Roth (20 page)

Excitement and determination lights up inside me
as I search every inch of the area around me and find nothing. So I then take the search area wider. I find a gun that we had taken and used to kill some of the creatures when we accidently boarded their spaceship, but of course, there are no bullets left. I place it in the belt of my jeans anyway.

I’m so lost in thought that I don’t hear the sound of a spaceship nearby until it is practically on top of me. There isn’t the typical pulse of air from jets or whatnot that an Earth craft would produce. This spaceship just gently lowers down until it lands easily in the clearing where Marduke’s spaceship
’s remains are.

When I do notice it, I’m torn on whether to run and hide or insist whoever gets out that I desperately need help.
But because of the promise I made to Marduke to protect Riley, I quickly run and hide. If this is going to be his father, I know he won’t care that Marduke is hurt, and he’ll be likely to kill me. I pray for anyone but him, so when a door appears and opens, I’m highly disappointed to see Ival stepping out.

Rage flares up inside of me, an image taking over my vision for a split second of Ival shooting Logan. I know Marduke told me he
is alive and well, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ival shot a five-year-old boy.

I watch as he stares at the surrounding scattered remains of his brother’s spaceship. He walks over to one of the tubes and peaks inside before dismissing it.

I know I should probably just sneak away and run as fast as I can. I should ignore Ival’s presence and assume the only reason he is here is for the worst. He’s either come here to ensure the creatures have done his or his father’s bidding, or he’s come to hunt down Marduke and finish off what was started on Earth.

There is no likely scenario where Ival would ever want to help me or Marduke
, but if I don’t try, I know it will eat me up inside. So I quickly think of a plan, which is awful at best, and ignore the words Marduke has spoken to me, which are echoing through my mind in warning.

I remain hidden behind a tree on the outskirts of the clearing that was created from the crash and grab a hold of a rock by my feet.
I throw it into a scrap of metal a few feet from me and then grab hold of the gun I found earlier. I then hold my breath, waiting for Ival to investigate the noise. He doesn’t disappoint.

As soon as he passes the tree I’m hiding behind
, I hold the gun out in front of me, pointing it straight at him as I clear my throat loudly. He turns around, appearing surprised to see me. His eyes drift down to the gun in my hands before moving back towards my face.

“Interesting that I find you here,
human
,” he sneers, acting as though the name ‘human’ is an insult. “And I see you’re still wearing my family’s property. You do realise I’m going to have to take that back.”

“Make a move towards me and I’ll shoot you dead. I know to aim for your head
,” I threaten, hoping it doesn’t come to that since I don’t have any bullets to shoot him with.

While he
stares at me, his gaze piercing, I get the feeling he’s reading my thoughts, much like I feel Marduke does sometimes. It must be the bright green eyes they both share that appear so deep and expressive.

“I didn’t expect to find you here, although I also wasn’t expecting to find my brother’s spaceship in this state
, either. Where is he?” he asks, his eyes glaring at the gun in my hand.

“He’s hurt; I’m going to need you to help him
,” I inform him, taking a step back, fearing for a moment he’s thinking about doing the same thing Kane did to me the one and only time I held a gun at him. I can’t afford to be without a weapon against Ival, even if it is actually useless. He doesn’t know that.

“And if I was here to kill him?” He raises an eyebrow at me, looking more amused than threatening.

“Then I guess we’re going to have a problem.”

“Do you really think you could pull the trigger and shoot me? From what I’ve heard, you’re infatuated with my brother. You wouldn’t want to kill his family now, would you?”

I laugh because I have seriously been dreaming of killing Ival since I got to Roth. If there were any bullets left in this gun, I still might have pulled the trigger, even if he did help me with Marduke. I laugh even more when he appears taken aback by my reaction to his words.

“I watched you shoot a five-year-old
, defenceless boy. I wouldn’t give a shit if I killed you.”

“Yes, well
, I did ensure that human child was saved, so that should count for something.” He shrugs like his actions were no big deal.

“Well
, it doesn’t. Why
are
you here?”

“Apparently
, so I can save my little brother from whatever mess he’s made.”

“Save him how?”

“Well, I don’t know, you’ve not told me his injuries yet. I imagine from the state of this wreckage, he’s not doing well.” He finally takes his eyes off me and stares at the warped pieces of spaceship surrounding us.

“Where is your medicine?” I narrow my eyes at him, not trusting that I could convince him to help Marduke that easily.

