“Did this woman hurt you?” the soldier demanded furiously.
Taelon shook his head. “She’s helping me.” His voice was deep and rough. “I need your clothes.”
“Yes, sir.”
To Lisa’s complete and utter astonishment, the soldier yanked off his boots, then swiftly removed his vest, shirt, and pants. And he didn’t just hand them over. Wearing white boxers, he crossed to Taelon and helped him slip the black garments on.
“Shit. What did those fuckers do to you?” he muttered as he pulled the black T-shirt down over Taelon’s chest wound. “Or did Gershom do this?”
Taelon didn’t answer.
“We have medics outside who can help you until the fighting ends. Then Seth or one of the other healers can take care of these wounds for you. There are also several immortals in the building who can teleport you directly to network headquarters either here in Texas or in North Carolina. Both are on standby, ready to treat casualties.”
Moisture glistened on Taelon’s brow. “Your shoes.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier handed over his boots and stuffed Taelon’s feet into them. Lisa was pretty sure they were too small, but Taelon made it work.
The ground stopped shaking.
All three looked at each other.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or a bad one,” the soldier said, “so you’d better haul ass and get out of here.” Grabbing the discarded vest, he strapped it on, retrieved his rifle, and headed for the door.
Still clutching her own weapon, Lisa returned to Taelon, tucked herself under his arm once more, and guided him to the door.
The soldier opened it a crack and peered out. “Okay. Let’s go. If you don’t want the woman to be killed, keep her close to you. Our orders are to leave no one alive to carry tales. But they won’t shoot her if it looks like she’s helping you.”
Taelon nodded. “Go.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier stepped out into the hallway, weapon raised and ready to fire.
Lisa and Taelon slipped out behind him.
“That way.” The soldier pointed.
They made their way up the hallway as quickly as Taelon could manage. Several bodies littered the floor. Splatters and streaks of blood adorned the walls.
Gunfire erupted behind them.
“Shit!” The soldier put his back to theirs and opened fire at the opposite end of the hallway. “Go on!” he shouted over his shoulder. “I’ll cover you!”
Fear riding her hard, Lisa urged Taelon onward, huffing under the strain of keeping him upright.
He gripped his chest.
“Are you okay?” she asked as they turned toward the front of the building. Had he been shot?
He nodded.
Another cramp shot through her abdomen. Holding Taelon with one arm, she gripped her stomach with the other and tried to breathe through it.
You’re in pain, he murmured in her head. His concern soothed her like a healing balm. It had been so long since anyone other than her biology professor had worried about her.
“I’ll live,” she replied. At least she hoped she would.
I’m weakening, he admitted. I don’t know how much longer I can maintain the illusion.
“Maybe you don’t have to. You’re dressed like them now.”
As if to punctuate her point, two soldiers garbed in black pants and shirts jogged toward them.
“Step away from him now!” one shouted.
Taelon tightened his hold on her. “She’s not one of them. The lab coat isn’t hers. She was a prisoner here.”
More gunshots erupted in the hallway they’d left.
One of the soldiers took off, running toward it. The second nodded at Taelon. “We’ve got a triage unit set up a mile from here. Get one of our guys to drive you to it. Our medics will see to your wounds there and patch you up until Seth or one of the other immortal healers can help you.”
As soon as Taelon nodded, the soldier took off after his companion.
Immortal healers?
Lisa had no time to ponder that as they continued forward. The closer they came to the front of the building, the more soldiers and vampires they encountered. Thanks to Taelon’s ruse, all either ignored them or helped them along.
At last, they stumbled outside into fresh air. Or rather fresh air tinged with the scents of battle. It looked like a damn war zone. Soldiers in camouflage lay dead or wounded on the ground. Soldiers in black tended to their own wounded while continuing to offer protection to the vampires inside.
Or was it vampires and immortals?
Lisa wasn’t sure. This was all so surreal.
She spotted a Jeep parked near some Humvees and armored transport vehicles. “There.” She turned Taelon toward it and hobbled forward.
Another soldier in black saw them coming and shouted, “Medic! We need a medic over here!”
Suddenly, distant screams poured forth from inside the building, both male and female.
Every soldier stilled and went quiet.
The screams built, containing such agony and heartbreak that even Lisa and Taelon stumbled to a halt.
“Oh shit,” someone whispered.
The ground beneath their feet shifted violently.
Gasping, Lisa staggered.
Taelon clutched her tighter as he fought for balance.
A loud rumbling sound arose as the ground continued to shake and roll in the grip of a strengthening earthquake. The trees in the forest that surrounded them swayed, their leaves swishing and falling from their perches.
“Everyone out!” a man yelled inside. “Now! Go! Go! Go! Into the vehicles! Get as far away as you can!”
Do it, Taelon urged as he stumbled forward.
The soldiers around them flew into motion. The Jeep she’d been eyeing sped away.
