Alien Paladin's Redemption (Warriors of the Lathar Book 13) Read online

  She disappeared, winking out of existence like she’d never been. Indra couldn’t even see where her hologram had been emitted from.

  “Well,” she said with a laughing sigh. “That was heavy. Wasn’t it? Secret societies and prophesies. I feel like I’m in some epic fantasy novel in space or something.”

  “Indeed.” The look on Nyek’s face was thoughtful. “I had heard rumors of the existence of such a Cabal but thought they were just stories told in back rooms and taverns. I have never met a member, nor have I met anyone who had claimed to come across a member.”

  “There are no confirmed sightings in any of the historical databases,” Keris confirmed, which, given her nature, was not a claim anyone was going to argue with. “There were suspicions that one of the Lady Miisan’s ladies-in-waiting was a Cabal member but nothing about the emperor’s sister herself. Although, a lot of her records were expunged for the year before her mating. Of course, recent evidence says that is due to a son born out of mating that was covered up.”

  “Oooh, scandal at court!” Indra grinned. “I bet there’s some right juicy gossip you can dig up in those historical databanks.”

  Lights on the other side of the command deck had illuminated and the group headed that way. They hadn’t seen anything that looked like accommodation the way they had come, so she was relieved to see the double doors that opened in front of them led out into a long corridor. Doors led off it, each opening into luxurious rooms.

  “Command level accommodation,” Nyek said. “I suggest we remain in pairs for the duration. No one goes anywhere alone.”

  13

  “So, do you want to tell me what all that was about with Stephens?”

  Indra watched Nyek carefully from across their new room. How the place wasn’t covered in dust she had no idea, but right now she had more important things to think about. Like why Mr. Stick-up-his-ass here had snapped and nearly killed a man.

  “You are more than aware of what happened. He called you by a term of endearment and you are not his female.”

  He paused in his study of the rooms to look at her. His gaze was implacable, and difficult to read. She’d noted he did that, retreated into that formal manner of his, like it was armor he pulled around himself when needed.

  She lifted an eyebrow.

  “You almost killed him because he called me ‘sweetheart’?” She chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. She knew he had a bit of a problem with Stephens, but still… “Isn’t that a little… extreme?”

  He stalked toward her, danger written in every line of his body. Refusing to be cowed, she lifted her chin.

  “The issue was not that he called you that,” he replied, his voice dangerously soft. “But that you allowed it.”

  Oh holy shit…

  “You were jealous? Oh my god, you were!” she exclaimed. “You’re jealous of Stephens, even though I’ve told you there’s nothing going on.”

  “Yes! Is that what you want to hear?” he snarled, grabbing her by her upper arms with his fingers biting. “I was jealous… of him, of every male you look at… of every male who has had the pleasure of sharing your bed. I want to find them all, destroy them so they never again look upon you that way. Never think of you that way again. Ever. Again.”

  Her eyes widened at his snarl and the fury on his face. But it hid something deeper, something that swam in the backs of his eyes that she couldn’t… wouldn’t name just yet.

  “I don’t belong to you.” Normally that argument would have been delivered with a fury all her own. She’d have pushed him away, with violence if necessary… anything to retain her freedom and independence.

  Back in the gangs, she’d seen what happened to owned women… those who had joined the gang as a partner to a gang member rather than in their own right. They were seen as nothing—property to be owned and passed around, shared, and all without their consent. It was the reason she’d done what she had, given up part of her soul to pass initiation. So she had a pathological hatred of the idea of being owned… of losing that freedom. Especially to a man.

  But Nyek was not a ganger. He wasn’t even human. He was Latharian, with alien morals and a code of ethics that seemed a hell of a lot more honorable than any human she’d ever met. He would never share her, she knew that without a shadow of a doubt.

  He didn’t move, merely looking down and watching her.

  “Do you want to?”

  Her lips parted but no sound emerged.

  “Indra?”

