Page 31 of Alien Warlord's Fury

Nirako's face was grim beside me. "Secondary power cell. A failsafe."

A siren wailed behind us, its pitch rising and falling in an undulating scream that set my teeth on edge. Red emergency lights pulsed through the trees, painting the forest in blood-colored flashes.

"Patrol coming," Nirako hissed, his eyes scanning the terrain. "Northwest quadrant."

I heard them too—the crackle of their comms, the heavy thud of boots on packed earth. My markings tingled beneath myskin, responding to my fear with uncomfortable heat. I pressed my palm against my forearm, willing them to stay dormant, not wanting to give away our position.

"They'll track the power surge," I whispered.

Nirako's head snapped up. His body went rigid, listening to something I couldn't hear. Then his hand clamped around my wrist.

"Down. Now."

He pulled me toward a narrow crevice between two massive boulders. The gap looked impossibly small, but Nirako wedged himself in first, then pulled me after him. My back scraped against rough stone as we squeezed deeper into the shadow.

The space narrowed until we had to turn sideways, pressing our bodies flat against the rock wall.

"Further," he breathed against my ear.

I inched backward until my spine hit his chest. The crevice dead-ended, forcing us into a tiny pocket barely large enough for one person, let alone two. Nirako's body molded against mine, his chest solid against my back, his breath warm on my neck.

His tail was trapped awkwardly between his body and the rock, its slightest movement sending ripples of awareness through me. A shiver raced along my nerves, electric and undeniable. No council decree had ever unsettled me the way his closeness did in that breathless dark.

We froze as footsteps approached.

"Signal came from here," a gruff voice announced. "Perimeter breach, sector seven."

"Spread out," ordered another. "Five-meter sweep pattern."

I held my breath. Nirako's arm encircled my waist, pulling me tighter against him. Whether it was for reassurance or to keep me still, I couldn't tell.

My heart hammered so loudly I was certain they'd hear it.

A beam of light swept across the rocks, illuminating dust particles just beyond our hiding place. I pressed back further into Nirako, willing myself to melt into the stone. His muscles tensed against me.

I felt the muscles in his tail tense against my hip.

"Scanner's picking up residual energy," a voice called, alarmingly close. "Something's interfering with the reading."

Nirako's lifelines hummed beneath his skin, a subtle vibration I felt through my shirt. My own markings responded with a prickling sensation, silver light threatening to emerge. I clenched my jaw, focusing on containment.

Not now. Please not now.

The footsteps crunched closer. A shadow fell across the entrance to our hiding spot. I stopped breathing entirely.

"Check that crevice," someone ordered.

The beam of a scanner swept across the rocks, its blue light penetrating the darkness. I closed my eyes, certain we'd been discovered. Nirako's arm tightened around me, his body coiled for action.

"Nothing but interference," came the reply. "Probably mineral deposits in the rock. These readings are useless near the ridge formations."

"Damn planet," muttered the first voice. "Keep moving. They can't have gone far."

The footsteps receded. The lights moved away. Still, we remained frozen, neither of us daring to move.

One minute stretched into five, then ten. The forest sounds gradually returned—the rustle of leaves, the distant call of some alien creature.

Only then did I realize how tightly I was pressed against Nirako. Every inch of my back molded to his front, his arm still wrapped around my waist, his breath stirring my hair. Theadrenaline that had kept me rigid with fear began to ebb, leaving behind a different kind of awareness.

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