Chapter 13 #2
I rolled onto my back, sat up, and began firing.
I got one man in the chest. Another in the neck.
Then a boot kicked the gun out of my hand before landing a solid kick to my ribs.
I gasped for air as I clutched my side. My calf burned like someone had a hot poker to it, and I couldn’t feel my left shoulder.
One of Holmes’s men sneered down at me as he snatched the plant out of my pack.
He pointed the gun at my head. “Thanks for this.”
But he never got a shot off. The air blurred. The skin of his neck opened and red blood poured from the wound. He clutched his throat and staggered back. The gun fell from his hand before he collapsed to the ground with a loud gurgle.
I crab walked away from him just as another man went down with claw marks slashed across his belly.
Another man fired his gun wildly, and a familiar cry rent the air.
Scales clicked, and Goldie appeared next to me on her knees.
Her bloody claws curled in the dirt, and blood oozed from her chest. Her scales clicked again, and she flickered, as if she tried to blank again, but it didn’t work, and she fell to her side with a groan.
I scrambled toward her on all fours. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I gathered her in my arms as I grabbed for a weapon from one of the fallen men.
My fingers closed around a gun, and I brought it up with my free hand—the other around Goldie’s shoulders—and pointed it at the remaining men advancing toward me.
“Hold!” Holmes shouted, and Goldie trembled against me. I turned the gun on him and pressed the trigger, but the only sound was an unsatisfying click. No more bullets. I threw it away with a growl and tried to stand on my one good leg with Goldie in my arms.
“What is this?” Holmes’s eyes were lit with greed and interest as he took in Goldie. He reached for her, and I stumbled back with a growl.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” I spat.
“Her,” he whispered. “What a fascinating creature.”
“Don’t fucking look at her.” Panic like I’d never felt before fired through my veins. The pain in my calf and shoulder was all but forgotten. I had to get Goldie out of his sight.
I kept sliding back toward the tree line. Goldie groaned in my arms. Her head lolled. Her chest continued to leak blue-black blood, and real terror filled me that her wound was fatal. I cupped the back of her head and pressed her face into my neck. “Hang in there, Goldie.”
She didn’t answer.
“Goldie,” Holmes looked positively giddy. “How cute.” He gestured to his men. “Grab her with the plant. We’ll run tests on her in the ship.”
“No!” I roared. “You’ll take her over my dead body.”
“That’s the intent,” Holmes sneered. He flicked his fingers at me and spoke to his men, “Let’s end this. We’ve wasted enough time.”
With Goldie in my arms, I turned to run while bracing for a bullet in my back.
But my injured calf betrayed me. It crumpled beneath my weight and Goldie’s, and we hit the ground.
Goldie was fully limp now. A man with a buzz cut reached down, grabbed her around the wrist, and began to drag her body behind him.
With one good leg, I lurched forward after her.
He raised his gun and aimed it at my head.
Before he could fire, the entire tree line surrounding us shimmered.
The man froze, his gaze darting around us.
A blow from some invisible weapon slammed into the side of his head, immediately caving in his skull.
I reached for Goldie just as he hit the ground in a bloody heap.
The air shimmered again, and all around us, massive bronze bodies appeared.
Paul let out a holler in alarm as his remaining men began firing what was left of their bullets.
But it didn’t make a difference. They were outnumbered by at least a dozen aliens who I assumed were Kaluma males.
They were like Goldie, but huge, with white hair, brilliant blue eyes, and swirling white tattoos that shimmered.
Large spikes protruded from their sides of their necks and clustered on their shoulders like armor.
One held a spiked bat on his shoulder as if he was ready to play baseball.
Another swung a mace. And another held two swords in massive fists.
An arrow sailed from somewhere in the trees and pierced straight through the torso of one of Holmes’s men. The alien with the bat took out another with a blow to the head that nearly decapitated the human.
Holmes was cut off on his attempt to run back into the ship by two massive Kaluma who looked nearly identical, with mirrored hairstyles—one side shaved and the other long.
They stood at the top of the ramp with their arms crossed on their massive chests.
Holmes let out a scream and turned to run toward me, as if I’d save him, but he only succeeded in running straight into the sword of a Kaluma.
The tip pierced his stomach and exited his back with a squelch.
Holmes’s body bucked. He gurgled. Blood dripped from his lips. He might have said something. Cursed me. Asked me a question. I’d never know. It didn’t matter, because the Kaluma withdrew the sword with ease, spun it in his hands, and sliced Holmes’s head clean off.
It hit the ramped and rolled to a stop in the dirt.
I didn’t have time to think about the carnage. A Kaluma with an axe strapped to his back tore Goldie from my arms. Even though I knew she was hurt, I couldn’t help my reaction. I kicked out at his shin. “Don’t hurt her, you fucker.”
The Kaluma with the swords shoved me onto my back with one finger. His strength was insane, but I still came up like a jack in the box, needing to touch Goldie one last time before one of these guys turned me into a headless human. “Goldie!” I bellowed.
Her fingers twitched. Her lips moved.
Tears dripped from eyes. I couldn’t breathe. The Kaluma raised his sword, and I stared at the unconscious face of the love of my life. I clutched her necklace with my blood hands.
The Kaluma never brought down his blade. His eyes landed on Goldie’s necklace that now rested on my chest. His head cocked. He spun the blade in his hand and brought down the handle right into my temple.