Guarded By Them

by Skye MacKinnon

  “Your ship is functional?”

  “It is,” I bluffed. “We only landed here with you to recover the human. Now that I have her, my mission is done. Kili is collateral damage.”

  The words burned my throat. Despite him being an arse on occasion, he was my friend. We’d worked together for nearly ten years and had become a team.

  “You’re lying. You would have already left as soon as you had her on board. You coming back here proves you can’t leave.”

  Laird, give me strength. “I don’t like loose ends,” I snapped. “Leaving the two of you here would have looked bad on my record. Better to bring you to Athion and lock you up for the rest of your miserable lives.”

  “You’re lying,” he repeated, but he got interrupted by a weak moan. “Vuk?”

  That had to be the other Trad. They were both alive. If Vuk recovered faster than Kili, I’d be outnumbered. I gripped my gun even tighter, my knuckles turning sky blue. It was time to act before the second Trad joined the first.

  “We’ve sent a distress call. Other Athion ships are on the way. It will go much better for you if you submit now before they arrive. They might not be as merciful as I am.”

  He laughed. “Merciful? Like the kraktz who abducted Wren were merciful? They beat her to an inch of her life. If that’s merciful, then I don’t want to know what the opposite is.”

  What in Laird’s name was he talking about? The ramblings of a madman, that had to be it.

  Suddenly, the data pad on my wrist vibrated. Not lowering my gun, I glanced at the screen. The female’s heartbeat was rising way too high. Her vitals were all over the place. Without looking back, I turned and ran to my ship, praying the med pod would keep her alive until I got there.

  Vuk

  Raf’s tirade of curses filtered through the pain. Something was wrong. I tried to move and groaned as agony shot through my lower body. Something was lying on top of me, pinning me to the cold floor. At the realisation that I was trapped, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I opened my eyes, taking in the situation. Raf stood next to a large tear in the ship’s hull. There was only darkness outside, yet he was talking to someone. Shouting. My head pounded at the noise, but I fought through the pain. Where was Wren?

  I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t move. Only my left arm and my upper torso were free of the debris pinning me in place. I’d never felt this powerless.

  I grabbed the metal beam that was crushing my chest and pushed. It barely shifted. I groaned in frustration.

  “Vuk?”

  Raf turned to me and I gave him a wave to reassure him that I was alright. I wasn’t, but I didn’t want him to get distracted. I twisted as much as I could to get a better look at what was going on. A body lay at Raf’s feet, wearing a familiar uniform. He’d taken down an Athion. Go Raf. Hopefully, the one outside was on his own. Two against two. One unconscious, one trapped. The odds were almost even. Except that Wren wasn’t here.

  Cold fear gripped my heart. They had her. That was the only option. I didn’t want to imagine the alternative. As much as I hated the idea, it was better for her to be a captive than having been blown into space during the crash.

  “Where’s Wren?” I asked aloud.

  The Athion had stopped talking. Raf looked at me, a frown marring his face. “He just turned and ran. Something must be wrong. It has to be Wren. What if…”

  “Go after him,” I said without hesitation. “Make sure she’s safe.”

  He nodded and knelt by my side just long enough to press a gun into my left hand. “Try not to die while I’m gone.”

  “You won’t get rid of me that easily.” I grinned despite the pain. “Is he knocked out or dead?”

  “Just knocked out, I think. I didn’t exactly have time to check.”

  “I’ll deal with him. Go.”

  His frown turned into a determined expression. “I’ll get her back.”

  Chapter 3

  Wren

  I really had to stop being unconscious all the time. It was getting repetitive, waking up in pain without knowing where I was. Strangely enough, I wasn’t scared this time. Vuk and Raf were with me. They’d keep me safe, just like they’d promised. They’d appear any minute now.

  I blinked open my eyes, but there was nothing to see. White fog surrounded me, so thick it hid my surroundings. I was lying on my front, my head turned to one side. My back ached, but it wasn’t too bad. I’d felt much worse pain.

