Haruki (Second Wave Book 5)

by Mikayla Lane

  Deanna put her trembling hand into Haruki’s, allowing him to help her to her feet. She had no idea when she agreed to take this job that it would mean her life. After what Mike admitted, Deanna had no doubt he intended to kill everyone here that knew about the pyramid.

  Before Haruki pulled her from the room, she turned to Mike.

  “You were never going to tell anyone where the power was coming from, were you? You were going to lie to people so they would never know it should be free, weren’t you?” she demanded.

  “That’s capitalism,” Mike said with a shrug.

  “That’s not capitalism, you bastard! It’s your twisted version of it,” Deanna said as she lunged at him.

  She fought the strong arm wrapped around her waist holding her back and only succeeded in making her shirt ride up, leaving his heavily muscled forearm on her bare skin. She immediately went limp at the contact, startled by the heat that rushed through her.

  “She’s right, that’s not capitalism. That’s cronyism and greed. You worked behind the backs of the humans, using corrupt inside sources, and with no regard for life,” Haruki growled at him. “You and your co-conspirators are what is wrong with the world. Your worship at this particular temple of greed is over!”

  He spun around, Deanna still caught against his hard, lean chest and followed Dog out of the mess hall. Haruki waited until he knew Deanna wasn’t going to charge back inside before setting her down in front of him.

  “I’m sorry,” Deanna snapped as she jerked her shirt back down over her stomach, her cheeks a bright pink. “The man just makes me so angry!”

  “What the fuck are you? And don’t lie to me this time or I’m not telling you shit,” Dog demanded as he tried to pull a resisting Deanna towards him.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she demanded as she pushed his hands away.

  “Didn’t you hear what he said?” Dog asked her, surprised she didn’t catch it. “He said, that Mike worked behind the backs of the humans. Is that the way you would word it, as a human? And who the hell do you know that can produce a sword from his wrist made of pure energy?”

  Deanna’s eyes grew wide when she realized Dog was right, and she backed away from Haruki, moving closer to Dog. She’d been so focused on her anger at Mike that she’d skipped over what Haruki had done and said.

  “Why would you say that? You told me you were human,” she whispered as a feeling of betrayal washed over her.

  Haruki cursed the momentary loss of control that let the word slip then sighed and looked at the buildings around them.

  “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” he asked, knowing he had no choice but to tell Deanna something or risk losing her.

  The situation was far too precarious with Mike and his crew here, and Haruki didn’t want to take a chance that Deanna and Dog would side with them. He needed to keep control of the situation if he was going to figure out what was going on and keep the humans and his mate alive.

  “My pod,” Deanna murmured and headed in that direction.

  Haruki watched the way she walked with heavy steps as if he’d taken the light from her. It killed him to feel the lack of trust and the fear in her. When he quickened his pace to catch up to her, his arm was grabbed. He turned to the older man with a surprisingly firm grip.

  “You stay away from her until I know you’re safe to be here,” Dog said in a dangerously low voice.

  Haruki liked the man and didn’t want to upset him further when he knew he’d need Dog on his side if he hoped to control the escalating situation here. Nodding his head, he fell into step beside Dog until they reached a bright red pod. Deanna opened the door and disappeared inside.

  “You first,” Dog said.

  Haruki ducked his head and entered the small, self-contained pod, grateful that he could stand up inside of it. In the middle anyway.

  “You take the chair,” Deanna said, pointing at the chair by the desk.

  She moved to her bed and sat down at the head of it, sliding her fingers under the pillow to see if Trevor had placed the gun there. She tried to contain her sigh of relief when she felt the cold metal against her hand.

  “Start talking,” Dog said as he closed the door behind them.

  “I’m human, as I told you, but I’m also something more. Something I only know of as a Dranovian. I honestly don’t know much about it, only that I’m different. This place is the most I’ve ever learned of what I am and all I know is that it feeds me power,” Haruki admitted, trying to avoid as many details as possible.

