Apparition (10 page)

“My name is Zoe,” she whispered. “This is Doss, my
mate. We came to get you out of here.”

“The
Tonans
said we belonged
to them.” The girl who spoke was obviously the oldest.

“You belong to no one, sweetheart,” Zoe said kindly.

“Then who will take care of us?” she asked. “We’ll be
all alone again.” Her bright eyes were filled with worry. Zoe felt so much
compassion for these children. Zoe’s parents were gone, but she was an adult
and now she had Doss. These poor little things were so young and looked so
helpless and alone.

“We need to move,” Doss said urgently.

Doss scooped up the two smaller girls. His shield went
back up and Zoe could detect neither child nor their outline. Zoe held the hand
of the older child. All around, Zoe heard weeping. The sounds of despair from
the other prisoners were endless. She felt the tears trickle down her own
cheeks. She felt a warm hand touch her arm it was Doss. For a moment his talons
were replaced by his fingers and his secretions sank into her skin. Zoe calmed
immediately. To her surprise Doss was able to do the same for the girl whose
hand she held. One touch from Doss and the child smiled.

An explosion sounded and Doss swore. The little girl
screamed and covered her ears. Loy was moving swiftly toward them. Zoe saw him
clinging to a small, dark-haired, male child. His armored body wrapped around
the child when his back was hit with a fireball. Loy somersaulted, shot to his
feet. The boy was buried in one of Loy’s powerful arms, he remained unhurt.

“Let’s move,” Loy shouted as he raced past Doss and
without missing a beat Loy grabbed the girl from Doss. The upper half of Loy’s
shield dropped, the girl was tucked within with another female then snapped
back into place in less than a second. Another fireball exploded. Doss curled
around Zoe as it rolled over his back. She felt nothing.

Doss flung Zoe over his shoulder and sped past Loy.
Zoe was amazed; Doss’ back wasn’t even warm to the touch. When the warriors
were side by side for a brief second, they exchanged information.

“I have two females already in with me!” Doss shouted.

“I have my warrior mate’s female. The babe knows I can
move faster if her shield stays down and I keep them safe,” Loy replied.

“You need to get the boy to Caveat,” Doss yelled.

“I’m on my way.”

Once outside, all hell was breaking loose. Up in the
sky, Zoe saw a massive black spaceship. Flashes of brilliant white light lit up
the sky as the domed structure took a pounding. Massive ebony warriors were
jumping from the open hull of the craft onto the structure. She heard Loy whoop
in relief and claim it was a
Castian
warship. Cobra
was coming for his men. Zoe had no idea who Cobra was except for what Loy had
told them and she was still terrified of
Castians
.

“It’s all right, Zoe,” Doss soothed.

Zoe could feel her panic build. Doss couldn’t lower
his shield. They made it to Caveat who pranced and reared then settled. The boy
was tossed up onto the massive horse, but he was terrified; he had never ridden
before. One of the younger girls Doss held was placed behind the boy and Doss
reached for Zoe.

“No, they can’t ride a stallion alone,” Zoe insisted.

Doss growled. “One sign of danger and there will be no
debate, understood?”

“Sure.”
Like
hell.
Zoe jumped up; her arms encircled the children.

“Hang onto his mane and grip his sides with your legs.
Hold on and Caveat will do the rest,” Zoe shouted.

Caveat burst forward and the little girl screamed.
Soon the ground was being eaten up as the distance between the slave camp and
the riders grew. Zoe wrapped herself around the children and hung on. From the
corner of her eye, she could see Loy move from tree to ground to tree. Doss was
nowhere, then beside her, then gone again. He seemed to just know when Zoe
needed to see him.

Zoe knew they were being pursued, but by whom?
Castian
?
Tonan
?
And what would happen when they caught up?

Near the cave, Loy stopped and dropped the woman and
child from his armor before his shield went back up. Doss spun, grabbed the
girl on the ground by an upper arm and dropped the top part of his armor and
sent the other girl onto Caveat’s back while yanking Zoe to him and closing
around her. Doss smacked Caveat on the ass to send the horse away.

