by Alyx X
As I turned to walk away, the one I’d stabbed in the eye gurgled. Apparently, his life hadn’t ended with a flick of the wrist after all. I stood over him and his remaining eye blinked slowly. Not allowing myself to hesitate, I sliced his neck and stood on it, pushing more of that frothy green blood out of the wound and listening to his life gurgle away. I didn’t feel any remorse. I couldn’t afford to. I had a mate to find.
That task would be easier with one of the Urdruck weapons instead of a lousy kitchen knife. I leaned over and grabbed eyeless guy’s gun from the holster at his waist. It should be fairly easy to work out how to use it. They seemed to just point them at people and press the little catch thing. I didn’t want to have a repeat of the last invasion where I’d been unable to use the weapons. I fiddled with this one a little as I trained it on him, trying to line it up with where I wanted, but my hand was slick with a mixture of sweat and blood and my finger slipped, firing a blast of energy toward the man before I was ready.
His face exploded in a shower of flesh, black armor splintering, and green froth splattering everywhere. I gazed down, mesmerized for a moment by the charred hole where the warriors face used to be.
This same energy was exactly what they’d tried to use on me, and possibly what they were using on Lyx right now. I gave myself a mental shake and grabbed the other raider’s gun, and his belt and holster as well. I fastened the belt around my waist, unused to the cumbersome weight, but it was also reassuring in the same way my bow and arrow had always been.
I drew the gun from the holster a couple of times to make sure I was used to the movement, then I left the side room and slid the door closed behind me. I had a mate to save.
The open doorway connecting Lyx’s ship to the raiders’ ship was quite still, and no one seemed to be guarding it. I’d seen where Lyx was from our strange mind connection, and because I had experienced what he was experiencing, I knew I didn’t have much time. Resummoning the images our bond had shown me, I knew it wasn’t anywhere that looked familiar, so that meant they’d taken him aboard their ship with them.
I didn’t bother creeping anymore—I didn’t really have the time to spare. Urgency thrummed through my body, pulsing along my still-weak connection to Lyx. I couldn’t feel him the same anymore, just the static of anxiety and panic.
I kept one of the guns held in front of me, the other holstered at my hip as I walked forward. A raider appeared around a corner, and I didn’t even hesitate. I just lifted the gun a fraction higher and fired into his startled face before kicking his body to one side. Every raider who stepped in front of me met a similar fate, and the way their faces both crackled and charred at the edges fascinated and horrified me. I’d never seen a weapon like it. I’d never needed one. I tried not to get swept up into the fantasy of what hunting back on Earth would be like with a weapon like this.
I stepped over fallen bodies as I walked deeper into the ship, the urgency humming through me increasing in intensity until my nerves jangled with it.
Howling started from farther along the corridor I was in, somewhere deep in the belly of the ship, and it sent instinctive terror through me. My shirt became damp as my skin split open over my chest, blood oozing from me. I touched the damp fabric. It had to be the connection.
Whoever was hurting Lyx was hurting both of us.
I swallowed, barely wanting to think about what that meant if one of us died.
The screams still echoed around me and right through my head. It was Lyx. I knew it was, but I didn’t know how. The sound was animalistic. Unrecognizable. Yet, I recognized it with every fiber of my being and reacted to it by breaking into a run. I didn’t look where I was going. I didn’t need to. The screams of pain drew me forward, killing more raiders as I went. It became easy. Them or me. Lyx or them.
I reached a door and stopped. This was where the pull in my body drew me to.
A voice sounded through the closed door. “...the last of your kind. With your untimely death, the last of the dirty Tryon scavengers will truly be gone, and your filth will no longer pollute space. There was a reason I built up the relationship with your father. I was never really his friend, not even really a good customer, but I knew that with enough time I’d be able to finish what my ancestors started.”
The screaming started again, accompanied by chains rattling, and I burst in, my gun held high.
The hideous guy with the red face spun toward me. I squeezed my finger, ready to split that giant blood-clot in two, but the gun just clicked uselessly in my hand.
Nothing happened.
20
Piper
Lyx’s eyes were swollen almost closed and dimmed by sadness as he hung on chains against a wall, but they flickered to life again the moment he saw me. Skin draped across his chest in thin ribbons, and his cock had deep slices in it. His tail looked as though a chidder had spent an afternoon gnawing on it, and my chest tightened as I held a scream inside at what they’d done to him.
But as I watched, the wounds on his chest began to knit together, and I half raised my hand to my chest, feeling an answering tingle. We were healing each other, and the knowledge pushed even more confidence through me.
I opened my mouth to say something to Lyx, but the red-faced man must have realized I hadn’t fired my gun at him yet and probably didn’t intend to, because he took one wobbly step toward me, like he was testing me. I squeezed the trigger, slowly, hoping that it had been an accident before, that of course the gun had enough power to finish off the guy who’d half killed Lyx—half killed both of us.
I didn’t know if it would work, but I sent a burst of strength down our connection. Now that I was learning how to manipulate it, I kind of liked it. From the corner of my eye, I watched a small grin pass across Lyx’s lips. Maybe he knew what I was doing.
