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Mia jumped into action and grabbed the children to take them up to her room. She told them to get under the bed and stay low. She closed the door and looked for the closest weapon she could find.
Tharon ran to grab his own weapon. Being in the military, he never left home without some sort of protective equipment. He barricaded the only door into the cabin and set up with his weapon at a window. He shot the first man he saw as he walked by the window and saw a third man in the distance. Right after he shot the first man, another man came bursting through a window behind Tharon.
While he grappled with this man, the third man he had seen checked the room the children had been staying in and then ran up the stairs. He managed to get the man he was fighting to the ground and shot him. With two motionless men lying on the porch and inside the living room of the cabin, he ran up the stairs to stop the third man.
He had not expected the scene that he ran up to, finding Mia in the hallway, mid-swing with a bedroom lamp against the man in front of her. She managed to hit and disorient the man before he could fire on her. Tharon was able to get behind the man and throw him over the balcony to the first floor and directly on top of the other motionless man.
“Where are the children?” He was worried they were hurt by this man.
“They’re in my room under the bed.” She knocked on the door. “Cian, Triat … You can come out now. I told them to lock the door behind them and hide under the bed.”
As they opened the door, Tharon gave Mia a huge hug. He was happy to see they were safe, and he was elated by the idea that she had been willing to risk her life to save his children.
“Are you two okay?” He looked them over as he gave each of them a hug.
“We are fine. Mia was great. Did you get them all, Dad?” Cian was scared.
“There were only three of them, but I am going to check around the woods and make sure there aren’t any more lurking around.”
He thought something would happen after his discussion with Kiek, but he wasn’t expecting something like this. He didn’t think anything would happen away from his home, either. “You three stay in the cabin and lock the door behind me.”
It hadn’t taken him long to check the surrounding woods, and he had his security team come to the cabin within the hour to take care of the intruders. “Get these three to headquarters. I want a full rundown of who they are and who sent them. Have the report on my desk first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Does this mean we are going back home already?” Triat asked with a frown.
“Unfortunately, yes, son, I need to make sure we are in a place where I can better protect all four of us.” He was worried that this was only the first of many attacks to come, and he had only brought one weapon with him to the cabin.
“Do you have any idea who that was or why that happened?” Mia was used to Earth being full of violence, but she thought this new start would be less dangerous. She certainly didn’t expect anything like this to happen.
“I might know, but I need the preliminary reports before making any accusations. However, I will let you know as soon as I know something.”
He grew closer to her every day, and seeing how she responded to the attack made him fall for her more than any of her other actions. He wanted to be able to share everything with her, and he had never felt that way about anyone before now, not even his wife.
EIGHT
MIA
Mia got a fright from what happened at the cabin. Though she personally didn’t observe most of the action, the way Tharon leapt to his feet was enough to make her stomach churn with fear.
She hadn't felt much fear, ironically, since arriving on the foreign planet. Tor’vian culture was certainly vastly different from her own, but it was more out of curiosity rather than anxiety that she was able to approach their differences.
Tharon was a mighty and respected leader … that was all part of his allure … and she found the level of affluence a refreshing change from her average, minimum-wage upbringing.
It hadn't all come caving in, but some of the sparkles had fallen from her vision. She wasn't just on vacation with some handsome, sexy dude. She'd put herself into a world that she knew nothing about, and it was bustling with its own unique threats.
She mulled these ideas over as they returned to the main estate, observing the way the sky blossomed in an abhorrent shade of bruised yellow.
When they got home, Cian and Triat retreated to their bedrooms to sulk. Mia realized that at least that aspect of children was consistent through their cultures. They couldn't understand danger until it was right in their faces.
For the time being, they weren't happy about missing fishing time with their dad. That in itself was sweet. She tucked the children in and reassured them that everything was all right. They would have their fishing time soon.
She kissed their foreheads, flicked on what would have been called a night light on Earth, and closed the door quietly.
Tharon was sitting in his lounge. It looked like a blend of a study and a modern waiting room to Mia. The furniture was sleek chrome with white leather accents alongside a velvety soft loveseat and easy chair. Except the easy chair looked more like a throne. It had gems and jewels adorning it, weaved gently into the silky, deep purple-shaded chair.
That was where Tharon sat when she walked in. The fire in the hearth roared, dazzlingly spinning from color to color. Mia thought of the 1990’s craze of mood rings and wondered if the fire on their planet worked in a similar fashion.
“How are they?” Tharon asked as he sat turned away from her and brooding out the window.
