* * *
Alec sprinted for the trees with Zaden hot on his heels. To their right, several guards hustled over, too. The Kríe had less distance to travel though, and tore into the forest first, but Alec and Zaden joined them just seconds later. Joined them, but then slammed on the breaks in alarm at the fucked-up sight that greeted them straight ahead.
Chet, pinned to a boulder against the side of the mountain, with Mannix’s fangs buried securely in his neck. Not that Alec could see said fangs, or them actually piercing Chet’s flesh. Didn’t have to, though. He could see Chet’s face. And the way his body was behaving. The telltale reaction to a feverish Kríe bite. Bites that, as of late, Alec was very familiar with.
The frantic grinding. The gasps and mindless cries. Hands fumbling, body quaking. That grimace of ecstasy…
Thing was, where Alec would clutch Zercy’s shoulders and yank him closer, Chet was palming Mannix’s chest and pushing away.
Cursing, Alec and Zaden broke back into a dash, but the guards that arrived before them blocked the way.
“What are you doing?” Alec shouted. “He’s attacking my guy!”
“Mah.” The Kríe in front of him shook his head. “He must have consented.”
“Like hell, he consented!” Alec tried to push around him.
The large guard grabbed his shoulders and held him. “Stay back. To sever a bite prematurely could cause injury.”
Which was true. Zercy had told Alec as much in the past.
“So letting Mannix drain him dry is better?” Zaden shoved against his own lineman.
“He will relent,” the first Kríe grunted, trying to hold Alec at bay. “He will not kill your friend. This is for pleasure.”
“But Chet doesn’t want it!” Alec shouted, pushing back hard. Just enough to get another glimpse of his hired gun.
Oh, God.
Mannix was sucking him dry! Maybe not to the point that he’d actually kill him, but enough to render Chet too weak to fight. Not that Chet ever stood a chance against the guy anyway. He overpowered Chet by a good hundred pounds.
Chet’s shouts dropped to groans, his shoves now feeble, sloppy pushes. His hips were still grinding though, albeit not as vigorously as before, but he definitely appeared to be slumping against the rock.
Alec’s heart hammered furiously as he fought with his obstructer. “Let go of me, goddamnit! And get that bastard off my guy!”
The trio raced in. Then more guards jogged onto the scene, led by none other than Kellim and Setch. Frowning, they eyed Alec and Zaden first, then cut their sharp gazes to Mannix and Chet.
“What is happening?” Setch barked.
But before anyone could answer, a furious bellow ripped through the forest. Every male froze in place, their wide eyes darting toward the sound. Even asshole Mannix paused what he was doing.
Alec heard the crashing flurry only seconds before he saw him.
Roni. Charging their way along the base of the mountain, like some huge, unhinged rhino on a rampage. To attack. To destroy. His murderous gold eyes like heat-seeking missiles locked on Mannix.
Alec’s jaw dropped.
Holy shit.
Mannix stiffened, then stepped back, bracing as he bared his bloody fangs. Roni roared with a lunge and the two went down in a tangle, their vicious snarls slicing past Alec’s ears.
And, yup, that was pretty much all she wrote as the rest of Roni’s pack stormed in behind him. Faces Alec recognized all too well. Naydo, Miros, Filli, Fin, and of course, dickhead Gesh—who, even from a distance, instantly locked eyes with Noah.
Noah stilled in surprise, but kept his emotions in check. Was he happy? Not happy? Alec honestly couldn’t tell. Didn’t have time to contemplate it though, ‘cause the next thing he knew, every Kríe had engaged, with one of the guards managing to sound his horn for aid.
Jesus. Alec glanced around as the two factions fought. What the fuck was Gesh’s pack even doing there?
Oh, wait.
Aw, shit.
There was only one reason. One purpose. They’d come on a mission to grab Noah.
Cursing, Alec anxiously glanced over toward Chet, a heap on the ground diligently trying to sit up. Alec pointed Zaden his way, “Help him!” then dashed toward the scientists, but Gesh was already gunning for them, too.
Unfortunately, before either of them could reach their mutual target, more guards flooded in and seized the trio. Not that that deterred Gesh in the fucking slightest. He kept charging for his meesha, so Alec did as well, unwilling to risk Gesh somehow managing to snag him.
