Mystic Militia (7 page)

“No,” Lor snapped. “You are not putting Tori in danger.”

“He’s right. Angie and I get confused for each other all the time. My hair is darker, but if he saw me through the window or something, he’d probably think I was her.”

“It’s too dangerous. I will not allow you to—”

“It’s not your choice to make.” She squared her shoulders, refusing to be browbeaten by a stranger. “If this man is a danger to Angie, then I’ll help catch him in any way I can.”

“She must appear to be alone.” Allenton shot Lor a look full of meaning she didn’t quite understand.

“I hate everything about this plan.”

Allenton acknowledged the complaint with a solemn nod. “It might be our only opportunity.”

It took much longer for Lor to accept the inevitable. He blew out a frustrated sigh and reached into his ear. “Take my audiocom. We will be nearby, but we’ll need to stay out of sight.”

“I understand.” She took the tiny device from him and rubbed the tip with her finger. Sharing headphones always made her squeamish. A nice long French kiss would be far more intimate, yet the thought didn’t tighten her stomach. She smiled at the inconsistency of her hang-ups and slipped the audiocom into her ear. “Can you hear me?”

“Perfectly,” Lor offered her a reassuring smile. “Now try it without speaking the words out loud.”

She hesitated. Did he mean this thing would transmit her thoughts?

That’s exactly what I mean
. His deep voice sounded within her mind, the words so clear she gasped.

She caught Allenton rolling his eyes in her peripheral vision. What had caused his reaction? Or was he just a snide asshole?

Lor chuckled, obviously hearing her rambling thoughts.

“It’s a prop,” Allenton told her.
Lor anchored a comlink in your mind before he withdrew
.

“Do you not comprehend the concept of discretion?” Lor turned on the other man and Tori took an automatic step back. “Our mission guidelines are clear. No unnecessary exposure.”

“I don’t give a damn. We don’t have time to break it to her gently or concoct a plausible excuse. You might think I’m being cruel, but she needs to understand what sort of person is coming for her.”

Lor paused and rubbed his chin. Did that help him think? She’d seen him do it before. It was kind of cute on someone so utterly masculine.

Not waiting for Lor’s permission, Allenton turned back to her. “We have technology that allows us to disappear. We will walk out the front door and pretend to leave, but we’ll return. You just won’t be able to see us.”

Something in the way he’d said “technology” made her suspect it was another prop. A shiver dropped down her spine as possibilities exploded in her mind. She took the audiocom out of her ear and looked at it. The device didn’t look that different from the wireless headsets in use on Earth, just much smaller. Were they from the future? A parallel universe where magic was real?
Another planet?

“You’re not from Eastern Europe, are you?” Her voice quieted as her anxiety mounted.

“The details are not important,” Lor insisted. “But Allenton is right. You need to know that Nazerel has powers similar to ours. He can flash into a room without warning or…” He looked at Allenton and asked, “Can he form compulsions?”

“I don’t think so. It’s not like we posted a list of our abilities. Alpha hunters can be competitive, but we bragged about results not techniques.”

“What is an ‘alpha hunter’?” Tension coiled inside her belly and their silence only made her more uncomfortable. She slipped the audiocom into her pocket, hoping Lor wouldn’t notice. She needed some sort of tangible proof that this was really happening. “Who are you? Where did you come from?” Fear rippled through her confusion and her gaze moved toward the door. If she made a run for it, would they let her go? But where did that leave Angie? If Tori didn’t help these two catch Nazerel, what would he do with Angie. “What does this man want with her anyway?”

Allenton took a step toward her and Lor grabbed his arm. “Don’t.”

“She needs to know.”

“No she doesn’t.” Finality made Lor’s tone sharp. “We can protect her without full disclosure.”

“I’d rather know the truth,” she stressed.
“No matter how unpleasant or bizarre.”

Lor shook his head, but Allenton twisted free from his grasp and moved in front of her. “Our world is very different from yours.”

“Your ‘world’?
You’re from a different planet?”

“We’re from a different galaxy,” Lor muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation’s turn. “And not all of it is that different from Earth. Allenton and Nazerel belong to a group of criminals called the Shadow Assassins.”

“We were exonerated of all wrong doing,” Allenton snapped.

“Only because your leader brainwashed Echo into championing your cause!”
Lor took a deep breath, his face averted as he regained his composure. “Fifteen of the most dangerous Shadow Assassins escaped from the military complex where they’d been contained and slinked away to Earth.” Only when his features were completely calm again did he return his gaze to Tori. “Nazerel is the leader of these rebels and he must be found as quickly as possible.”

They still hadn’t answered the most important question. “What does he want with Angie?”

“Shadow Assassins hunt for their mates and hold them prisoner until they’re impregnated.”

Allenton bristled. “She doesn’t need to know—”

“You’re the one who insisted on full disclosure.” Lor was shouting again. “So by the gods we’ll tell her everything. Nazerel has set his sights on your sister. He intends to capture her and seduce her over and over until she is carrying his child. If the child is a girl, she’ll be released. If she bears a boy, Nazerel will keep his son and your sister will never see the child again.”

What he described sounded so barbaric, so inhuman that—in
human.
But they weren’t human. If what they said was true, they had escaped to Earth from somewhere out there among the stars. Her mind was paralyzed by the possibilities. She couldn’t even form a coherent question.

“We’re not going to allow any of that to happen.” Allenton glared at Lor. “Protecting human females is why we’ve come. We will find every last rebel and return them to our world. There will be no captive mates and no stolen children.”

“But it’s true? That’s how it’s done on your world?” Just the possibility that any woman had been subjected to that cycle of events made Tori physically ill.

“The old ways have been abolished and the hunt outlawed,” Allenton assured.

