Ambushing Ariel (2 page)

Ariel reached around and helped her into a sitting position before she answered her. “You aren’t going to believe this but some really weird shit has happened to us.”

Carmen’s eyes locked in on Ariel’s serious expression. “Tell me,” she said as her lips compressed into a straight line.

Ariel glanced around her. Trisha was dozing in a chair nearby with a huge golden creature next to her. The thing had attached itself to Trisha the moment they were brought aboard the alien warship. She looked at the huge men who were lying down or sitting up in almost every available spot. Ariel had stood guard over her sister and Trisha with a long metal bar she dismantled from a small movable table.

She tried to look at the room through her sister’s eyes. It was hard to see much with all the men lying or sitting around. The bare, off-gray walls were smooth with one set of double doors leading out of it to the far left. The room itself wasn’t all that big, maybe the size of a hospital emergency waiting room but it was full. There were a half-dozen narrow beds, a few portable tables, and about as many chairs. One wall had a long, dark-tinted window that lead to another small room. Ariel knew that was where the doctor, or healer as the men referred to him, was most of the time. The lights dimmed and brightened on a verbal command she was still trying to figure out. Not long after they arrived, the doctor had inserted some type of device into their ears and they were able to understand what the men were saying. When the doc first did it to Trisha, Ariel was ready to kill him until Trisha stopped her. Neither Trisha nor she had been outside the room yet. They didn’t want to leave Carmen alone and defenseless.

“How much do you remember?” Ariel asked hesitantly looking back at Carmen who was frowning.

“Obviously not enough!” Carmen muttered in a low voice glaring at a couple of men who were staring at her with open lust. “Just tell me where the hell we are so we can get the fuck out of here.”

“We’re on an alien spaceship,” Ariel replied quietly. “These bastards are more than what they seem,” Ariel said nodding to the men surrounding them. “After we chased the guy who kidnapped Abby into the woods these three creatures that looked like dragons from some science fiction movie appeared. The bastard that took Abby stabbed you…” Ariel’s voice faded as she looked down at her hands for a moment. “You were dying, Carmen. You should be dead from the wounds you received. These three dragons burned the guy to a crisp and transported us here using some Star Trek type shit,” Ariel said looking at her sister.

Carmen stared at Ariel for a moment before looking around her at all the men. “What the fuck are they doing in here?” She asked quietly.

Ariel couldn’t quite keep the smile from her face. “I’ve been listening to some of them. I guess one of the men turned all dragonzilla on their asses and busted them up pretty good before they could get him to calm down. There were more but they have slowly been leaving,” Ariel murmured glancing at Trisha as she sat up slowly with a grimace of pain.

“Neither one of us have left your side,” Ariel said nodding to Trisha who forced out a stiff smile.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Trisha whispered. “Welcome back to the land of Oz.”

Carmen looked around her with a raised eyebrow. “No shit, Dorothy. So, how do we get off this pile of bolts and back home. I’ve got business that needs to be finished,” Carmen said swinging her legs over the side of the narrow bed.

Ariel watched as her sister grabbed her side. “Are you in pain?”

Carmen snorted. “Hell no! Just wondering how long I’ve been out if I’m healed from the wounds I received. I know it was bad. I’ve been shot and stabbed enough times to know when it is,” she said feeling her side first before she moved to touch her upper chest where the wounds should have been.

Ariel and Trisha both shook their heads. “It’s only been a couple of days.”

Carmen’s eyes widened at that. “Shit!” Carmen muttered touching her chest again. “So, what is the game plan?”

Ariel looked at Trisha who nodded tentatively. Ariel smiled as the huge gold creature came to stand next to Trisha. It was back into the shape of a big dog again. Every time one of the warriors would get too close to Trisha, it would change shape and snarl at them. If they could get it on their side it, would be a big bonus. Somehow, Ariel got the feeling it was protecting Trisha for a reason and leaving wasn’t one of them.