To his aggravation, however, the second Alec arrived, the guards grabbed and detained his ass, too. Gesh, on the other hand, didn’t give them the chance, just plowed right into the Kríe restraining Noah. Snarling, guards lunged at the pack leader and took him down.
“Gesh!” Noah shouted. But he was quickly seized again and dragged with Alec and the others toward the castle.
“No! Stop! Wait!” Alec dug his heels in. He couldn’t leave Zaden and Chet in all that chaos. They could get injured in the crosshairs. Stabbed by knives, slashed by claws.
But when he glanced back over his shoulder to seek them out, he gaped in utter shock at what he saw. Not the overpowering of Gesh’s pack like he’d expected, that was for sure—what with all the guards now rushing in.
Instead, what he witnessed was another species completely, swooping down from the trees with bows and arrows. Unloading repeatedly into the guards as they landed, their blond hair down their backs like sleek white capes. They looked familiar. He couldn’t place them. And yet, these creatures were only half of it.
His gaze darted past them to a whole other regiment rushing forward through the brush with fiery purpose They had weapons too, some gripping pistols, some wielding big badass rifles. Mowing down all in their path with invisible bullets.
Alec’s heart tripped as he stared. This species he knew well.
Human.
It was the rescue team.
Holy shit.
Momentarily dumbfounded, he watched the cavalries descend, offering much needed backup to Gesh’s pack. And yeah, they definitely needed it, already grossly outmanned. Although honestly, at the rate the castle guards kept flooding in, they’d all be outnumbered within minutes.
Behind Alec, Kellim barked, “Get them back to the castle!” as members of Gesh’s crew bounded over.
In seconds, the pack mates had Gesh up off the ground and the guards who’d held him, knocked out of commission. Their blazing gazes locked on Alec and the scientists next. Setch and Kellim rushed forward to block their advance. Right as they clashed, an arrow nailed Setch’s shoulder just as a pack member drove his blade through Kellim’s gut.
“MAH!” Setch roared, watching his brother go down.
Face twisted in rage, he lunged at the assailant, but a barrage of bullet pulses dropped him like lead. He crashed to the ground at Kellim’s side.
Gesh and the others stormed past and engaged the remaining guards, but only managed to grab Alec and Noah before more attacked.
Alec stumbled haphazardly as they dragged him along, staring back in horror at Setch and Kellim. They were his friends. He’d grown to care about them. He glanced at all the other Nirans down. Oh, God. They were everywhere. Pierced with arrows. Stabbed with blades. So much blood on his team’s hands. This was wrong!
Fury exploded. Using combat tactics he’d learned as a soldier, he grappled with his handler to get free. “Let go of me! This is bullshit! What the fuck are you assholes doing?”
“Liberating you,” Gesh snarled, tightly gripping Noah’s arm. “So keep moving and I will let you thank me later.”
Alec looked at Noah, who also looked distraught by what just happened, then glanced back over his shoulder at Jamis and Bailey. The guards had them nearly to the mouth of the forest, the scientists’ gazes urgent as they struggled against their hold. They didn’t want to be left behind, to be separated from the team, but were no match for the big Kríe ushering them forward.
The sight only made Alec angrier. He turned back and fought harder. “Get off of me, goddamnit!” He swung at the Kríe gripping him, landing punches, elbows, and kicks before the male stopped him.
“What is wrong with you?” the huge male grated. “We are helping you escape.”
Alec glared up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time.
Naydo.
It was Naydo.
Alec glowered. “Let. Me. Go.”
Naydo eyed him uneasily as they hustled along, clearly confused by his behavior. “You do not want to be free?”
“No, goddamnit! Now let me go!” He didn’t want to leave. Not like this. It was too harsh of a severance. Zercy wouldn’t understand. He’d be furious.
But just as much, Alec wasn’t ready to say goodbye. He loved Zercy. Intensely. The Kríe was his home. For all he knew, the rescue team’s ship was parked on the other side of this mountain, waiting to spirit his men back into space.
His chest constricted. No. He wasn’t ready to live without him.