  “You’re not fully human, are you?” Dog asked as he sat beside Deanna on the bed.

  “No, I’m not. I am part human,” Haruki said with a sigh.

  “What’s the other part? Are you an alien?” Deanna whispered, her eyes wide as she studied him.

  “Kind of. My parents were something I know only as a hybrid,” Haruki explained.

  Deanna sucked in a sharp breath. Out of everything that had happened in the last few hours, this seemed to drop the floor out from underneath her.

  “Where did she come from? I mean, what kind of alien was she?” Dog asked, shocked to his core that he was staring at the proof of extraterrestrial life.

  “There are far too many innocent people at risk if I go into too much detail. I can tell you those that are here have done everything they can to help humanity, not harm it,” Haruki said, unwilling to put any others in danger. It was bad enough they knew he and his brothers were called Dranovian.

  “There are more here? On Earth?” Deanna whispered in awe.

  “Yes,” Haruki admitted.

  “How many?” Dog demanded.

  “Not as many as you may think. It’s not an invasion force. There are no plans for attack or desire to rape you of your resources. It’s not like in the books or movies,” Haruki explained hoping to calm their fear.

  “So you know them? You’ve met them?” Deanna asked, more curious now than afraid. “Did they build all of the pyramids? Are there a lot of hybrids?”

  “I have met some of them, yes,” Haruki replied. “I once believed that the pyramids were built by a dangerous species, but this one shakes that theory. It appears, like all other things, they most likely stole the technology of the pyramids and used it to their own gain,” Haruki admitted, puzzling over the discrepancies.

  “There are dangerous aliens out there?” Dog blurted out.

  “Yes, but the ones I know fight them and keep them away. Right now there are ships in orbit that are keeping them out of the solar system,” Haruki explained.

  “Have you been up there?” Deanna whispered in fascination.

  “I have. It is more beautiful than you can imagine. I will take you when this situation with Mike is under control,” Haruki promised her with a gentle smile.

  Dog snorted, then chuckled.

  “You take her, you better damn well take me too,” he said. “What are your plans for this place?”

  Haruki ran a hand over his tired face and shook his head.

  “I don’t really know. I’d like to go deeper inside if we can, learn what those pedestals are and if they control anything. I’d really like to figure out what happened to Dale and bring him back. He’s a bastard, but I’m not sure he deserves what happened to him,” he admitted, still puzzling over where Dale could have gone and if he was dead.

  “I can’t stand the guy, but I would feel better knowing what happened to him. It helps your case that you’re concerned about it as well,” Dog said, liking the alien the more they spoke. “You don’t think this place was meant for humans, do you?”

  “No, I don’t,” Haruki agreed. “I think whatever it is, it was built for my people.”

  “Your people being the aliens up there, keeping the bad ones away?” Deanna asked for clarification to make sure she had it straight in her mind.

  “Yes, sort of . . . it’s a little complicated,” Haruki said with a sigh. He really didn’t want to have to get into how he was like the oth
ers, but still vastly different from them.

  “Are you a bad alien then?” Deanna asked, waiting nervously for his answer.

  “No,” Haruki replied with a shake of his head. “I am the opposite. All of them have abilities the humans do not. Enhanced hearing, vision, and strength. A Dranovian is given even greater abilities to kill any of the ones that go rogue.”

  “Whoa,” Dog whispered. “So you’re the real Top Dog, huh?”

  “No, sir, that will always be you,” Haruki said with a chuckle. “We are specifically created to police the others. One of us is born for tens of thousands. On some worlds, there is only one Dranovian for the whole world. It is something decided upon by a much higher power than I.”

  “You’re born among the normal ones? Do they know you’re born to kill them?” Deanna asked, fascinated by the complexity of the alien society.

  “We are born with the symbol of the Triad,” Haruki replied and tapped the triangle under his ear. “On most worlds, the babies are turned over to the religious leaders to be raised. My mother was a hybrid and unaware of what I was and kept me.”

