Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Trust the male with gray eyes.
Roshini hadn’t uncovered the identity of the female who had uttered that advice. No one else had seen her, and she didn’t know what that being’s agenda was.
She certainly didn’t trust her or her advice.
Roshini also didn’t trust the cyborg.
At all.
He might have the gray eyes the floating female seemed to revere. He might be wildly handsome with his perfect gray skin, jet-black hair, and constantly laughing lips.
And yeah, he might turn her on. The male was extremely large and muscular and sported a voice that curled her boot-covered toes.
Any female would be attracted to him, and she was no exception.
She hadn’t felt so much desire for a being…ever.
But, judging by the extensive arsenal he carried around on his form, and by the way he moved, he was a warrior, and warriors fought. That’s what they did.
He certainly wasn’t fighting for the Cancris. She would have heard about that.
If he wasn’t fighting on her side, he could be fighting for the other side.
The cyborg could betray her and her friends.
She had to lure him far away from the beings she cared about.
First, she had to ensure her friends didn’t try to free her from his clutches. Because they would do that. Their loyalty to her and to the Plan was that strong.
She suspected any rescue attempts would end in their deaths.
The cyborg might have spared them once, deciding for some unknown reason to merely stun them. But she couldn’t count on that leniency from him twice.
She extracted Luam’s handheld from the immobilized male’s holster. “Don’t follow me.” She entered that message into the device. “I’ve got this and I’ll see you at sunrise.”
“ We’ll see you at sunrise.” The cyborg grinned at her. “I’m not leaving your side.”
“I’ll show you proof of your so-called enemy’s presence before the end of the shift.” She patted Luam’s shoulder, cast a gaze over the others, and then walked out the door.
It might be the last time she saw any of them. She didn’t know what the cyborg truly had planned for her. He might kill her.
The thought of dying didn’t bother her. She touched her cloth-covered stomach. Death was already coming for her.
But she would have liked to see the Invaders and their horrid weapon decimated before she left the universe. That would have given her great satisfaction.
The cyborg followed her as she moved toward her mounted transport. She recognized all the other vessels parked in the space. “Where’s your ship?”
“We can take yours.” He gazed at her mounted transport with open admiration
His appreciation for her machine softened some of her irritation over his presumption she’d fly him anywhere he wanted to go.
“Do you expect to get a ride back with your buddies? Oops.” She placed her right hand over her mouth, feigning dismay. “I mean with your so-called enemy?”
“The Humanoid Alliance aren’t my so-called enemies, my female.” His eyes glinted with amusement. “They are my enemies. And I’m getting a ride back to my ship with you.” He paused. “Eventually.”
That eventually worried her. Fates, everything about the situation worried her.
Including how much she wanted him.
She climbed onto the mounted transport. “If you’re coming, get on.” She gestured behind her. Because he wasn’t fuckin’ flying her machine. That was for certain.
Doubts about her decision surfaced when he straddled her form. The full front of him pressed against the full back of her.
Her breath hitched. As did his.
The contact was stimulating, immediate, and…right.
The tension building inside of her magically eased. Her shoulders lowered.
Her defenses threatened to do the same.
“Give me some space, cyborg.” Her voice was embarrassingly gruff.
“I’m a big male. There’s no more space behind us to give.” His voice lilted. The cursed male found their proximity funny. “But you have endless space stretching in front of you, my female.” He gestured in that direction. “Let’s see how fast this sweet ride can go.”
She wanted to tell him to fuck all the way off.
But her pride in her machine wouldn’t allow her to do that. His words called to her speed-loving heart.
She revved the engines, and they shot into the darkness.
The cyborg whooped.
His genuine joyful reaction drove her to fly faster. Wind whipped at her garments.
Warmth radiated from the big male behind her.
He was hard. In all ways. His fit physique had no give in it. The bulge in his body armor pushed against her cloth-clad spine.
The cyborg was huge and he wanted her.
Or he wanted the Cancri female she was pretending to be. Nothing about her appearance was real. Even her height was overstated. The boots she wore had thick soles.
Normally, she’d return to her caves and change both her disguise and the panels on her mounted transport before setting out to a settlement.
She preferred to have nothing to link her back to Bubs’s Place.
But there was no way she was bringing the cyborg back to her temporary home. The supplies she’d stored in the adjacent caves would give him too much information about her future plans.
Roshini had no choice. She had to venture into the settlement looking as she did and hope no one else saw her.
“Faster.” The cyborg urged her to increase their speed.
Her lips curled upward as she gunned the engines. She weaved between giant boulders, showing off a bit. Her mounted transport handled like a dream. Her massive passenger didn’t slow them much.
Too soon, they arrived at her usual parking site. It was surrounded by rock and was hidden from the key paths into and out of the settlement.
She killed the engines and dismounted. “We go on foot from here.”
