Chapter Twenty-Four
Kaitlyn
Silence reigned.
It had all happened so quickly that she was still in shock, trying to process the change in her world. Aric. Dragons and their mates. Aliens. Love.
That’s right. He’d said he loved her. She had that image etched into her brain. His eyes had finally come alive at last, the deep blue circles dancing and happy. And all it had taken was her.
As quick as it had happened it was gone. Aric had left, taking the soldier with him, and leaving her alone in the room. Nobody had tried to take her elsewhere, to move her to safety. They must believe that for whatever reason, nothing was trying to get to her. Like the other day, she sat in the room at first and waited for him to come back.
It was unbearable within minutes. The way Aric had told her he loved her, as if he wanted to get it out so that she knew in case he never got another chance, weighed heavily on Kaitlyn. She hoped and prayed that he would return to her, that he would defeat the monster and come back, but the way he’d left made it impossible to believe that fully.
Kaitlyn stood. She needed to find Aric, to tell him her secret. There was more for him to fight for. Much more. If he could summon the courage to tell her how he felt, knowing full well she might not feel the same, then she owed it to him to be brave, to respect his courage.
The door opened and she peered out into the hallway. It was eerily quiet, devoid of any life whatsoever. She followed the corridor back toward the main tunnel, careful to avoid making too much noise. At every corner or intersection she paused and waited before peering around the edge to ensure that nothing was lying in ambush. This was a military base after all, and they were under attack. Caution was the name of the game on her part.
At last she reached the main tunnel, the thickly armored doors closed. Nervously she palmed the button to open them, terrified of what she might find on the other side, but driven by a need she couldn’t control. This was beyond her now. She wasn’t going to fight or put herself in harm’s way, but she needed to talk to Aric, to tell him.
He was going to be a father.
Nothing happened. The doors stayed shut. Kaitlyn tried again, but to no avail. The red light stayed on. It was locked, and she didn’t have the key to open it. Slumping against the wall she slid to the ground, dejected. The base was on lockdown, and only someone with the clearance could open the door.
Clearance.
She looked down at the ID badge still clipped to her shirt. The same ID badge that had allowed her into the tunnel in the first place.
Hope soared. Scrambling to her feet, she fed the magnetic strip through the card reader and then tried the door again.
Like magic the heavy armored doors began to retract into the walls one by one, until she could see the tunnel beyond. Noise blasted out at her from the other side. Gunfire, shouts, and something else. Something that reeked of a power she couldn’t comprehend.
Easing her head out around the corner, she looked up the tunnel. A blast of light momentarily blinded her and she jerked her head back. What the hell had that been? When her vision returned she tried again, slower this time.
“Aric,” she gasped, witnessing something out of a movie.
Aric. Her Aric, standing his ground against the most nauseating, nightmarish creature she’d ever seen. It was tall, covered in black armor that humped and writhed as it repaired itself and shifted, all while moving forward in an odd gait that made her stomach rumble unsettlingly.
She watched as he flung everything he had at the alien. Bolts of lightning, beams, even arrows fired from a mighty crossbow, but it all seemed to do little more than slow the thing down. Step by step it advanced, and Aric and the four battlesuits at his side retreated down the hallway closer to her.
Aric unleashed a mighty blast that took the creature from its feet. Even before it hit the ground he and the suits were retreating some more, buying themselves more time. The creature hit the ground and then got right back up, shrugging off the barrage of bullets and missiles the suits sent its way.
“Kaitlyn?” Aric gasped as he came to a halt in his retreat and started to turn back. “What are you doing here?”
The other two suits stepped up to fill his spot as he darted over to her.
“Aric, I needed to tell you something.”
“You need to go,” he said urgently. “Run. Get away from here. I can’t stop it. If it gets through…it’s going to be bad, Kaitlyn. Get out of the country. Go home. Trust me on this.”
She shook her head. “No, not without you, Aric. You need to fight, you need to win!”
“I am fighting,” he said, defeat coloring his voice. “But I can’t do it. I can’t beat it.”
She gripped his shoulders and locked gazes with him. “You need to, Aric. You can’t give up now. You need to fight.”
“I’m fighting, Kaitlyn. I am. For me. For these soldiers. For you.”
Without thinking she snatched his hand and placed it to her stomach. “What about for your child?”
Shock froze Aric in place. He stared at her, his head slowly lowering to her soft belly, where she held his hand tight. Wonder quickly banished the stunned expression, followed by joy and happiness. “You’re serious. When did this happen?”
“The first time,” she admitted. “I only just found out a week ago. I…I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”
“You’re sure it’s mine?”
Some women might get offended by that, but she didn’t. He had no idea what she had been doing with her personal life the first time they slept together.
“Not a chance it’s anyone else’s,” she assured him, recalling the painfully long involuntary celibacy streak she’d had leading up to her wild romp in the office with Aric. “All you. You’re going to be a father.”
Explosions echoed up the hallway.
“The plane,” he whispered to himself. “That’s what changed. You were with child.” He slapped his forehead. “How could I have not noticed that! Of course. It all makes so much sense now. The money, the weird way you look at me sometimes.”
“That part’s because I care deeply for you,” she said, hesitating.
“ARIC!” one of the suits shouted as they backed up some more, almost even with the entrance now. “A little help?”
“Go,” she said. “Fight. Fight for me. For our child. For our love.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Yes, okay! I love you, Aric. There, I said it, and I meant it,” she laughed, terrified as the nightmare apparition stalked closer. “I love the you I’ve seen this trip. If that’s the real you, then you’ll have me for as long as you want me.”
Neither of them said it, but the word forever came to mind right away.
Aric grinned, squeezing her hand tightly before he stood.
“Step aside,” he ordered.
Kaitlyn gasped. His voice had changed. It was deeper than she’d ever heard. Melodious and powerful.
Blueish-white energy leapt from his skin, mimicking the way the creature’s outer armor healed itself, arcing in and out as it traveled up from his hands.
“Time to end this,” Aric whispered, stepping forward to do battle with the Outsider.