by Mikayla Lane
Chasing Dare
By Mikayla Lane
Cover Art by: humblenations.com
First Wave Series Reading Order
Hunting Cari
Finding Jess
Chasing Dare
Chapter One
Darennia Demetrios, Dare to anyone with a survival instinct, casually walked down the sidewalk ignoring the stares of the people who passed her.
At five foot nine, she was used to people staring at her because of her height and the one-inch heel on her boots only added to it. She was oblivious to the fact that people were staring more because of her striking looks than her height. It was her looks that first drew the attention of the large male who was currently following her.
She’d been sitting at an outdoor café an hour earlier, a few blocks away in Market Square. The stark contrast between her and her companion had been enough to draw the eye as he had passed. However, it was the way her stormy grey eyes had flashed briefly at him as he’d walked by her that caused him to find a seat at an adjoining café.
Pretending an interest in the wares behind the glass of a candle shop, Dare glanced quickly at the image of the very tall man standing a few feet behind her.
She’d recognized him right away while she was meeting with a new informant, although he wasn’t exactly too hard for anyone to miss. Standing at least six-foot ten, the man would draw attention anywhere. If you could even call him a man, she thought with a sneer.
Watching the people milling about the Market Square shopping district in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Dare shook her head at them staring curiously at the stranger with no clue as to what a deadly menace he truly was.
Thankful that they had a safe house close by where she could take care of the dangerous bastard roaming among their human prey, she made her way towards the warehouse district pretending to be oblivious to the Relian following her.
She had to admit that other than his height, this one had made a real effort to look more human and less mutant than the others she’d seen. He had beautiful golden blonde hair that was cropped close to his head, piercing blue eyes and a body like you’d imagine on a mythical God. Which merely made him that much more appealing and dangerous to the unsuspecting women who were openly drooling over him as he passed them. If they just knew, she thought to herself with disgust as she quickened her pace.
She’d known who he was the moment he’d walked by her and hoped to draw him away from the humans; which was why she’d cut her meeting shorter than she originally planned. It didn't take much to make sure she’d had his full attention. The toddler in the stroller at the table beside hers gave her a perfect way to keep his eyes on her.
She’d explained the situation to her informant, and after he verified that the Relian was watching her closely, had picked the child’s fallen bunny off the ground and placed it in her hands; immediately ceasing her cries.
Drawing him further away from the crowds and into the back alleyways leading to the warehouse district, Dare went through a mental checklist of her weapons; preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation with the deadly alien.
She’d been seeing more and more of them in the area lately and had been trying to figure out if their safe houses had been discovered or if there was another poor girl, they were hunting down. Either way, she was hoping that big, tall and stupid behind her would be able to give her that information prior to her killing him, of course. Ah, she thought with a sardonic smile, such is the exciting life of a Valendran hybrid. Go me!
Other than being hunted like a dog with the continuous threat of capture, torture and rape hanging over her head, she really didn’t have many complaints about her life. Unlike other children who’d been forced into institutions for schooling, she’d been able to learn from the world itself through their constant travels to hide from the animals like the one that followed her now.
Her father, Banatar Demetrios was a Valendran warrior who had crashed here over a thousand years ago with other survivors of their outpost crew. Hunted by the Relian’s, who had followed their damaged craft to Earth, the survivors had tried to forge new lives on the planet while they waited for rescue.
It wasn’t until several centuries ago the Valendrans had realized there were gifted women on the planet that were compatible with the Valendran males. Her mother, Braennia was one of those women.
It hadn’t taken long for the Relian’s to realize that the Valendrans were capable of producing children with these gifted women. In an effort to ensure that didn’t happen; they had begun killing every woman and child they suspected were gifted or hybrids. Years later they had begun kidnapping them in an effort to see if they could also produce children with them.
Her father raised her and her siblings with love and kindness; however, he’d also realized the need for his hybrid children to be able to protect themselves and had relentlessly taught them everything he knew about defending themselves. It was times like this where she wanted nothing more than to hug her father for his foresight.
Turning down yet another deserted alleyway she realized they were only a couple of blocks from the safe house. The lack of people must have made him feel brave because she could feel him getting closer to her, his longer strides eating up the distance between them. She knew he was within only twenty feet of her now and felt the surge of adrenaline she always got right before she had to fight.
She quickened her pace, no longer caring if he knew that she was aware of his presence. She tightly rounded the next corner, and stopped dead in her tracks. Oh shit! Yeah this was not exactly the most optimal of situations; she thought as her eyes quickly scanned the trash and debris laden alleyway looking for weapons and an escape.
Finishing her scan of the alley she moved slowly to the other side of the wall, away from the Relian almost on her now from behind, and further from the five that she’d walked right into. Running wasn’t an option. Although she was pretty quick, there was no way she’d outrun them with their strength and height. She was going to have to fight her way out of this. Ignoring the leering grins on the faces of the five idiots in front of her she moved slowly, placing her back defensively close to the wall. She raised her arms slightly to her sides and waited for the right moment.
