War

A Sci-fi Alien Invasion Romance: Captured Earth Book 4

A.G. Wilde

War

War © A.G. Wilde 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, businesses, or locales is coincidental and is not intended by the author.

Contents

Disclaimer

War

Before You Read

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Epilogue

Other books by A.G.

Acknowledgments

Keep In Touch

If you enjoyed this book…

About the Author

For all of you who are attracted to darkness…

Disclaimer

This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only.

All sexually active characters portrayed in this book are eighteen years of age or older.

War

SAN'TEN

The war has begun.

While my brethren find mates with these new hyu’mankin, I want nothing to do with such relations. There is only one need within me and I have been waiting for a long time to sate it—a need for WAR.

And I get a taste. It is a sweet fire that fills my soul as I destroy the beings who have ripped my world apart. I will know nothing sweeter…

That is…until she wakes.

When Mee’na escapes from Base Zero, I am the only one who can retrieve her. A traitor. She colludes with the very beings I have vowed to destroy. And my vengeance knows no bounds.

I will find her.

I will bring her back.

And she will pay.

But that sweet fire, that taste of war, is nothing like the fire I encounter on my quest. I am suddenly fighting two battles, and the one that will claim my heart, my soul, is the one I cannot afford to lose.

Before You Read

TW: This book contains references to forced relations and spawn resulting from the character’s experience. Though it is not the focus of the story, I understand if such mentions may be upsetting for some readers. I totally understand if you decide to skip this read for that reason. I have many other great books you can explore!

<3 AG

1

MINA

In the grand scheme of things, we all think we’re special.

That we mean something…that our existence has some purpose.

The reality is…we are nothing.

I have seen us from another perspective. I have seen us from their eyes.

We are…small…powerless…inconsequential…pests.

Like a nest of ants troubled by some outside force, we scatter. Our lives…we think are so important…but they are easily disturbed…shredded in the blink of an eye.

Our families…our relationships…our successes…our failures…none of them matter.

That we live, feed, breathe…means nothing.

We are weak. Each one of us, easily crushed.

All of us…inevitably…helpless.

These thoughts awaken with me like a shroud of dread as my eyes blink open to a harsh bright light. About the same time, my back settles against a flat surface, as if I’d been floating in mid-air.

The movement is so gentle, I’m not sure it even happened, but distracted by the brightness that surrounds me, I squint.

It’s hard to see, but it’s clear I’m somewhere…strange. Somewhere different. Somewhere I’ve never been before…and I’m not sure if I am alive…or dead.

There are no wires attached to me like there would be in a hospital; yet, I’m drowsy…medicated…not myself.

I grunt as I rise into a sitting position, still squinting at the white walls of what is a small room.

There is no one here except me, and the silence…the silence is deafening.

But as my body regains control of itself, as my mind comes back online, it’s clear that I am, in fact, not dead. The clarity of my surroundings is too real.

Not dead. Completely alive. Alive and…naked, and I had been floating atop a table before I woke up.

The situation should alarm me…but it doesn’t. Waking up feels like coming out of a long, long sleep.

Slipping my legs over the edge of the table, my head swims a little.

Where am I? What is this place? And…how is it that I am alive?

I remember everything. Everything before it all turned black.

I’d been captured by one of those huge machines that wreaked havoc on us all. The same machines that trampled us like the ants they saw us as. It had lifted me up, ignoring the screams that tore from my chest as it held me miles above the ground, before it locked me in its belly. There, I’d waited, watching in fear as one by one the other women around me were pulled farther into the machine, only to return with their bellies swollen.

Even then, I’d known my fate. Known what the machine was keeping me for.

It wouldn’t be long before I, too, was bred.

A harsh pulse goes through my head as a memory awakens, causing me to wince and grip my skull.

I was bred.

And I was going to die.

Just like the others, my belly grew. Much faster than normal. Much faster than it should have. My stomach roils and I grip my midsection. I remember it. How it felt moving inside me. How it squirmed in my womb, stretching my belly, as if impatient to force its way out. And then I remember them.

More aliens.

Different ones. Ones that didn’t come in the huge machines.

Dark, scary ones. The…the…Vullan.

They saved me.

They saved us. And then…

I blink several times, trying to remember more as my fingers dig into the soft skin of my stomach.

I’d been bred. But yet I live and…

My gaze falls to my stomach where I’m gripping myself.

There’s no creature growing inside me anymore. Somehow, it is gone. The only indication that something happened to me is the faint scar that runs down my midline.

A fully healed wound that hadn’t been there before.

I’d been cut…or maybe, it had torn itself from within me.

I don’t know. I can’t remember anything else.

Slipping off the table, I land on my feet, but almost collapse. My legs buckle like I have not used them in a long time. But that can’t be. Everything I remember feels like it happened yesterday.

I take one, two shaky steps forward and manage to bear my weight. The uneven breaths that shake from my chest are the only other indication that my body hasn’t been used in a while.

An unfamiliar shroud surrounds me. Air that makes my mind swim. Outside my body, I float, as if watching myself.

The dull ache and numbness in my legs seem far away. The weakness in my body, a mere side effect of whatever my physical form endured.

I’m not dreaming…but it’s almost as if…I really am outside of myself.

Not the Mina that I knew before.

Different. Changed.

I brush the feeling aside as I turn to look around. There is no door in this room. No entrance. No exit. It is like I am locked in a box. A tomb.

When I look up, the light above me is all I can see. No hatches. No secret doors on the ceiling.

I have to find a way out.

Pulling my body, pain rockets through me as I brace on the surface I woke up on, forcing my muscles to obey my will.

A few more shaky steps and I press my fingers against the wall, leaning against it as I catch my breath.

Again I look around.

The only thing in the box is that table floating in the center. Nothing else.

This could be a prison…but despite the lack of windows and doors, it doesn’t feel like one. And I sense that…this place belongs to them. The Vullan. It has to. Otherwise, I’m trapped once more.

The thought registers, but the terror that should accompany it remains at bay. Outside myself, it doesn’t reach me. That terror, that fear, is for the female I’m watching crawl along the wall, trying to find a way out.

Moving slowly, I feel along the wall for any indentations or any buttons I can’t see. But it’s not till I reach a certain section of the wall that something finally budges.

A hole appears, forming into a large oval shape that’s three times my size. An exit. And outside of it is a well-lit corridor with dark walls.

I stare out for a few seconds, not knowing what to expect. But when I don’t see anyone, I finally get the courage to step out of the white room.

The hole in the wall closes as soon as I step through it.

Walking down the corridor, my steps are light, quiet.

I do not know where I am going…and I still do not know where I am, but it is clear this is a large structure. The corridor winds and connects with another, then another, and I keep walking until…sounds. Voices.

Human voices.

They make me pause as I listen.

No sudden urge rises within me to run towards the sounds. No urge to run away, either.

Only one thing happens.

A sort of indescribable feeling crawls over my skin.

I remember what it was like in the last moments before the machine grabbed me and deposited me within itself. Saw how humans devolved right in front of my eyes. Saw people forgetting how to be…humane. Men rushing to get away from the terror that fell upon us while they trampled women and children beneath their feet. People running to save themselves and leaving their friends behind. Cars mowing down pedestrians, trying to escape, not caring whether the people they hit lived or died. Shopkeepers shutting their doors as if the four walls could save them.

And, during all this…I was alone.

I had no one with me, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

Nobody got away.

Those lucky enough not to be caught had been crushed instead.

So…the voices I hear…listening to them, neither happiness nor sorrow fills me.

Instead, there is a sort of dread.

Who do you trust when you cannot even trust your own people?

Forcing my legs forward, I head toward the sounds and soon I find their source.

Humans. Women. Quite a few of them, busy doing various tasks within…within a cave? We’re in a cave. A big one. And this structure that I’ve woken up in… is a ship.

I stand on top of a ramp, looking down at the spectacle below me. There are humans here. Happy, safe humans. The woman that was me watches them, while I watch her. I note she should be happy, but no feelings go through her…no feelings go through me.

I am numb.

Movement in my peripheral vision is the only reason I turn my head, and maybe the old Mina would have gasped at the sight of the huge, dark aliens staring at me.

Several of them, some standing only a few feet away, stop what they are doing to stare, and I realize they have been standing there all along. Blending into the cave’s shadows as if they belong to the darkness.

One steps forward and my hazy memory of the Vullan species is colored in.

Ridges run along every inch of their bodies—the black suit they wear doing nothing to hide them.

He is huge, dwarfing me if I was standing right beside him. Bulging muscles ripple along his shoulders and arms in a way that makes him look unreal—created by a machine and not something biological.

My gaze flicks up to his angular face, sharp jaw, high cheekbones, and pointed ears.

Atop his head, several dark braids are pulled back flat against his skull.

He is pure darkness—the only thing darker than his skin being the cold darkness of his eyes.

Those eyes move down my body before they flick back to my face. There, he pauses, his chilly gaze boring into mine before his skin…his suit, ripples, small spikes growing along his arms as he stares at me.

I remember this one.

I blink as he takes another step toward me before one of his kind grips his shoulder, holding him back.

But his gaze doesn’t flinch. Those dark, cold pits remain on me.

I don’t know how, but I remember him. I remember him because he is the one that wanted to kill me.

“Mina!” My name doesn’t pull my attention away from the alien glaring at me, not even when it’s shouted again and I’m enclosed in the arms of a woman.

“Oh my God, Mina. Y-you’re awake!”

A face supersedes my view of the alien and only then do I focus on the woman in front of me.

I remember her too.

Sam, I think her name is. She helped me once. We were in the belly of the machine together.

She’s one of the reasons I’m still alive.

“Sam,” I whisper. My voice sounds…alien. Coarse, like my voice box has been resting for far too long. But Sam doesn’t seem to notice. She chokes on a sob as tears fill her eyes. Gripping me, she pulls me against her once more and I’m dimly aware we’re being surrounded by more women, all chittering about the fact that I am awake.

They seem happy to see me. Happy that I am alive. And once again I note that it’s a happiness I should feel.

My brain acknowledges that fact; yet…I feel nothing.

“You have no idea,” Sam is saying, “no idea how worried we were. When you didn’t wake up after the surgery, we worried you might…” She trails off before shaking her head. “Never mind that. You’re awake now. That’s all that matters!”

Then her eyes grow wide. “Oh God, we didn’t even leave any clothes in the med bay for you. You must be freezing!”

She shouts behind her for someone to get me something to wrap my naked body in, but I don’t pay any attention.

Apart from Sam, I recognize none of the other women, and my gaze slides back to the alien that had been glaring at me.

He still is.

As if frozen in space and time, he’s still being held back by one of his kind, his eyes on me.

The intensity of his gaze sucks me in, and all I can do is stare back.

“You have awakennnned.”

It’s a whisper, like a wisp of smoke in air, but the voice still makes me jerk. My eyes widen a little as I stare at the alien. But even as I look, I know the voice didn’t come from him. It couldn’t have. His mouth didn’t move.

My gaze darts around the cave, across the faces of the women fussing over me, but none of them seem to have said the words either.

I…don’t know where the voice came from.

When I return my attention to the glaring alien, our eyes lock once more.

In the darkness of his gaze, there is no warmth there. Only cold, cold darkness.

I focus on him, even as the women lead me down the ramp, a blanket of some sort wrapped around me.

“We have been waiting for you.”

Again, the whisper is like wisps of smoke.

A spike of fear shoots through me; yet, I do not know the cause.

Fear. Real, chilling fear.

As my gaze remains locked with the icy darkness of the alien’s, fear is the first real emotion to penetrate the numbness surrounding me.

2

SAN’TEN

I have spent many rotations watching…waiting. Waiting for the time that has now come.

When we set off after the enemy that destroyed our world, there was only one thing on my mind.

That singular thing remains.

I have not forgotten my purpose…and it is vengeance.

Each day the star retires on this world, while the hyu’mans rest and my brethren work, scenes of Edooria’s destruction replay before my eyes.

I am haunted by them.

Scenes of my own womb-mate being infected by the scourge that fell upon us. Watching him…change…watching him become something…else. A husk of himself.

A being without thought. A…pawn.

He attacked his mate…his young…

He sliced straight through them without hesitation, their lifeblood staining his ba’clan as he turned to kill every other Vullan in his path before heading for me.

In those seconds, as he approached me, the look in his eyes will haunt me forever.

There was nothing there.

My womb-mate was gone.

The only kin I had…taken.

It was the only thought that filled me as I was forced to use my blade against him. The only thought as his lifeblood seeped over me, painting me black. Staining me forever.

And now, as I stand in the cavern watching the hyu’man female that has just emerged from her long sleep, the memories haunt me some more.

The same look is in her eyes. That same emptiness that had filled my womb-mate as he destroyed those most precious to him.

A chill goes through me as I take a step toward the female, only to be stopped by one of my kind.

I pause, watching her, that same chill going through in my ba’clan, and it is not long before the female’s gaze falls on me.

Dark hair that falls below her shoulders. A narrow chin, small pointed nose, and deep brown eyes sunken in her face.

Mee’na.

I remember her well.

Small and weak…like the rest of her species.

But what I remember most is her silence.

Silence, as the Gryken spawn infesting her womb grew and moved within her. Silence, as my brethren saved her and two others from the scrit that had imprisoned them.

Silence, as I carried her to safety, shielded her with my ba’clan as a scrit passed over us, all the while barely controlling my rage at the…thing…in such proximity to me. The thing her body was giving life.

It had taken everything within me not to end its life right then.

Only the voice of our quayzar, Fer’ro, leader of our sleekt, had stopped me. Destroying the spawn would have killed the hyu’man. The only way to save her had been to get her and the two others to our ship…and for that, we had to wait till they trusted us to allow for transport.

Mee’na’s gaze slips over me slowly and my ba’clan ripples with unease, the symbiotes registering her attention. I wonder if she remembers me. Remembers how I almost lost control at the sight of her distended belly.

The hyu’man females never let their gazes linger on us for too long. Most are still afraid of us, despite that three of their kind have mated and formed life bonds with three of mine.

Female attention here is…scarce.

But as Mee’na’s eyes rise to mine, my ba’clan ripples not because I'm being noticed by her, but because of the coldness…the unfeeling…

The empty.

Her gaze is empty.

A low growl leaves my lips as I take another step in her direction, the hackles on my arms slowly extending without my control. The claw on my shoulder tightens.

“Don’t,” Dri’ro clicks in Vullan, low enough for only me to hear.

Don’t what?

Minor annoyance makes me snarl. My brethren expect the worst from me at all times. I do not blame them. My lineage was not known for its calmness. But does Dri’ro think I am about to attack the female?

Even I have more control than that.

I want to shake his claw off my shoulder, but that thought quickly evaporates as the female draws my attention once more.

She is bare. Her small, pale body is there for all to see.

Hands hanging by her sides, the buds atop the small mounds on her chest tighten in the cold air of the cavern.

She does nothing to hide. None of the other hyu’mans would expose themselves in such a way. Even for the Vullan, being bare before another is an intimate display.

But there is nothing intimate about this.

My ba’clan are beginning to stand on end. Something is wrong.

She is disoriented. And…vacant. Far too vacant.

My gaze slips back up to her eyes.

She is still watching me—the fear I often see in the other females’ eyes missing from hers.

I do not like what I see.

“She appears stunned,” Dri’ro clicks low in Vullan. “Perhaps, she does not remember our kind. It has been some time and her introduction to our ship was…turbulent.” He turns to the others. “No sudden movements. We do not want to frighten her.”

There are clicks and grunts of affirmation behind me.

I growl in my throat in response.

I remember her introduction to our ship. I was there when we forced the Gryken spawn from her womb.

I was the one it took control of, clouding my mind, taking over. Like my womb-mate, I lost control of…everything. My being was no longer my own. My ba’clan no longer mine.

I was a slave to the spawn we released from within her.

I attacked my leader. I could have killed him. And then I would have attacked and killed the others, too. Moving through the ship like the pawn the Gryken had forced me to become, I would have destroyed it all.

As the other hyu’mans finally sense the female’s presence, their squeals of joy echo in the cavern. They surround Mee’na before leading her slowly down the ramp, and I watch them go, my eyes still on her…and her eyes on mine.

Finally, one emotion registers in her blank gaze. One I expected. Delayed, but expected.

Fear. The most common emotion across the galaxies.

I relax somewhat.

Perhaps Dri’ro was right. Perhaps she was simply stunned.

3

MINA

I’m wrapped in a warm blanket made from some strange material. It’s soft and warm at least. A bowl of hot fish broth is in my hands and the women around me all try to make me comfortable, some settling on crude rocks that form a circle on the ground. A communal sitting area, of sorts.

They’ve sent for the medic, but he is somewhere down in the mines. Even more Vullan are below us, working tirelessly to extract ore for weapons. They are planning to destroy the machines.

All this I get from bits of conversation that penetrate the numbness clouding my mind.

If the women speak to me, I cannot recall what they say.

If they ask questions, they receive no answer, at least not from me.

Sam sits beside me, doing a good job of fielding their queries, but I can feel her worried eyes on me even as the others continue speaking.

It will be hard for me to adjust, they say. I will need help, they propose. They can’t imagine how shocked and disoriented I must be…

The concerns go on.

More than one offers assistance in some way—providing me with company, making my meals, or helping me with clothing.

But…none of that feels consequential. I don’t care about any of those things.

As I stare at a pebble on the ground before me, my mind feels burdened…filled with smog.

There were voices. While I stared at that Vullan, I heard voices in my head.

Voices I couldn’t place…

A side effect of my malady? I…cannot be sure.

My gaze moves back to where the Vullan stood, but they are no longer staring in my direction. They move silently for such big males, in and out of the ship, disappearing down offshoots of the cave, some appearing from the dark tunnels with crates of ore.

They are busy.

Now and then, one of them slides a glance over to our group, his eyes moving through us with practiced precision, not missing a thing, before he continues with his work.

I don’t know how long I sit there. Long enough for some of the women to filter away and go about their duties. Long enough for some to settle themselves more comfortably in the small stone circle.

Their conversation ebbs and flows, sometimes trailing off as they too pause to glance over at the working Vullan, but during all this, my focus remains on the pebble before me.

Bits of what they say reach my ears. Enough for me to piece information together.

The Vullan have been attacking the orbs that fell from the sky, destroying them one by one, but it is not enough.

Someone named Deja discovered a…nest. Sacrificed human males being drained of their energy and imprisoned women kept as…incubators.

Bred.

Like I was.

Distantly, I know I should feel something. That the thought should create some kind of mental response.

Yet, impossibly…I feel…nothing.

“I still can’t believe they found a literal nest and breeding grounds,” one of the women says. “The poor men in those things…and women…” Her face scrunches, despair filling her eyes. “To have one of those things growing inside me. I can’t imagine—”

“Lori…” another interjects, clearing her throat as her eyes widen with a silent reprimand. A look of utter regret transforms Lori’s face as her eyes widen on me.

“Oh my God, I totally wasn’t thinking. I—”

I know what’s going through her head. That I was one of those women. That I must be traumatized.

She does not know that I feel nothing.

“How do they destroy them?” I whisper and there is a hush among the group of women.

It’s the first thing I have said since sitting here. The first real words to come from my mouth.

“The machines…” I continue, “how do they destroy them?”

I cannot imagine it. Distantly, I know I experienced it before. That the moment I was freed from the belly of the machine was the moment it was destroyed, and that the only reason it was destroyed was because of the Vullan.

Before they came, we were…powerless.

The military fell…our weapons useless, and for the first time, I felt truly defenseless.

No amount of negotiating or smart words was going to help me. All my skills dealing with terrorists and criminals, all the times I’d worked to save innocent people, none of that mattered anymore.

It is hard to believe that now…there is hope.

As Sam speaks, telling me how the Vullan are gearing up for a full-on attack, I can only focus on the never-ending stream of images floating behind my eyes.

Like a video on repeat, they replay…over…and over…and over again.

Humanity’s helplessness.

The same helplessness that made me go silent. My words were ineffective. The one thing I was good at…useless for my own survival.

I’m falling into the smog of my mind once more when a shrill whisper pulls me out like the icy hand of a wraith.

“Awakeeeee.”

It comes out of the blue and I freeze, my gaze darting upward to lock with Lori’s. She was speaking and my sudden attention causes her to stutter, surprise shooting through her gaze as she glances at Sam.

“We have been waiting for you.”

The whispering wisps. They’re back. Like a shadow of voices hissing in the back of my mind.

“Where are you…little one?” they ask.

My heart thumps against my chest and something warm wets my hands. The broth.

I am shaking. Beside me, I can feel Sam’s concerned gaze as she steadies my hand, using a cloth to wipe the hot liquid away.

“Mina?” she asks. “Mina, are you alright?”

“Did you hear that?” I whisper, my gaze still locked with Lori’s and she casts a worried sort of alarmed look in Sam’s direction.

“Hear what?” she whispers.

“Tell us where you are…”

I swallow hard, fear slowly crawling up my spine as my gaze moves from one woman to another.

None of them have spoken. They are all looking at me as if they are looking at something strange.

It’s clear. Whoever is speaking to me is not here.

“Tell ussssss…” the blend of wispy voices continues.

“Tell you what?” I whisper.

“Mina?” Sam is crouching before me now, her brow dipped in a concerned frown, her hands grasping mine around the bowl of broth. “You’re not making sense, hon. Who are you talking to?”

But Sam’s voice sounds distant as the voices she can’t seem to hear supersede everything.

“Tell us where you are…” they say.

“Who are you?” I whisper, Sam’s panicking face a blur in front of me.

There is a hiss in my mind…laughter almost.

“Some call us the bringers of death…the enders of worlds…the beginning…of the end. And you…” they say, “…you call us the Gryken.”

Sam’s calling my name, cupping my jaw, shaking me, but I stare right through her, the words I just heard too chilling…too real.

“…You cannot stop us from finding you.”

4

MINA

Sam paces in front of me, her hands clasping and unclasping at her side, her brows drawn together in worried concentration.

I sit atop the white platform I woke up on, watching her worry…over me.

“Voices,” she whispers. “You’re hearing voices.”

She glances up at me and I nod once, watching the tension increase in her shoulders.

“You’re sure it’s voices? Maybe it could be your mind readjusting to all this madness around us?” She doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she nods to herself and releases a hard breath. “That is exactly what it is.”

Pulling the blanket closer around my shoulders, I avert my gaze to the white room, the white box we’re in.

I wish she was right. But she isn’t.

The world around me is cloudy…unreal. But those voices weren’t. They were very real. And the source…

“He’rox will be here soon. I sent Kol’pak down to get him urgently.” Sam glances my way again and forces a smile. “Sorry if I’m freaking you out. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I want to smile at her and nod in agreement. I want to lean naively into her positivity.

But if the response of the other women was anything to go by, I know Sam is denying her fear to make me more comfortable.

They all saw me acting strangely. And they all know what happened to me before.

I’m an anomaly. And in a world that’s falling apart, they are scared.

There is no sound as the wall opens to reveal the medic. The sight of him has me slightly surprised.

He is white, not black like the other Vullan.

From head to toe, he is white all over, suit and all. Despite that, the ridges that cover him blend and hide in shadows as he moves into the room.

Two thin tentacles hang at either side of his mouth and his eyes are a glacial blue that find me immediately.

Movement behind him has my gaze shifting for a second to meet the medic’s opposite.

Pitch black eyes bore right through mine.

Him.

I don’t get to react. The entrance in the wall closes again.

“He’rox! Thank God. Mina’s awake!” Sam moves forward, a big smile on her face.

The medic nods at her slightly, his gaze narrowing as he moves closer to me. He doesn’t look me over. His eyes remain locked on mine for an unnervingly long time until I realize he has crossed the room and is standing directly in front of me.

“It has taken some time, much longer than I assumed it would, but it is…pleasant…to see you conscious,” he says. He doesn’t wait for my response and turns as soon my mouth opens to reply. My answer dies on my lips as I watch him open drawers that hid in the seamless wall. He removes a device that fits into the palm of his hand before he turns back to me.

“I will check your life force,” he says. I nod and a green light suddenly lights up the device before the medic directs it over my body.

A schematic suddenly appears in the air between us with strange words and symbols I cannot read.

Sam moves closer. “Everything look all right?”

“The female appears to be perfectly healthy…for a human.” He glances at Sam. “Your message seemed urgent. It led me to believe she was gravely ill.”

His eyes narrow and his tentacles twist as his gaze moves back to me. “She is the same level of health since her life force stabilized after the…extraction.”

His gaze studies mine again, unmoving, and I stare back. It only causes him to tilt his head, his ears flicking off the side for a second before they flatten again.

Sam glances between us.

“Yes, it’s just that…she had a little episode…”

“Episode…” He repeats Sam’s words without breaking my gaze, his head tilting slowly the other way as he moves a step closer to me, dismissing the schematic hovering in the air between us.

“She thought she was hearing voices.”

The medic stills immediately. As if frozen, not an inch of him moves.

“Voices…” he says low. “What voices?”

Through my peripheral vision, I see when Sam glances my way.

I stare into the cold waters of the medic’s gaze, and I know without a doubt that he already knows the answer.

“What voices?” he whispers again. His tone alone should send shivers down my spine, but I feel nothing.

Looking into the eyes of this creature, I feel neither afraid nor at peace.

That numbness that awoke with me from my long sleep is still there.

Sam lets out a sort of nervous laugh. “Surely, it’s nothing. Could just be stress and the meds you’ve been giving her, right?”

There’s a pause and when the medic doesn’t answer her, doesn’t even turn to glance her way, I think I hear her audible gulp.

“Right?” Sam repeats, and in the corner of my eye, I swear her suit ripples, small blades beginning to form along her arms as she stares at us.

The medic still has his gaze locked with mine.

There’s an unspoken conversation between us, one I cannot explain as we stare at each other. One in which I understand the weight of his question, his words, without him needing to explain it to me.

“Them,” I finally say. “I hear them speaking to me.”

* * *

SAN’TEN

I pace in front of the room they’ve put the female in while my brethren have their meeting.

We are all in danger.

I know that. They know that.

For a moment, I growl at myself.

I should have followed my instincts. I knew something was off about the female. I felt it in my bones.

Across from me, she stands behind the barrier, staring out, but she cannot see me.

The “wall” in front of her is not a wall at all. For a Vullan, the barrier is almost transparent. But for a hyu’man, what she can see is an opaque wall.

Her dark eyes stare out at nothing, but they aren’t so vacant anymore.

Whether that is good is left to be determined. For all we know, it could be possession.

It is good she cannot see me.

My ba’clan are going insane, forming obscure shapes as they try to regulate the emotions churning within me.

“Infested,” I growl low. And now…infected.

The female is infected. A liability. A danger to the base and our mission here.

I cannot stand and wait for the others to decide. It is clear what we have to do.

Storming away, I burst into the room where Fer’ro, Ga’Var, and He’rox stand. Beside them, Fer’ro’s mate, Adee’ra, and Ga’Var’s Sa’am are also a part of the conversation.

Their gazes slide to me immediately.

“San’ten,” Fer’ro begins. Leader of our sleekt, I know what he is going to say. That I shouldn’t be at this meeting. But rek him if he thinks I am about to travel the stars all this way to fail before I have even begun.

I take a few steps toward him, my ba’clan still spiking and churning. Ga’Var, his womb-mate, moves forward to block my advance.

“San’ten,” he repeats.

“We do not know what we harbor,” I growl. “We have never encountered Gryken possession of another being except for our kind. There is no time to waste on meaningless gatherings. You know what we need to do.”

The only sign that Fer’ro is agitated is the slight shiver that goes through his ba’clan.

“I don’t often agree with him, but San’ten is right,” He’rox clicks in Vullan. “Even I do not know what to expect.”

“But her scans were clear, weren’t they?” Adee’ra clicks back.

My gaze slides to her, my ears standing off the sides of my head, and for a moment, my ba’clan settle down.

Adee’ra spoke our native tongue.

“It seems the ba’clan is…making our mates…adapt,” Fer’ro explains. “Just like it taught us their language, she is also learning ours.”

I blink at the female and she gives me a slight smile before switching to her Er’th language.

“Her scans were clear. She’s fine. Healthy. Isn’t she?”

“So were our brethren, and the scourge we chase still overtook their minds,” Ga’Var growls.

“But she’s not trying to attack anyone,” Sa’am replies.

“Yet,” I growl, and they all look at me. There is horror in the hyu’mans’ eyes. “She isn’t trying to attack anyone…yet.”

“But I thought that when this happened on Edooria, the males were immediately violent. There was no delay.” Adee’ra glances at her mate, a plea in her eyes as if trying to deny the reality that is upon us.

“We saw what it did to you,” Sa’am adds, her eyes boring into mine. “I saw what it did to you when it possessed you,” she says. “You went berserk immediately.”

There is slight blame on her tongue and I do not miss it.

I recall when the beast was ripped from Mee’na’s body. I remember immediately losing control as it took hold of my mind. And I remember the aftermath. Fer’ro bleeding from a wound I inflicted.

It is shame I bear to this day.

My nostrils flare as my eyes narrow on the small hyu’man and beside her, Ga’Var growls a warning.

“She is right,” he says. “The female is not aggressive. She is the opposite. Passive.”

Too passive, I think. Vacant. I cannot dismiss it.

“Females weren’t possessed back on Edooria, were they?” Adee’ra continues. “Possibly, the Gryken don’t or can’t do what they do to males to females? Maybe females are immune to possession?”

“No,” He’rox and I both say together and he looks my way, his mouth tentacles curling with interest.

“It is because they need the females for other things,” he continues.

Breeding.

The thought causes my ba’clan to churn against my skin once more.

Adee’ra nods and lets out a breath. “Ok,” she clicks in Vullan, “then what are we going to do?”

“We do what we have to do.” I take another step forward, my gaze boring into each one of them. “We do what you all know we must do. What we came here for. The female is a link to the enemy. A danger. A liability to our cause. We must get rid of the threat.”

Sa’am’s eyes widen and she glances at her mate before turning the wide pools back at me. “You’re not suggesting that we…that we get rid of her…” She glances around at the group of us, her eyes widening so much that the strange whiteness of her gaze is disturbing. “Tell me that’s not what you all are thinking.”

“No,” I growl at her. “I am saying,” my gaze slips to our quayzar, Fer’ro, “it is time to go to war.”

Adee’ra sighs. “But we aren’t ready. We don’t have enough soldiers. The missile runs are barely holding the Gryken back.” She shakes her head. “They’re building armies out there. They know we have a base and nests are popping up everywhere. We are not ready.”

“Wrong,” I growl, straightening to my full height as I meet my leader’s gaze. Fer’ro’s eyes are boiling red, but he knows what I say is true. There is no more time to wait.

“You are not ready,” my gaze flicks to Adee’ra. “But I am. After waiting for what feels like eons…we are.”

5

MINA

This room differs from the med bay.

It’s living quarters. A single bed-like platform hovers in the corner. There’s an indent in the floor Sam explained is the shower, and a section for me to go toilet with a device that was surprisingly easy to figure out.

That’s what’s behind me.

In front of me, there is a plain, blank wall. Black.

At least, I thought it was black.

Today, it looks gray, and not like the walls I have seen in the rest of the ship.

Despite what it appears to be, I know exactly what it is.

This is a prison.

I’ve done enough work with the military to know what quarantine looks like.

I pace along the gray wall, thinking.

They supplied me with a simple brown dress and a pair of sneakers someone found when they went scavenging for food.

From what it looks like, we’re in the middle of nowhere. There are no stores. No malls. No shops. I didn’t ask if they pillaged the clothing from some poor woman’s lifeless body.

I don’t want to know.

Three times a day, someone enters my room to bring me food.

Well, only one named Jillian and her daughter, Lily, seem brave enough to come anywhere near me. Whatever rumors are being spread across the base about me must have the others scared.

I don’t ask.

Sam and Adira hardly visit. They’re busy. And from the general mood of the two women who dare to be in my presence, it’s clear tensions have risen since my awakening.

They are planning something.

No one volunteers information, so I wait. I take my rations. I wait some more. And I think.

Most of the time, the food they bring is fish broth with strange “vegetables” I’m sure are weeds and mushrooms found in the forest. There must be a horticulturist in the group of survivors. Someone who knows which wild plants are safe to eat.

Everyone is playing a part.

Again, the skills I depended on before are useless here. No amount of negotiating will help the base survive.

They need practical skills. Directly useful skills.

As the days draw on, there is only one other visitor to my cell.

Every few hours, the medic pays a visit. He scans me. Asks about the voices. Asks about what they say.

I tell him the truth. I tell him they are like whispers, barely there, and that I only hear them sometimes. I tell him what they say. That they’re always demanding the same thing.

Over and over.

“Tell me where you are.”

The enemy. Those…things controlling the machines out there. I don’t know how I can hear them…but I know one thing. They want to find me.

And I’m no idiot.

It’s not that I’m special. It’s not that they want to make friends.

They want to find us.

They want to find the base.

They find me…they get what they want.

I already know I can’t let that happen.

But I’m locked in here.

Moving back to the platform I call the bed, I sit at the edge, my gaze drifting to the empty bowl I’d just eaten from.

A dark shadow moves outside the wall, catching my attention.

A Vullan, no doubt. The shadow is far too large, too bulky to be a human.

He paces before he stops and turns. It’s like I can feel him looking at me, and there is a growl.

I stiffen, my brows diving toward my nose.

It’s the first sound I have heard outside this room, but it was so faint that I’m not sure I heard it at all.

Standing slowly, I move toward the shadow, and I watch as spikes grow all around it. The shadow transforms into something even more dangerous than the large male that was standing there before.

Now, he is a weapon.

Fascinating…these beings…are fascinating.

I stop just before the barrier, my hand moving as I rest my palm against it.

It’s only for a second, but I swear I hear him growl again before he is suddenly gone, moving far too quickly than should be possible.

* * *

SAN’TEN

Preparations continue. We have enough blasters filled with the special ore to equip a thousand fighters. The shuttles, now armed to perform at two-hundred percent payload, are ready.

But the most important thing, the shields that will protect our minds from Gryken possession, are finally complete. That had been the critical aspect of this war. To have even one Vullan fall, even one of us possessed, could mean the end before the beginning.

“It’s a prototype.” He’rox’s words ring in my mind. “There might be problems.”

But we have no time to wait to figure out the kinks.

War is upon us.

I squeeze my eyes shut at the thought, letting out an even breath.

Finally. I have waited for this for so long.

To feel my claws drenched in Gryken blood. To see them fall. The thought sends a pleasure spike through me.

In three days, we make our first attack.

Adee’ra was right. There are few of us. We need more fighters, but we will have to go with what we have.

The few Vullan who will lead the cause to save this planet, and exact vengeance for the one we lost, will have to be enough.

Leaving Edooria, we hoped to arrive here before Er’th was destroyed. It would have given the planet a better chance. Hyu’man males could have joined the fight.

But we were too late.

On Base Zero alone, there is only one hyu’man male.

A young one.

I almost looked at him in pity as he held a blaster in his hands. His clawless digits trembled, but the look of determination in his eyes pushed my reservations away.

This is war…and I fought in my first when I was barely his age. It was then that I awakened the warrior within me.

It is in my blood. My lineage.

My destiny is to fight to remove this scourge.

So…why am I standing here? Outside the female’s quarters?

Why am I watching her?

Now, she rests on the bedding crossways, her face turned towards me, her eyes closed.

Resting.

My ears flick as I look at her. She looks so small and harmless while asleep. As if she couldn’t harm…anything.

No one would know what she is capable of. No one would know that within her lies a link to one of the vilest species the universe has ever known.

As if I summoned her, her eyes flick open and zone right in on me.

My ears flatten, my eyes narrow, and a shiver goes through my ba’clan.

Impossible.

I already know she cannot see me. Her hyu’man vision is far too weak.

Despite that it appeared she was aware of my presence on the former day cycle, I convinced myself it was simply an unnerving coincidence.

But as she lifts her head, her gaze not moving from me, another shiver goes through my ba’clan, unease spreading over my shoulders.

I watch as she slips off the bedding, her bare feet touching the floor lightly, and she stands there, staring in my direction…staring at me.

A flash of apprehension goes through me as I watch her take slow, measured steps toward the barrier.

She does not stop until she is standing right in front of me.

We stare at each other for a few moments. In her eyes, I no longer see that vacancy that had filled the space of her dark pupils. Now, I see the light of consciousness.

I know my ba’clan is going haywire. That my hackles are rising around me as I stare into the eyes of this being…and I am not sure if the creature I am looking at is hyu’man…or other.

For the second time while looking into her eyes, the feeling of seeing my womb-mate completely turned into something else comes rushing back.

“Why are you here?” she speaks.

My ba’clan rear back, spiking away from the barrier, away from her, and it takes everything within me not to move back as well.

“You can see me,” I say in her language.

“Yes.” She glances along the barrier. “They’ve lightened this wall I guess, so it doesn’t seem so much like a prison. Lessened its noise dampening too.” Her gaze flicks back to me. “I can hear you now. I couldn’t see or hear you clearly yesterday.”

Another shiver goes through my ba’clan and I make an effort to lower my hackles.

But the female before me doesn’t even appear to be frightened by the obvious display of aggression.

The others of her kind…they would have cowered in fear.

Despite my reservations, it makes me pause as I study her.

As she looks at me, her gaze slowly traveling over my hackles, her words repeat in my mind.

She thinks we altered her quarters. That changes were made to it to make her more comfortable. But the fact is, we did nothing to the barrier…or the sound.

It isn’t the room that’s changed.

She has.

“You seem to come here a lot,” she suddenly says. “Why? Come to finish me off?”

I can only blink.

It’s a question I cannot answer.

I do not know why I am here. I do not trust one thing about this female. I do not like her gaze… Her attention…

I do not like her…but her insinuation that I came here to kill her…

It unnerves me.

“Or did they tell you to monitor me?” She glances behind her. “Not much I can do in a place like this.”

My eyes narrow as she returns her attention to me. Her complete nonchalance in the face of a Vullan in attack mode makes me wary. Only something incredibly stupid would react in such a way…or something incredibly dangerous.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she says.

“Babysitter?” I repeat, her words surprising me. “You are not a child and I do not sit on young beings.”

I bristle.

She has pulled more words from my mouth than my kind can in a day, and, as if knowing this, a ghost of a smile passes over her lips. One that catches me off guard. For a second, the female’s face transforms and I see a glimpse of what she was like before the Gryken conquered her world.

As if catching herself, she pauses, and we look at each other in silence.

Slowly, my hackles lower, and she watches as they settle back against me without a word.

Her gaze moves back to my face and I note once more, the complete lack of fear as she looks directly at me.

Now I know what one of my brethren, Fi’rox, explained after he returned with his mate, Dey’jah.

He said she saw…him.

For the first time since being on this planet, a female acknowledged him as a male and not just a monster or a demon to be feared.

Just as this one is acknowledging me.

Mee’na is looking at me. Not through me. Not away from me. But at me. The real me.

It would be a strangely comforting thought if not for one thing.

I don’t know if it’s the female, or the scourge within her, that is controlling her right now.

I do not know what I am looking at.

I do not trust what is looking at me.

As my hackles rise once more, a loud alarm that rings through the corridor interrupts my thoughts.

The female glances away from me, her eyes searching the ceiling.

An emergency.

Something has gone wrong. Never before have we used the ship-wide alarm.

Without a word, I turn and rush toward the captain’s deck.

I know even before I get there that the news will be grim.

6

MINA

I lied to the medic.

After the dark one, the one with the black eyes, visited my cell, I sat listening to the alarms till they cut off.

It took several hours before someone came to see me after that. Lily, with my lunch.

She’s a skinny young woman, her wide gray eyes only framed by her long brunette hair. But when she entered my room, her eyes were even wider than usual.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She shook her head, her hands trembling as she set down my food, her eyes darting to me nervously.

“The scouts saw an army heading this way. Gryken. Thousands of them.” Her voice trembled. “Th-they say they’ll get here in two days. We don’t have enough people to fight. If we are stuck in here, we don't have enough food to last us. We’re heading out tomorrow to scavenge as much as we can, and those of us who can’t fight are going to hide down in the lower tunnels.” Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she began pacing. “They’re coming…they’re going to find us,” she muttered, before chewing on her thumb.

“What do you mean they’re coming?” I whispered. “I thought they didn’t know where the base was.”

Lily nodded as she wrung her hands. “That’s what we thought. But they’re coming from all directions. I heard someone say, judging from the trajectory, they’re going to converge here.” Her gaze flicked back to me nervously. “Some of the women think…some of them think you’re communicating with them,” she said. “…leading them here.”

The accusation had me speechless. I could only stare at her in disbelief.

It’s a horrible allegation. Why would I lead the enemy to my own people? But I understand where it’s coming from.

Fear.

And…

I cannot be sure I am not leading the enemy here.

After all, their sole communication, the subject of their whispers had been about finding me.

“We will find you,” they’d said.

What if they can?

I didn’t tell Lily this. Not even as she hurried away to go prepare with everyone else.

Instead, I’d fallen to the floor, my world slowly crashing around me.

I should have died when the machine took me. Should have perished after it impregnated me with its spawn.

But I lived. And now…now I might be the reason my race is destroyed.

The realization hit me like a brick.

And then…the voices’ words changed. Words that solidified it all.

“We know where you are.”

I sat on the floor, frozen, as the last few months replayed in my mind.

Cities being leveled. People dying. Machines destroying everything.

Watching from within the belly of the orb as they turned my planet to dust.

When the medic came shortly after Lily left, his questions were the same.

What were the voices saying?

Could I speak back to them?

I didn’t tell him the questions had suddenly changed to a singular statement. That they told me they knew where I was.

And I noted he didn’t mention an entire army was on its way to destroy Earth’s last hope.

Maybe he didn’t want to alarm me.

But as I sit here now, still on the floor, staring at the space before me, I know what I have to do.

The enemy is being led here because of me. Somehow, they’ve located me and if I’m the target, the waypoint, then only I can change it.

Standing to my feet, my hands form fists at my sides.

I have to fix this, and there is only one way to do that.

I have to get out of here.

* * *

It takes far too long for Lily to return with my dinner. By the time she arrives, I’m almost shaking with adrenaline from the plan that’s formed in my head.

Setting down my meal, she releases a heavy breath.

She looks even worse than she did earlier.

Her hair is messy like she’s been pulling at it, her eyes are swollen from shed tears, and there’s hopelessness spreading in her gaze that I cannot ignore.

I am the cause of this.

Everyone is in danger because I am here.

“Here you go.” She forces a smile but still doesn’t meet my gaze. “I’ll be back to check if you need anything later.”

She’s about to hurry from the room when I stop her.

“Lily!” She pauses, her face turned away from me, her back stiff.

“How many of you are going out tomorrow to forage?”

She turns to face me but still doesn’t meet my gaze. Whatever the other women think about me is getting to her.

“About four of us? Mom, me, Lori, and Hannah. Most of the others are either preparing to fight or are too afraid to go out there.”

“What about Sam and Adira?”

“They’re doing shuttle runs, trying to keep the…the…army at bay.” A shudder goes through her.

“You need more help.”

Lily scoffs, her expression becoming even grimmer. “I know…but resources are…scarce here.”

“I know. That’s why I want to help. I want to come forage with you.”

Her gaze darts up at me then, her eyebrows high on her forehead.

“I don’t know if—”

I step toward her and grip her shoulders firmly enough that I stop whatever she was going to say.

“Look, you believe me, don’t you? You believe me when I say I haven’t called those vile beings here? Right?”

Lily gulps.

“I have nothing to gain from that.” I stare into her eyes, imploring her, hoping she believes me. “I want to help. I can’t just be a burden.”

For a moment, I freeze as I stare at her.

Even in the dim light of my quarters, it’s like I can see every small detail of Lily’s skin.

Each breath she takes creates a slight hiss in my ears, one I can tune out but one I can focus on with such clarity that I hear her throat move as she swallows hard.

In the few seconds that pass, I’m aware of her blood rushing through her veins beneath my fingers.

I can feel her heart beating.

I can sense her being. I can sense everything.

Lily’s gray eyes rise to mine and I somehow hide the fact that something strange is happening to me. She nods slowly. “I can ask if it’s okay to let you come along.”

I smile at her. It’s a step in the right direction.

That’s enough for now.

They have no reason not to let me go. They need all the help they can get.

And then…

Then I can put this crazy plan hatching in my head into motion.

Only after Lily leaves do my shoulders sag as I release a pent-up breath.

This needs to work.

It has to.

7

MINA

The night is long and throughout it all, I cannot sleep.

I sit, thinking about my plan, and my heart thumps against my chest like it's filled with lead.

The thought of going out there again, into the world where those machines roam… I must be mad.

But what’s worse than my insanity? Being a beacon leading the enemy to Earth’s only hope…or sacrificing myself so the people on this base, so my planet, overcome this.

I know the answer.

Everything was on track before I woke up.

My consciousness somehow triggered something. The fact those beasts inserted their kind in my womb did…something to me.

I lift my hand in front of my face and my skin looks hyper-detailed to my eyes.

Something’s changing within me.

Maybe my decision to run away from the base isn’t such a crazy one after all.

Whatever is happening to me is happening fast.

And…I’m afraid.

Terrified of what this means.

Letting my hand drop, I move my gaze to the now transparent wall that was black some days before.

I can see right through it like it’s made of glass. But no visitors wait there this time. Neither Vullan nor human.

I am alone and morning cannot come soon enough.

When the hours finally tick by, I’m pacing by where I know the entrance to the room is waiting for Lily to return.

It’s early. But as I’ve not seen a soul since Lily left last night, it’s clear it’s an all-hands-on-deck sort of thing out there.

Everyone is busy. Everyone is getting ready.

And I am too.

I’ve tightened the sneakers on my feet and secured the blanket I got on that first day like a cloak over my shoulders.

I release a breath, trying to calm myself.

I have to act cool. When Lily arrives, I can’t make her suspicious of my intentions.

I still don’t know if they have decided to let me go with them. For all I know, they believe I am some monster that should remain under lock and key till they decide what to do with me. I just have to hope…

Movement in my peripheral vision has me halting as I see someone coming down the corridor.

Jillian.

My heart sinks a little when I spot her. The fact it’s not Lily is like a precursor to bad news, but I square my shoulders anyway.

If I have to force my way out as soon as she activates the door, I’m prepared to do that. It was option two of my plan, something I did not want to resort to, but desperate times call for…

Jillian walks with purpose, but even though I am standing staring at her through the transparent material, her gaze doesn’t flick to mine.

It’s like she can’t see me there.

It gives me time to notice she’s not bringing food. She’s empty-handed.

That has to be a good sign. Right?

Shaking myself, I take a deep breath and put an innocent look on my face as the wall opens.

Jillian’s gaze meets mine immediately, and she glances around the room before smiling at me.

“I see you’re already dressed and ready,” she says, before stepping in.

I watch the exit close behind her and silently berate myself. I hope that wasn’t my only chance of getting out of here.

“I didn’t know what time you were going. I didn’t want to be late.”

Jillian nods. “About that…”

Oh no. Here it comes.

She’s going to say they can’t let me go. That I’m a liability.

I wait for the words, steeling myself for their impact and what I am about to do to this sweet woman in order to get out of here.

“Some of the others objected to your request…” she says, and an air of resolution settles over me as I ball my fists.

I will have to immobilize her…force her to open the door…then keep her quiet somehow while I get the hell out of here.

“But,” she suddenly continues, “Sam ordered that you tag along.” Jillian pauses, her gaze squaring with mine. “She trusts you and we need all the help we can get.”

The heaviness of her words isn’t taken lightly. I know exactly what she isn’t saying, and a sense of guilt swims in me. I am about to rip away Sam’s trust.

But it’s just something I have to do.

I nod at Jillian, my fists relaxing. “I will help as best as I can.”

Without another word, Jillian nods and turns immediately. The exit opens for her without input, underlining that I needed help getting out of the room. It has never opened for me before.

“Come on,” Jillian says. “We don’t want to be out there for longer than necessary.” She glances behind her to catch my gaze before continuing to hustle down the corridor. “I’m sure Lily must have mentioned what’s heading toward us.”

“She did.”

“None of us wants to see one of those things in person. I hear they’re even more terrifying than those machines they ride in, and we won’t have any guards. The Vullan can’t spare any. They’re already in battle units ready to go out there and fight. We have to do this quickly and efficiently.” She glances behind her to ensure I’m keeping up as she weaves down the corridor. “There’s a spot nearby that grows wild berries and such. That’s where we’re heading to. Hopefully, we can find enough. Lori knows where to find mushrooms and Lily and I have been getting good at figuring out which weeds are edible.”

She glances at me again and I nod.

“I’m not good with any of that but I’m a good pair of hands,” I lie.

My heart’s still hammering in my chest. Deception making it heavy with each beat as I follow behind Jillian.

Her words fade away in the back of my consciousness as I keep up with her pace.

None of what she says matters. I can only focus on the fact that I am about to get out of this place and maybe, maybe my existence can be worth something.

Maybe I can help these people who tried to save me.

* * *

The deep hum of strange chants hit us like a brick as soon as we near the ship’s offloading ramp.

Down on the cave floor below us, a row of Vullan stand, large guns in hand.

Their backs are to us, and as we draw closer, I am reminded once again of just how big they all are.

They dwarf us, but that’s not the reason the humans in the cave stand on the other side, looking toward them.

The strange sight, the deep hum, the chants…they’re coming from the warriors before us.

In one hand, they balance their weapon, and the other hand slaps against their chest in unison as a deep hum comes from their breasts.

Once, twice, three times, they slap their chests before they all fall to one knee before us, slamming the butt of their weapons into the ground as the deep hum heightens.

It’s a song of sorts. A song of war, and it vibrates right through us.

I don’t have to understand their song to feel the depth of their promise. Whatever this display is, it’s of ritual importance.

My gaze flicks up from the prostrate Vullan to find Sam, Adira, and another woman dressed in the Vullan suit off to the side.

Sam’s gaze finds mine, and she nods at me.

I nod back.