“Trisha remembers how to get us back to the spot where we came on board the ship. We figure if we can get to it, we can force someone there to zap us back down. We go our merry way and they go theirs. We both decided it would be better not to say anything about what happened to anyone back down on Earth about aliens and shit. The last thing we want to do is end up in a padded room,” Ariel whispered frowning as two men tried to approach them.

Ariel tapped the table leg against the palm of her hand looking at them with an expression that said ‘advance at your own risk’. Both men looked at each other hesitantly before turning to leave. Another man came in and Ariel released a deep breath in relief. It was the doctor who was taking care of Carmen. He was the only one on board that didn’t raise any warning flags in her gut, at least not yet.

“Hey doc, when can we blow this joint?” Ariel called out.

The healer, Zoltin, glanced at Ariel and shook his head. He found the human females to be very charming. It was a shame his dragon didn’t go crazy over them. He might have tried to mate with one of them if it had. It appeared to find them entertaining and was curious about them but not in the way it would have reacted if one of the females had been his true mate.

His gaze moved between the three. He frowned as he looked at the one with the light brown curly hair. Lord Kelan’s symbiot was very protective of her. He was more concerned with the way she was moving, as if in pain. He tried early to approach her to ask if she was alright but she brushed off his concern saying she must have been sitting in an awkward position too long. His lips curved as he watched her fingers lightly stroke the symbiot at her side. Whether she was aware of it or not, she was the true mate of their commander. It would be interesting to see how things worked out between them. She seemed to be a very unusual female.

He looked at the other two females. It was obvious they were related. Both had the same white blonde hair and peach coloring. Their facial features were the same with the dark brown eyes, small nose, and full lips though one was definitely curvier than the other.

Zoltin walked over to examine the one who had been gravely wounded. He pulled out his scanner and reached up to start at her forehead. He no sooner had his hand up in the air than he found himself face down on the bed with his arm locked behind his back in a painful position that immobilized him. He lay still, stunned at the strength behind the small body holding him.

“Uh… Carmen?” Trisha whispered. “That’s the doc. I don’t think you have to worry about him being a bad guy. He is the one who has been taking care of you.”

Carmen looked down at the guy she had pinned to the bed for a moment before she slowly let his arm go and stepped back. Ariel put her hand out to steady Carmen when she wobbled a little. Carmen gave her big sister a grateful nod to let her know she was okay.

“Sorry about that doc. Carmen can be a little sensitive sometimes,” Ariel said helping Zoltin back onto his feet.

Carmen tossed her head at the comment. “Cautious… not sensitive,” Carmen replied shortly.

Ariel looked at Carmen for a moment sadly. “Not cautious enough or you wouldn’t have been two breaths away from death. You are taking way too many chances lately,” Ariel said quietly. “Look what happened to you in Prague.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Carmen muttered moving back toward the bed and sitting down again as her legs began to shake. “I made it out.”

“Yeah… with a bullet wound and a concussion,” Ariel retorted.

Ariel stopped when she felt Trisha touch her arm. “I think we need to focus on getting out of here. It looks like most of the men have cleared out. Now would be a good time to leave,” Trisha said under her breath.

Ariel gave a brisk nod. “Doc, how is my sister? Is she healed enough to get out of here?” Ariel asked Zoltin who was rubbing his arm and looking warily at Carmen.

Zoltin glanced at Ariel. “I would like to scan her vitals to see if the healing is complete. I am not familiar enough with your species to know if our healing accelerators work. Normally, her mate’s symbiot would heal her but since she is not claimed that is not an option,” Zoltin said calmly.

“Go ahead, doc. I won’t kick your ass as long as you don’t try anything,” Carmen said calmly.

Ariel watched in frustration as the doctor ran the scanner over Carmen from her head down to her toes. She could feel Carmen’s anger. It was almost like she was pissed off that she didn’t die. Ariel continued to watch as the doctor asked Carmen several questions which she answered in short responses.

Ariel’s heart was heavy with worry for her little sister. Carmen hadn’t been the same since her husband was murdered three years ago. He was killed during the same incident that almost claimed Carmen. In a way, it was almost like she had died with him. It was just her body and her lust for revenge that was keeping her alive right now. Ariel bit back a curse. Carmen was all the family Ariel had left in the world. Well, except for Trisha and Cara who she adopted. Even as much as she loved both of her surrogate sisters, they weren’t the same as her sister.