*****
Balduen noticed immediately, as he came upon the alley that the woman was in danger. He’d been watching her body so closely he could see the tightness in her muscles, and the battle ready stance she’d taken up as he approached where she was standing in the entrance.
Making sure he’d caught her eye, he’d nodded his head slightly as he’d placed his back against the outer wall, keeping himself concealed from the men he could hear walking towards her. He almost smiled at the momentarily bewildered look on the beautiful females face. His humor evaporated as he listened to the animals speak to her; and he clenched his fists tightly around the daggers he pulled in both hands.
“Look at what we have here boys, if it isn’t Dare! Oh Dare you have no idea how much we’ve missed you since the last time we met!” The leader said with a sneer as he rubbed roughly against the scar that ran from his temple to the corner of his mouth.
Dare didn’t have time to wonder why the Relian following her had taken up a defensive position on the outer wall. She’d never dealt with him before, but she had the mean son of a bitch in front of her. And she knew he, and the other four were going to be the biggest threat to her right now.
“Tsk, tsk oh come on Broke, I would have thought you’d learned from the last time we were together. But I see you just aren’t bright enough, and neither is the four new idiots you got to replace the last ones. That I killed. Well, that was before I made you look a lot better by fixing up that ugly face of yours.” Dare was instigating his anger, b
ut she knew from lots of experience that Relian’s were foolish on a good day and really stupid when driven by anger. With the six to one odds, she needed any leverage she could get.
“You fucking bitch! If they didn’t want you so fucking bad I would gut you right here! Knowing what they are going to do to you is the only thing that keeps me from doing it anyway. I want to watch you suffer you bitch! And for the last time… my name is Brak!” The leader quickened his pace towards her, his companions following his lead.
The group, all of them over six foot nine and three hundred pounds, were now halfway down the alley and passing the two dumpster's spilling trash around the area.
Glancing briefly at the Relian still hiding behind the outer wall, she casually moved her hands and watched as the first heavily laden dumpster flew across the alley and caught one of them before slamming into the opposite wall.
“Son of a bitch! You didn’t say anything about this!” One of them screamed. Dare grinned at the shocked look on his face as the dumpster slowly rolled away from the wall, the body of their friend sliding down it and slumping to the ground with a sickening thud.
“Shut up you fool and get her!” Brak yelled as the other dumpster flew across the alley and caught another man, depositing him against the same wall as his companion.
The remaining three broke into a run as the debris in the alley began to swirl in a tornado that encompassed the rest of the group and slowed their progress towards Dare. She ignored the curious looks of the Relian on the outer wall still not helping the plight of his friends, and pulled her two small throwing daggers out of her pants.
Concentrating on the wall of debris, she waited until it parted enough to see one of the men coming at her and threw both daggers watching with relief as one embedded itself into his right eye and the other in his forehead before the wall of debris closed in again. Three of them down, three more to go, she thought, reassessing her remaining weapons.
Pulling back the long leather coat she was wearing, she unsheathed the two short swords hidden in a scabbard on her back and waited. She would have loved to shoot the bastards but the shots would echo, and she couldn’t take a chance of the police coming. It would be kind of hard to explain to the humans that she was doing the world a favor by killing them all.
Letting the wall of debris drop, so she could see them, she braced herself for the fight and launched herself down the alley at them. She could have sworn the idiot still outside the alley had muttered ‘Shit!’ when she did.
Her first blade caught Brak in the left shoulder; whirling around between them, she caught his companion in the right thigh as she moved quickly behind them. At least, she was facing them all now; she thought as the one outside the alley moved in towards them.
“What the fuck? Where did you come from?" Brak screamed at the tall blonde striding towards him with his own daggers drawn.
Ignoring the curious outburst, Dare took advantage of their momentary distraction and using one quick thrust shoved her left sword into the upper back of Brak’s companion. She waited for a second before sliding the deadly blade out of his heart and turned to face a now terrified Brak.
“Now! You fool! Both of them!" Brak screamed in fear as he plastered his back against the wall and stared between Dare and the tall blonde who’d almost reached them.
Dare glanced up and saw the look of surprise on the tall blonde’s face seconds before she felt the sting in her shoulder. Reaching up she pulled the large dart out of her shoulder and looked at it through rapidly blurring vision. She held it in her hand numbly and looked at the tall blonde Relian curiously as he looked bewildered at several of the same darts in his hands.
What the hell was going on, she thought to herself as she tried to fight the weakness that was quickly consuming her body. Looking behind her, she saw two more Relian’s with dart guns smiling wickedly as they walked slowly down the alley.
“Bitch, you have no idea how much I’ve waited for this moment. Not only did I bag you, but you also handed us a Valendran too!” Brak’s face seemed to distort as Dare watched him cackle with glee.