The hum lowers in the cave, but the Vullan remain with their heads bowed to us.

It’s a spectacle. One I am lucky to be alive to witness in person.

That’s when Adira steps forward. She observes the group of humans standing in the cave, her chest heaving as she takes a deep breath.

“What you’ve just witnessed is a rite the Vullan do for their females before going off to war. Pledging their hearts, their souls, their bodies…that they will fight with all they have and return victorious.” She pauses, scanning us with her gaze. “Here, there are no Vullan females. None of these males have to go out and fight to protect us. They have no reason to. They owe us nothing. But they perform the ritual for us, anyway.” She pauses again, her gaze flicking to one of the males still bowed before us. “It’s a show of their promise to protect us.”

Someone sniffs and Jillian wipes away a sneaky tear.

“On behalf of you all,” Adira continues, “I am thanking these males for what they are about to do. We’ve tried to delay this for long enough, but we all knew this day was coming.” She takes a breath. “May God be with us all.”

With a collective hum and shout, the Vullan all rise to tower over us once more. Without further hesitation, they march toward the cave exit.

There’s a tug on my hand as Jillian grabs me and hurries toward the other side of the cave. There, Lily, Lori, and another woman, Hannah, I assume, are waiting.

Lori and Hannah’s eyes are on the Vullan soldiers as they file out, and they don’t notice us immediately.

“We have to go,” Jillian says as soon as we’re in earshot. “Waiting around doesn’t give us better odds.”

Lily nods, her gaze flicking to me before she offers me a slight smile.

“Got the crates?” Jillian asks and Lori finally realizes we’re there.

Her gaze flicks to me before flicking away almost immediately. “Yes,” she says. “We have three. We’re ready when you are.”

I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t trust me either.

Turning my eyes to the exit, I set my shoulders.

She won’t have to worry about me for much longer.

I’m turning around to try and locate Sam when the body of a huge Vullan blocks my view.

My heart thumps hard and when I look up, those eyes as dark as night engulf me immediately.

His suit ripples as he looks down at me.

“You should not be out here,” he says, his voice so deep it vibrates the air between us. “You must go back to your quarters.”

I open my mouth to respond when a small female forces her way between us. Sam.

“She’s not going anywhere, San’ten.”

San’ten.

His name.

It echoes in my mind, settling there.

“You do not know what you do,” San’ten growls. “You release what you cannot control.”

Sam squares her shoulders as Adira and another Vullan appear at her side.

“The decision has been made, San’ten,” the lava-eyed Vullan says, but even as he looks at me, I can see his suit rippling uneasily.

Strange how it reacts almost like some kind of thick fluid…

The mild distraction is enough to almost make me miss the snarl that San’ten sends my way.

His suit, too, is rippling, but more uncontrollably than the other Vullan’s.

San’ten’s suit rises in spikes as he stares my way, not backing down despite the three people who have put their bodies between mine and his.

My eyes steel as I stare into his.

“She is other,” he says. “We cannot trust—”

“San’ten!” His leader begins, but I am already moving.

I squeeze between Adira and Sam and come face to face with the demon that looks like it wants to hunt and annihilate me.

To think I had a conversation with him just the day before. Back then, behind the barrier, he hadn’t seemed so big, so dangerous.

I step right up to him, and his snarl deepens, but he does not move.

I’m aware he could reach out right now, rip straight through me with those claws of his, but the fact he doesn’t do anything gives me some bravery.

I don’t stop till there’s hardly any air between us.

“I know what you think I am,” I say. “I’m not any of those things. I just want to help. Just like you do.”

His nostrils flare and his ears twitch at the sides of his head. All around him, his spikes rotate like a collective in a wave.

He dips his head till his face is right before mine. “You,” he says. “Do not know what you are.”

The words hit me like a bullet in the head, rendering me speechless, and as he withdraws, turning away from me and heading off into the stream of Vullan leaving the cave, I can only watch him go.

Someone grips my arm, Sam I think, and says something comforting, but I do not hear her words.

All I hear is what the Vullan said. For he is right.

I woke up in a new world. A new body. A new existence.

I do not know what I am…but I know who I am. Or who I was…

Mina McCleary, hostage and crisis negotiator, wife of none, mother to zero.

A spike of anger rises within me and I welcome the feel of some real emotion apart from fear.

My body has changed. I have changed. There is nothing I can do about that. But it won’t change who I am. And even if this ridiculous plan takes me to my death, I’m prepared to do it. Even if it means saving one person on this base.

As if to solidify this promise, the cry of a baby echoes through the caverns.

Its cry is like a beacon of hope and my resolve deepens.

Fuck San’ten and whatever he thinks of me.

Fuck all the people on this base that think I am a traitor of some kind.

I didn’t choose this. It’s what I’ve been given.

I look down at Sam and she flashes me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. She’s worried too, as everyone else is, but she has stuck her neck out for me.

I can only hope she understands and doesn’t hate me after I do what I have to do.

8

SAN’TEN

It is hard for me to pull my mind from the thought of the hyu’man female they have foolishly released from her prison.

At least, in the confines of our ship, we can monitor her.

Out there, in the wild, anything can happen.

There is much folly in what they are doing, but it is not my problem.

Whatever they decide to do, this was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before the Gryken located us. Only a matter of time before they forced us to fight with all we had, prepared or not.

I’m snarling as I catch up to the others and the light of the planet’s star hits us with a warm glow. Ba’clan already rippling, my brethren release their true forms. No longer are we worried or concerned about scaring the hyu’mans within the cavern watching us.

Hackles rise. Chests expand. Blades extend.

Pausing for only a second, I inhale. The air is fresh but still, as if even the instinct of this world has been alerted that something evil is coming.

“Ready?” Kol’pak, a Vullan of my age, turns and glances at me.

“I was hatched ready,” I reply, and he lets out a growl of approval.

Before I go though, I look behind me at the ship that brought us to this world. If the Gryken reach the base, it might not survive. Not confined like it is now.

This might be the last time I see it. The final remnant of our culture. The last relic of Edooria.

If we lose this war, it will lie in ruins along with our bodies. Rotting as this planet floats into nothingness. And maybe, in eons to come, some new race will discover this place. Discover what we left and wonder about the cause of our demise.

Movement within the cavern catches my attention and my eyes land on her.

That female.

My nostrils flare at the sight of her. She is staring directly at me, her brows almost touching her nose, anger flashing in her eyes. It is almost the same anger flashing in mine. I can’t look away.

Before, when I leaned in to speak to her, a waft of her scent had filled my senses. Now staring at her, anger embedded in her features, anger directed at me, I feel a sense of triumph at her reaction.

Yes. Hate me. Hate me like you should.

I do not care.

I know what she is. I know what is happening to her.

The others may not realize it yet. May not realize that she is changing. That the enemy we have all pledged to fight has invaded the very blood that flows through her veins…but I know.

And for that…she is my enemy, too.

I sneer at her, my fangs flashing, but the hard look in her eyes does not leave.

I find myself staring at this female for far too long. Long enough for Kol’pak to rest a claw on my shoulder to get my attention.

“Let’s go,” he clicks.

I jerk my head in affirmation, pulling my eyes from the offensive female as I activate my head shield.

The helmet activates immediately, creating a transparent film around my head.

It’s all the protection I’m going to have against those beasts getting into my head. It’s all I need.

Once I’m close enough to them, not one of them will survive.

Kol’pak sets off behind the group heading down the mountain ahead of us and I follow. We must go on foot for the Gryken will hear the shuttles coming.

With ba’clan hiding our energy signatures and our minds protected, this will be a stealth attack. An ambush.

It will take us less than a day to locate the first wave of Gryken heading toward us. If it were humans heading into this attack on foot, the Gryken would reach them first.

But we are fast on our feet and the thrill of battle is thrumming in our veins.

I can feel it through the slight shivers of my ba’clan as they communicate with the others.

We all thirst for blood…and I intend to sate myself.

I can still feel the female’s eyes on my back as I disappear into the greenery of her world.

It is strange here. Different from Edooria.

The trees wiry. Shorter. Their leaves a vibrant green instead of dark hues.

But it doesn’t take away from the rush that goes through us as we dart through the forest.

There are dark blurs before and around me as my brethren keep up the pace. We all know where we are heading. Communicators on our wrists, the horde of advancing Gryken is labeled for us to see.

We run for several minutes, putting distance between us and Base Zero, and then there is a click in Vullan. A command.

Several of my brethren to my right disappear as they head in another direction. Five of us continue onward together.

We have to split up. Hit them from different directions. Keep them back until the mother ship is fully loaded. Its power is enough to take out hundreds of the scourge at a time and we will keep them at bay until it can deliver its first run.

I do not know how long we travel. Long enough for the landscape to change.

It started with the trees becoming sparse. Sparser than the tree lines surrounding the clearings we passed through. The world grows colder, the vegetation dead, and the air uncomfortably still.

We are only running for a few more minutes before there is another click. Dri’ro, who is leading us, stops abruptly and we halt.

He does not have to say anything. My ba’clan have already noticed.

And so have the others.

There is a low growl beside me and Kol’pak’s hackles all extend. Just like my own. Just like the others.

We are close.

They are here.

We are on an incline and we creep forward, keeping our bodies low as we look over the ridge.

My skin crawls, my ba’clan disturbed, as my eyes land on what is beneath.

Traveling in a thick group, the Gryken spawn roll and tumble together as they head toward Base Zero.

“Rek,” Dri’ro mutters.

There must be at least five hundred of them.

I growl as I watch them, my claw grasping my blaster as my blade forms on the other arm.

I expected more.

“Drones,” I mutter.

Looking into the distance, I search for the scrit holding the former that hatched these vermin.

But no machine is close by.

“A scouting wave,” I murmur again, and Kol’pak clicks in agreement.

“The scrit is not here,” he also observes.

“Doesn’t matter. We still take them out and continue forward,” Dri’ro says.

A thrill goes through me.

I thought he’d never give the command.

With a roar, we descend, jumping from the ridge straight into the group of foes.

My blade goes into the skull of one immediately, sinking deep, and I roar again as I spin, aiming for another.

The dead Gryken slides from my blade with a squelch that is music to my ears. Too late, its companion locks eyes with mine the moment my blade sinks into the center of its skull.

Mere drones, their reaction time is slow. As if finally realizing they are under attack, the sound of a thousand long legs coming to a halt echoes in the air.

Screeches erupt all around us as they spin, abandoning their journey to take care of the threat in their midst. My blade is an extension of myself. Without conscious thought, it sinks into my foes, the battle calls of my brethren pushing me forward like the beat of my own life organ.

This is for my womb-mate.

This is for Edooria.

* * *

MINA

“Atttaccckkkk.” The voices cut through my consciousness so loudly that I slap a hand against my ear, my eyes widening as I glance around me.

It’s like the creatures speaking to me were right here.

But they’re not.

I know that.

The forest is quiet. You wouldn’t know that the second wave of the apocalypse is right on our doorstep.

Busying myself, I glance at the other women, hoping no one noticed what just happened, but I’m not so lucky.

“You ok?” Lily looks nervous as she watches me but I pin a smile on my face and nod.

“Yea, sure. It’s just…I haven’t been outside in a while.”

She nods and leaves it at that, returning to plucking dandelions from a small grassy area.

They say the flowers are good food.

The four women work quickly, a feverish sort of adrenaline shared between them, their eyes darting at the bushes at the slightest sound, their whole demeanor spooked. None of them want to be out here, that’s for certain. They grab whatever might be useful, even firewood, filling the floating carts as fast as they can, and I work alongside them.

But I’m distracted. My heart’s beating an irregular beat, and everything around me feels like it’s been redone in high definition.

I can pinpoint the slightest movement of the leaves, the direction of the soft wind, and even the sound of something moving far in the bushes. I wasn’t this alert or aware of things around me before.

But that’s just it.

I know it’s not because I’ve been inside for a while. I know it’s because I’m…different now.

Changing. Something that should scare me more than it is.

And the most distinct change…scents.

I can smell the air…and the women around me. Each has a unique scent, distinct from the other. Even with my back turned, I can pinpoint their direction just from their scent alone.

I want to say I’m calm about this…but…I’m not.

Things are moving too fast, too quickly. Whatever those beasts did to me is taking over.

I have to get away. I must remove myself.

I glance around me, biting the inside of my lip.

I still haven’t found an opportunity to lose these women. But I must.

Soon.

Time is not on my side.

“Lily, there’s some wild berries behind those bushes over there. Mind getting them? I would, but these mushrooms are harder to dig up than I thought,” Lori says, cutting through my thoughts.

Lily pops her head up from the dandelions and glances over to where the bushes are. She doesn’t want to move far from the group. Her hesitation says it all.

“I’ll do it!” I chime in. “Best she focuses on getting all those flowers.”

Lily’s shoulders relax with a sigh she doesn’t disguise and Lori glances at Jillian before shrugging.

“As soon as you get them, we head back.” Jillian meets the gaze of each of us. “I don’t like being out here.”

There are murmurs of agreement as I hurry off behind the bushes.

As soon as I am out of sight, I know this is my chance…but I pause.

Am I really going to do this?

My heart thumps in my chest like a heavy chime, ticking down the seconds.

If I do this…there’s no turning back. I’m walking to my death…and I know this.

I glance back to where the women are. I can’t see them because of the leaves from the bushes, but I can hear them. Each crack of the twigs beneath their feet…every sigh or slight gasp they make.

Yea…I have to go. It’s the only way I can help them.

Somewhere out there, the Vullan are fighting. This is the only thing I can do to delay the enemy. Give the Vullan time. Give Earth a chance.

With a deep sigh, I pull the blanket from over my shoulders and make a hood with it over my head.

I’m ready, and I’m just about to dash off into the wilderness when the bush behind me moves.

Lily.

I know it’s her even before she says a word. I can smell that it’s her.

“Mina?” she whispers.

I freeze, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment. I can’t let her stop me, but when I turn to face her, the look in her eyes tells me I won’t have to put up a fight.

“You’re leaving…aren’t you?” she asks.

I don’t reply. I don’t even nod and I watch as her throat moves as she glances back at the other women before coming through the bushes to stand in front of me.

“Take this,” she says, and from underneath her blouse, she takes out a strange-looking weapon. It looks almost like a boomerang. “It’s a gun. Use it if you have to,” she says.

I stare at the weapon in her hand, at a loss as to what she’s doing.

“Hurry,” she whispers, the hand outstretched toward me shaking.

I take the weapon, my eyes moving back to hers as I search her gaze.

“For the record,” she whispers, “we don’t believe you’re working with them.” She glances behind her. “We’re just scared. We don’t want…we don’t want to die.”

“Lily?” Jillian’s voice reaches us and Lily’s eyes widen somewhat.

“I have to go.” She offers me a slight smile. “Whatever you’re going out there to do, I hope it works,” she says before turning and heading back through the thicket.

I’m left staring at where she stood, tears I won’t allow to fall filling my eyes.

And then I turn…and I am gone.

Running…running toward recompense…or my death. Running toward fate.

9

SAN’TEN

My communicator vibrates as I slice my blade through the last Gryken in the horde. My ba’clan is soaked in blood that’s not my own, and yet still I thirst.

With a roar, I raise my blade to the heavens and so do my brethren around me.

It is a small victory, just a taste of what is to come, but it is a victory nonetheless.

We are still roaring when my communicator vibrates again.

I would have ignored it if the same didn’t happen to every other Vullan around me.

“Rek,” Dri’ro clicks.

“What?” I growl, before activating the device on my arm. My nostrils flare as soon as I read the message.

The female named Mee’na has gone missing.

“They need someone to track her,” Dri’ro clicks, wiping soft Gryken brain matter from the ridges on his face.

All of my brethren look my way and my ba’clan move like a wave against me in annoyance.

“Fi’rox is the best tracker,” I growl.

“He has a mate,” Dri’ro replies.

For a moment, I close my eyes. I know the little twilch has a mate. Now that we are under attack, he will not leave her side. Admirable…and exactly what I would do in his position…but that doesn’t change the fact that it annoys me.

“You are the next best tracker,” Dri’ro continues.

I snarl at that. I only said Fi’rox is the best because I wished for them to contact him instead of me. There is no doubt I am a better tracker than he is, but I have no time to dwell on proving unimportant things.

Especially now, when the cusp of war is at my fingertips. Especially now that I have had a taste.

I do not want to leave it, if even for a moment.

But a female is missing. Even if it is that one, Mee’na, I cannot deny my instincts. She will die out there in the wild without help. My help.

But it is Kol’pak’s words that make me go still.

“She hasn’t gone missing,” he says. “She’s…left.”

Confused, I read the message on my communicator once more. The information is there. And Kolpak is right.

She has left on her own accord.

I pause, allowing my ba’clan to stop roiling against my skin as I retract my main blade and stretch the muscles in my neck.

Still, the rage rising within me is hard to control.

It’s evident enough, for Kol’pak glances in Dri’ro’s direction.

“Perhaps,” he clicks, “San’ten is not the best male to send after the hyu’man.”

I do not reply.

There is no way anyone else is going after her now.

She is mine.

Mine to find. Mine to punish.

Because this is my fault.

I, and only I, know the female has changed beyond what her outward appearance shows. Only I know the Gryken genes have altered her. That she is no longer hyu’man, not Gryken either, but other.

Linked to the enemy…and now, she has gone to them.

She has left her tribe, her people, to go to their greatest adversary.

I did not know if the Gryken control her. That was unclear.

But now she’s left on her own. That can only mean one thing. She’s either being controlled or she is the worst thing any warrior can encounter.

A traitor.

I should have expected this.

The way she spoke to me through the barrier, no fear in her eyes.

The way she looked at me before we left the base. The anger.

Everything about her has been the opposite of what it should have been.

And I let them allow her outside the ship. I have endangered our mission.

I don’t realize I’m snarling, a low growl emanating from my chest, until Kol’pak draws it to Dri’ro’s attention.

“I’ll go,” he says. “It will be for the best.”

He’s already moving when my hand closes around his neck, stopping him in his tracks.

“Over my rotting corpse,” I growl.

Kol’pak’s ba’clan rear against me and mine respond, both our hackles rising.

But before the others can come to his aid, I release him.

My war is not with him. It is with her.

She will not get away with this.

I will find her and she will live to see the scourge she colludes with burn in front of her eyes.

That is my promise.

10

MINA

I run with the wind, cutting through the forest, cutting through the still air toward…nowhere. I don’t know where I’m heading, only that I need to get far, far away from the base.

My breathing comes hard, my chest aching with the exertion, but I don’t slow down.

I have to keep moving.

As I run, I stumble. More than a few times, I bump into trees and my feet get tangled in roots.

I don’t care how many times I fall. I only know that I have to get up and keep moving. And I do.

I run for so long that dusk comes, and soon, it’s getting so dark, I shouldn’t be able to see clearly.

With terror coursing through me, I glance behind me in the base's direction.

I don’t expect anyone to come after me. They would be crazy to do so.

By now, they must know I left on my own. Lily must have told them I ran off.

As I grip the gun in one hand, the other holding the blanket clutched together at my throat, I now know they knew of my plan.

Suspected it at least.

They knew I wanted to leave.

Probably not Sam. I doubt she would have agreed to send me out to gather resources if she'd expected it. Sam trusted me too much for that.

I mean, which person in their right mind would willingly exit the base with no protection?

Me. That’s who.

But I’m not in my right mind.

So I keep moving. I have to get far, far away from here.

To some place where those assholes will find me. Someplace that won’t put everyone else in danger.

And then…

And then what?

I have no plan and I choke on the lump that forms in my throat as I continue running.

What will I do when they find me?

I don’t know…but at least I won’t be near the base anymore.

That will give the Vullan some time to renew their attack...protect the base...protect the others.

I pause for a few seconds, stumbling to a stop before resting my forehead against a tree. My chest heaves with exertion and I wonder why I don’t collapse after how long I’ve been running.

I should be exhausted, but I know I can keep going.

Just another thing that’s changed.

Looking up into the tops of the trees around me, I search what I can see of the sky.

It’s so quiet out here. Eerily so. And the voices…

I have heard none since I began running. No whispers. No wisps needling in my brain.

I don’t know what I expected, but I thought they would bombard me now that I’m outside.

I pause, resting my forehead against the tree again.

My mind is quiet.

That isn’t good…if I’ve been wrong about this…

This whole chaotic idea depended on the voices still contacting me. If they stop…

Looking back in the direction of the base, a spike of fear shoots down my spine.

What if I was too late?

My chest heaves as I stare in that direction and I have to push the thought away. No.

This has to work.

It has to!

The ground beneath me is soft, almost muddy, and my feet sink as the heaviness of the situation weighs me down.

Crouching, I dip my hand into it. An idea comes shortly after and I shrug off the blanket to daub the earth over my arm.

I doubt any Vullan is coming after me, but they’re not the only thing in these woods.

There must still be roaming wild animals…and the more dangerous threat, the Gryken.

If I’ve learned anything in the past few hours it’s that scent is easy to pinpoint. I must disguise mine.

The thought solidifies and with frantic movements, I daub more mud over my arms and face.

I daub some across my chest, back, and armpits, hissing at the strange icky sensation it brings.

My legs are next and soon I’ve covered all the skin I can without getting naked and daubing it against my privates, too.

Swallowing hard, I take a few deep breaths, grab the blanket and set off again.

And I keep going, not knowing where I’m heading, only knowing I need to keep moving. Drawn forward by some invisible thread I cannot see.

* * *

SAN’TEN

The world around me is getting darker. The planet is heading into the dark cycle.

My ba’clan bristle around me as I curse.

I should have found the female already, but her scent has grown dim, barely there, as if she has somehow been whisked away by the wind.

I find an indentation in the soft earth soon.

She stopped here. It is where her scent is the strongest before it wanes and the earth here is…disturbed.

My nostrils flare, my ears perking as I look around the area.

She stopped here…why?

There are no signs of a scuffle. No sign of injury.

But as my gaze moves over the broken earth, I notice the claw marks in the soil.

Hyu’mans don’t have claws. I would barely call their digits so, but I can see the four grooves she left in the earth. As if she was clawing for something.

No. I stoop to take a closer look. She wasn’t clawing. She was digging.

A low growl leaves me as I stand to my full height.

It is clear what she has done.

She has covered herself. Disguised her scent.

Even now, as I sniff, it is barely there.

My eyes narrow as they flick over the wiry jungle. She is smarter than I thought. But this means she does not want to be found.

I pause, unable to let the thought settle in my mind.

To betray your people to a species so vile… The same species that took everything away from me. I cannot fathom it. But the evidence is right before me.

Plain and clear.

She is trying her best to hide away and go to the enemy.

But she will fail. I will find her anyway.

She has left a trail behind her filled with snapped branches and displaced leaves. Her scent alone isn’t the only thing I can use to hunt her down.

And…

I turn in the direction I know she’s gone and my eyes narrow some more as my ba’clan extend, my hackles rising completely.

Far, far away, the earth shudders under the weight of something big. Something monstrous.

I can tell it’s out there. Too close for comfort.

A scrit—one of those machines the Gryken travel in.

New urgency goes through me, for the female, knowingly or not, is heading straight toward it.

11

MINA

I stop dead in my tracks on top of the mountain leading down into the valley below.

My lungs cease and I cannot breathe as I stare ahead over the expanse.

There is no light. Darkness has come, but I can see it clearly.

It stands tall on its four metal legs, towering over the earth it has trampled. It looks like death and terror all in one. A nightmare.

The round orb that stands on top of the legs reflects what little starlight there is.

I was once in one of those orbs. Trapped in it. Bred in it.

The thing in front of me is a machine. An orb of death that descended on one of the most normal of days and burned my world to the ground.

Fear rises through me and everything, everything I planned, everything I thought I was going to do goes right out of my head.

I was running without direction. Either the machine has found me or something drew me toward it…for it is moving.

One leg rises, then falls, then another, and another…heading straight in my direction.

I’m frozen. Everything I endured while trapped inside one of those things coming straight back to me.

A deep pain emanates inside me, one that has me gripping my belly. Images of the machine taking me deeper inside itself come to the fore. It had taken me away from Adira and Sam, then it had implanted its spawn into my unwilling womb. Falling to my knees, I stare in horror at the towering machine as it approaches.

This was a mistake.

I realize now that I have been numb for a reason.

Emotion brings too much pain.

I’ve been blocking it out. Blocking it all out until now.

The pain doesn’t subside. Neither does the fear…

I want to abandon this stupid idea and turn and run.

…But I can’t.

I can’t think of myself. My survival doesn’t matter.

Everybody I knew and loved is dead.

I have no one in this world anymore.

I have nothing…and…those people at the base…the young child…they have a chance.

As the earth vibrates with the movement of the machine, the night air is still. My body shudders as emotions I try not to feel rack my chest.

“Humannnn…”

The voice in my head makes me freeze, my eyes on the giant machine approaching.

“Humannn…” it repeats. “You are close.”

“We can feel you.”

I gulp, my body still shuddering as I stand on shaky legs.

It’s time.

Time to end this torture.

I take the first step down the mountain. Then another. Guided only by the slight reflection of starlight bouncing off the gigantic machine.

When the booms that rack the earth stop, I freeze.

It’s stopped walking. Like a tower of doom, its legs halt and nothing moves, not even my breath makes my chest rise.

I’m standing staring at it, waiting. Waiting for what? And when nothing happens, I force my legs forward as I head down the mountainside.

It’s so silent all around me, my eyes dart to the bushes before I turn my gaze back to the machine before me. But there’s still no sound. Not even the sound of the evil creatures that came here to destroy us all.

This machine is alone…or maybe my senses aren’t as heightened as I thought and I am actually surrounded by them.

Nevertheless, I continue walking, picking my way down the slope.

If it's alone, all the better for me. Surrounded by the demons, not knowing what they plan to do with me is more terrifying than dealing with one. And as I hit the bottom of the mountain, I realize something else.

The machine hasn’t attacked either.

It’s simply standing...waiting for my approach.

That has to be a good sign, right?

Right?

Squaring my shoulders, I force myself forward, all the while repeating that I’m not doing this for myself. If I was thinking of myself, I would be running in the opposite direction.

I’m doing this for the world. Earth. I’m doing this for Earth.

Swallowing hard, I continue moving forward, picking my way through the forest at the bottom of the mountain until I suddenly break a clearing of freshly flattened trees.

The scent of tree sap fills my nostrils so strongly I can hardly breathe, but my breath is taken away for a whole other reason.

Not far from where I stand, is one of the machine’s legs.

I am dwarfed by it, and as my gaze travels upwards, that memory of how small, how insignificant we are, comes right back.

An ant in the grand scheme of things. A speck in a vast universe. But even a grain of sand can have a huge effect on the ocean.

The butterfly effect. And I am that grain of sand.

I tell myself this as I walk closer, my gaze scanning the machine for movement. There is none.

Did I imagine the voice earlier? I know I didn’t.

I stop walking when I’m only about twenty feet away from the huge metal claw that’s sunk into the earth.

Tilting my head, I scan the machine again. Nothing.

A lump forms in my throat.

“You were looking for me,” I say. “Here I am.”

There is still no response and the emotions threatening to burst within me are almost too much to bear.

“You wanted me!” I shout. “You wanted me and here I am! Here’s what you want!”

What response am I looking for anyway? Movement of some kind maybe. But I’m not prepared when a bright light suddenly reflects at the top of the orb before…it opens.

It opens, and something descends from within it.

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit.

I could soil myself if every bodily process wasn’t frozen.

All I can do is stare at the creature slowly descending from the machine.

It stands on long, jointed legs that are pointed at the ends. On top of those legs, a fleshy head sits. Dark eyes stare at me as the creature touches the ground, and in those few seconds, I see death in its gaze.

It doesn’t speak. Instead, it comes toward me slowly and I swear even the sweat on my brow doesn’t dare to move as it approaches.

My lungs are finding it hard to operate as the Gryken approaches and my heart is swelling with an ache that must mean I’m close to cardiac arrest. But I hold my ground.

I remain still, even when the creature is right before me, dwarfing me on legs that put it at least seven or eight feet tall.

It circles me slowly and when it is behind me, every hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

My senses are going haywire. I am in the presence of a killer. A predator. A threat to my existence.

“What do you want from me?” I finally find words to ask when the thing circles and is facing me again.

It doesn’t answer and for a moment, I wonder if it will. It can speak English, right? I’m sure it understands me. I can understand the voices that come into my consciousness, no problem.

But I ask anyway. “Can you understand me? What do you want from me?”

Despite the courage I’m trying to put forward, my voice trembles and I hate it.

Now’s not the time to show weakness, even though I’m obviously and unevenly matched.

The Gryken’s huge eyes don’t blink as it stares at me, but it paces again, moving around me slowly as it observes me.

“There is no need to learn your tongue. So backward is your evolution, your species has not yet developed the talent for mind speak.” The voice pauses. “Your primitive mind puts my message into speak you can understand.”

I blink as the words fill my mind, a shudder going through me.

It’s talking to me, but there is a noticeable difference from all the other times I’ve heard the voices. This time, there is only one.

Only the creature before me is speaking to me right now.

And I am surprised at the sound of its voice.

It’s not a whisper anymore. No longer wisps. Instead, this voice is a hiss in my mind. A voice that promises death and pain. A voice not to be trusted.

As it circles me again, I gulp.

“I’m here. You and your kind have been looking for me.”

“Yesss.” It tilts its head.

“Why?” My voice shakes, and once again, I hate it. “Why do you want me so bad?”

The creature sticks one of its legs down suddenly, breaking the branches it’s standing on, and I flinch. It doesn’t react.

“You have birthed one of us…given us life…and you survived.”

The way it said the last word makes a sick feeling develop in my stomach.

I knew these creatures couldn’t want anything good to do with me, but bringing up what they did to me…

“What does that mean?”

The Gryken moves slowly around me again, before pausing at my side. A sideways glance and my spine freezes as I catch those soulless eyes oh so close and boring into me.

“It means…we must have you. And you have come to us. But…” It pauses and continues moving around me. “…You are not where you are supposed to be.”

That sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach grows.

“And,” I lick my dry lips, “where is that?”

There’s a flash in my mind. No words this time, but images. The change makes a thread of pain go through my temples and I have no choice but to grip the side of my head.

The Vullan. Images of the Vullan.

I see a planet. One with dark sands and large rocky mountains. In a vast expanse, there are machines. Lots of them and below them, fighting, are the Vullan.

The images come quickly.

I see the planet as it is destroyed. I see death. I see blood. I see destruction.

A massacre. Even worse than what happened on Earth because the tall, dark aliens fought. They fought with everything they had.

And they still lost.

Air is forced into my lungs as the images stop.

“We have been deceived. We are off course. You have left the creatures' nest...” the Gryken says. It takes me a moment to realize the “creatures” it’s referring to are not its kind, but the Vullan instead.

“Off course” it said. That means…

A spike of hope goes through me.

I’ve succeeded. I’ve confused them. Drawn them away from the base, if only for a while.

“You must lead us to it.”

I’m happy my plan has worked, but it must see the sudden stiffening of my shoulders because it continues.

“You will lead us to it.”

Out of nowhere, a laugh bubbles in my throat. It must be the insanity of the moment.

“I'd rather die. You might as well kill me here because I’m not taking you anywhere.”

The creature moves so quickly, all I feel is the brush of air.

It is suddenly in front of me, too close, close enough that I can see the details of its gray skin. Impossibly smooth, like a dolphin's. And its eyes...black holes that suck in all the light and release none. Whatever mirth my unstable mind dragged up dries and disappears immediately.

My voice shakes as I continue, and I’m surprised I can still even speak. This whole situation should have me passing out.

“You have shown me what you have done to their world. I have seen what you have done to mine.” I stare into the soulless eyes, my saliva drying in my throat.

But the creature only stares back at me. It doesn't need to speak. It is threatening enough.

At any moment, it could kill me.

I know that.

It knows that.

But the fact it is listening to me awakens something inside that I catch and hold on to.

I used to talk for a living. Under stressful situations, I used words to save innocent lives. I was a master at gaining valuable information from uncooperative subjects.

If I can even do one of those things right now and somehow survive this, I can pass the information on.

I can do this.

“Why are you here?” I ask, the courage I need resurfacing. “Why did you come here, to Earth?”

There’s a moment that passes where the world stops spinning and the air is so still, if I released a breath it would leave my lips to stand firm in front of me.

At that moment, I stare into the eyes of my tormentor and I know that my previous pep talk was all bull.

I’m not going to survive this.

“Resourcessss,” it suddenly says.

My heart thumps once, as if giving me just enough blood to survive a few more seconds.

“Water?” I ask. I know they travel to large bodies of water. I was trapped inside one while it sucked lakes dry, leaving behind large canyons and death.

“And more…”

Those ominous words hang in the air between us and I swallow hard.

“What more?”

It stares at me, leaning closer, and following my heart, my lungs cease. But I don’t get a response this time.

The Gryken suddenly rears back. Rows and rows of teeth are bared to me, protruding from the underside of its head like a million razors, and I know my time has come.

I’ve failed…but at least I’ve bought everyone else some time.

Still, I’m not going down without some kind of fight.

I jerk back, pulling the gun Lily gave me from beneath the blanket. As my hand wraps around it, my fingers are searching for a trigger when the darkness behind me moves.

It literally shifts, and a blast of air hits me in the back as something flies past me, too fast for me to see what it is, and takes the Gryken with it.

A roar cuts through the night at the same time that the Gryken screeches, both sounds hitting my eardrums like icy spikes.

I’m staring, my mouth falling open, the gun still in my hands as I recognize that the darkness is alive.

A Vullan.

As he slides his blade into the Gryken, killing it with practiced smoothness, he turns his dark eyes to me.

I know exactly which Vullan it is.

The worst one.

Him.

And he’s here.

12

SAN’TEN

I couldn’t wait any longer. I couldn’t stand by, watching the female converse with a spawn of the very species I live to kill.

I could not hear what it said to her, it was using mind speak, but the fact it didn’t kill her on sight told me enough.

My suspicions were true.

As my blade sinks deep into the Gryken’s skull, killing it on contact, I swipe my arm, slicing its head off for good measure. It couldn't sense me. Didn't see me coming. Its death, quick and painless, was a mercy it didn't deserve.

And now I turn to the reason I am here, away from my sleekt, away from the middle of the war effort, away from where I should be…

Her.

I immediately stop moving, surprise halting me. She has a prototype blaster pointed in my direction. It’s the previous model to the one I carry, and the sight of her challenge makes my ba’clan bristle immediately.

“Female,” I growl, “You wish to pierce me with your weapon?” I kick the floppy corpse of the Gryken at my feet. “Now that I have killed your master?”

Mee’na’s eyes suddenly focus, as if she was in shock, and she blinks at me.

“What?” her voice is almost a whisper.

Her gaze moves to the dead Gryken, its skin already shriveling even though I killed it only a second ago.

“Do it,” I growl, returning her challenge. My ba’clan pulse. A part of me really, really wants her to activate her weapon. A part of me wants her to retaliate. “Kill me. Betray your species some more.”

Even if she activates the blaster and pulls the trigger, I know I can evade her shot.

I’d be right in front of her before she even knew it.

She blinks at me again before her hands shake and the blaster lowers. “Betray?”

Her brows knit as if she is confused, but I am no fool.

“You hate us,” I keep my voice level, but it is hard controlling the emotions rising within me. My ba’clan writhe and fold, flaring before settling only to repeat. It causes my hackles to go in and out in a threatening display I do not even care to hide. Rek hyu’mans and their fragile minds. If she is strong enough to stand and face a Gryken, she will stand and watch my hackles rise.

“You hate my kind,” I continue. “We, Vullan, understand that. But to betray your own…and to a species so vile?” I kick the Gryken’s corpse again. If I could kill it a thousand more times, I would. Once was not enough. “That is…unforgivable.”

Mee’na’s frown deepens.

“What the hell are you talking about?” She glances behind her. “And how did you find me? Where did you come from?”

Her eyes widen and the blaster that she’d lowered is suddenly lifted again in shaking hands.

My gaze narrows, a snarl on my lips as I take a step in her direction.

“You’re alone,” she says.

I take another step toward her. My hackles all extended to their full length at the sight of the weapon, that is, once again, aimed at me.

“Why are you here? And alone?” Her gaze flicks over my blades. “You’re really here to kill me this time…aren’t you?”

I pause, my nostrils flaring. I give her just one second to think about what she just said before I’m suddenly in front of her.

She gasps but there is nothing she can do now.

Snatching the blaster from her hands, I let it fall as I grip her wrists in one claw, holding them high. I pull her body against mine, forcing her to stay still.

“If I wanted you dead,” I whisper. “You would be dead already.”

To my surprise, she doesn’t flinch. Instead, those dark eyes of hers glare up at me.

“Then why aren’t I?”

I want to snarl at her. I want to roar. Rage.

My fangs bare. I’m about to tell her exactly what I think of her betrayal when something else catches my attention. I can hear it far away, steadily approaching.

A chilling sound that would make any sane species flee.

It’s the sound of a thousand feet trampling the earth as they head our way.

Gryken.

A horde of them.

No doubt they are heading back to this scrit. The Gryken I killed must be their former.

“Rek,” I growl and the female stiffens against me.

I will have to berate her later.

Hoisting her into my arms, I keep her wrists pinned but she manages to inflict blows by kicking at me with her legs.

A low growl of annoyance leaves my throat but she doesn’t seem to care.

I cannot carry her like this if she’s going to squirm and kick. Tiny as she is, she will still slow us down.

I have no choice but to throw her over my shoulder.

“What are you doing?! Put me down you horrible, murderous—” But then she freezes and I know she’s finally heard it too. The sound of trouble approaching.

Impressive for hyu’man ears.

But that’s just the thing. She isn’t quite hyu’man anymore.

That thought alone makes the contact of her body against mine unwelcome.

“Ohmigod,” she whispers, shock and…fear? in her voice.

The latter emotion confuses me, but there isn’t time to delay.

With their former dead, there is only one reason a horde would head this way. They’re looking for something.

We’re being hunted.

She’s being hunted.

And despite what I want to do, despite that I want to stand and fight, we have to run.

Grabbing the blaster at our feet, I sprint, heading out of the clearing and into the forest around it. I move with the wind at my side, heading farther away from the right direction, putting distance between us and Base Zero.

I head away from my people, into the wilds of this world…and with a hostage that’s a deserter in my arms.

* * *

MINA

The bastard moves fast, faster than I expected. I know the Vullan are quick, but the air is pressing against my nostrils so hard I fight to breathe.

I want to scream at him, but I’m more terrified of what I heard. Or, at least, what I thought I heard.

The pounding of what sounded like a thousand spiked hooves piercing the earth. Gryken. A lot of them. Heading straight toward us.

In that moment, fear gripped me, and before I knew it, I was being carried away.

I swallow hard.

I left Base Zero to face these monsters, but the thought of hundreds of them surrounding me sends terror deep into my soul.

I don’t want to admit it, but this very…angry…Vullan has saved me, if only for a while, before he completes what he’s longing to do.

End me.

And his very outward rage fuels my own.

I don’t understand how he’s here. How he found me. But most of all, I don’t understand his intentions.

His words are confusing. Talks of betrayal and nonsense. I was too shocked by the fact he’d suddenly appeared to make sense of anything he was saying.

As he runs, I stiffen against him and he grips me tighter. I can almost feel the vibration of a growl in his chest, as if he’s cursing me to be still. As if he’s annoyed.

Well, I’m annoyed too.

I’m scared. Upset.

Bent at the waist, my upper body over his back, blood rushing to my head, the only thing I can grip is him.

I don’t dare. I saw his blades. Long, dark, and incredibly sharp protrusions I don’t understand the source of.

But that’s when it hits me. As I rest against him, the blades have formed away from me. Where I lie, his skin only holds the ridges characteristic of his species.

He’s covered in a thick liquid, blood I presume, and gore, too. My stomach turns and I thank God there is so much wind from his speed that I don’t have to smell whatever he’s practically bathed in.

I have no doubt it is the blood and soft body matter of slain foes.

I’m on the shoulders of an angry barbarian.

And…

I squint as I stare at his skin, unable to believe what I am seeing.

It only makes me stiffen more.

His suit moves right before my eyes, like thick ferrofluid. I’ve never been close enough to any Vullan to see it so clearly. As I stare in disbelief, my vision sharpens and I see exactly why the material moves that way. It’s not a suit. It’s a million small particles, all moving together in unison.

Nanobots?

I’m not sure I will ever find out exactly what they are. As soon as he stops running, I’m sure he’ll set me down to complete his task. I only wonder why he didn’t kill me as quickly as he killed the Gryken and be over with it.

Ever since I was…bred…he’s tried to take my life. My memory is foggy but I recall the desperation and fear as Adira and Sam tried to save my life. We rushed to escape deeper into the forest away from his people.

Away from him.

“Where are you going?” I manage to get out. Speaking is a task in this position, like my lungs hate the effort. “Where are you taking me?”

No answer. And I don’t think he’s going to answer until I feel a vibration against his back as if he’s growling.

He’s ill-tempered alright. And he clearly does not like me.

I don’t like him either. But this doesn’t spell well for me being stuck out in the middle of apocalyptic Earth with an alien who hates my guts.

“Should I tell you so you can mind-speak with the enemy?” He turns his head to the side so he can see me, the movement causing his face to brush against my ass, which, I now realize, is bare before him because my dress has bunched up at my waist!

“Give them a head start?” he continues. “Have them follow us?”

What?

“No, you fool! Why on earth would I do that?!”

He doesn’t respond. He only continues to run. Moving so fast, we cover kilometer after kilometer and I lose track of how far we’ve gone.

The surroundings change as we travel through thick forest to open spaces the machines have flattened, back to forest again. And then, fields.

I have no idea where he’s taking me. I only know I can’t hear the sound of the thousand hooves heading our way anymore.

He’s outrun them. But I’m sure he knows he can’t run forever. He’ll have to stop and then we’ll be at square one again.

They’re coming after me. Like a beacon, these beasts are connected to me now.

For as long as I live, they will come.

The Vullan must read my thoughts because he slows down.

It’s so dark now, the stars shine bright. But the wide open space around us tells me we’ve left Base Zero far, far, behind.

With an unceremonious grunt, the Vullan sets me down on my feet, only hanging on to me as I sway. As soon as I gather my bearings, he throws his hand away from me as if I am some leper.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I glare his way.

“Hush!” he slaps a hand over my mouth so quickly, I am stunned.

But he isn’t looking at me. Those dark, cold eyes of his are focused on something behind me. Only when I turn to see what he’s looking at do I get a better picture of where we are.

Ahead, there’s an abandoned gas station.

Civilization…or, at least, what’s left of it.

The Vullan eyes the structure before his gaze slides back to me.

“That structure will do,” he says.

I end up mumbling against his palm and he finally removes his hand.

“Do for what?” I ask.

“Do for now,” he replies.

13

SAN’TEN

I eye the female as she walks by my side toward the small structure.

I could not guess what the construction’s former purpose was. Whatever they once used it for is a thing of the past.

Dust has settled everywhere. Holes that can only be from missiles dot the windows, walls…everything.

A relic of the resistance the hyu’mans tried to put forward.

Similar scenes remain on Edooria.

Not sensing any beings within, I am not concerned about entering the structure. Instead, the being walking by my side has my attention.

I was right about her covering her scent. Even now, her pale skin bears the extent of her efforts.

Soil, once soft and wet, is now dry. It covers her face, her arms, every bit of paleness that is open to the air.

It makes me grunt as I watch her and her eyes dart to me.

“What?” she asks. “Hear something?”

My nostrils flare slightly.

She is projecting innocence again, even when I know her hearing is much better than a regular hyu’man’s.

I do not trust her.

She must see something change on my face because her mouth folds into a thin line before her eyes sharpen on me.

“Forget it,” she says. “I don’t hear anything.”

Ah...so now she has already abandoned her pretense and is trusting her instincts over mine.

She picks up the pace and heads straight to the door of the structure, using one hand to push it.

It swings inward without resistance and the female glances back at me only once, the same sharp look in her eyes, before she enters the structure, disappearing from my sight.

For a moment, a slight panic shoots through me. One that startles me.

What is she up to?

But then her voice sounds from within.

“Well? Are you going to stand out there all day? If nobody sees you, they sure as hell will smell you.”

My ears flick against the sides of my head as I blink at the spot she stood just a moment before she disappeared within.

I do not hear fear in her voice. Trepidation. Uncertainty. Nothing.

My distrust heightens as I enter the structure, expecting her to have readied some trap to use against me. I have her blaster that won't stop her from trying.

When I enter the structure, however, her back is turned to me as she moves down an aisle of empty shelves.

I watch her, wary but curious, as she turns the corner at the end of the aisle and disappears.

She is so small, her head doesn’t top the shelves and I have to follow behind so she is in my sights again.

There is much debris on the floor, things broken and destroyed, most likely during the first cycles of the Gryken's arrival. Mee'na moves, kicking the empty trash at her feet.

She does this for a few minutes before turning and heading down another aisle.

I follow.

She is searching for something. What? I do not know.

The moment she finds it, a surprised gasp leaves her lips. She freezes before frantically grabbing something off the floor that was hidden underneath the trash.

When she lifts it, I cannot tell what it is, but the glow in her eyes tells me it is valuable.

“A cracker!” She grips the item to her chest, breathing in deep before removing the outer packaging and bringing the item to her nose.

She inhales it deeply before taking a big bite out of the thing.

For a being with no sharp teeth, the crunch is ridiculously loud and catches me off guard enough that my ba'clan bristle, rising partway.

The female freezes and slowly turns her head to look back at me.

A sigh leaves her frame, her eyes rolling in her head in a disturbing display of whiteness around her pupils before she stands and turns toward me.

“What?” she asks. “You can’t wait for me to have a last meal? Even prisoners on death row are given one final thing to eat.”

I have no idea what she means but the look in her eyes riles me up immediately. Her defiance and outright distaste for me when she is the traitor!

Taking another bite into what must be sustenance, that sharp look she’s giving me grows. And for some reason, I am frozen while staring at her.

This little…weak…thing, is standing glaring at me as if I am the problem…and I do not know what to do about it.

I am powerless before her.

I want to roar at her…yet, I cannot.

Instead, I am rendered silent.

“You’re a dick, you know that?” she finally says.

“A what?”

“A big, fat cock.”

My ears flick off the sides of my head.

I know that word, but I have no idea why she is referring to my sazi. I glance down at myself. I have not extruded.

“Oh, give me a break!” She lets out a huff and crosses her arms in front of her, having finished her meal.

It is so dark in this structure, I am surprised she can even see me.

None of the other hyu’mans can spot us when we blend into the cavern’s shadows.

Yet, this one is glaring at me in the darkness as if her planet’s star is high in her world’s atmosphere.

It’s a reminder that I cannot let her play of innocence sway me. She is not what she seems.

“So, you gonna do it or what?” she demands.

“Do what?” I growl.

Her brows dive to her nose. “Finish me off. Isn’t that what you carried me here for?” She glances around. “You wanted to do it in private so you can revel in my blood like you obviously like to do.” She gestures to me. “I guess an abandoned gas station is good enough.” Her voice drops, a note so forlorn entering her tone as she looks about the room. “Could have been worse.”

My annoyance and impatience spike.

“That’s enough!” My voice echoes in the room and her head snaps forward as she faces me.

I stalk toward her, but the female doesn’t flinch.

Good.

I don’t want her to.

She needs to face what she has done.

“I’m not here to end you,” I growl. “Despite what you have done, your kind will have you returned safely to the base.”

She blinks at me. “Despite what I have done?”

So she’s gone back to that play on innocence? The same act that got her outside the base in the first place. Deceiving everyone.

“What were your plans?” I growl. I am face to face with her now, leaning down so we are on eye level and she finally takes a step back, her eyes wide.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play games with me, female!”

“I’m not playing games with you, male! I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!”

Rage.

Her rage is sweet. It wafts from her and I can almost taste it on my tongue.

It fuels my own anger.

In all the numbness that surrounds her, her rage is a welcome distraction.

“Betray your people by going to help the Gryken!” I roar. “You are pitiful. Not worth the air you breathe. Undeserving of mercy! Only a wretched, weak, worthless—”

The slap almost stings as her palm comes into contact with my jaw. I am stunned, rendered speechless, and frozen. The fact she managed to attack me slowly registers.

“Oh shit,” I hear her whisper as she backs away from me some more, grabbing something off the floor as she stumbles back.

I’m still left staring at the space in which she just stood. The contact of her skin lingers. She struck me…and my ba’clan didn’t react to block her.

That has never happened before.

My gaze slides to find her pointing something at me. It’s held in both hands and it trembles as I rise to my full height.

“Don’t come any closer or I swear to God I will cut your throat with this bottle,” she threatens.

I don’t answer her. I can only stare at her.

How did she get past my ba’clan?

“You struck me,” I finally say.

“Yes, and I will do more than strike you if you come any closer.”

“You will attempt to end my life?” I ask.

“I will do whatever it takes to survive,” she replies, and my eyes narrow.

“Like collude with the enemy.”

Her eyes widen as she stares at me, before the weapon she is holding lowers and her shoulders shake.

But this mirth she is displaying…is fake.

“You cannot be serious,” she finally says. “You think I risked my life to go help those…things? After what they’ve done?!”

She points her weapon at me again, her eyes harboring fire.

“What other reason do you have for going straight to them? You deceived your own. You did not tell them you have changed. That the voices are not the only different thing. You deceived them and snuck away to go to the enemy!”

“Because I had no choice!” she screams at me.

The sudden outburst of raw fierceness makes my ears flick off the side of my head.

“You think I want this?” She gestures around her. “You think I want any of this?”

I do not think she wants an answer because she continues without pausing.

“They took everything, everything from me! My family is dead. Every one of them. I have nothing. I have no one. My planet is destroyed. Earth is dying and there is one single hope left for us.” She jerks her weapon at me but there is no attack stance this time. Instead, there is wetness in her eyes. “You guys.”