“Again, I need to know what is wrong with him.”

“He either sprained or twisted his ankle
,” I finally admit, hoping this won’t all blow up in my face. I have just admitted Marduke won’t be able to run or walk.

He pulls out a control, one that
I have seen used to transport people onto the spaceship, much like the one I accidently used to take us up to the spaceship full of creatures. I tense up, immediately fearing he’s about to zap me away and I won’t ever find Marduke again.

Instead
, he holds it to his face and speaks into it, using his own language so I have no idea what he is saying. Is he asking for backup? Am I about to be surrounded by Marduke’s people?

When he moves the control away from his mouth
, I point the gun at it. “Throw it over here.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust you with it.”

He rolls his eyes, appearing to be less amused with me now and heading towards angry. He still throws the control which lands at my feet. I’m tempted to stomp my foot on it, but that spaceship could be a way off this planet and back to Oden where I can find my sister, Logan and Lisa. I can’t throw that away.
So I pick it up, careful to only touch the sides, and slip it into my back pocket.

“That won’t work for you, human.”

“You let me worry about that,” I tell him, fearful I might have to use it in front of Ival. He finding out about Riley is not something I need happening.

The last sun is beginning to descend downwards, and I know we’ve got maybe an hour before darkness sets in
. I do
not
want to be anywhere near Ival when it’s dark.

A new person appears outside of Ival’s spaceship, a short man who looks young and nervous. He bows his head deeply at Ival
, the metal case he’s holding looking as large as the span of his legs.

“Who is he?”

“He’s my personal medic. He will help assess my brother. Now, where is he?”

I stare at him for a moment, quickly trying to decide if this is a good idea. If he’s trying to kill Marduke, then
I am leading him straight to him. Is it possible he knows my gun is empty? That maybe he’s just humouring me to get to Marduke? But then, what are Marduke’s chances of surviving here if I don’t go back to him?

Very poor.

I have to at least try.

Without another option,
I lead him back to Marduke, following the trail I left behind and having Ival walk several feet in front of me with the medic. I tell them when to shift direction, and soon enough, we make it back to Marduke.

He appears shocked to see his brother, but then he sees me and that look turns livid.

Chapter 17

Marduke

“What have you done to her?” I hiss at Ival, watching Mattie wince behind him when I use my own language.

“Nothing
. I simply stumbled upon her and she mentioned you needed assistance. Moyut is here to give you some,” he says, his eyes assessing me.

He looks nervous, maybe even worried. Not about me, but about something else.

“Why are you here on Roth?” I ask as I glance again at Mattie, seeing her pointing a gun at Ival. I have no idea where she got it from, but I know that, if she’s threatened Ival, he won’t let her forget it. He doesn’t take kindly to being bossed around. Is that why he appears off right now? Is it something Mattie did or said?

“I came looking for you, you are needed back home immediately.”

“Why?”

“Because Oden is under attack.”

“Attack? You mean the Claws?” I’m confused. Why would they be attacking Oden as well?

“Yes. They have systematically taken over every planet we have. They’ve somehow managed to infiltrate Oden
, and we are struggling to hold them off.”

“So this isn’t Father’s doing?”

“No.” He glares at me. “Father would never put our family’s planets, ones we bled and sacrificed to take, in jeopardy just to kill these pitiful humans.”

“Then how did they get here? They aren’t able to fly themselves here
, and I saw one of our spaceships. Something isn’t adding up.”

I wince as Moyut injects my ankle with a serum that will help speed up the healing process. Depending on the damage
, I should at least be able to limp on it very soon.

“We’ve been hacked. Our systems are being overruled by an unknown source. No one should know how to break into our security, but whoever is attacking us does. We need you back home, brother. We’re going to war.”

“Will you two stop speaking in that fucking language and speak English!” Mattie yells at us, waving the gun wildly through the air before pointing it again at Ival.

“To speak your language is like eating dirt. It’s beneath us
,” Ival hisses at her in English.

“Is that your way of saying you
want
to get shot?” she threatens him.

He glares at her and I sense he’s close to snapping. I need to put a stop to it before the situation can escalate.
“How did you get here? We weren’t able to get anything to work. In fact, my ship stopped working mid-air. The supply ship here wasn’t able to move. How is it that you were able to land?” I ask him in English, trying to distract Ival while also appease Mattie.