“Are we setting perimeter alarms?” The male gazed around them.
“There’s no point.” She shrugged. “If someone targets my machine, a perimeter alarm won’t stop them.”
She removed the tools from the holsters on her garment and stored them in the compartment underneath the seat.
“You’re disarming?” The cyborg frowned. “The Humanoid Alliance are dangerous.”
She suspected he was dangerous. “The tools make too much noise. And I don’t plan to get that close to the Invaders.” She took out a small container of engine lubricant and smeared it over her skin and clothing.
“Ahhh…” He breathed deeply and his nostrils flared. “My second most-favorite scent.”
“What’s the first?” The question slipped out of her mouth before she reminded herself she didn’t care about the answer. Or about him. Or the yearning coiling around her.
“My favorite scent is yours.” He inhaled again. A silly smile brightened his countenance. “You smell like speed and freedom and forever.”
Fates. Her face heated. She had believed she was immune to flattery, but the male was proving her wrong. “We’re not fucking, cyborg.”
“My name is Drift.” He was undaunted. “And yes, I agree. We’re tracking down the Humanoid Alliance now. We’ll breed later.”
He sounded certain about that.
And the fucked-up thing was… she wasn’t entirely sure he was wrong. She had to fight the impulse to lean into his big strong form.
“I don’t care what your name is.” She told him.
Though Drift was a sexy name. And it was appropriate for a male who liked to go fast.
She also wasn’t sharing her name or any other identifying details with him.
“Once we leave here, we don’t talk.” The silence should decrease her fascination with the cyborg, with Drift. “Voices carry.”
“That’s wise.” The male nodded. “Lead the way.”
She gritted her teeth. His authorization or approval wasn’t required. But she couldn’t tell him that because she’d be breaking the rule she had just set.
Instead, she ran toward the settlement. The moon provided enough light for the journey. She didn’t need that illumination, however. She knew the route like she knew the parts of her mounted transport.
Drift’s tread was eerily silent. But Roshini was acutely aware of his presence behind her. He moved as though he expended no effort. That was…impressive.
The pathway she chose was empty. It was utilized mainly by the agri-lot tenders who traveled to the settlement to sell their produce. And those beings woke and slept with the sun.
Once she reached the first domicile, she slowed her speed and she kept to the shadows. She crisscrossed the pathways, frequenting the usual Humanoid Alliance haunts.
It didn’t take much searching before she found Invaders.
“Who’re we roughing up this shift?” Those words cut through the quiet.
The male’s voice was, unfortunately, familiar.
Roshini’s stomach roiled as she paused in the darkness.
The cyborg pressed against her side. That physical contact, for some never-to-be-explored reason, calmed her.
“Something young or female.” The second male’s menacing laugh raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck. “That’s my fuckin’ pick.”
“Aren’t we looking for a male?” the first male asked. “If too many females end up in the bottom of a pit, beings might get suspicious.” There was a pause. “Though I do like the way they squeal.”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ love that also.” The second male laughed again.
They were monsters. She edged toward the males. The sooner she pointed them out to the cyborg, the sooner she could get away from them.
The two males, the same ones she’d encountered after her visit with Cyra, were standing on the pathway before her. The big one had half of his garments around his knees and was pissing against the front door of a closed nourishment outlet.
She touched Drift’s arm. A spark of energy flowed from him to her. She ignored it and gestured to the males.
The cyborg nodded.
Great. Her end of the bargain had been set. She took a step backward.
Drift gripped her hand and held her in place.
Why the fuck was he stopping her? She looked at him and lifted her eyebrows. They had a deal.
The cyborg pointed with his free hand past the males.
Oh curses. A tiny humanoid-shaped shadow was cast along the pathway. She stiffened. A child was approaching the two males.
Someone young or female. That was who they were seeking to rough up, to eventually kill.
A child was someone young.
Roshini shook her head vigorously and tugged on her arm. She didn’t want to see what would soon happen. It would tear her calloused heart to pieces.
Then she would do something foolish. Like get herself killed or caught trying to prevent the death of that innocent.
But she couldn’t run away from the upcoming tragedy.
She was trapped. The cyborg wouldn’t let her go. His hold on her was unbreakably tight.
And she couldn’t look away. Her gaze was fixed on the scene before them.
The child ambled closer and closer. He was the image of innocence. His cheeks had the chubbiness of youth. His eyes were large and guileless.
He swung the container in his hands back and forth.
Turn around. She silently screamed at the boy. Don’t come this way. Turn around.
“Hey, hey, look what I see.” It was then too late. The shorter male had spotted the child. He nudged the bigger male. “I think we’ve got ourselves a squealer.”
The bigger male hastily pulled up his garments. The fabric in the front was wet. “That thing is definitely a squealer.”
Thing. He called a sweet Cancri child a thing. Like he was an object, not a precious being.