  I tried to remember what had happened, but my mind was as foggy as the air around me. I’d been with Vuk and Raf on the bridge of the Phoenix, pretending that I was their captive as we were talking to some Athions. That was the last I remembered. Had I hit my head? Was that the cause of my memory loss?

  I sat up – and bumped against cold, hard material. I winced as pain spread across my back. Ignoring it, I pushed against the glass as hard as I could. It didn’t budge. Swallowing my beginning panic, I felt my way around the space I was trapped in. It was maybe two feet longer than myself, and three times as wide. Large enough for one of the Trads to fit. Was this a prison? Were they caged in similar boxes? I shuddered at the thought.

  I searched for an opening, a gap, but the glass was smooth, even where it turned into a different material, some kind of metal. My heart beat loud in my chest as I realised the truth. I was entombed in a glass prison, unable to even see where I was. I could be floating in space for all I knew.

  I rolled onto my side and beat my hands against my prison. My back hurt at the movement, but I didn’t care. The air in here wasn’t enough. I was going to suffocate. I had to get out. Again and again, I slammed my fists into the glass. My knuckles were wet with blood, but I wouldn’t stop until I was either dead or out of this box. When the pain got too much, I shuffled around until my back was against one side of the tomb. I angled my legs until my feet touched the other side. I pushed as hard as I could, but the enclosure was too wide for me to put enough pressure into my kicks.

  By now, I was gasping for air. My energy was waning quickly, leaking away just like the oxygen in my prison.

  Sounds from far away made me stop to listen. Footsteps, heavy and hurried. Someone was coming closer.

  “Help!” I shouted, not caring if it was friend or foe out there. The fog swallowed most of my voice and I coughed. I banged my hands against the glass again.

  “Stop, you’re safe,” the voice called, muffled but audible.

  Safe? I almost laughed. I wouldn’t call being trapped in a glass coffin willed with gas safe.

  “Let me out!” I had to cough again. The movement made my back hurt even more.

  A click had me freeze, just before the lid of my prison opened and fresh air streamed inside. I breathed in deep, the cool air soothing my lungs.

  I blinked as the fog cleared. A blue shape peered at me from above. An Athion. The shaved patterns on his head were familiar.

  Fuck. He was one of the Athions who’d pursued us. That meant they’d caught us, entered our ship somehow.

  “Where are Vuk and Raf?” I shouted at him before I could even see him properly.

  Even with the fog surrounding us, his confusion was clear. “You’re safe now, they won’t hurt you anymore.”

  “No, but I will hurt you.” I almost squealed with joy when Raf appeared behind the Athion, holding a long thin pipe like a weapon. Fury distorted the Trad’s blood-smeared face. “What have you done to her?”

  “Healed her,” the Athion spat, turning to face Raf. “She almost died after you shot her.”

  Raf’s eyes widened, looking just as surprised as I bet I appeared myself. “We didn’t shoot her. We would never.”

  “Of course you did. She was close to death when Kili found her. She’s lucky our med bay wasn’t destroyed in the crash.” He sneered. “What else did you do to her?”

  “They didn’t do anything,” I protested, annoyed at being ignored. “They didn’t shoot me either.”

  “They’ve brainwashed you,” the Athio
n said without turning around. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  I glared at his back. What an arrogant dick.

  “I know exactly what I’m saying. They didn’t shoot me. I must have been hurt in the crash.”

  Finally, he turned to look at me. “You were shot in the back. Only cowards do that.” His gaze softened a little. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. We will look after you now, keep you safe.”

  “She doesn’t need you to keep her safe,” Raf growled. “We didn’t shoot her, which means one of you must have done it.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” the Athion said, laughing. He whirled around to face Raf, but not fast enough to hide how his eyes had widened for just a moment. “We’re not the bad guys here. You’re Trads, you lie. That’s all your kind ever do.”

  “We. Didn’t. Shoot. Her,” Raf snarled, fury blazing in his eyes. “She was safe with us until you attacked us. Do you even know what those Athion kraktz did to her? How badly she was hurt? And now you’ve done it again. Hurt her. I’m starting to think that the whole good guys routine is all an act. Is that what you do to all the human females you take to your planet? Abuse them until they’re dead?”

