon and go immediately to Command in preparation of evacuation.”
The Axxeon warrior’s comlets all buzzed at the same time as an image of Prince Hahn populated into the air. “Prepare for immediate evacuation.”
The warriors didn’t hesitate before lowering their weapons and leaving the room. One turned and waved her to come with. The door swooshed shut behind him before she could respond.
“Quixx, what’s going on?”
“Where is the Nozing prince?”
She looked up and made eye contact with the prince. “Right in front of me.”
The lights went out. With a gasp, she looked around in the dark. A soft red glow filled the room as emergency lights came on. The Nozing peered down at her, his eyes glowing preternaturally. An alarm sounded from the corridor right before the compound rattled with a deep vibration, as if something above them had exploded. A keening, metallic sound cut through the air and filled her with dread.
Tapping on the comlet, she tried calling Quixx. The device didn’t light up like it usually did. Nothing happened. Okay, she could figure this out. She had to get to Command.
“We have to go,” she said. “You, um, you’re not going to cause trouble for us, are you?”
“Female, if I intended to harm you, I would have many times over.” He folded his wings with a pleasant backdraft of air. “It is because of you that I live. I promise that I will cause no harm.”
She hugged herself as a chill assaulted her. “It’s crazy, but I believe you. I'm curious, why did you do that whole mind control thing on me? Why me?”
He turned to the chair beside him and picked up the blankets she’d discarded earlier. Spreading them open he gestured that he was going to put them around her-- waited for her small nod before he slipped them over her shoulders. She settled into them eagerly, pulling them around her as tightly as possible. Her teeth began to chatter.
“You were eager to use your skills as a healer after a long absence from it. I knew your caring heart would not turn me away.”
“How could you possibly know I’d had a break from practicing medicine?”
He grinned, the gesture lighting a surprisingly handsome face. “I overheard the Axxeon physician mentioning it to you that first day in my prison cell.”
“Oh,” she breathed, relieved. “So, you can’t read minds or anything like that?”
“I did not say that.” His smile faded, drawing serious as her shivering increased. “Will you allow me to incubate you until your mate returns?”
Her lips parted, but words wouldn’t come out. “Uh… what?”
He gestured to her middle. “Your child requires incubation from your mate’s solarderm until yours is fully formed. You will not be able to keep the child warm enough on your own. I offer myself as an incubator until he returns. It is the least that I can do.”
She cocked her head; positive she must have inhaled some leaking gas… or maybe the oxygen level was low in here and she was losing consciousness. Had he said child?
“But I’m not… and Quixx isn’t my… oh, shit.”
A frantic banging on the door drew her attention. Yawnlit pounded on the door from the outside with both fists, waving frantically at her. Snapping back, she hurried to the door and pressed the control. Nothing happened. Damn it, not again. She tried again then shrugged her shoulders with her hands up to indicate it wasn’t working. The room shook with a sudden tremble, the metallic keening noise sounding once again. Startled, she put her hands up and against the glass to brace herself. The hem of her shirt rose with the motion, allowing cold air to blast her skin. She winced against it.
Could the Nozing be right? How could it happen so fast?
Quixx had gone to collect the woman who may become his mate. King Tryllin had arranged it. He didn’t want anything to do with her. She glanced at the winged prince. Quixx had turned his back on her because she’d made a decision he hadn’t agreed with. She couldn’t have that in a partner. Not again. If they couldn’t meet in the middle, talk it through, then nothing between them would succeed. Her heart hurt for what had happened to the Axxeon women. The Nozing had been wrong, evil, to do what they’d done. But their prince couldn’t be vilified because of their actions.
She stood by that. She had to believe there was good in people who historically had done bad things. Good would prevail. It was the foundational belief that pulled human history from atrocity after atrocity. Considering what was happening outside these walls, she needed to believe it now more than ever.
Perhaps Quixx would never be able to trust or see past what had happened to his people.
Perhaps he would never be able to forgive himself for his perceived role in it. As long as he continued to believe he was at fault, he’d never make room for the belief that change was possible and achievable.
“Stand away from the door.”
The Nozing spread his wings and gestured both she and Yawnlit to move away. Moving his hands in a quick, circular motions, he generated a flash of light between his palms that shot to the glass light a laser. A long crack formed in the glass a second before the panel shattered. She’d barely recovered from watching the destruction when Yawnlit pulled her through and lifted the hem of her shirt.
“Hey!” She slapped at his hand, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“You carry a kinder.”
“How the hell could you tell as dark as it is in here?”
He gestured to her belly. Glancing down, she saw the lines between the hexagon pattern were slightly glowing.
“How long since you were mated? You must incubate at first sign of pregnancy or the kinder will die.”
As if suddenly realizing the Nozing was there, Yawnlit took a step back and glanced all the way up at the prince. His mouth gaped. “Those are quite some wings, your Highness. The question is, what do you intend to do with them?”
“I plan to incubate the Third Command’s mate.”
The walls suddenly shook with a massive tremble. Priya grabbed Yawnlit to steady herself.
“The humans are dropping bombs,” Yawnlit said. “Prince Hahn intercepted transmissions that the bombing wasn’t to begin until daylight, but it appears the intel was incorrect.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Bombs? What do you mean? Why?”
