Hyperspeed Dreams by Anna Carven

Chapter Three

Tasha had beenas good as her word.

She’d killed the four Praetorian mercs, using her knowledge of the dense jungle to her advantage.

They were locals; she could tell just by the look and sound of them, probably freelancers that Praetorian used to handle business in the area.

Not the best of the best, but they were in the vicinity, and they would have been sent to try and get to her family as quickly as possible.

Unarmed and barefoot, Tasha had used the element of surprise to take down the first merc. A quick blow to his windpipe and he’d crumpled. She’d retrieved his weapons—a pair of bolt guns and a wickedly sharp hunting knife—and used them to eliminate the other three, leaving their bodies in the thick undergrowth.

Then she’d returned to the old bungalow. After washing the blood off her hands, she’d spent a few surreal minutes walking through the house, running her fingers over things she remembered so vividly from childhood; the ancient wooden piano in the sunroom, the worn, pitted bamboo countertop in the kitchen, and several of her collections—shells, rare bugs, and interesting stones. They were still in her room, seemingly untouched from how she’d left them.

Then her Link had buzzed again.

Alert.Unknown movement detected.

Again? So fucking soon?

Unidentified intruders.

That’s how she’d found herself with her back pressed against the cold concrete wall, steeling herself for another ambush.

She’d been like this for almost ten minutes now.

Her heart was beating too fast.

Her palms were sweaty.

She was jittery. Too jittery.

Unidentified? What the hell? The sensors were usually able to differentiate between stray animals and humans. Even the most basic intrusion sensor could identify human movement.

Suddenly, the humid air felt thick and oppressive. A strange feeling descended over her; cloying and heavy, like she could be crushed at any moment.

What is this?

It was the feeling of imminent doom.

As if she were the prey, not the hunter.

She heard footsteps—one set only.

And then them murmur of voices—two of them—a male and a female. The male’s voice was deep and resonant, whereas the female sounded…

Familiar.

In a way that completely floored her.

No way.

It can’t be…

Was she already hallucinating from the withdrawals?

She knew that voice, even though it was deeper and richer than what she remembered—all grown up.

Alexis?

No way…

Alexis was dead. Gage had shown her the official reports.

Lost in space, presumed dead.

But there was no mistaking that voice. Not here, of all places.

It was the rhythm of her words; slow, measured, calm, despite her obvious worry. Even as a child, Alexis had always had this way about her—she didn’t let much of anything rattle her.

On the other hand, Tasha had been prone to explosive outbursts of anger.

“Nobody’s home, right?” Alexis’s voice sounded slightly muffled through the thick wooden front doors.

It is you. Tasha’s heart beat faster. It has to be… How is this possible?

“Wait here,” the male said. She didn’t know what it was exactly—something about the timbre of his voice, perhaps—but she immediately knew that he wasn’t human.

“What?” Alexis called after him, sounding a little miffed—but certainly not afraid.

Then the male was gone.

Just like that.

In perfect silence.

Even she couldn’t move with that kind of stealth.

She heard soft footsteps, then a pause.

The window frame rattled. Ah. That was the window she and Alexis used to open from the outside when they were kids. You just needed to slide your fingers through the gap…

If any doubt remained in her head as to who was outside, it was erased by that little gesture. Nobody else knew about that window, not even the boys.

She’s coming in.

Tasha quickly removed her stolen weapons and placed them on the ground. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally kill her sister. The slightest mistake could trigger her hard-wired reflexes.

The window creaked and rattled as it swung open. The linen curtains billowed.

Alexis climbed inside, her movements silent and graceful.

Heart in her throat, Tasha moved behind Alexis and whipped her arm around Alexis’s neck, trying to restrain her as gently as possible.

Wait… She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of the usual response, she found herself on the receiving end of a blistering attack. Alexis jerked backward and slammed her elbow into Tasha’s gut. She tried to reach for her gun, but Tasha knocked it out of her hand. Moving surprisingly fast, Alexis hooked her leg around Tasha’s and brutally shifted her bodyweight, sending them both crashing to the floor.

Oof.Tasha had to admire her speed and strength. When had her sister gotten so strong? Of course, she was being a little restrained herself, but still…

Not many could overpower her like this.

