Page 34 of Her Alien Beast
Chapter 22
VLANN
I don’t waitfor the smoke to clear. As soon as the reinforced door of the cabin blows off, I charge inside, holding my blaster at the ready. I hear the bootsteps of men behind me, most of them Enforcers from the command center from which I recently retired.
Two human males run toward me, but I aim my blaster at them in turn and fire, two clean shots to the head. They collapse on the floor and lay unmoving. An infrared scan of the cabin showed there are five people currently in residence. One in the basement, three on the first level, and one upstairs.
A blast of red zips by my head. I veer to the side just in time, lifting my blaster at the same moment and firing in the direction of the shot that almost took me out. Not that it would have killed me, but it would have knocked me out for a while. There are certain benefits to my armored skin—the number one being that I’m impervious to most weapon fire, including the widely available blasters used by both Enforcers and criminals on Marryyn.
I glimpse Gregory Whitworth peeking over a sofa, his face white and his eyes wide. He’s frightened. Good. He ought to be downright terrified. I will show him no mercy. I lunge for him and tackle him to the ground before he has a chance to fire again. I squeeze his throat until his face turns red, then I let up for a moment.
“Where is Amira?” I demand.
He tries to speak but can’t manage more than a hoarse grunt. He points up and I realize Amira must be upstairs. Enforcers are storming into the house and checking all the downstairs rooms first. My former partner, a human man named Trent, kneels on the floor next to me.
“Do whatever you want with him, Vlann. If you kill him, you have twenty Enforcers here that’ll back you up and say you acted in self-defense.”
I already knew this, but I give Trent a polite nod anyway, showing him that I appreciate the support.
“Could you check to see who’s in the basement? I think Amira is upstairs, and I’ll go look for her myself in a moment,” I say, as I resume choking Gregory. He doesn’t deserve a quick blaster shot to the head. He deserves something more painful, something a bit terrifying. Though I would like to hang him upside down and torture him to death slowly over a period of several rotations, I know I won’t have that luxury. Besides, I need to get to Amira soon. I need to make sure she’s unharmed.
Trent leaves my side and takes a team of men into the basement, while I finish choking Gregory. After I’m certain he’s dead, I snap his neck, just to ensure he can’t be revived. Medics are on the way and I won’t take the chance. I push up from the floor and hurry upstairs.
“Help! Hey! In here! I’m in here!”
The sound of Amira’s frantic voice fills me with relief. She’s really here. I’ve found her. And it sounds as if she’s all right, though I won’t be entirely relieved until I once again have her in my arms. I find the door she’s pounding on is locked, so I wait for a pause in her yelling to call out to her.
“Little human!” I shout. “I need to kick the door down. Move away from the door, get to the other side of the room.”
“Vlann?” She utters my name on a choked sob. “Vlann? Is that really you?”
“Yes, Amira, my sweet mate, it is me. Now, move away from the door.”
“Okay,” she says, “I’m out of the way.”
I kick the door open and rush inside, anxious to wrap my arms around her. Anxious to look over every inch of her body to make sure she’s all right.
I spot her standing beside a large bed. She’s trembling and staring at me in disbelief. Then her expression turns to one of pure joy as I rush toward her. She opens her arms and jumps into my embrace. I hold her tightly against my chest, stroking her hair and placing tender kisses upon her forehead, her cheeks, and even her tiny human nose.
“I thought you were dead,” she says, her lower lip quivering. “Gregory told me he shot you in the head.”
“I was unconscious for a while and woke up with a pounding headache,” I reply, “and I immediately knew someone had shot me with a blaster.” I chuckle and rap a fist on the side of my face in demonstration. “Good thing I have thick skin.”
“You can survive a blaster shot! Oh, thank God.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me, right on the side of my head that’s throbbing the hardest. I haven’t glanced in a mirror yet, but I suspect that side of my head is swollen.
“Gregory’s dead,” I tell her. “He’ll never hurt you or anyone else again.”
Her eyes widen. “There’s a woman in the basement. A journalist’s daughter whom he’s holding captive. We have to help her.”
“Let’s go downstairs and check things out. I came with a whole unit of Enforcers though, and I am certain they have already found her. They were entering the basement just as I was running up here to find you.”
I carry her downstairs and we discover a petite human woman sitting on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She’s talking to several Enforcers.
“That must be her,” Amira says. “Oh, I’m so glad she’s okay. I can’t believe Gregory…” Her voice trails off and she swallows hard. “I can’t believe Gregory took things so far. I knew he was awful, but I truly had no idea. He’s insane, er, he was insane.” She shudders as she glances over at Gregory’s lifeless body.
I carry her outside onto the porch and sit her down on the steps. I proceed to look her over very carefully, making sure she isn’t injured. I discover bruises on her upper arms, but nothing more. When I trace those bruises, a feral growl escapes my throat. If Gregory wasn’t already dead, I would flay him alive for daring to put his hands on my female, my sweet Amira.
“Come,” I say, once again lifting her in my arms. “I’m taking you home.”
