Alien Conquest (Fated Mates of Xaensskar #2) - Jude Gray Page 0,39

“Sorry, kid,” he said, once.

And he sounded like he meant it.

If I hadn’t been here, or if I’d still be just “Krey,” Avanya and Graez would have paid me no mind at all. I’d have watched, clueless about Graez, as Avanya continued her quest to snag Dexx. Now that I was standing in their way, they’d decided to kill me as easily as they would’ve chosen a breakfast food.

“I’m Dexx’s fated mate,” I said, as Graez stopped running and began frantically searching the ground. He kicked at debris, muttering beneath his breath, then finally thrust me at Avanya.

“Hold on to her. It’s here somewhere.”

Avanya was big—she was a Hgrir, after all—but she wasn’t as big as Graez. I struggled in her hard, punishing grip until she reached into her coat pocket and produced a small, black haizen, a device that would shock me into unconsciousness or even kill me, depending on how long she held it against my flesh and how powerful that particular little stunner was.

I stopped struggling but tried again to make them understand. “I’m Dexx’s fated mate. We’ve bonded. Graez, you know we did. You heard us. If you kill me, he will never stop grieving. He won’t take another. If you hide me, he won’t ever stop searching for me.”

Graez halted his frantic search and glanced at me, uneasy. I could feel the nerves coming from Avanya, as well. They might have been greedy, evil assholes, but they weren’t totally stupid.

“And,” I continued, pushing it a little, “our bond is so strong that somehow, someday, he will know what you did.” I kept my stare on Graez, my voice calm but sincere. “He will find out, Graez, and you know better than I do what he’ll do to you. To both of you.”

He paled.

Avanya, fearing she was losing him, shoved the haizen against my back. “I admire your optimism,” she said.

“And I admire your nerve,” I told her. “You’re going to die.”

She hit the trigger.

Pain lit up my body. My brain twisted with confusion and my legs collapsed, but she held me easily. I cried out, confused, agonized, and then…then there was nothing at all.

I woke up in darkness. There was no light from the moon, but the ground was cold and hard beneath me. I slid my hand over loose rocks and twigs and dry leaves, my head pounding and my stomach tossing with nausea.

I began to panic because the darkness was so complete that no matter where I looked, I could see only blackness. Maybe the shock had blinded me. I had no idea why I was still alive. They’d meant to kill me, hadn’t they?

Maybe Graez had listened to my words. Maybe he’d refused to kill me because if Dexx did find out his guard was responsible for my abduction, Graez would have something to bargain with when Dexx got hold of him.

All I knew for sure was that I yet lived.

But I could not see.

I smelled mold and damp earth and heard the sounds of slithery things and small animals. Coldness seeped into my body and though I’d been cold before, many, many times, I hadn’t felt a coldness like this one. I opened my mouth to scream but could only manage a dry moan.

I had no idea how long I’d been here, wherever here was, but my body was stiff and sore and so cold that I could barely move. I managed to move my arm, and I ran my hand over my body. I was still clothed, but they were thin and ill-suited for the weather.

I closed my eyes and forced away the panic. I let my mind calm, and finally, I mentally catalogued my body. There was blood. The cold wetness of it slid over my temple and down my face. My right elbow hurt and the skin over my left shoulder burned like it’d been scraped raw.

Maybe I’d been tossed over a cliff and somehow survived it.

Gaining a little strength, I sat up, groaning at the pain in my hips, my back, my legs. My left leg collapsed beneath me when I tried to stand, and I fell back to the ground with a scream that was little more than a hoarse squeak.

I did not doubt for a second that Dexx would be searching for me. Maybe I was a little afraid he wouldn’t actually find me, but I wasn’t going to think about that. Surely I hadn’t been unconscious long, so I wouldn’t be far from camp.

Dexx