She clamped her hand over Alexis’s mouth. “Shh! Be still, Alexis. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Alexis didn’t seem to recognize her. She grabbed Tasha’s arm in a death-grip. A weird kind of energy radiated from her hand, rippling through Tasha’s bionically enhanced body.

It felt like a faint electric shock.

What the hell is that?

It was enough to make Tasha lose concentration for a split-second—just long enough for Alexis to slam a vicious elbow into her belly.

Oof.

Thathurt. But because it was Alexis, Tasha felt kind of happy that her sister was able to hurt her like that.

She began to move forward... I just need to get you to be still for long enough… so I can explain…

And stopped dead in her tracks.

She caught a flash of silver in the shadows, and then a blur of movement—so fast!

Faster than any living creature she’d ever encountered before.

The realization hit Tasha like a thunderbolt.

Kordolian!

The alien dissected her with a hard crimson stare.

Then he moved. Tasha tried to block him, but he was just too strong, too fast. He easily overpowered her and pushed her facedown onto the floor, placing his boot on her back. Tasha got the feeling that if she moved an inch, he would easily crush her.

So she remained perfectly still, like prey caught between a predator’s jaws.

“Move again and I’ll snap your neck, human.” The Kordolian spoke perfect Universal, his voice as cold as winter ice. Tasha’s eyes widened in shock. Amongst humans, she was almost unmatched as a fighter, but this alien had taken her down so damn easily.

“You know her, Alexis?” The alien’s voice softened as he spoke to Alexis, sounding almost… affectionate.

Huh.

For some reason, her long-lost sister was on a first-name basis with the most dangerous aliens in the Nine Galaxies.

“I…” Alexis’s voice trembled.

Tasha turned her head and met Alexis’s dark eyes. Her sister had grown into a formidably beautiful woman, and yet…

There was something strange about her.

Her eyes were full of secrets, and a small constellation of glittering blue scales decorated her cheeks.

Is it really you?

Alexis began to tremble. Her eyes welled with tears, but she blinked them back. “Where’s Maman,” she asked softly. “Where are Kylian and Felix?”

It was her, all right.

“Safe,” Tasha replied. “May I get up? I won’t do anything. I’d be stupid to try and fight him.” She glanced warily at the Kordolian, who stood with his massive arms folded, glowering at her with the fury of a thousand suns.

“Yeah, you would be,” Alexis agreed, a tiny warning in her voice. Tasha knew that tone. Alexis had used it many times before, when they were kids. Don’t do anything crazy, she was trying to tell her.

The alien turned to Alexis. “She is dangerous,” he warned. “I didn’t detect her presence, and that is very rare. She’s stronger than an ordinary human, and she fights like she’s had extensive training.”

“You can tell all that just from a few seconds of—”

“Yes.” The Kordolian lifted his boot, releasing Tasha. “Get up,” he said coldly. “You know what will happen if you try and attack her again.”

Yeah, yeah. I know. You’ll kill me and all that.

“Why did you attack me?” There was hurt in Alexis’s voice, and Tasha hated herself for it.

Slowly, she pulled herself off the floor. Pain shot through her torso. That damn alien had struck her hard. “I just wanted to talk."

“Some way you’ve got of trying to start a conversation.”

“I didn’t know if you were friend or foe,” Tasha admitted. “I wanted to make sure you’d stay quiet first. I didn’t expect you to fight like that. You’ve obviously had some training. You’re probably close to my level now.”

“You thought I could be your enemy?”

“Look who you’re with.” Tasha nodded toward the scary alien.

Alexis glanced at the guy, her eyes lingering a little too long. “He’s with me,” she said gently. “He isn’t the kind of Kordolian we were taught to fear. He’s nothing like them.”

“Says the detective who was almost killed by Kordolians.”

Nothing to fear? Somehow, I really fucking doubt that.

Alexis froze. “How did you know that?”

“I’ve been keeping watch over you, Alexis. You think it was just coincidence that you survived all those assassination attempts on Earth?”

“You?” Alexis stared at Tasha, her head spinning. “What are you talking about? What could you do against my attackers?”

“A lot,” Tasha lied, sensing immense danger from the Kordolian. Some deep instinct told her that if she wanted to survive, she had to appear as non-threatening as possible.

