Alien Exile: An Alien Warrior Romance (The Tourin Legacy Book 5) (2 page)

“Ande’ie?” Someone shakes me. “Princess Ande’ie?”

My eyes snap open, squinting against the flashing red-and-white lights that pierce the semidarkness of the ship.
At least there are no sirens.

“Whew, you’re still with us.” The man sighs in relief.

For a moment, I don’t recognize him. Then I vaguely remember he’s one of the warriors. He’s tall and broad, with long, wavy brown hair. He’s the only one of the Tuorian soldiers I’ve seen with a bushy brown beard. I search my brain for his name.
Therin.
“What happened?”

“The Ardak ship exploded, and the shock wave blew us through the wormhole. Good riddance to those cats.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“About a day,” Therin replies.

“A day?! Where’s Juordin?” I sit up, sliding my legs off the bunk.

That’s when I realize he’s standing between me and the bed next to me.

“Who’s on that bed?” I recognize the leather pants.
Juordin.

He eyes me closely. “How do you feel?”

“I want to see him.”

He sighs and scrubs a hand down his face, moving out of the way so I can hop down from the bunk. Juordin lies there, gray and still.

I gasp. “What happened to him?” I touch his face, but he doesn’t move. He’s still and cold. I want to curl up next to him. To warm him.

“The engine broke. The three of you were irradiated.”

He gestures and I notice Corin on another bed across the room.

“What do you mean…irradiated?”

He obviously doesn’t want to answer. “Radiation is…very bad. Usually it comes from the sun, and you can cook with it.”

“So they were…” I swallow. “…Cooked?”

He grimaces, tugging on his beard. “Kind of.

“We can put them on the healing bunk!” I tug at Juordin’s arm, my fear growing when he doesn’t respond.

He pulls my hand away. “I fear it’s too late for that, Princess.”

“What do you mean? Help me,” I demand, my anger rising.

Therin puts his hands up in surrender. “I wish we could. But it would be pointless.”

“Why? Are they…already dead?” I glance furtively at Juordin’s gray pallor.

“No, but they soon will be. And the healing bunk is out of power. We had to run it for almost twenty hours straight to heal you.”

Aghast, I shake him. For a moment, I can’t speak. “Why—why did you do that?”

“Do I look like I’m in charge?” He gives me a sympathetic look, reaches out, then drops his hand. “Anyway, it’s what they wanted. You still have a chance. We’re all going to die from the toxin, anyway.”

I break away from him and examine Juordin.

This can’t be the end. It can’t be.

“Where are we?” I demand.

He gives a weak smile. “Believe it or not, we’re hidden in a forest on the cat planet. We ended up close after the shock wave, and the structural integrity of the ship was shot so we had to land somewhere. Casin, Lorin, and Ferin have gone to the nearest settlement, hoping to kill some cats and bring back whatever intel they can.”

My heart begins to pound. “You said we’re on the cat planet.”

“Yes.”

“Where’s Solim?”

“In his quarters.”

I brush past him out the door, turn left, and sprint down the hall to Solim’s quarters, feeling as though Juordin’s life depends on every step.

When I get there, he doesn’t even look up. He’s humming, stirring liquid in a small pot on a burner.

“What is that?” I ask, smelling the air. It smells like…flowers.”

He looks up and his face breaks into a wide grin. “Verpillion tea.”

“What?” I ask.
He’s making tea at a time like this?

“Have you checked around outside for the cure?”

He lifts a finger and points to a table across the room, where some white flowers lie.

“That’s the cure?” I demand, going over to the flowers. I pick one up. “This is the cure, and you’re making tea?” I want to strangle him.

“Verpillion flowers. Verpillion tea. The cure.” He pours some of the steaming liquid into a cup. “The cure for the toxin.”

Fate can’t be this cruel. “If I heal Juordin of the toxin, can it save him from the radiation, too?”

He taps his fingers on the table. “Probably not, but it might give his body enough strength to recover on its own.”

I pour the tea into a cup, my hands shaking. The run back to the healing bay is the longest of my life. Hope and fear run through my mind.

Just remember, it might not work.

Please, gods be merciful, let it cure him.

Therin is right behind me, helping me tip Juordin’s face up to pour the liquid down his throat.

At first, nothing happens. I start counting. But before I reach a hundred, he suddenly gasps and starts to choke. Then his entire body starts moving wildly.

