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He waved a languid hand. “Bring it up to the dais then, and I’ll inspect it. Perhaps I’ll even have you get on your knees and count it for me.”
That time, Kalen couldn’t stop the growl that came out, but he motioned for Ryan and Kevin to come to the top of the steps, stepping aside for them to get by. All three of them were hiding their rapid-fire disruptors under their robes. He tensed as he waited for his uncle to open the lid.
It seemed to all unfold in slow motion. His uncle stepped forward and threw open the box. Rakkur erupted from it like the wrath of the gods, already shouting and shooting.
Everyone grabbed for their weapons as two things happened simultaneously. The doors of the shuttle flew open below them and their companions streamed out, firing at the men on the dais behind his uncle, who all began to duck and try to take cover. And from the palace, only steps away, a large group of soldiers wearing Lorian uniforms came pouring out, firing their own weapons as they came up behind them, boxing them in.
Kalen had no idea where they’d all come from, as he’d only given the word to about twenty of his personal guard. There must have been a couple of hundred of them, pouring in now from all directions—from the palace and from behind the shuttle, a steady stream of Lorian soldiers surging up the steps.
Ryan and Kevin were firing toward the Pton soldiers, who had turned tail and run, stepping over the bodies of the men Rakkur had already shot down, including Nerol himself. Kalen ran over to him and looked down at him, nudging him with the toe of his boot. He was already dead though, several smoking holes right through his forehead. Kalen added another one to make sure and then joined his army in routing Nerol’s guards. The guards who were left alive, put their weapons on the ground and fell to their knees, surrendering to the Lorian soldiers.
One of Lorians cried out, “God save King Kalen!” Others took up the cheer and the next few minutes were chaotic as the soldiers all gathered around him still cheering. Though he was grateful, Kalen had no time for this.
When he was sure things were under control, he yelled for Ryan to follow him, and they ran toward the palace and to the dungeons below. Meanwhile, both the ship they had arrived in and Mikol’s warship were uncloaking directly overhead.
****
When Mikol had first awoken, shortly after the capture, he was in darkness. His head, neck and shoulders ached horribly from the beating he’d received, and he felt something warm and wet seeping from his scalp and moving like sludge down his neck. He tried to sit up, but a bright slash of pain knifed through his back. Taking a deep breath, he tried again, and managed to sit up in the darkness. He was still lying on a cold, damp floor, like he had been the last few times he struggled back to consciousness for a few moments.
The room was windowless and damn near airless, and the only bit of light was a small strip coming under a wooden door. He was still wearing his shirt, though he could feel it ripped into shreds around him. He tore another long strip from it to bind his head to try to stop the sluggish bleeding. He also wasn’t sure how or why he was still alive. Tygerians didn’t make good prisoners and mostly, they were simply killed. They didn’t survive long in captivity anyway.
His mind went, as it always seemed to, to Kalen and his family and another, deeper pain slashed through his body. He was glad he hadn’t allowed Kalen to come and get mixed up in all this, but he had hoped to be able to see him again. Perhaps in one of the four heavens his people believed in, though as a non-Tygerian, he wouldn’t be allowed in the same one as Mikol. He would insist on seeing him though and offer to go down to the lowest level where he’d no doubt be so they could be together in that life, if not in this one. His grandfather said Blake would probably be there too, so maybe he could keep him company until Kalen arrived.
Tygerians weren’t afraid to die—it wasn’t in their nature to be afraid. They believed strongly that their fate was already written and there was nothing they could do to change it, so why not just accept it? He did hate to leave his family, though, and his mate, who was difficult and prickly, but still someone he couldn’t live without, no matter how angry he was with him at the moment.
As his eyes adjusted a bit to the light, he got unsteadily to his feet and by holding onto the wall, he managed to move slowly around the small room. By pacing it off, he found that it was probably about five meters square. As he thought, there were no windows, and only one heavy, wooden door locked and probably bolted from outside. He found a bucket in one corner and a large pan of water by the door. He smiled grimly. A pan of water for an animal. Perhaps the aliens weren’t quite as humorless as he’d thought. He drank some of it because his mouth was so dry, even though he knew it was no doubt drugged. Then he lay back down on the floor and drifted back into his dreams. He figured someone would come soon to interrogate him or finish him off. Either way, he was impatient for something to happen.
Over the next days, his world became a series of waking up, drinking a bit of water and then drifting back to sleep. His head ached so badly, he knew he must be badly injured, and he hoped he’d die soon, rather than live in this captivity.
He had just awakened again for the gods only knew how many times and made his mind up not to drink the water in the pan again, when he heard shuffling outside the door and the sound of muffled voices. Something scraped in the lock, and he tensed, managing to get to his knees to crouch down low near the wall so he could leap on the first one through the door. He was already partially shifted into his tyger.
The door creaked open, and he sprang, taking the man in his arms and throwing him to the floor. That’s when the scent of his mate hit him, and even through the haze, he knew this was Kalen in his arms. His rational mind fled in an instant and he was all beast, protective of his mate. He lay over him and growled loudly, so that anyone hearing him would know this man was his.
He heard more voices coming closer and getting louder. Doors were clanging open nearby and he must have been hallucinating because he thought he heard his omak’s voice very nearby.
The door eased open, and Ryan stood in the opening, saying something soft and soothing to him. Mikol was a man enough then to wonder what his omak was doing on Loros, when underneath him, his mate stirred. Mikol licked him and settled himself across his body more comfortably.
“Mikol? Nobyo, it’s me. Kalen. Can you get off of me,carli?You’re crushing me a little.”
Mikol made a sound in reply that was not quite tyger and not quite anything else, but there was a sudden flurry of motion, and his omak actually came all the way inside the door and ran over to kneel beside him. He didn’t touch Mikol, but he talked to him in a low voice, reminding him of who he was. Finally, Mikol was able to reach up and embrace him. He crushed the sweet, smaller body to his, patting him all over to see if he was real.
“Omak? Are you really here? I don’t understand.”
“I’m here,” he said next to his ear as his arms wrapped around him. “But you have to get off Kalen so we can take you home, darling.”
Then before he could even react to that, another set of arms embraced Mikol from behind, and he peered through the gloom to see his cousin, Rakkur. Kevin was standing nearby too. Mikol shook his head. “I must be dreaming. What are you all doing here? Is Father outside? What are any of you doing here?”
“We came for you, of course,” Ryan said, in a very smug tone of voice. “But honey, you must be crushing Kalen. Please get off him.”
“Kalen?” He got to his knees and looked down at the man he’d been lying across and saw Kalen struggling to sit up.
“Ow, my ribs.”
Mikol threw his arms around Kalen and pulled him close, reveling in his scent.
“How are you here? How are any of you here?”
“It’s a long story,” Kalen said, his voice shaky as he clung to Mikol’s arms. “Let’s get you and your people out of here and then we can talk about what to do next.”
