Kratos: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Paranormal Romance

by Ashley West

  It was the classic divide and conquer technique, and from what he could see, it had worked with great effect here. The building was smoking, not quite on fire, but smoldering a little, and the underlings were fighting for all they could out front. There were no humans to be seen, thank the stars for that, and Kratos trusted that Combo had done what he could to get them all to safety.

  Their side seemed to be doing well enough, but the fighting was between him and the building, and he needed to get Kirstie inside.

  He stepped forward.

  As he inched towards the battle that was raging, he could see Combo, standing at the back, directing as he always did. Something lightened inside of him, at the sight, and he didn't think he had ever been so happy to see him.

  Kratos moved faster.

  "You found her," Combo said, sighing with relief. It was probably the most emotion he had shown with regards to a human ever. "Is she..."

  "She's alive, but she's hurt. You need to help her. Combo, please."

  "Of course, of course. We need to get her out of here, though, and it's not safe yet." He pulled out one of the ever present scanners and waved it over Kirstie's limp form still in Kratos' arms. "She's stable for now. Take her inside. We will see to this, and then we will see to her."

  Kratos wanted to argue, but he knew Combo was right. It wasn't safe for them to try to get back to the ship in all this, and the underlings needed their help. Kirstie would be fine. Kratos had to believe that.

  He took her inside and dropped her off with her roommate and her brother. He told them to keep an eye on her and to get Combo if anything changed.

  He was tired. He was sore. He was angry.

  There were still more fights to win.

  Kratos took his sword up and dove back into the fray. Just like before, there was no other way to do this, nowhere to go but through.

  Chapter Seventeen: After it All

  When she woke up, everything hurt.

  Her body ached like she'd spent hours doing manual labor that involved heavy lifting, and when she shifted in bed, she had to wince at the jolt of pain that shot up her spine and traveled out through her limbs. She whimpered at the sensation and then opened her eyes. Her mouth was dry and tasted foul, and her head throbbed as the light pierced her eyes, making her want to close them all over again.

  For a moment, she had no idea where she was or what was happening.

  This wasn't her bedroom in her apartment, and it wasn't Kratos' bedroom either. The ceiling was different, as was the lighting, and she furrowed her brow, trying to remember what had happened.

  What was alarming was that she had a huge hole where she was pretty sure there was supposed to be memories. She had no recollection of how she got to wherever this was, and she didn't even remember falling asleep. Had she been asleep? The last thing she could actually remember was... What was it?

  She'd been in her apartment, she was pretty sure. After a long day, maybe? Tired. She remembered being tired. She remembered...her brother? Yes. Keith had come in and they had argued. Now that she thought about it, she could recall the harsh words they'd exchanged and the way she'd been fed up. She had stormed out in a huff, and ended up outside the building.

  It was there that things started to go dark and hazy, and she was having a very hard time remembering what had happened between then and now.

  Someone in the darkness maybe? She'd thought it was Kratos, but...

  It was no use. She just couldn't remember, and trying to make her brain engage and fill in the gaps was just making her head hurt. As much as everything else hurt, not knowing where this room was located was making everything worse, so Kirstie gritted her teeth and pushed herself up onto her elbows, biting back the cry of pain that wanted to burst out of her when she moved. Just a quick look around and then she'd lay back down.

  Kirstie forced her eyes to focus, blinking several times until everything became clearer. She'd been here before, she was pretty sure...

  The infirmary!

  That was it. The infirmary on board The Kilan's ship. It was the first place she had kissed Kratos when he'd been in one of these beds.

  With that mystery solved, she flopped back against the bed, letting out a sigh. Of course, that left the question of how she'd gotten there, and why she was even there in the first place. What had happened to make her be in so much pain?

  Just as she was considering calling out to see if anyone was nearby who could tell her what was happening, the door slid open to reveal Combo.

  "Combo," she croaked, her voice raspy. At first she assumed from disuse but the soreness of her throat suggested otherwise. "What's going on?"

  For just a moment, something like relief flared in those fathomless eyes, and then he had schooled his features back into the usual impassive mask. "You remember me," he said. "That is good."

  "Why wouldn't I?" Kirsten wanted to know. She swallowed painfully. Something was going on here that she probably wasn't going to like, but not knowing was worse in her mind.

  Combo sighed. "You have...been through an ordeal."

  Alarm bells sounded in her head. "Was there an attack?" That would explain why she was so hurt and why she was on the ship. If something had happened to the building... "Is everyone okay?"

  He held up a hand. "Everyone is fine. As for your first question. It's difficult to answer. You should not push yourself."

  Kirsten rolled her eyes, pleased that it didn't hurt. "Combo," she rasped. "Tell me what happened."

  "Very well," he sighed. "There was an attack, but you were not in it."

  Okay, that was a start. "What happened?"

  "The Grey attacked your building. Made a mess of it, really, while our attention was divided. Classic strategy, and I saw it coming. We held our own valiantly."

  "Are they gone, then?"

  "Not quite. But it shouldn't be long now."

  Something like relief washed over her to hear that. For a second she was content with that explanation, until she remembered. "And what happened to me?"

