Текст книги "Alien Tyrant"

Автор книги: Ursa Dox

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

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CHAPTER NINETEEN Cece

I sat stock still in the saddle, trying very hard to keep my shit together. We didn’t need more tears now, but it was tough. Those socks were just so soft and small. The fact that somebody in the tribe cared enough about the lost human girl who barely spoke their language to make her new clothes and socks was already enough to set me off. And finding out it was actually Buroudei? Yeah, that was a whole other level. The image of him, bent over and sewing a garment as ridiculously small as one of these socks, making sure it would fit my puny human foot, was a shot straight to my goddamn heart.

I watched him as he frowned and muttered to himself, fussing with the saddle, tightening some things and adjusting others. I watched his muscles bunch, his jaw growing hard in concentration, his starkly beautiful eyes focused. Frankly, I was kind of wondering if he was even real. A strong warrior who seemed addicted to giving me pleasure, who’d made me a pair of freaking socks, plus new pants and a saddle? My last boyfriend couldn’t have even been bothered to take the trash out.

Why was I comparing him to my last boyfriend?

What exactly is he to me?

My captor? My saviour? My big alien boyfriend?

Honestly, I had no idea. All I knew was that the closer we got, the less I wanted to be away from him.

Soon enough, Buroudei grunted in satisfaction at his handiwork, and I wiggled my hips, settling in. This was about a thousand times more comfortable than the last time I’d ridden on this thing. My legs felt supported and cushioned, and when Buroudei swung up behind me after securing all our supplies, I was able to lean back comfortably against him for support. My cheeks grew warm as he murmured something into my hair, his massive arm circling around me. His other hand gripped a spear, and I couldn’t deny the brutal, purely masculine eroticism of that image. The warmth in my cheeks travelled down my neck, then lower and lower.

Buroudei barked at the irkdu, and then we were off.

The journey took hours. At least, I assume it took hours. I had no way to properly tell. I was amazed Buroudei could keep track of where we were going. So much of the way was rolling, featureless sand. Buroudei kept his eyes trained ahead of us, his weapon always at the ready, but nothing seemed to stir in the sand around us.

Eventually a set of cliffs appeared to our right, and I yelped, recognizing them. Buroudei grunted in acknowledgement. Those were the cliffs where he’d first taken me. That meant we were getting close.

The happiness and excitement I’d felt at getting successfully back to the ship transformed into a sick bundle of nerves. My stomach twisted, and I ground my teeth in anticipation of what I’d find. I was not looking forward to seeing the bodies of my friends, especially if I couldn’t do anything for them. I had a feeling Buroudei wouldn’t stand around guarding me while I tried to bury a bunch of half-eaten humans.

A dark form was taking shape on the horizon. I sat up straighter, pointing and exclaiming, “There it is! We’re almost there.”

Buroudei did not respond, but urged his irkdu forward with a click of his tongue. We crossed the last stretch of sand in what felt like no time at all. I held my breath as we approached.

The carnage of the scene was still laid bare. Though, shockingly, I didn’t see the corpses of any of my friends. Instead, the sand was littered with the motionless bodies of the horrible crab monsters. Just seeing them, even lifeless, with their legs curled inward on themselves, was enough to make my skin crawl. Buroudei was sniffing the air, his head swinging back and forth as he surveyed the scene, spear half-raised. I didn’t speak, too afraid to make a sound. But after a moment, he seemed to relax, though only slightly, and we continued forward.

When we passed by one of the dead alien monsters, Buroudei leaned down and yanked a spear from its body, growling something to himself and securing it to his mount.

“I don’t see any of their bodies,” I whispered, more to myself than Buroudei. I wasn’t sure if that was giving me hope, or hinting at something even worse. Was it a good or bad sign that none of my friends were rotting out here? I had a good view into the bridge, and I saw the aftermath of the pilots and soldiers who had died there – scattered bones stripped clean of flesh, scraps of uniforms littering the floor. But that seemed to be limited to the initial attack area. I didn’t see any more human gore out here, and something had obviously killed all the crab monsters. A flicker of painful hope came to life inside me.

Maybe they’re all still alive out there.

