Lilly's King

Korom frowned, his eyes moving to the end of the alley where the female had run off to.

“What about the hive? That is why we came here. The spinners are all moving toward the area East of here.”

Bor growled, his body still vibrating with pain and his muscles feeling weak as he tried to get a handle on his anger.

“The hive will still be there after we find her. She will not survive for long out here. The spinners are coming, I can hear them.”

Korom turned his head to the side, listening to the sounds around them. His friend would not be able to hear the spinners approaching.

As a different species, Korom had other attributes that made him a deadly warrior, but he didn’t have the heightened hearing and sense of smell that Bor did.

He also had much better night vision, which Bor envied at times.

The small team of elite warriors had come to this scorching part of the planet to follow the spinners to their hive and kill the leader.

It was the only way to end the carnage that the spinners inflicted on this race and kill the spinner drones at the same time.

Without the hive leader, the drones would no longer receive the orders and starve to death in a matter of days.

Korom nodded. “Can you follow her scent?”

Bor grinned, showing off his deadly fangs. “Yes. You, Keel, and Tark will join me. Send the rest to follow the drones to the hive. They will report what they find but make sure they do not attack the hive until reinforcements arrive.”

Korom gave him a sharp nod, turning to bark orders at the other males in their group.

Bor turned to the entrance of the alley, raising his nose to the air and allowing the warm, humid air around him to fill his scent glands on the top of his nose.

He immediately picked up the sweet, delicate fragrance of his mate.

“Let’s move!” Bor demanded, already heading out of the alley. Booted footsteps behind him assured him that his closest friends, and most skilled fighters, were behind him.

He followed his mate’s scent, weaving between buildings and through fields with tall grass.

He came to a stop a while later and lowered to a knee. Korom came to rest at his side.

“She is in there,” Bor said, gesturing with his head to the small, white dwelling across the field.

“Then why hesitate?” Korom asked, frowning at Bor.

“She is not alone. I can hear other voices. More females.” He tilted his head to the side, the tips of his ears moving to pick up more of the voices coming from the house. “At least two others.”

“Commands, Bor?” Korom asked, easing the blades out of their sheaves on his hip.

Bor glanced over at his friend. “We move in. I will find my mate. You and Tark grab the other females and have Keel search the rest of the dwelling. Once we have them, contact the ship for transport.”

Korom gave him a nod and quietly relayed the information to the other two males with them.

Once he got the nod from Korom that his orders had been received and understood, Bor stood and moved through the thick grass toward the home.

***

Lilly burst through the front door, no longer caring about being quiet.

The roar of the alien in town would draw any spinners within miles to him, and she only had a few minutes to get her sisters out of the house and as far away from them as she could.

“Rose!” she called out, rushing to the back room.

Rose shot to her feet, panic and fear making her body tremble.

“Lilly? What’s going on?” she whispered, moving to her sister in long-legged strides.

“We need to get out of here now. Grab as much as you can and leave the rest. We have one minute to leave.”

“What about Violet?” Tulip asked, standing from her knelt position next to their sick sister.

“We will need to carry her.”

Rose grabbed her arm, stopping her frantic packing, and spun Lilly to look at her.

“What is going on?”

Lilly blinked back the tears threatening to spill and took in a long breath.

“The spinners are going to swarm this area any minute now. We need to get as far away from town as we can.”

“Spinners?”

“Please, Rose. I will explain everything later. Move!”

At the desperation in Lilly’s voice, Rose gave her a nod and moved to Violet on the sofa. She placed a hand on her forehead and wiped at the hair stuck to her heated face.

“Lilly,” Rose called in a soft voice.

“What?”

“She’s burning up again. I don’t think we can move her.”

Lilly’s heart sank. She ran over to her sisters, dropping to a knee beside Violet, and began examining her.

Her skin was on fire. Heavy beads of sweat rolled from her face and neck, and her heart was racing. When Lilly forced open one eye to check Violet’s pupils, tears welled again.

Her sister’s eyes were so bloodshot that not one speck of white remained. Her pupils were huge black disks, blocking out all the soft blue that usually filled her gaze.