Heart pounding riotously, he steeled his resolve and upped his urgent efforts to get free.
Naydo held his bicep tight, but Alec’s struggles still slowed them down.
“Deal with him!” Gesh snapped, ducking as an arrow tore by. “We do not have time for his madness. We must get out of here now.”
Naydo growled, then gave a nod and frowned down at Alec. “I am sorry, moyo. But you have given me no choice.”
Alec stilled at his tone.
Naydo drew back his fist.
“No!” Noah shouted.
Alec cursed, then—
WHAM!
Lights out.
———
Garret had never been in battle before. He hadn’t been a soldier like Eli and Helix, or even the other team’s captain. But as he glanced around, his back to Kegan’s as they feverishly discharged their pistols, he was certain this was exactly what battle looked like.
All around him, huge males bellowed and shouted as they engaged, ducking and lunging as they attacked their opponents. Arrows flew non-stop in a horizontal shower. So did the rapid-fire spray of Eli and Helix’s rifles.
Garret and the rest of his team kept unloading their shit too, both arms raised with guns blazing in each hand. Impressively, some Kríe managed to block the bolts with their arm guards, but with his men’s fierce aim and a couple solid shots, most just crashed like dead weight to the ground.
Not that they were dead.
Unlike the bullets of Garret’s forefathers, modern slugs were pure energy. Condensed current that incapacitated but didn’t kill.
He glanced to his right as he blam-blam-blam-blammed! spotting one of the guys from the science team. The big one who Roni had deviated from their plans to save. Why the Kríe had snapped like that, Garret had no fucking clue, but as they’d lain in wait earlier, he’d noticed Roni growing tenser. Fangs bared, snarls rumbling as he stared at something in the distance. Then just like that, he’d roared and took off fucking running.
Garret had cursed, but quickly spotted what had set the Kríe off. A castle guard assaulting one of the science team’s men. Needless to say, Garret was pretty surprised that a Kríe would give two shits about a human. Maybe Gesh, since he seemed to care so much about Noah, but Roni? No, Garret definitely hadn’t seen that coming. And it definitely hadn’t been Noah he’d been gunning for.
Going by the file, it was Chet, the military escort. The one, Garret remembered now, that Roni mentioned sparring with. The one he called bitch with a smile and open fondness. The one he stayed protectively close to even now.
Garret’s mag ran dry. He swapped the thing out, watching as Chet and another guy tag-teamed a guard. The marine looked off balance, ready to topple over any second. Luckily, his buddy seemed competent enough for both of them.
Garret got back to firing, stealing glimpses of said buddy. Dark tan, jet black hair, onyx eyes. Must be Zaden. The co-pilot. Second in command to Captain Hamlin. Zaden, who currently was doing all the heavy lifting. In the time it took Chet to land one drunken punch, Zaden had already delivered at least three.
In Chet’s defense though, the marine was a few pints too low. Garret hadn’t realized until after Roni had lost his shit that Chet’s attacker had been draining the poor guy dry. But once hell broke loose and Garret got his first real look at him, Chet’s slumped body and pasty face had said it all.
A bellow in Garret’s ear had him whirling to the left. A guard, charging his ass at full throttle.
“Shit!” Garret barked.
Both he and Kegan turned to blast him, but he’d gotten too close too fast and plowed them over. The three crashed to the ground, Garret’s co-pilot beneath him, that big unruly beast on top of Garret.
The male shoved to his knees, then roared and raised his paw, readying to take a vicious swipe. Garret’s eyes went wide as those sharp claws came barreling down. A split second before contact though, the huge Kríe went flying, tumbling across the underbrush to Garret’s right.
Garret gasped and whipped his head around, gaze locking on Airis’ face. He’d just landed another of his badass double kicks.
Yanking Garret to his feet, the Tohrí briefly pulled him close. “I saved you, oddling.” He grinned. “You owe me a debt.”
Garret blinked. Airis smirked, then tugged his co-pilot up, too.
But before Garret could formulate even a single response, a shout up ahead stole his full attention. Gesh and some others quickly headed their way. Others being his pack mates, a blond who must be Noah, and another human Garret couldn’t make out. Not because the guy was looking the other way or something, but because he’d been slung over Naydo’s big-ass freaking shoulder.
