Alien Knight Blind Date Disaster (Lumerian Knights Book 3)

by Becca Brayden

Slowly, so as not to startle the strange alien in front of her, she slid her hand across the table to rest over his where he remained chained. “What planet are you from, Bhaosz?”

  “I am from the planet of nine moons. Darkoor.”

  One of the two guards behind her drew in a sharp breath so she turned her head…slowly…and glared. “You will remain silent.”

  They both dropped to one knee as if she were a queen giving a command. “Yes, miss.”

  Satisfied—and shocked at the buzzing heat of the power increasing with each word she spoke—Isabella turned back to Bhaosz of Darkoor. “I actually came across a planet called Darkoor when I was doing some research for my… project. Do you know who I am?”

  “Yes.”

  Interesting. “Who am I?”

  Bhaosz’s gaze fixed on hers, and he looked drunk. Open. Trusting. Like a small child. “You used the name Ella Jones, but you are Isabella Serrano, an investigative reporter. I was sent to bring you in for questioning.”

  “Me? Why? I am no one. Who wanted you to bring me in?” This was getting interesting. And terrifying. She’d done everything in her power to protect her true identity, yet Falden, and now this Bhaosz, had both known exactly who she was.

  “You were working with Sevron Bashall, commander of the base. You were asking too many questions about the Blood Market. I was to bring you in. They would have questioned you, and you would have been sold.”

  “On the blood market?”

  “Yes.” His half-drunk smile turned cruel once more. “I had planned to purchase you myself.”

  The very idea of being at his mercy made her shudder. “And what would you have done with me? Was I to be your slave?” She kept her voice even. Seductive. She had him in a trance of some kind, and she didn’t want to break him out of it accidentally.

  His soft laughter was disturbing in an elemental way, and she had to fight not to gag.

  “No, Isabella. Your skin is so soft. You are so round. So curved. You smell fresh.” His fingers lifted from the table in an attempt to entwine with hers—a move she deftly avoided. “I would have drunk your blood for weeks, keeping you alive and well fed. When I tired of the taste, I would have begun carving pieces from your body. Arms first. Just an appetizer. Then legs. When you could no longer give me the blood I desired, I would have finished you in a grand feast.”

  “You wanted to eat me?” Her eyes bulged, disgust oozing out of every pore in her body. She felt sick.

  “I still do.” He sucked in a deep breath through his nose like a wolf tracking prey. “But I want your blood first, Isabella.”

  She’d heard the term Blood Market whispered on the street. Scared whispers only. She’d hoped the rumors were overblown drama, that the market was some kind of slave trade, human trafficking for prostitution or work camps, sweatshops. Something so very…human. Even overheated, feverish, she shivered as the hairs rose on the back of her neck, her skin prickling with goose bumps. But she wasn’t dealing with humans, not anymore.

  “Who wanted to speak to me first? Before you could buy me and drink my blood?” With a forced smile she managed to ask the question calmly, to be logical and not focus on the fact that she was sitting across from an alien who wanted to literally eat her like she was a hot dog or a piece of candy.

  “The boss. I do not know his name.”

  She lowered her voice and leaned forward, actually caressed his rough skin where her fingertips made contact with the back of his hand. “Are you lying to me, Bhaosz? Who wanted to talk to me? Surely you know. Someone as important as you are.”

  “I do not, but he will have his way. You are not safe from him here. These Caldorians will not protect you.”

  Knowledge swam behind his eyes, information she wanted. “Why do you say that?”

  “We made sure you would come to us.”

  Ice crashed the heat out of her system. “How?” There were few people in the world she cared about. She had no pets. Until recently, no lover. What had they done?

  “Matthew. They are holding him until you arrive.”

  “Who’s holding him? Where is he?” she demanded, anger and fear choking her throat, the words coming out stilted.

  “The Boss. I can show you, but I can’t tell you.”

  “Why can’t you tell me?” she asked, scowling in frustration.