She felt herself swaying as she saw two more Relian’s with guns walk up behind the tall blonde, barely noticing that her swords had slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
Dare stared curiously at the tall blonde, wondering why he was apologizing to her before watching him drop to his knees then collapse on the ground. The sound of Brak’s cackling was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.
*****
Balduen had stared in curiosity and awe as the beautiful woman stood to battle and faced the five enemies in the alley. He couldn’t have been happier and more proud of her for inadvertently letting him know how many they were up against. He hated that she was facing them alone right now, but he felt it best that they keep the element of surprise. For the moment.
He stared with open curiosity, as her grey eyes seemed to swirl like clouds in a thunderstorm before he heard the crashing sounds in the alley and knew she must have used her telekinetic ability to take out one or two of them. At least, he’d hoped she could take them out.
Following her lead, he pulled out his own hidden daggers and waited for the sign that the Relian’s were close enough to engage. Instead, he stared in surprise as he felt the force of the wind that was blowing her auburn hair back away from her face exposing her high cheekbones, full lips and the dimples in her cheeks as she grinned into the alley. The woman was obviously a little mad if she thought facing five Relian’s was fun; he thought with a grin of his own.
The force of the wind was blowing her leather coat away from her lush curves, plastering her loose white button up shirt against her full breasts and flat stomach. Her pert bottom was encased in black jeans that looked like they’d been painted on her body, the bottoms tucked into her calf length boots. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life and in spite of the danger surrounding them; he could feel his body reacting to her with an intensity he’d never felt before.
As suddenly as it had begun the wind stopped and drew his attention back to the situation in time to see her throw herself down the alley and disappear. Cursing he rounded the corner of the alley and strode angrily towards the Relian beast cursing at the beautiful hybrid. Quickly surveying the scene, he could see that the dangerous little thing had taken out all but the mouthy bastard who she’d obviously run into before, if the conversation, he’d heard earlier was any indication.
The smile died on his lips as he watched two more men come running through the alley behind the woman firing small projectiles that embedded into her shoulder. He roared with rage as he moved more quickly to try to reach her, and then felt multiple stings in his back.
His vision began to blur quickly, his body feeling heavy and clumsy. He stumbled slightly before righting himself again and reached behind him and pulled out three of the little projectiles like the one the woman was holding in her hand. As his brain started to cloud, and his vision dimmed more he realized he’d failed her.
“I’m sorry.” Was all he could manage through his thick tongue before his legs refused to hold him anymore, and the blackness took him.
Chapter Two
Balduen stared at the sleeping woman lying next to him in amazement. Even in the dim light he could see her flawless skin, her long, dark lashes fanning across her cheeks as she tried to sleep off the drug they’d been shot with in the alley.
He’d only been awake for around a half hour; the first ten minutes spent trying to shake off the nasty taste in his mouth and the fog in his mind from the drug. When he’d finally come to his senses, he’d tried to inspect their surroundings without being noticed. It didn’t take long to realize that there would be no immediate escape for either of them.
They were in what appeared to be a room that was enclosed with the heavy glass like plastic that he’d seen in the large aquariums on the planet. The room was completely b
are except for the mattress in the center of it. There was only one door that he could see, with the walls going up around eight feet and the ceiling made of the same clear material with what looked like several small ventilation holes.
On the outside of their prison, he could see a room enclosed in concrete, like a basement of some kind. There was a desk, and chair placed in front of a door that looked to be the only way in or out.
Looking at her one last time, he pulled himself out of the bed and stood up; stretching his muscles as he did. The twenty or so cameras that he’d counted had told him there was no longer any use trying to pretend that he wasn’t still asleep. They probably knew the second he’d opened his eyes.
He was happy to note that they hadn’t been restrained in any way, but they had been stripped and changed into what appeared to be long white dresses that tied off center in the front.
Walking to the nearest wall, he pushed his hand against it, testing its strength and wasn’t surprised that it was really thick and sturdy. There was going to be no way to break through it without a weapon of some kind. Moving around the room, he tested the corners, the door and other areas where he thought there might be weaknesses before giving up.
The bed was nothing more than a large mattress on the floor with only one blanket to keep out the chill, and he sat down heavily on the corner. Still weak from the drug he tried to regain his strength and waited for the woman Brak had called Dare to wake up. What kind of name was Dare anyway; he wondered before slumping down on the mattress and slipping back into the darkness.
*****
Dare laid quietly as she tried to get her vision to focus and calm the panic rising in her. She could feel someone not far from her; she could see the blurry outline of the large body but didn’t know who or what it was or even where she was. Closing her eyes tightly she took several deep breaths and tried to calm her mind.
She’d been captured. The memories of the alley playing back in her mind, the darts, they’d used to take her and the blonde man down. That must be the nasty taste in her mouth and the reason for the general fuzziness she felt in her mind. She had to pull herself together if she ever hoped to get out of this alive. Maybe if she was lucky, she ended up where they were keeping Jess. She didn’t trust in luck though, she trusted herself.