Lisa helped Taelon into the passenger seat of a nearby Humvee, then ran around to the driver’s side. Climbing up onto the seat, she gripped the key in the ignition with trembling fingers and turned it. The engine purred to life. Fumbling around, she found the headlights and turned them on. She had to adjust the seat and move it closer so she could reach the damn pedals. Then, shifting into drive, she floored the accelerator and tore away.
Other vehicles did the same, some coming very close to colliding in their rush to evacuate the area.
Lisa followed them onto a two-lane road. Some abandoned the narrow strip of asphalt and drove on the grass to either side of it, turning it into a four-lane road. “I don’t know where I’m going!” she cried, heart pounding, belly cramping.
Stay with them for now.
She nodded, having trouble remaining in her lane with the ground shaking so violently. It was like trying to drive straight on a freeway overpass while strong gusts of wind repeatedly battered them.
The other vehicles only traveled a mile or two before they began to swerve off the road. She peered after them and saw the triage unit one of the soldiers had mentioned.
The Humvees and transport vehicles in front of her slowed to make the turn.
“What do I do?”
Keep driving straight. I’m going to muster what strength I can and try to make anyone watching think we turned alongside the others.
“Okay.”
When it was her turn to swing right, Lisa instead kept going. She glanced in the rearview mirror.
No one followed. No one called after them. No one honked or flashed their lights or fired a weapon.
Pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor, she raced away and didn’t slow down until she had to when they reached a curve. Once she rounded it, she lost sight of the others.
Tall, thick forest rose on either side of the road. No streetlights illuminated their path. Instead, darkness surrounded them as the ground continued to rumble beneath their vehicle. The kind of darkness you could only find far from cities.
Cracks opened in the road.
Are you all right? Taelon asked.
She nodded but continued
to clutch the steering wheel with a death grip, fearing the earthquake would drive the road in front of her to either rise like a wall in front of them or drop and send them plunging into an abyss. “Are you?”
I will be.
Bright light abruptly engulfed them, blinding her.
Crying out, she squinted and slammed on the brakes.
Momentum thrust her body forward.
Taelon threw an arm across her chest to hold her in place and keep her from slamming into the steering wheel or crashing through the windshield.
The Humvee skidded to a halt. A roaring sound filled her ears as hot wind whipped them.
It seemed to take forever for the light to fade enough for her to see again.
Her heart slamming against her ribs, Lisa looked around and gaped in the direction of the base that had held her captive.
Above the trees, flames and smoke rose, coming damn close to forming a mushroom cloud.
“What the hell?” she whispered. Had the building exploded? Or had a bomb detonated? Or whatever the hell else they stored in the biohazard wing?
She looked at Taelon, who stared out the window in shock.
Turning his head, he met her gaze, then lowered his own.
It wasn’t until then that Lisa realized the hand he’d pressed to her chest to keep her from sailing through the front windshield was clamped to one of her breasts.
His eyes widened seconds before he jerked his hand back. Oh. Forgive me. He sent her a look that made her think he feared she would boot him out of the vehicle. I meant no disrespect.
“I know. You were trying to protect me.” If he hadn’t, she probably would’ve at the very least hit the steering wheel, too weak to brace herself effectively. “Thank you.” She hoped he couldn’t tell that her heart was racing once more and her breast tingled where he’d touched her.
Quiet fell.
The ground no longer shook.
He nodded, his look uncertain. We should go.
“Yes, we should.” Returning her attention to the road, Lisa guided the Humvee forward.
Taelon studied Lisa as unobtrusively as he could from the corner of his eye.
Her grip on the navigation wheel had loosened. The white of her knuckles no longer showed. Her body had ceased trembling. And her breathing had evened out.
Little speckles of blood stood out against the pale skin of her face and neck. More blood stained her shirt. Or dress. He wasn’t sure which it was. The garment hugged her large breasts, then flowed loosely over her belly to her upper thighs. He had seen other Earth women wear dresses that short, something that would’ve been considered scandalous on his planet. But Lisa appeared to be wearing tight pants of some sort beneath it.
Her long brown hair blew in the breeze that swept in through the lowered window. It was beautiful, shining in the light of dawn.
Her face remained pale though. The shadows beneath her eyes darkened. And her pretty features creased with winces and grimaces periodically, indicating she was in pain.
Glancing over, she caught him staring. “What?”
He shook his head. “You’re making me revisit my opinion of Earthlings,” he admitted, his voice still hoarse. So were the soldiers in black they had encountered while making their escape. Those men had been there, risking their lives, to free their friends from the butchers.
Just as Lisa had risked her life to save his.
Her lips turned up in a faint smile. “Then we’re even. Because you’re making me see aliens in a whole new light.”
He chuckled, then grimaced and clutched his chest as agony speared him.
Her brow furrowed. “You need medical attention. But I’m afraid to take you to a hospital.”
He shook his head. “Once the drug wears off, I should begin to heal.”
She motioned to his chest. “Whoever closed you up did a real half-assed job of it. I’m worried those stitches won’t hold.”