  “I…”

  She paused and swallowed, her mind a chaos of thoughts and emotions. Did she want to belong to him? Want him to claim her in the manner of the Lathar? Forever, no divorces, nothing.

  “I want you to belong to me,” he murmured, his eyes darkening as he studied her face. “And only me. I want you to never look at another male again, to come to me for everything you need. For…” His lips quirked as he looked up at the bed, just visible through the open door. “All your needs.”

  He bent down, his lips brushing against the side of her neck. “Every. Single. One.”

  She moaned softly, her hands against his chest as his grip changed, gentling on her arms and then sliding around her back. He pulled her toward him, but unlike the other times he’d kissed her, there was no anger, no roughness. He eased her against him as his lips whispered across her jaw to claim her mouth.

  This kiss was the stuff of romance and fairy tales. Cradling her gently in his arms, he took his time kissing her. He explored the shape of her lips with long, drugging kisses and then parted them with the softest brush of his tongue—a request for access she granted instantly.

  Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as he slid deeper, the emotion in his kiss almost too much to bear. It held heat, sensuality and so much honesty it seared her very soul.

  Her hands gripped the edges of his jacket. If she’d had any defenses left against this man, they were completely shattered. She was his, and his alone, just on the basis of that one kiss.

  He murmured in pleasure as she kissed him back, neither of them eager to up the heat level just yet. They were content to hold each other and kiss, a mating of their mouths and souls that seemed everlasting.

  Finally though, he lifted his head, his lips leaving hers reluctantly. “I am sorry I nearly killed your friend. I was… yes, I was jealous. He is human. He is everything I am not, nor can I ever be. And I was concerned… scared,” he corrected, “that you would prefer a male of your own species over me.”

  She smiled softly, lifting her hand to smooth it against his cheek. “Next time, just ask. Okay? There’s a damn good reason I never married a human guy and never wanted to. Mostly because they’re all fucking tits.”

  He paused, his eyes catching hers. “Does that mean you would be prepared to… marry? To marry me, I mean. In the human way?”

  She opened her mouth but he lifted his hand, putting his finger over her lips. Shaking his head, he said. “No, don’t answer yet. Think about it and give me your answer when we are done with this place. I can wai—”

  A sound out in the corridor made them both look around.

  “Someone is going somewhere they shouldn’t be,” he said softly. “I think we should make sure what and why. Don’t you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  They moved as one toward the doorway, entering the corridor just in time to see the doors at the other end swish shut. Whoever it was, they were moving fast.

  “They’re heading toward Sector Four,” Nyek said in a low voice.

  “Why am I not surprised?” she murmured as they followed.

  It didn’t take them long to catch up, finding not just Gracie and Seren at the airlock to Sector Four but also Keris and Stephens. If the Latharian AI could express displeasure through a blank faceplate, she managed it.

  “Would you like to tell me what you all think you are doing here?” Nyek asked, his voice calm and level, the stick-up-his-ass manner in top form.

  “I to
ld you this wasn’t a good idea,” Seren leaned down to murmur in Gracie’s ear. Because of the silence of the corridor, they all heard him clearly.

  “The AI warned us this sector was off limits.” Nyek’s expression hadn’t changed and reflected the expressions of the other Lathar—displeased with extra sides of WTF.

  “That’s just the thing.” Stephens folded his arms across his chest, standing his ground. To his credit, he didn’t so much as flinch when Nyek looked at him, even though the bruises on his throat were plain to see. “It looks absolutely fine. And we didn’t see any evidence of damage on our way in. On other levels yes, but not this one. Which begs the question… if there’s no damage here, what does that AI not want us to see?”

  Nyek’s lips parted as if to answer, but then he paused and frowned. Indra looked up at him.

  “Muscles has a point.” She pointed to the door, which looked the same as all the other doors they’d seen. There was no damage to any of them. It literally looked like the Cabal had just decided to up and leave years ago. “I say if they don’t want us in there, there’s a reason. And I don’t like people keeping secrets from me, not even scarily pretty alien AIs. Especially not scarily pretty alien AIs.”