“Which is why they came here,” Lor muttered, then heaved a ragged sigh. “Allenton is correct. We will protect you and prevent any of the rebels from claiming mates. The practice was intolerable on Ontariese and we won’t allow it to spread to Earth.”

“Ontariese.
That’s the name of your planet?” Had she really just asked that question? This was so unbelievable.

“I am Lor dar Joon, Master Level mage of the planet Ontariese.” He punctuated the statement with a sweeping bow then motioned to his companion.

“I am Allenton descended from the North, leader of the Mystic Militia.”

“I don’t think either of those titles is going to fit on a business card.” She allowed herself a nervous laugh then took a long, calming breath. “Victoria Logan, set designer.” After a stunned pause she added, “Welcome to Earth.”

* * * * *

Meticulously cloaked in Shadow magic, Nazerel stood in the clearing across from Angie’s apartment.
Greenbelt
. His language infusion provided the proper word for the grassy space on which he stood. Every word in the English language had been implanted in his brain, but many required context for complete assimilation. It was as if he had an invisible translator following him around whispering words in his ear as they became appropriate.

Beautiful, desirable, female,
mate
. Those words had popped into his mind the first time he looked at Angie. Unlike the Ontarian peasants, a hunter’s usual prey, Angie had been self-assured and unafraid. Her bright blue gaze met his with obvious interest and he’d never seen hair like hers before. Every color of the harvest threaded through the golden strands, daring him to bury his fingers and anchor her head in place as he ravaged her mouth.

His long-neglected cock stirred at the thought of touching, seducing and finally claiming her. The pleasure givers that Rodyte bitch arranged to service his men had held no appeal for Nazerel. He wanted Angie, a female who was his and his alone.

His obsession had begun even before their brief meeting in the noisy gambling hall.
Casino
.
He’d spent hours reading every detail compiled in Sevrin’s… What had she called them?
Dossiers
, his internal translator whispered. Many of the females had been beautiful. They were all young and healthy, but there had been something about Angie that spoke to him, attracted and tempted him. And tonight she would be his. Well, she’d be within his grasp, maybe even in his bed, but the battle for her surrender would be long and difficult. He smiled as anticipation swept through him like a drug. He loved nothing better than a good challenge.

Horizontal slats—
blinds
—
partly obscured the front window. He could see someone moving about inside, but they were little more than a shadowed outline. He crossed the parking lot and approached the front door, but he had no intention of announcing his presence. To disperse his corporeal body, he had to release the Shadow shield that concealed him from view. If he didn’t time it just right, he would become visible as he sank through the privacy panel. The same would be true in reverse as he materialized inside the dwelling. It had taken many cycles to master simultaneous transition.

He placed his hands against the privacy panel and gradually released his physical form, allowing his energy to slowly pass through the wood. As he immerged on the inside of her apartment, he manifested a Shadow shield, expanding the field gradually as each centimeter of his body reformed. He took his time, ensuring that nothing he did alerted the occupant to his presence.

The front room was dark, the television’s screen vacant. Light in the sleeping area drew him toward the back of the dwelling, but he paused. Ever cautious, he activated his integrated scanners and analyzed the results reflected on the inside of his right cornea. Environmental statistics scrolled first, followed by energy readings. A familiar energy pattern appeared and he tensed. Deactivating the system so he could focus on his external sensors, he quickly confirmed his suspicion. Allenton had been here, might be here still.

Fine by me
.
Nazerel was more than ready for a fight.

He crept down the narrow hallway, combining visual sweeps with sensor pulses. Allenton was the obvious choice to pursue the rebel hunters. It took a Shadow Assassin to find a Shadow Assassin. Still, the betrayal infuriated Nazerel. Allenton had experienced the oppression and subjugation fueling this rebellion. He should know better than siding with the self-serving Ontarians.

Easing the privacy panel—
door
—inward with the toe of his boot, Nazerel leaned slowly forward and checked the small utility room.
Bathroom
, his language implant corrected. He grinded his teeth, wishing he could turn the stupid thing off. Blending in was important, but he couldn’t afford the distraction right now.

The floor creaked as he neared the bedroom door, momentarily halting his progress. He listened for any indication that she’d heard his approach.
Silence.
With a controlled breath, he took a careful step and then another, not trusting the floor to cooperate. The door was about half open. It was unlikely he could slip past the barrier without shifting the panel inward. He looked into the room, assessing his options.

Angie sat on the bed, a book open across her lap. The fall of her hair obscured her face and—her hair was several shades too dark. In the muted lamplight he could barely discern the red.

This wasn’t Angie.

It was a trap!

He shoved the door open and dove for the bed, knowing a hostage was his only hope of escaping this scene alive. His fingers tangled in her too-dark hair as an energy pulse whizzed past his neck, narrowly missing his flesh. Allenton could sense his energy pattern, giving the traitor a basic idea of where Nazerel was, but their Shadow shields kept them both from knowing the other’s exact location.

The female cried out as Nazerel dragged her off the bed, too angry to govern his strength.

“Release her and lower your shield or I’ll fry you where you stand!”

Nazerel pivoted, shielding his body with the human. His gut twisted at the cowardly move, but they’d left him no choice but self-preservation. The Mystic stood near the doorway, his hands glowing with yellow-orange light.
Pyrokins
could be deadly fighters, but they frequently destroyed far more than their target.

Without releasing his shield, he taunted, “Go ahead. You can’t burn me without frying this female. Now get the hell out of my way.”

Stinging particles peppered his back, sizzling through his garments and creating holes in his shield. The female cried out as one of the energy particles burned the back of her arm. Easily anticipating Allenton’s next move, Nazerel shoved the human forward and rolled to the left.