“I should have known you weren’t dead.” The red-faced guy yelled in that familiar gurgled tone from the snapshots I’d pulled right from Lyx’s head, and my stomach rolled over.
It was exactly how I’d imagined Lyx’s slugs might sound if they could talk. Squelchy and a little bit rotten.
“Humans aren’t usually so…robust,” he mused, and pressed a finger to his chin like he was considering a problem. “But then, they’re not usually polluted by a filthy Tryonian, either.”
I kept gentle pressure on the catch of my gun the whole time, willing it to find a last burst of energy from somewhere. It was no use. I didn’t dare reach for the spare one at my hip in case a sudden movement made the blood-head guy do something dumb.
My caution didn’t matter because he did something dumb anyway.
“Seize her!” he yelled as he flicked the tattered, bloodstained whip in his hand.
As one, the raiders around the room moved forward, fanning out around me. How had I missed them?
Boiled-head man flicked his whip again, aiming for me. He made sure I knew his intention as he drew it back—his anger shown in the curl of his lip.
Before he had the chance to flick the thing that had already claimed so much of Lyx’s blood at me, I ducked and spun, flinging my empty gun at the raider over my left shoulder with as much force as my body was capable of. It smashed through his face guard and the now familiar green blood frothed down the front of his body as it fell in slow-motion to the floor.
The tail of the whip whistled through the air and sliced toward a raider who’d had the misfortune to put himself in the coward’s position, directly behind me. The leather bounced off his black mirrored armor, but he brought his hand up and cried out.
I shook my head. That would probably leave him with a nasty bruise.
“My, my.” The bulbous red man chortled with sudden glee. “You were just what I ordered!” He paused to look admiringly at Lyx. “It seems you can follow some instructions after all, scavenger. I did ask for one with spirit.” Then he shook his head. “If only there wasn’t the small complication of your bond.”
One of the raiders dragged the dead one behind
me from the room, and the green smear of blood he left on the floor in his wake bubbled and hissed.
“It would almost be worth keeping you around. Maybe I’ll keep that piece of filth—” He nodded at Lyx “—alive so he can watch us play.” His smile slashed his face nearly in two. “We could have some fun.”
“I don’t think you’d like the same games as me.” I could guarantee he wouldn’t, and he also didn’t seem to think I played to win—which I always did.
The remaining raiders were watching him, like they wouldn’t make a move without him. They certainly weren’t focused on me, and I rushed for the wall of weapons, slipping past outstretched hands with fractions of an inch to spare. I needed something to fight with, and a gun that no longer fired wasn’t cutting it.
The whip flickered over my back just as I laid eyes on a beautiful, powerful looking bow and arrow on the rack of weapons. The sound snapped around the room and I heard it before I comprehended what happened. I screamed at the impact and arched, my body becoming a crescent as I completed my forward motion. Once at the wall, I didn’t hesitate, gritting my teeth around the pain. Again, now was not the time. The bow and arrow fit into my hands like someone in this universe had made them just for me.
But my fingers trembled as I tried to nock the first arrow. Pain radiated over my back from the harsh whip the turnip man had landed. My first shot sailed past him, over his left shoulder, and he only flinched at its passing. I loaded again, quick and ready, eyeing the raiders as they watched me. They could pounce at any moment, but for now they seemed content to let their toadish leader square off with me. This time my aim was better as I released, but he managed to recover and knocked the arrow out of the air with the flick of his whip.
His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open “Look what I did!” he almost squealed. “Seems all the practice on dear Lyx here has prepared me for his little mate.”
I almost rolled my eyes, but I didn’t dare shift my gaze from him. Instead, I loaded my bow again, my hands surer now and working from sheer muscle memory. I fired another arrow.
“Missed me again!” He almost skipped out of the way, like we were deliberately playing a game. “Is it my turn now?” He cracked his whip and I sidestepped. “Oh, I like that.” His gaze turned appreciative, but he shook his head. “You see, I could have used a female who knows how to move her body.”
One of the raiders shifted, his armor scraping against itself, and he raised his weapon, pointing it directly between my eyes.
“No! She’s mine! Clear the room!” He narrowed his eyes. “And no matter what you hear happening in here, you don’t come back. You don’t get a piece of this human.” Seems the turnip man had a lot of confidence if he was willing to send his minions away, leaving him exposed to me. He liked my ‘spirit’? Well, I was about to show him just how it would be his downfall.
Every raider stayed exactly where he was, and my opponent lowered his voice to hiss.
“I pay you to do as I say, if I recall correctly. I do not pay you to have opinions, and I’ve told you to clear the room. These are mine to deal with, and I don’t want your Urdruck stench getting all over my kills.” I used his rant to glance at my mate. He was still struggling against his restraints, slowly healing from the brutal beating he’d received. My heart clenched to see him chained up, but I was pleased that even on the brink of death, he still fought.
The remaining raiders trooped out, and I counted them as they left. Six. I needed to remember that because when I killed this bastard and freed Lyx, I didn’t want to leave any of them alive. They’d messed with me and my mate, and whether or not that was at the command of another person was no matter to me. They needed to die. Their ship still attached to Lyx’s would just be a bonus.
