Page 5 of I Married Amreth

She snorted. “Your ego is too immense for you to even begin to understand what being insecure could be like. And yet, I love you regardless.”

“Because I’m lovable, huggable, and insanely adorable,” he said smugly, wrapping a wing around her to draw her closer to him.

His mate facepalmed while I laughed. They were both ridiculously adorable. I opened my mouth to say as much when a loud explosion rocked the ship.

Fearful screams filled the room as the alarm went off and blinking yellow lights started flashing around the edges of the high ceiling.

“The ship is under attack,” said the soothing voice of the ship’s artificial intelligence through the com. “Emergency lockdown activated. All civilians, please shelter in place.”

Chapter 2

Ciara

Two of the five Obosian guards inside the room rushed to Elias Jacobs. Two more headed outside, while the last one opened a hidden compartment in the wall, revealing an impressive arsenal of weapons—mostly shields, swords, and staves. Although I understood their reluctance to have accessible range weapons, it distressed me that they only had a handful of blasters, all of them appearing to be basic stun guns.

To my dismay, the first set of two guards escorted Dr. Jacobs out of the room through a secret passage. Judging by the look on his face, this wasn’t a surprise to him.

“Jacobs expected this,” Kayog said in a frosty voice, as if he had read the thoughts crossing my mind.

The hard glint in his eyes took me aback. Gone was the jovial and mischievous older male he often portrayed himself as.

“Stay with my Linsea,” he commanded.

I gave him a stiff nod, while trying to quell the panic wanting to take root deep within. He caressed his wife’s cheek then walked briskly towards the hidden compartment with theweapons. Linsea squeezed my shoulder in a reassuring fashion although she kept her eyes glued to her husband, her back tense.

I glanced back towards the direction Jacobs fled. The ornate paneling of the walls that had parted to let him through were now closed again. Had I not seen it open for him to escape, I never would have suspected its existence. He had planned for this probability.

What the heck is going on?

Kayog grabbed an impressive battle staff before making his way back to us. Moments before he could reach our side, another series of explosions rocked the ship. This time, people gave in to panic. The yellow lights turning orange did nothing to calm things down. A couple of people rushing for the doors sufficed to start a stampede.

The single Obosian remaining in the hall flew towards the entrance, his silver-blue eyes glowing. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing when he started circling over the masses. The frantic push that threatened to crush the people in front against the sealed doors ebbed. He was using his calming aura calledbakaanon the guests. But there were too many. With the ongoing explosions, it would only be a matter of time before their fear overwhelmed his ability to appease them.

Kayog slipping a protective arm around my shoulders startled me. Linsea held onto his other arm, in which he kept the staff firmly gripped in his hand. With a determined expression, he carefully led us closer to the doors, but out of the main crush.

The sound of the alarm took on a shriller pitch moments before the voice of the A.I. resonated again.

“The ship has been breached. All passengers, please stay calm and head in an orderly fashion to the nearest escape vessels. I repeat, the ship has been breached. All passengers, please stay calm and head in an orderly fashion to the nearest escape vessels.”

Her words opened the floodgates that even the Obosian’s appeasing powers could not stem. For one dreadful moment, I feared that the people closest to the doors would be crushed against them. Thankfully, the automatic locks opened, and the massive doors parted, allowing people to rush out. It didn’t prevent some of the ones in front from being knocked onto the ground.

Before they could get trampled, using both his calming aura and the stunning abilities of his Lumiak, the Obosian forced the fleeing crowd away from the fallen right before he swooped in to pick them up and get them back on their feet so they could escape. Under different circumstances, I would have marveled at witnessing first hand an Obosian using his powers in a non-lethal fashion.

Among other things, they could invoke their Lumiak, which was essentially lightning. Its luminous tendrils writhed around his hands and shot out from his fingertips. At a low level, they would simply give you a small jolt. At mid-level, they acted like a Taser. But at maximum intensity, they could literally reduce their target into ashes.

A startled yelp escaped me when Kayog’s arm slipped down around my waist, and he effortlessly picked me up. I barely had time to cling onto his shoulders before he flapped his wings and flew over the panicked crowd pouring out onto the promenade. Over his shoulder, I watched Linsea pick up a frail older woman in a similar fashion and take flight with her, following in our wake. We emerged into the promenade where complete mayhem greeted us.

A sea of people invaded the space. They were recklessly pushing and shoving each other. The majority were attempting to reach the elevators while others were rushing up and down the stairs. Sadly, people traveling in opposite directions madecirculation harder. The only reasonably controlled areas were the upper floors as most guests were with us on the main floor.

Although escape vessels were available on every level, everyone was attempting to reach the larger ones, creating bottlenecks that further fanned the flames of panic. With the elevators being slow, people were elbowing each other to try and get inside every time the lifts returned. The A.I. probably should have locked their access.

Half a dozen Obosians were flying in the massive gap between the promenade, blasting their appeasing aura and intervening where people appeared on the verge of getting crushed against the railing or tumbling over.

I took in this apocalyptic scene in the seconds it took Kayog to fly me to the highest floor where the smallest crowd had gathered to access one of the escape vessels. He set me down on my feet, his face tense, as his mate landed moments later with the elderly woman.

“Get on the vessel and leave immediately,” Kayog ordered.

“What about you?” I asked, worry audible in my voice as I glanced in turn at him and his wife.

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