Chapter 16
After putting Meela down for a mid-morning nap, Cora turned on the baby monitor and made sure her wrist comm was turned on.
Draevan had given her a wrist comm that she could use to send messages, receive news updates, and stay connected to the various baby monitors that were spread throughout the house.
If Meela woke up and started fussing, Cora would know immediately.
She ventured to her music room first, which was on the second floor of the house.
Draevan had recently installed acoustic wall paneling in the room, making it the perfect place for her to practice guitar and work on her songs.
And soon, she would have her piano back.
She’d already picked out the perfect place in the center of the room.
She spent the next hour happily absorbed in her music.
Sitting on a plush chair with her favorite guitar, she played through a new melody several times, occasionally stopping to jot down notes on the manuscript paper on the music stand in front of her.
Other times, she scribbled a few lyrics in the notebook on the small table next to her.
She’d always worked this way, allowing melodies and lyrics to come to her intuitively when she was feeling inspired, rather than forcing herself to create something new simply because she was expected to.
She smiled as she glanced around the room.
This was exactly what she’d needed.
For so long, her music had been tangled up in contracts, recording schedules, interviews, managers, producers, rehearsals, and screaming fans. She loved performing and sharing her gift with others, but she’d almost forgotten what it felt like to make music simply because she wanted to.
Here, in Starzzia, she could play her guitar in peace and compose new songs. No pushy record labels. No scheming managers. No intrusive reporters. And no fans waiting outside her building.
Just her, her music, and her quiet home on New Vaxx.
She began playing another song, letting her fingers move instinctively over the strings while she hummed softly along with the tune. She became so absorbed in playing that she didn’t realize how much time had passed until she glanced at the clock.
Nearly two hours.
Meela would probably wake up soon. The baby usually just took an hour-long nap in the morning, but she’d stayed up a bit later than usual the night prior, so she probably needed some extra rest.
With a soft sigh, Cora set the guitar on its stand and stood up to stretch her legs.
She glanced down at the manuscript paper that was filled with music notes and the notebook that was filled with lyrics.
Perhaps once her piano arrived, she would finally be inspired to finish one of her new songs and start recording.
That thought made her smile.
As she moved toward the door, she heard a noise. She froze. It had come from somewhere down the hallway. A creak in the floorboards. A footstep.
Had Draevan returned early?
She glanced at her wrist comm. The security feature usually sent her a notification when someone walked through the door, but she saw no notifications whatsoever. How strange. Not even a news or weather update. Was the wrist comm malfunctioning?
Before she had a chance to investigate further, she heard another noise. Another footstep. She swallowed hard. Apprehension rippled through her, a cold foreboding that told her something was wrong.
It couldn’t be Meela walking down the hallway. The baby was still learning how to walk, and even so, her crib was designed in such a way that she wouldn’t be able to crawl out of it.
Maybe Cora was just being silly. Surely there was no danger. There was a protective shield around New Vaxx, and Starzzia was a safe city.
“Draevan?” She cracked the door open and peered into the hallway. “Draevan?” she called again, but there was no answer.
She stepped into the hallway and walked slowly toward the stairs, listening carefully. Another sound came from around the corner of the hallway behind her, and she spun around, her heart in her throat, her pulse hammering wildly in her ears.
“Draevan?” she whispered.
No one answered, but she heard another creak, another footstep.
And then, heavy breathing. She covered her mouth to keep from gasping.
Something was definitely wrong. Draevan could be playful at times, but he would never play such a cruel prank on her.
He wasn’t the type of male to scare her and laugh about it.
Her insides turned to ice.
Someone else was in the house.
She prayed it was only a neighbor come to borrow something. Maybe they’d rung the doorbell, but she’d been so absorbed in her music that she hadn’t heard it. And maybe they’d come inside to check on her.
But that didn’t explain why they were lurking around the corner, remaining eerily quiet when she called out for Draevan.
Then a familiar human man stepped around the corner.
Her heart stopped.
It was him.
Her stalker. M.
For one terrible moment, she couldn’t breathe.
They stared at one another for a few seconds, neither of them speaking. M’s eyes blazed with excitement, as though he couldn’t believe he’d finally found her.
She couldn’t believe it either.
How the hell had he made it to New Vaxx?
All the fear she’d endured during the years he’d sent her threatening letters returned.
She trembled as she recalled the time he’d tased her bodyguards and nearly kidnapped her in Vegas.
And the advertisement drones that had flown by her penthouse windows with his creepy message…
well, she’d been so afraid of him then that she’d signed up for the VAMOB program so she could get the hell off Earth.
She honestly never thought he could follow her to New Vaxx, and now she regretted keeping this secret from Draevan, a secret she’d kept because she’d worried he might restrict her freedoms if he thought she might be in danger.
She’d also worried that Draevan might go to Earth to hunt M down.
