I shook my head, and I realized that I wasn’t feeling angry so much as sad at hearing him talk. “No, power isn’t everything. Not at the cost of lives. Knowledge is a worthy pursuit, but we’ve always disagreed on that, haven’t we, Dad?”
That’s when Alvin Marcus changed tactics, not even left with so much as a hint of fatherly instinct. “You know you’ll never succeed. You’ll never get out of this house. Why did you come here? I didn’t raise an idiot.” He stepped away from the desk, ignored how Killian moved aside to make sure his exit was blocked and reached for the bookshelf. That was the secret passage I’d been counting on, and my escape route was quickly snatched away when it sprung open, and a monster stepped out.
“Meet Roavar, the alien Mullberry, was supposed to hand that data to. He’d like his data chip now.” The creature, eight feet tall and covered in brown fur, was like a wolf on two legs. With a giant maw that he pulled into a feral grin, silvery blue eyes glinting at me from the darkness of his snout. That look said it all. It said: I’m going to swallow you whole.
We were screwed. I looked over my shoulder at Killian, an apology already on my lips, and discovered he was gone.
Chapter 17
Killian
“I’m reading one Dragnell bio signature inside the house with you, Killian. Be careful!” Callum whispered. He didn’t need to whisper, but the mood had gotten hold of him. I wasn’t surprised, Callum was secretly a sensitive soul and a total romantic. That’s why I knew he wouldn’t rat me out for going off-script for my Tally.
“Data from that primitive camera has been streamed to the ship,” the male added. “I don’t know why you wanted me to do that. We shouldn’t be interfering in human politics, but it’s done. And will continue to stream until that camera dies.” That was good, that safeguarded Daria’s mission, regardless of whether we got out of there or not. It would be our bargaining chip if the enemy managed to capture us.
The presence of the Dragnell bio sig gave me a bad feeling, and I was ready for anything as I watched Daria’s confrontation with her father unfold. I didn’t say a word, didn’t interfere, because I knew my darling Daria could perfectly take care of herself. Staying back also meant I had time to observe this male.
He wasn’t very tall, but neither was Daria. His physique was easily visible beneath the white shirt he wore, and it was obvious he kept himself in shape. Like his daughter, he was no easy target. They shared the same eyes, a soft brown. On Daria, I loved them. They were kind and warm, and I could see the vulnerability she tried to hide. This male had nothing butcoldness going on beneath the surface, a predator stared from that gaze that waited to pounce, to kill.
When the male started to move from his desk, I moved accordingly, my plan already mapped out. First, I blocked his exit, just in case he was going to try to leave through the door. He turned for the books instead so I flicked one of the handy gadgets on my belt on with a brush of my fingers. It activated the climbing capabilities in my shoes, and with a quick leap, I found myself pressed against the ceiling.
My hand located the laser pistol and when that door swung open and the Dragnell burst through, I was ready. The alien invader roared with rage, leaping for my mate without looking up. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about me in the chaos that erupted.
Daria did her best to back away from the reaching claws, but she was just as busy trying to catch the monster on her body camera. Brave female, she had no sense of self-preservation beyond fulfilling her quest. She would do anything to save her people from the forming of the UAR. It was a good thing I was there, I’d take care of that bastard: nobody hurt a Terafin’s mate.
My laser fire hit the Dragnell center mass, a double tap I’d executed plenty of times before. The male gave a last growl as he began to topple over, and Daria darted nimbly out of the way. He landed with a thud, and a deep silence followed that lasted several eternal seconds. Daria’s father stared at his downed ally, Daria stared at the pile of fur and claws with horror, and then they both looked at me.
With a flick of my wrist, I dropped from the ceiling and landed on quiet feet. Then I held out my hand to Daria, “Coming, Tally? I think it’s about time we leave.” I eyed the dead Dragnell, then glared at the General, who was so greedy, so selfish, that he wanted power more than he wanted to protect his daughter. I wanted to kill that bastard for what he’d put Daria through, and I made sure he could see that in my eyes.
He flinched back, growing pale: message received. I dared him silently to make a move, to give me a reason, but he stayed firmly rooted to the spot and didn’t make any threatening moves. When Daria put her small hand in mine, a sense of victory washed through me. She trusted me, not her sire.
“This way,” my mate said, and she guided me to the passage that the Dragnell had arrived through. I was not certain that was our best exit, though Callum had confirmed that enemy forces had surrounded the house. There was still a special forces Dragnell unit, they could be waiting on the other side. I’d rather take my chances with the humans.
The sound of the front door bursting open spurred us both into action, we ducked behind the bookshelf. From the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and I reacted on instinct. My body twisted around Daria, protecting her, and my hand went up, finger squeezing around the trigger of my laser pistol.
Pain blazed through my shoulder when her father raised his own gun and fired. His shot went wide, wide enough at least, mine hit him in the center of his forehead. I spun Daria, not allowing her to see as we leaped down into the narrow passage, that seemed to be a theme for us. “Is he dead?” she asked quietly, unruffled by our quick pace or the darkness that surrounded us.
“Yes,” I answered, unable to lie to her. She didn’t respond, but I sensed she was resigned, not sad.
Chapter 18
Daria
My heart was pounding far too fast inside my chest, I knew that wasn’t from the run but the brush with death we’d just escaped. Our opponents had not been so lucky, and it was a bit chilling to discover just how little I felt over my father’s demise. If anyone deserved it, it was him. My fear had more to do with the hairy, wolfish alien that had leaped from the passage, and how my father had served me up to him.
I had caught all that on video! It would be exactly what I needed, but it was the scariest situation of my entire career, and that was saying something. I’d been in some really scary places and escaped with my life by the skin of my teeth more than once, but nothing beat that. Then my mind flashed to how Killian had dropped from that ceiling like an avenging angel, or Spiderman maybe. He’d been magnificent, cool as a cucumber, and highly effective.
“Callum,” my superspy/assassin whispered. “How many at our exit?” That was smart. I kept forgetting that we had eyes in the sky helping us. I needed to thank this Callum for going along with this crazy, hare-brained mission. He didn’t need to do that, he could have washed his hands of the situation when Killian went off-script for me.
I couldn’t read Killian’s expression, but from his grim silence, I took it to mean our odds weren’t good. “Can Callum get my video to Sami?” I asked. We were almost at the exit, and though I had so much I wanted to live for, with Killian at my side, I had tofocus on reality. All would be for naught if Sami didn’t get this footage.
“Already done,” Killian responded, and though I couldn’t see it, I could still sense the wild grin he shot my way. Heat washed through me when I realized he’d thought ahead, done more than just be my backup. He’d made my mission his. My chest grew tight, and I pressed my fingers to my sweater as if that would ease the pressure.
We’d reached the trapdoor behind the shed, this was it. My fingers caught Killian’s jacket to stop him, but he’d halted just as I had. We didn’t have time. Soldiers had entered my father’s home, they’d be down this passage in no time. We were fish in a barrel if they started shooting. “In case we don’t make it,” I whispered. “If I’m supposed to be your Tally, then what does that make you?”
His mouth swept down on mine, claiming my lips, my tongue, and my taste. My toes curled in my boots as I clung to his shoulders and let him transport me for a lingering second to a better place. “A’Tal, a female calls her male A’Tal. I love you, Daria. We will make it, have a little faith.”
A’Tal, huh? I pressed my mouth to his quickly, but the sound of footsteps entering the passage meant we’d run out of time. If they had night vision goggles, it was all over. “See you on the other side, A’Tal,” I said, and I pushed open the trapdoor and threw myself into a low roll out of the passage.
