Page 25 of Saved By the Alien Mercenary

The malewhostepped into view wore theVarakartoom’s black armor, but I did not recognize which male it was until he touched his helmet and the visor slid back. The grayish features of the Talac appeared, dark eyes undecipherable, a little sinister. He nodded once, and abruptly my boots came unglued from the floorboards. I did not wait for any more;that was permission. I spun on my heels and jogged in the other direction.

My legs moved silently, and my body felt lighter than it should. Ever since that silvery liquid had poured over my flesh, it felt like the exhaustion just fell away. Like I’d drank a whole pot of extra-black coffee. Only, it was more than that;it just didn’t make a lot of sense. I’d given birth probably less than twenty hours ago.I’d felt weak, my body still all floppy and soft. Now I felt strong. I felt the way Ihadpre-pregnancy, but that made no sense. Even the best modern medical science couldn’t do that in five minutes. But this symbiont thing, it sure made me feel that way.

“Left, then right, there’s another stairs there,” I muttered to myself, certain of my recollection of the map. Brace was going to be furious that I’d disobeyed his order, but he’d deal. All that mattered was my son. I bit my lip, pressing my back against the wall at the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. I’d ducked back behind a wardrobe that lined this hallway, out of sightof whoeverhadjust come around the corner. They clattered past me without seeing me, and I spun, aimed my gun, and shot the bastard in the back without hesitation. He went down like a ton of bricks—a large Kertinal—his tail limp, his horns thudding into the wall and gouging two big furrows in the plaster.

I saw the silver Riho pounce over his shoulder, and then it silently moved past me, tail swishing. As it passed, it aimedasatisfiedlook my way. I followed it, as it was going in the right direction. I wouldn’t say no to a little extra help, and I was certain that’s what this was. We found the stairs without further hostile encounters, but the sounds of fighting were fierce and loud. The silver creature went up first, bounding in slinky, sleeksteps up the stairs. I followed lightly, my breathing easy and my thoughts still calm. So close I could almost taste it, he had to be here.

I was going to name him after my dad, I’d decided that months ago, when I first learned the gender of my baby. It had felt like I’d jinx things if I called him that in my thoughts, especially now. Silly,maybe. Then I crested the top of the narrow servant stairs and stared straight into theopendoor of a room. The room.

A nursemaid stood beside a crib. She was a Ulinial, her blue skin and long braid giving her away. That was good, her species tended to be pacifists. Nobody else appeared to be in the small room with her, but I crossed the red carpet that lined the hallway silently,holding my pistol at the ready. This could be a trap, though for the life of me I couldn’t see why Jalima would care about my baby. De’tor had cared, but he was dead.

“Give him to me,” I demanded as soon as I stepped over the threshold. She was trembling, her head shooting up to glance at me, eyes wide. “That’s my baby. Give him to me,” I said more firmly. She backed away, hands raised, shaking her head but not speaking. It was unclearwhethershe was a slave or a paid servant, but no collar graced her slender neck. I couldn’t count her out as a threat.

Then my eyes landed on my son, lying quietly inside the crib. He seemed so small, and he was wide awake but silent. His eyes were a silky brown, his skin black like his father’s, but streaked with copper. The shock of hair he had was also a coppery brown, with hints of gold. Soft nubs saton his forehead,an indication that he’d grow horns one day. He was holding his tail in his tiny fists, the pointed tip in his mouth as if it werea pacifier.

My chest ached;my breasts ached even more. I forgot about the woman in the room with me, entranced by the sight of my son. “Hey there, Mateo. Mama’s here. I’ve got you now,” I whispered. I placed the pistol on the edge of the crib, then leaned in to pick him up carefully. He didn’t make a sound until I nestled him against my chest. Then there was a pop as his tail left his mouth, and the little appendage curled around my wrist instead. A deep sigh seemed to run through him when I rocked him gently in my arms, one that I mirrored as everything inside me righted itself.

A curious thing happened then. The silver armor that encased me so snugly melted away at the front of my body, no longer a barrier between my son and me. I felt the warmth of his small body, felt him press against my swollen breasts, where he belonged. I could not look away from his face, or the way he seemed to know he was with his mama, relaxing into a peaceful slumber,with what had to be a smile gracing his tiny, perfect little mouth. Babies didn’t smile—not on day one;I knew that—but it sure looked like Mateo did.

There was a clatter behind me.I spun in reflex, pressing my baby to my chest with one hand, the other snatching up my gun. I gasped in surprise when I spotted the large figure in black standing over the sprawled body of the Ulinial female. She was out cold but still breathing, and theVarakartoommale was flexing his fist at his side. His helmet was open, allowing me to see the skull-like markings of his Asrai face. “What happened?” I asked, shocked. The female looked unarmed, but when he jabbed his finger down and pointed, I had to concede that she hadn’t been safe. A com device lay at her side, as if she’d been about to sound the alarm. Maybe she already had.

I started moving immediately, and the silver armor shifted back over me, this time pinning my arm and my baby into a protective shell against my chest. I stumbled by the doorway, a wave of weakness crashing through meand catchingme by surprise. I’d felt so strong until now, so ready to face anything, but now it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me.