  “Do the other mothers not want to raise their babies?” Deanna asked, horrified that a mother would hand their baby over at birth because of a mark on their neck.

  “It's hard to know you’re raising a killer of your own kind, but we are necessary to ensure a safe and peaceful society so we’re sent to be trained instead of killed,” Haruki explained with a shrug.

  “That didn’t happen to you, did it? Your mother loved you?” she asked, her heart breaking for the little boy he once had been.

  “My mom loved me, as did my father,” Haruki said, leaving it at that. He had no desire to speak of his past any further.

  “This is all so much to take in. I just don’t know where we’re supposed to go from here. Shouldn’t you guys be working with our governments or something? Making the world a better place?” Dog asked, not knowing what to think of it all.

  “And work with people like Mike and your government officials who sold this place out to him? You’re better off with us working behind the scenes trying to protect you from them,” Haruki said.

  “You have a point there. We also have a bigger problem right now, one of Mike’s men made a call to the outside before I got to the communications shed,” Dog said, his concern evident in the way he clasped his hands nervously in front of him.

  “Do you know who he called?” Deanna asked, her fear escalating as she envisioned an assault team coming in to kill Haruki.

  “They covered their tracks pretty well,” Dog replied with a shake of his head. “I think we should assume he’s called for a team to take those who don’t agree with their plan, into custody.”

  Haruki rested his elbows on his knees and ran a hand over his head as he considered different ways to handle the situation. Finally, he looked at Dog.

  “What do you suggest we do?” he asked.

  A few unreadable looks passed between Dog and Deanna before Dog nodded his head at her and turned to Haruki.

  “By now, he’s got everyone divided up. Those that are with him and those of us against his plans. If they haven’t already, they’re going to the armory and will have weapons again. So unless you got some serious firepower up your sleeve, they’re most likely waiting for us outside the door and will hold us hostage until backup arrives,” Dog said, not liking their options.

  Haruki studied the man, waiting to speak while Dog gathered his thoughts.

  “I think the only chance we’ll have is if we go quietly and wait for the others to get us out of wherever they lock us up. Most likely in the storage sheds,” Dog suggested.

  “I have a better idea,” Haruki said as he stood, clenched his fists at his sides and he drew power into himself. “You two stay in here, and I’ll go outside and take care of them.”

  Chapter Seven

  Haruki was heading to the door when Deanna ran to stand in front of it, and Dog held his hand out to stop Haruki.

  “That’s a rash decision, and we should think about this first,” Dog suggested.

  “He’s right, we’re all dead if they get you,” she argued.

  Deanna was hoping he’d talk through another idea that didn’t involve him potentially sacrificing himself.

  “Freak! You got 10 seconds to come out, or we start shooting your friends,” Mike yelled from outside.

  “They’ve got you surrounded, and they’re armed!” Harry called out in warning.

  Haruki could hear what sounded like a punch before something hit the ground.

  “Anyone else want to open their mouth?” Mike said with a sneer to the dozen being held at gunpoint outside Deanna’s pod.

  “If I don’t go out there, he’s going to kill them. I’ll be OK,” Haruki assured them.

  Deanna shook her head, she had a terrible feeling that if she let him go outside, that Mike would kill him.

  “You can’t go,” she argued.

  “Five seconds!” Mike shouted.

  Haruki gently smiled at Deanna before he turned to Dog and the men shared a look of understanding. Haruki turned back to Deanna, leaned down, placed a kiss on her forehead, then pushed her into Dog who wrapped his arms around her.

  “No! Let me go!” Deanna screamed as she tried to fight against Dog.

  Haruki opened the door and stepped outside, drawing his power around him as he surveyed the group of men on their knees with their hands on their heads. He turned to Mike, getting ready to blast the man with an energy bolt when he was cracked in the back of the head.

  Deanna screamed and broke free of Dog when she saw the butt of the rifle come down on Haruki from atop her pod.

  “What did you do?” she screamed at Mike and his men while she ran to Haruki.

