Alien Savior (Zerconian Warriors Book 5) (6 page)

“Hide? Behind a female? What sort of male do you believe I am? I am no coward.”

“You’re going to be a dead male if you don’t do what I say. Darac, you could have killed Mitch.” Still might have, Mitch had been very still. “You broke out of that room.” She’d seen the door, it looked as though it had been torn in two. Had he actually pulled a steel door apart with his bare hands?

Darac moved to his ship and barked out a command. Nothing happened. With a scowl he said something else in Zerconian.

“Now will you put me down?”

He wasn’t showing the slightest bit of strain from carrying her around.

“Your access to your ship has been blocked. Not that it matters because no one will open the door for you. They’ll be here soon. What is the plan?”

“I will hide you somewhere safe. Then I will fight them.”

“Right. Because you’re not seriously out-numbered. Not to mention unarmed. You still trying to commit suicide?” she asked, her stomach clenching with worry.

“No.”

If any other man had picked her up and carried her around like a child, she’d have separated his balls from his body. But being close to him, feeling his arms around her, his scent surrounding her. It felt almost right. It was surreal. She didn’t understand her feelings at all. She didn’t know him, and he was crazy. Scary crazy. Only she wasn’t scared that he would hurt her.

Hell. She really was trying to win a stupid award today.

“Hide and I will talk to them.” If she were smart she would just let them kill him. Except the thought of him dying left a sick feeling in her stomach. Was she going soft? He was a ransom, that was all. He meant nothing more than an injection of credits into her account.

Yep, and maybe if she kept telling herself that she would start to believe it.

“I can take five human males on,” he scoffed. “They are no match for me.”

He had broken out of hover cuffs. And out of the room. How had he done that?

“I didn’t know Zerconians had super strength.”

“We do not. I did warn you about those cuffs.”

“But you ripped that door into bits, how did you do that?”

“I was furious at the idea of him hurting you. It gave me added strength.”

“Yeah, you went psycho. Again. Would you have killed Mitch?” Her stomach rolled. “You didn’t have to interfere.”

“He hurt you.”

“Please. I had everything under control.”

A noise came from the direction of the cargo doors. A hole appeared in the door, sparks firing off the metal. They were cutting through the door with a laser. They only had seconds. “They’re coming. Hide.”

He clasped her hand and tugged them both behind some crates. “Wait here.”

“Like hell.” She grabbed his wrist, knowing he only stopped because he wanted to. Her strength was in no way a match for his. “You cannot hurt them. They are my brothers. My friends.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek. His chest heaved.

“Put your hands up and surrender.” Rye’s voice reverberated around the cargo bay.

“I’m okay,” she called out.

“Let my sister go.” She could hear death in Zuma’s voice. Time to calm things down. Great, when had she ever been a calming influence? She didn’t have a diplomatic bone in her body. And right now, she had to convince a bunch of testosterone-driven, armed mercenaries not to shoot someone who had nearly killed one of their own.

Well, she hoped just nearly killed. If Mitch was dead, she didn’t know if she could save Darac and no matter what he thought, Darac couldn’t fight against men armed with blasters. Steele was an excellent shot and Zuma, for all his clowning around, was deadly—especially when his family was threatened.

“Darac, let me past,” she insisted.

“No.”

“They’re not going to harm me. But if they don’t see that I’m safe then this is all going to go to shit rather quickly. I love my brothers and I’d never forgive you if one of them got hurt.”

He studied her, his eyes still glowing red. “I will walk out with you.”

“Fine, but put your hands up.”

He frowned.

“It will make you look more harmless.” If you were half-blind and deaf.

“If any of them put you in harm’s way, I will not be able to control myself.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out when you tossed Mitch around.”

“Zerconian, come out with your hands up,” Rye called out.

Darac took a step out from behind the crates and she quickly followed, stepping in front of him.

With a low noise, he pushed her behind him.

“Damn it, Darac. I’m not some helpless heroine and you don’t get to treat me like one.” She stepped out to his side. He matched her movements. Didn’t he get that he was the one in danger? But, oh no, his ego couldn’t take the blow of having to have a woman protect him.

Idiot.

“I give my life for yours.”

She snorted. “Bit over-dramatic don’t you think? We just met. I usually expect someone to buy me a beer before they declare their undying devotion.”

“Willa, you want to explain what’s going on here?” Rye asked in a silken voice.

Not good.

“Rye, you can’t kill him.”

“Of course he cannot kill me. I am the far superior warrior.” Arrogance filled Darac’s voice as he stared at her brother.

