Alien Warrior's Captive Earthling: SciFi Alien Romance (11 page)

She couldn’t decide if Zyn was making art or not. It seemed so unlike the icy demeanor he showed. But if she thought the first room might have amazed her, the second one stunned her. It was a dance studio like one a Starlight dancer might use. It had ballet bars and free-floating packs that would allow a dancer to perform in the air.

She couldn’t stop her surprised gasp, and Zyn looked back at her with red slashed across his bronze cheekbones.

“I’ll take you to my ship and lock you in there, then deal with the intruder.”

Her eyes widened as she glanced down with apprehension about what little she wore, then she murmured his name with dismay. His glance took in her barely covered parts as if she had communicated without words her problem directly to him. He pulled her to him dragging her into his body with an unyielding arm at her back, while his other hand came up to cover her mouth.

She’d felt them raise to step up on another platform, as she accepted his lead.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured against her ear.

Anna knew Zyn had meant for not being able to do anything about her flying around half-naked. But what stalled her was his use of an endearment. Her tempered Viper had just called her “sweetheart” and she didn’t think he’d realized it.

Once they’d reached his ship, Zyn put her inside quickly, and then from one blink of her eyes to the next, he had gone. She locked the ships entry, as Zyn had instructed, while she blinked her eyes several times.

“How could he disappear that quickly,” she muttered, as she looked around for him.

She was worried and scared he would be hurt. Tugging on her towel, she tried to cover herself, which it wouldn’t do. Lords, what a position. She wanted to crawl and hide, but Zyn was in danger and she had to do something, and not just sit and wait like a lump.

“Could I be any less worthless?” she muttered, as she looked around the small interior of Zyn’s ship.

She saw weapons everywhere, tucked in the sides of the doors, behind the seats, and then laying on the floor in back. Knives, guns, and what looked like a rocket launcher was in back, and it took up a good portion of the floor.

He was so different than her—his life was filled with fighting. She’d noticed some collapsing pockets in the back of the vessel. She climbed on the seat and turned around, then she reached one and she pushed the opener on it. A hiss sounded, and the pocket expanded.

Inside she found black stretchy material. Once she’d taken it out of the pocket she realized it was a suit, like she’d seen Zyn and Axi wearing.

“Clothes!”

It had to fit! She nearly had tears in her eyes. Still it had been a trial in modesty to just shuck her towel to try the suit on. But she’d discovered it form-fitted to her size. That was amazing because she was so much smaller than the rebel fighters, but the suit tightly hugged all her curves. Although she’d never pull off an Axi in it and look lethal but sexy.

“Covered is better than not,” she mumbled, as she looked out of the ship windows again for Zyn.

Then she looked at the weapons and tried to find one she could figure out how to use. In the door pocket next to her, she pulled out one that looked like a small laser. As she looked at the end of it, she was fairly certain it would shoot a laser charge, if she depressed the right buttons.

Well there were only two ... one had to be off, and one on.

––––––––

Z
yn had only been wearing fighting shorts, so he’d had to choose just two weapons from his ship, before he’d slipped back inside his residence. He’d curled the knife over his left forearm, while he’d held a laser-tap in his right hand. The small laser tap was an accurate gun, and it wouldn’t strike so far as to ruin the walls of his home.

Normally he was icy-calm before a battle, however this time his nerves were tight. It was Anna that worried him—he had more at stake to winning this time. He couldn’t fail. Then it bothered him that he even questioned his ability to defeat any foe, because he never had before.

Never before Anna—

He heard the intruder make a sound toward the open living space and food service area, as he’d come through a hidden entrance on the far side of the cleansing room.

Good open area to fight in,
he thought.

However, Zyn was surprised a second later when a large figure materialized through the wall directly in front of where he crouched in the resting chamber.

He’d not seen that ability before, but he had heard of it. He shot his laser-tap at the half-formed figure. The shot had gone straight through the figure and hit the far wall, where it burned a hole. He’d wanted to swear at the destruction of his home, but the figure taking shape as a large black male with stark white braids had started to curl a weapon toward him.

Zyn hadn’t taken the chance that weapon could function in its half-materialized shape ... instead he’d evaded quickly. Another hole erupted, marking the far side of his resting chamber, and the male had not become fully solid.

