Page 40 of Marked
Alaric didn’t give me enough time to figure it out before he grasped my hand and pulled me along. I didn’t give it any more thought as I sprinted after him. The hallways of the scientific building looked as much the same as those that I’d been led through on the Ghengrill ship. Tall windows. White walls. White floor.
I was pretty sure it was an obsession now.
We raced through the hall until we made it to the end, where there was a solitary access door. Alaric slid the badge in front of it, and the door slid open, revealing a room with only a single thing at the center.
“Well, this isn’t quite the stairwell I was expecting,” I said quietly.
“It’s a portal. Ghengrills mastered harnessing the technology long ago, but they haven’t shared their secrets. I don’t know if this one is just one that leads through the building or ends up somewhere else entirely,” Alaric murmured. He appeared apprehensive.
“Why couldn’t it just be stairs,” I complained.
“As far as I know, they’re typically two-way portals. Wait here and let me make sure it’s safe,” he suggested, and I crossed my arms over my chest.
“No. We do this together,” I countered.
He turned to me, his eyes darkening. My stomach dropped to my toes, but I still held my ground.
“We can’t afford to get separated now. Spank me for my disobedience, but I’m not backing down on this,” I snarled, purposely pressing my palm over my belly. His gaze softened, and he nodded.
“You’re right, little mate. Let’s go,” he declared. He grasped my hand in his, and we walked straight into the portal.
It was as though I’d gotten sucked into a wind tunnel. My feet had been flat on the floor, and suddenly I was soaring. The forces rattling my body were intense, and I stumbled as we lurched forward. I held Alaric’s hand tight in my own, unwilling to let go of him for fear of losing him altogether.
We’d been kept apart for months, and I wasn’t about to let him go.
When my feet finally collided with something solid, I stumbled forward, and Alaric caught me and saved me from falling.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“I’ve only gone through a few like that before, but it’s not exactly an easy process,” he offered sympathetically. I grinned haphazardly.
“Well, it looks like we’re still in the same building, although since they all look identical, that isn’t really saying anything,I suppose,” I said, unable to keep a hint of annoyance from creeping into my voice.
We walked forward together, and Alaric pressed his ear to the door before he placed the badge against the scanner beside it. We entered another hallway, and from the view out the window, it appeared that we were indeed still in the same scientific building.
“Kind of like stairs,” I said softly, and he chuckled.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he answered, smirking in my direction.
Quickly, we moved down this next hallway until we reached another portal room. I looked at it with less trepidation this time, but I still groaned with displeasure the moment we stepped inside it. This time, it brought us to the ground floor.
“I hated that even more the second time,” I complained as we walked out.
“It does take some getting used to,” Alaric purred, and my nipples hardened at the sound.
“Let’s not stay long enough for that,” I countered, trying to cover up my arousal. He glanced toward me, and I knew I couldn’t hide it. He could read me like a book.
The rumbling I’d heard before had been growing consistently louder. It reminded me of a helicopter, but I had seen more than enough alien tech already to know that they didn’t have those here. Human technology had been far surpassed here.
So, what was it?
Then I felt the floor start to vibrate beneath my feet. I turned to look out the window, and I realized that the horizon was even hazier than before.
“Get back!” Alaric yelled and he practically threw me onto the floor and covered me with his massive form.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the window exploded and shattered all around us. Tiny shards of glass rained down onto the floor, and a few pieces bounced off the backs of my hands, leaving several jagged cuts behind. Almost at once, the tiny wounds began to heal, leaving small lines of silvery blood behind.
Alaric grunted on top of me, and I knew it must have hurt him far more than it did me. When the glass settled around us, he moved, and he moved fast. He hurtled over the window ledge and carried me with him. As quickly as I could, I found my footing and ran after him.
