Chapter 53
Alanna
Something was wrong.
Alanna frowned as she looked out of the crevice at the darkening sky. The sun was lowering past the horizon, setting the sea aflame and the sky aglow with its last kiss.
Survii wasn’t back.
A few hours ago, she heard gunshots. Multiple times. But since then, nothing. Had he been hurt? Was he…
She couldn’t finish the thought. Terrified it might somehow manifest into existence.
The silence after the gunshots was terrifying in its implication. And each minute that passed without him returning was only stretching her nerves further to their breaking point.
Finally, as the shadows grew too heavy to see through, she surrendered to her fear and slowly climbed from her hiding place.
The island was dark, but it wasn’t quiet.
The crashing of waves could be heard no matter where she went, and the birds that flitted through the trees were never silent.
There were no natural predators here, they could be as loud as they wanted.
The breeze was rustling all the leaves of the ferns and the palms and the trees like a warning siren screaming through the air.
Alanna took off Survii’s shirt and began rubbing it vigorously into the dirt. Trying to smudge and darken the bright white. When she had it dingy enough that it no longer glowed in the moonlight, she pulled it back on and began to quietly creep through the jungle.
She hoped that, at any moment, Survii would jump out and scare her. She wouldn’t even be mad if he did it on purpose. So long as he was okay.
Unsure where else to go, she worked her way through the trees back towards the house. It was a long and terrifying trip. Nothing happened, but she jumped at each sound and movement in the shadows, sure that, any second now, one of those guys would come rushing at her.
But no one did.
The island was so deceptively peaceful.
The house was little more than a burned-out wreck. It didn’t even resemble a house anymore. The sight of it nearly made her cry.
But she forced down the melancholy and continued forward. Searching for Survii.
There was a boat on one side of the house.
Right where she would have put a boat if she had blown up the only dock.
And on the other side, she found a canopy.
Under which there were some open boxes, all emptied out.
Tracks in the sand told her that a lot of people had walked across. But there was no one here now.
She almost walked away. She very nearly missed the long, dark smudge in the sand. She turned back, belly tightening in fear.
It was too dark to see it well, but she knew that was blood. It was in two puddles absorbed into the sand that had become tracks. Drag marks dug deep told her that bodies had been moved.
Survii?
On the verge of tears, she crept around towards the trees where the drag marks came into the jungle. The dirt wasn’t as soft as the sand, but the trail was still obvious.
It led her to a pile of bodies.
She gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth as her belly twisted with sickness. There were six dead men lined up in a small clearing. All of them looked like their throats had been ripped out. One looked like he had been shot multiple times.
Artery ripping was a domini special. They were blood drinkers after all. That meant these had to be Survii’s kills. But even knowing that didn’t lessen her revulsion at suddenly stumbling upon six corpses in the darkness.
And where was Survii?
If these were all the men, shouldn’t he be nearby? Or coming to her? Why would he even bother to drag them all together like this?
He wouldn’t.
A loud grunt and meaty smack turned her head. It was followed by another. And another.
Backing away quickly, she snuck deeper into the trees. Following the sounds. Soon enough, they were joined by angry voices.
“Tell us where she is!”
No reply.
Another grunt and crack. She knew, with sickening certainty, what that sound was.
Lowering herself to the ground, she snuck forward, using the ferns as cover. She could see light through the trees as well. Bright white and artificial.
“Tell us where and we put you out of your misery.”
More grunts and meaty thuds. Multiple this time.
Shaking, trying to keep her breathing quiet, Alanna lowered the frond in front of her face and squinted into the light provided by the lantern someone had set down on a low rock.
The sight she was greeted with made her want to cry.
Survii was there at the edge of the little pond they found on their first day here.
On his knees. Still naked. His hands had been zip tied behind his back.
Deep marks scored across his chest sluggishly bled dark red.
Three men stood around him. One with a gun trained on his face.
Another with a bloody machete clenched tight in his fist, his nose bruised and bloodied.
The third was standing right in front of Survii, fists clenched, veins bulging, screaming-
“Tell us where the girl is, you alien fuck!”
Survii, lip busted, face bruised and swollen, stared back at him and said nothing.
The guy threw a punch with a heavy grunt of effort. It landed – smack! – right across Survii’s face.
Survii’s head turned. Blood splattered from his nose against the grass. But he made not a single sound. He calmly looked forward again, no words falling from his lips.
“You’re dead no matter what you do,” the blonde guy in front of him snarled. “You killed my friends! You’re a fucking disgusting animal. You don’t belong on our planet. So tell me where she is and I’ll break your neck before we cut your head off.”
He gestured behind him to where, Alanna saw, a camera was set up on a tripod. Once again, she had to fight back the urge to be sick as she realized what they were threatening. What they were going to do to him.
She turned back to Survii, panicking now, as the guy threw another punch. To his opposite cheek this time. And again, her mate made not a single sound. He had to know what they were asking. Surely, he knew enough English for that.
But he wasn’t talking. And he wouldn’t talk. His pride as a domini wouldn’t let him utter a single sound as he was tortured. And he would never tell them where she was.
The punch happy asshole grabbed Survii by the hair and jerked him up, slamming his fist repeatedly right against his face. Each blow struck Alanna straight in the heart. Tears burned down her face as she desperately looked around. Thinking. Trying to come up with some kind of plan.
But they had a gun! A huge gun!
And she had an alien knife.