Squeezing her eyes tight, that wetness runs down her dirty cheeks.

“You’re the only chance we have. That base is the only chance this little planet has got. And I’m…” She pauses and sniffs. This is such an unexpected turn of events, I am once again rendered speechless.

This is not pretense. This emotional display is real.

This is a female in pain. Mourning.

Sadness is enveloping her.

In times like this, females should be comforted.

But…I have no experience in such things.

“I’m a liability.” She forces her eyes open and her gaze hits mine. There is pain in her eyes. Pure, raw, pain.

It’s a look that hits me deep.

I know that pain.

I have experienced it before.

“The Gryken are hunting me.” She sniffs again and wipes the back of her hand against her cheeks, wiping the water away. “They’re trying to find me. Somehow, when they…did what they did to me…I became linked to them. And they know that.”

She puts down the weapon and slides to the floor, her back against the wall as she pulls her knees up to her chest.

“They were using me to find the base. I had to get away from there. Give you guys some time to attack or prepare…I don’t know. I just know I couldn’t be there. So I left. I know they’ll find me. I’ve accepted that. But if I can delay them…”

She goes silent, her gaze on the floor. She doesn’t lift her head to look at me and I know that a thousand thoughts are going through her head, just like they’re going through mine.

Everything she’s just revealed makes me pause.

I was wrong?

“I saw you speaking to one…” I put forward. “A conversation.”

What will her response to that be?

She slowly jerks her head, her chin hitting her chest a few times. “I was trying to get information from it.”

That makes my ears twitch with interest. “Information?”

“Yes.” She sighs. “But you came blazing in like Spartacus or some shit. All I know is that they want me.” She pauses. “For experiments, I think.”

I eye her. “And you would go to them. Give up your freedom and safety at Base Zero…for the survival of your people?”

“I would." She sniffs. "A thousand times, I would. But it's more than that...I want to give Earth a chance…and I want…revenge.”

14

MINA

I am defeated and deflated.

My dark, angry guard has pulled out all the emotions I’m willing to give and so I sit on the floor, chin to my chest, the silence around us growing.

He thought I was helping those disgusting things. No wonder he was talking bullshit about betrayal. It all makes sense now.

But I don’t even have the energy to laugh at the absurdity.

I just feel…broken.

The only good thing about this is that my plan seems to have worked for the time being.

If he’s here, Base Zero has been spared for now. And judging by the evidence of death all over him, he and his kind have been successful in taking down more than a few Gryken.

That should be good enough to lift some weight off my shoulders, but it doesn’t.

I’m still sitting on the floor, sinking into a pit of despair, when the alien settles beside me.

My gaze slides to him slowly, but he is looking ahead.

For the first time, he rests his huge gun down at his side. He’d been carrying it in his hand all along and the thing looks like a rocket launcher.

He rests the blaster Lily gave me down, too. That I hadn’t noticed he’d been holding.

His shoulders sag as he continues staring forward and the silence envelops us some more.

It becomes comfortable, sitting here, saying nothing. I’ve said all I have to say, anyway. There is nothing more.

And so we sit. It’s a shared calmness and I realize this is the first time I haven’t seen this alien annoyed or raging about something.

He is absolutely…normal—as normal as he can be—in this state.

It makes me turn to observe him in the darkness.

I can just about make out his features—something I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to do before…when I was regular old me.

His sculpted jaw, high cheekbones...

Ridges line his face in chevrons running down his jaw, over his forehead, his nose, and even down his chin. He looks everything like the warrior he is supposed to be.

His species is strong…fearless. I can see why Adira and Sam have fallen for their males.

This dude even has kissable lips—a fact that makes a small huff of surprise release from my nose.

His gaze slides to mine immediately, stopping my mirth in its tracks.

“What amuses you, female?” His voice is low, but underneath it, there’s a growl.

There it is. His surly mood.

Of all things, it makes me smile. Maybe it's the predictability of it. It is expected and, hence, safe.

“Nothing,” I reply. “You just look like shit, is all.”

I’m referring to the gore now dried all over him, but I wonder if he’s even aware of it.

His ears flick and I swear his eyes narrow on me. “Excrement?” he growls. “And do you think you look like some precious bloom?”

His insult makes my eyes widen in surprise and I stutter a non-response before laughter makes my shoulders shake.

“Fine,” I chuckle. “I deserved that.”

See. Safe.

It feels like I haven't laughed in years.

“You deserve more than that. You have made the hyu’mans at the base worry.”

There goes the rest of my laughter. Dried up like a raindrop on a leaf in the Sahara.

“And they sent you to find me? If they didn't want to worry, surely, there was someone else better—”

He cuts me off immediately. “I am the best tracker in our sleekt…despite what Dri’ro thinks.”

Ooh. It’s clear I’ve stepped on someone’s toes, so I let the line of conversation drop.

“You know we can’t stay here, right?” I swallow hard before turning my gaze away from him.

“Of that, I am aware, female.”

Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I release a breath. “Mina. You can call me Mina. That’s my name. And I will call you by yours, instead of whatever shit name I think of in my head. Deal?”

When I glance at him, those cold dark eyes of his pierce mine.

“Mina,” he finally says, pulling out my name in a manner that is more sensual than practical.

“San’ten,” I say in return, and his pointy ears flick at the sides of his head, as if he is pleased by the sound of his name on my tongue.

I file that away for later, but back to business.

“We can’t stay here,” I say again.

He grunts. “I must take you back to the base.”

“No!”

His suit writhes at my sudden exclamation before settling down once more. I make another mental note. It’s something I want to ask him about later, now that it’s clear he’s not out to murder me or something.

“We can’t go back to the base,” I say. “That would make all this for nothing.” I swallow hard, facing forward again. The intensity of his gaze is making it hard for me to focus. “Or you can go back without me. Tell them you never found me, but I can’t return. I can’t lead them there.”

“Unacceptable,” he growls, the sound so deep it vibrates the air beside my ears as if he’s moved even closer to me. “I will not return without you.”

“Well, you can’t carry me back. You know I’m different now. You’ve sensed it. Back at the base, they don’t know. I can’t risk… Look, this plan has to work, okay?”

He doesn’t say anything for a few moments and the silence envelops us once more.

“I will not return without you,” he finally repeats.

God, he’s stubborn.

“Well, you’re gonna have to get used to the idea that you will have to leave me.”

He bristles. I feel it against my skin. Like a wave that moves over the covering on his body.

“There is one thing you must understand…Mina,” he says, and it is very wrong that, out of all those words, all I want to focus on is the way my name rolls off his tongue. “I am never leaving you.”

I gape at him.

His words take on an intensity that permeates me deep and makes something inside me twitch.

Has anyone ever said something like that to me before?

No.

But still, I have to ditch him somehow.

If he’s intent on taking me back to Base Zero, I have to go the opposite way.

“I thought you hated me, now you want to stick by my side?” I joke.

San’ten’s gaze slides to me so slowly, I stop breathing.

“It was never you that I hated, female…” He pauses. “Mina.” His gaze is like a deep black hole pulling me in. “It was the being growing inside you.”

At the mention of it, my hand moves to the scar on my stomach where the thing was ripped from within me.

I nod at him before pulling my gaze away from the intensity of his.

“Yea…” I whisper. “I hated it too.”

There’s a pause of silence between us.

“I hate them.”

* * *

SAN’TEN

Sharing with this female, with Mee’na, is something I did not expect when I first set eyes on her.

For so long, I have lived in a vacuum, alone with my rage, my grief. Surrounded by brethren who experienced the same thing I did, yet in a sphere by myself. It has always felt as if my world’s destruction was different.

They had similar experiences of pain and a need for revenge…but mine was my own. Mine alone to battle with. Mine alone to bear.

Until now.

Beside me sits the most unlikely creature to relate to. A female from a planet leagues away from mine.

I feel this hyu’man’s pain. It is much like my own.

I now know why her gaze was so vacant. It’s the only way to not go insane when the pain is too much. You hide away behind layers of yourself. The only problem is, my pain manifests in other ways.

My impatience…my rage…my need for revenge…

Especially that. Revenge.

Much like the revenge Mee’na seeks.

She needs the Gryken to pay. Was prepared to die for that to happen.

That is…resolve.

For that alone, my impression of this tiny female has changed.

She is not some weak, worthless traitor. She is like me. Prepared to do anything to make the scum that is the Gryken fall.

And…I will help her in her quest.

Reaching toward my neck, my ba’clan shift away from my skin, allowing me to detach the patch controlling my head shield.

I can survive without it, as long as we don’t encounter any Gryken.

If we do, I will have to kill it before it tries to take over my mind.

“Take this,” I say to Mee’na, the patch outstretched on my finger.

She squints at it. “What is that?”

“Head shield,” I reply. “It works to block the Gryken from our mind.”

She blinks at it for a few moments before her eyes widen and she stares at me. “You think…” she whispers. “You think if I use this, they won’t be able to track me anymore?”

The hope in her voice makes something crack inside me in a place that’s never been used before.

It causes a momentary ache in my chest that I have to ignore.

I cannot promise it will work…but I’m finding it difficult telling Mee’na this.

Her throat moves and she jerks her chin toward her chest. “You don’t know,” she whispers, her gaze sliding back to the patch before she jerks her chin again. “Worth a shot, I guess.”

Taking the patch from me, she turns it over in her fingers before glancing back at me. “How do I use it?”

“Move your ba’clan and—” I catch myself before I continue. She does not have ba’clan.

“Ba’clan?” Her brows knit and her gaze flicks over me. “That’s what those things are?”

Things? “You can see them?”

“The small particles moving all over you? When I’m really close like now…yes.”

I take her in for a few passing moments.

Amazing.

Her vision is almost on par with mine.

It’s surprising…and worrisome. What other changes has the Gryken exposure caused in her body? What will the effect be?

“So?” she presses, gesturing to the patch on her finger.

“Give it here,” I say, taking it from her as I brush a claw against her soft neck.

She inhales deeply before tilting her head to the side and I pause, watching the movement.

She pauses too, waiting before uttering an “oh” and brushing her dark filaments away from her neck.

A lump rises in my throat as I stare at her.

“San’ten?”

There again. My name.

It is the second time she's uttered it and the response is the same. Only, I was able to hide it better the first time.

The sound of it…does something to me that isn’t quite right. Even my ba’clan stop moving as I press a claw against her tender neck, securing the head shield.

“It only blocks the signal,” I murmur, taking my hand away with some reluctance that needs further scrutiny. “Activate it by…”

But she’s already doing it. Her fingers reach for the patch and as she presses on it, the energy shield phases around her head.

“Oh!” she exclaims. “It’s…not what I expected. Is it broken?”

“No. But it is activated.”

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything over my head though.”

“I can assure you that it’s there.”

She doesn’t believe me. I note that when she waves her hand in front of her face. The movement disrupts the shield, causing strings of light to attach to her fingers.

“Whoa…” she mutters. “You’re right.”

“Of course, I’m right,” I murmur low and she chuckles.

True mirth this time. Mirth that has that ache that developed in my chest throbbing once more. It's possible I...like...Mee’na’s laughter.

It’s the first thing that has made a sense of calm wash over me in a long, long time.

She’s the first thing to make calm wash over me…

And to think that just this day, I had thought she is everything she isn’t.

As I settle back against the wall, watching her play with the shield’s energy field, I know I’m about to embark on something new.

I’m not taking her back to Base Zero.

She’s right about not returning. It is a risk too great and we cannot afford to lose this war.

But where do we go from here?

15

MINA

“We should move,” I say to the big alien sitting beside me.

I look at him from the corner of my eye, watching as he doesn’t react.

He seems lost in thought and just when I am about to repeat myself, those dark eyes of his slide to me.

He is pure darkness, this San’ten. Pure, otherworldly darkness, shrouded in mystery, and I am caught for a moment just staring at him.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that one day I would sit on the dirty floor of a ransacked gas station with an alien who’s twice my size. An otherworlder, but an ally.

Because he’s on my side now, right? That murderous simmering rage that was directed at me is gone now that he knows his assumptions were incorrect. Right?

It’s hard to tell.

These aliens don’t show emotions like we do. I noticed that a while back. And San’ten’s most visible emotion is his seething anger.

Now, there’s a hardness in his entire being that I cannot place.

I hope it means something good. Like him deciding he will go back to the base without me and just let me wander away as far as I can make it.

He’d be better off fighting with the others, anyway. They need all the help they can get.

I’m about to say this to him, but he rises so swiftly that I gasp. An arm is promptly outstretched toward me.

I stare at it, surprised for a few moments, before I grab on to his arm and hoist myself up.

At that touch, all along my fingers, the particles in his suit move like a wave.

I pause, staring at the contact of our hands, which creates an awkward sort of silence.

That was weird.

Clearing my throat, I lift my hand and brush myself off.

He’s right. I look like no desert bloom right now. I’m filthy.

“If you’ve changed your mind and you’re heading back to the base, I’m heading in the opposite direction.” The words tumble from my mouth fast. Maybe to distract from my sudden and obvious interest in this being beside me, or maybe to amp myself up for the journey I’m about to continue. “The farther away I am, the more you guys can put up a fight.”

“And then?” San’ten’s voice is deep and low, yet his words reach my ears with clarity. They make my skin twitch and I glance at him before clearing my throat and heading toward the door, careful to not step on anything that might make a racket. We’ve been inside for a while. I haven’t heard any movement outside, but you can never be too careful.

“And then…” I whisper and stop as I reach the door, peering out into the darkness outside.

Nothing moves.

“And then…” I continue, turning around to face the alien. A breath lodges in my throat as I come face to face with his chest.

He moves so frickin’ quietly, I didn’t notice he’d advanced behind me.

“And then,” I clear my throat again, “I don’t know. I’ll think of something.”

I turn back to open the door and it only moves a few inches before it is slammed shut again by a firm, Vullan hand outstretched above my head.

“That's your plan?” San’ten growls, so close I can feel the vibration on my back.

He's far too close. I don’t dare to turn around again.

“You got a better one?”

There’s a rumble in his chest and I think that is his answer before he says, “Yes.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

This time, I do turn, and I’m once again forced to accept the fact that he is so close, we’re practically plastered against each other.

“We find a way to kill them all.”

I stare at him, having to tilt my head back, but those dark eyes reveal no humor.

That simmering rage is there though, and I know he is deadly serious.

Me and him alone? Finding a way to destroy the Gryken?

It would be a dream come true, and even though it is far-fetched, I know one thing. If we embark on any journey...

“There’s a good chance one or both of us will die…” I whisper.

The alien leans closer to me, his head tilting down to mine, and my gaze slips down his sculpted face to land on his lips before I’m drawn back to his eyes.

So close. So, so close, I can see his fangs when his mouth opens slightly.

Dark and dangerous. Is that why my heart is beating so hard right now?

“I am prepared to fight this scum to the last thread of my existence,” he says.

He’s…too close. His breath brushes against my lips and I have to fight hard to calm the sudden spike of adrenaline in my gut.

There’s something about him being so close that makes it hard to focus. But I must focus, for outside this room, all that exists is death. Death, realizations, and ultimatums.

“I am prepared to do the same,” I whisper back.

San’ten freezes, if that’s possible. He’s so still already, but now it is like time has stopped. The only things that move are his ears. They twitch as he stares at me.

And then he eases back, takes his hand off the door, and pulls it toward us.

My chest heaves as I continue staring at him.

Can’t go back now. This is it.

As I step through the door, I’m dimly aware that San’ten is at my back like a huge dark knight.

He doesn’t speak. He makes no sound. But I can feel him there.

I turn my attention to the area around us.

The gas station stands alone on a lonely stretch of road, but judging from the fact that it’s here, I’m assuming there’s at least a small town nearby.

I’m not sure what to think about that.

A town might mean survivors. Which would be a good thing, if I weren’t a target with Gryken chasing me.

There’s another problem too.

If we meet survivors, there’s a good chance they’ll be hostile.

People don’t survive apocalypses by being nice and selfless.

Only the selfish survive.

Moving my hand in front of my face, the head shield sizzles.

I hope it’s working.

It’s my only hope until I can find a way to sever this link I have with the enemy.

“This way,” I whisper, taking off in the direction opposite from where we came.

San’ten doesn’t respond, but a glance behind me tells me he is still at my back.

While my eyes are wide, searching the darkness around us for any movement, anything at all, his eyes are on me.

Pulling my attention away from him, I push ahead.

We walk for about a quarter of a mile before I spot the first building.

I pause, staring at it, and San’ten comes to a stop right behind me. Still close enough for me to feel him.

“What is it?” he asks.

“You mean, what was it,” I whisper. I can see more buildings fading into the darkness down the street, and I squint to see more, but though my vision has gotten good in the dark, it’s not like having night vision. “It was an auto center,” I answer his question. “A mechanic’s shop.”

There are no lights in any of the buildings and that gives me some comfort that this town might be deserted. Still, I creep toward the auto center and keep to the wall as we head down the street, my eyes and ears open.

Shadows of burnt-out cars dot the middle of what was once a busy little town center, and most of the buildings that we pass are missing windows and doors.

Shattered glass litters the pavement, and more than one structure has collapsed.

There is a stench of blood, death, and decay.

It’s no different from the scene that played before my eyes when the orbs fell. No different from what I saw happening when I was stuck inside the machine.

As we come upon a row of apartments, I pause.

We don’t have any supplies. We should probably loot what we can and keep going.

Taking the steps one at a time, my hand shakes as I close it around the doorknob of the first apartment building.

San’ten doesn’t ask what I’m doing but I guess he deduced that I needed something from within, for when the doorknob doesn’t budge, a large hand suddenly covers mine and twists, breaking the lock itself.

“Uh, thanks? I guess.”

There’s a low grunt that makes a small smile come to my lips.

As we slip into the building, the scent of stale air hits me immediately.

By some grace, it’s obvious this place has been locked up for a while. That might mean it’s untouched.

San’ten steps in and sniffs, his nostrils flaring with distaste.

“You wish to rest here?”

“No,” I whisper, taking a few steps into the hall.

There’s an elevator to our left, but I know it’s most likely not working. Even if it was, I wouldn’t risk it. My gaze glides to the stairs and I head toward them.

The first apartment’s door is locked. As before, San’ten has no trouble breaking the lock with a simple twist of his wrist.

I glance at him, shooting him a look of thanks as I slowly enter the room.

The place is a mess. Things are strewn all about. Clothes. Books. Random household items. Food…

I move to the food first, sifting through to find anything that might be edible.

There are a few tins of beans that I find and stack to the side, my gaze flicking around the room to find some sort of bag.

It’s clear that whoever lived here left in a hurry, probably grabbing what they could before they tried to escape…not knowing there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run.

I doubt they did, but I hope they survived.

As I try to find a bag or something, I unintentionally head straight to the bathroom.

For some reason, it remains untouched. Perfect, as if the storm that blew through the other rooms skipped this one.

Clean white tiles, a wilted houseplant sitting near the face basin, and a shower curtain with a dog playing with bubbles greet me.

I don’t know I’m holding my breath till I turn on the shower and ice-cold water spills from the pipe.

Water.

I blink at it, unable to breathe, before glancing down at myself. I’m stripping off my clothes in the next moment. I'm so dirty, I look like I've been having a playdate with a pig in its favorite mud pit.

As I strip, I tear the dress off. It's ripped in several places, probably from when I was running through the forest.

Next, the panties go.

I'm so focused, I don't realize I have an audience till I hear a strange sound behind me, like a deep rumble.

Rump in the air as I try to get my shoes off, I glance behind me to see San’ten standing in the doorway.

To my dismay, and with eyes on me, he walks into the room.

I stand upright immediately, plastering my hands across my chest, and for just a moment, San’ten’s gaze slips from my face to where my hands are.

My cheeks burn as he completely ignores me and sets his weapons down.

Before I realize what he’s doing, the huge Vullan steps into the shower, almost completely filling the cubicle.

Head tilted to the spray, I watch as the water runs down his form.

He’s taking my shower…

“Wh—. Hey!” Finally woken from my shock, I force my way inside the cubicle with him, pushing against him to give me some space. “Hey, this was meant for me! I don’t even know how much water is left in the pipes. You might use it all!”

One dark eye opens and slides down to me, and the alien has the audacity to look like my words are inconsequential to him.

“You were the one who said I look like excrement.”

I grunt. “And smell like it, too.”

It’s his turn to grunt and he only eases back about an inch, his back now plastered against the other side of the shower, as he closes his eyes once more.

I’m left staring at him, not sure what to do. But the water is running, and it was true that I have no idea how long it will last. I’m surprised there’s even water in the pipes at all, but this building most have a small reserve tank to supply the apartments.

I need to wash this dirt off my skin. It clearly didn’t help cover my tracks because he found me, and it’s clear he’s not going anywhere.

He isn’t even moving.

He stands so still, letting the water wash the muck off his suit, that he looks like a statue.

I can only stare.

Standing at five foot seven, I’m not short, but San’ten towers over me. I don’t even reach his shoulders. And he’s so wide, there’s no space for him to move in the shower stall either.

How can something so big move so quietly?

An eye slides open and focuses on me. My eyes widen immediately and I spin around to face the spray.

There’s a grunt behind me that makes me roll my eyes.

“I wasn’t staring at you,” I mutter.

“Yes,” he says, that deep rumble vibrating against the walls.

I roll my eyes again, finding some body wash that I rub into my skin. “Yes, what?” I need to bend to wash my legs, but moving is proving difficult. If I bend, my rump will be plastered against his…his…does he even have one?

He must do.

“You stare. You stare more than a Vullan male when he sees an attractive female.”

I scoff. “I do not find you attractive.”

Immediately, I pause.

Wait, do I?

San’ten scoffs. “You are an attractive female,” he says. “But I do not stare.”

His words make me alert, as does his admission, and I freeze.

“Why?” For some reason, my voice is a whisper.

I already know the answer, so why do I ask? The only reason is the obvious one.

Because I’m…I was…bred.

“Because…” he says. “I would never mate with you.”

It shouldn’t. It really shouldn’t. But his words make a dull ache begin at the center of my chest.

I’m left staring at the wall in front of us for a few seconds as his words settle in my head. The unexpected rejection from a being I didn’t even consider a romantic interest shouldn’t shock or hurt me. But it does.

It does because I will never be the same again. Not after what the Gryken did to me. Not after what they took from me.

It is just another side effect of their arrival. Something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

With a growl, San’ten suddenly moves, his entire body pressing against the curve of my back as he snatches the shower head so hard, he almost breaks it.

“What—” I gasp.

Directing the water at me, he begins hosing me off like I am cattle.

I turn around, forgetting my modesty, and let my arms fall to my sides. What’s the point anyway. He hardly sees me as female.

“What are you doing?”

“This water is too slow,” he growls.

I huff out what should be a small laugh but it just comes out as a hard breath as I stand there, allowing him to hose me down.

He does this for a while, his gaze following the spray as it moves over my body. With what looks like practice, his gaze never lingers.

Again, a pang of hurt that shouldn’t exist goes through my soul.

It isn't the right time or place to be feeling this vulnerability.

“There is no time,” San'ten says, after a few minutes.

And he is right.

Reaching up, I place my hand over the shower head. “My turn.”

San’ten’s ears flick as he releases the device and I turn the spray to him. His ears flick some more at the first contact of my hand against his skin and his suit rears up, covering my entire hand.

I stop moving, staring at it.

It’s like my hand is covered in dark ink and I can’t pull it away. It’s fastened to him.

At the same time, a low vibration begins in his chest, like a thousand chords of a violin all strumming their deepest notes.

“S-San’ten?”

When my gaze slides upward to meet his, the look in his eyes has me speechless.

The usual dark simmering rage is gone to be replaced by something new.

Something I didn’t expect to ever see in his eyes, and it sends a chill down my spine.

Fear.

There’s fear in his eyes.

San’ten suddenly pulls away from me, moving so fast to exit the shower, he almost tears down the cute shower curtain.

Once out, he stops, his back turned to me, and his shoulders rise and fall with his measured breaths.

“San’ten?” I whisper his name again, my gaze falling to my hand.

Now that it’s free, not one drop of that strange suit is left on it.

I turn my hand over, only glancing back at the alien when he moves again.

“Get your coverings on,” he says. “We have company.”

16

MINA

I’m shot back into reality like a bullet from a loaded gun as soon as San’ten says the word “company”.

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.

Turning off the tap, I hop from the bath, not even grabbing the towel off the rack as I stand naked behind the alien.

San’ten sniffs then growls.

“How many?” I whisper, my eyes flashing to the guns he’d rested on the face basin.

“Four…” San’ten mutters before tilting his head. “Maybe five.”

“Shit!” Five Gryken. How the hell will we fight five Gryken at once?

I’m pretty sure San’ten can hold his own, but I’m not sure if I can even kill one.

“Five fetid human males,” he growls.

That makes me pause. “Human?”

I cock my ears to listen, but I can’t hear anything down the stairs or in the hall.

“I don’t hear anything. How far away are they?”

San’ten turns, his eyes surveying me. “Far outside the building,” he replies. “They are loud. Heading toward us.” His nostrils flare and I watch as his blades slowly extend along his back. With a growl, a huge blade materializes on his arm. “I will take care of them.”

What?

I’m grabbing San’ten’s arm before I realize it and the alien freezes, his gaze snapping to the contact of our skin.

I gulp. I stupidly grabbed one of the blades and it’s a mercy I haven’t just sliced my palm in two. It’s a shock and I can feel his suit moving underneath my hand.

Touching me.

Almost like it’s caressing me.

But I don’t pull my hand away. By some grace, I’m not hurt, but there are more pressing things at hand. Something tells me that touching him is the only thing keeping San’ten standing here. Otherwise, he’d be off and those men outside would be dead in seconds.

“Wait. We don’t know if they’re hostile.” Even as I say the words, I know they sound stupid.

In this world, chances are a band of five males traveling together are hostile.

But they’re humans.

I can’t just let him kill them.

“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. They could just be scavenging for a larger group.” I search San’ten’s gaze. “Innocent until proven guilty.”

It’s clear he doesn’t believe in that phrase because his nostrils flare.

“I can smell their malice…even from here,” he growls. “The males of your species are,” this time when his nostrils flare, a lopsided snarl reveals a fang, “unworthy.”

I open my mouth to argue that what he’s said isn’t true, but I am only reminded of the many times men have failed me. My own kind.

My own father left my mother to raise three kids on her own while he ran off with some bimbo half his age.

Finally, I release San’ten, and his ears flick as the contact is broken.

“I still say we hide. Let them take what they want and then go. We don’t even know if they will stop here.”

San’ten’s eyes narrow. “Let them take what they want?”

I nod and for a few moments, all he does is study me.

“You stay here,” he says, before he slips from the room.

Where the fuck is he going? I open my mouth to stop him but then I finally hear the sounds of the approaching group.

Maybe it’s my new, weirdly heightened, hearing, maybe they’re just close enough to hear, but the band of males is loud.

Slipping my wet feet into my sneakers, I make my way quietly through the apartment. San’ten is nowhere to be seen. Wherever he’s gone, he’s either left the apartment or is blending into obscurity in some corner that I haven’t looked yet.

Tiptoeing over the debris, I search for and find the bedroom.

The closet is open and a mountain of clothes is strewn all over the bed. I grab the first thing my hands land on. A sleeveless summer dress.

It will have to do.

There are panties too. I almost leave them, the thought of wearing someone else’s underwear making me uneasy. But, now isn’t the time for being squeamish.

Dressing takes me about thirty seconds and I cock my head again, listening.

They haven’t entered the building. At least not yet.

I can hear them banging on the doors of the other buildings close by. Muttering a curse underneath my breath, I scold myself about the fact I didn’t lock the main door downstairs. Not that I could. San'ten broke the lock.

Creeping to this apartment’s front door though, I whisper into the darkness.

“San’ten?”

No answer.

Fuck.

Where the hell has he gone?

Heart hammering in my chest, I hold my breath as the racket of the males comes closer.

How and why the hell they’re so loud makes me nervous. It's the middle of the night. I already know I’m wrong about them scavenging for a larger group.

They’d be quieter. More cautious.

Their whole behavior right now tells me they’re some kind of gang or something worse. Guys who think they’re big shots with nothing to fear.

They’d only act like this if they believe they’re the most dangerous thing in this location. That means this is their domain.

And I’m caught in the middle of it.

When a loud bang sounds downstairs, I grit my teeth. They’ve kicked the front door in.

“Hey! Mikey! This one’s open!” one shouts.

There’s a whoop from somewhere in the street and I hear several sets of boots pounding my way.

As quietly as I can, I slip the apartment’s door shut. But the lock is broken, courtesy of my missing alien, and the door won’t lock anymore.

Cursing underneath my breath again, I hurry from the door and head to the bedroom, slipping into the closet and pulling the doors shut in front of me.

And not a second too soon.

At the next moment, the apartment’s door is kicked in. It makes a loud bang as it hits the drywall, no doubt leaving a hole in it.

“Phewee!” a male voice says, whistling. “They trashed this place.”

“Guess they won’t mind if we do some redecorating too,” someone else says before there is another loud bang. It sounds like he just smashed something made of glass. “What? It’s not like there’s any use for TVs anymore,” the culprit speaks to another before smashing something else. “Or fancy glass tables.”

He lets out a “whoop” before I hear more things being smashed.

I frown but remain silent. This was once someone’s home. Somewhere that held their memories and belongings.

A little respect would be nice.

The thought that some asshole might be doing the same to my apartment makes me clench my teeth.

I have to squeeze my eyes shut as I listen to more things being destroyed.

Let them just take what they want and leave.

I repeat the words I said to San’ten and let them ricochet in my mind.

If they enter the bedroom, there’s a good chance they won’t open the closet, and then when they leave, I can forget about them and continue on my way.

I just have to be patient.

There’s another loud bang as something is smashed, and then a voice rings out. It sounds more authoritative than the others. Older. Wiser.

“For fuck's sake, Drew. Quit it. Look for supplies, that’s what you’re here for. Not to play a game of whack-a-mole.”

There’s a grunt from what sounds like two others and a murmur of an apology from one who can only be Drew.

“Search the place,” the leader says. “Every box, every cupboard. Take whatever you find that’s worth anything.”

There are grunts of affirmation before the sounds of boots fill the space.

Beside the bedroom, I hear the shower turn on and then another “whoop”.

“Hey, boss! There’s fresh water here!” Drew shouts.

There are a few more whoops and then a shout from the boss. “Turn it off, you fool. Go back to the truck. Get the drums. Fill ‘em up.”

A set of boots hurries away, but a sense of dread suddenly fills me.

The shower.

The shower stall is wet.

I bite my bottom lip, eyes wide as I listen and wait.

It’s nothing. Certainly not something I would have noticed in another world where the apocalypse didn’t happen.

But the thing is, the apocalypse happened, it is happening, and this is not another world.

“It’s wet in here…” The boss’ voice is low, almost indecipherable as he speaks to someone close to him, but it reaches my ear anyway and I’m suddenly super thankful for my advanced hearing.

Fuck.

He knows.

To survive in a world like this…one cannot be selfless…and one cannot be a fool.

He’s smart.

He’s going to realize someone has been here recently. Very recently.

I close my eyes, still hoping my assumptions are incorrect when the boss’ next words send a shiver down my back.

“Search every room. Every corner. Every cupboard. Every hole,” he whispers. “Someone’s here.”

Double fuck.

As I try to make myself smaller, I close my eyes shut and squeeze them tight. The guns. San'ten's huge one and the other smaller one are on the bathroom sink.

But they're black. They blend into the darkness. I can only hope these men don't see them unless they shine a light directly there.

It would be bad, very bad, if they got a hold of them.

Attempting to calm my pounding heart, I try to focus. Despite what San’ten thinks, I still don’t know if these men are malicious. I try to stay positive even though every instinct is saying the opposite. That I am in danger. That I should run.

And San’ten…where the hell is he?

Then the thought registers. He’s probably made himself scarce to protect me.

Humans, apart from those at the base, don’t know about the Vullan. If they suddenly come upon one in the wild, without any introduction, it’s bound to end in bloodshed.

I’d have certainly tried to kill him if I saw him standing before me, all darkness, death, blades and all.

I know he hasn’t just up and left me. He’s here somewhere.

Concealed.

It’s me that needs to keep my presence unknown.

Slinking farther into the darkness of the small closet, I try to keep my breathing level. They won’t find me. But when a set of boots enters the bedroom, and the stench of the male hits my senses, I’m not so sure anymore.

Through the crack of the closet door, I see the beam of a flashlight scan the room.

Don’t check the closet.

Don’t check the closet.

Don’t—

The guy enters the room slowly, the flashlight the only indication of where he’s looking. When it lands on the closet, I want to sink into myself.

I know he’s going to open it even before he moves and a sort of resolution settles within me. By the time the doors swing open, the light shining into my eyes, I’m expressionless and waiting.

I can tell the male didn’t really expect to find anyone from the fact that he pauses, staring at me for almost three seconds before he stutters.

“Uh, b-boss? Greg? I think I found something.”

I close my eyes for a moment, releasing a sigh. Dealing with these dudes is an inconvenience. I have more pressing matters on my table.

“Hey there, sweet thing,” the male before me stoops so he is eye-level with me and I catch a glimpse of his face behind the light.

I study him as I hear boots pounding in our direction.

There’s some chubbiness to his face, which tells me this guy hasn’t found it hard to find food in this wasteland. His beard has grown out to look like a mane, hiding his age and making him look older. None of that interests me. What catches my gaze is his eyes.

There’s a glint there I don’t like. One he doesn’t try to hide.

“What’s a little thing like you doing out here all by yourself?” His voice is supposed to be full of concern like I am a damsel in distress. Instead, it comes off as mocking.

“Holy shit,” someone says behind Beardy.

I don’t look up. I keep my gaze on Beardy and I remain silent.

Another male takes center stage, practically pushing Beardy out of the way as he comes to stand in front of me.

“Well, what do we have here, boys?” The boss. I recognize his voice.

My gaze climbs to his and I don’t flinch. If they think they’re going to intimidate me, they certainly have judged me wrong.

I just had a conversation with an entity that has rows and rows of teeth under its head. An entity that came and singlehandedly eradicated thousands and thousands of years of evolution. Compared to that, these males are nothing.

The boss crouches and studies me. “Pretty little thing,” he murmurs and my skin crawls. “Told you boys we’d find something good tonight. Some kind of treasure.”

There’s a grunt of approval from Beardy but the other male shuffles. “You're meaning the water. Right, boss?”

The boss’ mouth drops in disdain and I can see he barely prevents himself from rolling his eyes. “We’ve stashed enough reserves to trade with for a while. But this…not too many pretty, untouched…” He stretches a hand toward me and I lean out of the way. His eyebrows move upward a little. “...women left out here. They’ve all been taken by those things.”

His gaze skims down my legs and the summer dress isn’t helping to hide anything at all. The whole thing is making my skin crawl and I must have a look of disgust on my face because when he focuses on me again, I see that intelligence harden in his eyes.

“What’s wrong,” he reaches toward me once more, and this time I catch his hand in mid-air. His eyebrows jerk in surprise and there’s a chuckle from Beardy and a murmur about me being fiery, which I ignore.

“Take what you want,” I say, my voice even, measured, and sounding way more deadly than I thought I could. “And leave.”

Boss man studies me some more and when I drop his hand, he doesn’t try to touch me again.

Instead, a leer develops on his face and I resist the urge to sigh and roll my eyes.

Why? Why couldn’t they be good, respectful men? Why did they have to be exactly what San’ten thought they’d be?

“What if I want to take you?” Boss man says after a few beats and this time I close my eyes and release that sigh.

“Well, you chose wrong,” I say. I catch the glimmer that flashes across his eyes too easily.

I know what he’s about to do even before he moves and when he reaches for me, I’m already moving.

“Catch her!” Boss man shouts to Beardy but I’m already out of the closet, moving faster than I’ve ever moved in my life, and jumping over the mountain of clothes on the bed.

With the bed now between us, I’m facing three men.

Their flashlights are all trained on me and I move my gaze to the doorway.

The third guy, a scrawny dude, shuffles immediately to block my only exit, while Beardy moves to my left, leaving the boss facing me in the middle.

Cornered.

I’m cornered.

I still do the only thing I can do. Scrawny guy is the weakest target, I just have to get past him. I can knock him out of the way.

I feel like I’m moving faster than usual, but it’s not fast enough. As soon as I move, the boss lunges across the bed, knocking his knee on the bed frame as he collides with me, taking us both to the floor.

“Fuck!” he shouts as he hisses, but his pain is his problem.

I fight to get out from underneath him but he manages to pin me down on my belly. I can feel his breath at the back of my neck and something hard pressing into the curve of my ass.

Dread fills me as I realize what it is.

Memories. Memories of being in the machine. The memory of when it took me and forced itself inside me. The feel of this guy’s dick is making it all come back. Something I’ve locked away. Something I’ve forced myself to forget so I can function.

I scream as the memory of the alien taking me comes rushing right back, unrestrained by the walls I’ve built up around it.

“Mm,” the boss groans. “I like a little fight…and a little screaming.”

He shuffles, keeping me pinned as he uses a knee to spread my legs and I don’t want to panic. I don’t. But I’m beginning to fucking panic.

I can’t control the tremors suddenly going through my body or the fact that the world around me has turned into a convex lens. I can’t hear the other men in the room. I can’t see anything except the Gryken in the machine. I can’t feel anything except the hard bulge pressing against my panties.

And as the boss slips a finger down, pulling the panties away, I scream.

“Scream, baby, scream. Ain’t nobody to hear you out here.”

Wrong.

San’ten is out there somewhere. I just have to get away and find him.

The irony. I'm thinking of running to the alien I thought wanted to kill me. But I already know: San’ten is a better male than any of the humans in this room.

A jolt of energy goes through me and I free an elbow, bringing it back hard and into the asshole's nose.

“Fuck!” he shouts, but it works. His hold slackens and I get some of my body out from underneath him.

But it’s not enough. Gripping me once more, he flips me over and the look in his eyes sends chills down my spine.

Crazed. Excited and crazed.

He presses his knees into my thighs, sending pain into my bones as he pulls a ratchet knife from his back pocket.

With one flick, the blade extends, and the boss man leans down closer to my face.

He traces the blade down my cheek. “Peppery, isn’t she?”

“Mmhm,” Beardy replies.

"A fine find..." The tip of the knife continues down my cheek.

The head shield San’ten gave me lights up in a thin film at the disturbance, but the boss man doesn’t seem to notice. Maybe he can’t see.

Then I remember.

They can’t see in the dark as well as I can. Maybe I can use that to my advantage.

The other dude behind us says nothing. He shuffles again like he’s hesitant or doesn’t quite like what he’s seeing. Meanwhile, Beardy is looking at me like I’m fresh meat, his hand on his cock, waiting.

It makes me want to puke, but I remain still, gathering my energy because I know I’ll need it soon.

Boss man takes my sudden lack of movement as some form of acquiescence. He leans down, pressing the side of his face against mine as he whispers into my ear.

“You’ll make a nice whore. I bet your cunt is as sweet as—”

The head shield, disturbed, lights up brighter this time and I see the momentary confusion on his face.

“What the hell—”

It’s the distraction I need.

“Fuck...you,” I growl through my teeth, turning my head to face him like I’m possessed by the same demon that possesses San’ten. The fleshy bit of Boss man’s ear is right at my lips and I open my mouth, taking the ear into my mouth as I bite hard and pull.

His scream has him jerking back, but I’m pulling the other way.

The result is fresh, warm blood flowing over my lips as I spit his ear out of my mouth.

“Crazy bitch!” The asshole is so shocked he backs off me and I am on my feet and dashing toward the door before he can recover.

Scrawny at the door’s eyes are like saucers as he stares at his boss. Shaking, he reaches into his pocket for something, probably another knife, as I approach.

“Grab her!” Boss man shouts, and Scrawny finally blinks back into reality.

His hand grasps me just as I try to barrel past him, the sudden stop in momentum causing us both to go flying to the ground as he tries to grapple me.

He grunts, struggling because I’m suddenly kicking and fighting like a raging bull.

I need to get to the front door. And I need to find San’ten.

I know I owe him nothing. He doesn’t have to protect me: one human out of the many still left alive on our dying planet. He has a bigger mission.

But the fact he isn’t here now plants a seed of fear deep inside me.

Where is he? What if something else is amiss and it’s all gone horribly wrong?

“Keep her still!” Boss man shouts, and I hear him spit. “She’s mine!”

But there’s a sudden boom in the room. Glass shatters as the only window to the outside comes flying inward in a rain of glass.

Light is sucked from the room as if the darkness from outside has become living and entered the space.

There’s another crash and a gurgle before a heavy weight lands close by. My eyes widen to see the crumpled, lifeless body of Beardy lying not far away.

Another loud blow and I turn my head in time to see the darkness move as Boss man is slammed into the wall.

And then I hear a voice I never thought I’d be so happy to hear.

“You’re wrong, human,” San’ten says. “She does not belong to you. And now that you're going to die, she never will."

Without further delay, San’ten’s blade sinks deep into Boss man’s chest. He watches him as he gasps for breath, unable to speak as the life leaves his eyes.

I’m staring too, unable to believe what’s just happened.

San’ten turns and glances at me, his gaze becoming even more murderous as he shifts his focus to the man frozen at my side.

Scrawny raises his flashlight with a shaky hand and San’ten comes into full view.

He’s doused in blood again and something tells me that’s not from the two victims in this room. But I’ve never been happier to see him.

He snarls, his blades rising higher as he stalks toward the man at my side who has finally found his muscles again and is scrambling to his feet.

Scrawny releases me and sets off at a scrambling sort of run.

He doesn’t get far.

A blade goes sailing through the air. Boss man’s knife, the same one he threatened me with, and it lands deep into Scrawny’s neck.

He staggers to a stop as his legs give out and he falls flat on his face.

I want to believe he wasn’t as bad as the others. That his hesitation was because there was some good left in him. But I cannot feel pity or regret. He held me down, tried to stop me from escaping. He’s a culprit just like the others.

I turn back to look up at the alien now standing over me, and San’ten’s rage is still vibrating off of him.

He meets my gaze and our eyes lock.

“You killed them,” I whisper, more to make sure this is reality than for any other reason.

“You told me to let them take what they want,” he says, stooping so he is closer to me. “You were not included in that agreement.”

He reaches toward me, his fingers hovering over my skin. All along his arm, his blades disappear.

The dress I’m wearing has ridden up, my legs exposed, and San’ten’s gaze moves slowly upward to pause at my midsection.

The blades on his shoulders expand and contract as his nostrils flare, a snarl rising on his lips.

Those eyes of his finally meet mine and I am silenced by the deadly rage swimming beneath them.

“Did the male…” San’ten pauses, his gaze searching mine. “Did the male force you? Did he mate you?” The last question comes out in such a deep growl that it vibrates through him, making all his blades go straight and deadly.

I swallow hard.

I can still feel Boss man’s fingers as he pulled the crotch of my panties to the side. Still feel him pressing himself against me. Still feel what he wanted…and now tangled with that memory is the one I had repressed.

The memory of the Gryken forcing itself into me.

My eyes swell with tears and I choke, unable to answer San'ten.

And he goes still, his blades flattening in one movement before he reaches for me, cradling me in his arms.

He’s still covered in blood. I can smell the tang of it and I know I’m about to be covered in it too. Despite this, despite that he’s the last person I expected to gain comfort from when San’ten takes me into his arms, I grip on to him and let the tears I’m choking on run free.

17

MINA

Outside is cold, colder than it was before, and I’m sorry I didn’t grab a coat from the apartment before we left. Truth is, I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could. And with San’ten still holding me, I didn’t even think about it.

He hasn’t put me down…and I haven’t asked him to.

I cling to him, his strength, for suddenly I cannot find my own.

What’s happened to the Mina that woke up numb? The one who’d pushed everything back so she can survive?

I need her back.

Emotions…feeling…it’s too hard.

There is too much pain.

We’re heading down the road together. San’ten keeps a steady pace, cradling me to his chest with the guns on top of me so he can carry me with both hands. I glance up at him every now and then.

He doesn’t say a word.

He’s still seething and his anger seems to be rising the farther from the apartment we go.

“I thought you said there were five of them,” I shudder.

If I’d been alone out here, what would have happened to me?

“There were,” San’ten grumbles.

“Guess the other two ran away,” I murmur.

San’ten grunts and I look up at him. His dark gaze slides to me. “They tried.”

I lift an eyebrow and when he pauses, his gaze becoming murderous again as he looks at something ahead of us, I turn to look at what he's focusing on.

There’s a truck in the road ahead. The back is open and large plastic drums fill the space.

There’s also a cage, one you’d see used to transport large animals.

The thick scent of freshly spilled blood fills the air.

As we near, I see the first body. Male. He’s standing only because a knife in his throat keeps him upright against the side of the vehicle.

I glance at San’ten and the look he gives me is almost like a shrug and pure non-regret.

“This is their truck,” I whisper. If the large drums didn’t give it away, I don’t know what would. “So this is where you were…”

But I don’t get why he killed the man. That is, until I see the other bodies.

Another male. The fifth gangster maybe…and a female…in the cage.

My heart goes into my throat as my gaze lands on her body.

She was gaunt. Her bones sticking out. Her skin drawn.

Her corpse is underneath that of the fifth man and in the horror before me, I almost demand that San’ten tell me why he killed the woman too. That is, before we move closer and I see the full scene.

Man number five has his pants down. And the woman…she’s chained to the cage like an animal.

A sob lodges in my throat and I have to turn away.

This would have been my fate if those men had gotten what they wanted. It was a dangerous world for women before…now it seems it’s even worse.

San’ten growls, cutting through my thoughts.

“Unworthy,” he says. “Taking what is not theirs…what is not freely given.”

He shields me as we pass the rig.

“The female was almost gone before I scented her. I smelled her fear…heard her weak cry. It is the only reason I left you for so long. When I found them, I was too late.” He pauses. “And then I heard you scream.”

I blink away the tears forming in my eyes and turn my face toward his chest.

I don’t want him to see me cry. Not again.

I’m not weak. I just…need to get past this.

But it’s too much.

Too much emotion.

Too much feeling.

All that I’ve barred and hidden away is coming to the fore at once, and I do not know how to cope.

I can suddenly feel it all.

Everything.

And the worst feeling is the one that is at the forefront.

That of being sullied. Unclean.

I had one of those alien things growing inside me. I gave it life.

The thought makes me want to rip my skin off and wash myself out with bleach.

But I can’t do that. So I’m left with this…feeling.

And I have to be strong.

I have to deal with it.

* * *

SAN’TEN

Mee’na has gone into herself.

She no longer has snarky remarks. No telling me I look like excrement. No longer ready to cut me with whatever weapon falls into her hands.

And her eyes…

Those vacant pools are no more.

Mee’na has a look in her eyes that I have seen before. One that I do not like.

Defeat.

At her insistence, I have set her down, and she now walks at my side.

Now and then, she stifles a sniffle, but her eyes are telling. There is water in them. Water that she refuses to let fall.

Mee’na is hurting…and I am not sure what to do.

I am a warrior. All I know, all I have ever known, is how to fight. My rage has always been my greatest ally. But that will not help me now.

It will not help her.

Whatever happened in that structure has broken her. The thought makes me growl.

She took off the male’s ear. I grunt at that thought. She should have cut off his gonads as well.

Mee’na veers slightly to the left, heading toward the trees as the star’s light brightens the surrounding darkness.

I pause, looking back down the way we came. I can no longer see the structure where the hyu’mans’ bodies lie. No longer see the transport where I killed the other two either. We have been walking for a while now and I wonder if Mee’na is tired.

She certainly has not complained, despite that she is smaller and her legs are much shorter than mine.

“We did not bring your supplies,” I say. It’s enough words to get her to pause and her shoulders slump as she looks back at me.

“It’s fine,” she shrugs. She doesn’t meet my gaze.

This is a Mee’na I do not like. I much prefer her other side. The one that glared at me even when I was in battle form.

The same one that stood, chin high, and faced a Gryken.

But her spirit is broken.

Only a good male…one worthy of a female…would know how to fix this.

And that I am not.

Eons ago, even before the Gryken came and took my planet, I had known there was no female for me.

I have seen what forming a mate bond can do.

It weakens.

It is a liability I cannot risk.

“I’m sure I’ll find something.” She turns around and continues heading toward the trees. But just as she enters the undergrowth, she mutters something else.

She must have forgotten my hearing is not like that of a hyu’man’s because I heard her clearly, and her words make a sinking feeling start in the pit of my chest.

“Maybe I’ll starve to death out here,” she whispers. “That would probably be for the best.”

I narrow my eyes and watch her go.

If she thinks I am about to let her die out in this wilderness, she is mistaken. I may not know how to comfort a female, but I can try.

It is what the others would want me to do. It is what I have to do.

I glance at the communicator on my wrist then back to the bushes Mee’na just disappeared through.

I’ve turned off the device. Otherwise, they would use it to find me.

Maybe I am a fool for following this female with her crazy plan.

I sniff, and her scent wafts into my nostrils. Sweet. Feminine.

It makes something flicker deep within me and my ears twitch. I hesitate before following the female into the brush.

Her plan is a crazy one…and I am following her.

I grunt, amusement rising within me.

Sanity has never been my strong point.

18

MINA

I flick my hand in front of my face absentmindedly.

The head shield zings and interacts with my fingers, little threads of light stringing around the digits before I pull my hand away.

I haven’t heard any of the voices in a while, and I wonder if the shield is working.

If it is, I could probably head back to the base. But the risk is too great.

I don’t know if the Gryken are being silent for some other reason.

They’re not idiots. Speaking to one face to face, that was clear.

The intelligence in those dark, soulless pits they call eyes was frightening.

I glance at San’ten from where I sit on a soft patch of moss. He is high in a tree not far from me. Scouting the area, I assume.

A part of me feels bad for having him follow me.

After all, this is my quest. He doesn’t have to be here.

Yet, there is another part. The selfish part that likes the company. Even if said company is a seething, dark demon.