Zyn felt a flicker of alarm as he wondered how he could fight a creature without form, who he had the inability to attack solidly. Then as he’d swept by the misty figure, he tried a knife sweep which had met air, before he’d rolled through the entryway into the main living area.

“Boneeater will not be denied! I will have those
shoes.
”

Boneeater?

So his intruder was the legendary scourge. Zyn had felt an uptick in his fighting adrenalin to be faced with a worthy opponent. Next an acid-tipped fighting disk flew at him from the resting chamber, and Zyn flung his body over the service area counter. The disk had followed.

It carried a homing device.

Zyn snarled, and he grabbed a cabinet door to fling it open, right as the disk was set to strike. The twang of the disk as it embedded in the door reverberated through the room, while Zyn saw Boneeater had materialized in the main living area.

Perhaps too worthy of an opponent
Zyn thought, not generating any ideas on how to defeat vapor.

“The shoes are destroyed.” Zyn rasped the lie harshly, while he’d rolled to the other side of the central counter. “The Izards blasted the ship into vapor.”

“Proof!” Boneeater snarled.

Zyn had calculated all contingencies. Then he’d stood, directly in front of Boneeater, while the menace’s shape had flickered. “If you kill me, you will never have proof,” Zyn stated, with utter calm.

Boneeater’s white irises became solid. “I’ve only to
feed
on you, to know the truth,” Boneeater uttered.

Zyn’s heartbeat hammered. He’d not considered that contingency, because he’d not known of it. He was too close to evade, as Boneeater became solid and a ripple of space rolled forward from the scourge and encompassed Zyn’s body.

Zyn grunted as he’d felt suction against his bones. He tried to move, but couldn’t.

“For what you are about to sacrifice to me, may I be damned.” Boneeater’s voice rasped, with true agony, while his irises blazed gold.

Zyn thought of Anna as he snarled and tried unsuccessfully to break his body free.

***

A
nna looked at the door to Zyn’s home.

“This is such a bad idea,” she whispered, while she clutched the laser-pen weapon, which she still hadn’t been sure how to use.

But the longer she’d waited, the more she’d known Zyn was in trouble, so her shaking fingertips touched the doors open mechanism. She raised the laser pen in front of her and her fingers hovered over the buttons. Then before she could stop herself, she made the door open.

She tensed, ready to be attacked in any number of ways, but the door slid open without immediate catastrophe. The moment it had passed its complete opening slide, her gaze had taken in the blazing gold eyes of—

“Brax! What are you doing here,” she exclaimed.

Her gaze jumped over the towering muscular structure of a fellow servant she’d known in the Duchess’s employ. But then her gaze had landed on Zyn, in front of Brax, and Zyn appeared in agony.

“Anna?” Brax growled.

“Stop it, Brax!” she cried, obviously Brax was doing something to Zyn, because he hung limply in the air suspended in a multi-hued blue illumination. “Don’t hurt him!” she exclaimed.

The illumination blanked-out, and Zyn crumbled to the floor. Anna had started to run to him, and then she’d thought about her weapon. She waved it toward Brax.

“Do, I have to use this!” she cried.

Brax shook his head of white braids with his eyes turning to the white she’d always known them to be.

“I thought you were dead,” he muttered.

Anna dropped the laser pen, and she fled to Zyn, where she fell to her knees. She lifted Zyn’s head into her lap and cradled him as best she could.

“He saved me, Brax,” she sobbed as she rocked Zyn, who appeared half-conscious, while she glared up at Brax. “How could you be here without the Duchess?” Anna looked around half-afraid to see the nasty elite woman. “How can your eyes be fiery gold, Brax? What did you do to Zyn?”

Brax shook his head with his lips becoming firm as his dark bronze features studied her.

“He will recover,” he said, and then he pointed to Zyn. “This saved you?” She nodded. “And the shoes, Anna?”

“You know I cannot talk about them.”

Brax had been more than a servant indentured to the Duchess alongside her ... he’d been her friend. They’d known each other since she’d arrived to serve the Duchess. Brax was a mild-mannered clerk, who had performed secretarial duties for the prickly Duchess.