I hadn’t been told anything about how many aliens like Buroudei there were on this planet. I had no idea if there were other groups out there, or even other kinds of aliens, that could have rescued my friends. But for now, I was choosing to believe that they were still around. Somewhere. Someway.

I grinned, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. Things were already going well. We’d made it back to the ship without issue, and there was evidence that my friends were still alive? It was almost too good to be true. The thought that there were other humans on this planet, the women I’d spent two weeks working and living with, brought me intense joy. Now I just have to figure out how to ask Buroudei to help me find them.

I surveyed the ship, remembering why we’d come.

One thing at a time.

With Buroudei’s help, I dismounted. If he hadn’t been there, holding me every step of the way, I would have flopped to the sand in a tangle of discombobulated limbs. It was kind of awe-inspiring how graceful and strong he was.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him. He did not return my happy look. It was clear he wasn’t glad to be here. I had to make this quick.

The only problem was I didn’t really know where to start. I knew I wanted to avoid the mess in the bridge, so I circled around the back of the ship to the open cargo bay, followed closely by Buroudei, who now held a spear in one hand and his axe in the other. Just as I remembered from the brief time I’d been in this part of the ship, there were boxes and shelves lining the walls. Some things had been damaged, but a remarkable amount of stuff seemed untouched. I picked a random part of the room and started looking around, opening whatever boxes I could. A lot of the stuff was interesting, and potentially useful to someone, but not to me. Things like microscopes and lab equipment were passed over, but when I found a crate of water bottles, I literally jumped for joy. Dozens of plastic water bottles, shining like precious jewels, in neat little rows. I grabbed the first one in reach, cranking it open and chugging. The valok plants were OK, and they kept me hydrated enough, but there was nothing like pure water when you were thirsty.

Buroudei was watching me with concern.

“It’s water! My home planet is covered in this stuff.”

I poured a little in a stream onto the floor of the cargo bay, and Buroudei jerked back, then leaned forward with interest.

“Here, drink some!” I showed him how to drink from the bottle, and he did so, rather suspiciously. After a sip he handed it back, making a sour face that made me chuckle.

“You’re so broody. Come on, help me get these out there, would you?” I gestured to the large crate, which weighed easily 80lbs, batting my eyelashes, only half-jokingly. Buroudei crouched then lifted the crate onto his shoulder, steadying it and holding it with only one arm so that he could keep his spear ready with the other. Holy shit. I tried not to gulp at the sheer, raw power of his body. To say it was impressive was an understatement.

We moved back outside, and Buroudei lashed the crate securely to the irkdu, just in front of the saddle. We made several trips in and out of the cargo bay. I was able to track down some extra clothing and two extra jackets. None of it was my size, but baggy was better than nothing. I also found an abandoned pack that still had all of the supplies for our original mission – the first aid stuff, the sunglasses, the rations and the sunscreen. We tied it all to the irkdu, the giant animal starting to look more and more like some kind of mutant pack mule. As Buroudei tightened the straps against the backpack, I stared at the broken front part of the ship, smashed to bits by the alien crabs.

No chance that thing will fly again.

A jolt went through me. How was it that this was the first time that the thought of returning to Earth had even crossed my mind? We’d come all the way back to this ship, a space ship, for God’s sake, and I hadn’t once wondered if we could somehow get it up and running, or at least make some sort of transmission for our rescue? I’d only wanted to come back here for supplies, nothing more. What the hell did that say about me? Did I not want to go back?

My gaze drifted to Buroudei. Involuntarily. Inevitably. Like his body was emitting some kind of gravity. He’d been protective and good, in his alien way. He’d looked out for me, tried to take care of me, and made me feel, every moment, like I was his, even if that was sometimes extremely annoying. What did I have back on Earth? No one. Nothing. A government that had betrayed me and sent my friends and me to almost certain death. I had my PhD program, I guessed, but what was more fulfilling to a linguist than studying an alien language, up close and personal? The realization crystallized inside me so hard and fast it cracked, radiating pain through my rib cage. I had nothing on Earth. Nothing worth going back for. But here? Maybe here I had something. Or someone.

I have to tell him.

In this short time, as crazy as it seemed, I’d grown to care for my tall, brooding, alien gladiator. I had to let him know, somehow. My chest was tight with the need to let out this mounting emotion. I moved towards him, placing my hands on his chest, tilting my chin upward. My voice was choked as I spoke his name.