“Vi?” Lilly called in a soft voice, giving her sister a gentle shake.

“Vi, wake up. We need to go.”

Violet let out a soft, pain-filled moan but didn’t wake.

“Lilly? What’s happening to her?”

Lilly swallowed down the lump. “Her body is shutting down. I…I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re a doctor, Lilly,” Tulip demanded. “Do something.”

“I don’t have the equipment or medication she needs. I need a drip, meds, scanners, blood work… I…”

Emotion choked the last of her words as Tulip tried to wake Violet with more forceful shakes. There was nothing else they could do now.

Violet was slipping into a coma and without a hospital and a team of doctors, there would be nothing that could save her now.

The failure to protect her sisters drove a knife into Lilly’s heart, sending shards of pain through her whole body.

She stumbled back, her eyes never once leaving Violet’s beautiful, sweet face, which always used to hold the brightest smile.

“Lilly! What do we do?” Tulip called, tears staining her face.

Lilly shook her head, unable to speak.

“Lilly!” Rose shouted, getting to her feet.

“I can save her,” a deep, familiar voice said from behind them, and Lilly spun around to look at the entrance of the living room.

Her heart dropped to the floor at the sight of Bor and three other men standing in the room with them. They had entered the house so quietly, not one of them had heard so much as a floorboard squeak.

“What the fuck!” Rose exclaimed, grabbing Lilly’s arm and pulling her back toward their other sisters.

Lilly took precious seconds to assess the situation. Violet was dying. There was nothing she could do to save her baby sister. She would be dead in a matter of hours if they didn’t find help for her.

Hundreds of spinners would descend on the town and the small house they were currently in from all the noise they had just made.

Then there was this man…Bor. He had saved her life in town. He didn’t have to. He could have been hurt by those creatures as well, but he still came to her aid.

He also said that he would keep her safe on his ship until the spinners were dead.

But, on the other hand, he also said he was claiming her. What the hell did that mean? And just how safe would they all be on his spaceship?

“Lilly, who is this?” Rose’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. She met Bor’s burning green eyes, looking for anything in his gaze to show her that going with him was a bad idea, but all she saw was concern and honesty.

“You can save my sister?” Lilly asked, her voice so quiet, she wondered if he could hear her.

He nodded. “Yes. She is showing signs of spinner poisoning. It will kill her in hours if she is not treated.”

“What about the rest of them?” Lilly asked, placing a hand on Rose’s arm to ease the rising panic she could feel coming from her sister.

Bor tilted his head to the side, scanning over each of her sisters, then met her eyes again.

“You will all be under my protection. I will keep you safe and cared for until the spinner threat is gone from your world.”

Lilly swallowed, knowing her next question would have her sisters in a panic.

“What about me?”

Bor must have sensed her rising fear because he gave her a gentle smile. “We will speak of this later, little female. The spinners are approaching. We must leave if any of you are to survive.”

Lilly turned to Rose and Tulip, all three of them blocking Violet from view.

“Lilly, this is crazy. Who are these guys?” Tulip asked, her eyes wide and her hands trembling.

Lilly swallowed, giving Bor one last look, then turned back to her family.

“I think they may be the only thing that can save Violet. They’re aliens as well, as I’m sure you can tell. I…don’t see any other way of saving Violet’s life.”

“Oh, God, this is insane,” Rose mumbled. “More aliens. What’s next?”

Lilly turned to face Bor again, thankful that he and his men hadn’t moved.

“Swear to me that you will save Violet.”

His glowing green gaze moved to Violet on the sofa, studying her face for a long second, then met her eyes again.

“I give you my word as a Torian warrior, female. I will do everything I can to make sure the female lives.”

“And promise me that my sisters will be safe. That you or any of your guys will not do anything to hurt them.”

Bor frowned at her, his eyes taking on a dark, dangerous tone. But when he spoke, his words still held the same gentle notes he used before.

“No warrior of mine will ever harm a female, for any reason.”

With no other options left, Lilly ignored the rising fear and dread of what she was about to do and gave Bor a small nod.

“Okay… Save her, Bor. Please.”