  “I cannot tell you what I do not know. I am just a servant of the Dark One. I have a beacon in my visual field. That is all. There are no words, just a beacon.”

  What the hell was this guy talking about? “Show me the beacon,” she commanded. “Show me now.”

  He snarled, his eyes going darker, then the round black centers elongating into narrow slits like a reptile’s. She withdrew her hand in horror as his face melted and reformed while she watched. Gone were the human features. The lower half of his face had been replaced with a jawless, funnel-like mouth. Rows upon rows of sharp, jagged teeth visible as far in as she could see, much like the primitive lamprey. Gone were the nose and ears. Only his yellow reptilian eyes remained. Then his left eye began to change. She tried not to gag as the yellow eye became translucent.

  Isabella leaned forward, staring at what looked like a digital display buried at the back of his eye. Gross. She could see inside his eye. Inside. His eye. A tiny red dot flashed. Shuddering with repulsion, she pushed onward, her gaze flashing back to his tooth-filled mouth, “That’s some kind of translator you must have. What are you?”

  “Your future, Isabella. We are the future of your planet.”

  “Over my dead body.” The words burst from her before she could think better of them, but he was already laughing, the sound inhuman as hundreds of sharp teeth vibrated against one another.

  “That is the plan, human. I am but one of many.”

  Idea forming in her mind, she rose to stand before him. “Put your human face back on.”

  She watched, equal parts horror and fascination as he did as ordered, once more the snarling asshole she’d assumed was Caldorian sitting with his wrists in manacles atop the small table. The table was solid metal of some sort, welded to the floor. He was going nowhere without help.

  “I am going to release you, and you are going to take me to Matthew.”

  He dipped his chin as if he were a noble hero, not a flesh-eating predator. “Those were my orders.”

  Asshole.

  She turned to the two guards who remained kneeling behind her. “Release him. Then follow me.”

  “But, miss—”

  “I said, release him.” This time she could see the vibrations in the air. There was definitely a trick to her new powers. She felt like death warmed over, but she could do this.

  Both guards jumped to their feet, the one closest to the table moving around to the other side. He pulled a strange device from a small shoulder pocket in his uniform and set it against the first manacle, which snapped open with a loud pop. She glared at Bhaosz.

  “They are coming with us. Bhaosz, you will not harm me or either one of these guards. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” he said, nodding. The glazed look was back in his yellow eyes.

  The guard walking around him looked at her with angry refusal in his gaze even as his hand moved the key device over the second manacle. It released as well, the sound of metal banging on metal loud in the small room. Bhaosz sat, staring up at her.

  “Follow me until we reach my vehicle, Bhaosz. Be silent and do not hurt anyone. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes. I understand.”

  Nodding, she turned to the one guard who remained at the door, his weapon drawn and pointing at Bhaosz. Not a bad idea, probably. She glanced over her shoulder at the first guard, the one with the key still held in a trembling hand. “Lead the way to the garage. I have a car there. Bhaosz, you will follow him.”

  Both males nodded, so she turned to the armed guard at the door. “You will walk behind Bhaosz to make sure he doesn’t try to pull anything on the way.”

  “
Yes, miss.”

  “I will walk behind all of you and make sure you are following orders.”

  They all nodded as if they were on drugs, and she felt the pulsing of power grow inside her as she expanded whatever this crazy influence was to three males at once. But she knew, somehow, knew they would obey. And they did.

  They walked straight to the car park. Anyone who questioned them, she instructed to turn away and forget seeing them pass. In minutes they stood around her new two-seater sports car, keys in hand.

  She turned to Bhaosz. “You will ride along with him. You will not attack him or try to get away.” She pointed to the unarmed guard. “He will take a vehicle and you will tell him where to go. We must hurry. We will follow behind in my car. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  They walked away, and she sighed in relief as the guard got in the driver’s seat and Bhaosz settled into the passenger seat next to him.

  The guard who stood beside her lowered his weapon at last. “Do you think this is a good idea, miss? He is very dangerous.”