“Buroudei...”

A ferocious roar split the air. The breath whooshed painfully out of me as Buroudei slammed me to the ground, covering me with the bulk of his body as a spear soared over us.

What the hell?

If we were going to run into trouble out here, I thought it would have been more of the crab things. Not one of Buroudei’s men.

In a crouch, Buroudei dragged me over to the irkdu, settling me against its body before whirling, spear and axe drawn. His tail thrashed back and forth in the sand and his breath came in a feral hiss. I panted, trying to regain my breath and some semblance of understanding of the situation. But my brain was clearly two steps behind Buroudei’s. I hadn’t even focused my eyes when he’d located the threat and had gone stalking out over the sands toward it. He was growling and roaring, bitter, sharp words I didn’t understand. The irkdu snuffled, and I stood, staying somewhat bent, clutching at the animal’s side as I tried to gauge just what the fuck was happening.

Buroudei jerked, and a knife thudded to the ground behind him. I cried out without meaning to. The darkness was lit by this planet’s spinning belt of asteroids, glowing like moons, and I could see the blade had grazed his shoulder. Black blood streamed down his arm, but Buroudei didn’t seem to notice. His entire focus was on the man approaching us from the ship.

I said man, but it was another alien. The same kind of alien as Buroudei, but I realized that I didn’t recognize him at all from Buroudei’s tribe. This was a stranger. A threat. My pulse thundered. If Buroudei gets hurt because of this, because of me... The thought was too painful to bring to completion.

They moved so quickly I could barely register what had happened. One moment they were moving towards each other, weapons drawn, the next they were locked in brutal battle, limbs and tails flying, blades flashing. I froze in horror, watching them. This wasn’t some schoolyard scuffle. It was plain as day that this was a fight to the death. My fear was explosive and overpowering, and I screamed Buroudei’s name.

And he looked. Of course he looked. Because he always looked at me, for me, after me. Because, for some reason, I was dear to him. Beyond measure. Beyond words. So when I called for him, he looked. He looked at me like I was the only thing in the world.

But clearly he was looking at a complete fucking idiot, because that one single stupid scream of his name changed the tide of the battle. Changed the tide of everything.

Because of the distraction, the other alien got the upper hand, managing to wrestle Buroudei down to the ground. Animal snarls and the thud of muscle on muscle and blade on bone crashed through the air. The other alien’s knife was stuck in Buroudei’s shoulder, and he’d managed to work a second knife up under Buroudei’s chin. Buroudei was gripping the blade, blood gushing between his fingers as he pushed upward, but the other alien had the full force of his body weight pressing down. And every second, that blade was inching closer to Buroudei’s throat.

I was about to watch Buroudei get slaughtered. And it was all my fault..

No. No no no.

Too much had been taken from me already. But not this. Not him. Not today.

Before I knew what I was even doing, I was up and running, my breath coming in sharp gasps. My vision swam as my legs pumped, and I vaguely remembered the colonel saying something about reduced oxygen in this atmosphere. But still I pressed on. Because there was no other choice.

I had no plan of attack. I just knew I needed to get this other alien off of Buroudei, at least long enough to give him the chance to recover and regain the upper hand. Panic swelled inside me, but I forced it down, sweeping my eye quickly over the situation, trying to grasp at anything that could help. Then it clicked. His tail.

There was no time to think my plan through. With a shriek, I grabbed onto the thick, muscled tail of the other alien, pulling with all my might.

It didn’t do much. This guy easily had 180lbs on me. But it did enough. The alien jerked back in surprise, and I cried out triumphantly as I saw Buroudei rip the knife from his grip, spinning it and plunging it into his enemy’s chest. But the other alien still had some fight left in him, and he gnashed his teeth, swinging his powerful tail and throwing me off of him.

I flew through the air, tumbling into the cargo bay. I smashed into a row of crates, and there was pain everywhere, everywhere. I was on my back, unable to move, even as I saw the heavy metal box teetering on the shelf above me. The last thought I had before it fell and threw me into darkness was of Buroudei. And the thought was so vivid that, even as I got ripped down into bloodied unconsciousness, I swore I heard him call my name.