I stare at him wordlessly.

A seething, dark demon who cradled me and carried me in his arms when he realized I was at my breaking point. The same demon that killed the men, my own kind, who didn’t have the mercy to treat me like I was human.

The whole ordeal makes me think.

I watch as San’ten glances at the ground before leaping from the tree with such agility, the tree hardly sways.

He lands on the ground in a singular movement, his legs bent to absorb the impact of his fall. He doesn't make a sound.

The way he stands…the way his muscles ripple and how his suit moves like fluid over his skin, stretching as he stands at his full height…makes me stare in awe.

The only things that move like that are predators. There is no doubt that is what his species is, and even with that fact, he is more honorable than those five men we encountered earlier.

The thought of them makes me shudder.

San’ten glances at me before throwing his blaster and the smaller gun at my feet. I frown at them for a few seconds before looking back his way but when I do, he’s gone.

My eyes widen a little, my neck swinging back and forth as I search the bushes for him. But he’s gone.

He was literally just here!

I stand, surveying the bushes, but I don’t catch sight of him.

Fuck. I keep forgetting just how quickly he can move.

For the next few moments, I’m left listening to the forest around me. I think we’ll keep to the greenery from now on. No more little towns. Certainly no cities.

I don’t think I can avoid them forever but I will try for as long as I can.

Wrapping my arms around myself, my ears perk when I hear movement, a few branches shuffling to my right, and I grab the small gun Lily gave me. But before I can lift it in my hand, San’ten appears.

His gaze falls to the gun in my hands and when I lower it, his ears flick.

“I will not leave your side again,” he says, voice low, almost inaudible. "You do not have to worry." With that, he walks straight past me to a spot on the ground where there isn’t much moss.

In his hand, something swings by its tail. A squirrel.

He promptly skins the thing, his claws going to work with lethal precision before he sets the meat down on a broad leaf.

He stares at it for a few moments before his gaze slides to me.

“Oh,” I shake my head, “you don’t have to share it if you don’t want to. As I said, I’m sure I’ll find something to eat out here…somewhere.”

There isn’t much confidence in my voice but that’s because I know the odds of me finding food out here in the bushes are slim to none.

“This sustenance is not for me…” San’ten trails off and his ears flick as he stares me down.

I can’t read his gaze, but once I realize what he’s implying I can’t help but blink a few times. “Wait, that’s for me? You caught that for me?”

For the first time since I’ve known the dark alien, his ears flick and his gaze slides from mine in a way that makes me believe he is ashamed. No, not ashamed. Shy? Nervous?

San’ten is nervous?

I almost scoff at the thought.

“It is small meat,” he finally says. “But the creatures here are all small.” He glances at me. “If it is unsuitable sustenance, I will go out and hunt again.”

I have to blink at him several more times, unable to believe what I’m seeing.

It’s almost as if he feels…unsure.

He did this for me and he’s not sure if I’ll like it? The thought comes out of the blue and makes something warm bubble inside me.

As San’ten reaches for the meat, presumably to chuck it away, I rush toward him, arms stretched forward to stop him.

“No!” I shout before catching myself and clearing my throat. “I mean, no, it’s fine. That’s certainly more than enough for us both.” I nod at the skinned squirrel and San’ten looks down at the thing as if it is a morsel that he's supposed to stretch to feed five thousand.

It makes me giggle, the emotion coming fast and quick, and again, out of the blue. My hand flies to my lips and I freeze.

I laughed.

The ghosts haunting me have been pushed to the background and I was able to forget them for a moment.

As I move my gaze to San’ten’s, I know it is because of him. And if that’s the cure, it means I need to keep busy. If distraction can keep me from falling into a pit, that’s exactly what I will do.

“We should cook it for dinner,” I glance at the sky. “Erm, breakfast?”

The sun is slowly rising and I can’t believe we’ve survived a whole night.

One down, many more to go.

San’ten makes a sound in his throat as he sets down the meat and begins pulling piles of dry leaves and twigs together.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

San’ten glances at me, his nostrils flaring. “Your kind kills the food twice. I am building a fire to assist you with that.”

Again, his words make me chuckle and this time, when I do, he freezes, his ears flicking, before he continues to gather the kindling.

I get to work helping him too and in a short amount of time, we have what looks like it can work to make a decent fire to cook the meat.

Only, I have nothing to light it with.

That problem is easily fixed when San’ten moves over to his blaster, adjusts something on it, activates it, and points it at the kindling.

A narrow ray shoots out, igniting the leaves immediately.

With a grunt of satisfaction, he eyes the blaster and again I have to chuckle.

He’s just like any other guy with his toys…

No, he isn’t like any other guy, I remind myself. He is nothing like any guy I’ve ever met before.

And as he pierces the meat with a stick and begins roasting it over the fire, all I can do is watch him, that exact thought going through my head.

19

MINA

San’ten didn’t eat any of the squirrel.

When I offered most of it to him, he breathed out so hard, I felt his breath against my fingers.

Apparently, the mere thought of eating the meat is offensive to him.

So as we continue trekking through the bushes, my belly has been full, my eyes droopy, and my body weary.

It’s been a whole day since I last had a rest, but I have to keep pushing on.

It’s not until I walk right into a tree, bumping my nose really badly and falling on my ass, that San’ten says something in his Vullan tongue—a curse, I suppose—as he forces us to stop walking.

“You must rest.” His voice comes in like a wave through the pain throbbing in my skull and as I hold my nose and squint at him, those angry eyes of his are directed right at me.

“I should have forced you earlier.” He looks away, his ears flicking. “For that, I have failed in your care.”

I open my mouth to tell him he hasn’t failed in anything, but my words stop in my throat as I’m suddenly lifted into the air.

He carries me over to a nest of leaves and looks around. Clearly unsatisfied, a growl of annoyance leaves his throat. Then his gaze turns to the trees around us and I can almost see the wheels turning in his head.

“Nope. Not in the trees, please. I’m fine on the ground.”

“This is not a suitable nest.” He eyes the ground again.

But I shake my head. My eyes are almost closed. Now that the thought of resting has been suggested, sleep is coming too quickly. This will just have to do.

“Give me about fifteen minz.” My speech slurs as weariness overtakes me and when San’ten sets me down gently into the soft leaves, my body sinks with a deep sigh.

As my eyes close, I think about the fact that I’m vulnerable here, doing this. I wish I could be like him. Not needing to sleep. But my body’s just not up to it.

I feel, rather than hear, him move away and a spike of panic makes me open my eyes.

I don’t want him to leave me, even to go hunting.

My vision is blurred as I take in his dark form hovering over me and I must say something along those lines, because the deep rumble of his voice reaches my ears.

He crouches over me and it’s words he’s said to me before.

“I am never leaving you.”

It makes a small smile tug at my lips.

Safe.

I feel safe.

* * *

And so becomes our routine.

At nights we walk, with San’ten doing most of the guiding. Although I can hear and smell much better than I could before, I still trust his instincts over mine.

Our routine is simple and for four days, we stick to it. We press forward during the nights and in the daytime San’ten hunts, we cook the meal, I eat, I take a short nap, and then we head off again.

We pass glimpses of what was once civilization, but we stay under the cover of the trees. Everywhere looks like a wrecked ghost town and even though there may be supplies in some of the buildings, I don’t risk searching.

Not again. And not that I need to. Not with San’ten making it his duty to ensure I eat every day.

I have yet to see him ingest anything. It is beginning to get worrisome.

And sleep…he hasn’t once taken a nap.

His whole survival is so different from my own.

“You know,” I say to him when we’ve stopped for a break, “I should probably turn off the head shield. Check if it’s working.”

San’ten pauses and looks back at me as I yawn.

“It is working.”

“I know it’s operational. That’s not what I mean.”

San’ten blinks at me. “You want to test if the Gryken will come to you with the head shield deactivated.”

I nod at him and his suit ripples. He stares at me, going still for a few moments, enough for me to shuffle on my feet.

And then he mimics my nod, jerking his chin sharply to his chest.

“We will do it, but not here,” he says.

My shoulders sag with relief, happy that he’s agreed with me.

He begins walking again, and I follow behind, in the exact path he made.

“If not here, then where?” I ask.

“Somewhere less open.”

I glance around us. There are trees everywhere. It won’t get less open than this. But I understand what he means.

We need as much cover as we can get.

We walk for a few more minutes before San’ten suddenly halts.

I’m used to him going still, but this time, his sudden stillness makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“What is it?” I whisper, but I hear it shortly afterward.

Like my ears are ringing, it’s a high-pitched sound that’s barely audible. My eyes widen as I freeze too, waiting for San’ten to answer.

But he says no words. Instead, he turns and I’m suddenly in his arms as he grabs me and takes me down.

He spins at the last moment, taking me on top of him as his back hits the ground and then we’re covered in a film of darkness.

The breath’s been knocked out of my lungs and my heart hammers against my chest as I stare down at him.

I don’t immediately know what’s happening. All I know is that San’ten is gripping me to him and that the sun and the trees around us have suddenly been blocked out.

The dark shield around us moves and pulses in the air and my eyes widen as I take in the particles.

His suit.

It’s his suit.

“What—”

The suit has us in a sort of cocoon and my memory dings. I dimly remember San’ten doing this before. A long, long time ago. Back when I’d been too weak to stay conscious most of the time. Back when I’d been carrying that thing inside me.

“Why?” I whisper. “What’s happening?”

At my questions, the suit lightens a bit, enough for me to be able to see around us once more and I tilt my head back to look up at the sky through the trees.

“Blocking our energy signatures,” San’ten says, his voice low.

Realization dawns. “You’re hiding us,” I whisper, a shiver going through me as I search the skies, my eyes frantically flicking from one visible blue spot in the foliage to another.

I don’t have to ask “from who” but the sight that I see is not what I expected.

It only lasts for a second, but the shuttle that zooms high in the sky above, flying over the trees as fast as a rocket, is no doubt a Vullan ship.

My eyes widen as I look back at San’ten. His gaze is on me. And his suit…his suit ripples underneath my fingers.

It makes me look down at his chest. I’m gripping on to him, my fingers digging into him, and it’s not his suit that ripples at all. It’s his skin.

Dark, charcoal skin that's so silky smooth. I blink at it, at the ridges underneath my fingers, my mouth going dry as I stare.

There’s a rumble in San’ten’s chest and that forces me to blink, forces me back to the present.

“The Vullan,” I whisper. “That was a Vullan shuttle.” Worry begins to fill me. “Do you think they’re searching for us?”

“They could be,” San’ten replies. “But they cannot track us without sending a team on foot. I have turned off my communicator.”

I blink at this revelation. “You turned off the only thing that connects you to them?” I pause. “Why?”

San’ten blinks at me, his gaze enveloping mine. “I did not lie when I said I would follow you. Your intentions…are noble. You are sacrificing yourself for the entire planet. It is something I would do.” A strange membrane moves from the sides of his eyes, covering his iris as he blinks. “It is something I pledged to do when I boarded the ship with my sleekt.”

I swallow hard as I look at him, his words sinking into my soul. I never thought I needed to hear them.

But there’s something else.

“If they’re not out here looking for us…why are they here?”

I get my answer not even a second later.

There is a loud boom. One that echoes through the stillness of the forest, and following right behind it is a blast of air so strong, the trees sway.

A bomb.

They just fired a bomb.

“They do not know we are here,” San’ten says. “They are attacking Gryken ahead of us.”

I gulp, a shiver going through me.

As more bombs go off, I stay still, not daring to move. Neither does San’ten. He is like a statue beneath me.

The world shakes as there is another boom and then another, before I hear a sound I have not heard in a long, long time. And one I wish I will never hear again.

It’s like a loud but deep vibration. Like the sound of something metallic and massive ripping in two. It is a warning sound, and it cuts through the air itself.

A sound that spells doom. Death.

Destruction.

It makes me jerk, my heart going into overdrive as my chest heaves, and only San’ten gripping me to him keeps me grounded.

I know that sound.

I remember the first time I heard it. When the orbs first fell. When they first stood on their metal legs and began firing at us. They made that sound.

That means there’s a machine out there. One that’s active and isn’t standing still.

I lock eyes with San’ten.

“W-we need to move.” I’m shaking as I push against his chest. I can’t control it. But he holds me steady.

“No.” The calm surety in his tone is the only thing that prevents me from kicking and screaming when all my instincts are telling me to run.

“I cannot block your energy signature if we are fleeing. This is the only way I can keep you safe.”

He pulls me tighter to him, pressing me against him so that my breasts squash against his chest and the wayward thought in my mind is that his actual skin is so clean while I am filthy.

I still have the blood of the gangsters on my dress and skin. We haven’t come upon enough water for me to clean myself. I’ve been surviving on drinking morning dew.

I know I stink. I don’t even know why I’m thinking about it now. But San’ten doesn’t seem to care.

He pulls me closer and forces my head down under the crook of his neck. The ridges along his body are surprisingly supple.

It’s a comforting hold and as I straddle him, I allow him to keep me there.

I try to focus not on what's happening outside of this cocoon, but what’s happening here. Now.

I’m safe. I repeat to myself. Safe.

San’ten’s musky scent fills my nose, and I snuggle closer to dip my nose into his neck, and breathe.

Safe.

As the booms outside of the cocoon get closer, I try to be brave, but a whimper still escapes. San’ten holds me fast.

All around us, the trees sway and suddenly something large and heavy crashes down far too close to where we lie.

I have to bury my face deeper against San’ten so as not to scream.

It’s one of the machines.

I know it even without opening my eyes.

I want to tell San’ten that we should definitely run this time, but he remains still, unmoving. Just holding me close and…

I blink, focusing on the alien beneath me.

In the center of his chest is a low, deep vibration. Like the strings of a guitar being strummed, the sound is a song. He’s making music in his chest.

A song that seeps into my bones, calling me. Calming me. Warming me.

I shiver as I lift my head to lock eyes with him and San’ten meets my gaze.

His ears quiver at the sides of his head as his gaze moves over my face.

His eyes are different. That darkness that fills them, that void, it’s not empty anymore. Not filled with anger. Not seething with murderous intent.

Instead, there’s a softness there that I have never seen in them before.

“San’ten,” I whisper. “You’re…you’re vibrating.”

I shouldn’t have said anything. For the moment the words leave my mouth, the vibration stops.

San’ten stiffens beneath me and his eyes go cold, as if he’s woken up from a trance.

Slowly, the cocoon that’s been around us dissipates, the suit returning to his body, seeping under the contact of our skin to cover him once again.

And maybe I am mad for feeling a sudden sense of loss.

Maybe I’m mad, for there was an answering warmth that was beginning in my own chest.

20

SAN’TEN

There is devastation all around us.

Glorious, unrestricted, devastation.

The trees that were once standing are now down and we are in a wide, clear expanse.

Near to us lies the fallen scrit and my ba’clan are immediately on alert.

“Stay here,” I say to Mee’na, not giving her a chance to reply before I head toward the machine.

If there are any Gryken still alive in the area, I have to get to them before they find us.

Though, I doubt that any of the scourge survived.

The devastation that has racked the earth makes a thrill go through me, and when I come upon the body of the first Gryken, another thrill goes through my being.

My brethren are fighting. The war is still on, even if it is going on without me.

I glance at the blue firmament above us, scanning it, but the shuttle is long gone.

Still, I extend my senses, searching for both Gryken and any other lifeform close by.

In return, I sense nothing.

Nothing except the slow beating pulse of the lifeforce I left behind.

Mee’na.

I freeze at the thought of her and I have to force myself to look in her direction.

I, San’ten…I thrummed.

I have never thrummed before. Not even at the mandatory mating dances where females chose the males they wanted to practice mating with. Not even when propositioned.

The thought makes me grip my chest as I stare at the female far away.

Mee’na is so small, she doesn’t stand out in the vast expanse, despite that the trees are no longer standing.

But she is looking back at me, her hand gripping her garments at the center of her chest in much the same way that I am gripping myself.

I thrummed for her.

I shake my head and stretch my neck.

It was a mere coincidence. Her softness. The way she melted against me while I held her still. The way she inhaled deep as her nose came in contact with my skin.

It has nothing to do with the fact that for the last four cycles, I have taken pride in hunting and providing sustenance for her.

Each time I bring something for her to consume, those strange eyes of hers light up, and the smile she gives me makes something flicker in my gut.

She allows me to kill the food for her a second time before she eats it, and I don’t even mind.

It also has nothing to do with the fact that each time she rests, I stand guard by her side, watching her sleep.

Her face goes lax, her mouth opens, and the worry that has crept into her gaze over the past few days disappears.

When she sleeps…she looks…innocent. Unbothered.

Like she was before her world ended.

I don’t remember ever feeling such peace and the sight of her consumes me. So much so that I stay by her side instead of up in the trees, watching her until she wakes.

I…

Blinking, my ba’clan shiver as I stare at the female ahead of me.

I…enjoy watching over her.

And hence the thrumming.

I shake myself, telling myself that it is simply an evolutionary response to the fact that Mee’na is female.

For my kind, a thrum begins when one is interested in mating. But I am not.

A mate bond never has and never will be my priority.

Mee’na begins walking toward me, her gaze scanning the expanse, her eyes wide.

“Oh my God,” she whispers when she is close. “How did we even survive this?”

Her wide eyes turn to me and I am once again frozen by their magnificence.

My ears twitch and I force myself to look away from her.

Whatever is happening, I need to end it.

“My ba’clan protected us,” I reply, turning to scan the area around us. “Many Gryken are dead. It was a small horde. But we must not tarry here. It is not safe.”

Mee’na nods and as we move through the destruction, I hear her talking to herself.

“This is like a wakeup call.” She glances at me. “The last few days have been so quiet…I became complacent. But a war’s going on. One I’m a part of. One we’re a part of.” She glances at me again. “I can’t let my guard down again.”

I do not reply.

She hasn’t let her guard down. I have.

I do not feel like myself. The surety I had before is now wavering.

* * *

MINA

Walking through the expanse that was bombed was like walking through a war zone. I couldn’t wait till we exited and got back to standing forest and when we finally did, we didn’t slow down.

For the rest of the day and the night following that, we continued on.

We walk till my knees get wobbly, till I can hardly see in front of me, but I don’t tell San’ten to stop.

I don’t know how much distance we’ve put between us and the base now, but I’m thinking we’re a far way off.

It gives me some comfort, especially seeing the shuttle that took out the horde and the machine that were close by.

I shudder now, thinking of how close that horde was to us.

I’m sure San’ten would have sensed them in time, but the thought of so many Gryken mere miles away makes my spine go cold.

And San’ten…

Ever since that day, he’s been…silent.

He’s always silent but this silence is different. Unnerving almost.

He is gone into his head and I wonder what he is thinking about.

Maybe the fact that I mentioned him vibrating.

I want to ask if I’ve broken some Vullan taboo or something. I want to apologize if I have, but each time I open my mouth, my words stall in my throat.

Instead, I focus ahead like he does and push forward, hopefully leading the Gryken away and confusing them in the process.

When we come up on what is obviously the edge of another small town, we finally pause.

There are abandoned cars in the road and more broken down buildings than I care to count. The sun is high in the sky. Midday. But there is no movement in the little town.

Abandoned like so many others.

Just one of many ghost towns civilization has left behind and I wonder if we will ever reclaim them before nature does.

Sighing, I put one foot forward to continue on, but San’ten stretches an arm across my chest, preventing me from moving.

I glance up at him.

We should continue on, past this town and find ourselves back in the forest on the other side as soon as we can, but even as I try to drag my other foot forward, my knees almost go out.

I’m tired and oh so thirsty.

San’ten glances down at me, before scanning ahead once more. “You must rest here,” he says.

I open my mouth to argue but all that comes out is a weary sigh.

“Towns aren’t safe,” I manage to grumble.

San’ten grunts.

“Neither am I,” he murmurs almost inaudibly.

I would frown at him but I just don't have the energy. I have no idea what he means by that. I’ve felt nothing but safe with him. That is, since he’s stopped looking at me like he wants to slit my throat.

“We head back under the cover of the trees. You rest. I keep watch.”

I don’t argue. The thought of resting just sounds too good.

We’re close to the edge of the tree line, so I turn and we backtrack a bit. It’s not long before I spot a tree trunk that’s wider than my back. I head to that one, plopping down and leaning my head against the tree behind me.

I catch San’ten’s frown, if you can call it that, even with my lowered eyelids. It makes me huff a laugh through my nose.

His nostrils flare and his eyes slant, causing the ridges along his forehead to do the same.

“What?” I grunt.

“Your choices of nests have all been unsuitable.”

I grunt again and this time I smile, my eyes slowly closing to the demands of my body.

“Well, when we get out of here, promise me you’ll make me a proper nest.”

I almost don’t catch it. It’s just a glimpse before my eyes close completely, but San’ten’s ears flick off the sides of his head almost comically, and his entire suit ripples.

There’s that sound again. That vibration. That song in his chest, and I smile as my head dips to my chest and I fall asleep.

21

SAN’TEN

She fell asleep as soon as her chin touched her chest. I know I should have stopped walking earlier. I pushed her to her limit, but she never complained.

For that, I must feed her well.

I will find the plumpest scrounging creature I can find, kill it for her, kill it again with flames, and watch her devour it.

I must also find drink.

Water has been scarce.

I hit my chest hard. Hard enough for me to choke on air. But the thrumming doesn't cease. This time, it's as a result of her telling me to make her a nest.

Mee’na does not know what she asks.

I doubt hyu’man males, dishonorable as they are, prepare nests solely to please their mates.

I shake the thought away and have to slap my chest once more.

The slight pain distracts my mind enough to force the thrumming away, but I growl at myself.

I cannot continue like this.

Soon I will need to fire the blaster at myself to stop the nagging thrum.

Snarling, I turn away from Mee’na, close my eyes, and take a deep breath. I cannot focus on her. I must focus on the task at hand.

Yet, my eyes open and track right back to her.

Today, I will not watch her sleep. I must hunt and prepare for when she rouses, and then we must continue on.

Seeing the Vullan shuttle on the last cycle has reminded me I have abandoned my sleekt to help the female with this mission. They will not understand, and the Gryken finding us is not our only worry.

My sleekt will not believe I am following her and that I have not abducted her for my own purposes.

The thought alone makes me growl, distaste in my mouth.

Extending my senses, I am alerted to no threats. Still, I move over to Mee’na and place the small blaster underneath her arm.

It is a necessary precaution, though I do not intend to go far.

Her chest rises and falls in a measured rhythm, the mounds pressing gently against her flimsy garment with each breath.

I have to pull my eyes away, another growl escaping my lips.

At first, I did not like this female because I thought her a traitor. Now, I am beginning to not like her because she is…making me feel things inside that are not possible for me to feel.

I have to shake my head, pushing the thoughts away as I rise and glance around the forest.

My ba’clan pulse like a wave against me, ready to go on a hunt, and with one last look at Mee’na I head off.

* * *

Finding suitable game is tough and I stray farther than I would like.

It is possible that the explosions that occurred on the last cycle has scared away any and all creatures on this side of the world.

Or maybe they have left for some other reason.

I pause, my ba’clan pulsing as I extend my senses once more.

That’s when I catch the first whiff of the scent.

Hyu’man.

My nostrils flare.

Hyu’man and male.

Coming right toward me.

I don’t move. I could camouflage, but I do not want to make my ba’clan consume energy unnecessarily.

It has been cycles since I have consumed anything. Their only sustenance is the energy they gain from the planet’s star.

For that reason alone, I will not hide from the fiends approaching.

I inhale once more.

I do not smell malice. But that does not mean these males are honorable.

Three of them approach…and that’s when I scent the other group from behind…in the direction where Mee’na rests.

Alarm goes through me, making my hackles rise halfway.

Mee’na is in danger.

I jump from the tree I am perched in, aware that I am making much more noise than I usually would and I hear the hyu’mans react.

They shout and head in my direction.

Fools.

But I have no time to deal with these three. I must go back to Mee’na.

Ground travel is faster than jumping through the trees here. The trees are too far apart. And so I run, my surroundings blurring as I cut through the forest, not caring about the noise I am making in my wake.

They are close to her, and moving fast. Close enough now that her scent mingles with theirs.

A roar bursts from my throat when I arrive at the spot to see two more males, one crouched over Mee’na, the pointed end of his crude weapon poking into her chest.

There is a female hyu’man with them too, but I couldn't care less about her presence.

My sole focus is the proximity of those males to my Mee’na.

“Mee’na!” My roar startles her awake and her eyes fly open wide.

There is a moment where everyone freezes. But I am already moving.

I will kill them for touching her.

I will kill them all.

* * *

MINA

I’m startled awake, almost jumping out of my skin at San’ten’s roar, and I don’t immediately know what’s happening.

Under my hand is the weight of the gun Lily gave me and I grab it automatically to point it at the blurry forms above that are slowly materializing into…a small group of humans.

My heart stops in my chest.

Survivors.

But these people aren’t like the first group we encountered.

They look hardy, but weathered. Tired, a bit beaten down, but still fighting.

It’s an older guy, one about my age, and a black woman who I reckon is in her late thirties or early forties.

But none of them is looking at me.

The rifle the older guy holds shakes even though it’s aimed away from me and all of them are standing frozen in shock, their eyes wide.

“What the fuck is that?!” the younger guy asks, gripping and readying the baseball bat he carries in his hand.

It’s a nasty-looking thing. There are nails forced into the business end of it and there is no doubt that it’s meant to rip flesh apart.

The other two don’t answer. The woman has a knife in her hand and they’re all still staring away from me.

I realize time has slowed things down in my head when the blur to my right suddenly moves and the sleep lag finally dissipates from my mind.

Oh shit. San’ten!

He roars at them, a sound that sends a chill even through me, as he heads right for the man with the gun.

The man fires once. Twice. Both bullets hitting San’ten in the chest, and I scream.

“Wait! No!”

But no one listens to me and to my utter shock, San’ten doesn’t slow down.

He’s a blur as he heads right toward them and I have only a second to react before he’s right upon them.

He’s going to kill them.

It’s the singular thought in my mind even as I see the fear, and that same realization in their eyes.

I don’t think. I’m on my feet and I throw myself at the man with the gun, knocking him sideways.

The gun goes off one more time and I hear San’ten roar again.

But I don’t know if it’s because he’s been hit or if it’s because of something else.

I get my answer when those dark, raging eyes land on me.

“Mee’na!” He roars, gripping me with one arm as he lifts me effortlessly off the man.

The man scrambles backward still gripping his gun.

“What the fuck?!” the other guy exclaims.

“I—I shot it. I’m sure I did,” the older guy stutters.

“Kill it, Marcus! Fuck. Do something!” the woman screams. “Do something before it kills Ambrose!”

San’ten stalks toward the man on the ground slowly, still lifting me like I weigh nothing. My back is plastered against his chest now and I have full view of the terror in the man’s eyes as San’ten approaches.

There’s a rustle of leaves as movement occurs behind us and San’ten freezes as something is plunged into his back.

He turns slightly and the younger guy, Marcus is there. His eyes are like dinner plates as he stares at his baseball bat.

It’s clear he just swung it into San’ten’s back, but instead of injuring him, all it’s done is annoy the big alien.

“What the hell are you?” Marcus whispers.

“Your doom,” San’ten rumbles, and it’s like the sky goes dark around us.

Shit.

I have to do something.

My instincts tell me these people aren’t bad. I could be wrong. I could be very wrong. But it’s worth giving them a chance.

As San’ten grasps Marcus by the neck and lifts him off the ground, the woman at the back screams and rushes forward, plunging her knife into San’ten’s arm.

Or at least, she tries.

Instead of the knife entering his skin, San’ten’s suit hardens so much that the blade simply shatters.

Her eyes widen as she lifts her gaze to San’ten and the fear in her eyes reminds me of my own when I first encountered the Vullan.

It’s at this moment I thank God I wasn’t introduced to them like this. There is no way I would trust San’ten the way I do now if this was how they’d come upon us.

San’ten is squeezing the life out of Marcus slowly, and I grip his other arm, the one around my waist securing me to him.

“San’ten! Stop! They’re…they’re just afraid.”

I search the people’s gaze and the woman glances at me, her eyes incredulous.

“They should be afraid. The males touched you. I know what hyu’man males are good for. So far, that has been only one thing.”

He snarls, flashing fangs, and the woman backs away.

“It talks…” she whispers, making a sign of the cross against her chest.

“He…he won’t harm you.” I say to them. "Just…drop your weapons and back away."

Even as I say this, San’ten isn’t really helping. He isn’t releasing his hold on Marcus, and the guy is going blue.

The woman’s gaze shifts from San’ten, to me, to Marcus, and to the older man, Ambrose, behind us.

“San’ten,” I speak evenly. “Let him go.”

San’ten only growls and grips me tighter to him. But I know he’s hesitating. Otherwise, Marcus would be dead already.

“Three more approach,” he says, “and the one behind me still has his weapon aimed.”

I don’t know how he knows that, unless he has eyes in the back of his head. I don’t know. I haven’t checked but I wouldn’t be surprised.

But this is confirmed when the woman’s gaze shifts to the man at the back.

“Ambrose…do what they say. Drop the gun.”

“Ripha…you seeing what I’m seeing, right?”

Ripha stares at him. The only sign she’s not as confident as she looks is the slight tremble in her voice. Her worried gaze flashes to Marcus before going back to Ambrose.

“Yes, and I can also see that your gun is useless.”

She lifts the dagger she’s carrying. All that’s left is the handle and a jagged piece of metal.

Her eyes widen in disbelief as they turn back to San’ten.

“San’ten,” I whisper. “Just listen to me. Let him go…and if they turn out to be like that last group, you can do whatever you want to them.”

It’s a compromise that works, and I assume Ambrose has also lowered his weapon, because San’ten’s fist slowly loosens.

Marcus coughs as San’ten releases him so unceremoniously, he simply falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Gripping his throat, Marcus coughs.

I let out a breath of relief but that relief is short-lived when the distinct bang of a gun goes off to our side.

I feel when the bullet collides with San’ten’s arm. Feel his suit react.

It pulses, covering me completely in a cocoon against his chest as San’ten turns his head and growls at the new arrivals.

22

MINA

“José! That’s no fucking boar!” someone exclaims.

“I don’t care what it is! Shoot it!”

More bullets ring out and San’ten keeps his back to them. Time slows down as the horror of the situation hits me hard.

One, two, three, four, five shots ring out and more follow, a few whizzing past us but the others finding their target. San’ten.

But he’s standing firm. Unmoving. His body hardly jerking as each bullet hits him.

I don’t understand why he’s not reacting, not until his voice reaches my ears.

He’s calling my name, asking if I am alright.

He’s not turned to face them because I’m plastered against his front. The fact that he’s thinking about me, protecting me instead of trying to protect himself…it…it supersedes everything.

“I’m fine!” I shout. But he can’t be!

I know he’s sort of superhuman but he’s not indestructible!

“Don’t shoot!” I scream. “Stop!”

I don’t think they hear me over the sound of the bullets, but I hear Ripha screaming at them too. She shouts something I don’t catch and for a moment the barrage of bullets cease.

“What the fuck?!” one of them shouts. “It’s not dead!”

“Dios mio…” someone else mutters before whispering prayers in Spanish.

San’ten turns slowly and I hear scrambling and twigs breaking underfoot as I assume the members of the new group back away.

San’ten growls loud enough to send a shiver through the air and I wish I could see around us. Unlike before, when I could see outside the cocoon, now everything is pitch black.

If it wasn’t San’ten, my heart rate would be through the roof but right now, there are bigger problems.

“It’s going to attack!”

“It’s one of those things, isn’t it. The aliens. It’s not human!”

“Well fuck me, of course it’s not fucking human. You see what I see, right! None of my bullets did anything!”

“I think it’s swallowing the lady!”

“Shoot it again!”

“Oh dios mio…”

San’ten’s second growl doesn’t help and I hear more shuffling as he takes a step forward.

“Fuck! Do something!”

"What? Do what? I think we should get the fuck out of here before it swallows us too!"

“Wait!” I shout, and San’ten stops moving. “I’m fine. I’m ok. He’s not swallowing me or eating me or anything!”

I hope they can hear me and the cocoon isn’t blocking sound. When they go silent around me, I gain more confidence in the idea that they can.

“He’s not what you think he is…” I plead. “Please…lower your weapons. I don’t think he’ll relax until you do.”

I pray they listen to me. I don’t know how long I can hold off San’ten. His patience was already thin to begin with and I know the only reason they aren’t all dead was because I begged him not to kill them.

“Why should we listen to you? For all we know, you’re being controlled by it.”

I bite my bottom lip. I can’t say I didn’t see that coming.

If I were them, I wouldn’t trust me either.

We’re going to have to put forth the first olive branch here.

“San’ten, we’re going to have to…compromise,” I whisper to the alien still gripping me to him as if I’m a life buoy and he’s drowning.

He doesn’t respond. All I get is a deep rumble in his chest.

“You have to let me go.” I try to keep my voice even to keep him calm. “Take your suit back.”

“There are still weapons trained on me. I will not risk putting you in danger.”

A sigh goes through me.

We can’t have an impasse.

“It’s fine,” I stress. “They won’t shoot.” I say that last bit louder because I need them not to shoot.

The guy with the gun was a little too trigger happy to begin with.

“Let me go,” I say to San’ten.

But instead of releasing me, he holds me tighter.

“Non-negotiable.”

Fuck.

There’s a moment of silence and I think of what to say next. I really need him to put me down and lower his blades as a show of good faith.

But help comes from the most unexpected source.

The voice of the female, Ripha, rings out. “Do what she says, John. Lower the gun.”

“What?! Fuck no!” John’s reply is immediate and when San’ten snarls in response, he stutters. “Y-you cannot be serious.”

“Down, John.” This time, the voice comes from behind us, from the older gentleman, Ambrose.

There are a few more beats of silence and then, “Gun’s down, lady. What now?”

But San’ten still has me covered. Worry spikes through me.

He’s not still thinking of attacking, is he?

“San’ten? Call your suit back.”

There’s a rumble in the chest at my back and a slight unsurety in his voice. “I did not send them.”

“Huh?”

“I did not send my ba’clan. They came to protect you of their own volition.”

I frown at his words, not understanding.

“Can’t you call it back? Like you did last time?”

“I am trying.”

All around us, the humans are silent. I can hear Marcus still coughing and now retching on the ground, but that is all. I’m pretty sure all eyes are on us. We need to uphold our end of the deal.

“San’ten?” I whisper.

“Tell them you are no longer in danger,” he suddenly says.

“What?”

“Tell my ba’clan, that you are safe. They will return to me then.”

I blink several times, trying to understand. “You want me to talk to your suit?”

He pauses. “They are more than a suit…but yes.”

Okayyy….then.

“Um…I’m fine. No longer in danger. You can go back to your owner now.”

Nothing happens.

“Try again,” San’ten presses. “Like you mean it.”

I gulp, staring at the darkness before me. It almost seems alive, the little particles all moving and working together in a synchrony that is the most unique engineering I have ever witnessed.

I reach my hand out, touching them and a ripple goes through the cocoon.

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “I’m safe.” The cocoon ripples once more, as if reacting to my words. “Thank you for protecting me. You can go back to San’ten now.”

I don’t think it will work, but I’m proven wrong when there is a pulse all around me and the shroud suddenly dissipates.

When I turn my neck to look up at San’ten, his suit is all over him and is no longer covering me anymore.

What the hell just happened?

But that’s something I have to consider later.

Right now, six humans are standing looking at us as if they’ve seen ghosts and I know I have some explaining to do.

23

SAN’TEN

Mee’na wriggles against me, but I am not letting her go.

She has explained to the group of hyu’mans that we do not mean them harm.

She should have clarified that.

She might not mean them harm, but I will cut each one of them down if they threaten us in any way.

Especially the males.

I will not harm the female.

I glance at her now and she visibly shudders as she stares at me. She is the same coloring as Fi’rox’s Dey’jah, but her eyes have seen more. They are harder. Like beads. I eye her and even though she shuddered, she holds my gaze.

She was brave to try to wound me with her blade. She reminds me of Mee’na and the thought makes me grip Mee’na even tighter to me.

“How do we know you mean no harm? How do we know that…thing won’t kill us and that you’re not being controlled by it?” one of the hyu-mans says.

“She’s covered in blood. Maybe she’s its hostage,” another murmurs.

Mee’na shakes her head. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. San’ten is on our side.”

“San’ten?” one male says my name and my hackles become firmer. There is something about hyu’man males that feeds irritation. When he utters my designation, I want my fist in his skull.

I turn his way and growl, my fangs showing and he visibly releases his urine in his garments.

Disgusting.

Weak.

Mee’na ignores my snarl and simply pats my arm that’s secured around her waist. There is no logic to it, but the action calms me.

“I know you think he’s one of the aliens that came down upon us, but he’s not. He and his people followed them here to save us. He’s not Gryken. He doesn’t control those machines.” She glances up at me, our eyes locking as she says the next few words. “He takes them down.”

The hyu’mans suddenly begin murmuring at once.

“We can’t just believe her.”

“We can’t say she’s lying either.”

“Hey, he didn’t kill us. That’s good enough for me. Those machines started shooting as soon as they landed.”

“Yea, but just because he didn’t kill us, doesn't mean we should just trust him.”

“This is bullshit. I don’t care what the fuck y’all say.”

This chatter goes on for more than a few minutes and I am beginning to lose my patience.

“We should not tarry here,” I say to Mee’na. “The noise these hyu’mans have made might have attracted Gryken.”

Mee’na’s back is flush against my chest and she has not fought with me to release her. The feel of her soft form is…comforting, and I am happy she is too distracted by her kind to care that she is in my arms.

“Gryken?” one of the noisy hyu’mans asks, his face going pale. “That’s what they’re called, isn’t it. Those…those machines.”

“I understand now. The black jets!” one of the other hyu’mans exclaims.

“What that, José?” the female hyu’man asks, her eyes never leaving me.

“The fast ones, the cool ones. The ones we saw when we went out hunting that time.”

“Oh, you mean when you guys went too far away from the base without permission,” she says.

The male they call Ho’zay is a small creature. He shuffles his hair at the female’s words and his head bows in submission. He recognizes her as stronger than he is.

I grunt.

I might tolerate this male.

Ho’zay looks at me. “The black jets. Those were you? I mean…your people?”

My eyes narrow on him and he blanches but continues.

“I saw one take out a machine. Saw it with my own eyes,” he says.

“That was the military, dude,” the male who spoke my name, the same one that soiled himself, is staring at me with eyes I do not like. I do not trust him.

Ho’zay frowns. “Dude, it wasn’t the military. We haven’t seen any military since those early days and those jets…” His eyes fall back on me and the awe within them is telling. “…those jets were…they weren’t anything I’ve ever seen before.”

All the humans suddenly go silent, their fearless yet curious eyes on me.

I glance down at Mee’na. We are wasting time here. I don’t have the patience to entertain hyu’mans and their whims.

But Mee’na’s gaze, the way she’s looking up at me, a slight sparkle in her eye…it makes me pause.

For her, I will answer them.

“We came to destroy them,” I say, noting how their eyes widen at the sound of my voice as if they are surprised I am speaking their language, even though they have heard me speak before. “We will not stop till they are eradicated.”

Ho’zay punches the other male in the shoulder and flashes his blunt teeth. “See! Told you!” He turns to me. “So those jets, they were you guys, right?”

“Affirmative.”

He punches the other male again and suddenly falls to his knees, lifting his arms into the air as he stares at the sky.

“We’re saved. We’re gonna be okay, mama.”

I look up, but there is no one there. Only the tops of the wiry trees.

But my attention is soon drawn when the female with the hard gaze focuses on Mee’na and asks, “And this…male. You trust him. You trust his kind. His people.”

My life organ stops for a few seconds.

All this time…I did not consider this of Mee’na, and suddenly her answer means everything to me.

I look down at her, still plastered against me, but she doesn’t look up.

Instead, she meets the other female’s gaze as she wraps her arms around mine.

“I trust him with my life,” she says.

24

MINA

The group is visibly wary of us, but with the leadership of Ambrose and Ripha, they agree to take us back to their base.

I would have agreed readily, if we weren’t running from something far too dangerous to take for granted, and it makes me hesitate.

But these are humans. Surviving ones. Good ones.

I can’t just leave them out here.

It’s why we’re following behind them as they lead us to their hideout spot. There’s a lot we need to discuss. A lot of information to share.

News about the Vullan arrival can be spread and with that hope.

San’ten has finally set me down and as I walk in front of him, he follows behind so closely, I can feel him at my back.

He is hovering over me like my own big alien bodyguard and whenever any of the other males even glance in our direction too long, I see them tense, their eyes going wide.

I don’t have to look at San’ten to know he’s glaring at them with those double abysses he calls eyes.

We travel for maybe an hour, surpassing the little town San’ten and I had come upon, to head back into the woods.

I’m surprised to see that the base is a series of tents strung up in between the trees.

Heads pop out as we arrive, eyes widening as soon as they land on San’ten, and Ripha takes the lead, addressing what looks like maybe twenty other men, women and children.

It’s the same questions and concerns as before.

What is he? Will he kill us? Where did he come from? Is he the one that attacked? Why bring him here?

Ripha is patient and as the others who we’d met in the forest join the rest of the base, it leaves only me and San’ten standing facing the entire camp.

I wrap my arms around myself and meet their gazes.

I can sense their fear…no…I can smell it. It’s a permeating scent…almost like urine.

Was that how I smelled to San’ten, when he first met me?

I glance back at him and his eyes are on me. It makes my eyebrows lift. I’d have thought he’d have been paying attention to the group of almost thirty humans before him that obviously do not trust him.

Instead, his gaze is on me and a warmth is filtering into that deep darkness the longer he looks at me.

“It was not wise to come here,” he says low.

I swallow hard.

He’s not wrong.

I didn’t expect the base to be this big.

There are even children here.

It’s a wonder they are all alive. Out here, in the wilderness, it would be so easy for Gryken to find them and take them down.

If my plan works, if Base Zero remains standing, it would be much safer for them there under the protection of the Vullan.

It’s a wonder they have survived so long, so many of them, out here on their own.

As Ripha completes her introduction, she turns to face us.

Her eyes skip past San’ten, as if she doesn’t want to look at him too long, and lands on me.

“Welcome,” she says. “We call this Haven. You are welcome to stay as long as you like.”

There are some grunts of disapproval from behind her and Ripha raises a hand in the air to silence them.

“This is…new territory for us.” Her pointed gaze hits me squarely. “And for you too, I think. But we believe there might be something good that can come from our meeting.”

She walks toward us, her gaze not moving from me in a way that makes me know she’s making every effort not to look at San’ten. When she's close enough, she outstretches her hand.

“Sherripha is the name.”

I take her hand, shaking it lightly. Behind me, there’s an almost inaudible rumble.

“Mina,” I reply before gesturing behind me. “This is San’ten. He’s here to help us.”

There are murmurs throughout the group and Ripha offers me a slight smile.

“This way,” she says. “So we can…talk.”

She glances at San’ten. “If you don’t mind.”

When he doesn’t respond, she glances back at me.

“He’s not much of a talker,” I say and San’ten grunts behind me.

“I have nothing to say to these humans,” he mutters so low only I can hear. “Unlike my brethren, I do not care if they are afraid of me or not. I am here for the Gryken only.”

I glance up at him as we follow Ripha. “Really? Is that true? Then why did you decide to follow me?”

San’ten’s ears flick in a comical way that makes me smile, and I reach back and grab his hand, leading him behind me as we head toward one of the larger tents.

It is only then that I notice once more that no one seems to be going back to whatever they’d been doing before we arrived.

All eyes are on us, and though San’ten is ignoring them, I can’t help but be aware of their gazes.

“Not malicious,” San’ten says, and I wonder how he knows that. Does malice have a scent like fear?

* * *

We are in the tent for what feels like hours. With San’ten crouched awkwardly, me, Ripha, and Ambrose all inside, it’s safe to say the space is tight.

They ask us questions about how the Vullan arrived, how many there are, if they really can destroy the machines, and the big question, why on earth are they helping us.

I can’t answer that one and when I look to San’ten, his eyes are back to that cold darkness that they usually have–not the darkness that’s being permeated slowly by warmth.

It makes something inside me ache and I reach for him, my hand resting on his thigh.

He seems to surface from the abyss for a few moments and he focuses on the humans around us.

“The Gryken took everything from us. My planet, Edooria, is no more. They have wrecked our biosphere. It can no longer support Vullan life. Those who were lucky enough to flee have gone to other worlds to start again. But those of us with nothing left worth fighting for…we followed them here. To this world. To stop them.”

“And you’re sure you can stop them?” Ambrose asks.

During the discussion, I’ve noticed both him and Ripha slowly relax.

San’ten’s still massive and scary-looking, but he’s also truly magnificent to look at and to listen to.

It’s not long before most of their questions are directed at him and not me. Just hearing him speak, it’s…nice.

“We will stop them,” is all he says, his gaze flicking to me.

“But if there’s this base you speak of, why aren’t you there now? Why are you all the way out here?”

I knew this question would come, and I was hoping we could have avoided it. I don’t want to lie, but the truth is certainly worse.

“We are searching for something,” San’ten suddenly says and my eyebrows shoot upward. He’s covering for me? “The war has begun.”

Ambrose and Ripha share a look.

“Like…help?” Ripha says after a few moments. “People to help you fight? Is that what you’re searching for?”

San’ten visibly bristles and the two glance at each other again.

“We will not endanger the lives of those too weak to fight,” he says.

Ripha stares him down before glancing at me. “Like civilians…right?”

I don’t know what she’s getting at and my brows furrow a little.

“Don’t worry,” I speak up. “We know how terrifying those things are. Getting protection from the Vullan at Base Zero doesn’t come with any commitments on your part, if that’s what you’re wondering. You, the others here…the children…everyone can go and be safe. There’s no need to fight in this war.”

Ripha glances at Ambrose and I get the distinct idea that there is something I’m missing. Maybe I misunderstood their line of questioning.

“What if we know how to find people who are not civilians…” Ripha finally says.

I stare at her before my eyes widen and when realization hits, I jerk upright so fast that, in the corner of my eye, I see San’ten’s blades partially rise, ready to defend whatever threat he thinks has come to me.

“You know how to contact the government?” My eyes widen. “The military?”

The last two words are said in a whisper.

I never even considered the possibility.

When the fighter jets, the bombs, the armored tanks, the missile hits…when those all stopped, we, well I just assumed the military fought and lost. That they were no more. But here, these two are telling me they know how to find and contact them.

This could mean everything!

“We don’t stay in one place too long,” Ripha continues. “We can't. A big group like this, we keep moving. Keep to the trees still standing. We only venture into towns when we need supplies." She pauses, a sigh making her shoulders rise and fall. "Our group was bigger. We'd been surviving in a metro station. Thought we were safe…until the city was attacked again. Those machines…the metro collapsed. What you see in Haven is who survived. So we stay far from the cities now." She pauses again and I want to reach out and squeeze her hand. "The last place we stopped, we saw the cameras…the surveillance. Ambrose here used to work with the military.” She jerks her head in Ambrose’s direction and he nods slightly.

“I’ve seen that type of surveillance before. Knew they were watching us. Asked for help…” He trails off.

“And?” I press.

“They never came.”

My shoulders sink. “What makes you think the cameras were working?”

Ambrose meets my gaze. “They panned to us. Remote controlled. Someone was behind that lens…watching. But I guess we weren’t important enough to save. Not us…not the children…” He trails off and looks at San’ten. “This base…Base Zero…we will take you to the cameras if you can promise that we, all of us, can find protection there.”

San’ten adjusts himself, his muscles rippling as he stretches his neck.

“Base Zero is a safe place for everyone…with or without this…agreement,” he says, his gaze moving to me. “I will let Mina decide.”

My eyebrows move upward again as I bite my bottom lip.

We need all the help we can get, but taking them to Base Zero would mean returning and endangering everyone once more.

It would be a stupid decision.

Unless…

“Deal,” I say and Ripha’s shoulders sink as if she’d been holding her breath.

She nods at me.

“We will make the necessary arrangements,” she says, rising and heading to exit the tent. “It will take a few days to prepare and then another few days to go back to where we saw those cameras. Till then you can use my tent.”

Ripha doesn’t wait for our response. She’s already outside, her voice sure as she rattles off a list of orders.

Ambrose rises, nods at us and makes his way out too, leaving me alone with San’ten.

Impossibly, the space seems even smaller with him alone.

“You wish to return?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Then…”

“San’ten…” I gulp. “I’m going to need you to turn your communicator back on. I’m going to need you to contact the base. Let them find us.”

25

MINA

For the most part, we stay away from the rest of the group. They are wary of us, and although Ripha and Ambrose have explained the plan, some seem hesitant to go along with it.

They’re given the option to head to Base Zero or stay in their traveling Haven. They only have three days to decide.

That means three days hanging around with them. We have to stay until San’ten contacts the Base, they come to pick up the group, and then we head off to go find and contact the military.

I try to make myself useful, helping gather supplies, pack bags, and whatever else needs doing, and by the time night has fallen, I’m so exhausted I head straight to the tent Ripha has lent us.

It’s a small one, not big enough for two people, and I climb inside without thinking, leaving San’ten with nowhere to go but to stay near. Having been my shadow all evening, he’s stuck beside me and has mostly kept to himself.

It doesn’t stop me hearing the questions and the general unease about him that’s whispered on everyone’s lips though. My hearing’s gotten way too good for that.

And now, as darkness falls, I hear the whispers still.

Falling in a heap on Ripha’s sleeping bag, I stare up into the darkness of the tent.

“He’s outside the tent,” someone whispers.

“Can you even see him? He blends into the night.”

“What if this is all a lie and he attacks us in the night?”

“I can’t sleep. No way with that thing out there.”

The whispers continue until I have to slap my hands over my ears.

“San’ten,” I whisper, “for fuck’s sake, just get in here so they can’t see you.”

The tent’s flap is pulled away a second later and San’ten peeks in at me, his eyes briefly surveying the space.

