Chasing Dare

by Mikayla Lane

  With Brak, Lucretia and the doctor also out of the house, that only left three Relian’s. The two in the house and one near the barn. Balduen smiled to himself as he crept onto the landing, three to one were really good odds. For him.

  *****

  “This was not expected. Not expected at all. I have to call Grai. Immediately. I’ll be right back.” Dr. Camarasa ran frustrated hands through his hair as he paced the exam room.

  “What… what is it?” Dare asked with worry, her palm flat on the table beside her hiding the scalpel Thorn took seconds earlier. That had been way too close and Dare had to stop herself from blowing out a sigh of relief that she’d been able to get back on the table before the doctor had caught her raiding the drawer.

  “Apparently, it was a mistake to allow the Valendran to stay with you. He is the father of your child. However, the residual cells of the Relian child and its parasite have been absorbed into your child.” Dr. Camarasa said offhandedly as he continued to pace.

  His anger was becoming quickly overshadowed by the wave of curiosity at what occurred. It wasn’t the fact that she had gotten pregnant by two different men, hell, two different species. Although rare, it was not unheard of for it to happen between humans, and she was half human.

  It wasn’t even the absorption of the unformed fetus by the surviving child that had him curious. Again, it was rare but not unheard of with humans. It occurred in multiple pregnancies all the time. What had him curious was the brain activity of the fetus with the two parasites in his head.

  He wanted to study this and believed there may be a way to use this to further the experiment. He just needed to think of a way to make Grai understand that this may have been a blessing.

  Distracted by his thoughts, he moved to the door and expecting it to swing shut behind him as it normally did, he gave Dare another dose of the drug and left without looking back.

  Striding as quickly as his short stride would take him, he went up the path to the house to call Grai. He prayed he could convince the man to allow him to have Dare carry the baby to term so he could do a live autopsy on it.

  He was so wrapped up in his thoughts; he never noticed the door did not slam behind him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dreadhawk ran through the ship to the command deck, hoping the summons from his brother Viper was for good cause. They had been trying to contact the Adaria for a week now and still had not gotten close enough for their outdated communications system to reach them.

  As a race that communicated to each other telepathically through the Shengari’, they had never considered such long range communications with others much of a necessity. Until now. When they reached the Adaria, he was going to order an overhaul of their ship's communication systems.

  He didn’t even pant from the exertion of the run when he skidded onto the deck and faced Drago and Viper when they turned at his entrance.

  “We’ll hit the quadrant in moments. We should have communication with them as soon as we hit the orbiting pod at the boundary.” Drago said before turning back around to the control panel in front of him. Viper quickly followed suit as Dreadhawk slid into his chair and waited for the ping that would tell him when they were locked into the universal communication grid.

  Members of the Alliance installed the orbiting pods at the boundaries of each of the known quadrants long ago. It acted not only as a location guide to those exploring the area, but as a way for all ships in the area to communicate with one another to prevent unnecessary conflicts.

  Once your ship was locked into the grid provided by the orbiting pod, it sent a signal to the other ships also locked into the grid that a new ship has arrived in the quadrant. Information on all ships in the area was then loaded into their computer allowing them to view who was in the area, the size of the ship and how many crew members. It also included basic species information, if known, in order to make it easier to identify friend or foe.

  Pulling up the information screen provided by the grid, he quickly found the Adaria and initiated a request for communication.

  He sighed in relief when he saw his old friend Scaden Torenson’s face appear on the vid screen. He had heard that his friend had found his mate and had hoped that he would still be in the area.

  “Dread?! What are you doing here?” Scaden’s curiosity at the Tezarian’s appearance warred with his pleasure at seeing his old friend. There was really no reason he could think of for Dread to be in this quadrant.

  “Yes, I’ve heard of your blessings, Scaden. I give you my sincere congratulations. Not only, for your new family but for the hope of your people.” Dread nodded his head slightly in a sign of respect.

