Page 27 of Alien Knight Steals the Bride

Torrin was about to say more when Greig’s voice, Taeger’s second in command, came through his earpiece. “Found something. Sublevel eighteen. Third door on the right. I think you should get down here.”

Torrin didn’t wait for the other Lumerian Knights. He pushed himself to his limit, running faster than he’d ever run before toward sublevel eighteen, dread a hard knot in his gut. He drew his sword as he ran, ready for anything.

Racing through the third door on the right, he nearly slammed into the huge Vilitos guard lying on the floor. A young woman of unknown heritage lay dead on the floor not far from the guard. Torrin took in the scene at a glance. The carnage. The blood.

Several more Knights joined Torrin and Greig, including Taeger. They looked first at the Vilitos who had begun moving around, clutching his eye, then at the dead girl. Torrin grabbed the guard’s head and dragged him forward toward the girl and tapped his helmet so the guard could hear him. The others followed suit. “What happened here?”

The guard swung and missed, unable to see Torrin or the other Knights. “Lumerian scum. I knew there were survivors. Go to hell.”

Taeger growled deep in his chest. “Brought down by a child, so you killed her?” He jammed his finger into the guard’s bleeding eye.

The guard screamed in pain, clutching his face. “It was that human bitch. She stabbed me. But you’re too late. She left with the Council Member’s son, C’bor Ubrion.”

Torrin looked at Greig and Taeger, their expressions equally grim. Fear gripped his soul with icy fingers. They couldn’t be too late. He couldn’t lose her. “Where were they going?”

The guard hissed. Spit. “Fool. You care for the female. I can hear it in your voice. But you’re too late. She’s taken. Married until C’bor tires of her and feeds her to his pets as he’s done to all his other brides. Let her go. You have bigger problems,” he choked out.

This time it was Greig who mashed the guard’s eye. “What could be worse than losing your woman, your family, you filthy slime?” he raged. “Do you know what that’s like?”

“They’re here,” the guard hissed. “Again.”

“Who?” Torrin and Greig shouted simultaneously.

“Who do you think all this blood is for? This meat? TheA’nua Na-KIhave returned.”

Torrin didn’t wait to hear more. If the A’nua Na-KI were coming, there was only one place the Cappran fool would take Juliette; as far away as he could get from them. They were killers. Unwavering in their path. Undead. Nearly impossible to kill.

He raced toward the space port, uncaring if the other Knights had chosen to follow him. Uncaring if the Vilitos lived or died. He had to reach Juliette. Failure was not an option.

Once out in the open, he kicked into high gear. He was bigger, stronger, and faster even than Falden, his mentor. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing was going to slow him down. Then he felt it happen. A tingling. A slight sensation of coming apart. He was being transported; he recognized the feeling.

A split second later he materialized on board an ancient Lumerian warship. Torrin eased his helmet back to he could see naturally instead of through the special lens and peered around in disbelief. He’d never seen a Lumerian ship that could hold more than two or three people at a time, but this was clearly of Lumerian design. The warship could easily transport a few thousand warriors, although he saw only a dozen or so at the controls. Taeger, Greig, another he recognized as Seth, and a few others. The rest were strangers to him, but they all wore Lumerian armor. All had blue markings similar to his.

Torrin frowned, uncertain if this was a rescue mission or a kidnapping. Taeger and his unit were Lumerians, he had no doubt, but they walked with a wild, rebellious spirit that couldn’t be denied. Wild. Untamed. Unpredictable. “I have to get to the space port.”

Taeger sat in the commander’s chair and nodded. “I know.” His lips quirked as if he knew what Torrin was thinking, and found it amusing. “My way’s faster.”

Within the blink of an eye the large warship traversed the distance from the Ambassador’s residence back to the space port. The large vessel hovered unseen and silent above the docking bay. Using view screens and the ship’s A.I. system, they searched for a ship with Cappra’s official emblem. Torrin had no doubt a Council Member’s son wouldn’t ride around in anything but the best, most expensive ship on the market.

A disembodied female A.I. voice announced, “Target acquired. Docking Bay Nine.”

Torrin pulled his helmet up, “Thank you for your assistance. I can handle it from here. Ready for transport.”

Seth, Greig, and two others stepped forward, each loading him up with a different weapon, then raised their own helmets, disappearing next to Torrin.

Looking at his newly stocked personal arsenal, nodded his thanks again and looked at their leader. Taeger stepped forward, ignoring Torrin’s thanks and ordered, “Transport six to Docking Bay Nine. Go.”

Torrin anticipated the tingle this time, the sense of coming apart. He remained steady. Alert. Ready. As a single unit, they transported directly in front of the ship.

Torrin took the lead, motioning two warriors toward either side of the ship’s closed portal, his laser pistol at the ready. If they were determined to accompany him, he may as well make use of them. Taeger stood shoulder to shoulder with Torrin as they prepared to enter.

Seth took out a tube of black goop and drew a large circle on the door, then counted down from three, two, one.

The interior of the circle fell toward the ground. Seth caught the large piece and set it to the side. In twos they entered, weapons hot. Silent. Invisible.

The ship was full of Vilitos. Mercenaries by the look of them, with only a handful of others. Torrin made short work of them. This was what he knew. What he’d been trained to do. Assess the danger. Take out the enemy. He was a killing machine. Lethal. Deadly. The guard at the Ambassador’s residence had as much as confirmed that the Vilitos, and the Council Member’s son, were in league with the A’nua Na-KI. That was all the confirmation he needed to take down every single one of the guards on board the ship. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching Juliette.

At last they reached the master suite. A glance behind him showed him what he already knew; all the guards were down. Taeger and his unit were right behind him.

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