Alien Knight Steals the Bride
Lumerian Knights, Book 2
Becca Brayden
Alien Knight Steals the Bride Copyright © 2020 by BAWB Inc.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, digital or mechanical including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning or by any type of data storage and retrieval system without express, written permission from the author.
Published by BAWB INC.
Brayden, Becca
Alien Knight Steals the Bride
Cover design copyright 2019 by ebook indie covers
Publisher’s Note:
This book was written for an adult audience. The book may contain explicit sexual content. Sexual activities included in this book are strictly fantasies intended for adults and any activities or risks taken by fictional characters within the story are neither endorsed nor encouraged by the author or publisher.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
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About the Author
Prologue
Planet Caldor. 15 Years Ago.
“Why not come with me?” Torrin Bashall urged his twin, his deep voice strained as he stretched to reach the last fingerhold before reaching the top of the cliff. His muscles shook with strain. Burned. A gentle gust of wind cooled his sweat-dampened hair as he edged over the top. He pushed himself harder, determined to beat his own record since this would be his last climb.
The cliff face was steep. Vertical in places, the massive butte casting long afternoon shadows over their village nestled deep in the valley. The climb was dangerous. Too risky for most Caldorians. Torrin and Sevron loved the challenge. They could see for miles from the top. They especially enjoyed watching the ships take off and land from the nearby spaceport.
“Finish your mission,” Sevron replied without looking up, equally focused on reaching the top. They climbed today without ropes. Without a safety net. Mistakes would be fatal.
“Always. We’re talking about the Lumerian Knights. We’re going to die together anyway. It’s the mirror twin way. The Knights exist. I know it. We can find them together. Fight together. Your skills are as sharp as mine. Other than our markings, which we can cover up with a shirt, no one can tell us apart.” Torrin laughed, “Not even our mother. You know that shit comes in handy.”
“Yep.” Sevron grinned, his twinkling eyes shifting to focus on the next difficult foothold. “Someday, I’m going to have my own command,” he vowed. “Go to other worlds.” He blew out forcefully, then breathed deeply again, using the practiced breathing technique to maintain the grueling pace his brother always set. “You’ll see. Besides, if anyone can find the Lumerians, it’s you.”
Torrin countered, “You always fight harder and longer than anyone else. You never give up. Ever. It would be easier together. I will endure the pain of your cuts. Your bruises. At least I’ll know you’re still alive. Have a way to track you if you get your ass in real trouble,” he grouched. “Besides, you know how upset mother will be when she finds we’ve gone looking for them. That’s why you want your own command. She gets that weird look on her face every time you bring it up.”
Sevron shook his head, unwilling to reconsider, too eager to go. Too excited. He glanced at his brother as he rolled to a stand. Only the thought of being separated gave him pause. “We have different paths leading to the same place. She doesn’t want us to go, but she’ll understand.”
“She would forgive me for dragging you along. She knows how much we hate to be parted.”
“You hate it,” Sevron laughed mischievously. “I rather enjoy it.”
Torrin glared. “Asshole. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, don’t think that I don’t know the real reason you try to beat me home. So you can grab the best pies,” he teased with brotherly affection. “Loser.”
Sevron closed his eyes and breathed deeply as if he could smell the freshly baked treats, his mouth watering in anticipation. “Totally worth it. The real ones she makes without the food synthesizer.” He took a breath to continue, then hesitated, cleared his throat. Doubt shadowed his youthful face for the first time. “Why didn’t you tell me our twin bond was getting stronger? Is that why you’re leaving, too? You know I can’t sense your emotions as easily as you sense mine. You should have told me our bond was interfering. That hurts, brother.” His shoulders tightened imperceptibly, pausing to hear the answer before making the next move up the cliff.
“Mother shouldn’t have said anything. She doesn’t fully understand. It doesn’t matter now. We are who we are, Sev. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Leave it at that.” Torrin cut his brother off from saying anything more. He sighed. Ran his fingers through his hair and pulled the strands in agitation. He loved his brother. Sevron’s pain was his pain. Torrin was much more sensitive to their twin bond. He had always felt everything more deeply than his brother.
No one knew why Torrin was the more sensitive of the two. There was very little research, since mirror twin births were extremely rare on Caldor. Other twins were commonplace. Mirror twins were special. Linked in ways no one understood. Even Torrin eventually hid the depth of his growing sensitivity from others, especially his brother. Lied when necessary. He would never tell Sevron that he’d become so sensitive, if he closed his eyes and concentrated really hard, he could feel the brush of his mother’s fingers through Sevron’s hair at night when they were little. He’d had to toughen up fast so he could keep his emotions from showing on his face.
“I don’t like secrets between us, Tor. I’ll never lie to you,” Sevron vowed somberly.
“I know. In the meantime, let’s focus on the plan.”
Sevron nodded in full agreement. “I’ll stay until you’ve been gone a year. Cover your tracks. Make sure you use a false name to protect the rest of us, and the DNA scrambler I took great pains to secure for you. That’s non-negotiable.”