“What the fuck?” Garret muttered. The dude looked out cold. Garret quickly ran the science team’s file through his brain, narrowing shit down to figure out who he was. Wasn’t Chet, Zaden, or Noah. Garret glanced past the stranger’s group, spotting two more of the science team in castle guard possession. They were younger, like Noah. Must be the other two astrobiologists. Which made the unconscious guy over Naydo’s shoulder their fucking captain.
“Shit,” he grated. Had he been injured in the fight?
“Cover them!” Eli shouted, redirecting his huge pulse rifle. A spray of pure current tore into the guards in hot pursuit, those who’d been gaining on Gesh and Noah’s retreating posse. The castle Kríe roared, then toppled down like bricks. But a fresh wave of guards just stormed forward behind them.
Another horn sounded in the distance, the cacophony of battle getting louder. More guards were coming. Garret could see them barreling across the field. Their little three-fold task force was about to get overrun. They needed to get out of there fuckin-A pronto. Meaning they had to grab the scientists right fucking now.
Heart racing, he glanced back at Chet and Zaden. Then Roni just off to their right. All three were outnumbered now, countless guards on the brink of apprehending them.
“Fuck,” he bit out, then shouted over his shoulder, “Kegan, two o’clock!” He pointed in Chet’s direction.
“Roger that!” Kegan tore off to help, pistols blasting.
He looked back at the youngest two still in Kríe guard custody, then turned to Airis, but he’d already delved back into battle. Still nearby, but busy unloading arrow after arrow, only breaking to whirl around and crack an adversary upside the head with his bow. That or kick the big-ass bastards’ feet out from under them whenever they got too close for fucking comfort. In other words, he was indisposed, completely swamped like everyone else.
Without question, they’d pissed on the goddamn hornet’s nest.
Garret spun toward his teammates. “Paris, Sasha!” he shouted “Cover us!” Then he turned to his marines and pointed to Jamis and Bailey. “We can’t leave without those scientists! Blaze a motherfucking trail!”
They nodded and instantly directed their firepower forward, charging straight ahead as they unloaded. Garret took off after them, then low and behold, he heard Airis’ voice from close behind.
“Tohrí!” the male shouted. “Nennáy!” Assist!
Next thing Garret knew, arrows volleyed past his head, adding to Paris and Sasha’s staccato of current. Advancing Kríe went down in droves, but just as many ducked and dodged. Moments later, Airis fell in step running at Garret’s side.
“You are very optimistic, oddling. Or very, very foolish.” He gestured ahead with his arrow. “There are too many.”
Garret ground his teeth, locking his sights on his two sole objectives. The pair of young scientists getting hauled back to the castle. Already, they were halfway across the field. Completely out of tree cover and to Garret’s dismay, surrounded by more guards stampeding past them.
Goddamnit. Had the king’s whole fucking army been unleashed?
On the heels of his thought, they neared the mouth of the forest, where just ahead Helix and Eli ground to a halt. The bottleneck’s concentrated flow of guards was just too heavy, forcing his marines to stop in order to contain them. Garret and Airis slammed on the brakes too, and bolstered their defense, but their added efforts just weren’t enough.
“Not happening!” Helix bellowed above his rifle’s rapid fire.
“Gotta pull back, Chief!” Eli shouted over his shoulder.
“Fuck!” Garret barked. Without thinking, he looked at Airis. “This is our only fucking shot! We gotta get them!”
Airis held his gaze, his big brown eyes anxious, intense, then gave a brisk nod. “I will see to it.”
Garret blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that response. But before he could open his mouth to ask how, Airis tipped his head and cupped his mouth. “Dekdónni, retrieve!”
Instantly, booming battle squawks ripped through the canopy above, thick branches jostling as the winged beasts all took flight.
“Shit,” Garret breathed, eyes darting back to the field, where the formidable flock descended, all but two dive-bombing the guards. Swooping down and snatching them up off their feet, only to toss them into their counterparts like bowling balls.
The castle Krié roared, turning their attention from the forest to go after the dekdónni with fiery fury.
