My lips pressed in a hard line. “Fine, but you better not drop me.”
“Jump!” he ordered again.
Here goes nothing, Millie.
I jumped.
It wasn’t a long drop, but I still thought my heart might explode.
Oomph.
He caught me in his arms.
“Thanks.” I swallowed hard.
He nodded, then set me on my feet.
“What are…”
He held up a finger again. I wanted to grab it and twist. So far, he’d interrupted my plans and now he kept shushing me. Okay, I may have had a mini tantrum, but my back was up against a wall, and I was quickly running out of options.
He retrieved an object from some hidden pocket in his pants and held it up. It glowed bright green. The disc he’d placed on the rock flew through the opening and docked on the device in his hand. Then the rock opening closed.
“Neat trick.”
He turned and faced me, arms folded, eyes accusing. “What were you doing in Andore Territory?”
“Were you following me?” I crossed my arms, mimicking him.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Neither of us wanted to place everything on the table for the other’s inspection. It was a stare off.
Knowing he wouldn’t let this go, and after literally five minutes of awkward silence, I dropped my arms and looked away first, angry for feeling…well I’m not quite sure how I felt. Ever since my last encounter with the colonel, I’d been on edge, knowing that if I didn’t go through with the wedding, he would hunt down everyone I loved until he found me.
“Millicent.” Murda stepped forward, placing one finger under my chin and forcing me to look him in the eyes. “What were you doing there? And why were you at the liaison’s office?”
I jerked my chin away. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. You have helped me, now let me help you.”
I scoffed. “I really didn’t help you though. I got one of the jammers into the restricted top floor room, but the other one…” I swallowed hard. “I only managed to get it into the pocket of the woman who worked there. It will only help when she’s at work or until it’s discovered.”
“That’s more than I could have done.” The gentleness of his voice had me glancing up at him. His body was angled toward mine, gaze intense. I could feel the warmth as it soaked into my skin.
“I didn’t succeed.”
He tenderly touched my cheek. “You did indeed.”
I turned into his touch, softening a little. “How can you say that?”
“And you helped me when I was injured.”
“You would have done the same for me.”
“Tell me Millicent, what kind of trouble are you in?”
I didn’t want to. God, how I wanted to do this alone. But his patience, his compassion…what was happening to me? How had he—and his opinion—become important? I was a loner, but he made me want to be a team player, to trust him with my secrets. And I did trust him, which kept me off balance and slightly irritated.
Without thinking, I cracked a little.
“I found the man who killed my family. His name is Raun…”
“And you were there to kill him?”
“Yes. It was my last chance before I had to…” I clamped my mouth shut.
“Millicent.” With one finger under my chin he forced me to look at him again. “Tell me.”
Gulping, eyes glistening, my chin quivered slightly. His finger lightly stroked my cheek.
Something shifted, my heart pounding with an unfamiliar emotion. Before I could stop, I blurted out nearly everything at once.
“Colonel Petroff is my only living male relative, so he’s my assigned protector.” His shoulders stiffened, but he’d asked, so I kept going. “The higher-ups have decided the alliance with the Andores needs to be strengthened. The colonel decided I would be the perfect sacrifice to strengthen his own ties.” I looked away and sucked in a deep breath.
He took my hand in his. “Finish.”
“I am to marry Jyan.”
Murda’s entire body went rigid. “When?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ve been ordered back to his office the day after tomorrow. Well, it’s past midnight so technically…tomorrow.”
His aura turned a deep red in anger, eyes glowing slightly. I thought he would crush my hand before I jerked it away and shook it out. “Ow!”
An array of emotions crossed his face at lightning speed, but I kept my lips clamped shut. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea, so I didn’t except Murda to either.
Sharing this with him made me feel less alone. A burden lifted from my shoulders. Anger and vengeance had powered me for so long, but now I just felt…sad.
No, that couldn’t be right…
A peaceful look came over his face. Holding out his hand, palm up, he said, “I will protect you.”
My eyes drifted from his hand to his face, then back to his hand. Did he mean for me to go with him? Did I want to?
I’d never had anyone to protect me before, not since my parents’ untimely death. When I lived with my Great Papa, I had to take care of him, not the other way around.
Staring at his outstretched, odd-looking hand, I slowly placed my own in it. His gray hand enclosed around my pale ivory one. I wanted to ask him why. Why would he do such a thing? He didn’t know me, not really. And I knew almost nothing about him.
Tears flooded my eyes as I fought them back…and lost. They spilled onto my cheek; my chin quivered. How long had it been since I had someone to count on, a true partner? But then I’d never had that…I’d had my parents and brother, and then they were taken from me…
Something inside crumbled as a sob tore lose. My vengeance drifted into a flood of tears. Without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck.
To my surprise, he hugged me back. “You have to let the anger go.” His voice sounded sure, but low.