Sevron jumped to the right, grabbed the protruding ledge and pulled himself up, using his toes for balance as he stretched for the next fingerhold. The ledge was too narrow to do otherwise. He felt rather than looked for the tiny groove he knew from memory. “Damn. How’d you get up so fast?” He stretched a little harder, at last feeling the indentation. He grabbed on tight and pulled himself toward the next toe-hold, his body hanging free for a moment.
The sounds of Torrin’s joyful laughter echoed across the canyon. Sevron smiled in spite of the danger. Torrin truly loved the climb. They both did.
“You have to see it in your mind first. Trust your instincts. They won’t let you down,” Torrin said with the confidence earned through years of hard work. Discipline. Resolve. Caldorians started their warrior training early. Their grandfather had begun their training even earlier. “I had the DNA scrambler implanted yesterday. Didn’t you feel it? Fucking black market nanotech. That damned needle was as long as my arm!”
“I felt only a pinch. Don’t be such a baby, little brother. And it’s not your instincts that make you faster getting up there; it’s the extra eigth of an inch in height that makes the climb easier for you,” Sevron growled. “Go ahead and tell yourself it’s skill, though, if it makes you feel better about yourself.”
Torrin laughed at his brother’s old excuse as he looked down at the village below. He would miss the rhythm of home. He would miss his family. But mostly he would miss his brother. “Little brother? In your dreams. You know I’m the first born. Mom just fills your head with lies to make you feel better,” he said smugly.
“Idiot.” Sevron reached the top, no more out of breath than Torrin. No one would ever accuse the two brothers of being out of shape or lazy. Their grandfather had seen to that.
Both young men settled quietly on the ground and removed their packs. Sevron took out the snacks they’d brought. Torrin took a long, refreshing drink from his water recycler. They sat companionably until the sun began to set, turning the sky magnificent shades of red and orange.
The air was perfumed by the lingering scent of crushed flowers after the brief thunderstorm earlier in the afternoon. Torrin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, committing the sight and smells to memory. He knew this would be his last summer at home. He was at peace.
They talked, laughed, enjoyed each other’s company. Sevron threw an arm around Torrin’s shoulders as the sun disappeared below the horizon. They stayed that way for long minutes, knowing their time together was nearing an end.
“Have you found any more information? I’ll make sure no one can trace you back here.” Sevron assured after the full moon had risen high in the night sky.
“I know you will,” Torrin replied, finally shoving away from his brother. “The only thing I could dig up was a bunch of old legends. Myths. They’d been at war with the Vilitos for centuries.”
Sevron nodded thoughtfully. “Lumeria’s military was trained beyond anything we’ve ever seen before, and that’s saying something. And it happened over two-thousand years ago? Who would have had the kind of firepower to even get close enough to take them out? Not the Vilitos?”
“Maybe. I don’t know, but don’t worry. I have a plan. I still can’t believe we found that ancient journal amongst Grandfather’s old trinkets. It’s barely legible, but a good lead. The only one that seems credible. I’ll find a better hiding place for it before I leave. When I find the Lumerians, I won’t tell them we have it. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to eradicate every trace of Lumerian history in existence. Why would anyone care to do that?”
“I don’t know, but their ability to actually succeed is mind boggling.” Sevron frowned. “According to the journal, the survivors were being hunted down, one by one. I did a search for Lumeria through the public database, and the only thing I could find was that the Council gave the green light to destroy the whole planet after the Vilitos filed some kind of grievance against them.”
“They were here, Sev. On Caldor. I know it. The journal proves it.” Torrin’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Eagerness. “Some of them survived, and I’m going to find them. When I do, I’ll send word. Find a way to stay in contact with you.”
“They’re coming.” Sevron’s voice faded out. “Be very, very careful.”
Torrin strained to hear. Terror set in as his brother began to fade right in front of his eyes. “What the fuck is happening? Who? Who’s coming?” Only the shadow of his brother’s words reached through the growing fog.
Chapter One
Vilitos Warship; Space Dock 626 – 12 Billion Light-years from Earth
The giant reptilian guard’s lifeless body slumped to the ground, his large head slanted at an odd angle, his soulless eyes staring vacantly.
Sirens blared in warning. There was no room for mistakes. Time was of the essence. Ignoring his many wounds, naked and feverish, Torrin Llahsab roughly stripped the dead guard of his heat regulating suit, donning the overly large garment with urgency in every movement, adrenaline pumping sluggishly through his weakened system. Far too big for Torrin, he used precious moments waiting for the suit to adjust to his size. After months of captivity, they’d finally made a mistake. The first guard to come alone to Torrin’s cell had paid for the mistake with his life. Torrin hadn’t hesitated to kill three more of the giant reptilian guards as he made his way toward the docking bay. Toward freedom.