He was, too, but would rather die than put himself in the hands of more Earthling doctors. “I have strong regenerative capabilities. I’ll heal.”
“From that? Really?”
“Yes.” He probably shouldn’t reveal things like that to Earthlings, but Lisa had more than earned his trust.
She hissed in a breath and shifted in her seat. Taking one hand off the wheel, she slid it over the mound of her stomach.
“You’re in pain.”
She clamped her lips together and slowly breathed in and out several times. “It’ll pass.”
What had they done to her? He had seen other Earthlings—both female and male—with large stomachs, but they had been large all over, their faces rounder, their arms and legs plumper.
Lisa was painfully thin everywhere except her abdomen. And her chest.
Against his will, he glanced at her large breasts.
He hadn’t meant to grab her earlier. He had just been trying to protect her and was relieved she’d understood that. His hand still tingled from the contact. Women on his planet were highly valued. Grabbing an unbonded woman’s breast was a punishable offense.
“Are you bonded?” he blurted.
She glanced over at him. “What?”
“Are you bonded?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Are you bonded to another for life?”
Her brow furrowed. “Do you mean romantically? Are you asking if I’m married?”
“Yes.”
“No.” She returned her attention to the road. “Are you?”
“No.”
A hint of humor entered her expressive features. “Then I don’t have to worry about some alien woman coming down and beating the crap out of me for seeing her man naked?”
He laughed. Again agony shot through him. “No.”
“Good.” She motioned to a sign on the side of the road. “Looks like we’re coming up on a motel. I think we should stop, maybe get something to eat and catch a little rest while we decide what to do now that we’re free.”
He frowned. He knew they would have to stop eventually, but… “Do you think it’s safe?”
“Can you do that thing where you make people see what you want them to see?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what the soldier who gave you the clothes looked like?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She slowed the vehicle and pulled into the parking lot of a wide one-story building with a timeworn sign declaring it a motel. She parked at the far end, then turned to face him. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to walk into that office over there.” She pointed to the opposite end. “This is a small place, so there will probably only be one or two people manning the desk. I’m going to approach it first. I want you to make whomever I speak with think you’re standing beside me in casual clothes even though you’ll actually be standing behind me. I’m going to tell the clerk I need a room for me and my husband. He’ll give it to me. I want you to make you look like that soldier and—once I leave—ask for a room for one.”
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a fistful of papers. Peeling a few off, she handed them to him. “Here’s some cash. If he asks either one of us for ID, make him think whatever we hold up is ID. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” He plucked the image of an ID from her thoughts so he’d know what to make the proprietor see.
“Okay. Let’s go.” She exited the Humvee and waited while he slowly made his way out and circled around to her. “Make sure the clerk doesn’t see any of the blood. And tell him you want the room farthest from the office because you want quiet. If he insists on walking us to the rooms, make him think there’s another car in the parking lot so he won’t think we came together.”
“All right.” He had seen many Earth cars before he’d narrowed down his investigation to the base they had just escaped.
Concern darkened her pretty brown eyes as she stared up at him. Now that they weren’t running for their lives, he realized she was almost as small
as Amiriska. “Can you walk on your own?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s do this.”
Taelon clenched his teeth, straightened his shoulders, and followed her to the office.
The skinny young man behind the desk ended up being easy to manipulate. He was lazy and actually seemed to resent their interrupting the game he was playing on his phone. Taelon made him see a husband standing beside Lisa while Taelon hovered behind her and made the boy see him as the soldier who had leant him the clothes he now wore. Fortunately, the boy wasn’t inclined to escort either of them to their rooms, saving Taelon from having to expend more mental energy.
Though only a few minutes passed, he was exhausted by the time he and Lisa ducked into a room with the number 9 on the door.
Both released long sighs of relief.
Glancing up at him, Lisa smiled wearily.
His own lips turned up as he reached out and brushed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Thank you.”
She shook her head. “I never would’ve made it out of there alive without you.”
He frowned. “That soldier said their orders were to kill everyone who worked there.” And she was wearing one of the butchers’ lab coats.
“Well, they were doing a stellar job of it when we left. I don’t know who those soldiers in black are, but they were there to free their friends and punish the assholes who hurt them.”
He bit back a laugh, knowing it would hurt too much. “That’s an apt way to describe them.”
She grinned. “Assholes?”
He nodded.
“Yeah. I think so, too.” Glancing at the wall beside the door, she flipped a switch. A small white dome on the ceiling brightened with yellowish light. Lisa stepped past him and drew some unattractive curtains closed. Facing the room, she grimaced. “Reminds me of some of the apartments I looked at.”
The small room held little appeal. One wall was orange. A bed with two white pillows and a brown blanket butted up against it, along with a stand that boasted a single drawer. The other walls were a dingy white. A small table with two chairs hovered near the window. A long chest with drawers lined the wall opposite the bed, a television bolted to its surface. The carpet that covered the floor bore a brown-and-gray pattern with worn spots that formed a path from the door to the bed and to a small room in back.
The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance Book 1) Page 9