  Without warning, the Athion launched himself at Raf. I screamed as their large bodies crashed into each other. Raf could have easily hit the Athion with his pipe, but he let it drop to the ground and instead used his claws to defend himself. His tail wrapped around the blue alien from behind, slashing over his back like a whip. The Athion cried out, but suddenly he had a knife in his hand, flashing in the cold light of the room.

  “No!” I shouted and jumped out of my prison. I hadn’t expected how weak I was though. I stumbled, fell, and-

  Strong arms caught me just before I hit the floor. I expected it to be Raf, but the skin rubbing against mine was blue. I looked up, right into the Athion’s sea-green eyes. Waves of azure and turquoise seemed to swirl around his dark pupils like clouds in a storm.

  He seemed surprised to have me in his arms, staring down at me as if he wasn’t sure what to do next.

  “Let her go,” Raf growled, his eyes blazing with fury.

  At least they weren’t fighting anymore.

  The Athion sneered at Raf. “Then maybe you should have caught her. She could have hurt herself.”

  “She wants to get up,” I snapped. “If you really want to prove that you’re not a threat to me, get your hands off me.”

  To my surprise, he gently helped me to my feet and then stood by my side, watching me cautiously. He was close enough to catch me if I fell again, but far away enough to give me some space.

  My back hurt like hell, especially where his arm had pressed against me. Besides that though, I seemed unharmed, if a little unsteady.

  “What happened?” I asked, turning first to Raf, then to the Athion.

  “We crashed,” they said simultaneously, then glared at each other once again.

  “You said you didn’t crash,” Raf accused the other alien.

  The Athion’s expression hardened. “A necessary lie. I was trying to defuse the situation.”

  Raf laughed. “Defuse? After your friend barged into our ship guns blazing? After Wren got shot? I think it’s too late to defuse anything.”

  “Wait, I got shot?” I interrupted. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “Ask him,” the Athion snarled. “It was either him or his friend.”

  I shook my head. “No way. They’d never shoot me.” I glared at him. “You’ve already said you lied about the crash. I bet you’re lying about this too to save your own neck. What would your fellow Athions say when they find out you shot a human?”

  Raf stepped over to me and took me into his arms. I snuggled against him, surprising myself. His closeness felt good, even though I couldn’t suppress a wince when he accidentally brushed against my wound. My bullet wound. I swallowed hard. I’d been shot. Now that was new.

  “Sorry,” he whispered.

  “What for?”

  “That I couldn’t protect you from this. That I wasn’t awake to bring you to safety. I promised I’d keep you safe and I failed.”

  I smiled up at him. “It’s not your fault. It’s his.” I shot daggers at the Athion. “If they hadn’t pursued us, we’d still be unharmed on the Phoenix.”

  The Athion was staring at us with the same confusion he’d shown earlier. “You actually trust him,” he stuttered. “How can you? Don’t you know what he is?”

  By now, I really wanted to punch the guy. “He’s the person who rescued me from two psychopaths who’d kidnapped me. Him and Vuk. They’re my friends.”

  Raf gently squeezed my shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered, his eyes full of warmth. “For saying that I’m your friend.”

  Wow. I realised it was true. I considered him a friend. When did that happen? Not long ago, I saw them as the enemy. I’d hid from them in my pillow fort, scared to bits. Now I was pressed against his body and instead of scaring me, it made me feel safe. It’s crazy. Maybe it was because he was the lesser evil. Better him and Vuk than the Athions. But no, I knew I was deceiving myself. I liked him. His humour. His smile. The way he was close to strangling the Athion to protect me. I felt strangely powerful. I was no longer a victim, alone in space. I had allies now. Friends.

  I smiled at him. “It’s true.”

  “Brainwashed,” the Athion muttered. “Totally brainwashed.”

  “No. I’m not.” I put as much force into my gaze as I can, showing him I’m serious. “Like it or not, they saved me from your kind. I trust Raf, which means I believe that neither he nor Vuk shot me. That leaves you and your companion.”

