Page 16 of Her Alien Hero
Voren also ducked, gave me a slight nod, then turned his focus to a wall monitor."Naranthelani pasen, Larralian. Vonsint tunal!"
Blinding, intense white light burst through the room like a wave.
The group of military members froze and thenpoof—they disappeared as if they’d been ghosts.
I remained on the balls of my feet, huddled with my cuffed hands raised in defense. "Whatwasthat? Where’d they go?" So many more questions rambled around in my brain, but I couldn’t voice anything else. I slowly stood and glanced at the bed filled with ash, a vague body outline visible of what was once a woman. My gaze traveled to the other beds even though I didn’t want to look, knowing the military had probably incinerated them, too.
They didn’t kill all everyone.Two more women and a man had somehow missed the destruction unleashed from the laser rifles.
Still. Where there had been eight breathing people, only three now lived.Such tragic loss of life.
"Here. Let me help you.” Brax touched me, jarring me from such devastating thoughts. "We had Larralian release a weapon we’ve been working on that destroys non-Volderen genetics."
"So…those military guys? They’re…dead?"
Baraxen squeezed my shoulder. "Yes."
I stood there between both men and looked at those who hadn’t been killed. "Good. They deserved it."
"They deserved worse."
Nodding, I inhaled a deep breath. Something still bothered me, though. "You said that wave of light, or whatever it was, only killed non-Volderens?"
Vor slipped a finger under the plastic cuffs and braced my wrist with his hand. "Yes."
"Then what does that mean for me—for them?" I used my chin to point at the other occupants.
"What do you think it means?" Brax asked, working on my other wrist, his touch gentle.
"That part of what the Major said is true about the experiments?” My mind kept circling around something I didn’t care to hear.
"We have been trying to reverse the damage your military caused to these people. So yes, our DNA flows through their veins and tissues. But even more important, for eons we’ve been searching for a human with the correct DNA strands to help our own race. We’re advanced, yest, but we cannot create DNA. That cure lives in you."
The cuffs snapped and my hands were free. I rubbed the skin, forcing the blood to circulate.
"But they didn’t experiment on me. Why did he say I was tainted like the others? Why am I not dead?"
"There is a trace of Volderen DNA running through your veins. How it got there, we have no clue. What job did your husband perform?" Voren inspected the skin around my wrists, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Phlebotomy." The question made me uneasy. "But I don’t see how that’s any of your business."
"A phlebotomist at a military treatment facility, correct? Did you ever let him take your blood?"
I jerked away from him. "If you’re trying to imply—"
Brax gripped Vor’s upper arm. "Enough, brother. We must leave orbit, at least for now. She’s been through hell already."
Jeremy had kept a lock of my hair in his drawer at work.Could it be possible the military had taken it? Or did Jeremy do something to me when he’d drawn my blood the few times I’d used the medical group?These thoughts raised other questions,questions I tried to shove out of my mind.Maybe they were just lumping me in with the others because it was convenient?
Jeremy died two years ago.If theyhadtested my DNA or injected me, why hadn’t they taken me earlier?I still lived at the same address.
"Come on, Lilly." Brax held out an arm.
Great relief flowed through me. I didn’t want to think about anything except a long sleep.
"I’m tired—actually, I’m exhausted," I whispered.
"Come. We’ll show you to your room, and when you’re rested, we’ll answer any questions you have."