“Tohrí, assist!” Airis barked again.
With the guards’ momentarily distracted, the team could afford the drop in support as the blond warriors rained arrows down on the dekdónni’s attackers.
The scene was chaotic.
But then Garret saw the reason behind it—the two dekdónni now gunning for the scientists. Swooping down, they slammed their huge wings into their handlers, swords piercing their feathered appendages as Kríe went tumbling.
The beasts cried out but didn’t relent as, beside Garret, Airis stumbled. Garret grabbed his arm to steady him, confused by his display, but quickly returned his attention to the mayhem. Just in time, incidentally, to watch the dekdónni clutch both men, then launch with powerful hind legs back into the sky.
The Kríe roared, irate, lunging and swiping with their claws, but the foursome had already risen well out of reach.
Behind Garret, the science team’s other members cheered. He glanced over his shoulder, catching the blond, Noah, grinning ecstatically. Clearly, those were his very good friends who’d just been rescued. Garret smiled and looked at Airis—then instantly tensed.
The Tohrí was grimacing.
“Whoa. You injured? Are you okay?”
Airis nodded once, then jogged ahead and, again, cupped his mouth. “Dekdónni, climb!” he shouted. “High! Dekdónni, high!”
Garret frowned, hustling forward to rejoined him. “Why’d you command that? Those guards don’t have guns or even arrows that I saw. It’s not like they can shoot ‘em once they’re airborne.”
“The guards cannot shoot them.” Airis watched the dekdónni retreating. “But the sentries on the mountaintops can.”
“Sentries?”
Airis nodded, eyes now glued to the dekdónni with cargo. “Nún…” he murmured warily to himself. “Their injuries… and the weight… It is too much… They will not make it…”
Garret turned his gaze to the beasts. They were fleeing toward the waterfall, their huge wings powering valiantly, men clutched in their forelegs. But Airis was right. With their injured wings, despite how impressively high they’d already climbed, they didn’t seem able to increase their altitude farther.
His chest clenched. “They’re in danger?”
Airis opened his mouth, but before he could speak, streaks of blue shot from the mountaintop straight toward the pair. “Nún!” Airis gasped, gripping his bow as he watched.
The dekdónni squawked, barely dodging the brutal blasts.
Garret cursed, following the discharge back to its source, and sure enough, he spotted what looked like an inconspicuous watchtower. Another blast ripped from said spot across the sky, again barely missing its two targets.
“Faster!” Airis barked, as if to no one but himself, his attention locked solely on the beasts.
They were nearly at the waterfall. More missiles of current tore straight for them. The dekdónni carting Jamis dipped to the right just in time, but the one carrying Bailey wasn’t so lucky.
The shot nailed her right in the shoulder. She screeched in pain, frozen in place, then instantly started to plummet. Airis sucked in sharply, knees buckling underneath him.
Garret caught him a second time. “Damn, man. What the—”
The dekdónni’s cry in the distance instantly ripped his focus away. Glancing back, he watched the falling beast, with Bailey still in her grasp, snap out of it just yards from crashing into the water. Barking and squawking, she furiously started flapping, then attempted again to make the daunting climb.
Immediately, she came under another slew of fire, but seemed more determined than ever not to get hit. As if she’d made some mental notes in her paralyzed nose-dive, and was trying out a few new strategic maneuvers. Twisting, arching, ducking, juking. Missing each hit by the skin of her teeth. Tense moments later, with the other beast safely gone, she finally reached the precipice of the waterfall.
Garret’s heart pounded, watching. She was on the fucking home stretch, still dodging like a champ. Just a little further. But right as she cleared the highest treetops of the mountain, a shot streaked forward that she just couldn’t avoid. Not that she didn’t try with all the energy she had left. In fact, she probably would have if not for the added weight. Because as the blast made contact, it only grazed her foreleg.
Bailey, however, got nailed square in the chest.
Instantly he went limp, no doubt knocked unconscious, while the dekdónni flapped wildly, fighting to maintain her hold. But the hit to her arm made his weight just too much, and in seconds he was plummeting toward the water. He hit with a splash just feet before the waterfall, then visibly washed right over the edge.