“No, set Zoe between us,” Loy yelled.

“She is my mate,” Doss howled back.

“We can move together and nothing will touch her, I
swear, but you have to trust me. Your shield will be stronger and of more use
to her if you fight with her between us. You are half
Castian
,
search your memories, you know I’m right. Look for the scent I emanate.”

Doss roared with anger when three
Tonans
came at them. Zoe curled into a ball when Doss plopped her onto her behind.
Loy’s warrior mate’s female was huddled in a ball too, but she was off to the
side. Zoe couldn’t believe the man would save her then just leave her. But when
a
Tonan
approached the woman, Zoe stopped wondering.
The
Tonan
was sent spinning when he got too close.
Ass over tea kettle, the warrior was flipped. The babe’s shield was at full
power—nothing could get near mother and child.

Zoe was the vulnerable one, and the children. When she
looked, the horses were gone. Caveat had packed up his brood and had taken the
mares and foals away with the human children. All three
Tonans
attacked. Zoe had seen Doss fight before, but this time he was protecting his
mate. He became a ball of raging fury.

Both Loy and Doss remained back to back, although Doss
moved faster. He became a blur and he and Loy adapted to the change in pace.
Because Doss moved faster and was hard to see, it became apparent when Loy
struck a
Tonan
Doss was able to strike immediately
after in the same spot, causing two damaging strikes. Loy picked up on this
significance and before long it was Doss who struck first. Though not warrior
mates, they worked well together. All three
Tonans
had lost their tails.

Doss’ weapon of death was used on a
Tonan
. His hooked talon slit the creature with a loud ‘
squeee
’ sound and Zoe covered her ears. It looked like he
had opened a human tin can. Both Loy and Doss made short work of the
Tonan’s
vulnerable insides. Each took turns slicing the
warrior’s flesh until one
Tonan
was down and dead.
The armor fell away into dust. Another soon followed. The last
Tonan
growled in outrage and took to the trees.

Doss’ armor was down and Zoe was in his arms. She
buried her face into his throat and clung tight. She could feel his body
shaking. Her skin absorbed his secretions so fast it made her head spin. She
felt his love and his worry and when he held her tighter and whispered her name
with so much emotion, she knew he was feeling her love and overwhelming relief
of being pressed against him. Zoe couldn’t help but love him. He meant so much
to her. After thinking she might die and knowing he would too, the idea found
its mark in her heart. He had sacrificed everything to keep her safe. No one
had ever given all of
himself
to her and expected
nothing in return.

Doss tensed and his armor enclosed them both.

“A hybrid,” Zoe heard.

“And two
Tonans
are dead,”
came another voice.

“I helped to kill those
Tonans
,”
Zoe heard Loy say. He stepped up beside Doss and had an arm around the other
woman. “This female is named Brandy; she was my warrior mate’s chosen female.
He was killed because he gave her his babe and his protection. This
Tonian
, Doss, helped save her life and the lives of four
human children. The woman he hides is his mate; she fears
Castians
as well as
Tonans
. There will be no fighting this
male.”

Caveat took that moment to come around a corner and
seeing Zoe and Doss surrounded, he stomped his feet. One of the children cried
out. Zoe tried to wriggle free of Doss to go to the horse, but Doss wouldn’t
budge. Zoe felt his apprehension. She didn’t care much for the situation
either, but they had no choice.

A massive dark-haired man approached Loy, he was
un-armored. The man moved with the assured gait of one in charge. Caveat
muscled forward and stood in front of Doss. The warrior peeked past the horse
and crossed his arms. He looked curiously at Caveat, almost amused. Caveat gave
him what Zoe referred to as the ‘piss off’ look. Only someone who knew a
stallion would understand the meaning. The man had better beware. Caveat could
bite, eat and run all at the same time.

“I will not harm your little female,” the man said.

“Doss, this is Cobra,” Loy said.

Doss nodded. “I saw you once with your warrior mate.
About four hundred years ago right before the females were all poisoned.”