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CHAPTER TWENTY Buroudei

I heard Zeezee’s body collide with the hard shell of the fallen thing, and I was filled with such rage that for the first time I saw my enemy’s sight stars pulse in fear. He had one knife lodged in his chest and had fallen back, but that was not enough to fell a warrior of the Sea Sands. It did not matter. I would be victorious. I had to be, because that was how I would get to Zeezee. Baring my fangs, I pulled the other warrior’s knife from my shoulder, blood pouring. But there was no pain. Only blinding oblivion. The pulse of hungry vengeance pulled to a harrowing point. The need to kill.

He had hurt my Zeezee.

It was time for him to die.

The warrior scrabbled back on the sand, out of weapons.

“Gahn Fallo will know of what you’ve done. He’ll come and take your female, just like he took all the others.”

I leaped forward, the knife slicing up through the air to his throat.

“Let him try,” I snarled.

With a flick of the blade, I ended him.

I sprang up and ran, back into the fallen thing, to the side of my mate. Fear impaled me when I saw she was not moving. Her head was turned sharply to one side, having been hit by one of the strange square jars. Her beautiful, terrible blood was streaming down her face and dripping from her ears. For the first time in my adult life, or maybe ever, my hands shook from fear. I knelt, bringing them to her perfect, bloodied face. There was the barest hint of breath.

She’s alive.

There was no time to waste.

I collected her, as gently as I could, in my arms, bounding out of the fallen creature and leaping up onto my irkdu. My own blood was shockingly dark on her skin. We were too far from the tents, too far from the healers. Clenching my jaw, I realized there was only one choice now.

I cried out, and my irkdu groaned, its many legs working to bring us to the Cliffs of Uruzai.

WE CAME UP ON THE CLIFFS quickly, and I launched off of the irkdu before it had even stopped moving, cradling Zeezee against my chest. I hated her limpness and the blood blooming on her face. The blood coming from her nose and ears was terrifying. I wanted to say so much to her. There was so much she did not yet understand. But all I could choke out were the words, “Do not die.”

I sprinted along the cliffs, approaching the entrance to the Lavrika Pools. The Lavrikala there looked at me sharply, drawing her spear, entering into a defensive pose. Without the Lavrika’s invitation, there was no reason for me to be there. It was forbidden. But it was the only way.

I did not want to kill the Lavrikala. Such a thing was blasphemy, an atrocity of the highest order. I bit back nausea at the thought that I might have to betray the most sacred ways of our people to save my mate. But I would do it. I knew I would. I just hoped I would not have to.

I skidded to a stop before the Lavrikala, raising my tail before my eyes and dropping to my knees in a show of submission unheard of for a Gahn of the Sea Sands. But I did not care. Not now. Not while Zeezee bled in my arms.

“Gahn, what-” the Lavrikala began, her voice halting in confusion. My tail thrashed back down to the ground, and I saw that she was the same guardian who had been here the night the Lavrika had come to me. I hoped that that was some sort of sign.

“Please, Lavrikala. Please.” My voice was a broken growl. “This is my mate. I think that she is dying. You must allow me access to the Lavrikala Pools. She will not live to see my healers.”

The Lavrikala was quiet for so long I worried that I would have to kill her after all. But then she spoke, and the relief was like sunlight after a long night.

“I do not believe the Lavrika would want your mate to die out here on the sands. No, this cannot be. Come forward, Gahn. I grant you access to the Pools of Lavrika.”

My chest tightened, and I raised my tail once more in a final show of gratitude before I was up, forging forward into the darkness of the cliffs. I pushed through the narrow tunnel, being careful not to knock Zeezee’s head or feet against the walls, before I emerged into the cavern with the pools. The Lavrika was nowhere to be seen. It did not guide me in what to do. I had only my own instincts to rely on. With one last look at my mate’s lovely face and a final grunt of deep pain, I leaped forward, plunging into the nearest pool.

Zeezee was pulled from my arms at once. As if she were a stone, she sank, while I was buoyed back up. I howled, fighting whatever force was separating us, claws slashing, tail snapping. But it was no use. I was thrown from the pool. I was more prepared for this than last time, and I landed in a crouch before sprinting back to the pool and attempting to re-enter. But I was thrown back as soon as my skin made contact with the surface. An agonized roar tore from my chest. I could not get to Zeezee. I could not help her. I should have never brought her here at all. The pain was unlike any I had ever known.