“Convulsions. Hold him down.” Solim’s voice comes from behind me. I didn’t know he’d followed us.

“What’s wrong with him?” I cry, grabbing Juordin’s arms while Therin holds his legs.

“It’s too strong,” Solim muses calmly. “Must dilute for the next person.”

“The next person?! What do we do about Juordin?”

Solim shrugs. “Wait. He may live. If strong enough.”

I’m shaking with anger…and fear.
Maybe the old man truly is crazy.
Juordin looks so pale, and the tremors are so powerful, I don’t see how his heart can take it. Solim takes the almost empty cup and adds water. Then he gives it to Corin.

I start to count, even as I’m holding Juordin down. I reach five hundred, and Corin remains still. Juordin’s tremors have started to subside. I put my hand on his chest. His heartbeat is weak, but still there.

The scientist turns to face me, a wide smile on his face and points at Corin’s shoulder. “The toxin indicator is green.”

Startled, I walk around the bed and look at Juordin’s shoulder. His toxin tattoo is also green. “Why don’t they wake?” I ask, shaking Juordin gently.

“They were also irradiated. They need a healing bunk.”

I look at the bunk. “What else do we need to power it?”

“Energy crystals from Tuorin. Nothing else will work.”

“There must be something else!”

He shrugs again “Nothing I know of.”

My heart squeezes, and I feel tears tickle the corners of my eyes as I stare down at Juordin. We can’t have done all this to just have him die. I can’t accept that.

Suddenly, we hear booted footsteps running down the hall.

Casin sticks his head in. “Grab your weapons,” he says urgently. “We’re about to have company.”

Pushing my despair aside, I reach for my swords. Revenge was just the thing I needed to keep from falling completely apart.

You cats will never know what hit you.

“What happened?” I ask, following Casin to the command room. His long stride outpaces mine, so I run to keep up.

“We broke into the military outpost of the nearest cat settlement. I have the information right here. Unfortunately, they saw us and called for reinforcements.” He walked to the front viewscreen, pressing a button so we could see outside. He looked up. “Dammit. Here come the ships.”

Two small ships, similar to Juordin’s lander, land in the space between the trees in front of us. They are obviously Ardak ships. The matte gray sucks in the light from the forest around them.

“There’s only two. Do we have weapons we can use?” Therin asks over my shoulder.

Casin thinks for a moment. “Maybe.” His fingers fly across the blinking lights on the panel in front of him. “We have a lander. But it has no weapons. And Juordin said it’s broken so it can’t leave the atmosphere. But it’s better than nothing.”

Then he turns back to us. “Therin, you and Lorin load Juordin and Corin into the lander. Ande’ie, round up everyone else and meet them in the lander.”

I run out the door and down the hall, following Therin to the warrior quarters. I didn’t know the last three warriors, except by name. They’d mostly kept to themselves on the trip, preferring to discuss battle strategy and tactics against the Ardaks between themselves than associate with the scientists.
But now they might be responsible for saving us.

We burst into their quarters and, to my surprise, they’re already dressed for battle, each packing a bag with weapons.

“Lorin, with me,” Therin orders, and I step out of the way so they can run back down the hall to the medicine bay. “Ferin, with Ande. We’re abandoning ship.”

Ferin grabs both bags and falls in behind me. I gather Redonim. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since he abandoned the warriors to die on the cat ship.
Coward.
On my planet, we behead dishonorable men like him. But I say nothing, raising my chin and motioning for him to come with us.

Then we go for Solim.

“Evacuating!” Solim throws up his hands. “But—the cure! We have to bring it!”

I turn to Therin and Redonim. “We have to bring it. It worked on Juordin and Corin…their tattoos went into the green.”

Redonim raises his eyebrows. “Let me get some of the containers we brought our research in. We should be able to pack it all.”

Therin and Lorin are in the hall, carrying Juordin and Corin to the lander. Neither of them is conscious.
Hang on, my love.

They’re followed by Casin.

“Let’s go,” he orders. “Get to the lander!”

“The cure!” I say urgently. “We can’t leave it behind!”

“What cure?” he demands.

“The cure for the toxin. Solim made it from the flowers.”

He looks at me as if I’m crazy, but Redonim pushes by him and runs to his room.