“NO!!” Noah howled, racing forward, eyes wild. “Oh, Jesus! We gotta go get him! He’s gonna drown!”
Gesh caught him with a snarl. “He is gone. We cannot save him.”
Noah fought his hold frantically. “Bullshit! We gotta try!”
All around though, the majority seemed to share Gesh’s opinion. After all, that waterfall was over a half mile away. Even without guards to contend with, they’d never make it in time.
Zaden went to Noah, looking just as freshly floored and distraught. “He’s right.” His voice was thick with emotion. “There’s nothing…Fuck, there’s nothing we can do.”
Noah shook his head, his face crumbling. “Oh, God… No… Not Bailey.”
“Guuuys!” Eli shouted. “Break time’s motherfuckin’ over! The guards are gunning this way again—with a vengeance!”
Helix fell back into blasting a non-stop torrent of charged bullets. “Gotta go! Ain’t no reason left to stay!”
Too true.
“Fall back!” Garret bellowed. “Fall fuckin’ back!”
All three races took off running, the enemies they’d been combatting taken out, as on the front line, Eli yanked something from his belt and lobbed it forward. Garret watched it hit the ground, ever awed by the sight as an energy barrier exploded across the forest. A sizzling, impenetrable wall that stretched a mile in each direction, separating everything in front of it from everything behind.
“Party wall’s up,” Eli shouted, whirling around. “We got five fucking minutes! Move! Move! Move!”
But as they dashed through the forest, hurtling bushes and logs, Garret heard the pack leader snarling up ahead.
“We do not have enough time. The escape route is too far. They will catch us. You hewmens move too slow.”
“How ‘bout you shut the fuck up,” Noah snapped as he ran. “None of us would be in this mess if it wasn’t for you. Bailey would still be here, you fucking dick!”
“But I rescued you. I have redeemed myself.”
“The fuck you have,” Noah laughed, the sound like ice-cold acid. “Now I have two things to hate you for.”
They approached a mammoth downed log. Gesh clutched Noah from behind, then hefted him atop it like he weighed nothing.
Noah turned and glared down at him, his brown eyes raw with grief. “Don’t touch me again. Do you fucking understand me? I can get over a goddamn log without your help.”
Gesh frowned up at him. “But meesha—”
“Do not fucking meesha me, Gesh. You dicked me over hard. I’m fucking done with you.”
Garret’s eyebrows shot high at Noah’s words.
Holy shit. Had he and Gesh hooked up or something? Gotten romantic?
Gesh scowled as Noah turned and jumped down to the other side. “But I rescued you,” he grumbled under his breath, climbing over. “Took three arrows in my ass to make this happen.”
Garret smirked.
Two seconds later, pale-faced Chet called to the group. “I know another way outta here. A tunnel below the mountain. Will bet my nuts those pricks don’t know it exists.”
The science team’s co-pilot Zaden nodded. “Yeah, up ahead.” He pointed into the distance. “Behind that cluster of bushes and huge boulders.”
Garret nodded. “Let’s do it.” If what Gesh said was true, they didn’t really have much of a choice.
He glanced at Airis. The Tohrí moved silently to his right, his expression masked, but at least he no longer looked pained. What happened before was weird. Garret would have to ask Airis about it. Preferably when they weren’t running for their lives.
They reached the hidden tunnel a few seconds later. The opening wasn’t that big. Maybe five feet tall and three feet wide, max. Garret waited for everyone to squeeze in ahead of him, holding the branches aside that concealed it. Kegan, Airis, and Kato waited with him. By the time all had entered and only the four of them remained, Garret could hear the guards in the distance stampeding their way.
“After you,” he muttered, shoving Kegan through the hole.
Kato went next.
Airis, however, paused to flick a glance toward the sky.
Garret frowned, understanding. “The dekdónni that rescued our guys. One of them was yours. One was Kotchka.”
“Leí.” Airis smiled a little. “She has always been one of the strongest.”
Garret nodded, reflecting. “Where’re they taking the scientist who made it?”
Airis took the branch Garret was holding, and gestured for him to enter. “A secret rendezvous not far from here.”