“You want me to enter here…”

I nod impatiently. “Hurry up. I’m really tired, I just want to go to bed.”

He just stares at me. “This is…your nest.”

I frown at him. “I’m not a bird. Just come in.”

When he still doesn’t move, I resort to begging.

“Please.”

His ears flick and once again I’m reminded that underneath all that surliness is something else. Something one might even mistake as…softness.

He slowly enters, crawling on all fours and I freeze a little as my heart skips a beat.

There’s nowhere for him to go except to crawl directly over me as he enters.

And the bastard does it slowly.

I’m tired, maybe that’s why my personal demon looks like a hunk as he crawls into the tent. I’m momentarily taken aback and can only stare at him as he prowls toward me.

My eyebrow lifts and I blink.

I can see the muscles rippling in his shoulders as he approaches.

The way his dark eyes envelop my own.

The way the little light from the stars seems to twinkle on different parts of his suit.

San’ten looks like a strong, powerful specimen of the male species. One you’d like to bench press you and roll you into a donut.

I choke back a giggle at that thought and he pauses, his ears flicking again.

Yes…tiredness. That’s what this is.

Still, my breath stops in my throat when he resumes entry.

San’ten’s gaze slips down my body and I’m reminded once again that I really, really need a bath. But the thought leaves my mind as soon as it enters because San’ten is suddenly kneeling over me, his thighs on either side of mine, and his fists pressing down into the sleeping bag beneath me.

His face is above my own and I swallow hard in the sudden silence between us.

“There is only one way to fit,” he says, and I shouldn’t feel my thighs clenching at his words.

Swallowing hard, I dare not open my mouth. I’m bound to say something stupid, so I wait for him to continue.

But instead of explaining, San’ten suddenly snakes an arm underneath me. He flips me around so fast, a yelp leaves my throat as I am suddenly moved from the sleeping bag to land on top of his chest.

He grunts as he settles himself beneath me, adjusting so he just about fits into the tent, but there is no more space for me. I can only stay put on top of him.

“Um,” I begin.

“You invited me inside,” he cuts me off.

A chuckle bubbles within me immediately.

“If you’re going to be a dick, I’ll send you back outside.”

“Then you will have to bear the whispers of your kind for the entire dark cycle.”

I grunt. He was right about that.

But that doesn’t mean I can sleep on top of him.

Legs straddling him, I have to press down on his chest to try and move off him.

“There is nowhere to go,” he says, reading my mind.

“I know that…but this just seems…inappropriate. We’re not…”

“Mated?” he asks.

My cheeks warm. “That’s what you call it. But yes.”

“It is non-consequential. A female like you would not mate with a male like me.”

He says it like he’s talking about the weather and I’m left staring at his face, my mouth open a little in shock, as I watch him close his eyes and shut me out.

“What?” I ask. “Why would you say that?”

He doesn’t answer, but he has me piqued.

“Is it because you’re Vullan and I’m human?” I watch his ears flick, but his eyes remain closed. “Sam and Adira have mated with your kind and, to be honest, you’re more attractive than Fer—” My eyes widen as I stop myself in my tracks.

What the hell was I about to say? That I find San’ten hot?

His eyes fly open and he envelops me with his gaze. His ears flick again and he moves, easing upright on his elbows enough that he’s closer to me.

“You find me attractive?” His ears flick again and the utter disbelief in his tone has me forcing a smile back.

“Yes…I guess.” It dawns on me there isn’t one thing about him I dislike. Not even his surliness. It’s a strange realization.

A rumbling sound starts in his chest. That same vibration. The thrumming.

I blink at him, but keep my mouth closed this time.

It’s making a nice sort of warmth go through me. A sense of calm. As if everything will be alright as long as I stay by his side.

“Of all the humans I have met…you surprise me the most, Mina,” he says.

I blink at him. I don’t know what to say to that.

“You are small. Weak. Stubborn…”

I frown at him. “Oh, please continue with the flattery…”

For the first time, San’ten grunts in a way that makes me think he laughed.

I stare at him, my mouth falling open. “You can laugh…”

His ears flick and he growls at me, but that thrum in his chest gets louder.

“You brute. You’re not just a dick, you actually have the propensity for humor.”

San’ten growls again and a yelp goes through me as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me down against his chest as he settles backward.

“Quiet, female. You must rest. There is much to do tomorrow.”

I don’t fight it. I settle against him. Settle in these arms that are holding me tight as if I’m a precious gem, and listen to the vibration still humming in his chest.

We stay like that until my eyes start to droop and my shoulders release the last bit of tension of wakefulness.

“And no…not just a dick,” he whispers low, almost inaudibly. “An attractive dick.”

Cocky bastard.

* * *

When my eyes open, San’ten is awake beneath me, a strange look on his face. He watches me warily and I wonder what happened during the night that’s made him so unsure.

I find out as soon as I yawn and try to move.

His arms grip my partially naked ass and my eyes fly open, sleep no longer hindering my vision.

My dress has ridden up to my waist and the only thing between my crotch and his chest is the thin layer of cotton that’s my panties.

I spent the night on top of his chest. Straddling him. My dress up at my waist. My thighs naked, my ass in the air, and he was beneath me with nowhere to go.

My eyes widen as I stare at him in horror.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry—” I try to move again, but he growls so low, so deep, his hands tightening at my waist. It stops me from moving further.

That’s when I feel the persistent throb against my naked butt.

Something thick and hard has forced its way between my butt cheeks. It throbs, the movement going through it like a wave, and my eyes widen further.

This time, San’ten doesn’t have to stop me from moving. I’m frozen all by myself.

“San’ten?”

I don’t want to ask what that is. I know what it is. It can only be one thing and I feel foolish for never considering it.

His suit doesn’t show a bulge. I never once thought of his dick. And I certainly didn’t consider that it would be this…size.

The throbbing length is thick. So thick and hard, I can feel the slight stretch of my cunt as it’s settled good and well against me. There is a scorching warmth spreading from it that radiates over my skin and my inner core clenches immediately.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I don’t know what the hell to do. My clit throbs of its own accord as that scorching heat seems to fill my body and his length jerks against me.

This is…I don’t know what this is.

I try to think what I would do if this was a human male beneath me but all I can think about is the fact that San’ten’s cock is thicker at the base, tapered closer to the tip, and that it is long, far too long, for it to be a real thing.

“I dishonor you,” his words come out as a groan and it is only then that I realize he’s gritting his teeth.

I swallow hard, afraid to move, yet wanting to move slightly, if only to investigate further.

“Di-dishonor?” Huh? What is he talking about now? He’s being confusing like when he’d stormed at me talking shit about traitors and abandonment.

God, that feels like it happened ages ago.

“Dishonor?” I repeat.

Maybe I’m the problem here. I can’t understand what he’s saying because I can’t focus on anything except that hard, scorching length pressed against me.

San’ten’s dick is nestled against my most vulnerable, sensitive bits. I blink several times, the reality sinking in.

If this was some human male, I’d have punched him in the face and jumped off his chest already.

I’d have felt violated. I’d have been furious that he was taking advantage of me.

So why was I lying here, frozen, unable to move, an ache starting at my center that’s becoming hard to ignore?

“I…did not intend for you to wake to this.” It’s like he’s finding it hard to speak and I finally focus on him properly.

His teeth are still grit, his body still, as if he’s afraid to move as well.

“I did not intend to extrude…” he continues, this time, his gaze searching mine, and for the first time, I see something in San’ten’s eyes that I have been feeling since I woke up from that coma.

Vulnerability.

In this warrior’s eyes, there’s a part of him that he’s revealing to me for the first time, and whether he realizes it or not, I can see it as clear as day in his strange reptilian gaze.

For the first time…San’ten is completely open. Anger and surliness are nowhere to be seen. All walls down.

I shift a little, lifting my upper body an inch so I can look at him better and his cock rubs against me in a way that has that nub between my folds pulsing.

I have to stop and hold my breath as a wave of unexpected want goes through me.

Beneath me, San’ten groans, gripping me tighter.

“I tried to control it,” he grunts. “It is my shame that you awake to me like this.”

I stare at him.

This is the difference between him and a human male. This is why my instincts have yet to explode and tell me to get the hell off him.

San’ten isn’t trying to take advantage of me.

He’s actually sorry he’s gotten morning wood and that I’m experiencing it with him.

And what’s worse…I’m…liking the experience? I can’t even focus to scrutinize that.

“I did not want to wake you,” he continues. “When you are resting…I can see how you were before your world was destroyed. You are calm. Precious. I did not want to take that away from you. I did not want to disturb your few moments of peace to wake you back into this zehklu.”

That last word doesn’t come out in English but his other words reach into me. They wrap around my heart and tug at it. San’ten sat here in torture because of something as simple as letting me sleep?

“San’ten,” I whisper, and at the sound of his name on my lips, San’ten’s eyes roll back in his head, that nictitating membrane sliding over his pupils so slowly, I’m transfixed.

He groans and his cock throbs against me, causing my own core to clench as he looks back at me once more.

Underneath that surprising openness, there is pure torture in his eyes.

“The other times it’s happened, I wasn’t sleeping on top of you. That’s why you couldn’t take care of it,” I murmur, putting the puzzle pieces in place.

But San’ten’s eyes focus for a moment, that vulnerability disappearing for only a second, before his ears twitch.

“I have never extruded before,” he suddenly says.

“What?” My mouth falls open.

He suddenly drops his gaze, his ears pointing outward and down.

“I have never extruded for any female before.”

A lump forms in my throat as I stare at him.

He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying.

“You’ve never had morning wood before or you’ve never…” I trail off, unable to say the words.

There’s no way that he’s a virgin…

Is there?

“Morning wood?” he asks instead, momentarily taking my focus away from where the conversation is going.

“You’ve never woken up to a hard cock before?” I whisper.

He blinks at me using that side membrane in his eyes once more. “I…Vullan do not do that. Unless stimulated, our sazi remain sheathed. We do not extrude.” He pauses. “Some bloodlines do not extrude at all. Not unless they are in the presence of their mates.”

“And…” I swallow hard, and his cock pulses against me again, making it difficult to focus. “And what bloodline are you?”

San’ten meets my gaze, his eyes boring into and right through me.

He’s…he’s one of those that do not extrude at all…not unless in the presence of his mate.

His intense stare tells me everything and as I stare back at him, my eyes widen slowly as what he’s said turns over in my mind.

Mate. He said mate.

But…that can’t be.

I’m not…

I’m not anyone’s mate.

As we stare at each other, that same thrumming I’ve heard before starts in his chest once more.

So close to him, it vibrates right through me, heading straight to the heat beginning at the center of my thighs.

I gasp at the sudden sensation.

It feels like invisible threads are winding around us, pulling us toward each other, holding us tight.

“San’ten.” I stare at him and he doesn’t blink. Instead, I feel his hard length get impossibly harder. Impossibly hotter.

Need bursts within me.

Maybe it’s the changes that have happened in my senses, but I can hear San’ten’s heartbeat.

Every thump matches my own as the two organs work in synchrony, beating together, binding.

I gulp as his cock surges against me, pushing against the thin cloth of the panties that covers my anus. It makes a shiver go through me as another burst of need explodes in my center. My clit throbs in response and that thrum, that vibration in San’ten’s chest pushes me toward a peak I want to reach.

I…

I want this.

“San’ten,” I gasp. “What the hell is happening between us?”

26

SAN’TEN

I have made a mistake.

I allowed Mee’na to find me at my most vulnerable, when I did not know what was happening to me any more than she did when she woke up to find my sazi nestled between the mounds of her soft rear.

A groan goes through me at the thought. Even now, my sazi wants to extrude.

I growl, turning my focus to the many males in this hyu’man group. I need to place my mind on other things.

If not for that other female, the leader, Ree’fa, I’d have been forced to tell Mee’na I had no idea what was happening between us.

That everything within me is telling me she is mine. That I have been ignoring the signs thinking that because my ba’clan have not claimed her, that I was imagining things.

But I can ignore the signs no longer.

I extruded! For the first time… and in her presence.

It can only mean one thing.

Mee’na is mine. My mate. My female.

My everything.

I watch her now as she busies herself, helping another female who carries two young.

She glances over at me and her cheeks grow redder than they have been since we exited the small sleeping quarters.

When Ree’fa called on us to see whether Mee’na was awake, it was not a moment too soon.

Forced to remain beneath Mee’na’s softness for much longer while she made those soft moans and whimpers in her sleep, I would have spilled.

I would have dishonored her even more.

As she works, I try not to follow her too closely.

She needs space after what occurred earlier. After what I did.

I’m aware I’m like a lingering shadow following her around. The other hyu’mans shuffle out of my way, the stench of fear concentrated in this little area they have made their temporary home.

My nostrils are closed to the smell, but it still permeates my air supply. I bear it, only for Mee’na, walking around the small camp, following her as she assists the hyu’mans.

She glances at me as she finishes helping the female with the two young and I cannot read her eyes. It makes a strange ache develop in my chest.

I want to storm forward and rip her away from these hyu’mans, take her far away, and discuss what happened earlier.

I still cannot believe I extruded, my sazi forcing itself against her. The moment it occurred, I knew I was lost.

I should have seen it coming.

Mee’na has made me…question myself. No other female has ever managed to find weakness within me. No male either.

Yet, without even trying, I am open to her.

It is something I never knew I wanted until this moment. Something I never knew I needed.

And I may have destroyed it all before it has even begun.

Mee’na walks past a group of three crouched males whose eyes linger on her for far too long. A growl rumbles in my throat and they glance my way.

That dark cycle. When I left her in that structure and that male almost…

The female in that cage…the one I was not able to save…that could have been Mee’na.

They could have taken from her. Forced her.

Like the Gryken did.

Something aches within me at the thought and my rage comes forward, my ba’clan rising.

The males in front of me jump to their feet, backing away in the process.

I do not see them…all I can see is what’s been taken from Mee’na. And…what’s worse…I can see how I have taken from her too.

I touched her at her most sensitive place without permission.

I am not better than the scum I chase.

My rage rises, fueled by distaste for myself, and my ba’clan churn uneasily.

“San’ten?” Mee’na’s voice is the only thing that pulls me from the tempest I am falling into.

I blink and my gaze homes in on her immediately.

Her eyes are wide, her hands outstretched toward me in that way hyu’mans do to calm others down.

All around us, the hyu’mans have frozen, none daring to move.

I hear a whimper. A juvenile.

The little one stares at me with wide eyes before hiding behind its mother.

I can see my reflection in their eyes.

My hackles have risen and I look the image of the male I have always seen in reflections.

Ready for war. Seeking to sate an insatiable need for vengeance.

That is who I am. That is why I am here.

“San’ten, what’s wrong?”

Mee’na is in front of me. My ba’clan, my blades, they don’t deter her as she comes close and her palm suddenly makes contact with my jaw.

The contact sends a jolt through me and my vision clears as I look down at her.

So small.

She stares up at me, worry in her gaze.

Worry…for me.

“Mee’na,” I whisper.

That need for vengeance is still writhing within me.

But now…there is someone else that I must exact revenge for as well.

Her.

“Are you okay?” She doesn’t whisper. It is as if she doesn’t care about me startling the other hyu’mans with my response.

As I look down at this female, not a semblance of hatred or disgust toward me, I know she is a much better being that I will ever be.

Her strength floods through me as I lean into her palm, my ba’clan settling almost immediately.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” she asks, confusion making her brows knit.

For giving me more purpose, I want to say. But that is something to tell her another day.

Today, we must work. We must prepare.

* * *

MINA

San’ten’s acting strangely. He’s been shadowing me all day. He was doing the same thing yesterday, but today there is a weight to it, a pull. Something magnetic that makes me feel hyper aware of his every movement.

What makes today different from yesterday is probably the buzz in the air.

There’s excitement zinging like energy around every single occupant of this camp, man, woman and child.

They’re excited to go to Base Zero and the more I chip in and help anyone who needs a hand preparing for the transfer, they ask me questions.

Questions about the base.

Questions about San’ten.

No one dares approach him. I can see the wariness flow from them like sweat falling from their skin whenever they look his way—and his display just before doesn’t help put them at ease.

A riled-up San’ten, blades pointed and all, is a terrifying sight. He stands taller than any other male in this camp, making even the strongest man I’ve seen so far look weak.

I don’t know what caused his outburst earlier…or what he said to me after. I can only assume it has something to do with what happened before we exited that tent.

My whole body shivers at the memory and I’m not cold or afraid.

After helping a teen girl tighten her pack, I glance behind me. I’m not surprised when my gaze meets San’ten’s.

Every time I look back, his eyes are always on me.

The Vullan have a staring problem, but I find I do not mind.

My gaze slides down him to land at that juncture between his thighs. There is a noticeable bulge there, one that I’m positive wasn’t there on every day we’ve been together before.

Memory of his hardness spreading my buns, stretching my entrance with the strain, it makes a pulse go through my core.

“Mina!” Ripha shouts my name, causing me to jump, and I realize I’d been staring.

I do one quick sweep with my eyes, taking San’ten in, my cheeks warming as I spin to find Ripha on the other side of the camp, beckoning me over.

When did I stop seeing him the way every other human in this camp does? When I look at him now, I don’t see a dangerous non-human.

I just see San’ten.

Hurrying over to Ripha, I manage to compose myself by the time I’m standing in front of her.

She’s with a small group of males and one other female. I recognize the men from the group who found us the day before. There’s Marcus, who makes it his business not to look in San’ten’s direction, Ambrose, and José.

Marcus has a nasty dark ring around his neck from where San’ten had gripped him by the neck. It looks painful and I can’t help my eyes from widening slightly before glancing at San’ten.

Not surprisingly, there is not one ounce of regret in San’ten’s gaze. He barely acknowledges the group of humans at all. As expected, he’s staring at me…or rather…at my butt.

That realization has heat spreading through me and when Ripha calls my attention to something she’s holding out in my direction, I have to clear my throat and pretend I’d been choking on something.

“Pudding,” Ripha says. The item she’s holding out to me looks like a broad leaf wrapped around something.

“Pudding?” My eyes bug out.

Ripha chuckles. “I know. We found an abandoned pickup. Had bags of flour and other stuff in it. We’ve been using it sparingly but I made some fresh cornmeal pudding before we went scouting. You’re lucky there’s any left.”

“Cornmeal pudding?” I don’t think I’ve ever had that before but I don’t care what it is. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in over a day and I’ve been blocking the hunger pains.

Ripha winks at me. “Family recipe passed down from my Jamaican grandmother.”

Jamaican? That’s all I need to hear.

José moves over, patting the space he’s made on the log he’s sitting on, and I plop down, unwrapping the leaf as I do.

I’m just about to dig in when Ripha jerks another leaf package in San’ten’s direction.

She says nothing and I realize everyone around us has stopped what they’re doing to see San’ten’s reaction.

I’m about to tell her he doesn’t eat our food, that he hardly eats at all, when San’ten surprises me.

He steps forward and takes the package from Ripha, his ears twitching as he stares at it.

Ambrose clears his throat and scoots over on his log. “You can sit here, big guy.”

My eyebrows rise as San’ten grunts and plops down on the log. He’s so big, he makes Ambrose look like a child with Benjamin Button’s disease, and the log itself look like a toy.

San’ten’s gaze lifts to find mine and my lips curl upward in a slight smile.

He’s looking at me like he’s not so sure what to do with the thing, so I take the lead. I finish unwrapping my leaf to reveal a yellow pastry. It’s almost like cake…or bread…but soft. I can smell the vanilla before I taste it.

Oh god…vanilla. My mouth waters. This is like treasure.

Bringing the pastry up to my lips, I take a small bite. Flavor bursts across my tongue, and I moan, my eyes closing as I savor the taste.

Ripha chuckles. “A little bit of heaven in this hell,” she says.

I nod, smiling as I force myself to chew slowly. There’s no telling when or if I’ll ever get something like this to eat again.

When I glance at San’ten, he’s still looking at me, his ears doing that flicking thing that makes me think he’s observing something curious.

Everyone’s attention is on him now. Nothing like seeing an alien try your food.

But San’ten’s simply watching me eat, his gaze fastened on my lips, and I find my cheeks warming again.

I stop chewing and swallow, licking my lips as I do, and his ears flick again.

I have to blink to focus, my mind intent on pulling me back to earlier this morning and what happened in that tent.

“Try it,” I urge, jerking my chin at the food in his hand.

His gaze drops to it and his ears flick again.

I can tell he’s not sure about the food, but I can’t admit that I’m not curious too. I’ve never seen him eat. I only remember vaguely, during those first days, that his people had eaten a sort of red spaghetti. Or worms. It could have been worms. Spaghetti doesn’t move on its own.

San’ten unwraps the leaf and takes the pudding between his fingers, bringing it up to eye level.

He suddenly locks eyes with me and in the next second, he opens his mouth and wraps his tongue around the entirety of the pudding before pulling it back into his mouth.

There’s a gasp. Ripha, I think, and Jose’s mouth falls open.

“Well…damn…” Ambrose mutters.

I’m speechless. I can’t even move.

San’ten’s tongue.

It’s…

I don’t think I saw right.

I realize I’m staring too, my mouth open, and I make an effort to close it when his tongue snakes out again, stopping me in my tracks.

Fucking hell…

It’s the longest, thickest thing I have ever seen.

He curls it around his fingers, taking the crumbs left there in one moist swipe. Eyes still locked with mine, it feels like we’re playing a dangerous game. Flirting. This feels like flirting…or maybe my mind’s just clouded by what happened this morning and all I can think of now is…doing things with San’ten?

Wider at the base, tapered toward the tip, his tongue is long and thick…just like his dick. Hell, it looks like it’s almost the same size too. How he manages to fit that in his mouth, the same way he fits that monster of a cock between his thighs inconspicuously, I don’t know.

My core clenches at the raucous thought and I feel utterly unhinged.

But I’m not the only one, for Ripha suddenly clears her throat and reaches in her pack for another leaf parcel.

“You can…you can, uh, have another one if you want.” She speaks to San’ten and he finally pulls his gaze from mine.

He stares at the food before taking it from Ripha, but he doesn’t unwrap it.

Instead, his ears flick once more and his gaze lands off to the right.

His ears flick again and he glances at the package before looking in that direction once more.

“The sustenance is appreciated,” he says without looking at Ripha. “But my energy stores are not waning.”

He stretches the food to someone behind me and I turn to see a little girl about five years old. Eyes too big for her face, she stares at San’ten, frozen in place as she watches him.

San’ten doesn’t move and he doesn’t take back his offer either. Hand still outstretched to the little girl, he waits patiently as she takes a step toward him and then another.

It’s almost as if he tries to make himself smaller as she comes closer, and when she is just before him, she pauses.

With a small, shaky hand, she takes the food from his grasp and looks up at him.

“Are you a demon?” she whispers.

“Ashley!” Her mother whispers harshly, hurrying forward, fear in her eyes.

But San’ten does not react.

I wonder if he knows what that word means. It’s clear the mother is hoping he does not.

As the mother reaches her child, gripping her by the shoulders and ready to hurry away, San’ten speaks.

“Do you think I am a demon?”

Everyone freezes.

The little girl looks at the food in her hands before facing San’ten again. Without hesitation, she shakes her head.

“No,” she says. “I don’t think you’re a demon.” She pauses. “I think you’re a superman.”

San’ten’s ears flick.

Smiling at him, the little girl opens the leaf and takes a bite before grinning up at her mother and running off to the rest of the group.

San’ten watches her go and just like this morning, I see a glimpse of that same vulnerability he hides so well.

I see him.

“Well,” Ripha says. “Now that you’re full, tell me about this plan for tomorrow.”

27

SAN’TEN

I pace in front of Mee’na’s quarters, waiting. She has been gone behind a set of coverings hung from the branches of a tree to cleanse herself. The female, Ree’fa, provided her with new garments.

The dark cycle is in full effect and most of this base is sleeping. How hyu’mans sleep in such dangerous conditions is a strange thing for my kind. It was hard getting used to the female’s rest cycles at Base Zero.

We assumed it was because, inherently, they felt safe within the base. But out here, the hyu’mans sleep in the open.

Either they are unaware of the danger…or they are foolish to believe they have strength in numbers.

It is calm now. Quiet. But I cannot turn off my instincts.

Chaos could erupt at any moment.

Glancing at my communicator, I check to see that it is still off and not transmitting.

At the start of the next light cycle, I will activate it, and my brethren will come. Only…I won’t be here. I plan to take Mee’na away and I know she will not protest. She doesn’t want to return to the base and I will use that to my advantage.

Before, I would have returned with her, but now…now things have changed. If I return with her now, my brethren will object to whatever is happening between us. They will believe I kept her out here to force a mating.

Especially since my ba'clan have not claimed her…but they will. In time. I am sure of it.

But until that happens, my brethren will object. Especially when they discover that Mee’na is not entirely hyu’man anymore.

I grunt at that thought. I have not considered it since those early days.

She is different now, yes, but she is more than any label I can put on her.

The coverings over the trees suddenly shift and Mee’na is revealed to me.

My sazi jerks immediately.

She has washed the lifeblood and dirt from her skin. Her hair is wet and limp on her shoulders and she is wearing clean garments.

I am happy that we are not at Base Zero. That my brethren are not here.

A thrum starts in my chest that vibrates through me.

Mee’na is radiant.

She smiles slightly as she heads toward me, holding her dirty garments in one hand. She gestures toward the coverings over the trees.

“There’s a bottle back there with water. Not a lot, everyone’s given like half a liter to use, but if you know what you’re doing you can make it work.”

I jerk my shoulders in the way I see the hyu’mans do to suggest nonchalance.

“I do not need to clean. My ba’clan have already discarded the impurities that were coating me.”

Her expressive brows lift up. She is right before me now and she tilts her head back so she can look me in the eyes.

“Really? Wow. Amazing suit. Amazing technology, that is.”

“Not technology," I murmur. "The ba’clan are alive.”

She blinks at me several times before she focuses on my chest, moving closer.

Pointing a finger at me, she touches my chest lightly.

My ba’clan ripple with pleasure and as she moves her hand away, they try to follow the digit, arching off me toward her hand.

“Alive,” she breathes. Then she squints her eyes. “A living, breathing thing?”

“As long as I am, they will be.”

She stares at my chest for a few moments and I take the opportunity to inhale deeply.

Her scent is refreshed, no longer tainted by the stench of the males that tried to force her. It makes me thrum harder, my chest vibrating so hard, my ba’clan shiver in mid-air as they stretch toward Mee’na.

“What’s happening right now?” she whispers, her eyes finally meeting mine.

My throat moves, an invisible lump there.

I do not know what to tell her.

“Something I cannot control,” I finally say.

Mee’na presses a hand against my chest and my ba’clan envelop her arm straight up to her elbow.

For a second, I fear she will be frightened, but she only looks down at them in thought.

“I’m nervous,” she whispers. “I don’t know why, but I am.” She glances up at me before returning her attention to the ba’clan on her arm. “Are you?”

Nervous? No.

But I am terrified. Afraid of where this is going and I have never feared anything since my existence began.

For this little female on this blue planet far away from my own to have awakened such dread…it is not something even the great shaman of Edooria could have predicted.

There’s whispering from some of the hyu’mans in the other tents. Clearly they watch us and I know Mee’na hears them too.

She removes her hand from my chest and my ba’clan settle back against me.

With a final glance, she enters the tent behind me, and I take my spot guarding the entrance.

For the next few minutes, I hear no sound inside the tent. And then, “Aren’t you going to come in?”

My ba’clan shiver and my ears point off the sides of my head in surprise.

She’s inviting me inside her nest once more? After what occurred before?

I do not move, wondering if I have heard right.

“San’ten,” Mee’na presses.

She does not need to call me twice.

I pull away the tent flaps and crawl inside, and there she is, waiting for me.

She’s on her back, looking down her body, waiting for me, and I pause.

It was easier to ignore her small, soft body last time. But that was before I had to remain beneath her, feeling every soft curve, the mounds on her chest pressing into me, the heat between her thighs…

Every little movement, every little sigh, every little whimper, every moan…

I remember her rest cycle in great detail. And I remember the torture of lying there, not being able to move.

My sazi is already pulsing in its sheath. So hard it hurts.

There is no doubt I will extrude again this night.

I must warn her.

But Mee’na is looking at me with eyes that are far too wise…and even though I expect it, there is no judgement there.

“You’re still halfway outside. You’re letting the cold air in,” she whispers.

I grunt, crawling the rest of the way into the tent.

The space is so small, it is almost claustrophobic. It is just big enough to fit one small hyu’man.

I pause when I’ve crawled over her. Looking down at her now, I know I must once again lift her on top of me for this to be anyway comfortable for either of us.

Wrapping my arms around her, I grip her to me as I turn. My back hits the ground as soon as she’s settled on top of me, her legs straddling my chest.

I stiffen.

I can feel the heat of her suu’ci even through the garments she wears.

Mee’na adjusts herself and my arms tighten. I cannot allow her to move.

She pauses to look up at me, her gaze searching mine.

“You’re worried it will happen again…” she murmurs, that wisdom coming through.

“Aren’t you?” She should be. I will not have as much control as I did last time.

The movement is almost unnoticeable, but she shakes her head from side to side.

“If it happens,” she licks her lips, “it’s okay.”

A thrum so strong it comes out as a rumble in my throat goes through me and my sazi surges, wanting to force its way out.

She shouldn’t say such things.

She’s wearing garments similar to the last one and I can feel her naked thighs against the ba’clan.

As she rests her head on my chest, I force myself to focus and remain still.

But Mee’na isn’t doing the same.

Her hands begin moving.

At first, it is just her fingers that play with my ba’clan, sending small jolts of pleasure across my skin.

But then those same fingers start moving against the ridges on my chest, following the grooves.

“Is my body strange to you? Weird?” She pops her head up so she can look me in the eyes. “I imagine Vullan women are tall like you guys are. Strong. Magnificent looking.”

“They were,” I manage to grunt. Her fingers are still moving across my chest and it is getting increasingly difficult to focus on her words.

“So I do look strange to you then…”

“Yes.”

Mee’na stifles a chuckle. “Trust you to keep my ego in check.”

“Hyu’mans look strange…but you are the most beautiful thing, the most beautiful female I have ever seen.” I pause, realizing I have just spoken a truth that’s a revelation to myself as well. “On Er’th and on Edooria.”

Mee’na’s smile dies as her eyes widen.

I watch as they become wet and something inside me curls up and withers.

I have made her distressed. Sad.

“Mee’na…” I begin.

“You think that?” She blinks the water away. “Even though the Gryken, your sworn enemy, even after what they did to me…” Her gaze drops and I know she’s carrying a burden she shouldn’t have to be carrying. “Even though I’ve…changed. Not entirely human anymore. Part Gryken.”

I growl, a snarl coming to my lips that startles her a little.

“You are nothing like that scum. You never are. Never will be.”

She blinks a few times some more, trying to ward away that water in her eyes, and I am immediately reminded that I know not how to comfort a female.

I stop pinning her to me and grip her naked thighs, my hands moving up her legs to cup the curve of her rear. It’s such a natural movement, I don’t consider what I am doing as I pull her closer to me, my gaze falling to her lips.

I have seen my mated brethren do this with their hyu’mans. A sort of mouth eating that the females like.

It always seems to make them happy.

I do not know how to do it, but I will try.

Before Mee’na’s eye waters can fall, I bring my mouth to hers.

The contact of her soft lips sends a shockwave through me. A little whimper of pleasure goes through her, one that has me gripping the softness of her rear, squeezing the plump flesh as she suddenly opens her mouth against mine.

Her little pink tongue swipes against my lips, the wetness of the contact making my ba’clan shiver. The sensation confusing my instincts, they threaten to rise.

I will slice Mee’na to pieces if that happens without my control.

Rising far too quickly, I startle Mee'na and she releases a little yelp of surprise as she’s suddenly sitting upright in my lap. I grip her by the waist and push her away from me, holding her back as my chest heaves.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, but I have no breath to reply.

My whole being feels like it is sizzling with energy and my gaze drops to her lips.

No wonder my brethren acquiesce to the mouth-eating.

I want more.

“Losing control,” I finally say to her, and the look in her eyes as soon as she hears the words is not one of fear. Instead, it is one of anticipation.

Her tongue moves across her bottom lip and I stifle a groan.

“My ba’clan,” I continue, “too many sensations. Not sure whether I am in danger or…” I trail off.

“You really are a virgin?”

“Virgin.” My ears perk. “This word does not translate in Vullan.”

“You really haven’t done this before,” she whispers, eyes soft and searching mine. “Felt this before…”

I shake my head in the way I see her do to communicate the negative.

“I must…I must be bare if we continue. I cannot risk the ba’clan harming you.”

She stretches her hand toward my chest, frowning a little as she stares at the ba’clan reaching for her.

“I don’t think they will harm me.”

“I will not take the chance.”

She looks at me, a small smile twisting the corners of her lips, and then she jerks her chin toward her chest. Her eye waters are gone. Whatever I was doing was working.

I must continue if only for those cursed waters not to return.

“Okay. Do it,” she says.

My ears perk once more. “You want me bare?”

When she nods again, a new thrum starts in my chest.

Slowly, my ba’clan seep away underneath my skin and I am revealed to her. Completely bare. Completely open.

And when Mee’na reaches for me, when my whole being reacts to that first touch, I know I am at her mercy.

28

MINA

He’s fucking beautiful.

His actual skin is just a shade lighter than the ba’clan. Ridges, ridges everywhere, make patterns across his body. They have a lighter underside, making him look like something carved from rock. But when I reach out and touch him, it is a soft velvet that meets my fingertips.

San’ten lowers himself slowly, taking me with him, and my core throbs as I settle on top of him once more.

It certainly doesn’t help that Ripha found me another dress to wear.

My naked thighs rub against San’ten’s soft skin and it feels like I’m rubbing against silk.

Another throb goes through me.

I don’t know what this feeling is, but it feels right…and I don’t want to stop now.

Leaning till my nose presses against his flatter one, I gulp.

His breathing is as labored as mine and he is still again, waiting for my response or my lead.

I move closer, pressing my lips against his. San’ten stiffens even more and when I flick my tongue against his upper lips, he groans and grips my thighs. It only pushes me harder against him, my core pressing into the ridges on his chest.

I bite back a groan of my own.

His reaction to my touch is turning me on more than I expected. San’ten opens his mouth to me, his tongue moving forward to meet mine, and when they connect, a moan escapes us both.

It’s so warm, his tongue, and slick. As he pushes it into my mouth, my core clenches and I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like in another place.

The thought makes me groan, and San’ten pulls me closer, his palms gripping each bun and pressing me down on him.

He groans at the contact and clicks something in his language.

“What?” I pant.

“So hot,” he groans. “Your core.”

He can feel that? My pussy throbs with appreciation and I whimper as he presses me harder against him, forcing my clit to rub against the ridges on his chest.

The gentle exploration of each other’s mouth suddenly changes into something else.

Like a crazed animal, I grip San’ten’s jaw with both hands as I pull the tip of his tongue into my mouth and suck on it.

He growls or maybe groans. I’m not sure. All I know is that there is a rumble that goes through him that has us suddenly moving.

I’m lifted off his chest to be placed gently on my back and San’ten is crouched over me. His eyes are on me as he wraps his tongue around mine, before plunging it deep into my mouth.

I whimper, unable to stop myself as a surge goes straight to my center.

I whimper again as he slides his tongue slowly back before pushing it forward again. Over and over, he slides his tongue in and out of my mouth, and my eyes glaze over as I succumb to this sweet torture.

It’s like a promise of what is to come. This rhythm, this slow drilling, my thighs clench at the potential.

But then it stops way too soon and his tongue moves over my cheek and down my neck. He pauses at the neckline of the dress and glares at the fabric.

As he lifts one hand, I only have a second to see the glint of a claw before I’m knocked out of my daze.

Grabbing his hand before he can rip my dress to shreds, I chuckle.

“I’ll take it off,” I whisper, suddenly aware that we’re in a frickin’ tent. With all the moans and groans, I’m pretty sure those resting close to us have heard us by now.

My cheek warms but I reach for the hem of the dress and pull it over my head.

Braless, my breasts bob with the movement and San’ten growls something deep and low.

His gaze moves down my body so slowly, my skin shivers, and when he meets my gaze once more, there is a sort of insanity in his eyes. Pure, raw, need…as if he wants to devour me.

It makes honey seep between my thighs, my nipples hardening immediately, and I have to clench my thighs closed as that swollen bud throbs hard.

No man has ever looked at me like that.

As if he wants to ravish me, treasure me, and fuck me within seconds of my life.

He clicks in Vullan, his gaze moving slowly over me once more. He continues speaking in his tongue and I wish I could understand what he is saying.

“Beautiful,” he suddenly translates in English.

I’ve never been called that before either. Pretty maybe. But beautiful was another level reserved for dainty women with perfect nails and eyebrows, delicate mannerisms, and hair that doesn’t fall out of place.

“Mee’na,” he groans, taking me back to the present. “You should be scared.”

I see his throat move and his claws rip into the sleeping bag at my back.

I cringe a little at that. Ripha is going to be pissed. But it’s not something I can focus on while San’ten is looking at me as if he is starving and I am a buffet.

Another throb makes me clench my core.

“Scared? Why?” I whisper.

San’ten stares at me for a few moments, and that darkness in his eyes is not revealing.

A shiver goes through me as I look at him.

He is right. I should be scared.

Right now, even without his ba’clan visible, he looks at everything like the dangerous killing machine he is.

And I am prey.

“Why should I be scared?” I repeat.

He growls low, the tips of his fangs showing, before his gaze drops back to my breasts.

There is another rip and I know the sleeping bag is definitely not going to be salvageable now.

“I want to devour you,” he finally growls. “I want to lick every inch of you till you whimper my name. I want my tongue on those mounds. I want to suck them. I want to taste them.” A shiver goes over my skin as his gaze drops to my panties. He growls at the sight of them, raising a claw once more and I have to slap my hand over my crotch.

Shuffling, I manage to pull down the panties and another excited shiver goes through me at San’ten’s growl of approval.

He inhales, his nictitating membrane closing over his eyes for more than a few seconds before it rolls back.

“I want my tongue deep in your suu’ci. I want to taste your pleasure. I want to feel your warmth clench around me.”

Fuck.

My breathing picks up with every word that he says and when he looks at me again, that crazed look has doubled in his gaze.

He looks intoxicated.

“I want to rek you,” he says. “Hard.”

“Rek?” I whimper.

“Pierce you,” he growls. “Fuck you,” he clarifies. “I want to fuck you. I want to fuck you hard.”

Shit.

I throb so hard, I know if he so much as touches me down there, I might come within seconds.

“I want to fuck you so hard, you won’t be able to do anything but feel me stretching you with my heat.” His gaze finds my breasts again and this time, his mouth opens and the tip of his tongue moves over his fangs.

“I am afraid that if I move, I will do all of that and I will break you.”

There’s another rip and I’m sure the sleeping bag is now reduced to shreds.

“And…” he continues then pauses. The muscles in his face twitch as if he’s fighting to control a sudden burst of rage and when he finally continues I understand why. “And I do not want to do anything if you are not ready. Not after what you have experienced. Not after what you have had to overcome.”

My entire body is buzzing, my chest rising and falling visibly as every cell in my skin tingles.

San’ten’s words…

He’s referring to what the Gryken did. How I was violated. How I came close to being violated again.

But he has no idea of the effect he’s having on me. Never before have I been this turned on listening to a male tell me exactly what he wants to do to me.

And never before have I been so ready to experience it.

The difference between him and the Gryken, the same difference between him and those scum we encountered at that apartment…San’ten’s not trying to take anything from me.

He says he’s about to lose control, but I know that if I say no, he will stop. I can sense that. I can feel it.

This is my choice.

I am in control of this…and never have I felt more empowered.

Reaching up, I clasp his jaw and San’ten shudders.

The sleeping bag rips some more.

I meet his heated gaze.

“I won’t break,” I whisper.

San’ten’s nostrils flare, his pupils dilating to the point his eyes look completely as if he’s a demon sent from hell.

Wild. Wanton. Untamed.

He growls as he dips his head, burying his nose into the crook of my neck as he inhales deeply.

Another growl releases from his chest as his tongue swipes out to taste my skin. My body jerks at the contact, a throb going through my core as that bud between my legs pulses hard.

I hear him snarl right before I feel the sharp points of his fangs drag lightly against the soft skin at my neck.

My thighs clench, my eyes rolling back in my head.

San’ten licks the path his fangs took before he trails them down my collarbone. When he reaches my breasts he pauses, another low rumble going through him as he presses his nose to my skin and inhales hard.

He groans as my scent fills his nostrils and the next thing I feel is the warm wet pressure of his tongue as it runs over my nipple.

The contact makes my back arch, my breast pressing right into his mouth as a moan leaves my throat.

San’ten thrums as his tongue begins to swirl around my nipple, his song vibrating between us, warming us both. He grips the other breast, kneading it with one hand as he suckles the other, and then he switches sides.

My whole body feels like it is on fire.

With each swipe of his tongue, I jerk, until I’m trembling beneath him, nothing leaving my throat except soft whimpers.

“San’ten,” I whisper his name.

“Yes,” he growls, the sound so deep and sexy, as if he owns me, that I clench hard.

I can tell he doesn’t want to leave my nipples with how reluctantly he pulls away from them but he’s soon preoccupied with something else—the taste of my midsection as he sucks his way down past my navel to stop right above the mound between my thighs.

There, he freezes.

I’m about to try closing my legs when San’ten suddenly grips my thighs. He lifts them, pinning them against my chest.

I am open to him completely.

It causes a low growl to start in his chest, one that’s muffled as he suddenly dips his entire face into my mound.

I feel the air tickle that bud at the center as he inhales deep once more.

My eyes widen as another growl escapes him as he buries his face deeper, inhaling some more.

A long sentence in Vullan clicks across his tongue, and though I cannot understand a word he says, I’m turned on past the point of no return when he moans into my wetness.

The first swipe of his tongue catches me by surprise and my thighs jerk against him.

San’ten pins my legs harder against my chest as his mouth closes over my mound. He sucks me into his mouth, his tongue reaching between the folds and finding that sensitive bud.

I jerk, unable to control myself, and now I am the one who is clawing at the sleeping bag beneath me.

My eyes roll back. I’m so fucking close.

And San’ten’s tongue, that long, thick tongue, is everywhere. Every part of my cunt is being touched at once.

I don’t think I can take any more when he suddenly slows down and his head dips lower.

It starts slow, almost as if testing, as the tip of his tongue rubs against my entrance.

“San’ten,” I gasp.

“Yes…” he answers. “Say it again.”

“San’ten,” I pant.

In one smooth movement, his tongue slides deep inside me, a low moan leaving him as his arms, still holding down my thighs, tremble.

The thought he’s enjoying this as much as I am pushes me over the edge. I have to bury my face into the sleeping bag, clamping a hand over my lips as I scream in ecstasy.

And as I climb my peak, San’ten fucks me with his tongue. He groans, burying his tongue deep, the wet sucking sounds reaching my ears as he swallows my juices. And when he covers me with his mouth once more, his tongue still deep inside me, moving at a slow steady pace, I rise to a second peak that attaches to the first one like a link on a train.

San’ten laps at me, as he slowly removes his tongue from my warmth. He swipes it across my folds, taking the rest of my juices into his mouth and when his gaze finally meets mine, the utter possession in his eyes makes me feel weak all over again.

“You’re mine, Mee’na,” is all he says, his voice so deep and low that the words vibrate into my soul.

His?

I’ve never belonged to anyone before.

No man has ever claimed me with such surety or such authority—as if it is set in stone.

The word “mate” comes ringing back in my mind and I realize I’m not afraid of it.

My legs are trembling as San’ten rises over me and I bite my bottom lip, taking it into my mouth.

I’m more than ready for what he has in store, and my gaze falls to that bulge between his thighs.

But he doesn’t extrude.

I look up at him, confused.

“Not this dark cycle,” he says low. “Not here.”

Surprise makes words slow to come to my mouth.

He doesn’t want to be relieved?

As San’ten releases my thighs, he slips an arm across my back and slowly flips me around so I am on top of him.

His arms wrap around me, pulling me close.

“Rest,” he says.

“But—”

“Not this dark cycle.” He buries his nose into my hair and inhales deeply. “I can wait.”

As his arms tighten around me, shifting me into a comfortable position, I rest my head and stare into the darkness.

After this, I know I can’t go back to the way it was before.

I know I’ve been ruined.

Truly ruined.

29

MINA

My entire body is tingling when I wake and in my drowsiness, I don’t immediately recall where I am.

What I do recall is that I had the craziest, wildest dream where my surly travel companion and I crossed a border—an action we can never undo.

I feel relaxed, as if my muscles have been stretched, and I moan and try to turn over in my sleep.

Warm, strong hands tighten across my back, keeping me in place, and my eyes fly open.

San’ten.

Reality hits me like a brick.

It wasn’t a dream. Last night…last night happened.

My head snaps up immediately and I meet his waiting gaze.

Those dark eyes are just as possessive and all-consuming as the night before.

Beneath me, something pulses and throbs, prompting me to look down.

I’ve shuffled in my sleep, moving downward on his chest till I’ve straddled him pelvis to pelvis, that large bulge between his thighs nestled right under the juncture of mine.

Oh shit.

Immediately, heat fills my core.

San’ten growls.

“Good dawn,” he says in that sexy deep voice of his.

“Good morning.” I have to stop myself from moving because even the slightest movement will cause my core to rub against his.

Beneath my folds, I feel him throb.

“I, uh, seem to have moved in my sleep.” My cheeks warm as my gaze falls to his lips and everything he did to me last night comes rushing back.

“Yes…you did.” His gaze moves down my skin and my body heats.

I’m still naked and the early morning air isn’t warm. Yet, I could probably walk naked outside as my entire body is heating like a furnace.

Somebody walks close to the tent, close enough for me to hear their boots crushing the twigs underfoot.

It jerks me back to reality.

Today is the day. There are people outside this tent waiting for us. People depending on us.

Fighting the heat between my thighs, I glance around for my clothes.

“I need to get dressed. After preparations yesterday, everyone should be ready for you to notify Base Zero. I assume they’ll come immediately. We can’t be here when they arrive.”

San’ten grunts and I glance up at him.

“I did not intend to be here when they arrived.”

I stare at him for a few moments, my heart growing warm. He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t leaving me.

“So you’re okay with leaving the communicator with Ripha?”

He grunts again. “No.”

“What?”

“Humans break things. But that female’s hands seem capable enough.”

I scoff at him. “I don’t break things.”

His ears flick, but he doesn’t answer.

Instead, he stiffens and his ba’clan suddenly appear over his skin, coating him completely.

A low snarl begins in his throat and soon his fangs are visible. All along his shoulders, his ba’clan spike into dangerous blades.

The sudden change startles me. “San’ten?”

But he isn’t focusing on me. He’s looking at me, but his gaze is spaced out, as if he’s not seeing me at all.

He’s rising before I can call his name again.

“Get dressed,” he says.

In one movement, he lifts me from his lap and sets me down in the space he just vacated.

Fear shoots down my spine and I grab the dress, slipping it over my shoulders, and push my feet into my shoes.

“San’ten, what’s happening?”

But he’s already exiting the tent.

“San’ten!”

He’s gone. As if he wasn’t even here. The only indication that he was in this tent is the ripped sleeping bag beneath me.

By the time I climb into my panties and rush out of the tent, San’ten is nowhere to be seen.

Everything looks okay in the camp. People are milling about, eating breakfast, children are playing…

I spin in a circle, my eyes wide as I try to spot the alien that shouldn’t be hard to spot in a group like this. But he’s nowhere.

“You ok?” José walks toward me. “There’s some breakfast over there if you want some.”

I spin to face him. “Have you seen San’ten?”

José frowns slightly, noting the rising panic in my eyes. “Yea…he went that way.” He points to the nearest tree. “Climbed it so fast I wouldn’t believe if I didn’t see it for myself.”

Moving to the base of the tree, I look up. San’ten isn’t there.

“Everything okay?” José asks. “He hasn’t changed his mind, has he? About taking us to that base?”

Obvious worry creeps into his tone and another male that was walking past overhears him.

“What? They’re changing their mind?”

“I knew this was too good to be true,” someone else says.

Annoyed, I turn to face them. “Look, no one is changing their mind about anything. You’re all going to Base Zero like we promised.”

“So where’s your friend gone?”

“I wish I knew,” I murmur. Turning back to the tree, I frown at it.

I’m about to turn away and head into the forest myself when a dark blur manifests above us to land on the very tree I’m standing below.

San’ten.

But not the San’ten I spent a night of ecstasy with. San’ten the Surly.

His blades are all extended and so are his fangs.

His gaze flicks over the humans around me who are gathering into a group.

Murmurs go through the crowd.

“San’ten?”

His gaze flicks to me and I know that mask he wears is back in place.

Something is wrong.

He only says one word. One word that sends fear shooting through all of us. One word that rips away the innocence and joy of the morning to replace it with dread.

“Gryken.”

I freeze, not wanting to breathe, hoping he will say more and that the single word isn’t a warning.

But when he doesn’t continue, I know our worst fear is upon us.

Someone bursts into tears and some of the men in the group begin backing away toward their families.

But we can’t run. There is nowhere to run. They will find us…and a part of me wonders if I am the reason they found us now.

“How many?” I ask.

“Three,” San’ten replies. “Scouting.”

His gaze flicks over the group of humans behind me.

“Can we take three?” Ripha is suddenly by my side. Gripped firmly in her hands is an axe.

“Even if you do, there is a legion behind them.”

My heart drops to my toes.

Fuck.

A horde.

A horde is coming this way.

The earth beneath me shakes as San’ten leaps from the tree to land smoothly in front of me.

His gaze holds mine as he lifts his arm, his ba’clan parting to reveal his communicator.

He presses something on it and a strange writing I cannot read flashes across the screen.

“Contact,” he says, his eyes still on mine.

