The Melier: Home World (Women of Dor Nye Book 2) (20 page)

At Gi’Moy’s dubious expression, she went on to explain what she used to do, and how they would implant
trackers
into the communication systems of pirate ships for the Intergalactic Coalition to trail. It was not a physical tracker, as those were too easy to locate, but a malware that infiltrated the system and hid in plain sight while it continuously altered itself.

The only way to remove it was if someone
knew
it was there and even then, it was tedious without the proper knowledge.

Lucia wasn’t an expert like Raz, or even as good as Trey, but she knew enough to get into the system, and the Trepnils were one of the less sophisticated.

Gi’Moy still regarded her with skepticism as she wobbly got to her feet and for some reason it just really irked her that she had to
explain
herself and waste more valuable time.

“Listen,” she blew out with frustration. “I’ve put up with your shit for nearly two
months
. Melierun months, mind you, which is quite a bit longer than Dor Nye months. But I did it because I wanted to make peace and show you that humans do have sense, and manners, even if mine are pretty shoddy at the best of times.” Her hands waved about in true Lucia fashion as she spoke her mind. “So stop standing there giving me the evil eye and show me the damn tech already!”

A span of moments passed as the queen glared at her before she turned and opened a door that led from the cavern. Lucia hobbled over and her jaw nearly hit the ground at how truly
old
half of the tech was.

“As I said,” the queen’s tone wasn’t smug, rather defeated. “It is no good.”

Lucia wandered the room, picking pieces up and turning them in her hands. It was outdated, that was true, but everything still powered up. The items were bulky with thick wires instead of nanotech and chips. She ripped open an ancient comm, the colorful contents spilling like guts and she shook her head tiredly.

“It’s not unsalvageable, but it’s certainly going to take longer than I had hoped to put together something that will allow me to do what I need to do...”

For two days Lucia toiled and broke apart objects only to fit them back together with something else. Half the time she had no idea what she was doing and it was trial and error, but she was
determined
to rig
something
.

For two days she worried about the remaining royal family, especially her mates. She would get angry and cry tears of frustration, and then get angry again that she’d let herself cry.

It was an endless cycle.

If her mind wasn’t set on the task at hand, it would skitter over to the
‘what ifs’
.

As in, what if Soren and Val’Zun were dead?

What if Melierun was overrun and the Trepnils were chaining every citizen, turning them into slaves if not killing them outright?

Ridiculous scenarios ran wild in her mind if she let them, which only made things worse. Concentration was something that came in spurts over that span of time.

For two days Lucia shared meals with the queen, of hardened space rations soaked in hot water that made a tasteless soup. She fed Lenny, she shared her soup with MoMo, and she slept when her eyelids got too heavy to keep open.

It was
existing
.

Queen Gi’Moy didn’t do much talking, though she did keep an eye on Lenny while Lucia continued to work on the tech.

At one point, she could’ve sworn she heard the queen’s whispering laugh when Lenny began purring. She stopped what she was doing for a few minutes, her ears straining to hear anything more, but there was nothing else.

Neither of them had spoken about how Lu had thrown the statue at the Trep who had its sights on the queen, nor of how the queen had knocked into the one that nearly blew a hole through Lucia’s head.

It lingered in the air between them, neither saying thank you nor talking about it at all.

For two days they both waited for rescue, but none came, and then to her surprise and the shock of the queen… Lucia was
in
.

The rig worked.

Chapter 14

Soren withdrew his bloodied hand from the gut of the last Trep as it fell to join the string of bodies from the small group he and Val’Zun had come across.

For two days, he and his brothers had been making use of the hidden hallways within the palace to try and find Lucia, Re’Len, and their mother. Hallways they knew inside and out from traveling them as younglings.

The Treps continued on unawares of their hidden presence only to find bodies continuously piling up.

“Where are they, Val’Ja?” Val’Zun asked coldly as they slipped back through a holographic entrance into one of the passageways. It was one of the few times Val’Zun had spoken since Lucia disappeared. Soren knew it was difficult for his brother to pull himself from his tunnel vision that focused on annihilation of anything that got into his path.

It was the only time he was truly wary of Val’Zun.

“I do not know,” he said gruffly as they swept through the passageways silently, taking a turn for one of the unmarked armories that only the family had access to. They slipped in and regrouped with Val’Koy and Gi’Ren.

“Anything?” Soren asked his brothers.

“Still no sign of them,” Gi’Ren bit out as he wiped the gauntlet attached to his hand. It had four, short, hardened blades to make brief any battle they were in. Their claws were strong and capable, but the blades made everything quick work, and so they all wore a pair of them.

Soren’s resolve solidified further.