  “Thank you, my friend. That means a lot to me. If you’re heading this way, why don’t you meet me on the Adaria? We can do some catching up. You did receive the grid warning about the Relian’s being in this quadrant correct?” Scaden’s concerned gaze studied Dread’s face and noticed his friend didn’t even blink at the information. And not just because he saw the warning posted on the communication grid. Scaden knew that somehow his friend was well aware of the situation.

  “Yes, I am aware of the warning. I should be able to dock in three hours. Meet me in the docking bay?” Dread knew that Scaden was smart enough to realize how important this must be for him to be here, and he had no doubt his friend would be waiting for him.

  “Of course, my friend. I wouldn’t miss your landing.” Scaden chuckled at the private joke between them before the vid screen went blank.

  The Tezarian’s were well known for their ability to connect with planets on a natural, primal level that most could not. In some cases, their ability could be manifested through manipulation of the natural elements.

  However, with most items on the ship being technological rather than biological, intricate maneuvers with the bulky craft had been difficult for Dread to learn when he was a young man. Scaden had been a very amused witness to some of Dread’s more comical attempts. He also was the one to help him learn to do it properly.

  Dread had not made an error like that in hundreds of years, yet it was always a source of amusement for Scaden to remind him of his less than graceful earlier years.

  “How are they holding up?” Viper asked with concern.

  “They have gone silent. I fear that something has gone wrong.” Dread ran a hand through his shoulder length, dark-brown hair. His recent sleepless nights etched into the dark circles marring his usually golden skin under his eyes. His deep amber eyes clouded with worry.

  “We’ll be there soon.” Viper stated and turned back to the controls, coaxing the engines into another boost of speed.

  *****

  Dare sat on the exam table momentarily stunned at the news. Thorn and Ibix had told her that the surviving child was Balduen’s, but she’d been terrified that it wasn’t. Her happiness at the news was overshadowed by the worry over the Relian beast who was terrorizing Ibix’s son and her own.

  “Well, well, well… what have we here? According to the doctor’s notes, you’re pregnant. And with the Valendrans bastard. How very nice for you.” Dare was more than a little shocked to see Lucretia come around the corner of the exam room, the doctor’s medical file on Dare in her chubby hand.

  “I knew there had to be a reason why that beautiful man would turn down a gorgeous woman like me for a skanky bitch like you. He must have known you were pregnant with his whelp. But, we can fix that!” The not quite sane look in Lucretia’s eyes, had Dare fighting not to cringe when she came closer to the exam table.

  It wasn’t until Lucretia came within a few feet of her that Dare really began to worry. In Lucretia’s other hand was a 9mm handgun.

  “See, I’m thinking once he knows he’s free of the responsibility of that mongrel in your stomach, and you of course, that he’ll come around quickly and realize that I’m the only thing worth his time.” Lucretia smiled broadly at her new idea as she raised the loaded gun and pointed it at Dare’s head.


  “The doctor will be back in a minute. He and Brak will kill you if you hurt me. And you’ll never be able to get Baldy out of here with them around.” Dare tried her best to convince the crazy woman that she would get caught if she tried anything, but the woman was beyond sanity and common sense.

  “I have notified Ibix. It seems, Balduen is not far from us. We need only minutes.” Thorn’s concerned voice echoed through Dare’s head as, she looked around for a weapon other than the useless scalpel still hidden under her thigh. There was no way she could get to Lucretia with the scalpel before she pulled the trigger.

  “Oh there you are wrong! See, I’m so much smarter than you’ll ever be! I’m going to kill you and that brat in your stomach. Then I’m going to wait here for the doctor and take care of him. When Brak comes to check on the both of you, I’ll be waiting. The others will be just as easy.” Lucretia cackled with glee at her plan. This had worked out so much better than she could have anticipated!

  She just knew that once Balduen found out she had gotten rid of Dare, and the child, that he would be more than grateful to her. And after all she’d gone through to have him, he’d better be prepared to show her the proper gratitude this time! Lucretia thought with a frown.

