“Thank you.” She said. There was fear in her eyes.
“I told you I could carry you the whole way,” I said.
“Show-off.” Candice replied. She even managed a smile, and I found it heartening.
“You’re safe now. You can relax.” Perhaps I needed to relax a little as well. I was agitated the first time that Candice came to this planet, worried for her safety, but this time I felt like she might really be in danger, and the thought made my blood boil. I could see the veins in my forearms beginning to pop with the excess of blood.
“Arias! You’re back and not a moment too soon.” I heard Halifax say. He was one of the highest ranking Corin generals, and if he was here, then I knew that the fighting had to be serious.
“Halifax, you’ve come all the way from Perla,” I replied.
“Yes, Arias. Since you were last here, the Krill forces have doubled. We’re short on Corin soldiers, and the situation has become grave.” He replied.
“I see.”
“They’re so close to taking this planet that I’m not sure how much longer we should remain. It might make more sense for the Corin forces to move their base to Perla, where we know that they will be safe.”
There was no chance that I was going to let this beautiful planet be overtaken by the Krill, but it might be an opportunity to send Candice to safety.
“I’m staying. I will not give up this fight, even if I’m the last one standing. But I wanted you to take this woman to Perla.” I said, motioning to Candice.
“I’m not going.” I heard her reply.
“What was that?” I said. I didn’t care how captivated I was with this human woman, she would not disobey me right now.
“I said I’m not going. I’m staying here with you, even if that means I have to fight by your side.” She said, getting up from the bench and steadying herself.
“You’re talking nonsense,” I said with little emotion in my voice. “I will not allow you to be in danger.”
“You can’t just send me to Perla. I want to be where you are.” She said.
“We’re not on earth anymore, Candice. You’re in a grave situation that you don’t understand. I’m no longer Luke. I’m Arias, and you must do what I command in this regard.” I replied, holding her slim shoulders firmly.
“I’m not going without you.” She said, staring deeply into my eyes. This beautiful, willful woman was disobeying me. Did she not understand who I was?
“What do you say, Arias? I can send the troops off to Perla this very day. I await your command.” Halifax said. This was a highly important decision that was challenging to make with Candice’s disarming presence here. My warrior's brain was at war with my male, protective brain. The human side of me.
“We’re staying to fight this battle,” I replied to Halifax, still staring into Candice’s eyes. “But you.” I pulled her towards me. “You are not leaving this dome, and you’re going to concentrate as much as you can on how to get home. You may have to find a source of intense pain to do it.”
“I know what my source of intense pain would be. Seeing you hurt.” She said.
I had always been a soldier that welcomed death. Even invited it. I would not be hurt, because I couldn’t bear to see Candice in pain. And yet, wouldn’t that be what took her to safety?
Candice
I didn’t know where I found the courage to watch the screen in the war room, but I did. If something was going to happen to Luke, then I needed to know what was going on at all times. If he was hurt, I needed to see it, and if he won, I needed to see that, too. This need for the truth was baffling to me.
Since Luke had been back on the battlefield today, things had already turned around. He had killed so many Krill that their whole army seemed discouraged. I watched him slay each and every one. There was so much ooze being splashed around that the whole hillside was turning blue and soldiers were slipping down on it. Luke’s face was covered with it.
Each time, another Krill was killed by his light sword, and there was uproarious applause and cheers in the war room. Their morale was boosted with Arias back in their ranks, and I felt a swell of pride in my chest.
“He’s the most valiant warrior we have ever known,” Halifax explained. Perhaps too old to be fighting any longer, Halifax was a gentle creature with warm, intelligent eyes.
“Yes, I can see that,” I said with a smile.
“He must be feared on earth,” Halifax added with a nod of his head.
“No, he doesn’t fight like this on earth. He never kills anyone. But he does wrestle.” I said. I made myself laugh, but Halifax didn’t seem to get it. I supposed it was an inside joke.
“We have a problem, Halifax.” One of the commanders said.
“What is that?” He turned and asked.
“There is another wave of Krill soldiers arriving by hovercraft. They have the nano armor.” The commander said with a shaky voice.
“What?” He asked.
“Yes, it’s true. They’ve been rapidly developing the technology.” He added.
“My God. This cannot be good.” Halifax looked back up at the screen. I felt intensely nervous all of a sudden.
What is going on? Is Luke going to be okay?
“What does this mean?” I asked Halifax.
“The nano armor makes the Krill almost indestructible. It’s impervious to the light swords and the laser gunfire. We’re going to have to find another way.” He said.
“What way is that?” I asked.