Anger, in any form, caused destruction. I knew that. But letting it go? That was a new concept for me. I didn’t care about the consequences, I wanted justice.
But at what cost? I asked myself. Should I marry Jyan to get closer to Raun? And for what? To kill him? To kill them both, and sign my own death warrant?
I sniffed then stepped back and wiped my eyes, allowing an uncomfortable laugh to escape.
“Sorry.” I smiled shakily. “That was embarrassing.”
He took my hand in his again.
I wished I knew what he was thinking, how he felt. But he never said a word. Tugging me forward, we walked side-by-side through the damp, dark tunnel, just taking our time; neither one of us was in a hurry.
For reasons I couldn’t yet describe, it just felt right to be there.
12
Millicent
As we ambled along in silence at an easy, casual pace, a peace blanketed me. I hadn’t felt this way in a long time. What a strange feeling.
“Tell me about Earth. What happened?” Murda asked.
“Only if you tell me about the tunnel.”
He nodded once. “Agreed.”
I sucked in a slow, easy breath. “It happened before I was born, even before my parents were born. The history books say that there were several leaders on Earth, and none of them could agree on anything. They argued, they threatened…and then one day…they acted.” I glanced at him, then continued: “There were billions of people back then. They destroyed the Earth and called it ‘progress.’”
“That is the way of most planets, until they learn.”
“I guess.” Brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear, I finished the history lesson. “They built large cities and covered everything in brick, concrete, or payment. The amount of electricity needed was staggering.
“Coal used to be used for energy. Then came uranium. They were in the process of converting the power plants over to solar power when everything went horribly wrong.
“Some say a power plant exploded, the lar
gest one in the United States. It started a ripple effect. Other people say that the power plants were targeted by rival countries. With so many people killed and no way to communicate, nobody ever really knew for sure.”
“And that happened before your birth?” he asked, glancing my way.
“Yes. When I grew up life wasn’t the best, but at least we were surviving. And then the Andores showed up with their godlike offer of help.”
How absurd to believe they were helping from the goodness of their heart, I thought bitterly.
“They cleaned up the air, replenished the soil…they even encouraged the trees and other plants to grow at rapid rates.” I paused. “How can they encourage trees to go? I’ve never understood that.”
“The Andores use stolen technology,” Murda explained.
That didn’t surprise me in the least.
“And the tunnels?” I probed.
He glanced over, and I had the distinct impression he was calculating how much to tell me.
“When we landed, Colonel Petroff was the first person to greet us. I knew instantly he was less than honorable and not to be trusted. And he was working closely with the Andores, who are also a less than honorable race, to put it mildly. We had the technology and the means to carve out tunnels that would serve several purposes.”
“Such as?”
His eyes drifted toward me again, smiling. “Rescuing Human females from making terrible decisions.”
Was he teasing me? It sounded like it, and that seemed so out of character for him. But I liked it. Still, I had to defend my position.
“Killing Raun is not a terrible decision.”
He grinned. “Killing any Andore is a wise choice indeed.”
My head swam.
He agrees with me?
My heart did a happy dance that left me feeling a bit strange.
“Glad we can agree.” I waved my arm. “Now continue.”
“Tunnels are a tactical strategy. It allows us to move around undetected and…”
“Oh my God, if someone attacks, then you can use the tunnels to circle around behind them!”
“Yes.”
“That’s ingenious! How’d you think of it?”
“Colonel Petroff came up with the idea. He did not want us to be seen, so the government built a tunnel under their building. We had the means, so we expanded on their concept.”
I wanted to laugh. The colonel thought he was so smart. In truth, even though he had to know that both the Andores and Tizuns had better technology, he was actually arrogant enough to believe that he had superior intelligence, or was at least equal to them. And who knew—maybe he was. But without the technology, none of his great ideas mattered.
Something chirped. Murda reached into his pocket and pulled out the holographic call chip. “Yes, Gar.”
A small image appeared and I recognized the man from the park. “Kyrio, we have two more detained.”
“Keep them until I return.” And then he clicked the chip off and slid it back into his pocket.
“That still freaks me out a little.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m afraid someone can track it.”
“No one uses it at your friend’s house?”
“Nope. With the Andores snatching up women, everyone lives off the grid. At least as much as possible.”
Murda
My mind reeled with information overload. She waited this long to tell me of the colonel’s plans? I suspected something was wrong when he had summoned her to the earlier meeting, but this? And now at the next meeting, she would be given to Jyan.
What else had she kept secret?
Not only could I not allow Jyan to rise to an even higher position of power, I also had a deep instinct to protect Millicent, to keep her safe.
Everything began to make sense. The blood on her hands. The daggers she wielded with expertise, the killing of her family. And then I caught her staking out Andore Territory. There was no doubt that she had killed the others, the ones Jyan had accused my people of killing.