Roshini bristled with rage.
“Stop.” The tall Invader drew one of his guns and pointed it at the child. “Or I’ll fuckin’ shoot.”
“I hope it doesn’t stop.” The other male bounced on the balls of his booted feet.
“Fuck yeah.” The tall male was filled with the same frenetic energy. “But you gotta fuckin’ say the words. It makes the leaders happy.”
The child dropped the container he was carrying, raised his arms and froze in place. “Don’t shoot. I’ll be good.”
“Definitely a squealer.” The short male laughed. He curled his fingers into fists. “Can I have the first hit?”
“No hitting.” The child’s chubby orange cheeks paled. “I’ll be good.” He trembled with fear.
“Fuck yeah.” The tall male waved his gun. “You take the first fuckin’ hit. But don’t kill it right away like you did the last fuckin’ one. I need my fuckin’ fun too.”
It would almost certainly result in her death. But those two monsters wouldn’t hurt any babies on her watch. Roshini reached down and extracted the dagger from her boot.
That was when the cursed cyborg freed her.
Fuck him also.
She’d deal with him later.
The short Invader drew back his fist.
The child’s eyes widened. He whimpered. But he didn’t move.
He was a brave boy.
And she would protect him with her lifespan. Roshini threw the dagger.
Her aim was true. The blade struck the short male in the back of his neck and sank into him up to its hilt.
The male grabbed his throat and gurgled. He turned toward the other male as though seeking his help. Blood streamed between his fingers.
He fell to the pathway. His arms and legs jerked. And then he went still.
The taller male swung his gun toward her. “What the?—”
Another dagger, bigger, wider, faster and harder thrown, pierced the front of that male’s throat. His gun clattered to the pathway. He toppled backward and gyrated.
Roshini looked at the cyborg.
He grinned, handed her another dagger and drew one weapon for himself. The male then glanced pointedly around them as though asking who they would kill next.
Her lips twitched. He was one messed-up being.
Not one to turn down a weapon, she slid his dagger into her boot and sliced her hands through the air. They’d done enough killing for the planet rotation.
The cyborg sighed. And then nodded.
Having dealt with him, she fixed what she hoped was a comforting smile on her face and slowly approached the child.
The boy shook violently. Tears shone on his cheeks.
Poor little baby. Her heart twisted.
She crouched, lowering herself to the child’s level, and she dropped her voice to a murmur. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But I need you to promise me you won’t say anything about this to anyone. This has to be our secret. Can you do that?”
“I can do that.” He nodded vigorously. “I promise. I’ll be good.”
Fates. He was so young.
“Do you have a home?” She didn’t know why the child was out of his domicile after sunset. That was when the Invaders caused the most trouble, and every Cancri on the planet should know that.
“I have a home.” The child nodded again. “Mommy stays on the sleeping support and she cries and cries and cries. She hurts bad.” He touched his forehead. “I hurt. Mommy gives me medicine. There’s no more hurt. I find medicine. There’s no more hurt for Mommy.”
The child’s mommy likely gave all her pain suppressors to the boy. Roshini sighed. The Invaders had hurt so many good beings.
“I’m going to give you some medicine for Mommy.” She extracted the small container of pain suppressors from her pocket.
Giving him that supply meant she would spend all of her last planet rotations in pain. But the child’s mommy was likely enduring that same agony right now.
The other female’s hurt was as important for Roshini to ease as her own.
“I want you to take this medicine to your mommy right now.” She placed the container deep in one of the boy’s pockets. “You aren’t to stop. You are to go straight home and give it to her. Can you do that?”
“I can do that. I promise.” His little head dipped multiple times. “I’ll go home. I won’t stop. I’ll give medicine to Mommy, and there will be no more hurt.”
“There will be no more hurt for Mommy.” Roshini kissed him gently on the forehead. He was dealing with more than any child should ever have to deal with. And he had seen too much. “Go home and see Mommy.”
She straightened.
“I’m going home.” The boy turned and ran back in the direction from which he had come.
She watched the child for a moment. He didn’t stop.
The medicine should reach his mommy. There would be one less being in agony this planet rotation.
Roshini turned and faced the cyborg.
He was gazing at her with a big grin plastered on his handsome face.
“What are you looking at?” She scowled at the male.
His smile widened even more. “I’m looking at my female.”
“I’m not your female.” She rolled her eyes. “And we don’t have time to stand around gawking at each other. We have two bodies to dispose of.”
The ramifications of their rash, yet not at all regretted, actions hadn’t ended. If the Invaders discovered the corpses of two of their kind, the entire settlement would be punished. Innocent beings would be executed. Homes would be destroyed. There would be slaughter and bloodshed and terror.
She couldn’t allow that to happen.
The dead Invaders had to be moved before anyone noticed they were missing.