“Radio-ionic technology. It is the only thing that penetrates the nano armor. It can be done, but it will take time. Our scientists are already working on it on Perla.” He said.
“Then we must go there,” I said. Whatever this radio-ionic technology was, if it was going to keep Luke safe, then we needed to have it now.
“No!” Someone in the war room cried. I looked up at the screen, and there was Luke in the middle of the battlefield, lying on the ground. He was wounded. I panicked and started running.
“Candice, you were commanded to stay here!” Halifax yelled as I fled. “It’s too dangerous out there.” His words went on deaf ears.
“Luke!” I screamed as I ran out of the dome. The battle was just nearby, and if Luke was going to die, then I was going to die as well, by his side. I ran with a speed that I didn’t even know I was capable of. My mind wasn’t even thinking clearly. I needed to hold him in my arms.
“Luke!” I screamed again. Within minutes I was in the middle of the battlefield, slipping on blue and golden slime and trying to see through a haze of smoke. I dodged laser bullets and covered my ears with each new explosion. I couldn’t believe that I was doing this, but there was nothing left that was rational in my brain.
Finally, I saw him, still lying there in a heap.
My God, is he dead?
I saw my life flash before me, and I saw the life that we had never lived together.
“I’m here. I’m here.” I said, laying my body on top of his.
“Candice?” Luke said inaudibly, opening his eyes. There was blood dripping from his forehead and from his side. It appeared as though he was struck by a Krill bullet.
“It’s me,” I said, stroking his hair. Recognition came over his face and his eyes opened wide.
•••••••••••••••
CHAPTER 5
•••••••••••••••
Luke
What was she doing here? Instantly all of my energy returned. How could she disobey me like this and put herself in danger? I could barely feel my wound in my side. The only objective was to get her out of here.
“You must go,” I said.
“I thought you were dead.” She said, tears falling from her eyes.
“I’m perfectly fine,” I said, feeling the wound on my side with my hand. Just a flesh wound. I got up off the ground. “Stay down,” I said as I examine the battlefield. It was so clouded that I could barely see a thing.
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“Luke!” I heard her scream and turned back to where she was on the ground. I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t see her.
“Are you looking for this?” That deep, haunting, familiar voice said. It was Grim. The smoke cleared, and he stood there, drooling and panting, with one hand on Candice.
He did not realize what a grave mistake he had just made.
“Luke!” Candice said again. I could tell that she was frightened and I was fully prepared to take Grim to the seventh layer of hell at this moment, with whatever tool might be lying around. A spoon would do.
And then I saw a tear in her eye. She was in pain. And instantly, without any defense, I was flooded with pain as well.
And so it came as no surprise to me when, slowly, silently, I felt myself fading. I looked down at my hands, and there were the telltale signs.
The anguish of seeing this exquisite earth woman being held at the wrist by none other than Grim himself sent me spiraling back through the Gate, where I could no longer protect her.
Candice
“Did you think that he was going to save you?” Grim growled. His voice was so deep that I could feel it reverberating through my spine. “Too bad about his little curse. It must be so hard for you, sensitive human female.” The heat from his mouth felt like he was spitting acid and fire.
I closed my eyes because his breath made them water. He was circling around me now, looking me up and down. His henchmen stood at close attention.
“You’re a beast,” I said. It wasn’t the most interesting insult, but it was really the only thing to call him. He smiled with delight.
“I’m no beast. I’m a Krill. There’s a great difference.” Grim replied.
Despite his disgusting appearance, Grim really did speak with distinction and poise. I quickly realized that the appearance of the Krill aliens was deceiving.
“Did you ever think that one day a semi-human would threaten to destroy your people?” I asked bitterly. I was not going to let the general intimidate me so easily.
“That was something that I did not expect, and even today I find it unlikely. Despite his rough exterior, he’s a poor, sensitive soul.” Grim said with a mocking frown. “He can get his feelings hurt.”
I wanted to punch this big alien right into the next galaxy.
How dare he mock Luke like this?
“Apparently, having feelings didn’t prevent him from slaying about thirty of your soldiers on the battlefield today,” I said.
My hands were behind my back at this point, being held there by one of his soldiers. He had got a tight grip on me, and I was beginning to lose circulation.
“At least they weren’t my good soldiers. They’re the ones that I send to slaughter on purpose. They don’t have the nano armor.” He sais, and right on cue, he dissolved his own nano armor into his skin so that I could get a visual of what he was talking about.
The technology was pretty extraordinary, I had to admit. Just like that, he could make his armor appear and disappear, and from what I understood, it was nearly indestructible.