I had doomed her.

And I had doomed myself.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Cece

Everything was white. All glowy and soft and cushiony. I floated freely, no clue where I was, blinking, dazed in the face of all that white. There was something familiar about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was like something from a forgotten dream. I shook my head back and forth slowly, trying to figure it out before giving up. I wasn’t warm, and I wasn’t cold. I didn’t feel hungry or tired or in pain. To be honest, I didn’t feel much of anything at all.

Maybe I died. Don’t they talk about a white light when you die?

The thought didn’t bring me any real emotion. I felt like I was wrapped in gauze, everything held back, on the other side, away from me. But there was something wrong with the idea that I’d died. A tiny, niggling pain that I became aware of slowly. The feeling that I had left something important behind.

I blinked again, and suddenly there was a face before me. It was white, too, and glowing. I had no idea if it had been there the whole time or if it had just appeared. For a split second, I thought it was my Grammy, and then I was pretty sure that, yup, I’d died. But another blink brought the face into better focus. It wasn’t Grammy. It wasn’t human at all. It was huge, something between a snake and a dragon, with gigantic, knowing eyes. It opened its massive mouth, revealing three rows of wicked teeth and a tongue forked into three parts. That image stirred something deep inside my brain. Three tongues...

Buroudei.

I gasped. Or I would have, if I had been breathing. I wasn’t sure if I was floating in gas or liquid or some element that I didn’t even know existed. Whatever. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I didn’t keep going into whatever this light was. Because I had to get back to Buroudei. I had to make sure he was OK. He’d been fighting. And he’d been hurt.

“Please,” I said, and my voice echoed as if from everywhere. “Please, help me go back.” I didn’t know what this creature was or if it would help me, but it was the only thing here and it was my only fucking shot. The dragon head opened its mouth wider. Then the long ribbon of its body, legless and wingless and invisible until that moment, wound around me, squeezing. “Please,” I begged. I couldn’t stay here. Not without him.

I didn’t know if the dragon creature could even hear me. My whole body was wrapped up in its glowing form. The only part of me still exposed was my head. The dragon’s mouth got bigger and bigger, bigger than should have been possible.

It reared forward, taking my head into its jaws.

And bit down.

“YOU MUST LIVE, ZEEZEE. You must. I cannot think without you. I cannot breathe. If you die, I will wander the sands forever bereft without you. I will let the zeelk strip the flesh from my bones, and even that will not be enough to atone. That pain would be nothing to this. You must live. You must fight. You must. You must.”

What was that? Was this the dragon talking to me? Was I inside its mouth or what? I groaned, opening my eyes. My vision swam, but right away I could tell I was somewhere different. For one thing, there was stuff to see besides endless glowing white. Dimly lit stone walls and a high, rounded ceiling. And a set of huge, dark eyes with glimmering metallic specks pulsing in the centre.

“Buroudei,” I whispered. I felt my face split into the biggest fucking smile. I couldn’t help it. I was so glad to be back here. To be with him. “Am I ever happy to see you.”

Buroudei froze. The specks in his eyes exploded and swirled, and he brought his face closer. I felt his hands on either side of my jaw, and wanted to nuzzle into them.

“How is it you can speak to me?”

His voice was deep, gruff, and perfectly understandable.

Um. What?

“Excuse me? Hold on. Rewind.”

Buroudei’s face darkened and he hissed.

“A moment ago I heard you speak. I understood you. But now I do not understand what you say at all. What is ‘rewind?’”

Holy fucking shit. I sat up, gasping, and Buroudei jerked in surprised.

“Lay back, my mate! You were injured very badly.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, thoughts tearing through my mind, as Burdouei’s hands ran all over me, from scalp to toes, checking for injuries. My brain was moving about a thousand miles a minute. I could understand Buroudei. And he could understand me. And he’d called me his mate... Which, just... What?

“OK, one thing at a time.” I opened my eyes to find Buroudei’s face an inch from mine. I gulped. “How can we understand each other?”

