Page 33 of My Big Alien Bodyguard

“Everything.”

“Well, I told you before that it is a volcanically active plateau, but one rife with life. There are hot springs in abundance, and though tectonic shivers often make the ground rumble, it is a peaceful place. Or it was, before Scowl’s people came and bought it for the mineral rights. Now it is a cratered remnant of what it once was, and the people who once lived free on the ashen planes are now slaves in the mines.”

“So fucked up,” I whisper. “I knew Simon was awful, but I had no idea that he was this bad.”

“Not for much longer,” Zayne reminds me. “We will end him, and with him, his line, and we will free my family, and my world.”

That is why we cannot stay on this freighter, even though there is a part of me that never wants to leave. This is a simple place, a place where I can forget. But it is also a kind of purgatory where nothing changes and nothing can be resolved. And staying here means Zayne’s family and his world remain in the cruel claws of Simon Scowl.

If it was only about me, I would never face that creature again. What he did to me was a complete assassination of character, and worse. The situations he created put blood on my hands. I have a bodycount now, and I will never be able to forgive myself for that. I want to forget, but I know I can’t.

“Zayne?”

“Hmm?” His golden eyes turn to me, his arms wrapped tight about me. I feel him surge inside me, his thick, scaled cock nearly driving all noble thoughts from my head. I have been able to withstand an entire universe of craziness because of this creature and his ability to make rough yet tender love to me, driving back the forces of chaos and fear with his powerful body. My toes curl with every thrust, inching me inexorably toward orgasm. But I have to keep my head about me. This conversation is important.

“Whatever happens, I want you to get your family’s lands back. I want at least one good thing to come from all of this craziness, you know?”

“What do you mean, whatever happens?”

“I mean, we’re going to go up against Simon. Things could not go well, possibly. He might even know we’re coming somehow. He’s not stupid. I’m just saying, if anything happens to me, get that deed to your lands. I want… no, I need something good to come from this.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you,” he says. “I’m going to keep you safe.”

I don’t want to burst his bubble, but he has only ever barely managed to keep me safe. Without him, I would certainly be dead, but I am hardly unscathed. And now we are heading to thelair of the king himself. He is not likely to sacrifice himself. He will fight, and he will be on his home turf. Zayne is gripped with desire for vengeance and to free his family. I don’t have anything so lofty to fight for, and I have the feeling that I am little more than a fly charging into a spider’s web. With Zayne by my side, I’m a fly with a flamethrower, but still. This isn’t going to be as easy as we want it to be. Nothing ever is.

13

Lyric

I never thought I would see planet Earth again, at least, not for three years at least. And maybe forever, as my tour was supposed to land me on the other side of known space. All those plans have been unwound now. For the last several weeks, Zayne and I have been traveling incognito. It has not been hard. Nobody on the Schlorp ship is stupid enough to get curious about who other people are. We’ve travelled with all kinds of people, some of whom I thought I might recognize, all of whom I’ve had the basic decency to not recognize.

“Are you ready?” Zayne holds me by the arms and looks into my eyes. He is starting to get concerned, because this is starting to get very real.

I say yes, even though I am not ready at all. We are about to execute the last stage of Zayne’s plan for vengeance and setting all things right. I have managed to scavenge some business-type clothes from others on the freighter, so I look suitably dressed to attend a meeting with Simon Scowl.

Zayne knows all the ins and outs of the building. He worked there long enough. Obviously, they’re going to know him if they see him, but if they know him then he’s clearly not dead. Also, with the ability to melt people’s faces with his breath, we’re not too worried about him. We are worried about me, and I need to go in there as part of the plan. It’s not just about killing Simon. It is also about destroying his realm of lies, exposing him for what he is, and ruining him completely.

“You don’t look ready,” Zayne says, more concerned than critical.

“Can anybody be ready for what we are about to do?”

“You can be. I watched you stride out onto that stage night after night and make thousands of people believe in you. All you have to do today is do that for one person. You can do this, Lyric. I will be with you.”

“But you won’t be.”

“I won’t be far away. I can’t walk in the front door like you, but I’ll be coming. Remember, stay in the waiting room until I get up there in the delivery disguise. Don’t go into the office without me.”

“Gotcha. Let’s do this.”

“One last thing.”

“What?” I snap the word somewhat impatiently, mostly due to nerves.

He ignores my attitude. “I love you.”

“Oh.” Well. Now I feel guilty. “I mean, I love you too.”

“Alright,” he says, smacking my ass. “Go get him.”

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