The End Zone: SPORTS ROMANCE (Contemporary Sport Bad Boy Alpha Male American Football Romance) (New Adult Second Chance Women’s Fiction Romance Short Stories) (10 page)

“You are amazing Melanie,” I said and she grinned.

“I know, so did you find the surveillance room?”

I smiled, unlocked her cell door and led the way. We passed by the fallen Lorascans and went down the short corridor to the double doors that read ‘vigilance’ in Lorascan writing. All Rodonians learned the languages of the planets in other solar systems within our galaxy.

I forced the doors open and Melanie ran in while I sprinted back out to the lobby area and down another hall. While I looked for the surveillance room I came across a map of the ship painted on the wall. It was meant to be artistic, decorative. But it told me exactly where I needed to go.

I sprinted down to the ship’s depths and made my way to the power core. I needed to destroy it rather than disable it. The heart of the ship was compact with not much room to navigate through the many cooling and heating systems, controls, and different power sources. I found the heart of it all directly in the center of the circular room. It sat in the middle of the floor, sectioned off by an electromagnetic field. I could not see it, but I could sense the charge in the air as I neared the giant mercury-like device. It was a glass dome that surrounded obscure looking steady white lights set in mercury. Its base was connected to several of the other engines in the room and branched out via thick black cables.

I wondered how I would destroy it as I had no weapon. I wondered if what was protecting it would also destroy it. I walked along the wall of charge and found the source of the flow of energy along the far wall. It was a thin strip of blue light that was shaped into a half circle and attached to the wall. I simply detached it and made sure to keep it aligned with its mate on the other far wall, so that the charge would continue to flow.

I began to walk around the core, as I angled the electromagnetic wall. To close in on it. Thankfully the Lorascans had chosen to make these strips circular so that I could keep up the alignment as I moved around the core. The first spark was made as the field came into contact with the glass enclosure. I made sure to keep the alignment as I dragged the field through the direct center of the core, subsequently cutting it in half.

Whatever technology the Lorascans were able to harness within this core, simply caught fire. Alarms started going off. I dropped the strip, found Melanie, and hurried back to our ship.

*****

Josiah

I held Melanie in my arms, as I moved quicker than she. We ran and dodged through the sea of Lorascans to the space craft hangar to escape the central command ship.

I quickly got us into the craft and then flew out of the mother ship just as the first of the chain of explosions started up. I flew well away from the explosions within the Lorascan navy, caused by the destruction of their mother ship. Their fighter crafts lost power and began to float off into space. Anything in the immediate vicinity of the central command ship was destroyed in glorious fiery explosions. Space was bright that night and Melanie and I had managed to destroy the impressive Lorascan navy singlehandedly.

“Holy shit we did it Josiah…” Melanie’s voice was hushed as we watched the explosions and disarray of the Lorascan fall.

“We did, and if it weren’t for you I am not sure how I would have pulled off this mission,” I admitted to her gratefully.

“Told you I could help.” Melanie reached her hand forward and I held it in mine before I kissed each of her knuckles.

“Let us return to Rodon then,” I said, before I rounded the large blue and green planet to fly to the city of Voltaire.

I landed atop Lord Rixon’s palace, on the same landing pad I started my journey from six months ago. There a small crowd was waiting for us. Once the glass enclosure opened up Melanie and I could hear the cheers of the people. I got out and helped Melanie down, the crowd grew hushed as Lord Rixon stepped forward.

“My lord…” I bowed as he studied Melanie and she him. “This is Melanie, I found her on Earth and wish for her to be my wife and mate. She helped me destroy the Lorascan mother ship,” I added for good measure. I spoke in English, so Lord Rixon would know to do so as well, for Melanie’s sake.

Lord Rixon smiled widely and he bowed to both Melanie and I, causing the rest of the welcoming crowd to bow as well. I felt humbled and at a loss for words. Lord Rixon was bowing to
us
? “You both have been given the highest honor here on Rodon. You have saved our planet and our people from ultimate destruction,” Rixon said sincerely as he straightened from his bow.

“Josiah…perhaps you have already mated with Melanie?” Lord Rixon asked me curiously as he continued to study her closely.

“Yes my lord…why do you ask?” I was growing bemused at his intent gaze on Melanie; she was growing uncomfortable and I did not want her to be.

“You know I have a gift of sensing life Josiah. I believe you have conceived with her,” he said.