  “I know. But they have one of my friends.” Matthew, the boy who trusted her, who’d grown to love her, and she loved him. He wasn’t technically family, but he was hers. “I have to get him back.”

  He nodded and opened the passenger door as she slid into the driver’s seat. Ahead of them, the first vehicle was already pulling out of the parking area. Getting into the compound had been difficult. Getting out, it seemed, was much easier. One guarded gate, two words from her passenger, and they were out. Isabella breathed a sigh of relief, her hands shaking.

  As they sped onto the highway and headed across town, she wondered what Falden was going to think about all of this. And Dagan, the king who refused to let her even talk to the prisoner because she was a woman.

  As if.

  She hoped they were both furious. Fuming.

  Hurting.

  She knew it was petty and mean and downright bitchy, but she wanted Falden to feel at least some of the hurt and frustration she was feeling. If he wasn’t hers, then she wasn’t his. And that meant he had absolutely no say in what she did, who she talked to, or what bad guys she decided to take down.

  None.

  Still, she felt like she’d betrayed him, and that made her even angrier.

  The Caldorian guard seated next to her shifted position, breaking his stony silence. “We are exceeding the human speed limit. We will attract the attention of your police.”

  “That’s all right.” She floored it, and his head hit the headrest with a soft thud. “I’m pretty sure I can talk my way out of a ticket.”

  She was pretty sure she could talk her way out of anything with this strange new voice power of hers. Sasha said she’d nearly died but ended up with powers. And since Isabella wasn’t dead yet, she hoped she was working with the power half of that equation, skipping the dead part altogether. Either way, she intended to use every ounce of power she had to save Matthew.

  And then she was going to kill the asshole who wanted to drink her blood and eat her for lunch. Kill him and any more assholes like him. She had a feeling, wherever they were going, he wouldn’t be the only one.

  Chapter Ten

  The moment the door slid closed behind Isabella, Falden let out a roar, but there was literally nothing he could do. His feet refused to move from where they felt rooted deeply in the ground. He tried to reach for his newly acquired comm unit, but his arm stayed stubbornly at his side, unresponsive to his will. Even his voice, which he could have used to activate his communications system, would not cooperate to form words.

  He was an animal in the moment. Nothing more. Nothing less. A wild animal unable to stop his mate from walking into danger.

  Damn the female!

  “Falden, this is Dagan. Do you hear me?”

  At last his vocal cords eased… “Yes.” He took a breath and tried to tell Dagan about Isabella’s intentions to visit their prisoner, but the moment the intention crossed his mind, his body froze once more.

  Fuck.

  He wasn’t a wild animal. No, she had made him helpless. Weak. No one had ever controlled him like this. Ever.

  He simultaneously wanted to kiss her, spank her and shake some sense into her. The prisoner was dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Dagan had given him the signal during their meeting with the women. The prisoner was not human. Not Caldorian. He was from Darkoor. The genetic analysis completed upon his arrival at the base shocked them all, but especially King Dagan.

  The Darkoor were vile, ate every species they conquered without a moment’s hesitation and served the Dark Ones who feasted on many races, but humans in particular.

  If the Darkoor had shown up to capture Isabella, then she was in more danger than he had imagined…and he could imagine a lot. Damn female didn’t listen. Didn’t obey. Had no fear. No sense of self-preservation.

  And he could no longer pretend she didn’t matter to him. He’d planned to keep her close and protect her. Without maju paste. Without a Lumerian Yielding. Either one could kill a human. He would love her all his days, long after she had passed on, yet he would never have risked her life for his own selfish needs.

  He swore long and loud. Humans did not have the power to control others with their voices as Isabella had done to him. He knew of only two humans with any powers at all, and they’d both been transformed by maju paste. Like Lumerian women, they’d needed an anchor for their power, a Yielding. Two must yield all that they are to become something new, to become one. If either is unwilling or unable to yield fully, the ceremony will result in the deaths of both. All or nothing. That was why some Lumerians chose not to ever attempt a Yielding.

