Chapter Eleven
Qa’a…
Kaelen’s shock, rage and pain hit me like a sledgehammer. I grabbed my head. “Holy shit!”
“Tai-Kok?” Dad asked, looking around in concern.
I flinched as his agony grew stronger. “No. Something has happened to Kaelen.”
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence on the street in front of us and spun rapidly. I shielded my eyes. “That isn’t good.”
“Nope.” Dad brought the ATV to a stop and picked up his assault rifle.
The spinning light accelerated until a vortex formed. Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the growing opening. People ran for their lives.
A figure in black body armor flew out of the vortex and smacked into a wall.
“Oh, my, God. That’s Kaelen!” I ran over to him. Ewww. His battle armor was covered in icky green slime. Was it safe to touch him? “Kaelen?”
He didn’t move and his breathing was labored.
Cold fear rolled over me. I could barely sense him in my mind. Drawing on every ounce of power I had, I reached out for Zarek. “Sir, I need your help.”
“Are you hurt?”
I flashed him an image of Kaelen’s slime-covered suit. “No, but I think Kaelen is.”
“Where is Gael?”
The vortex abruptly vanished.
“Dunno. He just tossed Kaelen out of the vortex and left.”
“Do not touch his armor until the slime has been removed. It is highly corrosive,” Zarek commanded as he scanned Kaelen.
“Yes, sir.” I turned to Dad. “We need to wash the slime off his armor.”
He nodded and hurried off.
My eyes widened at the amount of energy Zarek poured into Kaelen. “How badly is he hurt? I have some healing abilities.”
“Gael deliberately drained his powers and dumped him on your world. He knows your primitive health care would be unable to heal him.”
And I helped that rat bastard! “Guess he didn’t know about our link.”
Zarek’s fury rolled over me and my knees buckled. “He did not. I will speak with his father.”
Dad dragged a water hose over to us and washed the slime off Kaelen’s armor. The asphalt began to bubble and melt.
I pulled him away from the steaming water. “How do I remove his armor, sir?”
“Hit the gold button on his belt.”
I did and it shrank away to reveal a skin-tight body suit that emphasized Kaelen’s muscular build. The left side of his face was badly bruised, and I could sense some broken ribs. I placed my hands on his chest and poured healing energy into him. To my utter relief his breathing steadied.
“He will live but it will take several weeks for Kaelen to regain his full strength,” Zarek advised.
If Gael showed back up, I was kicking his ass. “I’ll keep him safe until he recovers.”
“When he wakes, he will need blood,” Zarek added.
I would get him whatever he needed. “Yes, sir.”
“General Jones has been notified, and he is bringing a chopper,” Dad said.
Jake roared up on a motorcycle. “Did Gael really eat him?”
“He gave it a good try, but Kaelen’s armor protected him,” I answered.
Putting the kickstand down, Jake climbed off the bike and mentally scanned Kaelen. “His power levels are way down.”
“That’s because Gael drained him almost to the point of death, and he is going to pay for that,” I snarled.
Dad scowled. “Under no circumstances will you attack Gael.”
“But dad…”
Zarek interjected, “It is a battle even I could not win. Gael’s father is the only one capable of defeating him.”
“Can you at least tell me if Gael ate all the Tai-Kok soldiers on the slaughter ship?” I needed to know some good had come out of all of this, “I cannot.”
Kaelen groaned, opened his eyes and smiled. “You are so beautiful. I will never stop looking for you.”
“I’m not lost anymore, sweetie, you are. Gael dumped you on my world.” I brushed my lips across his.
His arms wrapped around me tightly. “Mine.”
“Can’t breathe.” I squeaked.
Kaelen loosened his grip and sniffed my neck. “Smell good.”
“Seriously? It’s a hundred and ten today and I ran out of deodorant a year ago. Slamming face first into that wall rattled your brains a bit, didn’t it.” I brushed the warrior braids off his face. God, was he pretty.
He stared at me in utter disbelief. “You are real.”
“Yes, I am.” I kissed the tip of his nose.
“Quit flirting and ask him what happened,” Jake snapped.
I saluted him. “Yes, sir.” I smiled down at Kaelen. “Do you remember what happened?”
Fury flared in Kaelen’s eyes. “Yes, Gael appeared on the bridge of my warbird and pulled me into the vortex.” He shot to his feet, pulling me up with him. “He tried to drain my life force.”
“And he tried to eat you too,” I said.
Jake scowled. “Why would Gael want you dead?”
“To keep me from telling Qa’a Ziyn sold him to the Tai-Kok,” Kaelen answered.
Huh? “Why would he want to keep that a secret?”
“Ziyn has been Gael’s mate for two thousand years.” Kaelen’s brows furrowed. “To regain his honor, Gael must kill her.”
I made a face. “The question is: Does he still love her? If he does, he’ll do anything in his power to protect her.”
Dad blew out an aggravated breath. “Still not psychic.”
Jake brought him up to date.
“Gael is either madly in love with the bitch or he’s totally bonkers,” Dad remarked.