Shock turned me into a statue, and Melanie’s jaw dropped.

“I’m…I’m
pregnant
?” said Melanie. Lord Rixon nodded, a slow smile spread across his face.

He said, “This is a truly joyous day, you have saved Rodon and proved that we can rebuild our race! As soon as you are married you will be named first family of the new generation and treated with as much honor and respect as the royal family.”

Lord Rixon actually embraced us both in a tight hug. The man was big and obviously had trouble tempering his own strength. Thankfully he let us go soon enough and we were able to breathe once again.

Lord Rixon gave orders for people to prepare for our wedding ceremony and the palace was a hub of excitement as preparations were being made. Lord Rixon made sure to send a fleet of our warriors to clean up our space zones of the fallen Lorascans. Melanie and I were allowed to rest before our nuptials in one of the palace’s guest suites.

Melanie and I both collapsed on the bed and simply stared up at the ceiling as we recounted the day’s events. “We’re getting married…and we’re going to have a baby Josiah,” Melanie said with a smile in her voice. I grinned in return and turned to face her. She rolled onto her side to face me as well.

“I love you Melanie,” I said simply and her smile seemed to light up the room.

“I love you too Josiah,” she said before she leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. I knew that our future would be bright and full, as long as we had each other.

THE END

Bonus Story 2 of 20

PART 1

Prologue

Europe, 1849

Dallin moved through the chaos, stepping over fallen bodies casually and turning his body to avoid a sword slicing the air beside him.  He reached out and grabbed the man around the throat, pulling him up off his feet and into the air.  He looked into the man’s eyes as he squeezed the air from his throat.  The man spit in his face and stared back, defiant.

The sound of his neck breaking filled Dallin with glee as the man lay in his grasp, limp, the last bit of his blood flowing just beneath the skin.  Dallin longed to feed from the man as his heart stopped, but there was no time for that.  He looked around, taking in the sounds of death.  Metal clashed on metal as men and Lycans both fought beside each other to defeat the vampires.

Dallin smiled, his bright blue eyes crinkling at the edges.  He had never imagined that the humans would join forces with the Lycans, but it had happened.  The battle was loud. The smell of blood was thick in the air, beckoning him, but he fought the urge and continued towards an entryway that led out of the castle courtyard. 

He caught the eye of his second-in-command.  He beckoned Silas to follow him.  Silas nodded and strode towards the entryway.  Suddenly, a blood-drenched human blocked his way, stake raised high above his head.  The man bellowed, rushing Silas and aiming for his heart.  Silas dodged the attack and kicked the man fiercely, sending him flying into the cement wall with such force that the man died on impact. 

One by one, immortals filed in behind Silas and Dallin, conceding that they were outnumbered and at a disadvantage.  The sun would be rising soon, and the rest of the vampires would weaken and die if they didn’t take shelter soon. 

From his vantage point high on the castle wall, the Lycan King Bradenton watched the vampires retreating.  He held a young vampire in his grasp, arms pinned to his side.  He growled low and loud, anger filling him as the Dallin, King of the Vampires, fled like a coward while the rest of his army died.  Hours before, nearly two hundred vampires had filled the courtyard, surprised to find the humans had a deadly ally.  From his count, fewer than thirty vampires fled into the forest.  A quick scan of the courtyard confirmed that several of the vampires engaged in battle were losing.  Lycan and human worked together, dispatching the vampires methodically.

The vampire in his hands squirmed, trying to release himself from the King’s grasp.  He dropped the vampire and grabbed its head with both hands.  He twisted as he swung the vampire’s body towards the wall.  The head came off and the body disintegrated into dust before it connected with the wall.

He tossed the head into the air as he jumped from the wall, shifting from human to werewolf in mid-air.  He joined the melee, tearing heads off of vampires and knocking one off a pinned human with one mighty swipe of his paw.  He was furious that Dallin had escaped, but there would be another opportunity to deal with that vile enemy. 

This battle was won, but the war would never be over as long as Dallin of the Vampires still walked the earth.

***

50 years later

Lizette pushed back the thick auburn curls, revealing her dark green eyes. She sat, bound, in the tub of warm water.  Beth, an old hag, scooped warm water out of the tub and poured it over the woman’s head.  Lizette scowled back at Beth, her eyes flashing in anger.

“How could you do this?” Lizette said.  Her voice was low, trying not to wake the men that slept in rooms beyond.  “You have to let me go.  I don’t belong here. 
You
don’t belong here.”