Why had she run away? Did she doubt I could protect her?

“Hate to be the
realistic
one of this lot,” Val’Koy cleaned his blade leisurely, “but have you considered Melierun may be short a queen, and one and a half princesses while we gallivant around with the Treps? Do not mistake me; I do love cutting them to pieces.”

“Pessimist.”

“
Realist
,” Val’Koy corrected Gi’Ren.

“Enough.” Val’Zun’s voice was cold as he grabbed a rag to wipe the black blood from his face.

“We will continue looking,” Soren grated. “And we will continue killing.”

****

Lucia continued to flip through comm feeds of Treps within the palace range. Once the rig worked, she easily recalled the steps to infiltrate their network as they’d done for the trackers. She and the queen avidly watched and listened to the Treps, their plans, and what was going on around them. The comms that adhered to the sides of their heads had vid capability and it was informative, yet eerie, to watch from a Treps point of view while they continued to overtake the palace.

Lucia froze.

The feed she flipped to belonged to a Trep headed straight toward Val’Koy.

“A’Drast,” the queen breathed. “He is alive.”

They both watched as Val’Koy
toyed
with the enemy. The long blade of his sword was almost an extension of his arm, he wielded it so expertly. He dodged the talons of one of his two opponents and Lucia could swear she heard him
chuckle
.

“He is too playful,” Gi’Moy scowled. “Always has been.”

They continued to watch Val’Koy swipe his blade through the air with finesse, disemboweling the two Treps when he was finished
playing
with them. And then the Trep fell to the ground, the vid trained on the ceiling. All they saw was Val’Koy stepping over the body, and then he was gone again.

It was Lucia’s turn to sigh as she began endlessly flipping through feeds once more to try and find any sign of the others.

****

Val’Zun breathed deeply once, twice, and then a third time.

When his eyelids reopened, the black orbs sucked up his surrounding environment in a few seconds flat. Everything moved slower in his mind whenever he was struggling for control, and that’s exactly what he’d been doing the past three days. Another day had passed, and they still had yet to find any trace of his mate, the babe, or his mother.

Every time he thought about
her
, he sunk further into the violence that threatened to devour him from the inside out.

Each time it was harder to regain his mind and become himself again.

Each time he questioned if he even
wanted
to. It felt so
good,
letting the madness take over.

Ten Trepnils. Five blades. One blaster. Many talons. Entering from the left.

He was alone this time, which he was thankful for. Val’Zun always felt even more like a lesser male whenever his brothers witnessed his rage overtake him. It was as if he was looking down a scope, dispatching whatever got in his path. It was exhilarating, and terrifying to him, but he couldn’t stop once it started until it was
finished
.

Another deep breath and exhale.

Val’Zun stepped into the corridor.

****

Lucia was just about to flip to the next feed when she saw Val’Zun enter the view. Her heart dipped and a small, surprised sob escaped her lips.

The sting of relief bit the backs of her eyes, but a lump clogged her throat as she registered the person she was staring at. Her fingertips touched the screen and her brows knit together.

This person wasn’t Val’Zun. At least, not the Val’Zun she knew.

“What’s wrong with him?” she whispered and glanced at the queen before her gaze glued to the screen.

“My son,” she said sadly, which would take Lucia by surprise if she wasn’t so worried about Zun. Neither could look away as they watched this
person
exterminate the Trepnils that outnumbered him. His expression was dark, focused, and menacing.

A wave of gooseflesh swept over her arms and she shivered.

“I have never seen him this far gone,” the queen said on a weary breath.

Val’Zun used the blades of a gauntlet he was wearing to swipe quickly and efficiently, with the purpose of severing arteries and inflicting the most damage to those around him. He took out the one with the blaster first, slicing off the hand that held the weapon when it took aim at him. The high pitched howls of the Treps didn’t even faze him, but they made Lucia’s stomach roll over.

Blood. So much blood.

Val’Zun was already covered in it, and he wasn’t even finished.

Instead of using the blaster to easily dispatch the remaining Treps, he chose to use his own body against the enemy, and it was eerie how he didn’t make
any
noise; no roaring, no growling, no speaking.

He simply killed.

Once again her mind tried to wrap around what he had tried to tell her. It wasn’t just during
mating
that he was afraid of losing control. It was
himself
;
something inside of him. A caged beast.

This
person she was looking at now, this was what he had learned to control.
This
was why everything Val’Zun did was premeditated and exact. At least, until she’d entered his life.