“We followed the tracking device in your spaceship to here where it last communicated its position before it went dead. We’ve been circling above
, waiting for whatever force field that was blocking us to get taken down. Whatever it was, it was trying to scramble with our systems so we held off getting too close. For whatever reason, it went down earlier today. So here I am.”

“And you want me to go back to Oden? Why? Father already told you he
isn’t interested in having me take on leadership, and I have no interest in it, either.”

“You don’t get to decide when you do and do not defend our family and our people. It’s a job that we do regardless of where our hearts may lie. Now get your head together. We’re leaving, now.”

“I’m not leaving without Mattie.”

He glances back at Mattie, almost as if
he had forgotten she was there. He glares at her, and I don’t like that at all.

I awkwardly stand to my feet, my ankle still tender and sore. It’s definitely too early to be on it, but I limp over to Mattie and place my shoulder in front of her, letting Ival know I will defend her while allowing her aim to stay on him.

“And what do you think Father will do when she shows up wearing our family argu? He will shoot her on sight for being seen with it.”

“I’m not leaving her here
,” I state stubbornly. There is no way I will ever leave her here.

“Honestly, she’ll be safer here
than on Oden for a while.”

“What? What is he talking about? You said Hannah, Logan and Lisa were safe. You said the creatures wouldn’t attack Oden
!” Mattie shrieks. Her voice goes straight through my ears and I wince.

“I thought my father was behind this attack. Ival is saying he’s not
,” I explain.

“So you’re telling me the creatures are there now? That my sister might not be alive anymore? That Logan and Lisa might be dead
, too?” Her voice is shrill, and I hear the agony behind it.

I turn around, ignoring Ival for a moment
, and place my hands on each side of her face, waiting until she looks up at me. “We don’t know anything, so let’s not assume things until we know for sure. As of right now, they’re alive until we hear differently, okay?”

She nods, my hands moving with her. She still looks terrified, and I get the feeling she won’t be able to handle much more bad news.

“I won’t leave you here, I promise,” I tell her. I then turn around, looking back at Ival. “She comes with us. We can hide the vest from father’s eyes or anyone else that may be around and disguise her as one of the medics. I’ll get her somewhere safe with her friends and family and
then
I will help you.”

“You don’t get to make the conditions, brother. You either come willingly, or I force you
,” he threatens, but then his eyes move to the gun Mattie is holding. He’s aware she has the ability to kill not only him, but also his medic who could heal him.

“I will come, just as long as Mattie is with me.”

“There you boys are!” an unknown voice joins us, one from behind and not one I recognise.

I turn my head, watching someone new walking up to us. He’s tall, wide with muscle
, and his skin is sickly pale. There are scars covering his exposed skin and one that trails down from his eye to the corner of his mouth. He’s shirtless, so the tattoos there are visible; however they are different to anything I have ever seen. His hair is wild and long and his eyes dark and his teeth look sharp as he smiles menacingly at us.

“Who are you?” Ival asks him, his eyes narrowing in for a moment on Mattie. No doubt he suspects this man is human. I seriously doubt that, considering he’s not speaking English
, or any Earth language for that matter. He’s speaking our language.

“I’m the person who is going to destroy you, the rest of your family
, and Oden. It’s nice to meet you finally.” The stranger laughs at us, sounding hollow.

“No one can take down my family or Oden
,” Ival states confidently. Then he switches it up to speaking English. “Would you hurry up and shoot him so I don’t have to listen to his delusions?” He glances at Mattie, and I see her falter. I assume it must be because she’s not comfortable shooting this man, but she surprises me and Ival with her words.

“This gun is empty
; there aren’t any bullets. I was sort of bluffing.” She takes hold of the back of my hoodie, and I think she might be worried Ival is about to attack her because he is looking furious.

“You bluffed me?”
he snaps, and even though the moment definitely doesn’t warrant it, I find myself smiling a little. Ival notices it straight away. “Why are you smiling? With no bullets it means I’ll have to kill this fool with my bare hands. We don’t have time for this.”

“I’m smiling because you got tricked by a human. I thought you were meant to be the smart one that Father wants to lead?” I antagonise him, knowing I shouldn’t.

“Interesting language you are all speaking, I was not aware you had two languages on Oden,” the stranger interrupts, his eyes studying us.

“How do you know about Oden? Who are you?” Ival asks again, thankfully his anger shifting off Mattie and onto this strange man.

