She’s on the ground and there is a man on top of her. I am incensed. A ferocious growl rips from my throat, the likes of which I did not know I could produce.
I am on him in a moment, tearing him away from her and tossing him at the side of the building. He slaps the wall and crumples. I want to tear his throat out. I want to see his face as I pummel his ribs into jelly.
Control, I remind myself.
I pull the stinger from my belt and shoot my mate’s assailant twice with drop-stings. He goes limp and I turn away, desperate to have her in my arms.
Click.
The unmistakable sound of a human gun cocking.
I freeze. There is a second man, half hanging out of the small window by the ground. He has a gun trained on me. Though he’s not at the most advantageous position, one shot to the head would end me.
“No!” Ella shouts, but claps her hands over her own mouth quickly.
“Bitch,” he addresses her. My fist clenches. “Move an inch and I shoot this freak.”
Ella and I exchange a look, and unspoken emotions pass between us. Even in the low light, I can tell her face has been hit. It’s swollen and her lip is bloody. The state of her clothing would be more fitting if she had been dropped in a forest of thorns. It fills me with rage, but I cannot move. I begin to calculate. If I duck and charge him quickly, will he miss my head? My vitals are covered by Kar’Kali armor, so surely I could dispatch him even if he shoots me anywhere else…
He is climbing out of the window, grunting with his gun trained on me. Ella is shaking her head in my direction, tears coming from her eyes. She is silently begging me not to “do anything stupid”, as she might say. As long as he does not go near her now, I will let him go. As long as his only plan is escape—
The sound of gunfire makes me flinch. Ella screams and launches herself at the man with a small weapon. She swings her arm and viciously stabs him through his foot.
“Ella,” I cry, jumping into action.
The man folds with a gurgle of surprise, letting off a shot from his gun that glances against the side of the house. He falls over, a drop-sting protruding from his throat.
Mori rustles out of the bush behind us. “Apologies for the delay. Needed a good angle.”
I skid to my knees beside Ella and drag her away from the man’s now-limp body.
She is sobbing, digging her fingers into my arms like she’s afraid I’ll disappear. “Oh my… Kila, I thought it was you. I thought he shot you! I thought—” Her words dissolve into incoherent gasps of emotion.
I pull her against my chest gently and she lolls into me weakly.
“I am fine. I am here,” I whisper as I stroke her hair. “You are safe now.”
Mori walks over, inspecting the dropped kidnappers. “Both of these men have stab wounds,” he comments. “Kila?”
“This fierce viki is responsible for that,” I say, cradling her in my arms and lifting her from the ground. Mori and I stop to appreciate the blunt metal tool that sticks out of one of the attackers’ shoes. She lodged it straight into his instep.
Sirens blare down the otherwise quiet street.
We walk out to the front of the dwelling to meet the local authorities and the emergency medical vehicles. The cars cram halfway up the gravel drive and park just in front of four bodies that have been drop-stung. Vala leans against the van, arms crossed lazily over his chest as he watches their approach.
“Kila,” Ella murmurs, fisting the front of my shirt in her hand. “You know I love you, right? I don’t know why I didn’t say before, but I love you so much. I just don’t know what I would do if—”
“Do not worry yourself,” I tell her. “Rest your eyes. You are safe now, and we can talk of many things when you are rested and healthy.”
She nods slowly and nestles into my shoulder, sniffling. I can’t stand to see her swollen face, her pained winces. It is all I can do not to hand her off to Mori while I turn on my heel and brutally murder each and every drop-stung beast that helped to do this to her. But I couldn’t bear to release her from my arms now, so I will settle for having them arrested.
The human authorities begin to flood the property, and Vala calmly explains to them what has happened. They are a bit confused, but quickly enter the house with their guns cautiously raised.
They emerge with a young female, with her arms cuffed behind her back. Just behind this, Pakka and Kiva spill out the door. Pakka is supporting Kiva—no, in fact, restraining the male— as they cross the threshold.
Red blood pours from Kiva’s face as he struggles vigorously against Pakka’s grip.
“You can’t let them just take her away like this! She is not a criminal,” he shouts. “Pakka, tell them to stop!”
The female eyes Kiva over her shoulder, in shock, as the human authorities lead her across the greenery to the gravel drive.
Mori claps me on my shoulder as he grins at the chaotic scene developing before us. “You know, you were correct about the chips bringing feeling to the surface. I have not had such good fun since… Eh, I cannot remember. I feel like laughing.”
Chapter 25
ELLA
“I once questioned the need for so many, but I now consider them quite beneficial,” Kila says as he fluffs one of my pillows and props it up under my knees.
I lay fully reclined on my bed, propped up by a perfectly engineered arrangement of pillows. Not a single limb is unsupported. My hot alien boyfriend has turned into a nursemaid right before my very eyes. In my underwear and a tank top with just the two of us in my cozy apartment, I can finally relax.
I chuckle at his fussing, but wince immediately at the way my bruised ribs ache from the movement.
“Do not laugh!” he demands, his face as serious as the grave.
“I can’t help it if you look at me like that! Will you sit down? I’m fine. I feel wonderful. Relax,” I tell him firmly. He sighs heavily and then complies, softly seating himself at the foot of the bed.
“Mmm,” I hum appreciatively when he begins rubbing my elevated feet. “I love you.”
His black eyes twinkle up at me in reply. “And I you,” he whispers. “I feel complete.”
“That’s the hormones talking,” I tease him. He takes the bait so quickly.
“Do not say that!” he protests. “Ella, we’re putting all of that behind us no—”
I start to giggle again briefly before the pain sets my teeth gritting. He tightens his grip on my ankle and gives me a pleading look.
“Alright, alright, no laughing,” I say, showing him my palms in surrender.
“I’ll never forgive myself for what happened,” he says. “If only we had appeared in public with you, or if I had given Pakka a talking to about our relationship before—”
“Shush,” I snap. “I don’t want to hear that talk. It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault but the men that broke into the building and decided to snag me as a bonus.”
He shakes his head. “There are more responsible, but nothing will done about them.”
My stomach sinks. This morning, when I was released from the hospital, we received some concerning news. While the men that Kila and his team so efficiently incapacitated on the night of my rescue have been arrested, the rest of their organization will continue to operate. The authorities were unable to find evidence clear enough to link the break-in and my kidnapping to their official group, The Exile Squad. Stupid assholes with a stupid name. If they had their way, I know I would have been at that compound and I don’t want to think of what else they would have done to me. The investigator that interviewed me would not tell me what the un-rescued victims had endured. I shiver just remembering that they are out there, plotting their next move.