“To stop the riots, or so your leaders declared.”
This couldn’t be happening! “I don’t understand why they would do this.”
Yawnlit cupped her upper arm. “Let us go to Command.”
The Nozing gently stopped her. “Female. Will you allow me to assist you?”
She looked at Yawnlit a long time, completely confounded by the possibility that she was carrying Quixx’s child. She’d always wanted a family, of course. But after her fiancé had left her and she’d walked away from her career in shame, her motivation to find love and have a family sort of went into depression. Quixx was an alien. He was leaving for another planet. King Tryllin had already arranged him a mate.
“Are you sure I’m pregnant?”
Yawnlit patted her shoulder and side-eyed the Nozing. “If you are comfortable allowing him to help you and you’re willing to carry the child, you should take his assistance. If you chose not to--”
He didn’t have to finish the sentence. Turning to face the winged prince, she gave a small nod and suddenly she was cradled in one of his massive arms and pulled tightly against his chest. His right wing unfolded and curved around his side and over her, blanketing her in a cocoon. Immediately, soothing warmth seeped through every inch of her body. Her mind sunk into itself, perfectly content as if this is exactly what it needed.
She couldn’t see anything, and she didn’t care. Her body absorbed the heat while her heart ached with the knowledge that it wasn’t Quixx tending to her.
She heard voices indicating they reached the Comm room. There was an intense moment when the Nozing appeared. She nearly scrambled to her f
eet in case he was attacked. Prince Hahn’s voice was hard, precise as it cut through the tension. He warned them that the ice had been split by a bomb blast and sheared away the hidden entrance to the compound. The entrance was now exposed.
The Nozing knew they were here.
Systems were down. The breach in the oxygen room was not repaired enough to hold, and now the ice was breaking and cracking around them, causing more stress on the already compromised structure. The last transport ship was being prepared, but Hahn was unsure if the exit point was safe.
Priya’s skin began to chill once again. With a frustrated cry, she tried to readjust herself, but he held her too tightly, as if she weighed nothing, and there wasn’t enough room. Her scalp began to tingle before a chill raced over her head and worked down her body, edging out the heat and replacing it with bone shattering cold.
“It’s no-not working.”
Struggling to get out, she pushed against the wing until he opened it up and she spilled onto her feet. All eyes were on her and she quickly realized Brandon wasn’t in the room.
Hahn seemed shocked, as if he were working out in his mind what was going on with her. She was too cold and shivery to say anything.
“Yawnlit, take her through the top tunnel exit point and get her to the transport ship where she can be wrapped in a hexaderm blanket.”
“We must cross the ice on foot to reach the transport ship that way. We will be exposed.”
“You are a warrior and a healer, Yawnlit. I have faith in you to keep the human safe.” He turned to the Nozing and held his gaze with an iron grip. “Your people are coming for you. What are your intentions? Obviously, we have allowed you to be healed and none here will stop you from leaving if it prevents unnecessary killing.”
“I will divert them from here so you may leave safely. You have my gratitude for allowing your healer to assist me in my transformation. I will continue to warm your female until she reaches the ship if you prefer. It is better to provide some warmth than none.”
Hahn considered this. Priya was too cold to care. Reaching for the Nozing, she was willing to give his heat cocoon another try. A blast rent through the compound, the emergency lights going out and casting them in complete darkness. Priya fell to the floor, stabilizing herself with her hands as the room shook. There was a whooshing sound as if the door hand opened, followed by a blast of arctic air. It was the clean, crystal clear taste and smell of winter air in a cold snap, burning your lungs as you inhaled. Someone pulled her to her feet and dragged her along until she found her feet and helped herself along.
A light turned on. It was Yawnlit held her by the arm, pulling her down the corridor. “Hurry,” he whisper-shouted. “The others stayed behind to face the Nozing.”
“They’re here?”
“They must have blasted through the weakened area at the entrance.”
She placed a hand over her abdomen as she hurried beside Yawnlit, her mind straying to the tangle of events that had occurred since she’d first been Summoned by the Axxeon. This entire time, she kept telling herself that she had to go back to the city because she wanted to do something important.
Yet, she’d healed an alien beast by successfully using her medical skills on an unknown species. She carried a hybrid child. She was going to be a mother. There wasn’t anything more important than that. All of the unknown and the unusual had led her here, to this moment.
Quixx should be here. What would he say when he found out she carried his kinder? He was so adamant against it… had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested. He had a possible mate with him right now.
“This way.” Yawnlit’s voice cut through the dimness. The flashlight beam on his comlet was waning, making it harder and harder to see.
Something hissed behind her.
“What was that?” Afraid that she’d fall if she looked back, she kept going. It sounded again, a narrow, forceful sound like gas leaking from a pressurized line. There was an undertone to it. Animalistic, almost.
“Yawnlit?” Her voice rose by an increment. “What is that sound?”
She fumbled with her comlet, tapping and pressing until a dim light finally popped on. Yawnlit gave a sudden shout. His body hit the corridor floor, vibrating the metal.