  “I didn’t shoot you,” he shouted.

  I flinched. Raf pulled me even closer.

  “That can only mean one thing,” my Trad countered. “It was the other Athion.”

  “No, Kili wouldn’t do that,” the Athion protested. “He’s a Custo, we both are. We protect, we don’t harm innocents.”

  “Custos are their elite military organisation,” Raf explained quietly. “They’re the ones who first arrived on Earth after the invasion to discuss the situation with your governments. Arrogant kraktz, all of them.”

  I hid a grin at his Trad cursing. I loved the sound of that word. It was perfect for what it seemed to mean.

  “Was there a bullet?” I asked, not having a clue how alien guns work. They might shoot laser beams for all I knew.

  The Athion lifted his arms and looked at a kind of smartwatch tied around his wrist, similar to the Trads’ communicators, but a little sleeker.

  “Yes, there was,” he said slowly, his eyes widening.

  “And it’s one of your own,” Raf stated. It wasn’t a question.

  The Athion bowed his head, staring at the little screen. “Yes,” he mumbled. “But it wasn’t me.”

  Raf tensed and spoke into his own communicator. “Vuk, can you hear me? The Athion with you, he shot Wren. Keep him secure until I get there.”

  Chapter 4

  Kion

  I hurried behind the Trad and the female, my mind racing. There was no doubt about it. Kili had shot her. What had the idiot been thinking? And he’d lied to me. Several times. The bitter taste of betrayal filled my mouth. Kili was a friend, no, more than that. We’d worked together for close to ten years. In the many dark and lonely nights that came with the job, we’d found solace in each other’s arms. We’d never become lovers, there was no emotion involved in the act, but we had needs and without females, it helped to have a hand wrapped around my cock. Even if it was another male’s.

  Most men I knew had at one time given in to their urges and fucked another guy. Some became couples, others, like Kili and me, did it for the physical release alone.

  I knew his body inside out and I’d thought I knew his mind, too. It hurt to know he’d not only gone against every principle I held dear, but that he’d deceived me. He’d had several opportunities to come clean, yet he shifted the blame on the T
rads. Like a coward.

  I clenched my fists and increased my pace. If the Trads weren’t going to kill Kili, then I would.

  The Trad – she’d called him Raf – was supporting the female as they hurried across the asteroid’s surface to their ship. Her back was exposed, the wound on full display. The med pod had removed the bullet and sealed the cut, but her skin was an angry red, stained with dried blood. She’d left the pod too early. I would have to convince her to go back in later so that she could get the care she needed. It had been unfortunate that she woke on her own. The med pod was scary from the inside, I knew that from my own experience. I wished I’d stayed behind and let Kili deal with the Trads. Although he may have shot them dead.

  My anger swirled up. We were no killers. We only killed in self-defence. We didn’t shoot enemies just for the fun of it. And we certainly didn’t shoot defenceless females in the back.

  Kili may have been my friend, but I couldn’t ignore this. I was going to have to report him as soon as they rescued us from this rock. We sent a distress signal when we’d crashed, but it could be a few days until the nearest ship made it to our location. They’d have to traverse the asteroid field at a slow pace to avoid suffering the same fate as us.

  It had been stupid to follow the Trad ship into the field. Three fellow Athions were dead because of it, their ship blown into smithereens.

  “Wait,” I called out, suddenly realising something. Raf and Wren – such a beautiful name – turned to me. “You held a gun to her head. You made us think that she was in danger.”

  Raf shrugged. “It was her idea. You wouldn’t have believed us that we were helping her. Would you?”

  I clench my teeth. No, I wouldn’t have. Trads were our natural enemies. The thought of them rescuing a human female rather than abducting her was absurd.

  The Trad nodded in satisfaction and hurried on to their crashed ship. It was damaged badly, even worse than ours. Parts of it had broken off, exposing the inside. The edge of a bed poked out from one hole, while water was pouring from another gash in the hull. It was a miracle all three of them had survived. I doubted a single room in the ship was still inhabitable.