Solim come into the hall and gives each of them a cup of the tea. “Drink it all.”

They down the cups, and Casin grabs the containers. “Let’s do this.”

Just then, there is an enormous
boom
at the back of the lander.

The huge pot of tea almost falls off the table, and Solim dives to catch it. It sloshes over, and he curses.

“Get to the lander,” Casin orders.

I stay behind and help, and in only a few seconds, there are four containers of concentrated tea, and one that is diluted. Solim places several more cut flowers in another container.

The ship shakes again, and we each take a couple of containers and sprint toward the lander.

Once we enter, Solim sits in the back by the others and passes his container to Redonim. “Drink five good mouthfuls and pass it on,” I hear him say.

I follow Casin up to the front. “What’s the plan?”

“To create a distraction big enough they won’t notice us disappearing.”

The ship shakes again.

“How soon?” I ask, taking the seat beside him. We both place our containers of the cure under our seats.

“Right now,” he says calmly, pressing some of the blinking lights in front of him.

The explosion is massive, and for the first time, I realize that we’re blowing the ship up.

That means we will never leave this planet.

I grab his arm. “We’re blowing the healing bunk.”

A second explosion rocks the ship.

“But Juordin and Corin…”

His gaze never wavers. “I know. But if I don’t do this now, none of us will live.”

My stomach flips.

Breathe.

You’ll find another way to save them.

A third explosion, and Casin presses a button so the cargo bay door opens. I see clear forest ahead. The lander is suddenly in motion, shooting into the forest at an incredible speed.

I glance at Casin. He is truly a great warrior, despite his youth. He’s made one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever seen in battle, at great personal cost, and remained calm under pressure.

It makes me believe he can save us.

And sometimes, belief is enough.

We shoot through the trees, and Casin’s fingers flash. “We’re invisible.”

He takes the ship upward, over the trees and flashes a smaller view on the window. I can see the ship getting farther away, cat ships surrounding it. Small figures walk around on the ground outside.

Two of the hovering ships take off in our direction.

“They spotted us leaving. Damn,” he comments, “hopefully, they can’t see through our invisibility shield.”

I hang on tightly to the chair and watch the screen. But after a few moments, it becomes obvious that they can’t see us. They emerge from the trees about where we did, but circle back in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, blue light starts to hit the ground around the ship, targeting the cat ships.

“What the hell?” Casin turns the lander around so we can see the view out the front.

A massive army of ships is coming toward us, slowing over the remains of our old ship. And I recognize them.

“The Tuorian army!” I cry.

Casin gives a shout next to me as we watch the Tuorian army decimate the smaller number of Ardak ships. It isn’t even really a battle – some try to flee but the Tuorian craft target them from higher in the sky like target practice.

Casin’s fingers fly across the blinking lights. “Tuorian command, come in,” he says loudly.

“Tuorian command, who is this?” The female voice is cold and distant.

“This is Commmander Casin Relinthal. We were aboard the ship you see below, but have evacuated to a lander. Requesting permission to board when safe.”

“Acknowledged. One moment.” The voice is a little warmer this time.

Suddenly, another voice booms over the speaker. “Casin! Good to see you’re still around!”

“Durstin! What are you all doing here?” Casin asks incredulously.

“Let’s get you on board and we can talk at length,” Durstin replies. “You’ll dock with the Riggs vessel. I’ll meet you in the cargo bay. Standard ops.”

“Acknowledged,” Casin replies. He presses some buttons and blinking lights. Then we start to move upward toward the largest ship.

As we get closer, I can see the ship is truly enormous. It’s still a lot smaller than the Ardak mother ship, though.

Two doors on the belly of the ship open, and we fly up inside. Casin brings the lander forward and sets it down gently. Then he springs up. “Let’s go!” He grabs his containers of the cure and heads for the back of the lander.

I follow suit and run a few steps to catch up with him.

“We’ve docked with a Tuorian ship,” he tells the others. “Get ready.”

“What are they doing here?” one of the warriors asks. I search my brain for his name. Now that there aren’t that many of us left, it’s important.
Ferin.

“I don’t know, but thank the gods they came,” Corin answers.

“I hear that,” Lorin says fervently.

The door opens and Corin motions for me to stay back. He exits, arms raised.