  “It’ll never work. You know it won’t. When did anything you ever tried to do actually work out for you?” Dare asked with a small smirk. She’d tried to muster a really sarcastic look, but the drug seriously prevented much more than smirk. She just needed to keep this idiot occupied long enough for Baldy or the doctor to come back.

  Lucretia shook with rage at Dare’s slight. Raising the gun, she pointed it at Dare’s head, finger on the trigger. Even without the drug, Dare wouldn’t have flinched. It wasn’t the first time a loaded gun would be pointed at her head, and if she lived through this, it wouldn’t be the last time either. Besides, she would never cower to anyone. She had far too much pride for that.

  Looking between her and the gun, Dare knew there was nothing she could do. Even with Thorn being able to move her body, there was no way he could get to the gun before the crazy old lady pulled the trigger.

  As the seconds ticked by in slow motion, Dare sat and waited for rescue or death. The only regret in death would be that she didn’t get to spend more time with Baldy, or hold their baby in her arms. The thought of their child brought tears to her eyes.

  “Awww, no smart comments now bitch? Fuck you and die!” Dare watched as if from far away, as her body felt as if it expanded. The cacophony of voices crashing through her mind at one time leaving her stunned speechless as the heaviness in her body continued to expand.

  Dare watched in confusion and fear as Lucretia’s finger slowly pulled on the trigger, the sounds echoing abnormally in her mind as she struggled to process what was going on around her. It was as if she were being pushed out of her own mind to make way for something else.

  Dare watched with no emotion as the gun in Lucretia’s hand began to shake dramatically. “What the fuck! What are you doing bitch?” Dare didn’t even recognize that Lucretia had begun screaming at her as the old woman’s body started to shake like her hand.

  Lucretia struggled to pull the trigger on the gun, but she had started shaking so bad that she could barely hold it. Her eyes began to look around her fearfully as her body refused to listen to her commands to stop shaking and shoot the bitch. Instead, her hand began to lower the gun to her side. ‘No, no, no!” She screamed in her head.

  Dare sat immobile as the voices screamed in fear, the power inside her body not coming from her or Thorn as Lucretia was held suspended in place.

  “I will kill you bitch! You won’t stop me! And when I’m done with your Baldy, he’ll be the next one to die!” Lucretia’s fear and hatred spewed from the one part of her body not being held in place.

  “It is over.” Dare didn’t recognize the voice coming from her mouth, nor could she stop what happened next. She sat and watched in horror as the pressure building in her body burst as if it were a dam.

  Lucretia’s eye flew wide with terror as her mouth was forcibly closed. The gun was jerked violently out of her hand and thrown across the room by an unseen hand. She stood there shaking, her eyes wide with fear as blood began to trickle out of her nose, eyes and mouth.

  The voices in Dare’s head screamed louder, her mind fuzzy and confused as the pressure continued to flow outward. Lucretia began to blur slightly before her eyes as the womans shaking increased for a moment before Dare could focus again.

  When Dare was finally able to focus on the woman in front of her, she recoiled inwardly in horror at what she saw. The blood was now pouring freely from the woman’s ears, nose, eyes and mouth and the skin peeled down her face, revealing nothing but the muscles and tissue.

  Dare’s mind began screaming at the horror happening in front of her, her voice joining the others screaming in her head. Stop, stop, stop! She wanted to look away, not to watch what was happening to the woman, but she was held just as immobile as Lucretia. Not only, from the drug, but from whatever force was expanding around her.

  She would have never done anything like this! The cruelty, the pain and horror are not something she would have ever inflicted on anyone. Even to save her own life, she would have killed quickly, not caused so much torture. Even to someone as evil as Lucretia.

  Dare’s mind struggled to grasp the extent of what was happening, to try to stop it. But, there was so much power, so many voices and confusion, she could only watch helplessly as Lucretia’s skin began to peel off of her body and fall to the floor in large sheets as if someone were skinning her alive.