I could tell that I wasn’t speaking English. I was speaking his language, but as easily as if it were my own native tongue.

Buroudei sat back on his haunches now that he was satisfied I wasn’t injured. He stared at me.

“I do not know,” he said slowly. “I brought you to the Lavrika Pools for healing. This must be a gift from the Lavrika.”

“What’s a Lavrika? Oh. You mean that dragon thing?”

He frowned.

“I do not know this word.”

Dragon had come out in English, like rewind had earlier.

“This big long white animal. With a huge head and eyes.”

Buroudei took a sharp breath.

“Yes. That is the Lavrika. The spirit of this place. You saw it?”

I nodded eagerly.

“Yes, I think so. It wrapped itself all around me, then tried to eat my head. I guess. Or maybe not.”

Buroudei’s tail thudded.

“I do not understand this. But I will not question it. Being able to speak with you is a treasure I could not have fathomed. I did not think I would ever get to talk to my mate.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that. Why do you keep calling me that?”

His jaw clenched, and for a moment he looked crushed, but he composed himself quickly.

“The Lavrika allows warriors a vision of their mate and it awakens the sacred mate bond between them. Many days ago, I was summoned here to see my mate. And I saw you in the pools.” His face softened. “And then, some days after that, I found you. And my life has been bathed in glory ever since.”

I flushed. Damn. Had he been saying stuff like this to me the whole time? I might not have fought his advances off so much if I’d known that I was bathing his life in glory. If a human guy had such a thing to me, I would have laughed my ass off. But when Buroudei said it, it didn’t sound over the top. It just sounded sincere and true. Plus, the fact he was gorgeous and hulking and brooding helped. My eyes trailed over his face, his neck, his shoulders -

“Oh my God, wait, your shoulder! That guy with the knife. He got you! Are you OK?”

I sat back up and crawled over to him, my hands brushing across his skin and finding no sign of the battle.

Buroudei caught my hands in his, drawing them to his chest.

“The Lavrika’s blood healed me as well as you.”

I glanced over at the shining body of liquid next to me. It looked like the same glowing milky stuff Rika used at the healers’ tent. I guess Buroudei and I both took a little bath. I didn’t seem wet, though. It definitely wasn’t a normal liquid.

Relief coursed through me as I turned my eyes back to Buroudei, and I couldn’t hold back the flood of emotions that came with it. My throat tightened, and tears burned in my eyes.

“When I was alone in there, in all that white, all I could think about was getting back to you.”

The admission made me feel raw and vulnerable, but I wanted to be vulnerable with Buroudei. Because I knew that he would keep me safe.

He groaned, capturing my face with his strong hands, then crashed his mouth against mine. I opened immediately against the onslaught, tears streaming more freely now. Buroudei pulled back when he felt the wetness on my cheeks and dabbed at them curiously.

“What does this mean, this wetness from your eyes?”

I laughed, rubbing the back of my hands across my eyes quickly.

“I guess it’s a human thing. It happens when we’re sad.”

Buroudei looked horrified, and I rushed to explain.

“Or happy! Or relieved. Or stressed. Or if there’s a physical injury. Basically when anything intense or overwhelming happens, someone might cry.”

Burouei looked as if he were thinking hard.

“To cry... This is a human thing. Human is the name of your tribe?”

“I guess you could say that.” Even with my newly acquired language skills, I still wasn’t sure how to explain how I’d gotten here. But Buroudei seemed satisfied for the moment.

“Human or not, you are now a woman of the Sea Sands. Once we are mated, you will be crowned the Gahnala of our tribe. And together we will rule our territory and have many cubs.”

Somehow I had more questions now that I could understand Buroudei than I had had before. Mated? What did that mean? Like, going all the way? What was a Gahnala? And many cubs? Like, kids? Little half-human, half-kangaroo gladiator babies?

I sighed, pressing my thumb and forefinger to the bridge of my nose and pinching.

“I feel like we have a lot to talk about,” I muttered.

Buroudei stood and held his hand out for me, the human gesture that now looked so natural on him. Without hesitation, I took it, warmth spreading through my whole body. He looked happier than I’d ever seen him. And despite all the weirdness of this moment, it was beautiful to see.

“Come, my mate. We have time. The journey home is long.”

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