Page 30 of Heart's Keeper

"I could do that,'' she said. "But how do we know they won't fire on anyone who immediately comes walking out into their line of sight? Just because we are human doesn't mean we are on the same side. If anything, they will think it real suspicious that two women just come walking out of the forest from seemingly nowhere."

"And to add to that," Nezka said, "they may not be looking to be found by anyone save for those they called for in their message. Those from Xolis. Which, from my experience, sounds very much like a trap."

Lana's eyebrows rose. "You think they are honestly trying to trick the hunters?"

Nezka shrugged and tapped his ear. "I think it is very possible they are not looking to just talk and negotiate. Unless they are stupid enough to think such a thing possible without violence."

They very well could think it so,Lana thought. Because the idea of trapping the hunters for whatever reason sounded just as stupid and even more crazy.

"We don't know their motives yet," Lana said. "All we know is they are armed, but it could only be for defense."

"Could you guess what kind of weapons they were handling?" Elise asked Krel.

"It seemed to be a shooter of some kind," Krel replied. "They also wore black armor and gray clothing. With a purple symbol of a..." Krel looked around, trying to find the right words. "It looked like a flying creature. It had wings. And below it was three blades. Above it, three stars."

Elise frowned. "That's not regular military. That sounds like..." Elise glanced at Lana and dipped her head. "Like a private militia."

"Hired to protect the compound?" Lana asked.

"Must be," Elise said. "Seems odd though. Why would they be trying to contact Xolis?"

Lana looked beside her at Xilya, then turned back to Elise. "We need to get inside. We need to find out what their motives are while also warning them that Xolis ships are coming, and they won't stand a chance against them, and they need to cease whatever they are trying to pull off and take shelter."

"Which means we walk there and hope they don't shoot us," Elise said.

"We don't have many other options. But we can prepare ourselves. You and I walk up and everyone else will remain hidden close by. In fact, they will go on ahead and take cover and wait. Aryus is a good shot and can get up high. If any try to attack us, he can put them out quickly. Nezka can be close by as well. It won't take long for the rest to scale the walls if they have to. But if we can avoid a conflict, we should."

Elise looked over to her mate and took hold of his hand, squeezing it lightly. They spoke again in their mysterious language before Elise turned back and nodded. "All right. But we do this how I say. And you stick close to me."

"Fine," Lana said.

"If one shot is fired, I'm going to attack and won't stop till there is no one left who can fire," Nezka said, giving Lana a serious warning glare if anything were to happen to his woman.

"I'm with him," Krel said, and the others grumbled in agreement.

"It is not common or normal to allow our queen to go into a place alone, unprotected," Gyrix said.

Lana smiled at him. "Nothing with me is normal."

"If only your predomis were here..." Krel stopped and bowed his head in apology as the others fell silent.

Lana stiffened but didn't allow herself to falter. "I wish so too. But we don't have any more time left to wait. We need to warn them now before the hunters come. I trust you all to be ready if anything should happen."

"Of course, Risa," they said, bowing their heads.

"Then we have no more time to waste." Lana rose from where she sat, and the others followed.

***

"Before we leave," Elise said, "we are going to need to look less like outsiders." From her hunter's ship, she had brought out several pieces of clothing. Earth clothing. What little she had brought with her when she had left with Nezka. By her account, she had stuffed a bag full of things not thinking much about what clothes matched or were necessarily needed. She gave Lana a pair of black jeans and a bluish-gray long-sleeved shirt while she wore green military-grade pants and under armor. She gave Lana a small protective armor vest to wear while she borrowed Nezka's armor chest-plates. She took one of the hunter's guns, clipped it to her belt, and hid a knife in her boot.

The others geared up as well, donning their armor and readying what weapons they chose to take. Xilya chose to stay behind and monitor the situation with the drones from a far distance.

"I want you to have this," she said before returning to the ship. "It's a Xolian communicator. They call them techbands.” She slipped the band on Lana’s wrist, and the screen brightened as she fixed it in place. "I have it linked to the call system on the ship so that we will be able to stay in contact. It seems Elise and her hunter have them too which is good."

Lana looked over and saw Elise and Nezka fixing each other's gear, speaking low, their faces close. Nezka cupped the back of Elise's head and nuzzled her before they kissed. Elise jerked and laughed as Nezka's other hand groped her somewhere unseen and she smacked him on the arm. They playfully fought for a moment before Nezka brought her close to him, gripping her tight and whispering something in her ear that made Elise blush. They kissed again, and Lana looked away, ashamed to feel the sting of jealousy in her gut. She looked to the ship and felt an ache in her chest, hitting like a dull nail to her heart.

Xilya placed a hand on Lana's shoulder, grabbing her attention.

---