“Give me that!” Punchy said, holding out his hand for the machete. It clearly wasn’t the first time they had struck him with it.
Alanna didn't think any further. She acted only on instinct and the burning drive to protect her mate.
Yanking the knife from its sheath, she jumped up and ran. Not bothering to keep her steps quiet. Not even realizing she was screaming until she felt the burn of it in her throat.
Gun guy started to turn. He didn't get far.
Alanna was on his back, driving the blade up through his ribs and into his lung. The alien crafted blade sunk into his skin like a hot knife through butter. He didn't even have the chance to make a sound before she ripped it out and plunged it in. Again. And again.
He threw her off with a pained cry, bringing the gun around.
Behind him, a bestial, animalistic roar echoed through the trees followed by a harsh, plastic snap. Alanna reared back and threw the knife. Her muscles remembered all the lessons drilled into her by Tuvo and the others.
The knife hit the man’s shoulder. Sliding in so gracefully, it looked strange to her eyes.
One of the men was screaming now.
Alanna scrambled to her feet, keeping her eyes on Gun Guy. Only to watch the gun fall from his now limp fingers. The knife sticking out of the shoulder must have hit something important, because he didn't seem able to lift the arm at all.
A crazed look came over his face and he rushed her. Good hand out and aiming for her neck.
Alanna took a few quick steps backwards-
-as a demon appeared over his shoulder.
Survii leapt upon him. He didn't bite into his neck but grabbed it with both hands. Claws sinking into either side sent blood gushing through his digits. Alanna stilled, breathing quickly as the man’s eyes rolled up in his head.
Survii dropped his body, letting it fall forward.
His blood pooled out around him on the ground, right at her feet.
A gift from her mate.
“Survii!” She ran over the dead man and into his arms. He took hold of her with desperate hands, holding her close.
Then, he was kissing her. His hands roaming her body, checking for injuries, even as she was doing the same, knowing he had injuries. He tasted like blood – his and the humans’. But she didn't care. She kissed him back with equal fervor.
“Are you okay?” She asked, sobbing because she knew the answer was no. “What happened? I was so scared! You-”
“Alanna, I can’t understand you when you speak English,” he said, a hint of humor in his voice – slurred from the swelling to his lips.
Hiccupping, she drew back to look him over. He stared back, lumped up and bloodied, but he was standing tall and strong. There were red lines around his wrist now where the zip ties had dug into him when he broke them.
“Could you get free the whole time?” She asked in Domtri, rubbing them gently as if she could soothe the pain.
“Not while they had a gun on me.” He smiled at her, face burning with pride. “My strong, brave female. You were beautiful when you came screeching from the trees like a warrior of old.”
She chuckled weakly, wiping the tears off her face as she looked around.
The guy who had been holding the machete had his throat ripped out and was now staring sightlessly up at the sky.
Punch Happy also had his throat ripped out, but it looked like Survii had tried to pull his entire spine with it.
Long, deep lacerations decorated his face and chest, one ear had been ripped off, and the wrist that had been holding Survii’s hair was dangling at a weird angle.
He hadn’t died cleanly, but he had gone down quickly.
“Are there anymore?” She asked, rubbing her arms as a chill rushed over her.
Too much violence and death in one day. On top of seeing Survii tortured.
And her honeymoon ruined. And that seemed like such a trivial thing in comparison, but just thinking about it made her sob, dropping her head into her hands as all of it crashed against her at once.
Then, Survii was there. His warmth and strength as he put his arm around her. He grabbed the lantern and tugged her into the trees. Away from the bodies. Clutching her right up against his side as he left the gruesome scene behind and went down to the beach.
By the time they arrived, she had regained some semblance of control over herself. So long as she didn't think about all the dead men. Or the fact that she stabbed a guy, multiple times. Or that Survii was still bleeding because he was tortured for the crime of loving her.
“Hey.”
Survii was there, leaning over to look her in the eye as he wiped away her tears. “Don’t go to that place in your head. Not now. Not over this.”
“It’s all ruined, Survii,” she whimpered, lip trembling.
“No, vi Vitralai. I’m alive. And you’re alive. Our enemies are dead and their blood soaks the ground, and I will be sure that they are burned and their ashes scattered so they will be forgotten by their descendants.”
“That’s not an insult or punishment on Earth,” she sniffled.
“Then, I will find the equivalent and do that.” He sounded so serious, it brought a watery chuckle to her lips, and he smiled approvingly. “That’s it. Stay with me now. You can fall apart later. We need to get out of here and back to the Jutiron Stor.”
“How? Tuvo had one comm and they’re missing, and we had the other and it burned up!”
Survii hummed thoughtfully, looking over her head and to the shell of the house. “Hold that thought, Vitralai.”
She sniffed, rubbing her nose as he turned and reached into one of the boxes.
Their attackers had brought supplies, and apparently that included spare clothes.
He grabbed a pair of black pants and pulled them over his hips.
They definitely didn't fit. He had to cut a hole for his tail, then cut away the legs since they were too tight around his calves. He couldn’t even zip them up.
But at least his dick was safely put away. He didn't bother to try wearing anything else. He just walked, barefoot, up the charred staircase towards the burned house.
“Are you seriously looking for the comm?” She asked, starting to follow him.
He turned, stopping her with a hand. “Stay there. I don’t want to risk both of our weights on it. Yell if something happens.”
“Are there more?”
“I sincerely hope so,” Survii growled, climbing gingerly up the burned staircase.