She needed them to believe that she had the situation under control.

“And you knew all this time? Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I couldn’t. I’ll have to explain it to you, but not now. Whatever training you received at the Academy, what I went through was a hundred times worse. I know things that could get me killed… that will get me killed if I’m not careful.”

“So what are you doing here? And where are Mama and the boys?”

“I neutralized two human males in the forest behind,” the Kordolian said quietly. “Are those the boys you were talking about? But no… they were fully grown.”

Tasha went cold. No! What the hell were those idiots doing? Had they come back to try and help her? She’d warned Felix not to return.

Obviously, he hadn’t listened.

And now they’d been neutralized?

“Nythian…” Horror flickered across Alexis’s face, mirroring how Tasha felt. “Please tell me you did not kill those two.”

The alien shrugged nonchalantly. “They are fine. Fine but unconscious. Sedated. I’ve learned not to kill indiscriminately.”

Tasha’s heart started beating again. She remembered to breathe. They’re alive? Oh, thank God.

Alexis gave her an odd look, raising one eyebrow questioningly.

“Well, there’s your answer.” It took Tasha a lot of effort to keep her voice neutral. “Felix and Kylian have been staying here with me. We sent Mama to a secure location, because I’m expecting someone. They were helping me lay a trap in the jungle.” She lied about that last part, because she didn’t want them to know she’d literally just showed up a few hours ago. That would look far too suspicious.

And she didn’t want them to know she’d already killed the four mercs that had tried to sneak up on her family.

Alexis’s frown deepened. “Someone?”

“Someone who wants me dead. I have a lot of enemies. I thought you could have been a part of it, especially when you showed up with the Kordolian, but of course you’re not. You would never get involved in that sort of shit.”

Alexis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Clearly, we’ve stumbled across something that I can’t even begin to understand right now. You have enemies. I have enemies. I haven’t seen you for twenty-odd years, and you’re carrying a whole lot of baggage, as am I. We’re different people. We barely know each other… but I don’t care about any of that right now. I knew you. I know you. Whatever this shit is, we can handle it… you have no idea. You have to trust me on this.”

The words coming from her sister’s lips were the salve Tasha so desperately longed for.

She wanted to believe Alexis so badly…

Alexis stepped forward, arms outstretched, inviting Tasha to hug.

Tasha hesitated… then awkwardly moved into the embrace. The intimacy made her uncomfortable, but this was Alexis, so she tried to make herself relax.

There’s so much I want to tell you… but I can’t. Not yet. Maybe never.

“You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to see you again,” Alexis whispered. “I’m here now, Tasha. And… I’m sorry I wasn’t looking out for you back then.”

“It wasn’t your fault. We were just kids. The people who took me… there was no way you could have protected me from them. Maybe it was better that way.”

Alexis let out a shuddering sigh of relief. “I’m so glad I found you here. There’s a lot we can do to—”

Tasha didn’t hear anything else.

Her eyes snapped toward the door before she even realized what she was doing. A cold feeling crept across the back of her neck and danced down her spine.

That’s when she saw him.

The Kordolian.

Silver and black and moonlight pale.

Sharp-edged and silent and deadly.

Like his comrade, he was unmistakably a warrior, radiating quiet menace from every pore. But where Alexis’s red-eyed companion wore casual attire—a sleeveless black shirt and simple trousers—this Kordolian was clad in seamless obsidian battle armor that molded perfectly against his hard, honed body. Everything was covered in pure black except his head, which was crowned with sharply cropped white hair. His face was a study in brutal elegance; his features sharp and refined, almost delicate, but with that body and all those weapons and those eyes, nobody would ever call this guy delicate.

If the term beautiful but deadly were ever to be embodied, this guy would be it.

Tasha forgot to breathe. As if compelled by an invisible force, she met the alien’s gaze.

Golden eyes stared back at her, dissecting her in an instant. The intensity of his gaze made her want to squirm. It was almost as if he was saying: I know what you are.

His eyes narrowed. “What were you thinking, coming to your home if you knew someone was after you?”

It took Tasha a moment to realize that he was talking to her.

What?

He was addressing her like that, with no introduction or explanation, as if he knew her?

Who the hell did he think he was?