“And he has a blaster aimed at your over-inflated head. Now shut up and let me handle this.” He frowned at her but was blessedly quiet. “Umm.” Okay, what to say to defuse this situation? Rye stood straight ahead of them. To the left she spotted Zuma. At their right, Deacon crouched behind a crate. All of them were armed.

Steele, Nolan and Mitch were missing. She guessed Nolan and Mitch were in medical. So Steele was probably hidden somewhere. And if he didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t find him.

“Wow, this is a weird situation to be in,” she muttered.

“You’re surrounded, there is no way out of this. But if you let Willa go, we’ll let you live,” Zuma stated.

He was lying. She could always tell when he lied.

“Just chill,” she ordered. “I get that you’re all mad. But you need to listen to me.”

“What exactly do you have to say, Willa?” Rye purred. “He tried to kill Mitch. He broke out of hover cuffs. He ripped a steel door apart. Then he kidnapped you.”

“He didn’t kidnap me,” she protested. Even though he pretty much had. “It’s not like he could take me anywhere.”

“He’s dangerous. He needs to be taken out. I don’t understand why you’re defending him. He is the enemy.” Zuma gave her an incredulous look.

Guilt filled her. She didn’t deserve that look. She wasn’t betraying her brothers and her crew. Was she?

Maybe she should step away from Darac, let them kill him. But that thought filled her with terror. She couldn’t do it. She was torn between her family and a man she barely knew.

“Willa? Are you hurt?” Darac stared down at her in concern.

“I’m fine. Just a headache.” She rubbed at her temples.

“A migraine,” Zuma clarified. “You’re not thinking clearly, Willa. Step away.”

Zuma was right. It was the beginning of a migraine. Her stomach rolled and her hands grew sweaty. “Everyone calm down. Could we put the blasters away? Makes me nervous having them aimed my way.”

She knew no one would shoot her, but figured that was the fastest way of getting them to comply. For a long moment, Rye stared at her.

“Rye, the only reason Darac snapped was because Mitch was attacking me. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t feel the same way.”

“He’s a maniac.” Zuma nodded at Darac.

“Yeah, he’s a bit crazy.” Completely and utterly bonkers. “Apparently if a Zerconian male lives too long without finding their mate, they go a bit insane. That’s what happened to him. He doesn’t even remember what he did when we first bought him on board.”

“But he’s fine now,” Deacon said skeptically. “Sounds like he’s been selling you some magic beans.”

“Because I have found my mate,” Darac said proudly.

“Better not be me,” Zuma added, showing a glimmer of his usual humor. “My ass is not up for negotiation.”

“You are very pretty but I am not interested in males.”

“Pretty? Pretty?” Zuma gaped at the large Zerconian. “Is he for real? I’m not pretty.”

Darac drew her against him. “Willa is my mate.”

“Over my dead body.” Rye raised his blaster. “Willa, down!”

Oh crap.

Fear threatened to paralyze him as his tiny mate threw herself in front of him.

What was she doing? Did she not realize the danger she placed herself in?

“Do not fire!” he roared.

Rye tilted his blaster at the last moment, his shot going wild.

Darac roared, fear fuelling his fury. His vision blurred and his breath heaved in and out of his chest as he fought for control. Grabbing his mate, he swung her around behind the crates.

Kill.

Must kill.

Threat to mate.

Kill.

He leapt out, grabbing Rye and flinging him through the air. To his credit, the other man didn’t drop his blaster as he flew back, landing in a pile of crates.

Something stung his arm. He swung around, lunging for Zuma.

Destroy
.

“Darac, no!” Willa screamed.

Darac paused, holding the smaller male in the air, his hands around Zuma’s throat.

“I can’t get a clear hit!” A voice called out.

Kill. Destroy
.

“Darac, put my brother down. You’re killing him.” Willa grabbed his arm and immediately, he could think more clearly.

He stared down at Zuma. His face was pale, almost lifeless. He dropped him. The male slumped to the floor. He coughed, struggling to take a decent breath.

“Zuma!” Willa tried to take a step towards the fallen male, but Darac held her back.

“Let me go! You could have killed him!”

The distress in her voice ate at him, filling him with guilt. What had he done?

“I was angry.” He bit the words out through a clenched jaw.

“No kidding.”

“Let my sister go,” the male’s voice was low. Deadly.

Darac looked up into Rye’s face. He had a gash on his arm from where Darac had thrown him into the crates. He could see death written on the other man’s face.

“Rye, calm down,” Willa cried out. He could feel her shaking.

“He just tried to choke Zuma to death and you want me to calm down?” Rye asked in disbelief.