As he tries to initiate a connection, I cannot move.

A horde is coming this way. I take it back. We can run. We can try to get away.

But as I glance away from San’ten to the people all waiting, holding their breaths, I know it isn’t possible.

Children grip the legs of their mothers, some burying their faces into their mother’s thighs.

They’re so innocent. They shouldn’t have to live with this fear.

And there’s no way they’d be able to outrun a horde of Gryken.

An angry click sounds from the device and I realize it’s the Vullan tongue.

San’ten clicks back, his tone even.

“San’ten! Where the fuck are you?! Did you find Mina?” It’s Sam and she sounds pissed.

I turn back to face San’ten and his ears flick as he watches me.

“Sam…” My throat feels strained and I have to clear it before I try speaking again. “Sam, I’m here. I’m fine.”

“Oh thank God. We were worried San’ten—”

“San’ten wouldn’t harm me,” I cut her off. “Listen, we need your help. There’s something important we need you to do.”

She must pick up on the seriousness in my tone because hers suddenly changes to one of concern.

“What? What is it?”

“We’ve located a group of survivors. They need your help to get back to the base.”

“Whoa! That’s…that’s great news. How many? We can get a shuttle to your location in a few hours.”

“We don’t have a few hours.”

“What?”

“A horde of Gryken are heading straight toward us.”

“Oh shit.”

“How long till they reach your location?”

I look up at San’ten.

“The scouts…” His ears flick. “Possibly ten minutes. They will have already scented us.”

I gulp.

“Fuck!” Sam curses.

I hear whimpers behind me, murmurs of fear.

“The horde…” San’ten continues. “Thirty.”

“Half an hour? We have half an hour to extract you?!” Sam’s shouting and then her voice lowers and it sounds like she’s giving orders to someone else.

“Half an hour,” I whisper. We have to move.

Turning to the group, I try not to reveal that the same fear in their eyes is crawling down my spine.

“They’re coming.” I meet the gaze of the men closest to me. José trembles but there’s a baseball bat in his hands that wasn’t there before.

As I glance around the group, I note that most of the others have also taken up arms, whatever they can find.

There are a few guns, but not nearly enough.

These people are ready to fight.

“We only have ten minutes to get the hell out of dodge.” I meet their gazes, my eyes going hard. “Leave everything behind and run. Run like there’s a demon at your back. Don’t look behind. Don’t stop. Keep running until you see a black shuttle. Then you’ll know you’re saved.”

“But we can’t leave everything behind. What about all our supplies? What if your shuttle doesn’t come? If these things are on foot, we can fight them, can’t we? We can at least try.” Everyone begins talking at once and I want to scream at them to shut up and just listen. We don’t have time to discuss this.

“No!” I shout. “You cannot fight them. And even if you try, you will not win.” My gaze bores into theirs. “I have met them up close. I have seen what they are. This is not the time to be a hero.”

I turn to Ripha and her gaze is knowing. She knows what I say is true. The best option is to run.

She jerks her chin once, letting me know she agrees. When we both glance at San’ten, he suddenly sniffs and snarls, his ba’clan standing even taller, the blades glinting in the light.

“Five minutes,” he says.

“Shit.” I’m not the only that curses.

“Sam,” I say toward the communicator. “You heard that, right?”

“Roger,” she replies.

“You gotta get a shuttle out here right now. We don’t have time.”

There’s a pause that feels like minutes, and I can almost feel the air change around us as the Gryken approach.

“Fi’rox and Deja are the closest to you. They’re diverting to your location now. They’re coming to get you.”

Only…I won’t be here when they come. I glance up at San’ten and nod and he detaches the communicator from his wrist, stretching it toward Ripha.

She takes it and nods before pressing a piece of paper into San’ten’s hand.

I don’t ask what it is.

There is no time.

“Let’s move, people!” Ripha suddenly shouts. “Which way?”

San’ten turns and points in a direction. “Head that way. Be swift.”

With one final glance toward me, our eyes lock, and I give Ripha a small smile.

It was nice knowing her.

Only a few people move, following Ripha and Ambrose, and San’ten growls.

His shoulders bunch up and he unleashes the rest of his blades.

“Go!” he roars.

That gets the rest of the group moving.

Most drop their bags and begin running after Ripha and Ambrose.

Those who have children lift them and run. The group hurries through the trees, fear and tears visible on most of their faces as they glance back at the camp and everything they own.

But they press on.

Only a few stragglers are left at the tail of the group when the air stills completely.

Every hair on my back stands on end and I know without a doubt that we are no longer alone.

Someone looks behind them and screams, their face going white. They stumble, their eyes glued to the horror behind me, before they pick themselves up and continue running.

San’ten’s snarling so much all his teeth are bared as he focuses on whatever's behind my back.

Time slows as I turn and the world stops.

It doesn’t enter the camp with any haste. Moving slowly, its long legs looking like those of a gigantic spider poke into the ground as it exits the thickness of the trees around us.

Its gray pallor makes it look sickly, but there is no weakness in those eyes.

I can’t stop the shiver that goes through me as I look at the Gryken that’s now before us. It stares at us with pupilless eyes that make me uncertain whether it is focusing on me or San’ten.

In my peripheral vision to my right, I see movement. Another Gryken. And through the corner of my eye to my left, there is movement as well.

Three.

Three scouts.

I swallow hard, taking a step back.

My blaster is in the tent. I need to get it.

I take another step backward and San’ten’s arm closes around my waist. He lifts me so easily, I’m off the ground and placed behind him before I can find the words to protest.

“You scum,” he spits, his total focus on the Gryken before us.

They stare each other down, the air crackling with tension between them.

“You know nothing,” he growls as he stares at his foe.

I blink at San’ten’s back.

He’s talking to it, but I cannot hear what it says.

My eyes widen. The head shield. He needs the head shield.

Touching the little disk at my neck, I deactivate it.

Immediately, a pain I never expect rings in my ears, piercing my brain.

It’s like someone is sticking the sharp end of an ice-cold metal spike through my ears and into my brain.

I scream, or maybe my mouth simply opens in a silent scream, I don’t know. All I know is that the world around me is silent and all I can feel is the pain.

I’m dimly aware that San’ten has turned and is crouching before me, shouting my name, but still, all I can feel is the pain.

And it feels like it’s coming from a certain location.

I turn my head slowly, my eyes coming in contact with the Gryken to my right.

Him.

It’s coming from him.

I fight the pain and scream at the beast to stop when San’ten suddenly rises.

Rage emanates off him like a black smoke that swirls around his spikes, and it isn’t until he moves that I realize it isn’t smoke…it’s his ba’clan.

Small particles of ba’clan float in mid-air around him like a dark, swirling cloud and when he leaps from the ground, launching himself into the air toward the Gryken that’s mind-blasting me, he looks like the angel of death.

San’ten’s roar echoes in the space as a blade appears on his arm, one so long it looks like a samurai sword.

The pain suddenly ceases in my mind, stopping as quickly and abruptly as it had begun, and the Gryken to my right screeches, all the teeth under its bulbous head fully displayed as it launches itself into the air to meet San’ten.

Mid-air, they look like a night terror, and my breath hitches as they collide. It’s a mixture of the Gryken’s legs and black smoke as they tumble to the ground.

“San’ten!” I scream taking a step in his direction. But movement to my left catches my attention. One of the others is moving toward me and my gaze fastens on it.

“You,” it says in my mind.

Rage fills me immediately.

“You,” I say through gritted teeth.

I don’t dare take my eyes away from the Gryken as it walks steadily toward me. Through the corner of my eye, I can see San’ten is still fighting, and that the third Gryken still hasn’t moved.

The calmness of these killers…it chills me to my bones.

The confidence. The leisurely way it approaches me. It all tells me one thing.

They aren’t threatened by us. This is a fight they are sure they’re going to win.

I grit my teeth harder, almost cracking them, and keep my eyes on the monster as it slowly approaches.

I’d rather die on a pike than go down without a fight, even if this is a battle we will most likely lose.

Three against two. No, three against one. San’ten’s equipped to kill these things if he gets his head shield back.

I’m the liability here. The vulnerable one.

Fuck that.

Not anymore. I refuse to be a victim of these pieces of shit.

Last night, I got my power back. San’ten made sure of that.

My spine stiffens as I glance toward the tent. I know the blasters are there. I just need to get inside and grab one.

“The little one. The one who birthed one of us and survived.”

My nostrils flare as the Gryken addresses me. There is something chilling about the fact it can speak to me without using its mouth.

Something that makes it seem all powerful…because it’s not.

I know for a fact these beasts can be killed and as San’ten roars again behind me, I promise myself one thing.

We are walking away from this alive.

“You are the key,” the Gryken continues.

Yes, keep talking, bitch.

I glance at the tent once more, taking a sideways step toward it.

“The queen we have been searching across galaxies for…”

I swallow hard, keeping my eyes on the thing as I back further toward the tent. Its words send terror down my spine and I fight not to focus on them.

Queen?

Fuck that.

As the back of my leg hits the tent flap, San’ten lets out a roar that sounds filled with pain. My gaze darts his way to find his arm is in the mouth of the Gryken he’s fighting, its razor sharp rows of teeth sinking past his ba’clan.

It’s now or never.

My shoes skid in the dirt as I spin and dive into the tent. My body collides with the shredded sleeping bag and something hard.

San’ten’s blaster.

The other one is in here somewhere but there’s no time to search for it.

I grip San’ten’s weapon, my heart thundering in my chest.

It’s heavier than it looks but the thing is longer than my arm. Worse, I have no idea how to use it.

I can hear twigs cracking as the Gryken approaches the tent and my fingers tremble as I move them quickly over the weapon, trying to find a trigger or something.

“The trigger, where’s the fucking trigger!” My whispers are harsh and hurried, telling the fear I’m trying so hard to hide.

As a shadow appears in front of the tent, I freeze. The Gryken is standing right there. I’m trapped.

“You have been chosen,” it says.

My voice trembles. “Why me?”

The Gryken is standing so still in front of the tent that its stillness is sending another sort of fear through me.

This sort of creepy confidence is only seen in movies about serial killers.

Murderers.

Heartless beings.

“You birthed one of us,” is all it answers. “And through that, you have been forever changed. You are one of ours now. You are host.”

No. Never.

All I need is a trigger and I would blast this piece of shit to smithereens. I imagine doing just that and at the same time, I feel the weapon transform in my hands.

Where there wasn’t before, a trigger has formed under my finger.

Surprise fills me, but not enough to pull me from the horror of this situation.

The Gryken moves, poking a sharp claw into the tent and ripping it slowly. I watch the claw move through the flimsy material of the tent as it rips the only thing separating me and the beast.

“Mina!” San’ten roars.

But he doesn’t need to rescue me. Not this time.

The ripped tent blows in the wind, revealing the Gryken before me.

“Birther…” it says.

Rage once again fills me.

“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth, raising the weapon and resting it on my shoulder as I stare into the eyes of the worst thing to have ever happened to mankind. “But I didn’t birth your kin. I ripped it from within me and sent it where it belongs.” A little white lie, but my anger doesn’t care.

The Gryken stares at me as if not noticing the weapon I’m holding.

“Hell.” I say. “The same place you’re going.”

I’ve never been religious, but as I pull that trigger and I’m thrown back by the power of the blast, the white light that comes from the muzzle looks like something heavenly and I hope there’s a hell and that this evil, evil thing is going straight there. I land on my back hard and the gun is thrown from my shoulder. I’m only able to scramble up, supporting myself on my elbows as I look at the Gryken I’ve shot.

“Mina!” I hear San’ten shout again, but my gaze is transfixed. The blast hit the Gryken in the center of its head, burning a hole the size of a coconut right through it.

I’m left frozen as it still stands staring at me and my confidence wanes somewhat. But its gaze is lifeless. Those dark eyes have no light, and as it falls in a heap in front of the tent, my view is replaced by the Gryken still standing at the edge of the camp.

San’ten is suddenly before me, his ba’clan covered in what can only be brain matter.

His eyes are wild as he reaches for me.

I’m so happy to see him, I momentarily forget the Gryken watching us, and as I reach for San’ten, he suddenly falls to his knees.

For the second time since knowing this alien, I see something in his eyes that I don’t usually see.

Vulnerability.

Only, this time, it’s not alone. Laced right through it is fear. And as San’ten roars, shaking his head, he falls on all fours. Burying his claws into the earth as if he’s feeling indescribable pain, he roars.

And then he says something I thought he’d say the first time he found me in this wilderness. Only now, it brings an implication that I don’t want to face.

“Mina.” His eyes meet mine and it’s strange, because I can see him changing. I can see the San’ten I know slowly seeping from his gaze. “Run.”

I reach toward him and he makes a strange sound in his throat, his body seizing as he flings himself backward, his spine bending unnaturally as he meets the gaze of the Gryken still by the tree line.

“Run, Mina.”

No.

“Run…or I will kill you.”

30

MINA

“Run!”

It’s so angry, that roar. As if San’ten is angry at me…and I realize in that moment, that even when he thought I was a traitor, he has never directed such rage toward me.

And I know why.

It’s because I’m still here.

I’m not running.

Not this time.

My gaze flicks to the Gryken still standing, pure hatred burning through my pupils. I know it’s doing something to San’ten. I know it’s in his head, just like that other one that had attacked me with its mind.

“Let him go. It’s me you want.”

San’ten roars again and I fight not to look his way. Still, through the corner of my eyes, I can see his ba’clan rolling like a weird parasitic cloud that’s about to swallow him whole.

I’ve never seen them act like that before.

“Let him go!”

The Gryken stares at me, its eyes boring through mine, and the only indication I get that it is listening to me is the slight tilt of its head.

This Gryken is different from the others. Almost as if it is more intelligent, and that makes my spine go cold.

I thought they were all clones. Drones.

I’m obviously wrong.

With one hand and my eyes still on the Gryken, I feel for the blaster that I was just holding.

San’ten’s groans are so heart-wrenching. It sounds like someone has poured hot lava onto his skin and he’s burning alive. The sounds grab and pull at my heart, bringing tears to my eyes that I refuse to let fall in front of this beast.

“Release him!”

The Gryken stares me down. “Why?” it suddenly asks. “You might be the queen we have searched for…but you are no hive-master.”

Its eyes narrow somewhat, just as my fingers close over the muzzle of the blaster. My heart thunders in my chest as I stare at the creature watching me.

“But I am host,” I say, using the other Gryken’s words.

Those eyes that narrow at me suddenly even out again and when the Gryken says nothing, I know it is thinking.

It doesn’t look at San’ten, but San’ten’s sudden roar of pain lets me know the fight isn’t over.

I need to give him his head shield.

Gripping the blaster, I pull it toward me as I begin climbing out of the tent.

It is only then that I realize San’ten isn’t roaring in pain anymore. It is suddenly silent. Far too silent.

I lift my head slowly, needing but not wanting to see why that is, and pure horror fills me as my gaze lands on my alien.

San’ten is rising slowly, his body moving unnaturally, like a puppet controlled by a puppet master. When he’s standing, he slowly lifts his head and his gaze lands on me.

Cold, cold eyes. Lifeless eyes. Not San’ten’s eyes. Colder than they usually are. Not filled with rage. Not filled with anger. Not filled with fire. Empty. So, so empty.

This is not San’ten.

“Kill him…or he will kill you.”

I almost hear the Gryken’s laughter in my head and it is suddenly clear to me the game that it is playing.

It wants me to kill San’ten…because if I don’t…it is clear San’ten will kill me.

A wayward tear slides down my cheek.

The beast is forcing my hand. “San’ten?” I whisper, but there is no recognition in his eyes. All around him, his ba’clan are still roiling as if they are trying to get off his body but at the same time, don’t want to leave.

“San’ten.” I try again. “I know you’re in there somewhere. This isn’t you.”

San’ten inhales, those cold eyes on me as he snarls, fangs baring.

It is now that I feel what those humans felt when he almost killed them in that forest.

He’s a midnight-black killing machine.

As he takes a step toward me, he suddenly stops, and it’s like his muscles are fighting each other. Some pulling back, others trying to force him to move.

My heart jerks.

He’s still in there.

“Kill him!” the Gryken orders.

A blade appears on San’ten’s arm. One as long as the one he no doubt used to slice the other Gryken to bits.

There’s a pain in my chest as I look at it, knowing that it’s meant for me. But what’s absent is the fear, the terror I’m supposed to be feeling.

I know what I have to do. I can’t let San’ten attack me. I will die.

I grip the blaster and lift it onto my shoulder once more.

“Yesss…” the Gryken says.

I grip the trigger. This shot will be hard. I don’t have long-range weapons practice. Most of my combat experience involved using handguns and my target isn’t close enough for a clear hit.

Still, I have to try.

But as San’ten takes another step toward me, something remarkable happens.

That rolling black cloud of ba’clan suddenly shoot off him like an arrow that’s heading right toward me.

It moves so fast, I don’t have any time to dodge. Only the thought that I didn’t expect this sort of attack and that I’m dead registers in my mind.

I lift my right arm to shield myself but when the ba’clan make contact, I feel nothing.

Is this what death feels like? Warmth?

No. I’ve died before.

It wasn’t like this.

It’s a cold, dark void.

This…this feeling is like warmth cloaking my entire being.

I lower my arm and San’ten is still standing, a singular blade on his arm and that dark cloud that was cloaking him no longer there.

He is…he is bare. His ba’clan are gone. For a moment, I don’t understand, until I feel a pulse go right through me. My gaze falls to myself and what I see has time stopping for a few seconds.

Ba’clan…all over me. Under my clothing, the ba’clan have coated me entirely like a second skin. Protecting me.

They’re protecting me from danger.

I feel a pulse at the thought, and my eyes widen.

It’s a strangely comforting feeling, the pulse, and it fills me with strength.

As San’ten roars and takes another struggling step toward me, I lift the weapon once more and point it in his direction.

Finger on the trigger, I stare at him—the alien who has turned my world over in such a short time.

Pain flashes in his eyes before disappearing into that cold abyss that is eating him from the inside and my heart wrenches.

"Do it," San'ten struggles out. "Do it, Mina."

My heart aches, hearing those words, but I know what I’m about to do will put an end to this. As my finger lowers on the trigger, I turn at the last second, pointing the weapon in the direction of the Gryken.

The ba’clan over my face pulse and it’s as if my vision is amplified. In the two seconds it takes for me to turn and press that trigger, I see the Gryken clearly. I see the point I’m going to shoot and I take aim.

I cannot miss.

I will not miss.

Time slows down as the Gryken screeches. But it is too late. I’ve already pulled the trigger.

The blast sends me flying backward once more, but when the Gryken’s scream promptly cuts off, I know I did it.

I’m scrambling upright in the next second.

“San’ten!” I scream.

I take only a moment to glance in the direction of the Gryken. All I see are its legs lying limp on the ground.

“San’ten!”

He’s fallen to his knees once more, his arms hanging at his sides. I’m in front of him as quickly as I could reach, my palms gripping his jaw.

“San’ten! Wake up!” I shake him, but his lids are low, and he’s unresponsive. “San’ten!”

Tears run freely down my cheeks.

I expected him to come back, but what if he’s gone? What if killing that thing killed him, too? I have no idea how these mind-fuckers work. I don’t know if the mind-link has consequences.

I grip my alien’s face, placing my forehead against his. His ba’clan pulse against my skin and I wonder if they can help him.

Gulping, I try talking to them like San’ten taught me to.

“You have to help him. Only you know how.” But all I get is another pulse. They don’t leave my skin to return to him.

All he has is that singular arm where his blade was that still has ba’clan clinging to it. Surely, he needs them all. Surely, since they need him to survive, he also needs them in order to be alright.

“Help him!”

But all I get is another pulse.

I blink to clear my blurry gaze as I rub my nose against his. Tearing the small patch from my neck, I press the head shield generator onto his neck and activate it.

I stare at him for a few more seconds, but my heart falls as nothing happens.

“You have to come back to me.” I choke on a sob. “You can’t leave. Not yet. I…I’ve only just gotten to know you. I’m not ready for you to leave yet.” A lump forms in my throat. “I’m not ready for you to leave…ever.”

He still doesn’t respond. In fact, he is so completely still, it doesn’t look like he’s even breathing. And when his eyes close completely, my heart wrings and another sob tears right through me.

I want to ugly cry and I allow myself to let out a wail.

This isn’t fair.

Throwing my arms around San’ten, I grip on to him, not wanting to let go.

I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t ready. I’m not.

I’m not ready to lose him.

“Mina?” A low rumble reaches my ears, one enough to make me freeze, and when strong arms surround me, pulling me against a hard chest, another sob chokes from me.

I can’t even answer him. All I can do is bury my face into his neck and sob.

He’s here. He’s not gone.

“Mina,” he rumbles, gripping me to him. His arms circle my butt, lifting me so I’m straddling his thighs.

“Mina,” he says my name again.

“You’re alright,” I say into his neck. My tears are now running down his skin, but I keep my face plastered there, my arms wrapped tight around him. I don’t want to let him go.

“Are you hurt?” he asks. “Did I…”

There’s pain in his voice and he attempts to push me away from him, but I hang on, not allowing him to.

“Mina, did I hurt you?” he asks, the pain making this strong alien’s voice crack. “Let me see.”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me.”

San’ten grips me harder, so hard, it’s like he’s trying to absorb me with his body. He inhales deep, a shudder going through him.

“I almost did…” he says. “I could have.” Then he growls. “You didn’t run. I told you to run.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you.”

“You should have!” It’s strange. He’s growling at me but his actions—the way he’s holding me, firm but gentle enough that I don’t feel squished—his actions relay that he’s not angry at me at all. “You should have left me. I was no longer myself. I could have—”

“But you didn’t.” I cut him off. “I saw you fighting whatever that beast was doing to you. I saw it break you, but even broken, you still fought.”

You fought for me.

I gulp at that thought.

San’ten eases back a little so he’s looking at me, but he’s looking right through me. I can tell he’s viewing the horror of what could have happened.

“You should have run. As fast as you could. You should have followed the other humans. You should have gone to the shuttle,” he says. “If I had…if I had done to you what my womb-mate did to his female…his young…”

San’ten had a brother. A family. Relatives. He was an uncle.

It’s a part of his past that I didn’t even consider. A part of him I want to know more about.

He’s lost so much, too.

I know that pain. It haunts me every day.

“If I had harmed you…”

“But you didn’t,” I stress. “That’s all that matters.”

San’ten’s nostrils flare and I can tell that line of argument isn’t going to convince him.

“All that matters is your safety.” He finally focuses on me and I’m held by the intensity of his gaze. “All that matters is that you live.”

I can’t help but swallow hard at his words. When did he move from hating me to…caring for me so much?

As I try to form a response, the silence in the air around us suddenly breaks and it takes me a moment to figure out just what has caused the sudden disturbance.

There’s a sound in the air, a low hum that’s getting increasingly louder.

“Is that…”

“The shuttle. Yes.”

The shuttle.

My shoulders sag, a breath releasing from my lungs that I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

Sam came through. The people in Camp Haven will be rescued.

“They’ll find them, right?”

San’ten nods slightly. “Ripha has my communicator. They will find them.”

I nod, closing my eyes briefly as relief floods through me.

But that peace doesn’t last for long. I don’t get to feel good about the fact that those men, women, and children are going somewhere safe. That the horrors of this invasion will no longer be right in front of them daily. I don’t get to feel good because somewhere in the forest, a loud screech cuts through that low hum of hope.

I stiffen in San’ten’s arms. That sound can only mean one thing.

Gryken.

The horde.

The ba’clan coating me bristle, and I get the first feel of what it is like living in San’ten’s skin.

The ba’clan feel like a wave that vibrates and I watch as small spikes appear and disappear along my arms.

San’ten stares at me as if he finally sees me now, and there is wonder in his eyes. His ba’clan pulse against me once more as San’ten eases back, holding away from him.

Another screech echoes in the forest and a cold finger of ice pierces my spine. The ba’clan’s spikes grow larger as if reacting to my fear.

I blink to focus.

They’re coming, the Gryken.

“We must move,” San’ten begins rising with me still in his arms. “I have to get you to safety.”

Another chill goes through me and I stiffen.

The shuttle. He means the shuttle.

I begin shaking my head immediately.

“I’m not going to the shuttle. I haven’t come all this way to give up. There are people depending on me…on us. I can’t…I can’t go back. Not till I’ve tried. Not till I finish this.”

“I don’t care about those beings—the hyu’man or the Vullan,” San’ten suddenly growls, he’s standing now and he glances about the camp. “I almost destroyed my entire world.” He grips me tight and I have to fasten my legs around his waist because he’s clearly not going to set me down. “I almost destroyed you. Right now, Mina. You are the only thing I care about.”

My heart takes this moment to wring in my chest.

“I’m not taking you to the shuttle,” he says, finality in his tone.

My eyes widen at that. I was ready to put up a fight…but there’s nothing to fight about?

There’s another screech and I know that time is definitely running out. If we’re going to run, we have to do so now.

“I heard what that scum said to you. While it was in my mind, taking away my control, it was speaking to you and I heard what it said.” He focuses on me and again the intensity in his gaze has me silent. “It called you ‘queen’.”

“Yes. But I don’t know what that means.”

“It means you are more important to them than we realized. It means,” he stands tall and I feel his muscles ripple, “we have to finish this, or they will not stop coming for you.” San’ten leans till his face is before mine, so close, I could kiss him. “I cannot have that.” His voice gets low, so low, it is a rumble that vibrates right through me. “I have laid claim, Mina. I will not let them have you. You are mine.”

My throat tightens. My heart does a thundering beat, and my legs go weak.

I don’t get to respond to his words. Words that I never knew I wanted to hear till they left his mouth.

San’ten grips me to him, both arms grasping my ass, fastening me firmly to him as he takes off.

The only thing he pauses to grab is his blaster and then the foliage around us becomes a blur, and behind us, the sound of a thousand feet piercing the earth lies in our wake.

31

MINA

We’re moving fast. Fast enough for the wind to press against my face, making it mildly difficult to breathe.

I cling to San’ten, my eyes at our back. The worst thing I can see is that horde of Gryken chasing after us and as we move away from the camp, the hum of the shuttle somewhere in the forest growing dimmer and dimmer, the sound of the screeching Gryken slowly fading, I keep looking in the direction we have come from. I don’t stop, my heart beating with wild beats as I keep watch.

And San’ten doesn’t slow down.

“Do you think they’re following us?”

“Yes,” is all he says, the one word sending a chill through me.

“What about the shuttle?”

“My brethren can handle themselves…but it is not the shuttle the Gryken want. They want you.” He grips me even tighter. “And they will keep coming.”

San’ten dodges low branches and trees in our path with the efficiency of a rally driver’s precision when going at incredible speeds.

I don’t know how he manages it but I am grateful that he is carrying me. There is no way we could outrun them if I was on foot, regardless of the fact that I can move faster now.

And as he said, they’ll keep coming.

Coming for me.

“The shield was working then…” I murmur.

“Yes,” he says, slowing down. “You should have it back.”

I shake my head, my hair brushing against the side of his face.

“That Gryken got to you only because you were selfless enough to lend me your head shield in the first place.”

“And I would do it again.” He turns his head to look directly at me, his gaze unfaltering. He slows down and the definition of the forest around us sharpens. “You need it. They will find you without it.”

“And they might kill you without it.”

“I cannot let you be compromised.” San’ten stops running completely and so suddenly that I feel dizzy for a few seconds.

“And I cannot let you die," I counter.

He moves over to a tree with a wide trunk and presses my back against it. His chest heaves as he dips his forehead to mine and I instinctively lift my hands to cup his jaw.

His velvety skin is so soft, I trace the ridges that follow chevrons down his face.

“They can’t have you. I cannot lose…” He stops short, his throat moving as his eyes close, as if he’s trying to fight the panicked beats of his heart. For I can feel it in his chest. Each powerful thump beats through those muscles as if reaching out to me.

I feel like he’s going to say he cannot lose me and my own heart thumps hard in my chest.

“They cannot have you,” he repeats. “You have become far too important to me.”

When he opens his eyes, there’s that possession I saw the night before when he was between my legs, his tongue deep in my cunt.

Hot need surges within me immediately.

“San’ten,” I breathe and all I get is an answering growl, one so primal, my entire body tingles. Or maybe it is the ba’clan. I feel them react, vibrating softly against me as if reacting to the energy between us.

San’ten’s gaze falls to my lips and I only have a second to realize what he’s about to do before his head dips, his lips pressing against mine.

I open my mouth to him, a moan leaving my lips as his tongue darts in to play with my own.

This kiss is different from the first.

This kiss is filled with desperation and need, but most of all, an oath. An oath that ties us together, entwining us in a bond neither of us expected and one neither of us can escape.

Seeing San’ten brought to our knees by our common enemy…aware that the Gryken could have snapped his mind at its whim, killing him…in that moment something became clear even if I didn’t realize it immediately.

It wasn’t only the thought of him dying that wrenched at my heart. It was the thought of me losing him. Of having to continue on without him by my side. My companion…and now my lover?

My lover.

As San’ten runs his tongue across my lips, taking a moment to breathe, he groans.

“I’ve been fighting this…”

“Don’t.” My heart speaks before my mind does, and I surprise myself with my response.

“I don’t want to. I have stopped trying. My war is not with you or these feelings you provoke.” He bends, nibbling ever so gently on my bottom lip. “It’s with them.” He shudders. “I never knew I wanted this.” He stops his ministrations to look at me. “I never knew I wanted this till I followed you on this insane quest. Where my brethren fell, I never thought I would. I never believed myself to be so weak.”

“Weak?”

He nods and a part of me pulls back.

That’s what he thinks this is? These feelings? Weakness?

I’m about to force him to set me down so I can organize my thoughts, but instead, he pushes me harder against the tree and I feel the throb of something hard between us.

“You make me want,” he whispers, dipping his head, his fangs protruding inches away from the soft flesh of my neck. “You make me need.”

I shiver. The proximity of those fangs…the feel of his hardness pressing into me…despite his previous words, I find myself going weak.

I guess he’s right.

This is weakness.

I cannot concentrate. All I can feel is my body calling out to him. Needing him…just as much as he needs me.

“The head shield,” he whispers against my neck, but I shake my head, whimpering a little when the movement causes his fangs to press lightly into my skin.

“I can take care of myself. The Gryken won’t kill me. I know that now. But you…they will kill you without hesitation. I won’t allow that. I will not lose you.”

My throat tightens again as San’ten suddenly lifts his head and our gazes lock.

“You need me?”

His question catches me off guard and words fail to come. I nod instead.

“I have never been needed in such a way before,” he finally says.

“Well, get used to it, buddy.” My lips twist slightly, a small smile threatening at the corners.

San’ten captures my lips one more time and kisses me so hard, I’m swooning as he eases off the tree and starts running once more.

“A female that needs me.” His voice is low. So low that with the breeze created from his movement, I almost didn’t hear him.

“Yes,” I say to him. “And if they come for you again, I will fight. Like you’ve fought for me.”

San’ten’s response is to grip my ass cheeks tighter.

“Mina, you killed two Gryken for me.” He says, grunting slightly as he leaps over a huge fallen tree.

I shrug. That fact doesn’t feel real. It feels like I was watching myself in a dream.

“With your help. We killed it.”

He changes direction, suddenly going off to his left. I don’t know where he’s heading but I don’t care to ask. As far away from that horde that we can get is where I want to be.

“No.” He shakes his head. “You saved us.”

“Only because you sent your ba’clan to help me.”

San’ten stops suddenly and my head spins, slight terror beginning at the base of my spine as I turn to look at what’s stopped him in his tracks.

We’re on an incline, high enough that we can see out over the valley below.

Out there, eclipsed in the shadow of the morning sun, is a city.

That’s where we’re heading. How he knew the direction, I don’t know.

I swallow hard, staring at the few towering buildings that remain standing. They look like skeletons in a field of broken bones. Even from here, I can see the rubble. The destruction.

San’ten is silent, and when my gaze slides to his, he’s staring at me, a strange look in his eyes.

“What?” I glance around us. Did I miss something?

“The ba’clan.”

They pulse as he refers to them and I glance down at myself. When I look back at him, I realize he’s staring at me as if just noticing that I’m covered from head to toe with a literal biological shield that should be present on him.

“My ba’clan…” he murmurs. “I did not send them.”

His words make me pause. It’s like before.

“They came to me on their own? Again?”

I feel a pulse before he can answer, as if the ba’clan is responding to me.

“As the Gryken took my mind, my only thought was to save you.” His gaze travels over me and he pulls me closer till we are a breath apart. “It was the only way they believed they could protect you.”

“By shielding me…from you?” My brows furrow. “Aren’t they supposed to protect you?”

“They knew my wish. Your existence over mine. Mina…you are more important than my own survival.” He palms my cheek, his touch gentle. “Even if that Gryken won my mind, I would not have been able to harm my own ba’clan. I would not have been able to harm you.” His gaze falls to my lips. “They knew if I lost myself, I could not lose you.”

My heart jerks hard and I lean into him. It’s a moment in this chaos, where the world around us is still and there is peace.

But I know it’s momentary. I know it won’t last.

The air shifts around us, getting a slight chill. I don’t know if it's in my mind but when the ba’clan bristle against me I know I haven’t imagined it.

“We have to continue on,” San’ten suddenly says, and I nod.

He lifts one hand, supporting me with the other, and I notice it is the single arm that still holds ba’clan.

The ba’clan move away from his palm and there is that folded paper Ripha gave him. He opens it, his gaze moving over the crudely drawn map and the message Ripha left.

“Set me down.”

San’ten allows me to slide down his body till my sneakers touch the ground and I’m very aware that he is bare, naked, the feel of skin sending tingles all through me.

I take the paper from his hand, reading Ripha’s message. She was smart to do this. She must have expected something to go wrong, or maybe she’s one of those types that's prepared for all possibilities.

The message explains that the camera they found is located on a street near what used to be a barber shop. That it will move if we interact with it, suggesting it’s being monitored. She also drew a map. It’s enough information to go by. All we need is to get down to that city and search those streets till we find the right one.

I nod to myself, taking a deep breath and turn to look out over the valley and the city below.

By my side, San'ten stands looking at our destination, too. It will be a dangerous attempt at alerting our government that assistance is here. Not only the threat of the Gryken, but the threat of humans looms as well.

I lift my arm, looking at the ba’clan. They pulse against me and I smile. Stretching that hand toward San’ten, I whisper, “Go back to him. Protect him like you protected me.”

I’m not surprised when they listen this time, flowing from my hand to coat my alien once more. My smile widens as I watch him take the form I’m used to. Coated in ba’clan, he’s my angel of death.

I think they are all gone when I look down myself and I don’t spot any. But then there’s a pulse at my back and I jerk.

“Go back to him,” I whisper again, and press my arm against San’ten’s chest. Both the ba’clan on his chest and the ones still at my back pulse.

There’s a low sound, a thrum, that gets louder the longer I touch his chest and when I look up at him, San’ten is looking at me with a mixture of wonder and…fear.

“They won’t come,” he says.

I feel as if there’s more to that and a lump forms in my throat. “Why?”

“Because you are mine, Mina. My female. My mate. And now, they are yours.”

That word again. Mate.

It should scare me. Shouldn’t it?

It doesn’t.

“I…”

“They will stay with you, just as I will.”

“Stay with me?”

His gaze searches mine. “Take it as my promise to you. I will never leave you.”

Those words again.

His oath.

One I know he will keep.

32

SAN’TEN

She is mine. There is no denying it now. She is mine wholly, completely. The ba’clan have finally laid their claim.

It makes me thrum. A thrum I cannot stop as we move quickly through the trees toward the speck of civilization we spotted.

Taking the lead, she is moving fast. Faster than any human should be able to. Fast enough that we are keeping the Gryken behind.

I have long lost awareness of their pursuit. Either we have lost them or they stopped chasing us. I know the former is not reality.

They are coming. They will get here soon. And so we must keep moving.

I could not understand the strange hyu’man glyphs Ree’fa had pressed into my claw, but Mee’na understood them well.

I can only hope that finding her people, her fighters is easy, for as I look toward the looming structures, unease moves through my ba’clan.

This place we are heading to is not safe.

It is evident when we break through the forest’s edge and the structures are directly ahead of us.

The stamp of Gryken destruction is planted like a shadow over this place.

Crushed structures, their walls trampled underfoot by the metal legs of scrits, lie everywhere. The few that are still standing tall look like shadows of what they once were.

“Keep your eyes open,” Mee’na says, glancing at the glyphs on the paper before moving forward. “But I don’t need to tell you that,” she murmurs. “I’m mostly talking to myself.”

I don’t reply. I don’t need to. I am at her back and ready. My eyes on her, though I am aware of everything else around us.

Every slight change in the air. The sound of something creaking as it blows in the wind. Even the distant creatures that scurry in the structure to our right.

If anything moves toward us…I will know.

Mee’na keeps away from what looks to have been a thoroughfare. Multiple land transports lay abandoned on it, most with their doors open, several burnt out. I follow behind her as she moves close to the buildings along the side, ducking behind the biggest obstacles she can find that block our path before surveying the way ahead.

“Becker’s Street,” she whispers. “That’s where Ree’fa said the camera is.”

I glance around us. There are hanging signs that must tell the name of our current location, but I cannot read them. Language transfer did not include written words.

Mee’na glances at the paper in her hand once more, before jerking her chin to her chest. A signal to me that she is ready to move again.

I am her shadow. I move with her as she hurries to the next obstacle in our path. It is an old transport that has crashed into a large pole, right at the intersection of two transport ways.

Mee’na ducks behind it and I follow her, observing as her gaze flicks to the signs above our heads.

She mutters a curse underneath her breath, clearly not finding the thoroughfare we seek listed there.

It strikes me that hyu’man civilization is unnecessarily complicated. There are no sectors. No codes.

As Mee’na glances at the paper once more, I know this will take some time. Time we do not have.

Not now. Not while we are still being hunted.

“It’s quiet,” she whispers. “Far too quiet.”

She is right. But I sense no threat.

I turn, looking back at the forest we exited. The quiet here is unnerving when not too far from this town, a horde of Gryken travel.

As my gaze falls back to my female…my mate…her soft face has a light red tinge. Eyes too wide for her face glance around and as she leans forward a little to look around the transport we hide behind, she reaches back, gripping my thigh to steady herself.

My life organ warms and a low thrum begins in my chest that I have to silence.

I make a split-second decision, reaching for the patch controlling my head shield, I take it from my neck and press it against hers.

She slaps a hand at the spot, her eyes widening on mine.

“I can’t!” she whispers harshly. “We talked about this.”

But I've already decided. “At the first sign of a Gryken, I will take it back. Until then, it is best you keep it.” I jerk my chin to the paper still gripped between her fingers. “They are coming. The head-shield will give us time we need.”

She stares at me for a few moments, thoughts flicking behind her eyes, before she moves her hand from the patch and nods.

“Okay, but first sign of a Gryken…”

“First sign of a Gryken,” I agree.

Jerking her chin to her chest once more, she moves to the next obstacle.

This pattern continues for several minutes, enough for me to get a mental image of the area we have passed through so far.

I map out the best exit ways and defense positions in my head as Mee’na searches for a structure she calls a “barber shop” or Becker’s Street. I can only watch and follow, being her guard.

It gives me time to watch her without her noticing, and pride surges within me.

Small and perfect, that’s what she is. And she is mine.

I’m lost in my growing feelings for her, but not lost enough that I don’t sense movement ahead of us. Coming toward us quickly, far too quickly for them to be on foot.

Grabbing Mee’na from behind, I pull her to my chest, plastering a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, as I duck into one of the closest structures to us.

Panic fills her, but she doesn’t protest. I can see the trust in her eyes as we seep into the darkness of the structure I just entered.

I back away from the windows, even though they are covered, and keep Mee’na against me. I feel her ba’clan pulse against her back, warning her danger is incoming.

As we blend into the darkness of the structure, I hear them. Mee’na stiffens, her eyes on the entrance.

Slowly, I move my hand from over her lips.

“How many?” she whispers.

“Ten…maybe twelve hyu’mans. Male.”

Another band of males. I inhale and the scent of malice is rife among them.

“Malicious?”

“Unfortunately.” For them. Because if they enter here, I will kill them all if they try to harm her.

No such thing happens. The group is on three transports and they blaze through the town, swerving around the abandoned transports, the engines revving unnaturally as they pass by us, unaware of our presence.

“Well, that explains why it’s so quiet here,” she whispers. “This is gang territory.”

She sags against me. “Fuck,” she murmurs. “Their base must be somewhere around here. It just makes me want to find this damn camera and get the hell out of here even more. I wish these stupid gangs didn’t exist. I’d get rid of them if I could.”

“I agree,” I say behind her and she glances back at me, her lips twisting in that way that’s characteristic of Mee’na. I have apparently said something humorous.

“You agree with what? Getting rid of those men or getting the hell out of here?”

“Both.”

She smiles. “Let’s get this over with. I need a damn map.”

She squints, looking about the place we are in. As she wriggles from my arms, her feet hitting the floor, she moves toward a counter.

“I think this used to be a nail salon.”

I look around the room. A place for sharpening claws. I don’t try to understand why hyu’mans would need such a service. Their claws are useless.

Immediately, the image and feel of Mee’na’s digits tracing over my ridges comes to my mind.

My sazi hardens and surges, wanting to extrude. I shift on my legs, forcing the feeling down.

Maybe not entirely useless, hyu'man claws.

“Bingo!” she whispers loud, pulling something from underneath the counter.

I move to stand so I can look over her shoulder.

“It’s a small business directory,” she says, flipping the pages so quickly, I wonder if she’s actually reading the information. “No map, per say, but there’s a Google Maps snippet at the bottom of most of these listings. It’s better than nothing.”

I don’t pretend to understand.

“Barber shop. Barber shop. Barber shop,” she chants the words as her fingers flip the pages. “Here’s one…not on Becker’s Street though.” She sighs and continues until she suddenly freezes. “This is it.”

Eyes wide, she lifts the paper closer to her nose. “This is it.”

She’s focusing on an image where the transport routes are drawn, tracing the lines with her fingers.

It takes a few moments before she looks back at me, her eyes bearing excitement.

“I think I can find it much easier now.” She turns, heading toward the exit before pausing. “All clear?”

“All clear,” I copy.

“Good, the sooner I can get to that camera, the sooner we can be out of here.”

I follow her lead as she exits the structure, but even as I do, something deep inside tells me it won’t be that simple.

Nothing has been simple so far.

Nothing will come easily.

33

MINA

Possibly half an hour after that gang raced through the town, we finally come upon Becker’s street. The barber shop is about half-way down the road, its sign hanging by a single support.

It dangles, banging against the side of the building as it plays in the wind.

I head toward it, still keeping low and hopefully out of sight.

We haven’t seen or heard any sign of the gang since our first almost-introduction, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have eyes, lookouts, that could be watching us.

The thought alone makes a shiver go down my spine and the ba’clan that are there pulse as if to comfort me.

As we stick to the larger obstacles dotting our path toward the barber shop, I glance behind me at San’ten.

Every now and then, I have to check if he is really there. For such a big male, he is unbelievably silent and unbelievably good at keeping unseen.

He slides in and out of our hiding spots like liquid. Meanwhile, I feel like a thirty-foot neon sign every time I move.

There’s an abandoned school bus in front of us and as we slide behind it, I try not to think about those first few moments when the Gryken came.

The children that had been in this bus, they must have been terrified. I don’t imagine they are all still alive. That would be a miracle. But if any of them are…they are the reason I am doing this.

For Earth’s future. My species’ survival.

One more obstacle before we reach the barbershop and I nod at San’ten before moving from behind the school bus and heading toward a set of trash cans. They’re not nearly big enough to conceal us, but when we get to the barber shop, there will be nothing to hide behind.

I’ll be in the open.

That should make me more nervous than I am.

Looking at the building now, it’s only about twenty feet from where we are. I scan the outside and then glance at the paper Ripha gave us.

She’s drawn a little diagram of what I should be looking for and sure enough, there on the building, almost concealed, is a camera. A small one.

I wouldn’t have seen it at first glance.

I gulp, a sigh making my shoulders rise and fall as I get myself ready for what I am about to do.

As San’ten settles behind me, the trash can hardly hiding his bulky form, I turn and place a hand on his thigh. His ba’clan shiver underneath my touch and I pat them.

They’re not going to like what I’m about to say. He’s not going to like what I’m about to say.

“You have to stay here.” I just let it out. No need trying to soften the words.

San’ten’s ears flick but he doesn’t respond.

“I have to go to that camera on my own. If you come with me and they are actually monitoring the feed…” I can’t finish.

How do I tell him that most humans aren’t as honorable or accepting as his kind? The government much less.

Sight of another species, after what happened with the Gryken, might have the opposite effect of what we’re trying to achieve.

“It might be best if they do not see you,” I finish.

San’ten’s ba’clan bristle. I knew he wasn’t going to like it.

“I do not agree,” he finally says.

I smile at him and lean in to rest my face against his chest. A hum starts low in his chest, just high enough for me to hear.

“It’s only a few feet.”

“I still do not like it.”

I sigh. I don’t know what to say. I don’t like it either, but it’s the most logical thing to do.

“If you hear anything, just come and get me.” I meet his gaze. If he could frown, I’m pretty sure he’d be frowning at me right now, but my words seem to calm him somewhat and as I ease back, he doesn’t try to stop me. “I’ll be quick.”

Taking a deep breath, I pop my head from behind the trash can and survey the area before moving out.

This time, I don't run. I walk.

Head high, shoulders squared, I move right up to the front of the barber shop, my eyes on the camera.

It doesn’t move or react to my presence.

Nervousness about the fact that someone else may be watching me causes me to glance behind me. Seeing no one, I turn back to the camera.

“If anyone is there, if anyone is watching, my name is Mina McCleary. I am…I was a hostage and crisis negotiator. I worked with the police…sometimes the military on several occasions.” The camera still does not move and I wonder if it is even working still. Surely, the gang would have discovered it by now. This is their territory after all.

I squeeze my eyes shut as another thought invades my mind.

Even if it is working, I don’t know who is behind it. For all Ripha and Ambrose said, it could be the gang that’s behind this camera and here I am, alerting them to my presence.

I’m almost about to move back toward San’ten when I catch movement so slight I would miss it if I wasn’t staring directly at the device.

The lens moved.

Zoomed in maybe. On me.

I blink at it, momentarily forgetting what I’d planned to say.

“If you can hear me, I have important information.” There is no more movement from the camera, but I push through. “Earth has help. We are no longer alone in the fight against the ones who invaded. If I am speaking to the military…” I pause, squeezing my eyes shut briefly. I fucking hope I am speaking to the military. This is even more of a risk than I first realized. As I open my eyes, I focus on the camera once more, wiping any doubt and fear from my gaze. “…If I am speaking to the military then I’m sure you already know. If you’re surveilling the skies, you must have seen the black shuttles. You must have seen the machines that have been destroyed.” I pause again. “Humankind couldn’t destroy them. No matter what we tried. But these new beings…they can. And they’re here to help us.” I glance at San’ten and the image of him crouching there, looking everything like the predator he is, makes me a bit happy I didn’t make him come on camera with me. “There’s going to be a war…it’s already started…but we need your help.”

Now what?

What do I say? Meet me at X place at X time?

That’s not going to work. I can’t promise to be at any place at any time, especially when I don’t know this place.

“I need to speak with the general or whoever is in charge. I’ll be waiting here for an hour.” I gulp.

Please come.

* * *

I don’t have a watch, but when we stay under the cover of the school bus till the sun’s moved far across the sky, I know we’ve been waiting for more than an hour.

No one comes.

And as the day turns toward evening and the sky becomes dark, I swallow the hard lump of disappointment and look toward the barbershop.

“Mina…” San’ten says low.

He doesn’t have to say anything more. He’s been incredibly patient this whole time, even when I wanted to leave but forced myself to stay, not once did he complain or push me.

Instead, he let me lean against him while he kept watch. I even dozed off a few times.

Rising into a sitting position, my body aches and I stretch to loosen my muscles.

“Yea, I know,” I whisper. “It’s getting late. We should go.”

San’ten watches me carefully as I stand before he rises behind me.

I look toward the forest and bite my bottom lip.

“I can’t…leave here yet. I have to try again. Tomorrow.”

“Yes.” He says it so simply, as if he’s already known this, that I have to look up at him.

My lips quiver as I lean into him. My strength.

From the very start, when he came upon me trying to reason with that beast that day, he’s been on my side…supporting me.

San’ten pulls me against him and I’m pressed against his unyielding chest.

“Most defensive position is that way.”

I glance up to find him pointing toward a set of high rises.

“You scouted the defensive positions already?”

“I have been scouting since we left the cover of the trees.” He scans the area. “The air is changing and I am uneasy. We should go.”

I nod, not about to argue.

Following the same process we have been using since we entered this city, we move toward the high rises, keeping as hidden as we can.

The building San’ten heads to looks like an old office building. Most, if not all, the windows have shattered, leaving the building looking like it’s being constructed rather than something that’s been standing for years.

Ducking behind whatever we can find till we reach the entrance, San’ten takes the lead as he walks into the building. He pauses and sniffs before heading toward the stairs.

I don’t know how many floors he climbs until he chooses one to stay on and my legs are aching slightly by the time we’re walking onto the carpeted floor.

The sight is exactly what I imagined it would be.

Copy paper is strewn everywhere. Desks lay haphazardly, out of formation along the workspace. Dust has coated everything.

San’ten heads to the back, away from the windows and away from the exit, till we are in a corner, the entire room before us.

Anyone or anything that comes in, we will see it before it sees us.

Exhausted, I slide to the floor and lean my head back against the wall. San’ten settles beside me and does the same.

“You should rest now,” he says. “Next light cycle, I must hunt for you.”

I smile. Just like he’d been doing before we came upon Ripha and her group.

We settle into a comfortable silence. On my side, it’s because I’m thinking about that camera, wondering whether this detour has been a waste of time.

On San’ten’s side…I don’t know why he is silent.