Torrin had planned, mentally rehearsed this moment since his capture. He was a Lumerian Knight. A protector. A warrior without equal. A king’s assassin. He killed without mercy, without remorse, when duty demanded it. He trained longer. Fought harder. He’d survived months of unspeakable torture. Endured. Resisted.
Stepping over the guard’s limp form, Torrin made his way out of the darkened storage room, evading the other guards as they ran past, desperately searching for the escaped prisoner. For him. Slowly, stealthily, he made his way toward the docking bay and the dozens of small spacecraft in various stages of readiness.
At last, his target was in sight. Only years of training kept him from rushing toward the small ship, freedom a few short steps away. His first choice would have been to steal his own ship right out from under their noses, but guards were already surrounding it. While damaged, the small craft was still faster than anything else in the docking bay. His cloaking capability had been damaged, unbeknownst to him, which was how he’d been detected and captured, thinking himself safely hidden in the midst of his enemy. Instead, he’d been well and truly trapped by the time he realized they could see him.
He’d disabled all of his ship’s systems before they took him. Any tampering now without his command code, in conjunction with his biometric scans, would initiate the self-destruct sequence. The Vilitos had tortured him for the code as well as for information about Lumerian survivors, but he refused to give in. Refused to betray the Lumerian Knights, his friends, his family.
Broken bones, chemical burns, a raging fever, still he gave them nothing. He hurt. Every muscle screamed in pain, every breath labored and crackled. Torrin’s thoughts fragmented as pain lanced through this head, the floor spinning beneath him. Precious moments were lost as he waited for the room to stop moving, using the wall for support. He relied on a lifetime of training to see him through the next few minutes. Clenching his jaw, he used his iron will to focus. I will get out of here. I will survive. I will not dishonor the Lumerian Knights. I will not die today.
Scuffling noises followed by sounds of a struggle, a fist thudding against tender flesh, and angry protests behind a cargo ship intruded on his inner thoughts. Straightening once more, Torrin inched forward. Lifting the visor of his heat regulating suit so that he could hear better, he focused on his other senses.
Sounds like a female. Hallucinations again or real this time? Fresh scent, like springtime in the fields on Caldor after a long rain. Contentment swept through him with the reminder of home. All too soon questions raced through his mind, brutally ripping him from his moment of peace and contentment. He clenched his fists. Freedom was so close. If he leaned out, if he looked for the source of the protests and fresh scent, he had a feeling he’d never see home again. His chance at escape would be over.
He sighed, his fate already decided, for he could not betray his honor. His sense of justice. He needed to help whoever was behind that ship. Inching around the craft, he scanned the area, looking for whatever creature was giving the guards such a hard time. Near the corner stood a cluster of three giant Vilitos. He couldn’t see what was in the center, but perhaps if he could hear what they were saying, he could figure out what was going on. Raising the volume of his translator in his ear, he listened intently. What he heard chilled his blood.
“…has issued a bounty for the capture of any Earth female now that the Caldorian King, the one from the western sector, has transformed a human into some kind of Lumerian hybrid,” one guard spat with hatred. “Prime Leader wants to breed them with the prisoner down below. We collected her right off of her own little planet. Now that we know what they can do, Prime Leader wants them all. We’ll get what we need one way or the other.”
“What they can do?” Torrin whispered to himself, genuine confusion furrowing his brow. He growled; the sound almost too low to hear. He knew King Dagan. Knew, also, that hi
s beloved king had never been to Earth, or expressed any interest in visiting the tiny planet in the two years since Caldor had been assigned its protection. What the hell was going on?
Not wanting to believe the Vilitos scum, yet not quite able to discount the guard’s ridiculous assertions, Torrin slowly changed his position to see what the guards had surrounded. A young human woman stood between them. Her clothing was a bit dirty and ragged, but intact. She was in chains. Bruised. Bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Next to her stood an eight-foot-tall, hairy blue Targo. Fear for the small human female churned in his stomach. Targos were dangerous. Very dangerous. What the guards thought they were doing putting one of those creatures near a defenseless human, he could never guess. It was a miracle she was still alive.
Torrin eased closer, focusing on the human, yet still alert to his surroundings. She shivered from head to toe, either from the cold or fear, he wasn’t sure. Probably both. Her nostrils flared, her breathing far too fast and ragged. A gag was shoved into her mouth, tied behind long blue-black hair. Her eyes, gray with gold flecks near the center, burned with intelligence. Determination. Rage. Fear. Their eyes locked. Torrin’s sense of time and space shifted. He felt as if he’d been punched. All the air left his body.
She was fire and ice. So beautiful, it almost hurt to see her in such a filthy place. Wrong, somehow. Next to the Vilitos, she appeared small and helpless. Vulnerable. Her cheeks flushed with heightened emotions as she struggled defiantly, pulling on the chains. At last, he inhaled as deeply as his broken ribs would allow, taking in the scents around him. It was her. I was smelling her. Not the end. Not home. Her. Something flickered in his wounded soul. Adrenaline pumped sluggishly through his weakened system. He had to help her. Needed to do it.
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