“Hush your mouth, child.  King Dallin has need for you, and you must be presentable when he lays eyes on you tonight.”  She smiled eerily.  Lizette couldn’t believe her eyes.  This woman was enraptured with the King.

“You’ve lost your mind.  The only need a vampire has for humans is their next meal.”

Beth smiled and hummed, washing Lizette’s hair, seemingly oblivious to the words coming out of Lizette’s mouth.  Lizette was incredulous. 

“Are you daft?  We need to leave, we need to run.  Now.”

A huge pitcher of water poured over Lizette’s face, causing her to sputter and choke.

“We’ll run a little later.  First, you need to eat some breakfast.  We can’t have our future Queen so skinny.  There are plans for you, beautiful girl.  Big plans.”

Her blood ran cold at that final declaration.  The woman was obviously spellbound; there was no way a human could be so calm in the vampires’ lair, so eager to serve them.  It didn’t matter how she would do it, but Lizette had to get away.

The woman finished washing Lizette’s hair.  She picked up a large pitcher that had been sitting beside her and poured it on Lizette’s hair.  The water was ice-cold.  Lizette bit her lip, but she didn’t cry out.

“Now that red hair of yours will shine like the sun.”  She draped a large towel over one arm and motioned to Lizette to get out of the tub. 

Arms still bound, Lizette stood carefully and stepped out onto the hard stone floor.  She stood silently while the woman dried her off, searching the room around her for a way out while the woman was distracted with her work.

Lizette and Beth were the only humans in the warren, and Lizette couldn’t fathom how they kept this human bound to the home while they slept.  There was a way out of this, and Lizette was going to find it.

Beth finished drying Lizette off, and reached for a set of clothes sitting on the chair beside the tub.  Beth dropped a thin tunic over Lizette’s head, separating her bound hands momentarily to help her work her arms in the shirt.  The fabric clung to her naked breasts and barely reached the back of her thighs.  She might as well be naked, as much as the tunic covered.

Lizette fought the urge to flee then and there.  She didn’t know how to get out of the lair, and she wasn’t about to play her hand. 

A warm smell floated on the air between them, and Lizette was surprised to see a second human coming to the long table and setting food upon it, a man.  He smiled at Beth before leaving the room.

“Is that your husband?”

Beth looked startled.  “Why yes, he is.  The King allowed us to live if we pledged ourselves to him.  We want for nothing, and we don’t have to live in fear anymore.”

She led Lizette to the table, pulling a chair out for her.  Beth pulled Lizette’s left hand out of the clasp that held her hands bound together.  She attached the metal bracelet around her left wrist to a clasp under the edge of the heavy table, leaving her bound, but with her right hand free for eating.

“Eat up, girl.  We’ll be taking you out to exercise soon.  A nice run.  There’s a lot to be done before your destiny is fulfilled.”  Without explanation, Beth turned and left the room, leaving Lizette to eat alone in silence.

She wanted to refuse the food in protest at her imprisonment, but she was starving.  Besides, she needed her energy for later.  She had a feeling that the daily run that Beth kept alluding to was going to be her chance at freedom.  She needed to eat, because she was getting out of here, today.

***

Beth shook Lizette roughly, yanking her out of a deep sleep.  Lizette’s eyes flew open, her expression wild as she looked around her.  She looked at Beth, anger in her eyes.

“What happened?  What did you do to me?”

“You were asleep.  I can’t help you get in shape for your purpose if you can’t keep your eyes open.”  Beth smiled, yellowed teeth rotting in her gums.  Lizette looked around and was relieved to see the sunlight pouring through the window.

“Don’t worry your little head, you won’t be meeting the King until you’re ready.  That will be a while still.”

Beth grabbed Lizette’s bound wrists and pulled her up roughly.  Her bare feet struggled to find their footing on the rough floor.  Room spinning, she forced herself to swallow the bile that came up in her throat.  She shook her head and blinked several times, willing the effects of the medicine to loosen its hold on her.

The room finally settled, and she was able to take a few steps forward.  Tentative, she felt the floor blindly with her bare foot before committing to the step.  Afraid that looking down would cause her to toppled, she continued in this way, following Beth as she led her out of the great room.

“You’re a really special one, the first of your kind.  The King has been talking about the Queen a long while now.”