  Combo's face went grave, and he moved closer to the bed. She could tell that he was tired. Whatever had been happening while she was out had taken a toll on him. It seemed like everyone looked to him for answers and to know what to do, and that must have been hard for him during this time.

  "You were...taken," he said finally, eyes averted from hers. "From what I understand, you fought with your brother and then left the building. You were ambushed and taken."

  Her heart rate increased, and fear kicked in, even though it was clear that she was fine now. "The Grey?"

  "Yes."

  "How did...what happened?" She felt like she'd asked that question a lot in the last five minutes or so, but she wasn't going to be content until she knew everything.

  "They are not kind, The Grey," Combo explained. "They wanted revenge for what happened to the Alva. For what a human woman did to their allies. They sought to make an example of you. I wasn't there, but I'm told they weren't kind."

  He delivered it in a flat voice, like he was trying to distance himself from it, and Kirsten spared a second to wonder if he'd been worried about her. From what she understood, she had been tortured. That explained a lot, honestly. She felt like her body had been through the ringer over the last however long it had been.

  Interestingly, she didn't have it in her to be that upset about it. For one thing, she was exhausted. Apparently being tortured was hard work or something. For another, she didn't have any memories of it. Whatever had happened to her, she had obviously blocked it out well enough that it wasn't bothering her at the moment.

  "Kratos got you out," Combo continued. "He was..." A smile flickered over Combo's mouth, much to Kirstie's astonishment. "Single minded. I have never known him to fight that hard before. He was determined to bring you back."

  That made her smile, too, and suddenly she felt like she wanted to cry. She owed Kratos her life. Distantly, she remembered being upset with him for not talking to her for t
wo days, but that seemed like it had been a very long time ago.

  "How long was I out for?" she wanted to know.

  "Four days," Combo replied. "You needed the rest."

  "Jesus."

  "You needed the rest," he said again. "So I kept you under. Your body was completely stressed out from what they did to you, and you needed to sleep to let the medicine do its job. I am just glad that your body didn't reject it."

  "Me too," Kirstie murmured. Her eyelids fluttered, and even though she was tired of sleeping, it was clear her body had other plans.

  "I will let you rest more," Combo said. "And inform the others that you are alright. There was concern that you might have had more trauma."

  Ah, that explained why he had been pleased that she remembered him.

  "Combo?" Kirsten said, reaching out to brush her hand against his before he withdrew. "Thank you."

  He paused for a moment, body still, before he bent at the waist in a bow. "You are most welcome. I'm glad I was able to help you."

  His voice was the last thing she heard before her eyes were fluttering closed and she was drifting off again.

  When she woke up for the second time, it was to the sound of low arguing in the room.

  "I thought you said she was awake." That was Keith's voice, accusing.

  "She was." Combo, bored. "And now she is not."

  "How long is she going to sleep?"

  "As long as it takes to repair the damage done to her," Combo said. "Or did you not want her returned to full health."

  "Of course I do. God. I just want to know that she's alright."

  "And I have told you that she is."

  "Well, excuse me for wanting confirmation from her and not you."

  "You are not actually angry with me."

  "No, I'm not," Keith snapped. "You're brilliant, and I'm powerless, so I'm angry with myself. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

  "You did what you could. You have done what you could."

  Kirsten didn't think she'd ever heard Combo sound so reassuring before. "Keith, don't beat yourself up," she murmured, eyes fluttering open.

  In an instant, Keith was next to her, reaching for one of her hands with both of his. "Kirstie?" he asked. "Can you hear me? Are you alright? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?"

  "Too many questions," she mumbled. "I'm okay."

  "There is likely pain," Combo added. "But it will fade."

  "Can't you just give her something for it?"

  "No."

  Kirstie laughed weakly at that. "It's alright, Keith. I can deal with it. It hurts less than it did when I first woke up." That was even the truth.

  "God," Keith said again. "What they did to you. When Kratos brought you back, I thought..." He sighed, and it sounded like he was trying not to cry. He pressed his forehead to her hand and swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Kirstie. I'm so, so sorry. If I hadn't been being a jackass that night, then you wouldn't have..."

  "It's okay," she said, reaching with her other hand to pet his head awkwardly. She had never been in the position of comforting her older brother before. "I'm okay. It's fine."

  "It's not, though. This shouldn't have happened. I was supposed to protect you, but instead I was just angry, and I… I'm sorry. If it weren't for Kratos, I don't know what..."

  "Don't think about it too hard," she said. "I'm not going to. Where is Kratos?" Kirsten still hadn't seen him since the last time they'd been together, and she wanted to thank him and then hit him for avoiding her.

  "He's helping with the cleanup," Keith said. "He and Sanaal and Milara missed most of the big fight. Milara and Sanaal showed up right when we needed them, and then Kratos came back, carrying you. He just...walked right through the fighting with you in his arms and passed you off to Combo before diving in. He was already bleeding and hurt when he showed up, but it was pretty obvious that he didn't care about that. I've never seen anyone fight like that."

  Kirstie almost wished she'd seen it. Almost. "Tell me everything," she said.