The Asrai hissed furiously, but he caught my elbow with his hand and held me up. His shoulders twitched as if he werefull of anxious energy,but his grip was steady as he propelled me down the hallway. The fighting was still going strong, the sounds had not abated, not even a little. He was taking me straight toward those noises, and I began to shake my head. “No, we have to get back to the shuttle. I have to protect my son. Unless…” A cold wave of fear ran down my spine like icewater. With it came an unexpected surge of strength, my legs straightening. I sped up, rather than let the Asrai take the lead. “Brace is hurt, isn’t he?”

The Asrai snarled silently, shaking his head, but his feral red eyes told me nothing. He said even less. There was nothing reassuring about staring into a face like a skull, withdried blood in the corners of his eyes and by his ears. Nothing reassuring at all.

Chapter 21

Ruby

I found the strength to run, carefully, with my hand folded around Mateo’s head so he wouldn’t shake. He looked peaceful, happy, and completely unaware of the chaos around him. Sleeping now that he was back with me. The wave of happiness and relief that had filled me when I first picked him up had been replaced by fear. He didn’t know that his daddy was in danger, but I did, and I knew I had to save my mate. Brace had claimed us, both of us, and I was going toholdhim to that promise, come hell or high water.

The Asrai clattered down the stairs in front of me,buthe wasn’t moving fast enough. I had to be careful—for Mateo’s sake. My hand trembled around my gun as we chased after the sounds of the fighting. The mansion might have been beautiful once, a testament to taste and money, but it was a mess now. Windows broken and furniture shattered. Bodies layleft and right, and smoke was beginning to fill the air. Something was on fire, and if that fire wasn’t stopped soon, it would engulf theentire building.

We reached a large room then—a ballroom,maybe—though it had far too many couches and pillows scattered throughout. A pedestal sat at the end, with what could only be described as a throne atop it. So this was where Jalima presided over his subjects: alord in more ways than one. Not just a clever drug smuggler, but a king, at least in his own mind.

There was fighting going on near the dais. I saw Brace’s blue fur immediately and drew in a relieved breath when I realized he was okay. I tried to make sense of what I saw, realized there was a massive snake grappling with a Pretorian. They were rolling along the ground, and those around them were trying to get out of their way or help.

Brace raised his head abruptly, and our eyes met across the large room. Then his gaze lowered, and he saw the baby in my arms. Instantly, something softened in his blue eyes, his relief obvious. He began to shove around people to get to me, but a sudden shout of pain made everyone freeze. There had been grunts, the burn of laserfire, the thuds of fists on flesh, but this scream was visceral.

My mate turned toward the grappling pair, and now I recognized them. Captain Asmoded was at the bottom of the pile, his long body partially coiled around his opponent. The four-armed Pretorian was fighting the squeeze of those coils, his brute strength managing to avert a fatal crushing, for now. But a wound was blooming on his shoulder, blood spurting from the circular hole. Smoke also curled into the air from his flesh; a laser burn, one that had not cauterized all the veins:an interrupted shot.

It felt like everyone held their breath for a long second, the entire fight falling silent asall eyes locked onto the scene. And then there was an explosion of activity. The Pretorian male twisted abruptly and slammed a fist into the mercenary captain’s face. Coils instantly slackened, andamidthe rush of many bodies—including Brace—leaping for the Pretorian, he leaped away. Another shot blasted through the air from outside, but the four-armed male yanked one of his own men intothepath. Brace would have caught him, I knew he would have. His hands were outstretched, ready to snatch at a foot before the male could leap through the broken window. I didn’t see the gun in time. It was suddenly right in my mate’s face, a blast going off that would echo in my dreams for eternity.

“No!” I screamed, and my poor baby wailed. I jerked forward, needing to cross that huge room to where Brace was falling to the ground as fast as possible. Everyone was moving so slowly, like I could see everything happening in freeze-frames—snapshots:Brace falling, the Pretorian male tumbling agilely out the window, and his gun coming up for another shot.

TheVarakartoom’s mercenaries and the criminals working for Jalima all clashed with shouts, but nobody was close enough to help my falling mate. Nobody moved toward the slack, unconscious body of the Naga captain,either. “Brace!” I shouted. I hadn’t even registered that thesecond shot from the escaping male hadn’t been aimed at Brace. Not until the mercenarywhobrought me here abruptly threw himself in front of me. He grunted, his body moving back, careening into me.

Then the Pretorian was gone, his escape echoed by the percussion of a high-powered rifle going off again and again. My mercenary escort righted himself with a furious,howling sound. His hand clutched the side of his neck,where a laser burn had drawn a furrow through his flesh. Across the room, the remaining enemies were beginning to surrender.

I brushed past the injured mercenary, grateful for what he’d done. But he was upright and standing—Brace was not. My footsteps felt hollow and heavy as I skidded around broken couches and sprays of pillow stuffing amid the last of the fight winding down. When I crashed to my knees at Brace’s side, the Talacan male was already next to him, ahigh-techpressure bandage pressed to the wound over Brace’s chest. Blood had soaked his cobalt fur, but the bandage was doing its job, keeping him from bleeding out. “He’ll be fine,” the Talac said firmly, but his voice came to me as through a fog. “Dravion arrived with the captain. He’ll take good care of your mate.”

The name Dravion meant very little to me;it stirred some vague recollection of a medical check-up aboard the mercenary ship, that was it. I hoped he was the doctor. It was not until Brace opened his eyes a crack, those pretty blue orbs shooting my way, that I believed him.

Chapter 22

Brace

---