“I was just on Oden, capturing your father and cutting off your mother’s head,” the stranger says calmly.

Ival tenses, but otherwise
, he gives nothing away. “Lies! You can’t get into Oden. And especially not close enough to my father to capture him.”

“Wrong
. I did get into Oden, quite easily actually, and I currently have control of your planet while my pets have control of your other planets. Although, I must admit, this one isn’t taken over like I expected. The pregnant mothers placed here haven’t appeared to nest properly. When I find the time, I will correct that.”

“Your pets? The Claws are your
pets
?” My mouth hangs open in shock from his words. There is no way the Claws could be anyone’s pets.

“Yes, they are. Now I came here to collect you both and take you back to Oden. I have a public assassination I need to complete on your family.”

“No one threatens me or my family,” Ival growls, stepping in front of the stranger, his hands fisting together and his feet moving farther apart to give him better balance.

Ival has never lost a fight, not even our trainers could beat him.
I have seen him take on eight guards and still win. He’s the best fighter our family has ever had, and the only way this man will walk away from this is to run. Ival’s one weakness is running. I was always faster than him, and therefore, I could outrun him and sometimes prevent the beating he was trying to give me.

I push my arm back, catching Mattie and stepping us away from the fight that is about to happen.

“What’s going on?” she whispers to me, her eyes glued to the scene in front of us.

“That man is saying he’s taken over Oden and that he wants us back there so he can publicly kill us. But don’t worry, Ival is about to kill him
,” I try to assure her when she gasps in fear.

“Who is he? Why does he want to kill you?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t exactly say.” I stare again at the strange man, not finding anything about him familiar. The tattoos he has look similar to the ones Ival and I have except the ink is different. It’s a reddish colour and appears faded. Our tattoos never fade.

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. We need to get off Roth, and Ival might be able to help with that. I can try to get you to your sister and Logan,” I say, watching as Ival circles the man. I know he’s only moments away from leaping forward and beginning his attack.

“But if we return to Oden, will I ever see you again?”

“Yes, there is no way I can stay away from you. I might have to wait for the right time, but I will come back for you. We can take everyone and go somewhere else,” I promise.

“It doesn’t feel right to give up the fight for Earth. It doesn’t belong to your people. It belongs to us.”

“I know, and I’m sorry it has been taken from you. I don’t see a possible way to get it back to you, though. I think you need to let that fight go and focus instead on keeping yourself and Riley safe. Holding a gun on Ival was not safe, especially since it wasn’t even loaded,” I rebuke her.

“But I need you
, Marduke, and I thought, if I didn’t try, then I would always regret it. You’re walking again; I did the right thing.”

I open my mouth to respond to her, but my attention shifts when I hear the commotion of the fight taking place.
I watch as Ival hits the stranger several times, knocking him to the ground from his powerful hits. The fight is completely one-sided because the stranger doesn’t fight back.

I almost look away and back at Mattie because the sight before us is boring and predictable
, but then the stranger starts to laugh. He catches one of Ival’s fists aimed for his face and squeezes his hand around Ival’s. I hear Ival’s bones crunching, and I wince for the pain that he must be in. The stranger swings out his legs, knocking Ival off balance, and then delivers a punch of his own. It’s just one, yet it is strong and hard, and Ival goes down immediately. He’s completely knocked out.

I place my hand back over Mattie, keeping her behind me.
I have never seen Ival lose before. I didn’t expect this outcome, and now we’re trapped.

“I need you to run.”

“What?” she gasps.

“Run now! Don’t look back.”

She hesitates.

“Protect Riley
,” I whisper, and that’s all I have to say. She turns around and runs. I don’t look back to see the direction she goes in, either. I can’t afford to turn my back on this man.

Moyut rushes to Ival’s side as soon as the stranger takes a few steps back from him. He’s shaking, no doubt terrified of the man standing over him. His sole job is to heal Ival, and right now
, his job is forcing him to be in harm’s way.

I know I need to distract the stranger until Moyut can wake Ival up.

“Why do you want us dead? Why do you want Oden? What did we ever do to you?” I ask him, stepping to the side so for him to look at me he has to place his back to Ival and Moyut.

“I want you dead because your family is full of cowards and murderers. You don’t deserve to be leaders. You don’t deserve to be respected or remembered. I plan to wipe your family out
, and no one will ever speak of you again. You will never have existed.”