As night falls, I shift closer to him, leaning so my head rests on his shoulder. He doesn’t pull away, but when I shiver, wrapping my arms around my shoulders, I feel his arms encircle me.

Without even a slight grunt, he lifts me and sets me on top of him. My cheeks flush immediately, memory of what happened the last time I was in this position coming right back to me. Heat warms my slit without fail.

If I don’t get off him…

I shift somewhat and that doesn’t help. He’s hard all over and my skin seems overly sensitive to that fact. The movement sends tingles all through me.

“You can’t sleep like this all the time. I’m beginning to feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Never,” he says, his voice a low, almost unrecognizable rumble. His nostrils flare and his jaw moves in a way that tells me that if he pulls back his lips, I’ll see that he’s gritting his teeth.

A second later, I discover just why he’s doing that when something throbs at the curve of my ass.

The sensation of it matches perfectly with my memories. The feel of him extruded and pressing into me, between my cheeks, his heat sending pleasure straight to my core. I resist the urge to let my eyes roll back in pleasure.

We shouldn’t do this. Now is not the time. I repeat those thoughts in my head. But on the other hand, another voice rings through. Why not?

I don’t know which is the voice of reason. So, I lean into San’ten, allowing him to make the first move if anything should happen between us.

If he wants this…then I want it too.

As my chest makes contact with his torso, I rest my head against him and inhale deeply. His musk wafts into my nose, faint, like the scent of rain in a woody area, and I sink against him some more.

San’ten shifts, dipping his head till his face is buried in my hair and I shiver as the tip of a claw traces the valley of my spine. There, the ba’clan pulses.

Funny, I’ve forgotten about them, but now that they’ve reminded me of their presence I pause to look up at San’ten.

Not surprisingly, he’s already looking at me.

“You said something earlier…” I begin.

San’ten doesn’t respond. He simply waits for me to continue, so I push ahead.

“About the ba’clan coming to me. About some of them staying with me,” I continue.

San’ten watches me, waiting patiently. There is nothing in his gaze, but I’m sure he knows where I’m going with this.

“Something about mates…”

All across him, his ba’clan ripple and the ones on my back pulse.

“You think I’m your mate?” I ask. Surely that doesn’t make me a weakness to him, as he’d said before.

San’ten studies me for long enough that I feel like squirming.

It wouldn’t be surprising if I’ve misunderstood this.

“My mate. My purpose,” he finally says. “Yes.” But he seems hesitant.

“How can you be so sure?”

San’ten’s eyes come to life, that darkness getting a sudden twinkle.

“Because…” he says and when he doesn’t finish, a frown starts on my brow.

But then I feel it.

Beneath the curve of my ass, something moves. Something hard moves underneath his skin, under his ba’clan, and the moment it emerges, I feel the heat even through my clothes.

My throat suddenly feels dry and I lick my lips.

San’ten eases up, taking me with him as he turns to crawl on all fours. Eyes locked with mine, he sets me down on my back, his gaze moving down me to land at the center of my thighs.

He eases back on his haunches, so he can look at me better and it’s that same look he gave me the night before. A look no man has given me before. Like I’m something precious he wants to keep safe, while at the same time, something to be devoured. Something to be fucked within inches of my life.

Heat pools at my center as I fight to control my breathing.

Slowly, his ba’clan seep away underneath his skin to reveal his bareness. His dark velvety skin looks like it’s begging to be kissed and licked and once more, I lick my lips without thinking. I wonder what he tastes like.

My gaze slips down, moving over rows and rows of defined muscles on his chest, going lower past where his belly button would be if he had one, before landing at that spot I realize I was heading all along.

My eyes bulge out and my mouth falls open.

“Oh…my…” I breathe.

Now that I’m looking, I can’t take my eyes away.

He’s two M’s. Monstrous…but oh so mouthwatering.

San’ten’s cock is bigger than I expected, even after feeling it pressed against me. Looking directly at it, I’m not sure taking his length is even possible. And his width…

I wouldn’t be able to clasp him with one hand past the first few inches from the tip.

It jerks as I watch and a string of drool actually escapes my lips. Wiping my mouth, I slam my lips shut as I watch it jerk again.

A bead of spend glistens at the tip like an alluring invitation.

Thicker at the base, tapered toward the tip. It’s the same shape as his tongue and heat floods to my core at the memory of his tongue buried deep inside me.

Only, his cock is thicker, harder…

I bite back a whimper. His tool will either break me apart or be the best experience I have ever had in my life.

“Is it to your liking?” For the first time, San’ten isn’t looking at me. Instead, his ears stick off the sides of his head as he looks down at himself.

Before I can answer, he reaches down and grips his length, jerking it once between his palm.

My thighs would clench if he wasn’t kneeling between them.

He glances up at me, eyes slightly wider than usual and I realize he’s being serious. That my answer is important to him.

But what can I say? That his cock is everything I’ve ever dreamed of riding but it’s like one of those things you want to do but are scared to do at the same time? Kind of like skydiving?

I’d jump out of a plane with nothing but a parachute every day if I knew I’d land safely on the ground every single time. But, there’s a chance jumping out of that plane would kill me. Kind of like jumping on his dick.

But which bitch wouldn’t love dying on good dick? Especially in the middle of an apocalypse where the chance of dying is like amped up by a thousand percent anyway?

I wet my lips, unable to stop staring at his cock. Even with him palming it, it still looks massive and my pussy clenches on air, wanting to be filled.

She’s needy.

“It’s…” Everything I never knew I wanted inside me. “Perfect.”

San’ten’s lips move in what can only be a smile before he releases himself and crawls over me.

I rest back, my eyes widening a little as I watch him prowling till we are face to face.

He doesn’t hesitate. His head dips and his lips are on mine.

A moan barrels through me as I open my mouth to him.

Frantic. Our kiss is frantic and before I know it, his fingers find mine as we struggle to take my dress off without ripping it.

We take the hard way, pushing it down over my shoulders, the elastic stretching to the limit as it passes over the mounds of my breasts.

As soon as my breasts pop out, San’ten releases a growl, his tongue abandoning mine as he licks my neck, his fangs scraping lightly against my skin before he moves down to my breasts.

A moan leaves me as the heat of his tongue makes contact with my hardened nipples.

San’ten releases a groan of his own and I feel his cock rise to slap against my thigh, the heat of it sending a jolt of electricity straight to my clit.

As I try to wriggle out of my clothing, pushing the dress over my hips and grabbing my panties at the same time, San’ten moves to my other breast, causing my back to arch against him as he takes it into his mouth.

In the back of my mind is the almost obscured thought that he could easily puncture my breasts with those sharp fangs of his, but I can’t feel his teeth. So gentle in his ministrations, he licks and sucks on my skin, not leaving a mark behind.

As he grasps both breasts, I finally manage to rid myself of my clothing and the cool air of dusk that wafts through the glassless windows does nothing to cool down the heat spreading through me.

San’ten’s still grasping my breasts with both hands as he moves his attention to my midsection. He kisses my belly button, his lips moving over my skin as he pierces me with his gaze.

“I want to fill you up,” he says low.

My pussy clenches, badly needing something to hold on to.

“I think you’ll more than fill me up with that.” I gulp, anticipation making a shiver go through me as I look down between us.

His shaft is a deep red that stands out against the darkness of his skin. It looks like the devil’s tool—something that he’d use to do bad things to you—and I know San’ten is capable of doing just that.

“No,” he says, releasing my breasts to press both hands against my midsection. That possessive look is slowly creeping into his eyes once more and he just looks at me while it grows till it’s consumed his gaze completely.

“I don’t think you understand, Mina…” he growls. “I want to fill you up…not only with my sazi…but with my spend.”

My nipples tighten at his words, my body jerking with a shiver that makes me close my eyes and bite back a whimper.

I’m dimly aware that San’ten shifts, moving from his crouch over me, and the sudden cold air brings disappointment. I open my eyes, ready to find out why he’s moved when he suddenly grasps my thighs, spreading them as his tongue finds my core.

“Ahh…” A moan barrels through me and my hands grasp at nothing. I need something to hold on to and the only thing is him.

I reach down, gripping his head as he dips to take me into his mouth.

My eyes roll back and I cannot speak as my mouth opens in a soundless ‘O’.

Far too skillful, his tongue knows just where to go as he spreads my thighs farther, opening me to him. No way he's a virgin, at least not at cunnilingus.

“San’ten,” I whisper his name and he growls into my pussy, the vibration hitting my clit at the same time that he takes it into his mouth.

I buck against him, the sensation almost too much to bear.

There’s moisture dripping from my center. It runs down between my ass to soak the floor beneath me as San’ten mutters what can only be a curse in his language.

“So sweet,” he groans, the words only making me throb harder.

He forces my thighs even farther apart as he lifts his head and stares at my soaking cunt like it’s some delicious meal.

“By the gods of Edooria, Mina,” he glances up at me for only a second before his possessive gaze goes back to my cunt. “Your taste…”

“M-my taste?”

He doesn’t respond except for another growl before his head dips again. This time, his tongue pushes past my folds and deep within me, making me arch so hard, I look like the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

He pierces me deep, gripping my back with one hand and keeping me arched as he fucks me with his tongue.

“San’ten!” I scream his name as his tongue makes my knees go weak. I become boneless, unable to support my weight, and it is only his arms that keep me from crashing to the floor.

I’m heading to my peak like a runaway freight train, but San’ten doesn’t stop. Instead, he closes his mouth over me, covering my pussy entirely as he sucks, his tongue still forcing its way in and out of me as he groans what sounds like my name.

It’s all I needed.

My body seizes, my legs trembling as a rush of honey and goodness floods through me.

Fuck.

I don’t know how long he holds me there, licking, sucking on my clit while his tongue continues to move within me. All I know is that I’m shaking, my chest heaving, my consciousness floating as if I’m on drugs, by the time he slides his tongue from within me and sets me down gently.

My lids are low as he crawls over me once more, bracing over me on his arms.

“Mina,” he says, and I worry he is going to do what he did last time. Give me pleasure while denying his own.

I grip him, my fingers almost digging into his chest as I force myself to focus.

“I want you,” I manage to say, my voice sounding like a strange, weaker version of my own.

San’ten freezes, his ears flicking.

“You’re not ready…” he finally says.

I choke back a laugh. “I won’t be much more ready than this.”

He stares at me some more. “Mina…” he says after a few moments. “I cannot take you, not fully, until…”

“Until what?” Even though I’ve just orgasmed, there’s heat building within me once more just being this close to him, just by touching his skin.

“Until you understand what is meant when I say we are mates. I am already too far gone.” He shivers underneath my touch and some pride goes through me that I’m having at least some effect on him. “If I take you…I won’t be able to go back. It is the last bit of control that I have.”

“Control of what?”

“Of myself.”

His gaze bores into mine and I watch as his lips part and the tip of his gorgeous tongue slips over his fangs as he watches me.

“It is not a bother if you rest now,” he says, even as his cock jerks, brushing against the inside of my thighs, so close to my center, I can already feel its heat.

“I don’t want to rest.” I meet his gaze. “I want you.”

San’ten closes his eyes, his teeth grit as he growls.

When he opens them to look at me once more, there’s a fire of need ignited in their depths.

“I want you to fill me up,” I whisper.

That does it.

With a growl, San’ten pushes me against the carpet, using his hips to pin me down.

I squirm, my pussy pressed against that pouch that borders the base of his shaft.

He throbs, hard, his manhood jerking to slap against my ass as San’ten bends enough so he can plant a kiss on my lips.

“I will try to be gentle,” he whispers.

Even those words make me wet.

He eases back slowly, his hands moving to grasp my hips and he holds my gaze. And I wait. Anticipation making me freeze, the only movement being the steady rise and fall of my chest.

At the first touch of his cock, a moan escapes my lips and my head tilts back, my eyes closing.

Just the tip, it presses through my folds, marking a path straight down to my entrance. He pauses there for only a second before he moves forward, sliding the tip through my resistance.

I moan and San’ten freezes.

His hands grasp me tighter and release before grasping tight again.

“Mina,” he growls.

My eyes flick open to see him lost in the same emotions that consume me.

His head is thrown back, his eyes closed, his teeth grit, a snarl on his face that shows his fangs. Every muscle in his chest is tense and so are the ones in his arms.

“San’ten,” I whisper.

He shudders, his eyes opening to meet mine.

He moves a little more, his cock going deeper and my pussy quivers so hard, I bite my bottom lip.

“Everything within me wants to give you it all,” he whispers.

I gulp. “Then do it.”

San’ten’s ears flick.

“I can take it.” Can I? “I want it.” Do I? Yes I do. I want it very much, please. “I’ll tell you if it’s too much.”

Releasing one of my hips, San’ten reaches for a breast, taking it into his palm as he slides deeper into me.

I don’t hold back my moan and when his finger flicks over the nipple just at the moment where he slides in some more, I whisper his name.

“Say it again,” he growls.

“San’ten,” I whisper. He slides deeper.

“Again.”

“San’ten,” I oblige. He goes even deeper, stretching me to fill the growing thickness of his heated shaft.

“Louder.”

“San’ten!” I pant.

As San’ten pulls back only to surge forward again, I let out a moan. My body shivers as he retreats only to surge forward one more time.

As he starts a rhythm, I whisper his name once more and San’ten growls, moving his hand back to my hip.

His cock spreads my entrance so wide, there is momentary discomfort before he pulls back, relieving the strain only to surge forward again.

His movements pick up till they are a steady rhythm, spreading my pussy so wide, my clit is stretched along with it, the sensation sending shivers of pleasure through me.

I’m filled. With each thrust, I know there is no way I could take any more, but when I glance down between us, to watch that hot red flesh disappear inside me, my eyes widen when I see he’s not even halfway in.

“Oh my god,” I whisper.

“That’s not my name.” San’ten leans down, his head lowered enough that he captures my earlobe into his mouth. “My sweet, sweet Mina. Such a perfect suu’ci.”

“Suu’ci?” I manage to pant.

“Such a perfect cunt.”

There are too many emotions, too many sensations. As my body jerks with each thrust, my breasts bobbing on my chest, San’ten licks my ear and growls.

“Fuck, San’ten!” I’m at the edge and the orgasm shoots through me like an unexpected sonic boom.

I scream, mildly aware of where we are and that I should be mindful of the noise.

“Yes,” he growls. “Yessss.”

His hands tighten at my hips and he lifts me as he settles back on his haunches, me straddling him. The unexpected shift in gravity sends me lower over his cock, my pussy stretching, the wetness between us providing lubrication as I settle on his shaft.

That little nub between my fold grazes against the ridges of his pelvis with every thrust, making me weak. I cling on to him, losing myself in the sensations. Losing myself in him.

San’ten dips his head, his fangs grazing my neck as he pistons within me. A deep growl rumbles in his chest as he punctures my soft skin, his tongue flicking over the wound as he takes my flesh into his mouth. I cry out, not in pain but because of the unexpected pleasure as another orgasm tags on to the end of the last one.

And when he stiffens, gripping me tightly as heat suddenly fills my core, all I can do is hang on to him, not wanting to let go.

San’ten lets out a deep breath and collapses against the wall at his back.

I don’t move. Inside me, his shaft jerks, sending another ripple of pleasure right through me.

“Rest now, Mina,” he murmurs, lifting a hand to move my hair away from my face.

I don’t know if I could do anything else. I don’t think I could move even if I wanted to.

As I look up into his eyes, San’ten’s thrum begins in his chest.

My lids dip and I settle against his chest, a small smile framed on my lips as I welcome sleep.

34

MINA

I wake slowly, my eyes fluttering open, the blur of sleep taking a while to fade away. I’m almost fully awake when I feel the throb deep inside me as San’ten’s hardness jerks.

My eyes fly wide open as I tilt my head back to look up at him, and he’s watching me, eyes heated, gaze scorching.

Still naked and still straddling him, San’ten is still sheathed deep inside me. We are as we were when I fell asleep.

A soft moan escapes me as I shift and San’ten’s hands massage my hips as he moves upward a little, seating himself deeper inside me.

He lets out a growl and I feel another throb, moving from the base of his shaft, stretching me in the process as it heads right up to the tip.

“Mm,” I whimper.

“Good dawn,” he whispers, his voice thick with need.

“Mm.” I can’t respond with words. My core clenches, greedy for more, and I lift myself slightly to settle back on him.

San’ten groans and begins to slowly move, thrusting in long, slow strokes.

It’s the perfect rhythm and I hang on to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I rise and fall on him.

I roll my hips, closing my eyes as I get lost in the feeling.

This time, the orgasm is a slow build that culminates at the moment I expect it to. My walls tighten around his shaft as I collapse against him, hanging on as he completes a few hard strokes before stiffening, his hardness jerking as it releases his spend.

As we come down from our highs, I look at him through lowered lashes.

“Good morning.”

His cock jerks inside me as if in response and that is when I finally realize that he’s still hard.

But… I thought he’d orgasmed.

“Didn’t you…didn’t you come?”

“Come?”

“You know…didn’t you find release?” My eyes widen at the thought that I might have been the only one reaching my peak the entire time.

But San’ten grunts, his lips twisting in that way they did the night before, as if he’s smiling.

“My sazi will always be hard and ready for you.” He pauses. “Are human males not always ready?”

I shake my head, staring at him, not able to stop the chuckle that bursts from my lips. “Nope, not at all.”

He jerks inside me again, making my eyes roll back in my head and I know that if we sit here, I will fuck him over and over again.

Shifting, I attempt to rise, but I need his help and San’ten grabs my hips and helps me off him. A wet slop sounds as soon as we are no longer tethered and my cheeks warm.

Standing on shaky legs, I glance around to find where I’d discarded my clothes. I need something to clean myself with but there is nothing.

The way San’ten is looking at me though, his gaze fastened between my thighs, makes me think he’d gladly clean me himself.

And I’d let him.

When his nostrils flare and his tongue emerges to flick across his lips, I have to slam my legs closed as heat burns my cheeks.

Not right now. If he touches me there, we’d never leave this place.

And we need to leave.

Cool morning air is coming in through the windows and as I slip into my clothing, I find myself staring out at the rising sun.

It’s beautiful. Surrounded by clouds painted in hues of red and orange, the sky looks peaceful.

It looks like any other of the many mornings I used to wake up in the wild with my Girl’s Scouts troop.

Pity that so-called peace is a lie.

As soon as I’m dressed, I turn to San’ten, but he’s already standing at my back. Ba’clan all over his skin once more, he is armored and ready.

“I have to try that camera again.”

He jerks his chin toward his chest. “Understood.”

I nod at him and look around the office, my gaze sweeping over the overturned desks and tables, before landing back on the sunrise outside.

“You don’t suppose I’m wasting my time, do you?”

At first, San’ten doesn’t answer and I think he might not.

“It is not my place to say,” he finally says. “It is your best chance at contacting your leaders. Since we have arrived…we have spotted no human fighters. Getting them to fight alongside us, using our weapons, would be a turning point in this war.”

I know he’s right. That’s why I want to try again.

Nodding once more, I take a deep breath and head toward the door.

The streets are just as deserted as the day before, and that makes me frown. It feels like we’re walking into a trap that I can’t see coming.

If there’s a gang in this city, why is it so quiet here? Where is their base?

As we move down the street, keeping behind the big obstacles like abandoned cars and trucks, we head toward that barber shop on Becker’s Street.

San’ten stops at the spot he did the day before, and I take a deep breath as I head toward the camera.

When I stand in front of it, I notice the lens move again, this time without me speaking. Whoever is behind this thing is watching me.

I begin speaking, repeating the same things I said the day before and giving them a timeframe to come and meet me. This time, I extend it to two hours.

And then, we wait.

And we wait.

Morning passes and afternoon comes before my shoulders sag.

They aren’t coming.

My head falls into my palms as I take a deep breath.

They aren’t coming. Just like Ambrose said they didn’t come when they tried pleading.

Either whoever is watching thinks what I’m saying is a hoax to get asylum in some bunker, or they simply don’t believe me.

I sigh in frustration, kicking the pavement I’m sitting on.

We can’t stay out here waiting forever.

My frustration makes the ba’clan at my back move uneasily against my skin and when I glance at San’ten, his ba’clan seem unsettled too.

“I do not like that I cannot solve this problem,” he says, his eyes on the camera down the street before he rises. “Or maybe I can.”

He’s moving before I can think and he’s so fast, he’s several feet away from me before I kick into gear, scrambling after him.

“What are you doing?” I’m glancing uneasily around us as I head after San’ten and almost bump into him when he stops suddenly, right in front of the camera.

He stares at it, his ba’clan beginning to roil as he focuses on the lens.

“Come,” is all he says.

I glance from the camera to him and back.

“We wait for one more Earth hour. Then I will take my female and we will leave.” He tilts his head slightly, observing the device. “If you want to win this war…you will meet us at this location.”

Without another word, San’ten turns away from the camera and I watch with wide eyes as the device tilts on its axis toward him.

They’re watching him go!

Jogging after him, I glance back at the camera several times. It’s still turned in this direction, watching us leave and it doesn’t reorientate itself. It’s in that position until I lose sight of it.

I bump into something hard, San’ten’s chest, and strong arms surround me, preventing me from falling. He gazes down at me, his eyes searching mine.

“San’ten…”

“They will come now.”

I don’t doubt that. I don’t doubt it at all. But now they might be coming for the wrong reasons.

Fear rises at the base of my spine as I look up at him. He doesn’t understand that the government is the last person we can trust…and that’s coming from someone who used to work for them.

Shit.

“Now…” he says, “I will hunt for you.”

I can’t let him just move on like nothing happened and before San’ten can release me, I grip his arm.

“San’ten…” I don’t know how to say it. How can I tell him that when they arrive they might be coming solely to take him away?

But San’ten’s words stop me in my tracks.

“Mina…I know.” He brushes my hair away from my cheek, gazing down at me with a gentleness that I’ve only seen in his eyes when he’s been looking at me these last few days. “They will come for me because I am other. And I will go. I will go for you.”

My throat dries up and constricts at what he says.

“No…you cannot.” I’m shaking my head, already trying to think of another way. A better way.

“If it is what it takes to win this war, to rid this world of that scum that has destroyed it, the same scum that wants to take you for their own, I will do everything in my power to make it happen.” His words hold a weight that causes my excuses to lodge in my throat. “You are my weakness.”

Tears develop at the corners of my eyes and I fight to blink them away.

I don’t like this. This feels like goodbye. A goodbye that’s coming far too soon.

“Weakness?” My voice quivers. He’s said that before but this time, it makes a pain go through my heart. After all we’ve shared, that’s all he sees me as? Some weakness?

“Weakness.” I repeat, blinking back the tears and forcing them to dry up. That coldness that woke with me after the coma begins to slowly seep back in. It’s a frozen blanket that I used to wrap away and hide my emotions when the pain was too much…like now.

So I pull at the numbness, willing it forward. I call the coldness. The unfeeling.

San’ten tilts my chin back with a finger, his gaze boring into mine.

“Weakness,” he repeats and I try to turn my head away but he holds me fast, forcing me to face him. “For the first time in my existence, I am truly weak. I have seen what finding mates has done to members of my sleekt…I have seen what losing a mate and young did to my womb-mate…and so I pledged that I would never have one. I told myself I never wanted a mate. Finding you has made me weak.”

“Why?” I manage to choke out.

San’ten’s gaze is intense as he looks at me and he lets the question hang in the air like a heavy anchor whose answer will crush me.

“Why?” I repeat. "It doesn't have to be that way. We can be strong together."

“No, Mina. I am weak…because now…I have something to lose. Before…I had nothing.”

I gulp and shake my head. “You had something. You had your life. That’s something you would lose.”

“That is merely a consequence of war. My existence meant nothing other than to fulfil my purpose. Now…it does. You have created meaning in a life that had none.” He pauses. “That is why you are my weakness, Mina. I am prepared to sacrifice everything for you.”

35

SAN’TEN

Hunting consisted of rummaging in various buildings for leftover food packets. We manage to find a few and though they should make Mee’na happy, she is deep in thought as she simply gazes at them.

We are waiting near what she calls a su’kool bus. Waiting for her people. Her planet’s fighters.

I know they will come.

But Mee’na is worried. Worried that by revealing my presence I have put myself in danger.

I am not afraid of her people. I know they cannot harm me, even if they try. But that does not put her worry at ease.

As the star reaches its halfway mark in the firmament and begins its descent toward the dark cycle, I hear the low hum of something approaching that makes me jerk.

“They come,” I say.

Mee’na’s immediately alert.

“Who? The gang or…”

I inhale, drawing in the approaching scents. “Not the males we observed before.”

Jerking her chin to her chest twice, she moves from a sitting position into a low crouch, peeking around the bus and surveying the thoroughfare before us.

It doesn’t take long for the transports to appear. Three of them. One at the front, two flanking it at the back. Large and heavy, they are my first glimpse into the military technology of the hyu’man beings.

The transports are wide, with large rolling wheels connected by a sort of rail. Despite the size, they swerve around the larger obstacles in the thoroughfare, pushing the smaller ones out of the way as if they are of no significance.

I stand as they approach, rising to my full height. At the speed of their approach, I will only have to wait for a short time before they are close enough to spot us.

Still crouched, Mee’na doubletakes, her eyes wide as she looks up at me.

“You don’t have to do this,” she says, and I gaze down at her.

From the female I saw when we first landed on this planet, her belly swollen with my enemy's spawn, weak and at the brink of death…to the female who survived but became numb, vacant eyes gazing at me and everything else around her…I gaze at her and she is none of those things anymore. Now, her eyes are full of life, full of fight, and full of worry. Worry for me.

I did not lie when I told her I would sacrifice myself if it meant her survival. I did not lie when I told her she is my weakness. That now, I have everything to lose.

“Let me go alone. Hide somewhere…and if shit hits the fan, you can go berserk.” Her gaze pleads with mine.

“I refuse to hide. Not when you are involved.”

“I knew you would say that.” She shakes her head, worry growing in her gaze. “But they ignored me. They are coming for you. I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all.”

I glance at the approaching transports. They will see me soon.

“San’ten…please. I’m actually begging.”

Something within me clenches. Deep down, I know she is right.

It is the only reason why I compromise.

“I will conceal myself.”

Mee’na releases a breath that makes her body shrink.

“Thank you.” She reaches up and grips my arm. “This isn’t only your fight,” she says. “You’re not the only one who’s got things to lose.”

Her words warm something deep inside my being. It finds the coldest spot, the spot that turned to ice eons ago, melts it, and returns it to life. This is why I cannot lose her.

This is why she has become my everything. Like a star that returns life to a dying planet.

I lift my blaster and stretch it toward her. Her brow furrows, her gaze searching mine before she releases my arm so she can hold the weapon.

It looks so ridiculously large in her arms, it is a wonder she was able to use it the first time.

“I hope I don’t need to use this,” she murmurs.

I do too.

She’s looking at the blaster as I camouflage, my ba’clan refracting the light around me so that it seems as if I am no longer there.

When she looks up once more to the space where I stand, Mee’na’s eyes widen.

“San’ten?” Her neck whips as she looks down the street both ways.

“I am here, my star.”

Her eyes widen as she looks at the spot where I stand. Reaching forward, her palm touches my chest and a shiver goes through her.

“I didn’t know you could do this,” she whispers.

“There are many things I have yet to show you I can do,” I murmur, the thought making my sazi throb within its sheath.

But this is not the time to think about sinking myself into my mate’s delicious suu’ci.

The transports are close enough to spot us now and as Mee’na turns to face them, they roll to a stop several meters away from us, those turrets at the top turning in our direction.

A growl immediately rumbles in my throat.

For all they know, Mee’na is alone. There is no need to threaten a small female standing in the middle of nowhere on her own.

But Mee’na stands firm, her shoulders set, her chin straight.

“Ready?” she whispers, taking the first step ahead of me.

“Ready,” I reply at her back.

She shivers a little as she moves slowly forward, gripping my blaster to her chest.

“It’s strange hearing your voice so close but not seeing you there,” she whispers.

We walk together, moving from behind the su’kool bus into the open. Coupled with the turrets trained at us, my ba’clan rise, ready to go “berserk” as Mee’na suggested.

But as I glance at Mee’na, I realize I am not the only one struggling.

At her back, her ba’clan roil, making their presence obvious.

I stop walking and place a hand on her shoulder, causing her to halt by my side. She gasps but does well to hide it in front of the fighters, who are no doubt observing her without realizing they are also in my presence.

“What? What is it?” She darts a covert glance in my direction.

“Your ba’clan,” I say. “You must fight for control.”

Her throat moves as she gulps. “I don’t know how,” she whispers, her mouth hardly moving. To them, she looks like she’s stopped walking because she is frozen by fear.

“Your thoughts…” I say. “Calm them with your thoughts.”

Taking a deep breath, she stiffens her shoulders, her eyes on the transports that are now still. If we hadn’t seen them moving, it would appear they have been sitting abandoned in the thoroughfare.

Only the scent of the males inside lets me know they are manned.

“My thoughts…” Mee’na whispers. “Calm. I’m calm.”

She rolls her shoulders and straightens her neck. Slowly, the ba’clan at her back settle.

A low rumble leaves my throat as a sense of pride goes through me.

Our mating has not been like the others. Mee’na still does not know much about the ba’clan. Still, she commands them well. It is a sign that she was meant to wear them. That they were destined to be hers.

Gripping my blaster tightly, Mee’na begins walking once more and I keep pace at her side till we stand before the transport at the front.

Mee’na glances my way before studying the vehicle.

“My name is Mee’na Mac’Leery,” she says, her head high. “I am glad you finally came.”

For a few moments, there is no outward movement of the transports, but I can hear the males moving within the vessels.

The one in front suddenly opens and several males file out, their movements quick, practiced, as they move to stand in formation in front of the transport.

They have weapons trained on Mee’na, and my ba’clan bristle immediately. I bite back a growl. Are all hyu’man males this dishonorable?

It doesn’t take me long to calculate how quickly I can kill them all. Before one presses their trigger, they will all be dead.

I dare them to try.

There are four fighters facing us, all dressed in strange garments in shades of green and brown. It does not look like proper fighting gear and I wonder if these are the same sector of fighters that took on the Gryken when they first landed.

They stare at Mee’na, not saying a word, and I growl low, so low, only Mee’na’s enhanced hearing can pick up the sound. They only point their weapons at her as if she is of great threat to them.

“Impolite males,” I say in the same pitch.

Mee’na hides her response with a cough.

Behind the first transport, there is movement as the fighters in the other two transports exit.

They flank the others, crouching, weapons pointed her way. How she stands and faces them while revealing no emotion is admirable.

From the first transport, another fighter exits. He carries no weapon. I can already tell he is of a higher rank than the armed fighters.

I can see a speckle of silver hair peeking from under his headgear as he approaches to stop just a few feet before Mee’na. Unlike the others, whose garments bear no insignia, this male’s has three chevrons on the sleeve.

“Drop your weapon,” he says.

Mee’na doesn’t betray any emotion on her face. She simply bends slowly and places my blaster at her feet.

Now unarmed, the fighters still have weapons pointed in her direction.

The leader studies her, his gaze flicking down her body, and I resist the urge to snap his neck in half.

Lifting a hand, he motions to a fighter who leaves his position and moves in Mee’na’s direction.

“Search her.”

Mee’na’s throat moves and as I take position at her back, a growl rumbles through me, still so low, I doubt these fighters know that I am already at the end of my patience.

“Stay calm,” Mee’na whispers suddenly, and I get the sense she is speaking to me and making it seem as if she is speaking to herself.

Calm.

Easy for her to say. Suddenly being around other beings after spending the last few days mostly only in her presence has reminded me of my deep dislike for other creatures…especially males.

“I’m clearly unarmed,” Mee’na says, her eyes flicking to the fighter who is now before her. Still she lifts her arms high and the fighter proceeds to pat her down.

“Calm,” she says again. “It’s only a pat down. Nothing personal. Nothing sexual.”

The fighter patting her down ignores her words but I know they are meant for me. They are the only reason his arms are still attached to his being.

“Just protocol,” the silver-haired male says. “I’m sure you understand.”

As the fighter pats her down, I stare into the eyes of the leader. His suspicion isn’t hidden and neither is that of all the soldiers surrounding us.

“I understand,” Mee’na replies. “Sergeant…”

“Reeves,” the male responds.

“She’s clear,” the fighter patting Mee’na down says before hurrying back to his spot, gripping his crude weapon that will do nothing to protect him against us nor even a Gryken spawn.

The one standing before Mee’na, the leader, narrows his eyes before glancing around at the buildings still standing. A wave of fear wafts through him but he conceals it nicely.

“Now,” he says. “Where is the creature?”

36

SAN’TEN

“Creature?” Mee’na’s brows furrow immediately.

“This is not the time to play games, Miss…”

“Mc’Leery,” Mee’na responds.

“Miss Mc’Leery.”

I dislike this hyu’man. For him, a deep hatred immediately blooms. He reeks of death and deceit.

I do not trust him and I hate it even more that my Mee’na is standing, for all he’s concerned, alone before him.

My ba’clan twitch, annoyance running through them. They do not like this male either…they do not like any of these males.

The male’s eyes narrow some more. “We saw it on the feed,” he says. “It spoke to us. A creature that is not hyu’man…one we believe you are…familiar with.”

Mee’na’s face gives away nothing and once more a surge of pride goes through me. This little female, standing strong in front of what should be an intimidating display.

She does not quiver.

This is why she is mine.

The sergeant’s lips form a thin line as he studies Mee’na. He lifts a hand and does some gesture I cannot decipher. At the back, the fighters train their weapons at the structures around us. Only those at the front still have their weapons trained on my female.

I know who they seek.

Me.

“I do not need to explain this is a matter of national security,” the sergeant continues. “It is a threat—”

“He,” Mee’na finally speaks. “You mean he is a threat.”

The sergeant’s face remains straight but the slight jerk of his eyebrows gives away his surprise.

“He is not a creature. He is not a thing. The being you saw, the one who got you to finally come here after I, your own kind, begged for days, he is Vullan. He is a fighter. A warrior. A male who has sacrificed his everything and has come from a place far, far away just so he and his kind can help us beat the scum that did this!” Mee’na’s eyes spit fire as she gestures to the devastation around us without turning her eyes to look. For she does not need to look at what she points to.

She has been living in it every day.

“He has a name,” she continues. “His name is San’ten and you best remember it and show some respect for all he and his brothers have done for us. Because, with all due respect, sergeant, you have no idea.”

It takes much energy for my ba’clan to conceal me this way, but I am now happy that I complied with Mee’na’s request and concealed myself.

This is the first time I have seen her disdain…and I love it.

Her chaos gives me life.

For a few moments, the sergeant does not speak. Instead, a smile suddenly breaks across his face. My ba’clan writhe.

It is not a genuine smile. He is pretending.

“Is he here right now?” the sergeant asks. “Watching us?”

“Until he decides you are here with no ill intent…yes,” Mee’na answers.

A waft of fear leaves the fighters at the sergeant's back and their gazes dart to the structures around us.

“How many of his kind occupy this city?” His smile has not faded. Instead, he gazes down at Mee’na as if he believes she will fall for his horrible attempt at disguising his malicious thoughts.

Mee’na’s eyes narrow. “Why do you want to know?”

The sergeant frowns now, crossing his arms across his chest and standing taller over Mee’na. “You’re going to have to give us numbers here. Let us know what we’re dealing with.” He pauses. “Until then, I will have to regard you as a threat as well.”

One of Mee’na’s eyebrows lifts as she crosses her arms, mimicking him.

“What you’re dealing with is an invasion of a species named Gryken. They have come here to destroy our world. I’m sure you have seen. I’m sure you have watched. Sure your cameras have documented the devastation…” She trails off and releases a sigh. “The Vullan came here to help us. Machines have fallen.” She stares at the sergeant and when he does not seem surprised, Mee’na continues. “You’re aware of that. And I’m sure you’re aware that we have not been able to take even one of those things down by ourselves. Those machines that have fallen…that was because of the Vullan. They took them down like they were nothing. Killed those things.” She pauses, her gaze studying the male before her. “They are on our side.”

The male releases a slow breath. “That’s not for you to decide. We will have to…meet one of these beings. Find out what they want from us—”

“The Vullan want nothing from us.”

The male’s sudden laugh surprises me and my ba’clan writhe once more.

“That is not something the president will believe.”

“The president?” Mee’na asks, her eyes widening. “So…he’s alive.”

“Of course, he is alive.” The male looks at Mee’na as if that was a fact she should have known.

As they continue their conversation, with Mee’na trying to get as much information as she can about the state of things the world over, the male deflects her questions.

Nothing that she asks gets answered with a straight response and I quickly tire of his games.

Stepping from behind her, I walk toward the male, moving in a slow circle around him as I look him up and down. Unaware of my presence, he does not react.

He is dressed like the other fighters here, but where they bear arms in the open, he has a weapon hidden along his back, out of sight.

Deceitful.

My gaze flicks over his garments, right down to the dark boots that are far too clean.

He is a fine male specimen, for a hyu’man. Probably one of the best I have seen so far. Yet, he does not reach my shoulder. I could snap him in two if he dared to fight me.

The thought makes me pause as I look over his head at Mee’na.

The urge to protect her and keep her safe grows overwhelming in the presence of this male.

“Come with us,” the male says, his words pulling me back to the present. “We have more to discuss.”

Mee’na stiffens. “Come where?”

“A secure location, where we can…speak more about these…beings.”

“And if I refuse?” A good question. The idea was to win the help of these fighters. It was always the plan to go with them. But Mee’na is smart. She is testing the male’s level of hostility.

The male’s eyes narrow and I know immediately that he will fail the test. As suspected, he jerks his head to his group of fighters.

Immediately, two spring forward, rushing up to Mee’na and standing with their weapons in front of them, far too close to her.

It is clearly a threat.

If she resists, they will use force.

“Take her,” the male says and his fighters each grab one of Mee’na’s arms.

I’ve seen enough.

Forgetting my camouflage, I reveal myself behind the male and only the gasps of the fighters behind me cause him to look behind.

The color of his skin drains as his eyes widen. He reaches for the weapon at his back at the same time that his fighters all point their weapons at me.

“San’ten!” Mee’na shouts.

I glare down at the male before me, bending till my face is right before his.

“I would tell your fighters to let her go, if I were you.”

His weapon is out; I feel the cool metal against my chest.

“Stop! Don’t shoot him!” Mee’na shouts. She tries to rush toward me, only to be held back by the fighters beside her.

The scene makes me growl, my ba’clan going on edge as my hackles rise.

“Don’t shoot him!” Mee’na screams again. “He won’t hurt you!”

Hmph…my female has too much faith in me. All I want to do is hurt this male.

I stare down at him. Stare into his pale, frightened eyes.

“You said he had no ill intent,” he says while facing me, but I know he is speaking to Mee’na.

“And he does not, but he thinks you do!” Mee’na shouts, shaking her arms as she tries to release herself from the grip of the two males.

His fear scent and that of the other hyu’mans around us fills the air.

“Let me go!” Mee’na shakes free from the grasp of the fighters holding her and rushes toward me, planting herself in front of the sergeant’s weapon and my chest.

“Stand down, sergeant. I can't promise he won't hurt you when you have a gun to my chest.” She says this with confidence, her gaze piercing into the male’s before me.

“They look like they want a fight,” I growl.

“Stand down,” Mee’na repeats.

The male trembles and I worry he might accidentally engage his weapon. A growl leaves my throat and it is with great effort that I lower my hackles. But I am still ready to kill them all. All they have to do is make one wrong move. And this sergeant…my eyes are on his trigger finger. If it even twitches, he is dead.

A moment passes before he trembles, his gun lowering slowly, his wide eyes on me before they flick to Mee’na. With one hand, he signals to his fighters and their weapons are lowered with much hesitation.

“He listens to you,” the sergeant says.

Mee’na pushes a sharp burst of air through her nose. “I can assure you, I have no control over this male. The only reason he has not attacked you after everything I have said is because he is not here to war with us. He is here to help us, as I told you.”

The sergeant regards me with extreme focus.

“How do we know his kind did not bring those machines here?”

My patience is thin and I growl again.

“Because,” Mee’na says, “just like Earth, their home world, Edooria, was invaded by the scum currently draining the life from this planet. They are the Gryken and each planet they invade is killed and left to return to stardust. They followed them here, hoping to stop the thing that happened to them from happening to us.” She pauses to look back at me. “They have sacrificed much to be here.”

“And…what do they want in return?”

Mee’na shrugs. “Now that you know they’re here, why don’t you ask him yourself?”

37

MINA

It is with great trust and lots of reassurance that San’ten allows me to ride inside the tank and as we are taken through the abandoned streets, he rides on top of it.

I can tell the soldiers are uneasy, even after having explained that San’ten is of no threat to them, that he is here to help us, and that they can trust him.

Even with him lowering his hackles as a sign of peace, I can still sense their caution.

And I understand it.

They are all silent as we head back to their base or wherever they have been hiding since their attempt at saving humankind failed.

I glance at the sergeant to find him staring at me. He’s wearing shades now, but unbeknownst to him, I can still see his gaze through the tint.

The ba’clan at my back ripple uneasily.

These men don’t trust us…they don’t trust me. Probably because I was a bit more hostile than I intended to be in our preliminary deliberations.

I just…

Seeing them before me, not a scratch or mark on their skin, their faces not drawn or dull, their eyes not sunken, their bodies well fed…it made rage go through me.

All I could see was my time in that machine. The desolation. The ever-present feeling of my own impending doom.

And then I saw the people at Base Zero. Stragglers. All that’s left of humanity and the ones putting up a fight, giving all they have to try and free our little world.

I saw the people at Camp Haven. The mothers. Their children.

I saw their little faces…saw the horrors in their eyes that children shouldn’t have had to see.

It…broke me…and instead of numbness, all that came through was rage.

I forgot my training. I didn’t want to negotiate. All I could feel was anger as I stared into the eyes of the pompous prick before me.

He was unprofessional in how he handled me as well…and I can’t help but think that someone with more experience died a horrible death so he could be in the position he now holds.

The tank bumps and rolls over something large and we all jerk in our seats. My gaze moves to the roof and I can almost feel San’ten there. Feel him listening to me. Ready to do something if things go awry.

His presence calms me somewhat. No…it calms me a helluva lot and I cross my arms as I sit up straight.

One soldier meets my gaze and I swear I see him jerk his chin to me in a covert fashion. It was so slight, I might have missed it.

He’s young, in his mid-twenties, but he has kind eyes. He is the only one not looking at me as if I have the secrets to finding Atlantis somewhere in my skull.

“How far away is the base?” I ask, my eyes finding the sergeant. I assume it can’t be that far. They got here in less than an hour after San’ten demanded it.

My question goes unanswered and that same soldier with the kind eyes frowns a little. He does well to keep that reaction concealed as well, dipping his head before his sergeant or the others notice.

I stare at the sergeant, not sorry about the way I spoke to him earlier.

He’s a dick, but if I have to deal with him for a short while so we can get things organized, so be it. I’ve dealt with dicks I didn’t want to before. Usually, I just pack them up and send them out the door. I guess I can deal with one for once.

The tank rolls over something else and we all move like on a massive wave.

I can’t see where we are going and I’m surprised when the tank suddenly halts.

The sergeant speaks into a radio to someone I assume is outside.

“Yes, I am aware,” he says. “He is with us. He is the subject we were sent to retrieve.”

There he goes again…speaking about San’ten as if he is a thing…an experiment. It makes me uneasy.

They have already taken his blaster, much to San’ten’s annoyance. I’m sure his patience is hanging by a thread. He is only doing this for me.

The tank begins moving again and I note that the terrain has changed. There are no more bumps along the road and it feels like whatever we are now driving on is smooth and lacking debris.

We are within the base…wherever that is. I’m sure of it.

It feels like we continue driving for hours before the tank finally slows down. As the vehicle halts, the soldiers seem to stiffen and when the doors open and they begin filing out, I follow behind them.

The first thing that hits me is how big the space is. Big enough to hold over twenty tanks. There are no windows, though it appears we are in some kind of warehouse.

Orange fluorescent lights shed light onto us from ceilings that are so high, a ladder can’t even reach them.

There is no way this building stands on the surface. It's a good bet that we’re underground.

The soldiers, their guns gripped to their chests, step back away from me as San’ten leaps from the top of the tank and lands smoothly at my side.

I glance up at him, my palm itching to touch him, but I keep my hands to myself.

"This way," the sergeant speaks. He gestures to the soldiers and they part to let us through.

Walking toward a set of large doors, flanked by armed soldiers, I wonder what we will find inside.

I glance at San’ten. The ba’clan at my back are uneasy and I wonder if his are too. Outwardly, there is no indication that he is unsettled…nothing except for the annoyance swimming in his gaze.

He’s not impressed by these soldiers and frankly, I’m a bit worried that this may all be for nothing.

As the doors open to a dim corridor, a stream of soldiers exit. Most male. Only a few female personnel are among the ranks and all bear weapons that are now trained on us.

They make a formation around us, trapping us in a circle and as I turn slowly to look at the situation, San’ten growls beside me.

“Dishonorable,” he murmurs, not even slightly perturbed by the guns facing him. But then again, he is bulletproof. I am not.

The ba’clan at my back pulse as if to disagree.

My eyes pierce the sergeant’s and I am sure I see a slight smirk on his lips.

“I thought we had an agreement. We’re here in peace. We have information you need.”

He takes a step toward us, halting only when San’ten growls loud enough for him to hear.

“That’s for me to decide. For all I know…this is some grand scheme to take out Earth’s last defense,” he says.

I glance at the soldiers around us. They are all well trained, but I can see the fear in their eyes. I can see the loss they too suffered.

“Earth’s last defense,” I murmur. “We know. That’s why we’re here. You can’t win this war yourself. We humans…we aren’t equipped to fight those things.”

“You seem to be well-versed on what we can and cannot do,” the sergeant says. I can tell he’s feeling confident with the number of soldiers around him. He thinks the bullets will be his shield.

“Sir,” I say, “Please stand down. We aren’t here to fight.”

It feels like I’m banging my head against a wall. We’ve discussed this before.

The sergeant shakes his head, gesturing again, and all the soldiers move in unison, aiming their guns at San’ten.

I close my eyes, squeezing them briefly when San’ten snarls loudly, his ba’clan extending in a split second, his blades all rising.

Someone breaks protocol and curses and at the same time, someone’s finger slips. The sound of the bullet is all I hear before chaos ensues.

The first bullet flies past San’ten before he leaps into the air and on top of the tank.

A barrage of bullets follow and somehow, he moves out of the way, dodging each and every one of them.

He leaps from one tank to the other, keeping the bullets away from my direction, and I watch, wide-eyed as the sergeant doesn’t tell his men to stop.

Instead, he watches with a mixture of horror and fascination.

“Stop!” I scream. “Can’t you see he’s not even fighting back?!”

San’ten pauses, crouching on top of a tank far from us, the deep coldness in his eyes directed at the sergeant.

The soldiers don’t stop firing and I stare in horror. My gaze flicks across their faces and I wonder how I didn’t see it before.

These aren’t seasoned soldiers. These are young men and women. Probably have never been to war in their life. Most look like they’ve just exited training.

These are privates. They have no insignia. None of them.

This is what’s left of the military.

Earth has really been destroyed. Even the military couldn’t save itself.

As San’ten rises from a crouch, the bullets battering his body, I wonder how he is even standing. I can’t take it, watching them attack him so.

“Stop!” I scream at the sergeant again. But he doesn’t listen, and I am tired, so fucking tired of this farce, this bullshit!

Rage fills my soul, and a warmth covers my skin. My hand balls into a fist all on its own as I launch myself at the sergeant. A black fist, one covered in ba’clan, connects with his jaw. The movement is far too fast for him to dodge it.

For a moment, I think it’s San’ten that’s launched himself at the sergeant, but as the barrage of bullets die and some of the young soldiers curse, dropping their weapons as they scramble away, only then do I get a moment of clarity.

The fist isn’t San’ten’s. It is my own.

I look down at myself, my eyes going wide as the sergeant collapses to the floor. The red tint of his blood coats his nose and mouth as he looks up at me with a look I’ve seen no one send my way before. Pure fear and horror.

“W-what are you?” He’s scrambling away now, but I don’t care. My hands, my arms…my entire body is coated with ba’clan. I raise my gaze to meet San’ten’s and he hops down from the tank on which he’s been perched.

His body looks strange. There are lumps all over him. And as he lands on the floor and begins walking toward me, the cause of the lumps is revealed. His ba’clan shed the bullets it’s collected, and they fall to the floor, the metal clinking and echoing, the only sound in the huge warehouse.

“What are you?!” the sergeant shouts once more. His eyes have moved from fear and horror to be mixed in with panic and horror now. “What are you waiting for?” he screams at the soldiers nearest to him. “Shoot them!”

But the soldiers don’t comply. They are too busy staring at us, disbelief and fear the only thing reflected on their faces.

As San’ten finds his place by my side, we stand together facing what should not be our enemy. A deep sense of loss begins to fill me. I had hoped this would turn out differently, but now that I think about it, I was being wildly optimistic.

There is a moment of silence where we stand side by side, watching my own kind look at us in fear.

When one of the soldiers steps forward and drops his gun to the floor, I recognize him immediately.

He’s the one with the kind eyes. The one I noticed earlier.

Little by little, the others follow his lead, till they are all standing in front of us unarmed.

“What are you imbeciles doing?!” The sergeant looks livid. He doesn’t move slowly but it seems like slow motion. I can read his intent even before he moves and gets his hand on one of the guns.

He points it at me, not San’ten, a rage in his eyes that makes him look insane.

“Traitor!” he screams and despite the danger before me, my lips twist in a wry smile.

“I’ve been called that before.”

San’ten suddenly moves and the sergeant doesn’t stand a chance. He’s lifted into the air, his feet dangling like a child.

“Drop it,” San’ten growls.

The sergeant still aims, turning the gun on San’ten and as San’ten grasps his wrist, there is an undeniable sound of bone breaking.