  He’d told Isabella not to use any maju paste on herself. No one dared disobey him, so he hadn’t given the matter another thought. A stupid mistake that could cost Isabella her life. He would gladly go through a Yielding, risk his own life to give her everything, but would she be willing to do the same? Would she be willing to try?

  “Falden! Answer me!” King Dagan’s voice carried through the comm speaker in the wall, and Falden realized he’d been staring at nothing, lost in his fears for Isabella.

  “King Dagan. My apologies. I am under some kind of hypnosis or neurological command. I can’t move.”

  “What?” Dagan grumbled something unintelligible to someone; then his voice came back louder than before. “You can’t move? Is that why the crazy human you brought on base broke into the interrogation room, took my prisoner, stole a car and took two of my warriors off base without permission?”

  “What?” Falden managed two steps. Three. He was reaching for his Spectral Cloaking Armor, his weapons…Furon, the Storm Caller. “Isabella spoke to the prisoner?”

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Dagan was yelling now. “She took him. Gone. Him and two of my best men. The guards at the gate swear they don’t remember seeing her leave, but I have them on video talking to that woman. Every time I ask them where she was going, they swear they never saw her and start singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” which is a fucking human nursery song. So tell me, what the fuck is going on?”

  n to the prisoner, and Falden had not been allowed to interfere. That had been her command. He hadn’t been expecting that from her. Had let his guard down. Falden was ancient. An elder. Closing his eyes, he gave himself to the old ways, taking knowledge from the web of energy that surrounded all living things. Felt for the strings trapping him. Broke free.

  Armor on, he hit a button on his arm that would alert the others to gear up. Gareth. Cassiel. Vander. Normally four Knights would be more than enough, but there was nothing normal about this situation. He needed more help, and he wasn’t above asking for it, not when the Darkoor—and their evil masters—were involved. Not when it was his female. Her scent was still wrapped around his cock, coating him in her essence. The taste of her kiss lingered on his lips. The swirls in his skin, though not as bright as they had been, still glowed with her claim on hi
m.

  She’d claimed him whether she knew it or not. And he was going to make her keep that promise, even if he had to ask the Caldorian warriors for help.

  “I believe Isabella has taken the prisoner in an attempt to find Sevron. She knows Torrin was found and Sevron is missing. She was upset with me for denying her access to the prisoner. She worked for several months to establish links to him and his cohorts. She demanded to speak to the prisoner, even after we left you.”

  “And you told her where he was? What possessed you to do that?”

  “She asked and I could not deny her.” There. That was the truth, or as close to it as he was going to get before speaking to Isabella and finding out the extent of her powers. One command from her and he’d obeyed like a child. Such a power was not to be broadcast to the world.

  . Alive. And bring that Darkoor back, too. I wasn’t done with him.”

  “I have summoned my team. We will follow her immediately.”

  “Good. I’ve got a squadron of Caldorian warriors gearing up. I have a tracking beacon on my men. Isabella has a five-minute head start. The squadron is heading out in three.”

  “We’ll be ready in two.” Furon flashed and swirled with his rising power, the ancient blue runes flashing as terror washed through Falden’s veins like ice water hitting lava. Isabella was out there with a Darkoor. One wrong move and that creature’s teeth would be locked on her throat, draining her dry before devouring her flesh. And there was nothing he could do about it.

  The Caldorians would be the distraction he and his team needed to get inside unseen and kill. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

  And if Isabella was hurt?

  “Fuuuuuuuck!” He slammed his palm against the wall when his door took too long to open, and he found a grim-faced Gareth standing on the other side.

  Gareth stared as if he already knew exactly what was happening.

  Cassiel crossed his arms, his own sword shimmering where it was strapped to the Knight’s back. “Never seen you like this, Commander. What happened?” When he said never, he meant never. Not in living memory, and Cassiel was young for an ancient but he’d still been around too many centuries to count.