  Dare barely felt the sharp pain in her thigh, her mind only seeing the terror and pain in Lucretia’s eyes as her skin fell to the floor. The sick plopping sound as it hit the puddles of blood expanding around Lucretia, made Dare’s stomach heave.

  Grabbing her stomach to try to prevent the vomit from coming up, Dare looked on helplessly as the woman grunted and moaned in pain and fear. Finally chasing away some of the fog in her mind, Dare was able to look away from the woman.

  A loud cracking sound had Dare turning her head back around quickly. She looked up into the beautiful blue eyes of Balduen.

  “What did you do?” Balduen looked slighted horrified at her a moment before looking down at his feet.

  Looking down, Dare saw Lucretia now laying on the floor at Baldy’s feet. The skin had been peeled from all exposed areas on her body that Dare could see, and she was no longer moving, her eyes staring blankly upward in terror. She couldn’t help it this time, and leaning over the table Dare lost everything from her stomach.

  “We need to go. Are you alright now?” Dare barely realized Baldy was holding her and carrying her into the lab area.

  Nodding her head slightly, Dare had a brief thought about destroying the lab to make sure the results could never get in the Relian’s hands. Baldy had other plans as he opened the door, peeked around the corner and then carried her outside and into the woods.

  Dare felt the building in her body again, the heat and strength swept over her in waves that took her energy along with it. The voices in her head became so loud she couldn’t hear Baldy screaming or feel him shaking her. The waves built and built in her, leaving her almost breathless from the power as it whirled within her in great waves.

  The woods around her blurred in her vision before she heard a loud pop, then she was flying through the air. The darkness overtook her before she hit the ground.

  *****

  Grai watched in stunned disbelief as the doctor was there on the camera in the house one moment, then the screens went completely blank.

  “Doctor?” Grai spoke into the cell phone, even though he knew the doctor was gone. Ending the call, he quickly dialed Brak. He waited until the phone rang ten times before hanging it up.

  Even though he knew it would be useless, Grai tried the doctor, Brak and even Morat before giving up. He knew if anyone was able to pick up, they would have by now. This time he chose
very carefully who to call.

  “We’ve had a problem. I don’t know how badly yet. I’ll be going through the videos while you head over here, hopefully I’ll have an idea what happened by then. See you soon.” Grai hung up, his stomach twisted in knots.

  He’d been waiting to hear what the doctor had to say about the test results when the phone and video went dead. He’d barely had a chance to ask if there had been a success. All he’d heard was the doctor say, ‘She is pregnant, but there is a complication’. He was hesitant to be happy until he knew what complication the doctor had found. He needed communication back now.

  Going back to his desk, Grai pulled up the recorded footage of the house and lab prior to when he lost the feed. Scrolling through the footage in each area, he immediately saw the problem and grabbed his phone.

  “Don’t come here! The girl and the Valendran escaped. I need you and your team to get there and get her back to me unharmed! They escaped into the woods behind the lab.”

  There was a long pause before he continued. “It worked. So get her back to me unharmed. And do your best not to harm her mate. Consider all resources on site terminated. If you find Brak… kill him.”

  He listened for another moment before hanging up the phone. He was tempted to throw it against the wall in his rage but was afraid he would miss a phone call while his inept secretary left to replace it.

  Grai paced the length of his office, fighting a battle in himself to go out there and find her and bring her back. Even knowing that it would be stupid and irresponsible, he still tried to think of a way to go. The problem had been trusting Brak to oversee the security.

  Grai clenched his fists in fury as he again watched Brak working with the unstable woman to let her in with the Valendran. He didn’t need to hear the audio to know what Brak had been up to. He should have realized sooner that Brak wouldn’t be able to let go of his petty anger at Dare. It was a mistake; he'd not make again he swore before sitting down to look at the video taken in the lab again.

  *****