He lets out a scream and San’ten simply drops him, grabbing the gun as he falls. Without a second glance at the male now writhing at his feet, he crushes the gun in his hands, an act that even surprises me.

The large doors on the side of the warehouse are suddenly thrown open and I brace myself.

“Sergeant Reeves!” The voice is commanding and all the soldiers around us turn toward the sound and stand at attention.

I see why a moment later.

Walking toward us is a man dressed in the standard dark-blue army service uniform. His badges are too much to count, but the stars on his shoulder tell just what rank he is.

This is a general.

The soldiers salute as he moves toward us, his gaze flicking to the sergeant on the ground before finding San’ten and then me.

I stiffen, waiting for the fear, the panic, or unease, but none of those waft from him.

Instead, he comes to stand right in front of us, the wisdom in his gaze telling.

He faces San’ten, and San’ten’s nostrils flare, but when the general simply outstretches his hand, San’ten pauses.

They stare at each other before San’ten simply turns to look at me.

I blink at the two of them.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you,” the general says. “Or, at least, one of you.” He takes his hand back without the slightest annoyance or embarrassment reflected in his gaze but I’m too busy being taken aback by his words that I cannot speak.

“And you,” the general turns to face me. “A pleasant surprise.”

He turns and glances back at the soldiers that accompanied him, one a major, the others corporals, and jerks his head toward the sergeant who is still on the ground.

“I must apologize for Sergeant Reeves' behavior. That is not the greeting you should have received.” He turns and begins moving toward the huge doors. “Come,” he says, “there is much to discuss.”

38

MINA

It turns out the military have known about the Vullan since the first machine was destroyed. Since then, they have been using drones to scout and have several pictures of the devastation the Vullan leave behind after encountering the machines in their path.

There are even a few clips of Vullan shuttles taking down the machines.

As we sit facing each other in a small room, just the general and the major, a projected screen displays their findings on the screen in front of us. A sense of pride fills me as I watch image after image of fields of dead Gryken appear.

“When we first discovered their existence, we believed we were being invaded again.” He glances at San’ten who refuses to sit, preferring to stand watch at my back instead. “We soon realized that wasn’t the case. All the evidence we have gathered thus far suggests these…beings are not here to help in the destruction of our only home. They are here helping us.” He meets San’ten’s gaze. “What we didn’t understand…and still don’t…is why.”

Before we can answer, he continues.

“We wanted to make contact, but didn’t know how. We found no ship. No other vessel. And the attacks…they were too fast, too random for us to predict.” He gestures to the images still flicking across the screen. “We always found the dead and destroyed after the fact. Never during.”

The general clears his throat and moves his gaze back to San’ten.

“With the grey ones increasing their numbers, building armies, we knew that every hope of us surviving depended on somehow forming an alliance with your people. We just didn’t know how to make contact.” He suddenly smiles. “But lo and behold, you find us.”

In his usual manner, San’ten does not reply.

“We need your help,” the general finally says.

“That is why we are here,” I respond, moving my gaze from the major and then back to him. “Didn’t you inform your sergeant of this? Of the fact you know of the Vullan and were trying to make an alliance with them?”

“Vullan…” He turns the name over on his tongue. “No,” he finally shakes his head. “This information was strictly confidential, on a need-to-know basis.”

“Well, that need-to-know basis almost got him and the rest of his men killed.”

The general’s eyes narrow somewhat before he nods. “That was clear. A mistake on our part.”

I sigh. It feels like we’ve wasted enough time.

“Well, I think it’s time we do what we came here to do.”

* * *

SAN’TEN

My blaster is returned and the male Mee’na calls "the general" sits and listens intently as she gives him information and asks questions of her own.

She is the smallest being in this room, yet she walks with such authority and surety, that she commands the other two males' respect.

I am obsessed as I watch her create some sort of agreement with her people that we will communicate to my own.

I let her do most of the talking, only responding when she asks me a question directly. I explain how my weapon works, how He’rox, our medic and genius technician, will upgrade all of theirs so it emits the same blasts as mine, strong enough to take out a Gryken.

The plan was to provide them with weapons we’ve already made. That’s why we’ve been mining the ore in the caverns below Base Zero, but I do not reveal that. Not yet.

If we upgrade their weapons and the hyu’mans decide to turn against us, it will only end one way.

We will simply be pissed off, and they will be dead.

When the male doesn’t respond with overt greed, I am pleased. This may be a good alliance yet.

Hours pass as Mee’na works with the general, drawing up plans. Soon they are standing head to head at the table, going over plans drawn on large pieces of blank sheets.

She explains how the Gryken fight, explains their anatomy and even draws an image of them close up.

“We have several of their remains,” the general says, and Mee’na balks. “It was the only way we could study them.” He glances my way. “And learn more about your kind, but the only thing we’ve learned about you is that you are very efficient at killing…”

“And that you have technology we have never seen before,” the other male finally speaks.

The general jerks his chin to his chest. There is a twinkle in his eyes as he looks at me, respect in his gaze.

“Is that why you bear no arms?” I ask.

The general’s lips twist into a slight smile and he clasps his hands behind him.

“We won’t pretend. We both know if you wanted to kill everyone in this base, there is nothing we could do to stop you.”

My ears flick. I could learn to tolerate this male.

As they work though, I can see how they glance at Mee’na. Covered in ba’clan, I am sure they think she is wearing a suit. However, they do not ask about it.

“We have spotted groups of the enemy, here, here, and here.” The general points to a map on the table.

“And where are we?” Mee’na asks.

The general indicates and she nods.

Close. The Gryken are close. Almost surrounding us.

When Mee’na meets my gaze, I can tell she is fighting a battle in her head.

We know what they are waiting for.

Her.

“We have to get your weapons, your tanks, the few aircraft you have left all equipped to fight this war,” she says.

The general agrees. “And not a day too soon.” He jerks his chin at the major, who responds with the same gesture before exiting the room.

As the general stands, lifting his chin high, he regards Mee’na.

“Don’t you have to notify the president or anything about this? How long will it take to get mobilized?” she asks.

The general’s eyebrows move slightly. “What you see is what you get.”

Mee’na blinks at him.

“There is no one above to report to. We are all that’s left.”

Her eyes widen, her hand moving to slam over her mouth. “You can’t mean…”

“The air raids, the bombs, the everything didn’t stop because we gave up. It stopped because there wasn’t anyone to fight anymore.” He turns to face the screen and a sigh makes his shoulders rise and fall. “The big guys, those in power, they’re safe away from here…but communications were lost some time ago.” He turns to face Mee’na once more. “There is no one to report to. We must do what we can and hope we can liberate ourselves.”

Mee’na nods. “Fine with me,” she says before her gaze finds mine.

“Ready to fight?” she asks.

I growl, stretching my shoulders.

I thought she'd never ask.

39

MINA

As we head from the underground stronghold, a full convoy of tanks and trucks carrying personnel, San’ten rides on top, ready to alert us if he senses any Gryken close by.

We’re moving through that deserted city where we found the camera, when the tank we’re in suddenly halts.

“Private…” General Flanders’ eyes go slightly wide, and for the first time, I sense his fear. “…why have you stopped?”

The private manning the vehicle stutters. “I-it’s him, sir. He stopped us.”

“San’ten?” I rise, crouching so I don’t hit my head. “He’s stopped us?”

There can only be one reason.

“Open the door.”

As they obey and I hop out, San’ten isn’t there. I have to move around to the front of the tank, where I spot him standing, still like a statue, his gaze pointed down the street and a snarl on his face.

I don’t see anything.

I don’t hear anything either.

“A Gryken?” I whisper, moving to stand by his side.

“Worse…” he says.

Worse?

“What can be worse than a Gryken?”

“All of them…” is all he says. Words enough to send terror to my soul.

“And…” San’ten continues. “Them too.”

* * *

SAN’TEN

Rek.

I heard a sound I didn’t want to hear. An undeniable one. One that can only mean one thing.

Mee’na now at my side, I tilt my head, so my gaze scans the skies.

There is a hum above and it isn’t a shuttle. It’s the mothership.

They have left Base Zero.

As I look up, my ba’clan writhe with annoyance.

They found me. Found us.

“I don’t hear anything. Which way?” Mee’na says, then she lifts a hand, the back of her palm to me. “Wait…I hear it now.”

Her skin goes pale as she tilts her head to look above.

“Oh no,” she whispers.

Before the ship uncloaks, I scent him and as soon as I do, I locate him on the ground. Fi’rox stands several leagues away. Far enough that I cannot make out his features, but I know it is him.

Only he could have tracked us this far.

“Fi’rox,” I growl, standing to my full height.

Mee’na’s head snaps in the direction I’m facing and her eyes widen. “They tracked us?”

“This quu’mion did.” My voice does not hide my annoyance. At times, I wish Fi’rox was not so good. This is one of those times. He has single-handedly spoiled everything.

The mothership uncloaks, appearing like a huge dark block in the sky that blots out much of the light.

“Oh…my…god,” Mee’na’s eyes are wide as she stares at it. “It looks even bigger than it did in that cave.”

“It was compacted to fit into the caverns,” I reply.

I’m still glaring at Fi’rox as he heads our way, moving quickly down the thoroughfare.

With the ship in the air and Fi’rox in plain sight, our hopes of being discreet are slashed.

A hyu’man exits the tank behind us, the general, and I barely take note of his shock as he stares above.

“I guess we would have had to face them anyway,” Mee’na says. “Seeing as we were heading directly to them.” There is a note of regret in her voice and I know she had needed the time to prepare herself.

As an empty lift descends, the dark cube slowly leaving the ship and heading down to us, I force my ba’clan to stay still.

Mee’na is right. We can no longer run. We can no longer hide.

The lift arrives at the same time that Fi’rox does.

His ears twitch as he glances my way then ignores me.

“Mee’na…” He says, staring at her ba’clan, before his gaze flicks to mine. “She is yours…”

I do not reply, but the blades along my arms tighten. “I dare you to challenge it.”

“We thought as much,” he finally says.

Mee’na’s eyebrows lift and she glances my way. “How did you find us?”

Fi’rox lifts his shoulders and keeps them that way in a movement that looks unnatural on a Vullan.

I scowl.

“After we picked up the hyu’mans you rescued, it wasn’t hard finding your camp…and from there, it wasn’t hard finding you.” He finally meets my gaze. “You made no effort to conceal your movement through the forest this time.”

I want to punch him in the face. “Forgive me, brother. I was too busy trying to protect my female from the horde of Gryken at our back. Next time, I will try to make it harder for you to find us. Give you a challenge.”

Mee’na’s eyes widen. “Guys…no need to fight. I don’t want to cause any tension…”

Fi’rox shakes his head. “There has always been tension with this one,” he says. “I am surprised you have managed to tolerate him for more than a day.”

I scowl some more, my ears flicking off the sides of my head when Fi’rox suddenly moves forward and embraces us, sandwiching Mee’na between our bodies.

“We were worried,” he says. “The entire sleekt. The hyu’mans too.”

Mee’na releases a sad chuckle. “I know…but I had to.”

“We had to,” I growl, uneasy with this invasion of my personal space. Fi’rox has never embraced me like this before. It is not a Vullan thing to do.

Yet, another change of being around the hyu’mans…having hyu’man mates.

I glance down at Mee’na between us…

She has changed me as well.

The warmth is short-lived as Fi’rox stiffens the same time that I do.

“Gryken,” we say in unison.

Mee’na stiffens between us.

“How many?” she asks.

“All of them,” we reply and she shakes her head.

“What do you mean all of them?”

When neither of us answers, her face goes even paler.

“Heading this way,” I say. “Approaching quickly.”

Mee’na touches the place where the head shield’s controls rest against her skin. Her ba’clan part as her fingers move over the patch.

“But…”

“It was Fer’ro’s decision to disable it,” Fi’rox suddenly says. He releases us, his gaze flicking to the general behind us, who is absolutely silent as he watches the exchange. “We needed to find you. We do not abandon our kind…even if they believe it is for the best.” He focuses on Mee’na and I realize he is speaking about her.

“What do you mean?” she whispers.

“We know why you ran…” he says. “We deactivated the shield knowing they would triangulate to your location.”

A growl rips through me and I grab him by the throat, not caring if I scare the hyu’mans in the transport as I slam him into the hood.

“You put her life in danger!”

Fi’rox coughs and grips my fist but does not fight back.

Mee’na is suddenly by my side, pulling on my arm.

“It’s okay. This was bound to happen one way or the other,” she says, her panicked gaze flicking between us before she suddenly stiffens too, her hearing probably picking up the sound of the approaching hooves…thousands of them.

She shivers, her eyes widening slightly as she grips me tighter. “I can hear them,” she whispers. “We have to move!”

As I release my grip on Fi’rox, he slides off the transport.

“Come,” Fi’rox says, gesturing to the lift.

It is only then that he seems to notice that we are surrounded by hyu’mans in a long line of their armored vehicles.

The general’s eyes are slightly wide. He makes to stretch his arm toward Fi’rox like he did with me but decides against it, pulling it behind his back where he clasps it with the other.

“Evacuate your men,” Fi’rox says, “Or they will die.”

The general frowns. “Evacuate to where?”

“There,” Fi’rox jerks his chin toward the lift, which expands as someone in the ship above sends the command. It is now big enough to fit all the hyu’mans in the convoy. “Now!”

When I glance down at Mee’na she is still gripping my arm, her gaze off in the distance.

This is what we knew it was leading up to. This day.

“I guess let’s get this over with,” she finally says.

40

MINA

With all the soldiers cramped into the lift with us, it rises. Black walls become see-through as we rise, an effect that makes some of the soldiers inhale sharply.

But that is nothing compared to the view before us. As the lift rises, we get a bird’s eye view of the city.

Destruction everywhere. Desolation like a thick mood that blankets what once was a bustling city. And beyond that desolation, heading straight toward us like they’re heading toward a target, is a sea of gray eclipsed by machines, too many to count.

Gryken.

“Oh shit,” someone mutters.

To my left, the general grunts and his shoulders stiffen as he narrows his eyes. To my right, San’ten moves closer to me.

“Coming at us with numbers. Think they will overwhelm us,” he says.

I don’t know. Can he see what I can?

It’s like a sea of death, a tsunami from the grim reaper, and it’s heading right at us.

The lift enters the ship so smoothly, there is no jolt or jerk. One moment, we are high in the sky, the view of death before us, and the next that view is cut off and we merge with the ship.

The lift opens, the panel before me simply disappearing but I don’t get a chance to even see my surroundings before someone shouts my name and rushes toward me, pulling me into their arms.

My arms hang at my sides as Sam hugs me, and it takes much effort for me to lift them and hug her back.

I feel like a deserter. Like I abandoned them. Like I don’t deserve her obvious love for me.

What did I do to deserve it? Thinking of what I can see outside, I have brought doom. The exact thing I was trying to prevent.

Sam pulls away from me to look at me. “You’re all right.” She smiles, tears in her eyes. “We were so worried.”

My lips press together as I try to find words to say. “I…”

“Don’t worry.” She shakes her head and wipes the tears away with the back of her hand. “You don’t have to say anything. We know.”

“No time to discuss it,” Fi’rox butts in. “We have to get ready.”

He jerks his chin at a Vullan who’s standing in the loading dock. “Tell them the hyu’man fighters are here. They need to be armed.”

As I look into Sam’s eyes, trying to communicate how sorry I am, the general suddenly speaks up. “We are armed and ready to assist.”

Sam glances his way. “Not with those pieces of shit,” she says.

The general arches an eyebrow.

“Hi,” Sam grins and waves. “Nice to meet you all. This is the mothership. Happy to have you but as I’m sure you saw, shit’s about to hit the fan.”

At her back, her mate Ga’Var looms. “Follow me,” he says. “We will get you armed. There is not much time.”

“There is no time,” Sam corrects.

The soldiers look to the general, who gives them orders to follow Ga’Var.

I breathe a breath of relief that he’s gotten on board so quickly. As for Sergeant Reeves, I shudder to think what would’ve happened if he’d been the one in charge.

As the rest of us hurry down the corridor to the bridge, the one thing on my mind is that in the next few minutes, I’m going to still be alive…or I’m going to be dead.

The thought consumes me so much that when an arm grasps mine, pulling me to the back of the group, I don’t immediately realize it’s San’ten.

He pushes me against the wall of the corridor, his body pressing into mine.

“Mina,” he breathes and I’m finally brought back to the present.

“San’ten…”

“This day was going to come,” he says.

I lean into him, burying my face against his chest, and nod. Of course, I know this. It still doesn’t dispel the growing fear in the pit of my stomach.

San’ten lifts my chin, his mouth crashing against mine, and I melt into his embrace.

“After this…” he says, “I want you in my nest on soft bedding.”

His words pull me away from the terror rising in my soul, and I am thankful for it. I know he’s only doing it to distract me, and it’s working.

“Remember, there are things you never knew I could do.” For a moment, he camouflages, going invisible before appearing again.

I smile.

“Things I have to show you…” he murmurs, dipping his face to my neck. He swipes his tongue across the spot he’s bitten. It’s already healed. Something I wasn’t even aware of.

I grip on to him, my arms encircling his shoulders. “Think we will survive this?”

San’ten grunts.

“We will. Just the thought of sinking into you when this is all over is enough to propel me to kill just so I can do it.”

I squeeze him tighter. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The first blast that hits the ship makes a strong vibration go through it—enough to make me grab on to the control panel on the bridge as I try to steady myself.

“What the hell was that?” Lily’s eyes are wide as she does the same thing to keep her footing. Beside her, Jillian grabs on to something as well, while Adira, Deja, and Sam all hang on to each other.

The general is the only one who sets his legs apart, relying on his knees to keep himself steady.

“Scrits,” San’ten growls. They are firing at us.

“Shit,” I groan.

“Do not fear,” Fer’ro says. “The shields have already been activated.”

Another blast hits us, and I notice a film of energy move through the ship. Despite the shield absorbing most of the blast, the vibration still almost knocks me off my feet.

I stare ahead out of the view screen.

Shit’s really going down. This is really it.

“Where are the people from Camp Haven?” I look around. “I haven’t seen any of them.”

“Don’t worry. They’re safe in an armored room. If things go down the wrong way, they’ll survive this,” Sam says.

I nod, hoping she’s right but also hoping it doesn’t end like that.

Through the corner of my eye, I notice Fi’rox slap a hand on Fer’ro’s shoulder. He clicks in Vullan and Fer’ro nods almost imperceptibly.

“Time to go,” he says, turning to San’ten and San’ten responds with a copy of that almost imperceptible jerk of the chin.

He turns to me, his ba’clan already roiling, and pins me with his gaze.

I gulp, the weight of his gaze telling me everything his mouth does not say.

Moving into him, I wrap my arms around his torso and plant my head against his chest.

“Come back to me,” I whisper, one hand moving up to caress his neck. Underneath my palm, his ba’clan part so I can touch his skin. He is wearing a new head shield, and I pray it does its job.

San’ten grunts. “I will never leave you, Mina.”

I gulp again. He’s said that to me so many times now, yet I’m still terrified of the opposite coming true.

San’ten tilts my chin up, his lips capturing mine, communicating with touch what he refuses to say. And just as another blast hits the ship, I grip on to him, not wanting to let go.

“San’ten,” Fer’ro calls from the door and San’ten reluctantly pulls away.

“Remain safe,” he says.

I huff a breath of air through my nose. “I should be the one saying that to you.”

San’ten holds my gaze for a few more moments before dipping his forehead to mine once. He pulls away quickly, turning and rushing from the room behind Fi’rox and Fer’ro as they head to the docking bays.

I shiver as I watch them go, not noticing Sam and Deja watching me. When I finally realize their attention, Sam gives me a small smile.

“We gotta hear the story about you two as soon as all this is over,” she says.

“That’s if we survive this,” Adira murmurs.

Her gaze focused out of the view screen, she’s gripping the control panel so hard, her knuckles are white.

Below us and as far as we can see, there is a sea of gray. And within this sea, are the walking sentinels of death. Scrits.

This is going to be ground zero and for a moment, I worry about any humans that may be down there. The chances of surviving will be close to zero.

Even for a Vullan…

As we stand on the bridge, the ship jerks and begins moving.

“What’s happening,” I snap my attention to Adira.

There are only two Vullan left on the bridge with us and they don’t look up, busy manning the controls.

“Defensive maneuvers activated,” one of them answers. “If we stay still, we are an immobile target.”

As the ship moves, so does the view out of the viewscreen.

Down below, Gryken screech, covering buildings, abandoned cars, every free space there is, and shooting straight toward them, is a group of Vullan.

They move through the air, slicing it as they head to the ground like streaks of black ink.

My eyes widen.

They have no parachutes.

My heart is in my throat as the first Vullan lands and I know it’s San’ten. So high above ground, I can’t see his features with precision, but I can tell it’s him by the way he moves, he immediately slices three Gryken down as soon as his feet touch the ground.

Alongside him, Ga’Var and Fer’ro decimate the Gryken at his back, clearing a circle around them.

More Vullan fall, streaking through the air to land without harm, one landing with his blade already extended. It sinks into the skull of a Gryken, splashing the Vullan with blood and even from here, I can see him tilt his head back and roar with the pleasure of the kill.

“Where’s Fi’rox?” Sam asks beside me.

A blast of red light heads directly toward us and as the mothership swerves, vibrating as it is partially hit, I grip on to the control panel harder.

“There,” Deja points.

A black shuttle flies over us and three more follow.

Deja watches it go, moving closer to the screen.

The shuttles head straight toward the machines towering in the distance and for a moment, they go out of sight as the mothership swerves again.

A blast of white light comes from somewhere underneath it, hitting a scrit in the distance. The machine staggers just as a shuttle appears right before it.

Five white blasts from the shuttle as it flies past and the machine explodes in its wake.

“Yes!” Deja slams a fist into the control panel. "You go, baby!"

Seeing a machine fall is just what we needed.

The mothership swerves again and I get a glimpse of the ground below. Vullan are swarming the ground. Easy to see against the gray flood, they cut them down one by one, but the Gryken just keep on coming.

A huge circle of dead Gryken now litter the street below but the Vullan do not stop. They cannot.

But the clearing they created is enough for a lift to land. As soon as it does, the privates rush out. Brand new blasters clasped in their hands, they don’t hesitate but begin firing.

The general moves to stand at my side. He grunts, watching the progress of the war below. “Just a few months ago, those were brand new recruits,” he says. “Who would have thought they would be the ones to carry the weight of saving their planet on their shoulders.”

There are no words.

He is right. Who would have thought?

None of us could have.

As the ship swerves once more, evading a blast while emitting one of its own, I grip the control panel, a chill going through me as I feel a tickle in my brain.

I stare out through the view screen, my gaze fastening on the machines I can see.

“We have lost patience…” the voice says, solidifying the ice on my spine.

I fight the fear that suddenly blooms, my gaze searching the ground below before going back to the machines in the distance.

“Where are you?” I whisper.

“We have come for you.”

Another blast comes at the ship and it swerves, but not before we are hit by another.

“Fuck!” someone screams.

The ship jerks and tilts, skewing the view outside before righting itself. It is only then that I see the smaller blasts coming from the mothership. Turrets. Turrets shooting down the Gryken on the ground.

It’s working, killing Gryken by the dozen, but my heart beats hard as if trying to lodge itself into my neck.

San’ten and the others are fighting hard. Even the soldiers down there are doing the best they can. They use the obstacles on the ground to their advantage. As shields and as vantage points.

But there’s no way they’re going to be able to keep it up forever.

Over a hundred dead Gryken litter the ground…but there are a thousand more heading toward them with an intent to kill.

It is never-ending. This isn’t a fight we can win.

“Surrender to us.”

I swallow hard, resisting the urge to scream at the voice in my head.

I hadn’t heard them in so long, it had been a welcome escape to have my mind to myself again.

But maybe I can use it to my advantage.

“Where are you?” I whisper, low enough that the people beside me cannot hear.

But I receive no response.

If I can just find which one is talking to me…I know we can turn the tide of this onslaught.

I need to find the leader.

As the Vullan on the ground fight, Adira clenches her fists.

“Right. I can’t stand and watch this.” Without another word, she turns and walks with purpose from the room. Sam glances at me and I see the intent in her eyes as she follows behind Adira.

The ship swerves once more and three streaks of black come into view as the shuttles swerve in the air. They all head toward a damaged scrit as it moves across the ground.

The huge legs rise and fall as they move toward us, crushing the earth beneath it.

I can almost feel the earth shudder below.

As the shuttles break formation and only one of them streaks toward the machine, the searing heat of one of the machine’s attacks cuts through the air. The fighter jet only has a moment to respond, swerving sharply to save itself and spinning as it nosedives.

Somewhere in the room, Deja screams. The utter horror in her voice, the immediate pain, it makes my heart clench.

That must be Fi’rox’s shuttle. I turn to her, but she’s already rushing from the room.

In the meantime, the horde of Gryken is closing in on the Vullan down below.

Another lift lands and two black figures, Adira and Sam, exit, blasters firing.

“It’s suicide,” Jillian’s voice sounds beside me.

She’s right.

There is no way they can survive what’s coming toward them.

We…we can’t watch them die.

“We are wasting time,” the voice suddenly says. “Go for the female.”

It is like seeing your worst fear come to life as the entire horde suddenly pauses down below. Their eyes turn to look up at the mothership and I can see when all of our fighters, Vullan and human alike, pause as well, looking at the enemy as they regard the ship.

Like mindless drones, the Gryken all move in unison.

They head to the tallest building, the same building San’ten and I slept in. The same one we made love in.

I watch as they climb over each other like a nest of disturbed climbing ants, climbing till they cover the building in gray limbs. As they reach the top, they continue to climb. Using each other as step stools, they climb one on top of the other till they create a mountain of bodies that begins to grow.

“What in the actual hell…” Lily murmurs, backing away.

My hell. I want to tell her. A hell designed for me that she’s somehow stuck in.

Off in the distance, the machines all turn to focus on the ship at once. In unison, all but one fire blasts in our direction, blasts which merge into one giant beam.

The ship isn’t fast enough to evade it.

Alarms ring as we are hit, hard enough that my knees buckle and I have to hang on to the edge of the control panel to keep steady.

Fear is like an anchor that is tied to my tongue, pulling it down my throat.

I cannot breathe.

We are all going to die.

No. I mentally slap myself. Not yet. Not till we aren’t breathing. Until then, there’s still hope.

As the ship swerves once more, I see San’ten on the ground. He fights mercilessly, disemboweling, beheading…his blade is like death’s scythe.

I know he won’t stop fighting, not till he is dead, and his passion fuels me.

He said he won’t leave me…but maybe, I have to leave him.

As the Gryken below all ignore the Vullan and soldiers cutting them down, instead focusing on making their tower to reach the ship, the machines in the distance fire again.

All but one.

It hits me then that right in front of me is the key. The Gryken that I have been looking for. The one speaking to me.

“Come to me,” it says, as if reading the thoughts going through my head.

“You didn’t fire,” I whisper, the gears turning in my mind. “Somehow…you have free will while the others don’t.”

My heart’s beating so hard now as the wheels turn in my head, putting the pieces together.

As the mothership swerves and the view of the ground is before me, I can see the resistance still giving their all. But then tragedy falls.

It is my turn to scream as I watch a group of Gryken suddenly come out of the daze they are in. They were all ignoring the fighters as they headed to their primary objective. Me. But the group moving closest to San’ten suddenly stops.

The abrupt change in behavior catches him off guard as they launch themselves at him. Like a troop of jumping spiders, I watch, my heart seizing, as one…two…three…four…and three more…seven Gryken launch themselves at San’ten all at once.

He responds quickly, cutting down three of them with one swipe of his blade but one of the attackers hits its mark.

It is my turn to scream as one of the Gryken pierces San’ten’s chest with the sharp end of one of its legs.

I can see the soundless roar he emits as he chops the leg right off, spinning to face another of his attackers with the limb still impaling him.

And they keep coming. More Gryken divert, launching themselves at him, and as tears fill my eyes, I grip the edge of the control panel.

I cannot watch this. I cannot watch him die.

It strikes me that I’ve been in this situation before…and not long ago.

My gaze moves back to the sentinel of death out in the distance.

It stands tall, not attacking…not doing anything, reminding me of that third Gryken that had stood at the forest’s edge, watching us fight for our lives…giving me the option of saving myself only by killing the Vullan that I love.

It’s the same situation all over again.

My eyes narrow on the scrit.

It stands still. Watching. As if the creature inside is looking right through me.

“You are the one in control,” I say through gritted teeth.

This is never, ever, going to end. Not as long as I am alive and Gryken exist.

I will forever be hunted by them. Forever on the run.

“You are the one orchestrating all this,” I whisper, my eyes on the machine far away.

There is silence, and I know I am right.

I also know what I have to do.

41

MINA

As I rush from the bridge, heading straight to the docking bay, there is only one thing on my mind.

Save San’ten.

I move fast, but it doesn’t feel nearly fast enough.

All I can feel is the terror rising in my chest that I might be too late.

All I can see is the image of San’ten being bombarded by a sea of Gryken. Far too many for him to kill on his own.

My sneakers skid across the smooth floor as I stop short, my legs spreading to keep me standing as I grab on to the open entrance to the docking bay. Righting myself, I dash into the room.

There is a lift already waiting there and I rush into it. There are no buttons. No controls.

When two seconds go by and nothing happens, I know I’m missing something and I have no fucking time!

“Language input adjusted. Awaiting instructions,” a computerized voice suddenly says and I jerk at the sound.

Letting out a measured breath, I say the only thing I can that’s on my mind.

“Take me down to the surface.”

“Confirmed.”

The door appears, sealing me inside the lift as the floor opens and it descends.

I bite my lip so hard, I taste blood.

Below me are bodies. Death. Human and Gryken no longer moving. Injured Vullan fighting to their last breath.

The scene hardens me as the lift zooms down, taking only seconds before it hovers over the ground below.

“Hostile life forms in the vicinity,” the computer says.

“Open the door.”

The sound outside is muted, but I can hear the screams of my people…of the Vullan fighting by our side.

“Several hostile life forms—”

“Open the door!”

As the lift opens, the utter carnage I was looking at is even more harrowing.

But I feel nothing.

That numbness has returned.

I don’t see. I don’t feel.

I have placed my heart behind a wall to protect it.

In front of me, I see two soldiers taking cover behind an old Volkswagen.

I don’t run. I walk. Steady sure steps, I step over dead Gryken in my path, not seeing their drying corpses, not smelling the stench of death as I head toward the soldiers in my sight.

It’s that private. The one with the kind eyes.

His eyes widen as I appear before him, his mouth opening partway as he stares at me, his brows furrowing.

“Give me your gun,” I say. My voice doesn’t even sound like mine anymore.

It’s hard. Cold.

The soldier doesn’t immediately obey. Instead, he glances at his comrade, confusion in his gaze.

“Give me your gun,” I repeat. This time, he blinks several times before thrusting the blaster toward me.

I grasp it with one hand, throwing it over my shoulder as I look out into the death concert currently occurring in this city.

I spot my destination without much trouble.

So much Gryken have swarmed in that one location, that I can’t even see San’ten anymore.

But I hear him.

I hear him roar as two Gryken suddenly explode like balloons filled with blood and guts from the pile on top of him.

Still fighting like the warrior he is.

In the middle of the fray, San’ten’s arm appears for a moment, his ba’clan swarming around him in a dark cloud as he slices the beings around him.

The snarl on my face is automatic as I lift the blaster from my shoulders, holding it with both hands as I stalk forward.

“Motherfuckers!” I scream.

I start unloading blasts, not caring about my aim as I fire at a group of Gryken approaching San’ten off to the right.

At the sound of my voice, San’ten roars again. “Mee’na! No!”

With renewed vigor, he fights to release himself from within their grasp, and I watch in horror as my gaze falls to the multiple wounds on his body.

They pierced him multiple times. Too many for him to still be standing.

Too many for him to be alive.

They’re killing someone I love.

My heart hammers against my chest.

For I do love him. I don’t know when I started to, or when the realization settled in my subconscious, but it’s here at the forefront of my mind now and I can’t ignore it.

I love San’ten. And I can’t let him die.

The one thing he’s always said to me was that he’ll never leave me. I’m not about to let these demons rip him from my life like they’ve done with everyone who I loved before.

I’m done with them dictating the course of my life. My future.

I reclaim my path. My soul.

It’s me they want. Well, it’s me they’re going to goddamn get.

My finger presses the trigger, releasing small blasts of light that hit the Gryken, taking a few down, injuring others. I don’t release the trigger until the gun overheats, vibrating in my hands.

Off in the distance, I see that one machine standing tall, unmoving. As the others continue to fire blasts at the mothership, that single machine stands on its own. Watching. Waiting.

A chill goes through me as I stop moving, my eyes on the scrit.

“Let him go,” I say. Like déjà vu, I’ve lived this before.

“You know he’s important to me. You do this so I will come to you.” Rage fills me. I don’t know how, but I know the creature in that machine is listening.

“You want me to surrender? Well, here I am!” I say. “You’ve done this before, many times,” I say, lifting the blaster upward. It’s charged again. Ready. “But you never expected this.”

As I lift the muzzle to my head, the Gryken suddenly pause. Again. Like drones, a thousand heads turn to look in my direction.

“Mina!” San’ten roars my name as he fights, slicing himself free of the Gryken immediately in his vicinity.

“I’m not a fool,” I say, my eyes on the machine in the distance. “You came to my planet. You saw we were weaker than you. So, you took everything. But what you didn’t realize is that we learn. We adapt. We survive.”

I glance above me, hoping the ship is in position.

“You didn’t play your cards close enough to your chest. You didn’t think we’d realize.”

A Gryken several feet away from me screeches, its gaze locked on me, and like a chain reaction, they all screech, the focus of every one of the scum planted on me.

I fight the tremor that’s forcing its way down my spine. Fight the fear that’s threatening to creep in.

As the first Gryken moves in my direction, my finger moves over the trigger on the blaster.

I hear San’ten’s roar, the pain in his voice, as Gryken head toward me.

“Mina! Run!”

He’s free and I drop my gaze from the machine in the distance to the male rushing toward me. Injured but still fighting, San’ten strips the life of every Gryken he passes, his eyes on me, open, vulnerable, as he watches me with the gun to my head.

I have only a few seconds before he reaches me…before the Gryken reach me too.

Only a few seconds for this to work.

And if I’m wrong about my hunch…if what I’ve put together is not true…

But sure enough, above me, the mothership moves into position.

Just before I left, I told them which scrit to target. It's up to them now. I've done what I can.

My distraction is working.

As the first Gryken collides with me, taking me down and knocking the gun out of my hand, I smile.

I land on my back, the Gryken above me. Its eyes bore into mine and I stare back.

“You didn’t expect us to figure it out,” I say. “Did you?”

I look up into the eyes of the enemy, knowing that one Gryken that's leading them all is seeing through its eyes. I stare into those eyes, not feeling the fear that should be there.

That’s gone now. Perished alongside the fear of my own mortality.

“You’ve stretched yourself too thin,” I chuckle. The Gryken above me rears its head back, emitting a screech that deafens me. But I do not cower. I do not run. “Greed can do that to a being…even one that’s intelligent enough to conquer worlds.”

As a dark blade slices through the Gryken’s head from behind, cutting the skull in two, I watch as the body falls limp at my side.

Above me, San’ten’s eyes are a mixture of insanity and fear.

“Mina!”

He grips me, pulling me against him as he shields me from a Gryken that launches at us from the air.

“What are you doing?!” he screams.

“Ending this,” I whisper.

His mad gaze shows only a sliver of confusion before the air cracks above us.

A beam, one thicker than the others I’ve seen fired from the mothership up to this point, emits from the vessel.

All around us, movement stops as Gryken turn in unison to look toward the lone machine.

There’s a beat of legs hammering the ground as they all take off in the direction of the machine.

I can see when the machine tries to move, to evade the blast. It even fires back. But it is too late.

As the beam makes contact, the attack seems to be absorbed into the machine itself.

My world stops moving.

No.

It’s still there.

That blast was supposed to take it out.

There’s a moment where I don’t breathe, before a loud boom echoes across the city and a light as bright as a thousand suns erupts in the distance.

Like the culmination of a nuclear bomb, a blast of heat travels over the entire city and I open my eyes once more just in time to see what’s left of the machine fall to the ground.

My heart thumps, beating for the first time in what feels like minutes.

“We did it,” I whisper, and when the Gryken heading toward the destroyed scrit fall, I know the impossible has come through.

We’ve won.

42

MINA

San’ten’s bloody face is over mine as he stares down at me as if he’s seeing a ghost.

“Mina,” he says, “tell me you were not going to do it.”

I blink as my mind zones in on the present. Around us, the Gryken that have fallen try to stagger to their feet. But they are disoriented—the center of the mind-link, the one keeping them all together, now gone.

As the Vullan and remaining soldiers take them out with ease, moving down the streets with trained precision, my head falls back against the cold earth.

Somewhere close by is the roar of humans. Males. The gang.

They erupt from an underground train station with homemade weapons and rage, running into the fray.

“Mina!” San’ten shakes me and a thankful smile twists my lips as I look up at him.

He’s alive. Severely injured, his chest is coated in blood, the large wounds still open where he was pierced.

“Tell me you were not going to activate that weapon against your head.” His voice sounds strained. “Tell me you were not going to take your own life.”

It feels as if all my energy is drained and I can only shake my head weakly.

“Tell me you weren’t trying to leave me,” he says lower.

I shake my head again.

“Never,” I respond.

San’ten brushes a hand across my cheek before his gaze focuses behind us. He rises, taking me with him as he staggers toward the lift. Once inside, he clicks in Vullan and the lift closes and begins to rise.

It turns slightly as it aligns itself with the mothership above us and once it has merged inside once more, the door opens.

“Mina!” Lily pauses mid-pace. Her hands are red from her wringing them and she rushes toward me and San’ten. “Oh my god, is she alright?”

I smile at her too. “Never better.”

San’ten staggers but keeps walking, heading down the corridors with Lily jogging behind him.

“Take the lift,” he says to her. “Head to the surface. Help the injured fighters.”

Lily pauses, her eyes darting to me, and when I smile again, she nods before turning and racing back the way we came.

As San’ten continues down the corridor, a trail of dark blood follows us. I lift an arm to his chest, my heart aching.

He shouldn’t be carrying me, but the way he is holding on to me, I doubt it is up for discussion. He walks unsteadily till we reach a section of the corridor where he pauses.

A spot in the wall opens and he steps through into a dim room. His room. I only know because it smells like him. That faint scent of rain.

He staggers over to a spot on the floor and as soon as he steps into it, light dances over us.

“Mina,” he groans, holding me tighter.

“I’m here,” I whisper and he lets out a pained sound.

“Lie down,” I say. “Let me tend to you.” But San’ten simply shakes his head.

My skin tickles as his ba’clan slowly disappear from his skin. They settle in patches over the many wounds dotting his body.

“I will heal,” he says, his eyes searching mine. A pained expression falls over his face and I grip his jaw.

“Put me down, you’re in pain. You’re hurt.”

He shakes his head once more. “Nothing like the pain when I saw you down there. Nothing like the pain when I thought you were about to sacrifice yourself.”

I gulp. I feel guilty but I cannot apologize.

“I needed the one leading them to think I was going to kill myself. They want me. Alive. It was the only thing I could think of to stop it from targeting you.”

San’ten pulls me closer as the light finishes its dance over us. All the dust and dirt, the sweat, the guts, the blood, it’s all gone. The light eradicated it.

His gaze softens. “You did it for me.”

“And I would do it again,” I whisper as I lean forward to rest my forehead against his. “I couldn’t…can’t…lose you.”

As my lips brush over his, San’ten hesitates and he doesn’t respond until my tongue flicks out and brushes against his skin.

With a growl, he lifts me higher and brings me to his sleeping platform. He doesn’t hesitate this time as he pushes me backward onto the softness of the bedding, the entire bulk of his body casting a shadow over me as his lips crash into mine.

There’s a definite rumble coming from his chest, and when my ba’clan seep away to settle at my back, San’ten slips one hand underneath my shirt and cups my breast.

The contact makes me moan and I lift my legs to clasp them around him.

This is what I need. I need to feel him. Need to feel the life flowing through us. Need to feel evidence of our survival of what had looked like certain death.

As I struggle to remove my dress, San’ten’s constant growls almost send me over the edge. He runs his lips down my neck, kissing a pattern that makes my skin tingle before I hear a rip and my dress falls open.

I don’t even care, the feel of the tip of his tongue moving down my skin is too much, and when he takes my nipple into his mouth, a sharp gasp escapes me as my back arches.

It’s enough for him to pull the rest of my clothes off and as my back hits the bedding again, I hear him click a curse.

There’s another rip and I realize that this time, it’s my panties that have gotten the brunt of his impatience.

My eyes blur as he leans into me once more, the heat of his cock warming that soft spot between my ass and pussy. I reach for it, but San’ten pins my arms back with a growl.

His breaths come hard as he gazes down at me, heat, need and want in his eyes.

“Mina,” he says. “My star.”

“Yes?” I whimper.

“I must apologize in advance…beg for your forgiveness.”

My skin prickles with need at the sound of his voice. The intent. The anticipation.

“I need you now. Need to feel you. Need to know you’re here, alive, with me. Need to be deep inside you,” he growls. “I need your warmth.”

“Yes,” I whimper again.

And maybe he sees the desperation in my eyes and it reflects the one in his, for another growl escapes him as he sits back on his haunches, bringing me with him.

The heat of his shaft spreads through my core as his cock slides between my ass, nestled between the cheeks.

San’ten groans, his nictitating membranes sliding over his eyes slowly as his tongue flicks out to lick his lips.

Still clasped high on his back, I tighten my legs as I’m suddenly tilted backward. San’ten rests a large hand at my back, supporting me, and my pussy quivers as I feel his cock throb.

Wetness coats my backside as copious amounts of pre-cum seep from his tip. He slides it down, spreading his spend as he lines himself up with my entrance. Shifting his arms so he’s gripping my thighs, San’ten’s eyes are low as he slowly lowers me onto him.

A moan whispers from my lips as his tip slides inside my warmth and my clit brushes against the plate of ridges on his pelvis.

San’ten shudders at the contact.

Fuck.

At this rate, we both won’t last very long.

He groans, the muscles in his arms tightening as he keeps me still, his tip pulsing inside me.

“I need you,” he groans.

“Then take me,” I whisper.

As his groan vibrates through both of us, I throw my arms around his neck as he lowers me, thrusting upward in the same beat.

“Gods,” he whispers, as I let out a deep moan.

I am full. Stretched. My cunt pulsing as it tries to adjust to the invading width.

“San’ten,” I pant.

“My mate,” he says, his teeth grit. “Mine. Forever mine.”

“Forever?” I pant as he slides out to pummel into me hard, my ass producing a wet slap against his thighs as he thrusts deep.

“Forever,” he says. “All of you.” He slides out and slams into me again. “Every inch. Mine.”

There’s an animalistic growl and I’m suddenly being thrust backward into the bedding. Still joined at our center, San’ten increases the tempo as he hammers me into the bedding beneath us, one hand at my hip and the other finding my clit.

“Mina,” he growls.

I can’t take it anymore.

The orgasm that crashes through me has me screaming his name and I feel him stiffen, his hand tightening on my hip as he thrusts one last time, his fangs baring as he surrenders to his own peak.

He pauses for only a moment, gazing down at me as his fingers find the soft, battered flesh of my entrance. He swirls his finger there around the seal between us, lifting it only when it is coated with spend that has gathered there.

He lifts that finger, studying it before he takes it to my breast, tracing a pattern with the liquid around my areola.

“Mina,” he whispers.

I grip his hand and his gaze flies to mine. “You’re mine too,” I say.

San’ten’s ears flick.

“San’ten…I love you.”

I see when his heart stops. When his chest stops moving and he just stares at me.

“San’ten?”

“We have no proper words to describe it in Vullan,” he says, “but I know what you mean.”

He releases my breast and eases back, taking me in. “For me,” he continues, “you are here.” He releases me to slap a hand over where I assume his heart is. “This organ beats only for you.”

My heart warms. “Always yours.”

San’ten looks down at me, his gaze unreadable. It’s that dark cloud that he is, and when a growl suddenly erupts from him and he grabs me by the hips, spinning me onto my belly, his cock still deep inside me, I can only yelp into the bedding.

He settles deep inside me once more and with a low groan, he begins to fuck me again. And I’m open to him.

He pistons into me, causing me to vibrate into the bedding, screams of pleasure lost in their soft fibers, and when I scream his name, another peak reaching me far too soon, he stiffens, squeezing my thighs tight as his cock releases its treasure.

With a huff, San’ten collapses above me, taking care to brace himself up on his arms so he doesn’t crush me. Warmth envelops us both.

I don’t know how long we lie like that. The bliss is euphoric.

I don’t move and I don’t think he wants to either. He’s still hard inside me, ready as soon as I am to go again.

A soft smile graces my lips as I reach for his arm, nibbling his bicep lightly as I pull him into me. He’s mine. My alien. My mate.

To think that months ago, I was locked in a machine, about to die.

And now…

I’m not aware I spoke out loud until San’ten answers me.

“It’s over, for now. We fought. We won. Your people have the weapons they need to defeat the Gryken. What we came here to do is done.”

I smile.

His words are so positive and they give me a sense of triumph…until I repeat them in my head and I stiffen.

“What do you mean by that?”

I never considered it. That his people might want to go back to Edooria after they’ve helped us.

“You’re going back to Edooria?” I try to turn to face him but it is impossible. He has me pinned.

A fear I never knew rises through me so fast that I’m left feeling vulnerable.

Why had none of us thought to ask this before?

Everything I just gained suddenly feels at stake. My future…a relationship with the male I love…

My throat is dry as I ask my next question. “Are you going back?”

“That is an option for some. They can build artificial biospheres… restart life,” San’ten says after a few moments.

“And for you?”

I can’t see his face. All I can see are the detailed ridges lining his arm, how they rise and fall as he breathes.

“You are my all, Mina. I’m not going anywhere.”

Epilogue

As we walk with Adira and Sam on our way to the bridge, the ship appears livelier than it was the last time I was on it and my eyes tear up when I recognize some of the people from Camp Haven.

I don’t see Ripha or Ambrose, but I see the little girl that San’ten gave the pudding to.

She is with her mother in front of what looks like private quarters, and they stop as they see us approach.

“Superman!” the little girl shouts, twisting out of her mother’s grasp to rush toward us. She bypasses all the other Vullan and heads straight to San’ten. How she recognizes him when he’s surrounded by others of his kind is impressive.

As she throws her arms around his legs, San’ten pauses awkwardly and looks down at her.

He is frozen as she presses her cheeks against him and almost everyone in the corridor stops walking.

“Super man?” one Vullan asks.

San’ten ignores him and stoops to lift the little girl into his arms.

He doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure he knows what to say but the child is happy just throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly, before wriggling to be put down.

San’ten sets her down and she runs back to her mother, who gives us a grateful smile before they enter their room.

“All the newcomers you helped us rescue have settled in nicely,” Sam says. “I think you two have a lot to do with that.”

My surprise must show because she chuckles.

“It seems San’ten left quite an impression on them.”

I glance at him. I’m not sure she’s talking about the same people at the camp that we met.

“They seem happy,” I manage to say.

Sam nods, her smile genuine.

She turns to look at me as we walk, her gaze far too intelligent. “How did you know?” she asks.

My gaze darts toward San’ten. “Know what?”

“How did you know that machine was controlling the horde? How did you know it would listen to you?”

I shake my head, my thoughts going back to that time in the forest, when Camp Haven was almost destroyed…when I experienced the first time the Gryken tried to blackmail me by threatening the one thing I loved.

“It was a hunch,” I reply and bite back a chuckle when San’ten growls. He’s still not happy about what I did. The risk I took.

“Hunches, huh,” Sam grins. “Like the one He’rox had about you.”

Adira shakes her head. “His was backed by scientific evidence.”

“According to him it was just a theory,” Sam counters.

Ah…the medic. I smile. I haven’t seen the white Vullan since the battle. I haven’t seen the general either.

While the soldiers have settled in with the Vullan, working alongside them, training and scouting, the general and the medic must be somewhere else working on something.

It was the medic who figured out why I left.

Unknown to me, that scan he’d done when I woke up had given him a clue about the physical changes in me. Changes he said never showed till I gained consciousness. I don’t know how he figured the rest out.

“Thanks to your hunch, Mina, life is finally taking a turn for the better.” Adira smiles. “We fought the Gryken, human alongside Vullan, and we won. We’re winning.”

“It was only one battle,” San’ten growls before softening his tone. “But for now, we are safe.”

I lean into him.

He’s right.

Here, with him, knowing that he’s always by my side, it’s the safest I’ve felt since I came into existence.

I smile, letting the feeling sink in.

There are three things I never knew when I was a child growing up.

One: that I would live to see the end of the world.

Two: that I would live to see the birth of a new world.

And three: that I would find the soul that completes my being in all of that chaos.

I have purpose. Something to live for.

Someone to live for.

My name is Mina McCleary. No longer numb. Totally feeling.

I’ve fought in a war to liberate my planet…and the reclamation of Earth is only just beginning.

Other books by A.G.

Captured by Aliens

Xul

Crex

Yce

Kyris

Kyro

Riv’s Sanctuary

Riv’s Sanctuary

Sohut’s Protection

Ka’Cit’s Haven

The Restitution

Ajos

Captured Earth

Arrival

Base Zero

Cataclysm

Acknowledgments

Do you know why I wrote this book? Because of all the love the series has gotten. If not for all you incredible readers, I wouldn’t have continued the series, thinking no one was interested in my Vullan males.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

You push me to put the wild stories in my head onto paper.

<3 AG

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About the Author

A. G. Wilde is an avid reader, a gamer, a lover of all things space, alien, and sci-fi.

She is addicted to intense romance, irresistible heroes, and deliciously naughty things.