  Deanna had just reached his side and dropped to her knees when she was viciously jerked backward by her hair.

  “Take this bitch and lock her up where we talked about,” Mike ground out as he shook Deanna, ripping strands of hair from her scalp.

  “You son of a bitch!” Dog yelled out as he was held back by two of Mike’s men. “I will kill you for that!”

  Deanna blinked away her tears from the pulling of her hair and rounded on Mike when he pushed her towards one of his goons.

  “You’re going to pay for this! All of you greedy, dishonorable bastards will pay for what you’re doing!” she yelled at them.

  Deanna was grabbed from behind and dragged away from Haruki. She gasped and stopped fighting when she saw who it was.

  “Keep fighting me,” Trevor whispered. “They can’t find out I’m not with them.”

  Deanna pretended to struggle against him as he led her to the most secure area of the research complex. The moment they were out of sight, he let her go.

  “What happened?” Deanna asked.

  “Mike promised them millions of dollars if they sided with him. Some took it, stupidly thinking they’ll ever actually see the money. Those who were clearly against helping Mike were taken captive,” Trevor explained.

  “What are we going to do?” Deanna asked, her fear for Haruki overwhelming her concern for herself.

  “I don’t know. I need to find a way to get with Dog, Tom, and Harry, and we’ll come up with something. I need to lock you in here, but you should be safe. What did you do with the gun I gave you?” Trevor asked as he led her into one of the food storage sheds.

  “I forgot it under my pillow,” Deanna admitted as she looked around at the pallets of canned food, flour, and other essentials.

  “Shit! I’m going to try and get you back in your pod. If I can’t, I’ll bring the gun to you. Will you be OK in here?” Trevor asked.

  “I’ll be all right, just do whatever you can and be safe. Are the others all right? Harry? ” Deanna asked.

  “The Doc, Dog, and Tom were taking good care of him in the mess hall. They’re under guard, but doing as well as you can expect. I have to go, but I’ll be back,” Trevor said then hurried outside.
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  Deanna heard the door lock and hugged her arms to her chest as the events of the last hours finally sunk in.

  What are we going to do, she wondered as she slid to the floor, sitting heavily.

  Deanna knew Mike was going to kill all of them. He couldn’t let them leave with the knowledge they had. She didn’t know what he had planned for Haruki, but she knew it wouldn’t be good. As the tears began to build behind her eyes, Deanna sniffed and stood up.

  Fuck this, there has to be a way out, she thought.

  Deanna rummaged around the storage shed, looking through everything to find weapons or another way out of the building. After forty-five minutes of tearing through every box and crate, she’d only been able to find a pack of steak knives, and she was still trying to tear through the thick plastic they were encased in.

  Deanna shrieked in anger and ripped at the package of knives, exhaustion and fear finally taking its toll on her. She drew one of the knives from the plastic and burst into tears. Sitting down on a pallet of flour bags, she laid on her side facing the door with the knife clutched in her hand.

  *****

  My head is killing me, was Haruki’s first thought when he came to before taking stock of himself.

  His wrists and ankles were bound to a chair he was sitting in, and he pretended to still be unconscious as he sent out a wave of energy around him. Haruki noted only one other person near him, and he opened his eyes to see who it was.

  “You’re awake! I’m Dr. Jack,” the man said as he rushed over to Haruki.

  “Where is Deanna?” Haruki demanded.

  “Mike had her locked in the storage sheds, but Trevor is checking on her,” Jack replied as he prodded at the sore spot on Haruki’s head.

  “Mike is going to kill you,” Haruki said, hoping to get the man to let him go.

  “Most of us are smart enough to realize that now it’s been brought to our attention, but we’re not trained fighters,” Jack said. “Trevor and the others are trying to come up with a plan before Mike’s backup people get here. For now, Mike is in control.”

  “For now?” Haruki asked.

  Dr. Jack stepped back and took his glasses off, using the tail of his shirt to clean the lenses while he assessed Haruki.