Nervous energy turned into irritation. She was getting more and more jittery by the minute. Tasha’s left foot started to tap—a habit she thought she’d broken a long time ago.

She glared at the alien, biting off a sharp retort. “I was desperate,” she snapped, deciding to tell the truth.

Lies were more believable if you seeded them with a little truth. Tasha had learned that the hard way.

She would have to walk a very fine line while she figured out what the hell was going on.

She really needed to talk to Alexis… alone.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” the alien said coldly, looking her up and down with eyes that held anger and curiosity and perhaps a hint of amusement—all at the same time. “You’re coming with us. You and those unconscious two in the forest.”

Tasha bristled. Who was he to decide such a thing?

“Why?” she demanded.

“You’re obviously important to my mate,” the red-eyed one growled. “Whatever you’re involved in will be settled by us.”

Settled by you? You’re going to save me from imminent death and cure my condition, destroy all my enemies and put my world back together… just like that? Happy Ever After and all that shit?

“I’m not asking for your help,” Tasha snapped. Even though I might end up begging. She glared at the red-eyed one, studiously ignoring his quiet companion, even though his scrutiny was all over her, making her feel hot and cold and jumpy all at the same time.

“You think you have a choice?” red-eyes growled.

“Obviously not.” Tasha replied saltily as she took in the alien’s intimidating form. Just like the yellow-eyed Kordolian, he was totally cut and ripped, although he was built a little heavier.

Alexis was looking at the red-eyed Kordolian kind of… adoringly.

What the…?

Sis, are you insane?

An echo of the big Kordolian’s words bounced around in her mind. You’re obviously important to my mate.

Wait…

Whatdid he just say?

Mate…

Mate?

Tasha tried to stop her jaw from falling open. “Mate?” she blurted. As in… they’re like… lovers?

Her head spun. In the blink of an eye, she’d gone from thinking Alexis was dead to seeing her shacked up with some silver-skinned monster.

“Yeah.” Alexis moved to Nythian’s side. He put a possessive hand on her waist. “He’s mine,” she said, her voice gentle but equally as possessive.

What the hell, Alexis? Tasha tried to hide her shock by acting cool. “Huh. I wouldn’t have picked him for your type.”

“He is most definitely my type.” Alexis’s eyes were filled with lust and stars.

Unexpectedly, the big alien chuckled.

Alexis reacted like a giddy schoolgirl, her expression softening, a flush spreading across her cheeks.

Tasha didn’t get it.

At all.

The Universe had gone insane.

“Sorry, Tasha,” Alexis said gently. “Nythian and Lodan are right. You have to come with us now. We’re taking Kylian and Felix too. And you have to tell us where you’ve sent Mama. I don’t know what you’ve been through all these years or what you’ve gotten mixed up in, but whatever it is, we can fix it.”

“Or destroy it, if necessary,” the one called Lodan said ever so casually, as if destroying things was something he did on a regular basis.

Tasha pointedly ignored him.

She gave Alexis a long, hard look, searching for any trace of the sister she once knew.

You’ve changed so much.

Alexis frowned. “What happened to you, Tasha?”

Tasha went still. She sensed the chasm between them. They were different people now. “I protected you, you know,” she said at last. “I never, ever forgot about you, Alexis. The flight on the Malachi… I was the one who got it approved. When I heard it had been lost… I lost all hope.” Tasha held up her left arm, wrist facing outwards. Just below the line where her hand joined her arm, there was a tiny upside-down number tattooed on her skin. “This happened. I don’t think I’m entirely human anymore, but maybe that doesn’t really matter, because I can see that you aren’t, either.”

If Alexis was at all surprised, she didn’t show it. “Life is strange and unexpected,” she said gently. Then her voice hardened. “You’re coming with us.”

Tasha glanced at her weapons on the floor. Then she looked at the deadly aliens. What was the point of trying to fight any of this? “I guess I am.”

“Interesting,” yellow-eyes said softly, and for some reason, his cryptic tone made Tasha want to punch him.

“Let’s go,” the one called Nythian growled.

And just like that, Tasha found herself in the company of Alexis and two utterly terrifying alien creatures, who could kill her in a heartbeat if they chose.

She wasn’t used to feeling this helpless.

But once again, fate had spun completely out of her control.