Darac snarled at the other male. He had no right to use that tone on his mate.

Could he take them all? Without Willa to worry about, yes, probably. But she was unpredictable. He couldn’t trust her to take orders, and she obviously had no sense of self-preservation.

“Damn it, will the two of you stop it! Darac, what the hell were you doing? You can’t attack my family. You could have killed Zuma.”

“He nearly shot you.” He nodded at Rye.

“He was aiming at you.”

“You could have been killed.”

“Wait, you’re upset because Rye could have hit me?
I
got in the way. If it was anyone’s fault it was mine.”

Darac turned to scowl at her. “You should have stayed where I put you.”

“Woof woof, not a dog. Hate to tell you this, but I don’t live to obey you.”

“You will when it comes to safety.”

Her eyes flared with fury but he would not back down.

“The two of you are fighting like an old married couple,” Zuma said hoarsely.

“Zuma, are you all right?” Willa tugged at Darac’s hold on her. “Let me go to him.”

“Not until I am certain you are safe.” And he wasn’t sure he could keep his sanity without her touch right at the moment.

“She’s not the one who is at risk here, warrior,” Rye told him.

Willa stared back and forth between her brother and Darac. “Rye, it was my fault he just went psycho.” She cleared her throat. “Seems to be that when he feels I’m threatened he loses his shit. Rather like a two-year-old having a tantrum.” She glared up at him.

Zuma snorted. “A three-hundred-pound toddler who tosses people around like candy bars.”

“He’s calm now, aren’t you, Darac?”

He took a deep breath. Then another. Calm wasn’t the word he would use. But he had control.

For the moment.

“As long as you do not place yourself in danger again. Why did you jump in front of me like that?” He turned her to face him, shaking her gently. He could never hurt his mate. He was born to protect her. And yet when he lost himself to the madness he had no idea what would happen. What he was capable of.

Darac strained to keep himself sane. It lingered, a painful, roiling mass inside him. But he could think more clearly.

“She wasn’t thinking,” Rye stated angrily. “If you cannot follow orders, Willa, then you cannot be on this crew.”

His mate grew pale and for a moment she almost appeared afraid. She was brave and reckless. Yet her brother threatening to remove her from his crew almost had her shaking. Darac’s anger diverted from his mate—not that he would forget what she had done, they would most definitely be having a discussion about that—to the male who had hurt her. Pushing Willa behind him, he took a menacing step towards her brother. Bracing himself, Rye aimed his blaster at his chest.

“Rye!”

“Willa, stay out of this,” Rye snapped.

“You will not use that tone of voice with my mate.”

“I am not your mate!”

He hadn’t intended to tell her, but they needed to know he was serious when it came to her protection. He did not intend to fully mate her until he had talked to an Elder about his condition. Perhaps he would gain full control once they were truly mated.

But what if it didn’t? He could not tie her to him until he knew.

“When you are not around, I struggle to for control. It is only when you are close that I can think clearly. I was too far gone and you should not have been able to pull me back. Now I am caught in the middle between madness and sanity.”

Rye, glared at him. “I don’t know why you think you have some claim over her, but you are mistaken.”

“You do not care for her properly. You do not deserve her. She is mine to protect. To care for.”

“Sheesh, chill out all of you.” Willa moved out from behind him.

He prepared to protect her at the slightest threat. But while the tension in the room was high, the other males had all lowered their blasters.

“He’s infatuated with her,” Rye stated.

“Don’t know why.” Zuma grinned. Darac didn’t trust his smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. Darac had the feeling the other male’s relaxed demeanour was supposed to lull him into a sense of security, into believing Zuma was harmless.

He would not fall for that ruse.

“Hey!” Willa glared at Zuma.

“You’re my sister,” he replied. “You’re not supposed to be attractive. You’re supposed to run around with pigtails and skinned knees.”

She snorted. “When have you ever seen me wear pigtails, Zuma?”

“Enough,” Rye ordered. “We do not have time for this.”

Darac hadn’t forgotten that there was another male, hidden. He’d heard his voice earlier.

He scanned the room. There. The right corner of the room had some high-stacked crates that would provide perfect cover and give the shooter an excellent line of sight.

He shifted around Willa, placing himself between her and that corner of the room.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He nodded toward the corner. “We are being watched.”

She studied the crates. “I can’t see anyone.”

Rye’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know he was there?”

“He is good,” Darac agreed. “But I am better.”

The quiet male standing towards the back of the room spoke up. “What are we going to do with him? We don’t have any way to hold him.”

Rye raised his eyebrows. “Just what is going on between the two of you, Willa? Are you really his mate?”