The Krill aliens were intimidating enough. Also, I could see that Grim, without his armor, was a formidable creature, indeed. He was cut in the same way that a human soldier might be, with an 8-pack of abs and perfectly chiseled shoulders. In fact, I saw that the Krill aliens had more physically in common with humans than I originally thought. His skin was soft and vulnerable, just like human skin, and it was so transparent that I could practically see inside his blue exterior.
“Are you surprised by what you see?” Grim asked, with his back, turned towards me. How could he tell that I was staring? Maybe Krill had eyes in the back of their heads.
“You look….more human than I thought that you would,” I said.
“Or maybe, you look more alien than you thought that you did.” He replied, turning back towards me.
“How clever,” I replied.
“Bring her back to my ship.” He ordered one of his men. “And get her washed and changed.”
They had to haul me with great force to the general’s ship because I was putting up a fight. Just because they were enormous, it didn’t mean that I had to be afraid, although I had to admit that deep inside I was terrified. I wished that Luke were here. Moreover, I wished that Arias the Angry was here.
The interior of the general’s ship was remarkable. It seemed like everything was lit from within, and the floor was cool and shiny to the touch. Luke gave me the impression that the Krill were a bit primitive, unsophisticated. Could all this technology and equipment perhaps be new? Were they advancing rapidly as a population?
I was taken to a large room that was dark and cold. There was a furniture here, but all of it was enormous, and I would need an alien to boost me up onto one of the seats.
“What liquid do you humans require?” Grim asked, entering the room and wearing a long, black robe. The darkness of it added to the villainous mystique of the towering General.
“We drink water,” I said, rubbing my sore wrists.
“Ah, yes. That’s right. I believe we have some of that somewhere.”
“Don’t bother,” I replied. God knows where it came from.
“I heard that you human females were difficult, but I had no idea,” Grim said, seating himself in one of his large chairs.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Well, I would first like to know what you want.” He said, folding his claws in front of him - all six of them.
“I don’t want anything from you. I just want to go home.” I said. It was the truth. There wasn’t anything I could possibly want from this creature.
“Well, I’m the gatekeeper, and that means that you want something from me.” He said. Grim had a point. It seemed as though he was capable of sending me back to earth, and there was nothing that I wanted more.
“Okay, yes. I want to go home.” I admitted. For a moment I was flooded with hope.
“And I want to send you home, but that brings me to what I want from you.” He said. His eyes turned red and intense as he stared at me. Oh God, what does he want from me?
“And what’s that?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Seeing the power and prowess of Arias, my attention is brought to the fact that he is part Corin and part human. There’s something about that combination that makes him a great warrior.” He said, gazing up at the ceiling and pondering.
“Or he’s just a talented warrior, thanks to dedication and skill,” I said.
“I seriously doubt that. No, there’s something about the mixture of his blood that gives him his power, and well…..I’m just wondering if a human-Krill hybrid might be the same - or better.” He leaned back in his chair.
Oh, God. I sensed where he was going with this.
“So, what are you trying to say?” I asked.
A smile came to his lips.
“Well, I want you to help me to test my little theory out.” Grim replied.
Immediately, I froze with fear. If he was implying what I thought he was implying, then I was in serious trouble. Not only was the appearance of him terrifying enough, but I desired to be in the arms of no other creature - let alone alien - aside from Luke’s.
“Not a chance,” I said.
“Oh? Well, then you can remain here, I suppose.” Grim said.
“Luke will come for me,” I said, bolstering my courage.
“Do you think so? Don’t you realize that the only feeling that brings him back here is pleasure? What sort of pleasure do you think he’s feeling right about now?” Grim asked.
He had a very valid point, and I was filled with doubt.
What am I going to do now?
“You’re telling me that if I….” I had trouble saying the word.
“Mate.” Grim offered.
Oh God.
“If I mate with you, then you’ll send me home?”
“Who knows, you may want to stay,” Grim said, getting up from his chair and walking towards me.
“I’m not going to consent to be a prisoner on this planet, waiting to have your child,” I said. My heart was pounding now.
“Well, you won’t have to stick around for long.” He said, putting one claw below my chin. “Krill babies are born within a couple of days.”
I jerked my chin away from his claw, and he laughed.
“If it all works out, I’ll have much to celebrate, indeed. I could even make you my Queen. The Corin can’t hold out much longer, and I’ll have control of the Orion galaxy soon. Then, I plan on paying a visit to your galaxy.” He was now walking around the room with his claws behind his back and spine erect. He moved with such statuesque grace that it almost seemed like he was floating.
Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Cube: The Sci-FI Alien Invasion Romance (Books 1-5) Page 42