Cobra nodded. “My warrior mate died with his female. I
have another who is young yet and home with his mother and sisters.”

Doss dropped his armor and Zoe slipped to the ground.
She petted Caveat’s muzzle and helped the children down.
Castian
warriors came forward to take the hand of each child. They kept a respectful
distance away from Loy’s female. Both Cobra and Doss studied one another
intently. Zoe could see the distrust on Doss’ face, and his sadness. She could
sense his confusion warring within him. It was impossible for her to tell what
Cobra was thinking. Yet, Zoe wasn’t mated to him.

“The battle isn’t over,” Cobra said. “The
Tonans
are licking their wounds, but this isn’t the only
slave camp we have yet to unearth. It took time and effort to find this one.”
Cobra looked at Zoe who plastered herself to Doss’ side. “You and your mate
would be safer on
Bagron
.”

“Trade filthy
Tonans
for
dirty
Castians
?” Doss raged. “I helped Loy because he
freed my mate at one point, nothing more. The children are human and humans
have never harmed me.”

“Why do you hate us?” Cobra asked curiously.

“Because you rape human women.”
Zoe sputtered.

“There is no condoning what my men have done,” Cobra
said. “They were collared and tortured. The healing process will be a long one.
Once again,
Tonans
have found a way to separate the
men from the women. I understand your rage, little female.”

“Zoe,” she snapped.

She watched as the
Castian
men spoke gently to the children on their level, no doubt using secretions to
calm them. At a nod from each child the warriors scooped up the three girls and
closed armor over them. The boy was held by another warrior. The warrior’s hand
rested against the boy’s face and he looked quiet and calm. For a brief moment,
with their armor down, Zoe had seen from the expression on their
Castian
faces they were wary of Doss—and his claw hook.

“I understand your anger, Zoe. You have my word not
one child or woman is harmed on
Bagron
or
Dargon
. None of the men are in captivity. The planets are
free of
Tonan
filth. All of the women and children we
saved will be taken care of.” He then looked at Doss. “But what did we,
Castian
warriors, do to you? Was a
Castian
female forced by your father? I have no knowledge of a female
Castian
coming here alone without her mate. Was your mother
stolen? A
Castian
mother would be a good mother to
you.”

“My mother was
Tonan
and she
was
a good mother to me.
Tonan
females are capable of compassion with their
young—especially when they have no one and are shunned by their own kind.”

Cobra looked very surprised and his glance at Doss’
behind was discreet yet noticeable. He looked even more confused as Doss
continued.

“That’s right; I have no filthy, lying tail. I was
taught not to lie by a mother who loved me and loathed
Tonan
ways. My mother was
Tonan
. My mother and a
Castian
male met and my mother fell in love. He gave her
his babe with a piece of his shield, but no mating took place. My mother and I
were alone. Then I was all alone—I watched her age and die. No one ever came
for me.

“I’ve spent seven hundred years in seclusion, catching
conversations but never included. I was ignored and looked right through when
Tonans
walked by. No one wants anything to do with a
hybrid. My own father’s people left me on a planet of evil when I was a child.
My father was too afraid of bringing a
Tonan
to his
wonderful
Castian
people. He was a coward.” To Zoe he
sounded hurt; she hurt with him.

“I will say this, Doss, if I had known of you and your
mother’s
existence,
I would have come for you. No
Castian
has ever harmed a female of their own free will in
thousands of years.
Tonans
chose to center on the
older memories and derive great pleasure our race once did from harming. We
broke from them and they made their own race of cruel beings by experimenting
with harmful evil memories. By breaking from them, we will not harm women. Our
shields won’t allow it. The captive
Castians
are
beside themselves with remorse.
Their
must was
tearing them apart until that one small glimmer of ancient days was reborn and
their shields couldn’t stop it. What the
Tonans
did
to the men was evil as well. They destroyed
Castian
nature. Those females were forced to beg a
Castian
to
take them. Search your memories, Doss. You know I’m right, now that you were
reminded and can scent my emotions.”