  “Exactly!” Gracie piped up. “Better to have all the information at hand. Shit intel gets people dead, fast.”

  She patted Seren’s arm in reassurance and Indra slid a quick glance down to the guy’s wrists. The cozy way those two were acting, there was no way they weren’t doing the horizontal tango. She’d seen the possessive look in his eyes when he looked at the pretty redhead so it wouldn’t surprise her to find mating marks on his wrists already. But they were clear, at least the left one was. Like Nyek, he wore a bracer on his right and she couldn’t see the skin.

  Glancing down, she looked at Nyek’s wrists again. No marks apart from the vicious scars on the inside. Her gut clenched again. He’d said someone had done that to him. And by the looks of the straight cuts, he’d let them. But why?

  “You raise valid points.” Nyek walked forward, toward the door. “We should indeed check it out. The Cabal… even though they are gone, I’m not entirely sure I trust them. They appear to have motives and plans that run counter to that of the empire.”

  “Woohoo!” Gracie caroled. “Mr. Prim and proper is on board.”

  Indra hid her grin. So she wasn’t the only one who had noted Nyek’s formal manner and attitude. For his part, he ignored the comment, but by the way his shoulders rose just a fraction, she knew he’d heard it.

  Between the two Lathar and Keris, it was a simple matter to get the door open, and they walked through…

  “Whoa… it looks like World War Four happened in here,” Stephens breathed as they stood in the middle of utter chaos.

  In the other sectors, the base simply looked deserted, like everyone had just decided to up and leave, but here… yeah, they hadn’t left willingly. Lights were shattered, the fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Windows off the corridors were broken, allowing them glimpses into the rooms beyond as they made their way to the center. Several looked like labs, with workbenches and machines that Indra could only guess the usage of. More looked like fancy waiting rooms or recovery rooms and she grumbled in the back of her throat.

  “That part about operating theaters still stands,” she warned them all. “One hint of any Frankensteining and I’m so outta here.”

  “Frankensteining?” Keris asked the question, her head tilted to the side. “Ahh… The term appears to have originated from an ancient earth text about a doctor who attempted to recreate man from cadaver parts. Now used to indicate any composite creation made up from other origins.”

  “What she said.”

  Stephens moved at the front of the group, pulse rifle held easily in his hands. From his movements it was easy to see his marine origins.

  “Door ahead, it’s ajar.”

  “Indeed.” Nyek nodded to Keris to take point as he cycled to cover the rear. He caught Indra’s gaze as he moved behind her, offering a small wink of reassurance. The gesture was so out of character that she smiled. So… he wasn’t as prim and proper as he made out. How much of that was all a show?

  “Room clear. Errr… Sub-Commander?” Keris called from ahead of them. “You’re really going to want to see this.”

  “Holy shit,” Indra murmured as they all stepped through the door. Her quip about horror films had been closer to the mark than was comfortable. Eyes wide, she looked around. This place was the stereotype of a mad scientist’s lab, complete with dissection tables and what looked like biotubes against the walls.

  “What the fuck…” Stephens moved closer to one of the tubes.

  They looked like suspended animation tubes, the kind human doctors put terminal patients in, keeping them alive but comatose in the hopes a cure could be found in the future.

  “Hold on… there’s something in here.”

  He flashed the light from his rifle over the glass. Something moved in the viscous fluid. A skeletal face appeared against the other side of the glass, lips parted in a violent scream.

  “Shitshitshit,” he backed up, rifle in his shoulder. Gracie put a hand on his arm.

  “Shhh… calm down. I think it’s dead.”

  “Indeed.” Nyek strode forward, his expression terse as he studied the tubes. “These are bio-growth tanks. They all appear to be inert. The lack of power would have killed off any organic organism they were growing, but the presence of the fluid slowed down decay.”

  He reached the other end of the lab, and the lights snapped on. Indra jumped, hand over her mouth as the full glory of the lab was revealed.