  Keith sat with her and filled her in about it all. Combo had figured out the connection between The Grey and the Alva. He'd also discovered that The Grey was much like The Kilan in that it was made up of a bunch of different races who all fought for the same cause. He had come up with a way to counter their blasters, and without that on their side, they were the same as any other opponent. The fighting had been hard, and several of The Kilan's underlings were injured. Sanaal had taken several hard hits, too, but in the end he was alright. They all were. Kratos had needed to spend time in a bed in the infirmary, but Keith joked that it had been easy to get him to lie down since she'd been in the bed right next to his.

  At the end of his explanation, he told her that he was sorry. He admitted that she’d had a point and that he’d over reacted, and he’d hugged her and asked her to forgive him.

  It felt good, to finally have her feelings acknowledged.

  It was another day before Kratos came back.

  He’d been in another city with Milara, hunting down the last of The Grey that they’d been able to find.

  Kirstie was awake, still in bed, on Combo’s orders, but she was sitting up and eating a bowl of hot soup while she read a book. The sound of footsteps made her look up, and there was Kratos. Dirty, his clothes ripped in several places, looking exhausted. He seemed not to even notice her at first, but then he stopped still, mouth hanging open.

  “You’re okay,” he said. “You’re...awake.”

  She nodded, unsure of where they stood. He’d been avoiding her before, but then he’d saved her life. It was hard to tell.

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Combo didn’t tell you?”

  Kratos shook his head. “When I had to leave, you were still unconscious. He said…” He swallowed hard. “He told me he didn’t know when you would wake up, and that...things might be different when you did.”

  “Yeah,” Kirstie said again. “He seemed pleased that I remembered everything when he came in to check on me that first time. Apparently whatever happened to me was...bad.” She didn’t like to think about it. Having holes in her memory was disconcerting to say the least, but she didn’t think she wanted to get into finding out what The Grey had done to her.

  “It was,” Kratos said, and he left it at that. “I...I’m really glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks.”

  This was probably the most awkward conversation they’d had since they’d met, and she’d never seen Kratos this unsure of himself before. Usually he was all cocky swagger and teasing, nothing like she’d imagined someone who would come from another planet to save the Earth being like. It seemed like a very long time ago that she’d had those thoughts anyway, and nothing had turned out like she’d thought it would.

  Honestly, she was okay with that. Kratos was better than some stuffy soldier most of the time, and even now that he didn’t seem to know where to put his eyes or how to hold himself, she still wanted nothing more than to be folded into his arms and held.

  “Kratos,” she said, voice soft.

  His eyes snapped up to hers, and he licked his lips. Kirsten wondered if he was remembering how this had happened the first time. Their positions had been reversed, her nervous in the doorway, him in the bed. Her heart had been in her throat then, so wary and unsure, and she could see those feelings reflected in Kratos’ eyes.

  “Combo and Keith say I owe you my life,” she continued, a smile lurking in the corners of her mouth.

  “Combo and Keith talk too much.”

  “Or just enough. I don’t know how to thank you. For saving me.”

  Kratos shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me. I wasn’t fast enough, and you got hurt. You were…” He shook his head again. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

  “It wasn’t your responsibility to look after me,” she countered.

  “Yes, it was, Kirstie. That’s...it was part of the job.”

  “Oh.” Hearing that didn’t make her feel any better. She
didn’t want to be part of the job to him. She wanted to be...more. His...something. They’d never discussed it, and now she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  He looked so tired, so worn down, and this was probably not the time. Kirstie was going to tell him that they could talk later, but he walked further into the room, letting the door slide closed behind him before he took a seat at the edge of her bed, reaching out for her hand.

  Kirsten let him take it, and she blushed lightly when he brushed his lips over her knuckles.

  “You aren’t part of the job,” he said finally. “I mean, it’s weird because in some ways you are the job, since you’re the one who made the deal that kept us here in the first place, but...me saving you wasn’t because of the job. Kirstie, I care about you more than I even really know how to explain. I’ve never hung around this long before. I’ve never tried to be with someone long term, and then I meet you, and you make me want to try. You make me want to stick around, and I’ve never even wanted that before. It’s...big.”

  “Scary,” Kirstie murmured, looking at the sheet that was pooled in her lap.

  “Maybe, yeah,” Kratos admitted. “I don’t know. I just never expected this. And you probably deserve better. Some dashing hero who actually knows what he’s doing and what he wants.”

  To both of their surprise, she laughed at that. He wouldn’t know that she’d had thoughts about dashing heroes before. “I don’t want a dashing hero, Kratos,” she said. “Apparently I just want you. Crazy, huh?”

  “Completely,” Kratos agreed in a low voice. He sighed softly and then leaned in to kiss her.

  He kissed her like he had wanted to do it for some time and had been holding himself back.

  He kissed her like he was saying goodbye.

  Chapter Eighteen: Feeling Redux

  It turned out that cleanup took a lot of work and time. The Kilan prided themselves on finishing every job they took to the best of their ability, so they took the time to make sure that they did this right. The Grey were hunted down and killed, and Kratos liked to think that he killed every one in the name of Kirsten and for how they had made her suffer.