And yet, her courage sparked my interest like no other. Underneath my cool demeanor, my hearts raced when I spotted her sneaking into Andore Territory.
Perhaps I had been stuck on this planet for too long. I knew what I should do, what I wanted to do, but what if our people rescued us? What then? And would Millicent consent?
It would strengthen my people if we had to live the remainder of our lives on this planet…
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
My lips twitched as I looked at her. “I am not sure you would want to know.”
“Tell me anyway.”
I enjoyed the easiness of being around her, the honesty.
Back and forth with ideas, I didn’t know if this was for the best, but I couldn’t come up with any other solution. If the colonel found her with me, and I didn’t turn her over, I could accidently thrust us into war.
“What was your passion before the Andores came?” I asked, needing a distraction.
“Honestly, I didn’t do very much. Helped Mom when I could, stayed with friends. Scavenged destroyed cities, finding things of value to sell to the government for a little extra money. There really wasn’t much else to do. With only a fraction of us left after…” She paused, scrunching her nose. “Well, you know. There just weren’t many jobs, unless you worked for the government.”
“And yet you survived.”
“Well, yeah.”
Her tone, the way she held her shoulders, told me all I needed to know. Humanity had survived any way they could. No one could fault them for that.
“We were happy, though.” Her tone sounded distant, and I knew she was thinking of her family. My hearts ached for her. If I lost my entire family…and yet here I remained, stuck on this planet without them.
“What do you plan to do?” I asked, still debating this absurd idea in my head.
“About what?”
“Jyan. The colonel.”
“Well…there’s no way in hell I’m marrying Jyan. And honestly…I didn’t really expect to live past trying to kill Raun.” She grew silent for a moment, her eyes drifting my way. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this. It’s totally out of character for me.”
To think she already trusted me, at least a little, helped me decide the course of action. But still, did I want to commit to a lifetime with someone I barely knew?
And yet, when I was away from her, I found my mind always drifting to the pond, wondering if she was there waiting.
Stopping abruptly, I faced Millicent. Her strange round eyes stared back at me in confusion. Taking her hands, I took a deep breath. “The only way I can protect you, is to take you as my Ryges.”
Her eyes narrowed, dark eyebrows pulled down. “What does that mean?”
“It does not translate in your language exactly. It basically means wife, but…more.”
“You want to marry me?” Her round eyes widened as they searched mine. “You don’t even find me attractive!”
I smiled. “You are correct.” It had the desired effect. A huge grin spread across her face.
“Why would you do that?” she asked, almost laughing.
“Well, it would anger the colonel.”
She chuckled and I enjoyed the happy look on her face. I hadn’t seen it often and wanted to keep it there.
“You can say that again,” she replied.
“Why would I repeat myself?”
“That’s not…never mind.” Her eyes searched mine, and I knew she was weighing her options. “What would that mean exactly, if I married you?”
“I would protect you, keep you safe.”
“I’d have to live in Tizun Territory?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“No sneaking away and stalking Andores.”
She scoffed. “What fun is that?”
I clasped her hands tighter in mine. “Millicent, there is happiness when vengean
ce is released.”
“Maybe,” she said dubiously, intense gaze burning into mine.
Like me, she must be weighing her options. Taking a Ryges was not to be taken lightly, but such grave circumstances dictated…unusual…actions. If we were stranded here for the rest of our lives, then I needed to secure our place on this world.
“I know nothing about you, not really.”
“You will learn in time, as will I.” I needed her to understand before she made her decision. “This will be an adjustment for me as well and I…will not always be easy.” She scrunched her nose again, so I elaborated: “I am not Human.”
She scoffed, the lines on her forehead disappearing. “Don’t worry. Nobody could mistake you for Human.” She patted my chest. “Still, if we were to do this, how would we find someone to marry us? When would we have the ceremony?”
“Then you agree?”
Her eyes locked with mine. “I don’t know. I mean, it would make things easier.”
And it was the only conclusion I could fathom. She could always run away, but knowing Jyan, he would hunt her down, if only to make an example of her. If I hid her in Tizun Territory…no, this was the most logical conclusion.
“I never really imagined my wedding would be born out of desperation.”
Neither did I, but that was exactly how it felt. “Desperation?”
“It’s better than saying ‘shotgun wedding.’”
“I do not understand.”
“I read that a long time ago, it was said that if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock, her daddy would hold a shotgun and force the father to marry her.”
“He would not marry her of his own accord?”
She laughed before her face morphed into serious thought. “Can I think about it?”
“Of course.”
We walked on in silence. I was pleased she didn’t jump at the opportunity; it showed patient strategy on her part. And to be honest, I needed the time to go over every possible outcome again.
As much as I denied it to myself, I knew there was something special about Millicent. And it wasn’t just her ability to read emotions. Physically, I could not stand the thought of her being put in harm’s way, which was a first for me.
So I would give her time to think.
Falling for the Alien Prince Page 10