Lizette was silent, listening to Beth talk half-heartedly while she kept her eyes and ears peeled for any clue as to where the exit was.  Beth rambled on, shuffling ahead of Lizette while she talked.

“We’ll get you nice and strong, yes we will.  And we’ll put a little more meat on your bones.  When you are ready, the King will make you his Queen.”

“Who is the King?”

“Why, Dallin of course.  The King of all the vampires in Ungerland.”

Lizette lost her footing and almost went down.  Beth hauled her up by her shackles, catching her before he knees hit the hard floor.  Her heartbeat quickened, and her breath came in tiny gasps.

Dallin.  The worst of all the vampires.  Lizette shuddered.  She’d heard the name before, but she’d often wondered if it was just a fairytale to keep small children from wandering into the woods alone.  Goose pimples rose on her skin, and for the first time, Lizette was terrified.

Beth pulled a large keyring from her pocket, picking through the many keys until she found the right one.  The heavy door creaked and moaned, protesting as Beth shoved her shoulder into it.  It finally opened with one last creak.  Beth went through the door, pulling Lizette behind her.

The forest beyond the door was dense. Thick trees and solid underbrush hid most of the forest floor beneath.  A thin footpath made a wide circle in front of the door.  Beth shoved Lizette towards the beginning of the trail.

“Run, little Queen.  You have to be ready for your destiny.”

Lizette planted her feet.  “I don’t have any shoes.”

“Of course you don’t.  We don’t want you running away.”

“I can’t run around this without shoes.”

“You can and you will.  There are no rocks on the path; I’ve made sure of that.  The ground is soft.  You’ll be fine.  Get going; we don’t have much daylight left, and you don’t want to be caught out here at night.  Our protection doesn’t extend beyond the walls of the castle.”

Lizette looked back at the lair, which was dug into the side of a large hill.  It looked modest, from the outside, but Lizette had knew that Beth wasn’t exaggerating when she called it a castle.  There was no doubt in her mind that a castle was hidden behind the humble façade and buried deep into the hillside.

Still dressed in a tunic, her feet bare and already dirty, Lizette began to jog the footpath while Beth walked the smaller inner circle, watching.  The path was soft, as promised.  Lizette looked around her, trying to find north, but the trees obscured the sun too much.  The trees were covered with so much lush, green foliage it was hard to tell moss apart from the other foliage from this distance.

“Eyes front, focus on your breathing.  We’re going to be doing this for an hour each day.  Today, I’m going to count how many times you can complete the circle in an hour.  Each day, you’re going to improve on the day before.”

Lizette kept her head turned forward, letting her eyes wander.  She kept her pace intentionally slow, pretending from time to time that her side ached with the effort.  Beth shouted at Lizette, at times angry at her slow progress. 

The third time around the trail, Beth sat down on a tree stump and watched Lizette as she moved at a snail’s pace around the track.  The sun was heading towards the horizon, but they still had at least three hours of daylight left. 

The terrain around the hillside was even denser, the forest was dark and foreboding.  The narrow path that ran past the door and around the back of the hill was narrow and rocky.  There was no way Lizette could run down that path with bare feet, let alone up that steep hill. 

She glanced at Beth, surprised to see her head hanging low, as though she was regarding something on the ground.  Lizette stopped, bending double and letting her auburn curls fall into her face.

She peered through the tendrils and watched Beth.  The woman didn’t move, didn’t even notice that Lizette had stopped.  Lizette moved closer to the tree line, placing her hand against a tree and leaning heavily against it as if she was about to fall over. 

A quick peek at Beth revealed that she hadn’t moved an inch. 
Maybe it’s a trick
, thought Lizette, frantically.  But the woman was much too relaxed for her to be feigning sleep.  After working tirelessly for countless hours, Beth had finally dozed off on her feet.

Lizette looked into the forest beyond, squinting to see if there was anyone hiding in the woods, waiting for her to make a break for it.  She turned back towards Beth and slowly backed into the forest.  She moved her feet quietly, watching Beth for any sign of movement.

This is too good to be true,
she thought frantically.  But the woman remained still as she backed further into the dense woods.

When Lizette could no longer see the path she’d left behind, she turned and started running through the woods, careful to step lightly and avoid rustling the vegetation as she went.  She jogged easily, agilely.  With a step as light as a nimble doe, she bounded through the forest, ever-fearful of a hand on her back, dragging her back to her prison and the fate Dallin had planned for her.