“I never thought he would have a mate,” Gi’Moy’s eyes softened and even days after being trapped with her, she was still trying to accept the fact that the queen had any other emotion besides anger and disgust in her presence. “Females have always been leery of him. It saddened me as his mother to think he may be alone forever.” She looked at Lucia then. “He has worked hard his entire life to bridle his aggression. If he believes our enemy has you, it will not be long before he loses all of his discipline. We
must
find a way to communicate with my sons.”

****

Soren slipped in a pool of blood and guts, barely catching himself before he sagged against the wall and struggled to regain his breath.

Four days.

Four days and no sign of his mate and youngling, and the Treps kept coming. They’d overtaken every form of communication in the palace and they didn’t have the capability to break through their shields. Not with all the sneaking around.

How long would it take the Trepnils to figure out how he and his brothers were moving about? It was only a matter of time. They still hadn’t discovered the safe room he’d stashed his father and sister in, but they would eventually. Soren wasn’t even sure if any of the visiting guests still lived, or were able to make it off planet when the Trepnils invaded.

“Do not tell me you are tired,
your highness
,” a grating voice said.

Soren straightened and watched as a trio stepped from around a corner. He
was
tired, but he felt the adrenaline that had kept him going fuel up again and flood his body with enough strength.

“You do not remember me,” he shrugged, feigning disappointment. “I was one of the few who escaped Commander Ta’Ra’Enn’s ship before you tried to kill us all.”

Soren bared his teeth at the name.

The Trep chuckled. “It was a
delicious
time. Specifically…” his eyelids drooped as he narrowed his gaze, “the taste of your
mate
. Did she tell you of our time together? She loved my tongue entering her body.”

Soren roared and dove, but the Trep backtracked, others taking his place and more filling into the hallways.

With the thought of Lucia on his mind, he went into a blind rage. Anything his hands landed on they crushed, they ripped, they maimed.

Three more outcries sounded and he recognized his brothers had heard him and joined in. That familiar euphoria he experienced when the itch to slaughter was sated surged his veins and he clamored with satisfaction every time a gurgled scream pierced the air.

When the four of them pinned the taunting Trep to the ground, he began to plead for his life.

“We do not have her!” he cried, but Soren didn’t
believe
him. Two of his hands clamped around the creatures snout and jaw, many of his needle teeth cracking and breaking under his grip as he slowly pushed the two apart. The sound of popping jaw bones made him shiver in delight while he continued to
push
.

Soren watched the purple, tapered tongue flop around as the Trep screamed and blood from his ever separating jaw flooded his throat, choking him. One last shove and pull, the bones severed completely and Soren ripped the jaw from the Trep, tossing it aside.

Soren’s bloodied face was the last thing the Trep saw before he quickly snapped his scaly neck.

****

“Soren!” Lucia yelled into the mic. She had the feed open to the Trepnil who had taunted her mate. She watched as the four princes pinned the creature, their faces looming around him, but she didn’t see what they
did
. The sound of bones popping and cracking was more than enough. She didn’t want to see it.

“Val’Zun!” she yelled again. She’d been yelling their names into the comm, hoping uselessly that one of them would maybe pick up the device and put it to their ear. It was the same hope she’d been holding onto for the past day.

Lu watched as Soren panted, still hovering over the body of the dead Trep. She couldn’t help but touch the screen, her eyes wetting that he looked so
defeated,
even though he and his brothers had killed every enemy in that hallway.

“I’m right here,” she whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear her but she
needed
to say it.

****

“This is ludicrous,” Val’Koy sighed, irritated. “If we do nothing except kill Treps, we will never get the upper hand. They will continue to send more, and more, and oh,
more
.”

Val’Zun scowled at his brother as they continued to stand in the hallway around Val’Ja’s slumped body after the kill he’d just made. He watched Val’Koy wipe his bloodied blade, looking more annoyed than anything before he asked, “Do you have any ideas you would like to share with the rest of us?”

At this Val’Koy grimaced and looked around the dead bodies. “I happen to be fresh out, but let me get back to you on that.”

Gi’Ren grunted.

A high pitched electronic whine pierced their ears, causing all of them to wince. A snap and fizzle accompanied the smell of burnt scales as they watched the damaged comm attached to the head of a lifeless body smoke up and die. Val’Koy tilted his head as he examined the Trep.

“So, remember a few moments ago when I said I was fresh out of ideas? Yeah, that was a fun time,” he straightened momentarily, and then crouched down beside the dead Trep Val’Ja was still atop. His fingers plucked the comm from the creatures head, and he attempted to wipe the offending carnage on his robe that was also bloodied, which did nothing except smear more onto the device.

Zun shook his head.

“I have an id--” Val’Koy’s brow pulled low and then he slowly smirked after putting the comm to his own ear.

“What?” Val’Zun asked impatiently.

“I just found your mate,” he smugly replied.