Brax had often been gone on duties for the elite woman, so Anna hadn’t seen him in several months. However, she had trouble reconciling the warrior who towered over them with Brax the placid clerk. Obviously she’d been duped.

“You’re going to have to, Anna. I cannot let anyone get in my way of finding them.”

“But why, Brax? They’re Soto’s, surely you must know that!” she exclaimed. They both hated the Duchess, but had hated Soto more. Soto had been very cruel to Brax—she’d seen it.

Suddenly she gasped and clutched her temple.
Had she seen Soto beating Brax, while Soto told her she must do as he ordered?
 

“Brax,” she whimpered, as she desperately looked up at him.

He dropped to a knee beside her and reached a hand forward to cup her face.

“You’re remembering,” he said softly. “Time away from the influence is cracking.”

Confusion clouded her thoughts, but then she saw Zyn’s hand had clamped Brax’s wrist, and then forced it from her face.

“You will
not
harm her,” Zyn hissed.

“Nobody will harm anybody here!” Anna cried.

Ten minutes later, Anna had looked between Zyn and Brax as they faced off ... but stood at a wary deadlock. Zyn was trying to pretend he was recovered, however, she thought he wasn’t. Still, he stood ready to protect her.

Brax seemed desperate to have the shoes.

Finally she’d turned to Zyn. “Mesmerize me,” she demanded.

His strong chin firmed and his eyes slated. He had emotion radiating off him. “No.”

She huffed. “Please,” she tried. She waved her hand toward Brax. “It will satisfy him the shoes are all but destroyed and we don’t have them.” She turned to glare at Brax. “Then you, Brax, will promise to explain.”

Brax looked none too happy about that. “I’ll not put you in further danger, Anna,” Brax uttered.

Her eyes widened, exasperated. “You are threatening to kill me!” she exclaimed. He shrugged a shoulder not looking any less fierce.

She looked back at Zyn with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to instantly understand her silent meaning. Obviously Brax was at odds with harming her as Brax’s words had indicated. But she liked the fact that Zyn was so in tuned with her at times they needed no words.

“Come here,” Zyn said. “We will prove we are not lying.”

Anna put her hand on the bareness of Zyn’s muscular chest as if she braced herself, while he grasped her nape. Really she needed the feel of him to center her as she looked into his eyes.

“I must appreciate the effect of this black suit on you at some further date,” he murmured, and he completely surprised her.

She blushed and wanted to tell him that she looked horrible in it, however the heat in his gaze said he thought otherwise. Then his gaze deepened and she fell into the blackness ... knowing he’d catch her.

“She’s under,” Zyn stated without inflections.

“I can see that in her glassy eyes,” Brax stated over his shoulder. “Rebel, you did not tell her my identity.”

Zyn didn’t offer any reason. He needed to know more about their relationship. “You understand a Viper’s trance, and you know she cannot lie to me?”

Brax walked around into his peripheral vision. “I do, but you are not true Viper.”

“I’ll not play games with you,” Zyn replied, as he held Anna steady.

“Yes, I believe,” Brax growled.

Zyn had Anna recount everything that had happened to her since being captured by the Izards. He skipped her torture and anything that didn’t have to do with the shoes.

“I release you,” Zyn murmured against Anna’s ear, and he held her against him for the jolt of waking upright. He wasn’t certain Brax realized he’d released Anna from the trance.

“You went back,” Brax demanded. “And found remnants?”

“They were destroyed in the ensuing battle fought for my escape,” Zyn said.

“I must have them. There cannot even be a piece left unaccounted for,” Brax snapped.

“Why?” Anna asked him. “We have shown you, now you must tell us.”

“You will realize the answers soon enough,” Brax answered, with a menacing scowl.

“Soto will try to destroy the rebels and their base if we cannot prove the shoes are destroyed,” Anna said, as she glared back at Brax.

“Anna will not be going back,” Zyn interjected.

“I agree to this, rebel,” Brax uttered.

Anna huffed over their usurping her choice, as if they had a right to. “If there is nothing left of the shoes, Soto will only believe me!” she exclaimed.

“If the shoes are truly destroyed, I will take care of Soto,” Brax said.