  Twelve tubes were arranged against the walls. Three of them had shattered glass, skeletal remains in a small heap at the bottom. Of the rest, only two were empty, devoid of fluids or anything else.

  “Unused,” Nyek murmured as he walked past them. The seven others all contained dark fluid, suspicious shapes floating half-seen within. To the side of each sat a computer screen that flared to life.

  “Heavy-worlder,” Seren read on the nearest one, passing a hand over the screen. A holographic representation appeared on the glass in front of the tube, showing what the skeletal remains inside would have looked like. A tall, heavily muscled man with long hair looked back.

  “Hey, he looks a lot like one of the mercenaries from the ship that rescued me,” Indra said. “Big guy, looked like he ate tanks for a light snack.”

  “Sounds like a heavy-worlder.” Nyek nodded as he moved onto the next tube. Passing a hand over the screen revealed a woman with a much different kind of build. She was tall, but slender, packed with lean muscle. Instead of standing, she appeared to be floating, her hair a mass of curls around her head.

  “Navarr,” Nyek explained at her look. “Sub-aquatic. One of the Lathar’s early genetic experiments. They’re not considered Lathar anymore. Even before the plague, they closed their borders and no Lathar has set foot on one of their planets for many years.”

  “So… do they have women then?” she asked, nodding toward the mermaid in front of them.

  Nyek shrugged. “No one knows. If they have, they are keeping that secret from the empire. Possibly for good reason. Like humanity, the Navarr are genetically compatible with us.”

  Her ears picked up. “Wait… what? Genetically compatible. You mean you guys can get human women knocked up?”

  He blinked but Stephens beat her to the correction. “She means pregnant. Could a human and a Lathar have a baby?”

  Nyek shrugged. “I do not know. There have been rumors that some of the human women taken initially are with child, but you would have to speak to the commander about that. I am not privy to such… sensitive information.”

  She read between the lines. Nyek wasn’t high enough in the chain of command to have those rumors confirmed or denied yet. She made a mental note to check with Madison because, if she could drop preggers, they sure as hell needed to start taking some precautions.
r />   “What’s in the rest?” Gracie asked, already moving.

  The next three tubes showed what looked like standard Lathar, although Nyek commented in a low voice one of them was adapted for conditions on a snow planet.

  The tube after that made them all stop in utter shock. As soon as Nyek’s hand passed over the plate, an image formed on the front of a tube.

  “Holy fuck. That’s us!”

  A human male stood on the screen in front of them. Admittedly, the Lathar looked so similar it was hard to tell the difference sometimes. They were taller, and heavily muscled, but apart from the difference in their eyes, they might as well be human. But this was no Lathar. The hologram showed a human, that small difference undefinable but undeniably there.

  “Keris,” Indra asked carefully, not taking her eyes off the screen. “How long would you say this base has been abandoned?”

  “At least four decades.”

  “Shit. The Lathar have known about us that long?”

  Nyek shook his head, scanning the text on the smaller screen. “No. I do not believe so. It seemed the Cabal have access to ancient records lost to the rest of the empire. This is a genetic prototype for a long-range colonization mission.”

  “Colonization? You mean like… you guys send peeps out in ships to take over planets?”

  Nyek shook his head, the lights from the display catching his cat-like eyes as he looked at her.

  “Not take over, no. If there is indigenous life, we do not disturb it. We simply move on to an uninhabited planet.”

  She nodded, trying to wrap her head around the facts. “So… could you have found a human and brought him back? That’s how this guy is here.”

  Keris had joined Nyek at the console. She scrolled down the information faster than Indra could follow.

  “No. Although he looks like it, this individual is not actually human. He is a Lathar who has been genetically altered for certain conditions, I assume the conditions on the target planet for the colony. However…” She paused for a moment, head tilted to the side as she accessed her databanks. “That colony expedition is listed as missing. They did not reach their destination. Current theory extrapolating from known facts… they deviated from course for unknown reasons and crashed on Earth.”