Captured By her Alien Mate by Ava York
Riley
The only trouble was, the more I found myself getting to know Kator, the more I began to long for his company when he was gone. Not just because I could feel that he had my best interests at heart. I never would have thought I would meet someone within Aetamian walls who was loyal to Tahkath.
When my lips touched Kator’s everything felt so right. Maybe it was just being starved for physical affection after all the time since we crashed, or maybe it was more. Given what I had seen with Isabella, Camilia, and especially Sofia, it felt like dangerous territory.
It would have been very easy to let myself go and surrender to him. But, when his eyes had flashed, I got cold feet. In that moment, it was hard to imagine myself being ready to really invest in a life with one of the D’Tali. It still was.
And yet, I found myself itching to see him again. It’s strange, but usually an unresolved romantic tryst with someone only made things awkward—you tend to avoid them after that. Yet, all I wanted was Kator back. I was willing to admit to myself that I liked him, and that was enough for the time being.
So, when the door to my chambers swung open, I clambered to my feet. A broad smile ran across my face, almost in spite of myself. Even if I was a prisoner, he had made my days better—and I wanted him to know it.
When an old, reptilian woman stepped across my threshold, however, my smile faded. Flanking her were two sizeable men, darkening the doorway before shoving in behind her.
“Hello,” the woman said, with a warmth that still managed to feel threatening. Was she testing me? I worked hard to show no sign I understood her words. Hell, humans talk to plants without the expectation that the plant understands, let’s hope the Aetam are the same way. “Won’t you be seated.”
I blinked at her, hoping she’d buy the ruse. She held out a hand toward a chair, and I edged into it. Something told me that when anyone besides Kator came to see me, I needed to be wary.
This silvered lady stood directly in front of me, and given the deference she commanded from the two massive men, she was someone to be reckoned with. She clutched a small, leather pouch in front of her, and kept her sallow eyes fixed unblinking on me.
“May I ask who you are?” It was an attempt to match her courtesy, but even I could hear the mistrust fretting around the edges of my voice. She looked at me, and I could tell that my words were lost on her. Even so, a faint smile worked across her face, as if she could read every trace of my fear.
“Can you understand me, child? Nod if you can.” I simply blinked in reply. She narrowed her eyes. “Well, perhaps you’re smart enough to figure this out.”
While she spoke, one of the men lifted a small table and set it just beside the arm of my chair. The two guards then hovered just off either shoulder, barely out of my line of vision. It only made me feel worse.
“I am Wyelia,” she said, not unkindly. As he did, Wyelia stepped until she was nearly directly over me. “I am the Royal Inquisitor here.”
I nearly fired up out of my chair. The only thing stopping me was the vise-like grip of the two behemoths who had come along with her. I knew what Inquisitors did on Earth, and my stomach shrank at the notion that they did the same thing out here. As the pale green woman leaned over me, it became clear that they did.
“Don’t struggle, child.” As she spoke, my wrists were bound roughly to the arms of the chair. “I wouldn’t want you hurt unnecessarily. That would go poorly.” Dragging over a stool, she sat so she could face me eye to eye.
“Let me go,” I howled, struggling against my restraints. “I won’t tell you anything!”
“Shhhh.” Wyelia held a slender finger to her lips. “That’s no use, my girl. I can’t understand the words, but I know what you’re saying. I need you to look at me.” She waved her fingers between my face and hers.
I did. Her gaze was cold and even.
“You must understand, that the gentle methods you’ve received aren’t producing the results our king requires. The man who has been putting the questions to you will be along to ask them again. My job is to prepare you to speak truthfully when he comes. Nod if you understand me.”
I glared at her, even if I hadn’t understood her words, her tone, and the situation, certainly earned a glare. She sighed as if I were a petulant child. Then, standing up, she undid the strap on her leather pouch and unrolled it across the table. At the sight of her tools, my chest went tight. I would have screamed, but what good would that have done? Besides, I got the idea that I would be doing plenty of screaming shortly.
Her long, practiced fingers flicked over the various blades and picks of her trade, before selecting an ugly looking hook. She held it up to the light and motioned for a candle to be brought closer. Sweat prickled up across my brow, and was already clenching my jaw so tightly, it felt as if my teeth would crack.
The tool was needle sharp, with a hammered look to it that reduced it to a mottled grey under the light. It harrowed up my soul just to look at, and I wondered whether it would be worse if it had gleamed in the light. I decided there was no way this could be worse.
With a light wave, she instructed one of the lumbering strongmen who had come with her to place a candle over on the table. With the merest flitting of her eyes over to me, Wyelia began to heat the tip of the hook over the flame. I shut my eyes tight and pushed myself back against the chair as hard as I could.
“Open your eyes, child.” I refused. She clapped loudly, startling me into opening them, only to find her maddeningly placid face staring back at me. “Your attention is part of how this goes.” The hook smoked in her hands, and as the wreathes of it curled up into the air, I saw past them.
A cloaked figure had come into the room behind her.
I blinked hard, wondering for a moment if my desperation was playing tricks with my eyes. The shape was there. Just what I needed—another tormentor hovering to watch.
Then the figure moved, and I immediately recognized the rhythm of it. It was Kator. I could have read him anywhere, and even in my terror, I marveled that I had come to know him so well.
Wyelia stepped toward me, but her eyes bulged as she suddenly lurched backward. A strong arm snaked around her neck, and a gloved hand clamped around hers. That hissing-hot prong swung in the air for a moment, and I watched as the Inquisitor used her free hand to claw at the arm locked at her throat.
With a thundering rush, the two hulks standing over me rushed Kator. One of them caught the hook in the face with a nasty sizzle, and staggered back with a yelp. At the same time, Kator kicked out from behind the old woman, landing a punishing blow in the ribs of the other attacker.
In a flash, he spun hard, and sent Wyelia headlong into the door. She met it with a terrible smack and slid down into an unconscious heap. The first guard was already rallying, and Kator managed to turn in time to throw an elbow into the brute’s throat.
He gurgled and fell to his knees, grasping wildly at his windpipe. The other guard was on Kator, but the grapple only allowed him to rock back and deliver another pitiless kick to the face of the gasping Aetamian. His head snapped back, and he fell inert to the floor.
Now it was just Kator and the bastard on his back. I nearly yelled out his name but stopped myself short. If he could manage this whole siege unrecognized, it would be so much better for him.
Writhing against my ropes, I scraped my nails at the table beside me, wild to reach anything in the pouch that might free me. An array of hateful weapons glinted in the candlelight. If I could just reach one, this whole mess would be over in an instant, but my restraints were so tight, my salvation might as well have been a mile away.
The two grappling men grunted and thumped across the room. Kator, smaller than the guard, was a wily and uncompromising fighter. At last gaining a window of advantage, he raised his knee and crashed his foot down hard across the soldier’s instep.
With a terrible cry, the monster sank down over his broken foot. Kator wheeled around and slammed his fist into the howling guard’s. The room fell silent, save for the thump of the unconscious lout collapsing to the floor.
Breathing hard, Kator knelt before me and threw back his hood.
“Are you alright?” His voice was hot. “Did they hurt you?”
“No,” I gasped, my own breath calming down. “No, you made it just in time.”
He bowed his head in relief, and I rested my hand against his chest. His heart was beating so hard I could almost feel it within my own ribs.
Snatching up one of the knives on the table, he cut my restraints, and I rubbed my stinging wrists. Kator glanced at the torturers, who were still unconscious then turned back to me. My throat caught at the sight of his intense eyes. Part of me longed for that same flash I had seen not long ago.
“Can you run?” he asked. I nodded and he took my hands. “Good. We need to get out of here.”