Ariel sank down on the chair, watching and listening as the doctor continued to ask Carmen different questions. She was so tired. It had been a long couple of days. First, there was the long flight across country from New York to California. Trisha and her were in the final process of testing out a new business jet for Boswell International where they worked. It was supposed to be a simple flight to take home an artist the Boswells’ had commissioned to do a piece for.

She was planning on it being her last flight. She had been dreading telling Trisha that she had resigned her position to move back home to Wyoming. She was going to do what she had always dreamed of doing - running an animal shelter for abandoned and neglected animals. She had been saving for years for it and between the money she saved and the money she inherited when her parents were killed in a car crash when she was in college, she finally had enough. She had planned everything out.
Everything that is, except the end of my engagement,
Ariel thought.
Eric
… Ariel slammed the brakes on her thoughts. She refused to think about him. It was over and she was finally free.

She didn’t plan for this unexpected trip either. The routine flight was okay, it was what happened next that seemed like a dream. Some guy kidnapped Abby, the artist, in the parking lot of the small airport they landed at in Shelby, California. Carmen and Cara saw what happened. Carmen ended up chasing them on a motorbike she had delivered before they landed while Cara hotwired Abby’s truck. After a chase that still had her bones rattling, they found Carmen stabbed and dying and three huge-ass dragons breathing fire. It turns out one of the dragons, or aliens, had the hots for Abby and was the guy she was returning home to. They had all joked about him having brothers but damn, how were they to know the guy was from another planet?

Ariel felt a small smile curve her lips as she watched the doctor move away from Carmen who was scowling at him in annoyance. She would happily admit to being selfish. She was glad everything had turned out the way it did; otherwise her sister would have died. She wanted her sister to live, even if her sister didn’t want to any more. She knew deep down there was no way Carmen would have survived her injuries on Earth.

Carmen lay back down against the pillows on the bed suddenly exhausted. “Damn, dying takes a lot out of you.”

“Almost…” Ariel murmured as she got up out of the chair and moved closer to her sister. “… Almost dying. It takes a lot out of your family too,” Ariel whispered as she brushed Carmen’s short hair back away from her forehead tenderly.

Carmen turned her head into Ariel’s hand. “I love you,” Carmen whispered looking up into Ariel’s eyes. “I’m sorry I’m such a pain in the ass.”

Ariel chuckled under her breath. “Who else would watch my back if not you?” Ariel teased.

Ariel saw Carmen’s eyes flicker to Trisha for a moment and knew what Carmen was thinking. “It isn’t the same, Carmen. She can never replace you,” Ariel said gently.

Carmen’s eyes glittered for a moment before she closed them tightly. Ariel stood leaning against the bed. She stroked Carmen’s hair until she knew her little sister was asleep. She closed her eyes tightly against the pain in her chest. It hurt so much every time she came close to losing her. In a way, she lost Carmen three years ago when Scott was murdered. She really was lucky that things didn’t work out between her and Eric. At first, the pain was unbearable but over the past year it was beginning to numb a little. Still, the pain of loving someone so much then losing them was unimaginable. Ariel opened her eyes and stared down at the relaxed face of her sister.

Never,
she promised herself silently.
Never again would she allow herself to love a man and give him the power to hurt her.

She never wanted to experience the pain of manipulation or rejection again. Looking at her sister, she knew the consequence of trying to live with the never ending pain of loss. It was slowly killing her sister. Neither option sounded good to her. It was better to focus on the animals she loved so much. She would give all her love to them.

The doctor insisted Carmen spend another night in medical. He was concerned with her loss of blood and wanted to make sure she was completely recovered. Ariel glanced around the room. Trisha was sitting in a chair near the wall where she could stretch out a little. The huge gold creature curled up at her feet. The room was almost completely empty now. Only a couple of men remained in the medical unit. It was late. At least it felt that way according to her body’s internal clock. She and Carmen were talking quietly about what happened.