The guy turned back to me, smiling like a mad man. “I was supposed to be your master,” he said, and my skin wanted to crawl off my body and run away. I still held the bow, still poised to fire at the earliest opportunity. I, unlike this asshole, had no desire to monologue about my evil plans, and would kill him as soon as I was able. Just like hunting.
Lyx barked out a dry laugh at the possessive words, like he’d caught onto my train of thought. The red guy looked at him then back to me.
“Satyan,” he finished, as though he were introducing himself. “I’m Master Satyan.” Didn’t matter to me what his name was, soon he’d be dead.
I fired another arrow then, bored of all his talk and trying to catch him when he wasn’t expecting it. He dodged again and I gritted my teeth. For such a fat man he certainly knew how to dodge my arrows. I eyed him, looking for a way out of this. I just wanted to get out of here and get Lyx home, see how well those healing sleeves really worked.
“You know, if you run out of arrows, I’ve got one right here.” He palmed the general area of his crotch and thrust upward. “I can forget that you’ve been tainted if it means his last sight before he dies is me fucking his mate.”
I scoffed and reached for another arrow. Distraction seemed like my only tactic, and it might work. The guy, Satyan, sure liked the sound of his own voice. “I doubt anyone could find an arrow that small under so many layers of flesh.”
He flicked his whip but didn’t hit me with it. Maybe he just liked the sound it made. “If you come and sit in my lap, you won’t have to look. You’ll feel it.”
I swatted some hair from my face. “No more than a pin prick.”
He grinned in a way that made me want to puke. “I’ll show you a prick,” he gurgled.
“Only if you want it cut off,” I said as I took a step backward and looked at him down the sights of the bow.
He laughed, sounding genuinely amused. “Yes, I think I will. I’d like to fuck you. You’re just the right amount of savage.”
I laughed too, but the sound was harsh and threatening. “I promised myself I’d cut off the cock and balls of the man responsible for what has been done to me, and I’m so glad I’ve finally found him.”
The arrow I released hit its mark, lodging in the center of his chest. Ha! Take that, Master. His eyes widened and his mouth moved like he was trying to say something, but he staggered back and hit the floor with a soft, splitting sound like a sack of rotten vegetables. Bet he wished he didn’t send the raiders away now. This bloated asshole on a power trip hadn’t lasted one minute alone in a room with me. Part of me was deeply proud of that fact.
I was on him before he even had a chance to wonder why he was looking at the ceiling. I straddled him as I grabbed the arrow, pushing it farther into his chest.
He screamed, but I laughed. “Oh, but I thought you wanted me sitting on you?” I pushed again.
His scream wasn’t too dissimilar to his laugh—high pitched and crazy sounding.
“Does that hurt?” I poured fake sympathy into my tone. “Well, let me help with that. Let me see if I can just fix this…” I ripped the arrow from his flesh, ignoring the tearing sound it made.
Before he’d even finished screaming, I plunged it right back into the same hole, and the vivid red of his face blanched to a pink color as blood poured from the wound in his chest.
“Maybe I should be thankful to you.” I grunted as I twisted the arrow down. “By the way, how do you like to be screwed? Long and slow, or fast?”
He shook his head, his tongue lolling out, the barest glimmer of rage and defiance still there. I glanced at Lyx, finally beginning to feel a little of my earlier panic start to wane. I had done it. I’d found my mate and now had little else to do before we were safe and back on his ship. The mound of flesh beneath me, still gurgling his pain, was a trivial matter.
I turned back to Satyan, secretly enjoying this. So much for my earlier statement about not being prone to monologuing. “Seriously, you brought me to my mate. I can thank you for that, but greasy, cruel, backstabbing assholes like you don’t deserve to live. I can’t just let you go off to kidnap more women, now can I? You’ve destroyed too much, so I’m going to make sure you feel every bit of
pain you deserve—starting with what you’ve inflicted on Lyx and me.” I sat back a little, still putting pressure on the arrow protruding from his chest. “My father used to tell me of the times traitors on Earth were strung up so every person they’d wronged could stab them.” I laughed. “We don’t get traitors anymore.”
I clutched the arrow and dragged it downward, ripping his skin all the way down to his cock. I scooted back to make room for it, and the scream that erupted from my victim could have curdled blood.
“Oh, there it is,” I cooed. “I see it now. I just had to move some of this other flesh out the way.” Satyan glared at me, blood dribbling from his disgusting mouth.
As I was about to continue my little tirade, marching footsteps sounded in the hall and I jumped back, leaving the arrow sticking straight up out of his cock. Right before where I’d been about to cut it off.
“Don’t worry,” I said as I raced to the weapons wall. “I just gave you a bit of extra length. Most guys would love that.” I heard a weak laugh from Lyx and I smiled to myself.
I grabbed two guns as the door burst open, the six Urdruck raiders from before streaming back into the room. Apparently they didn’t listen very well to their supposed masters. We had that in common.
I again counted six…and shot each of them between the eyes before they even had time to raise their own weapons.
I could get used to these guns that made people’s heads explode.
The ship fell completely silent except for Lyx’s harsh breathing, and I peered out of the door, looking both ways along the corridor before determining it was safe.