“Run!” He hollered, right before the hissing became all-consuming and drowned out everything else. Panting, she veered to a door on the right, banging on the panel. It opened and she flung herself inside, backing into the opposite wall with her light shining at the door. It closed slowly, another glitch in the system.
“Come on, come on!”
Red eyes shone through the opening, one set. Two sets. Three. The hissing turned to screeches raising in increments to a near scream, like coyotes who had just brought down prey. The door stopped closing midway.
Allowing all three degarzee to waltz in, balls of flame tumbling from their gaping mouths.
Chapter Eighteen
The Nozing are here.
Quixx readjusted the wire to his headset, unsure if he’d really heard what he thought he had.
My Prince. Repeat… Hahn, are you there?
Nothing. Quixx punched the side of the console as he pulled the terranx to level and sped above the houses. The woman lay on a makeshift mat on the floor. She hadn’t said anything else since warning him about the Nozing. He’d made a sweep of her residence, scanning for any place the degarzee weapons may be hidden. He found nothing, not that he expected to.
The Nozing had come back for them, taken the female’s father, and left her for dead. This mission was a failure, and now his compound, his people, his woman, were at risk.
Priya.
He looked again at the human on the floor mat. His chest tugged in sympathy for her. She needed medical attention, quickly. While he felt sorry for what she had likely been through with the Nozing, nothing else stirred inside him when he looked at her. Not the way it did with Priya.
How could he forgive her for helping the Nozing prince? Yet… how could he not? If he’d found an injured enemy inside the residence instead of the female, he would have killed him. Without question. Priya? She would have tried to help because that was her nature. She did not have the drive of revenge and hate propelling her. What would she do if she came upon her former mate and he needed her assistance? After the hurt and humiliation he had caused her?
She would help him.
Quixx swore. He did not understand it. Gaining a comfortable altitude, Quixx increased his speed. Perhaps Priya’s nature was not for him to completely understand. Perhaps it was meant to be a compliment to all his hard edges, and nothing more. He did not have to dissect her motives… not if he trusted her. Softening the hard parts of himself started with trust.
Did it not?
How could she have ever helped him see things differently if he continued to push her away? That had been his plan all along, to dismiss her under the guise of being a willing participant. She’d worked her way into his heart anyway.
And now… he wanted to be a better version of himself. One that didn’t hold so much pain he could not get rid of.
Enough.
Hahn, are you there?
Nothing. Tapping on his comlet, he tried to reach anyone at the compound but was met with silence. Something had happened. The Nozing. His body went rigid with rage. The thought of them inside the compound, trapping in his prince, his people. Priya. It was almost too much to bear.
He slowed as he approached the city. An alarm flashed from the console, drawing his attention to the mapping grid screen. A red light beeped, showing something incoming from the west. Daylight had not yet broken, and visibility before him was limited. The alarm flashed more rapidly as the incoming object blazed yellowish-white beside him as it arched through the sky and made a downward trajectory to Earth.
His heart jumped to his throat. Slowing the craft, he veered to the right but not before the bomb exploded in midair and sent shock wave turbulence through the air. The craft
bounced and slid out of control for several yards until Quixx gained control. Without pause, he directed outside the city to the massive lake where the compound was hidden.
Human leaders had begun their assault early. He had to get his prince and the rest of the crew out of the compound. Now!
The scanning system flashed warning of a cloaked aircraft one eight of a mile outside of the compound entrance. As he slowed, he uncovered a Nozing transport ship. Grinding his jaw, he monitored for any sign of the enemy before he landed the terranx on the ice near the rear entrance. The transport shit was cloaked and waiting on the frozen shore behind him. His scan indicated the ship was activated and ready to go.
Glancing again at the female, he decided to leave her inside the transport ship. She needed medical attention, but he didn’t know what might be unfolding inside the compound. Bringing anyone inside would be foolish. Ensuring his cloaking shield was engaged and the ship was undetectable, he jumped to the icy ground and crouched as he jogged to the back-entry port. Using his comlet, he shot a beam at the correct location on the ground. A hatch appeared, cloaked in ice. He grabbed the handle and twisted the heavy lock open, popped the small round door and peered down inside.
Quiet.
Holding his breath, Quixx lowered himself onto the ladder and scurried down, pulling the port door closed as he descended. Dropping into darkness, he listened. Alarms sounded from deep within the compound. Red emergency lights lit the corridors.
He had to find Priya. Staying close to the wall, he trotted down the corridor with his weapon drawn. He hoped for any word from Hahn, any indication that the Axxeon Prince was alive. His pulse ticked up. Nothing could happen to the heir of the throne. Nothing.
Ahead, a flash of orange and white light stopped him in his tracks. Just then, a boom sounded overhead, and the compound walls shook. He kept going. Ducking down past the windows, he made a quick sweep of medical as he hurried by. It was empty. Tempering his breathing, Quixx kept going, listening for any sound.
There.
A cry. Screeching… what was that? The flash of orange and white came again, reflecting off the metallic corridor walls. Something was in the corridor just ahead. He slowed and pressed a button on his headset. It changed his head set to heat detection. As he rounded the corner, the culprit came into view.