I snorted. “If he were a prisoner of the Tai-Kok for any length of time, I vote for bonkers.”
Kaelen swayed.
Wrapping an arm around his waist, I helped him over to a low wall and held out my left wrist. “Zarek said you would need blood.”
With a goofy grin on his face, Kaelen babbled, “You are the perfect mate.”
“Mate?” Jake repeated. “Does he consider you his wife? Have you done it mentally?”
I scowled. “None of your business.”
“But it is my business and you’re too damn young to be messing around with anyone let alone with a horny, three-hundred-year-old warrior,” Dad bellowed.
Was Kaelen really three hundred years old? A better question was: How did Dad know?
Kaelen bared his fangs and growled at Dad.
“Enough!” I planted a hand on Kaelen’s chest. “We are family now. Got it?”
“Yes, my lady,” Kaelen said.
His brows furrowing in a fierce frown, Dad snapped, “My daughter is not marrying an alien.”
“You did, Dad,” I countered and winced when Kaelen bit into my wrist. Whoa! The pain was quickly replaced by raw want as he took my blood. My core pulsed with sudden moisture, and an unbearable ache began to build between my legs. Holy hell! I fought back a whimper.
Need burned in Kaelen’s eyes.
“No hanky-panky,” Dad snapped. “I’ll give him blood, not you.”
Vaguely aware of Dad’s meltdown, I dug my fingers into Kaelen’s shoulder as my pleasure grew and grew. Could I have an orgasm standing up? Phantom fingers stroked my clit and ecstasy cascaded over me. A moan broke from me as my entire body shook, and I literally saw stars. Wowzers!
Kaelen locked his left arm around my hips. “You are so responsive.”
“And I think you’re feeling better.” The toe-curling aftershocks continued to shake me.
If looks could kill, Kaelen and I would be dead.
“No more funny stuff,” Dad repeated.
Was he kidding? I wanted more. A lot more. “Yes, sir.”
“Does the alien still need blood?” Dad asked through gritted teeth.
Kaelen withdrew his fangs from my arm and licked the bite mark. “I do.”
“He does.” Huh? Kaelen was learning English at a rapid pace.
Dad held out his arm. “I used to give your mother blood.”
“You honor me,” Kaelen said and took his arm.
Jake watched in horror as Kaelen drank from my father. “He a friggin’ vampire!”
“He’s not a vampire. He is a Coletti warrior. Kaelen eats food just like the rest of us.” I hoped. It wasn’t like I had actually seen him eat.
His hand on his gun, Jake snapped, “He’s got fangs and he drinks blood. He’s a vampire!”
“The Coletti race must supplement their diet with a small amount of blood every month. If they have been injured, they need more,” Dad advised.
Shaking his head violently, Jake backed away. “Nope. Not doing it.”
“I didn’t realize you were such a wuss.”
There was a short, disbelieving silence, then Jaked barked, “Watch the attitude, officer.”
“Yes, sergeant.” I saluted him.
Whump. Whump. Whump. A Huey helicopter headed our way.
“Let’s see what Uncle Saul says,” I said.
Jake’s worried gaze fixed on the helicopter. “Quinn’s right, there will be a price to pay for their help.”
The horror of the Tai-Kok slaughter ship flashed across my mind. “I am willing to give them all my blood if that stops the carnage.”
Jake blew out a long breath. “Me too.”
The Huey landed in the parking lot of the abandoned Walmart and Uncle Saul jumped down. His gaze locked on Kaelen.
Kaelen licked Dad’s wrist and scanned the general as he walked toward us. “A formidable warrior.”
“Yes, he is,” I agreed.
Uncle Saul came to a stop. “Do you need a medic Battle Commander?”
“No.”
I rolled my eyes. Typical male. He could be missing a leg and he’d still insist he was okay. “He has three broken ribs. We gave him blood, and I used my healing talent on him.”
Uncle Saul studied Kaelen. “Zarek said for you to heal properly you will need blood for the next two weeks.”
“Dad and I will take care of that,” I interjected before Jake could protest.
Every inch a general, Uncle Saul gestured to the helicopter. “Zarek wants you to look at our star charts and we have a lot to discuss.”
“We do. I am very interested in examining the portal too.”
Dad sidled up to me. “He wants to see the portal, doesn’t he?”
“Yep.”
The emergency alert tone blared from the police radio and the dispatcher announced, “We have a food riot inside the Safeway store at Eighty-third and Cactus. I need units to respond.”
Dad keyed his mic. “Adam-30 and Adam-31 are responding. How many people are involved?”
“Thirty and shots have been fired,” the dispatcher answered.
Jake grabbed his mic. “David-20, show me en route.”
“Copy, David-20.”
Dad and I rushed back to the ATV. To my surprise, Uncle Saul and Kaelen climbed in the back of our four-wheeler. “You’re coming too?”
“You’ll need all the help you can get,” Uncle Saul said.
A hysterical laugh broke from me. This should be interesting. None of them had ridden with Dad before. “Strap in!”