step closer to the man before her. The small, breathless man shifted, obviously nervous, knowing he was about to bear the brunt of Grayson’s rage. His fangs scraped his bottom lip as he anxiously glanced around, looking anywhere and everywhere but at Grayson.
“Speak.” The hardness in Grayson’s voice forced the other man to rush on.
“The Nallie are all dead and only a handful of our kind have survived the attack. There are too many soldiers to fight. We need to leave here now, and go back to Sayton while we still can.”
Feeling Grayson’s emotions as though they were her own, anger poured through her veins faster than the blood she’d just devoured. “No.” Grayson grabbed the man’s neck. “Find me a female! We do not leave here until you have found one. Do you understand?”
When Grayson let go of the man’s neck, he scurried away, never once looking back.
As the battle ensued, Grayson moved forward, searching. He would not let a weaker species destroy what he had spent decades creating. He would find another female and breed her with his men. He would recreate the powerful Nallie breed again. Only this time, he’d rein in his patience, give it more time, create a stronger army and be better prepared. Then he’d come back and finish what he’d started. He’d invade Earth, kill all its inhabitants and take over the rich planet once and for all. Humans would indeed pay for killing his kind and forcing them from the planet centuries ago.
Off in the distance, his supersensory hearing picked up the sound of a baby crying. He bolted through the battlefield and concentrated on the location. Branches sliced his flesh as he trekked into the surrounding forest. Ignoring the sting, he rushed forward, pushing past thick trees and brush. Wild animals scattered and cried out in warning as birds of prey took to the sky.
The sound of the cries grew louder. He concentrated on the location until he closed the distance. The small child lay beside its dead mother. Grayson recognized the mother. She was Nallie. Hope stirred in his veins.
“Hush, little one.” He bent down and scooped the infant into his arms. As though sensing his commanding presence, the child abruptly ceased crying. Stomach down, he placed the small body on his knee and ripped open the back of her cotton shirt. A black X had been branded into her flesh, just below the shoulder blade.
A wide smile stretched across his mouth. For he had found exactly what he’d been looking for. The creator of a new breed.
Dari watched the action through Grayson’s eyes. Her heart leapt in her throat at the sight of the X . A cold shiver raced down her spine. She instinctively knew that baby he held in his arms was her.
Grayson stood and lifted her in the air, rejoicing his glory. The baby whimpered. Then out of nowhere an arrow went zinging past his head, embedding itself deep into the flesh of the child he held in his arms. The whimpering stopped as the arrow lodged in the baby’s heart.
Unable to relive the pain all over again, Dari jolted awake in a bed that was not hers. Her pulse thrummed in her ears as her heart crashed against her chest. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead and looked around, attempting to orientate herself but nothing, except the two men who flanked her bedside, appeared familiar. Asleep in a chair to her right, she found Ayden, the man who had saved her from Grayson. To the left of her she spotted Mikel, propped up in a chair. Her gaze moved over his body. His head rested against a cushion, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a slow motion as he, too, slept. Her entire body responded to him with every fiber of her being. Everything in her screamed out to touch him, to claim him. Emotions whipped through her blood as her heart turned and tightened. The connection, the pull between them was as powerful in the real world as it was in her dreams.
She pinched her eyes shut, and then opened them again. Perhaps this
“Speak.” The hardness in Grayson’s voice forced the other man to rush on.
“The Nallie are all dead and only a handful of our kind have survived the attack. There are too many soldiers to fight. We need to leave here now, and go back to Sayton while we still can.”
Feeling Grayson’s emotions as though they were her own, anger poured through her veins faster than the blood she’d just devoured. “No.” Grayson grabbed the man’s neck. “Find me a female! We do not leave here until you have found one. Do you understand?”
When Grayson let go of the man’s neck, he scurried away, never once looking back.
As the battle ensued, Grayson moved forward, searching. He would not let a weaker species destroy what he had spent decades creating. He would find another female and breed her with his men. He would recreate the powerful Nallie breed again. Only this time, he’d rein in his patience, give it more time, create a stronger army and be better prepared. Then he’d come back and finish what he’d started. He’d invade Earth, kill all its inhabitants and take over the rich planet once and for all. Humans would indeed pay for killing his kind and forcing them from the planet centuries ago.
Off in the distance, his supersensory hearing picked up the sound of a baby crying. He bolted through the battlefield and concentrated on the location. Branches sliced his flesh as he trekked into the surrounding forest. Ignoring the sting, he rushed forward, pushing past thick trees and brush. Wild animals scattered and cried out in warning as birds of prey took to the sky.
The sound of the cries grew louder. He concentrated on the location until he closed the distance. The small child lay beside its dead mother. Grayson recognized the mother. She was Nallie. Hope stirred in his veins.
“Hush, little one.” He bent down and scooped the infant into his arms. As though sensing his commanding presence, the child abruptly ceased crying. Stomach down, he placed the small body on his knee and ripped open the back of her cotton shirt. A black X had been branded into her flesh, just below the shoulder blade.
A wide smile stretched across his mouth. For he had found exactly what he’d been looking for. The creator of a new breed.
Dari watched the action through Grayson’s eyes. Her heart leapt in her throat at the sight of the X . A cold shiver raced down her spine. She instinctively knew that baby he held in his arms was her.
Grayson stood and lifted her in the air, rejoicing his glory. The baby whimpered. Then out of nowhere an arrow went zinging past his head, embedding itself deep into the flesh of the child he held in his arms. The whimpering stopped as the arrow lodged in the baby’s heart.
Unable to relive the pain all over again, Dari jolted awake in a bed that was not hers. Her pulse thrummed in her ears as her heart crashed against her chest. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead and looked around, attempting to orientate herself but nothing, except the two men who flanked her bedside, appeared familiar. Asleep in a chair to her right, she found Ayden, the man who had saved her from Grayson. To the left of her she spotted Mikel, propped up in a chair. Her gaze moved over his body. His head rested against a cushion, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in a slow motion as he, too, slept. Her entire body responded to him with every fiber of her being. Everything in her screamed out to touch him, to claim him. Emotions whipped through her blood as her heart turned and tightened. The connection, the pull between them was as powerful in the real world as it was in her dreams.
She pinched her eyes shut, and then opened them again. Perhaps this
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