The alien warrior was rather possessive and protective of her, and he had a dark, violent side that seemed to emerge when he was faced with an enemy.
“No,” she whispered as she stared at her stalker. “No.”
M smiled. “Hello, Cora. You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
Her entire body went cold.
“How?” she whispered. “How did you find me? How did you get here?”
His smile widened. “I’ve always known how to find you,” he said. “Ever since Vegas… well, the first thing I did when I grabbed you was plant a tracking device in your forearm. I did it so quickly that you didn’t even realize it.”
“That was two years ago,” she sputtered, disbelief filling her. “You’ve been able to track me this whole time?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I have.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He frowned, then took a menacing step toward her. She was trembling so hard that she couldn’t manage to move back. She was frozen in shock and fear, and she worried about what might happen if Meela suddenly woke up and cried out. No matter what, she needed to keep the baby safe.
Cora reached for her wrist comm, trying to call Draevan, but it wouldn’t work.
“You won’t be able to call anyone.”
Her eyes snapped toward him. “What did you do?”
“I told you we’d be together forever, didn’t I?
Surely you must’ve known I would eventually come for you.
” He paused and leaned against the wall, affecting a casual stance that somehow only made him look more menacing.
“I had a little help from the Xeronnians,” he said.
“Their technology is remarkable. They have devices that block incoming and outgoing communication from a certain location, as well as technology that can conceal a person’s life signs, for example, when they hide in a box being transported by an interstellar moving company.
Oh, and technology that can temporarily allow a person to appear invisible, which was very convenient for me as I sneaked out of Starzzia’s main hangar. ”
The chill inside Cora turned glacial.
Oh, God. Please, no.
She couldn’t imagine being torn away from her life on New Vaxx. She adored the little family she was part of. She loved Draevan and Meela with her whole heart. What would they think if she suddenly disappeared?
She took a deep breath, drew herself up taller, and curled her hands into fists.
She would not allow M to take her without a fight.
He laughed and withdrew a blaster from his pocket, a small alien weapon that could stun her or kill her, depending on its settings. She doubted he’d set it to kill mode, but she didn’t want him to stun her, which would leave her completely at his mercy, unable to fight back as he dragged her away.
She turned around and bolted for the stairs, veering to the left just as a blue beam shot past her head.
He cursed and cried out in pain, and she paused and looked over her shoulder to see what had happened.
He was clutching his right arm, and the weapon was on the ground at his feet, smoke curling upward from it.
Well. It would seem the blaster had somehow backfired even as it shot a blue beam toward her head.
She turned and took off again, but he snarled and quickly caught up to her, throwing himself on top of her as they both tumbled to the floor.
“You’re coming with me, Cora!” he shouted. “We’re going to steal a Vaxxlian cruiser and travel to a remote outpost, where we can finally be alone together. Just the two of us. You are mine! Mine!”
As they tussled on the floor, she ended up on her back while he straddled her. He used his considerable weight to hold her down as he pressed her wrists against the floor. He leaned close, as though intending to kiss her.
She spat in his face.
He jerked back, and his expression quickly darkened. He shifted her wrists into one hand, still holding her down, then lifted his other hand, preparing to slap her. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the blow.
But it never landed.
Instead, M was instantly ripped away from her, and a deep, thunderous growl filled the house.
Cora’s eyes flew open.
Draevan.
Her mate was standing in the hallway between her and M, his glowing green eyes blazing with fury. Another thunderous growl ripped from his chest.
M scrambled to his feet and reached for the blaster that had just malfunctioned. Draevan kicked the weapon away, lifted the human male by his neck, and backed him into one of the guest rooms.
Cora heard a sickening snap, and she instinctively knew Draevan had just killed the human man.
She lay on the floor, panting, waiting for her mate to emerge from the room. He returned to the hallway quickly, though he shut and locked the door behind him, clearly wanting to keep the body out of sight until it could be taken away.
Tears blurred Cora’s vision. It was over. It was really over. M had tracked her all the way to New Vaxx. He’d planned to kidnap her and take her away from the family she loved, but Draevan had somehow known she was in danger and he’d shown up to save her just in time.
And then she found herself in his arms.
He lifted her carefully off the floor and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.
He cracked open the door that adjoined Meela’s room, peeked inside, and once he was certain his niece was sleeping peacefully, he quietly shut the door.
He carried Cora to a chair near the largest window, then sat down, holding her close.
He brushed her hair from her face and peered into her eyes. Each time a tear fell, he gently wiped it away. At first, he said nothing. And neither did Cora. He simply held her, giving her the comfort she needed after she’d just endured the most frightening experience of her life.
“It’s all right, Cora,” he eventually said. “He will never bother you again. I promise. You are safe. Safe with me. You are my precious mate, and I will always protect you.”