An enormous warrior stands in front of us, legs spread, blasters drawn but at his side. His long brown hair hangs in thick braids to the middle of his chest and back. His narrowed eyes glow green. He looks fierce. Immovable.

I wouldn’t want to meet that force in battle.

He’s surrounded by other warriors with their weapons drawn.

After a moment, he holsters his blasters and nods to the others, who lower their weapons.

A wide grin splits his face, and I realize he’s breathtakingly handsome. Something in his face reminds me of Juordin.
Another distant cousin?

He steps forward. “Casin!”

“Durstin!” Casin returns the grin, shifting his two containers of the tea into one arm.

The two men cross the space in seconds, grasping hands and bumping chests strongly in a brief hug.

My gaze goes between them. Both tall, broad, and…beautiful. But otherwise, as different as day and night. Casin’s long, free-flowing blond hair, fair skin, and purple eyes are loose, open. But Durstin’s dark braids, darker skin, and harder muscle is powerful, contained.

“Thank the gods you’re safe,” Durstin said. He glances at me briefly.

Casin nods. “This is Ande’ie, Juordin’s mate. We need two healing bunks immediately for Juordin and Corin.” He looks down at his shoulder, then at the two containers in his arms. “And we have a cure for the toxin, as well, a flower tea in these containers. We need to gather flowers from the planet to make more.”

Durstin turns, and his hard eyes survey the enormous bay full of landers. “We can do that after we complete our mission.” He glances down at Casin’s green tattoo. “I want to hear more about these flowers.”

“Solim can brief us,” Casin says, and a look passes between them.

Then Durstin nods decisively and walks to the wall, pressing a button. “All commanders in the briefing room in ten.” He turns back to us. “Let’s get the men to the healing bunks.”

I move so they can head into the lander. They emerge a few seconds later with the two men over their broad shoulders.

The three warriors and two scientists emerge from the lander behind them.

“Take these men to fresh quarters so they can refresh themselves,” Durstin orders one of his own warriors. He speaks more gently to Solim as he walks past. “I believe we’ll need you at a briefing in ten, Solim.”

Solim simply smiles, holding his container of flowers.

The warrior beside him nods. “I’ll have him there.”

I follow Casin and Durstin down the hall, watching how they easily carry the weight of the other two men. Juordin’s brown and gold hair dangles before me, and I brush it back so I can see his face.

“So, what is the Tuorian army doing here?”

Durstin’s full lips thin, and his answer is curt. “We decided if we’re all going to die, we might as well take as many cats with us as we can. The king gave us his blessing and as many ships and weapons as we wanted. As we went over that forest, we saw your distress beacon, then it abruptly cut off. Luckily, we were still able to track you. How did you get here?”

“It’s a long story,” Casin replies. His normally expressive face suddenly seems to sag with exhaustion. “Another time.”

Durstin glances over at him, then gives a small nod. “Well, since we’ve been here, my forces haven’t seen that many cats. I’m starting to think they’re so focused on attacking other planets that they’ve neglected to leave forces behind to defend their own.”

“Where are you in the attack?”

“We’ve secured most of the planet, but there is one last holdout. It appears to be at the factory where they create the toxin. We were heading there when we received your distress beacon.”

Durstin presses a button on the wall that opens a door. We enter a room that is obviously for medicine. Several healing bunks line the walls, but no one is in them.
We could have used a few of these along our journey.

Durstin places Juordin on the closest bunk. I set down my two containers of tea, move forward, and caress his limp brown-and-gold hair. He looks even paler, his breathing slow and shallow.

I place a small kiss on his lips. “Live for me,” I whisper. “I love you.”

The glass closes over the top of him and I stand there for a moment, leaning forward, my forehead pressed against the glass.

This man is my everything. What would I do without him?

Standing up slowly, I turn to the two warriors. The sympathy in their glowing
eyes only makes my heart squeeze harder.

“Juordin’s mate. It is an honor to meet you.” He takes my hand in a formal gesture and bows his head over it. “Rumors of your beauty have been understated.” He places his hand on the glass of Juordin’s bunk. “Juordin is my favorite cousin. And the best of us.” Durstin continues, smoothly covering my awkward silence. I’ve rarely been impressed by foreign dignitaries on Lla’ei. But it’s obvious that as well as being intelligent and fierce in battle, the men in Juordin’s family have been well-trained in formalities.