“No.”

He hid his wince at her denial of their relationship. Human females were different. They did not believe in soul mates. He knew from Mila that they liked romance. He had no idea how to give Willa romance. And he had no time to learn. Right now, he needed to concentrate on protecting her and figuring out how to fix himself.

“Really? Seems like he disagrees. He thinks he needs to protect you from us. Your crew. Unless you are no longer part of the crew?”

“Of course I am.” She pointed at Darac. “I don’t even know him.”

“Then stand down.”

Darac waited for her to move away. It was obvious she didn’t feel the connection that he did. Not that he blamed her for that. Humans had different mating rituals. But she didn’t move.

“Look, he’s calm now,” she pointed out. “We can still use him for a ransom.”

Rye stared at her incredulously. “He nearly killed Mitch.”

“No great loss,” she muttered.

“And Zuma. He dies. He is a risk to the mission and the crew. I can’t let him live just because he has a hard-on for you.”

Willa flinched.

“What does hard-on mean?” Darac asked.

Willa turned to look at him incredulously while Zuma laughed. “Jeez, Willa, got yourself a dud?”

“Shut up,” she said without heat. She sighed. “Hard-on means, well, it doesn’t matter what it means. The point is that he’s not no longer dangerous. Are you really going to murder an unarmed man?”

Darac knew her brother wasn’t fooled. Just because Darac wasn’t armed didn’t make him less dangerous.

“Yes.”

Darac could take him, blaster or not. But he had Willa to consider. Protecting her had to come first. He quickly thought through his options. There was only one way to keep Willa safe and happy.

“I surrender myself.”

“What?” Willa looked up at him in surprise. “You’re surrendering?”

“Doesn’t have much choice, does he?” the quieter male spoke up. “We’re armed and we have him surrounded.”

“Not much point in surrendering when we have nowhere to hold him,” Rye stated.

“But you cannot kill an unarmed man who surrendered,” Willa stated.

He could see Rye warring with himself. Part of him wanted to get rid of the threat Darac presented. He should. But Darac was betting on him having too much honor to do so.

“What’s to stop him from attacking one of us again?” Zuma asked.

“So long as Willa is not threatened, you will all be safe.”

“And what about when you first came off your ship?” Rye asked. “You tried to kill all of us, including Willa.”

“I did not know what I did. And I did not know Willa was my mate. I would do nothing to harm her. Zerconian males are aggressive, sometimes volatile. The longer we live without our mate, the more volatile we become. We slowly decline into madness. When a Zerconian male feels himself losing control, he will take his own life. To not do so would endanger the people around him. I am very old.”

“You were on a suicide mission. You wanted that space rubbish to take you out in a blaze of glory,” Zuma stated.

“He means kill you,” Willa explained.

Darac nodded.

“And what? You’re all better now?” Rye asked skeptically.

He did not blame him for his skepticism. “Not completely. But my control is better. Because of Willa.”

“How can you be sure she is your mate?” Zuma asked.

“I know. I can control myself when she is close. Also, she fainted when we first touched. Other human female mates have fainted when first touching their mate.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I hadn’t eaten lunch, that’s all. You and I are not gonna hook up.”

“Hook up?”

“Get together. Mate.” She rubbed her head. “We don’t even know each other.”

“We are soul mates. I do not need to know you to know you are mine. I live to protect you.” He glanced around at the others. “So long as she is not threatened I will do what you wish. I surrender. Fully.” Although it went against his instincts, he held his hands up.

Beside him, Willa stiffened, watching the others closely.

Rye watched him. “Deacon, take him to one of the other empty bunk rooms. Don’t take your eyes off him. If he so much as twitches, shoot him.”

“This is a bad idea,” Deacon stated, although he stepped forward.

Darac looked down at Willa. How could he trust these men to take care of her when one of their own had attacked her?

“You will guarantee her protection,” he demanded. “Only then will I leave her.”

“Oh, you’ll leave,” Rye warned.

“Jesus, will the two of you give it a rest. You’re like a dog fighting over a bone. Tell you what, I’ll make it easy. I’ll leave.” Willa strode off, muttering to herself.

Darac took a step towards her, but Zuma blocked his path. “You’re not going anywhere, my friend.”

Darac tilted his head to one side. He believed them to be friends?

Zuma looked at Rye. “Now that Willa’s gone do you want me to take care of him? We can tell her there was an accident.”

“The Zerconians believe in honor.” A new man stepped forward from the right. The one who had been hiding behind the crates. “Ask him to swear that he will harm no one on this ship.”