Page 23 of Haunted By the Alien
With my right hand, I drive a knife into the grud’s shoulder as he throws his weight into me, knocking me to the ground. His power is incredible, but grud scouts are trained to stay hidden and gather intel, not fight.
I wasn’t followed. The grud knew to find me at Kenzie’s apartment which means he has her.
Razor-sharp claws swipe at my face. I kick and catch him in the chest. Like I’ve practiced a thousand times in warrior training, I hurl him over me then scramble to my feet. On instinct, my claws emerge, but I force them back.
I need this grud alive. Yes, I need to learn what his mission is, but that’s no longer my primary goal. Finding Kenzie is.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
KOBRIK
With Kenzie in danger, my energy triples as I slam the grud against her apartment building. Cement crumbles as the grud sinks to the ground, stunned. Before he can react, I slap my mag cuffs on him. Yellow eyes glare at me.
“Where is the human female you took?”
He bares his pointed, rotting teeth, thick pale green saliva drooling down his uniform.
My fists fly against his abdomen in quick succession before I force myself to stop. “You’ll take me to her,” I announce.
To my surprise, he nods.
And I punch him three more times, twice to his face to make my intent clear. I get what I want, or he dies. Simple.
Twenty minutes later, we enter an old industrial complex in an abandoned section of the city, the same area where I first encountered Kenzie. When my prisoner stops walking, I fire my blaster, exploding the cement beneath his feet.
“Vekking zyanthan!” he swears as he bears his decaying teeth.
“Keep walking. You have ten minutes left to lead me to the human female you took.”
“Yeg give female. Warrior release Yeg.”
“Only if she’s unharmed.”
Lying to a grud? No problem. No matter what happens, I’m not releasing him.
The grud leads me to the southwest corner of the industrial complex. We weave through huge chunks of concrete and twisted metal. Neatly tucked behind the crumbling walls of the roofless, bombed-out, two-story building, rests one scout ship.
The drekking ship is surrounded on all sides. An aerial view would have revealed the ship, but Earth’s military denied me permission to fly over this area.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“Inside ship.”
I shove him forward. “Open it.”
“Need hands.” He turns around, presenting his bound hands to me.
I press my finger to the biometric lock. The magcuffs click open and fall to the ground. With my blaster lodged at the base of his scaly head, I repeat, “Open it.”
He slams his palm against the ship’s ID panel and the door rises.
Kenzie’s scent immediately strikes me, as does the metallic odor of blood. My heart nearly seizes when I spot her body crumpled on the floor. She’s not moving!
“Kenzie!”
The grud’s hand locks around my throat while he swipes at my face with his other hand. His claws catch in mine, and I twist, breaking his claws. Even as he roars in pain, he squeezes my throat, cutting off my air.
I dig my claws into the base of his neck, but his thick hide prevents me from going deep enough to force him to release me. His claws rake down my right horn, sending a sharp pain through me.
