Betrayed: The Blue Barbarian Series (The Blue Barbarians Book 6) Read online

  It is not my mind just needing to believe that this dreadful mess is not my beautiful mate.

  Cio acknowledges with a hint of pity in his eyes. “That means your mate is still out there. Let’s find her.”

  We turn from the horrific sight and stealthily step back into the smoke-filled hallways. I know we will find her. But if they had time to do this to Shen’robi…

  My gut clenches. I refuse to think further.

  Around a corner, another door opens and a gray alien rushes out, looking at the hallway opposite where we have suddenly crouched. From inside, I hear a feminine whimper before the door starts to close.

  Eretar.

  I glance at Atan, and he nods, his attention on the closing door.

  I race at the alien who runs toward our bend in the hall.

  * * * * *

  Atan:

  As soon as Diont has the ugly creature in his hands, I rush toward the door into the room where Eretar had cried out. She is strapped into a chair, another of the ugly creatures in front of her.

  She is drenched in blood.

  The gray creature has a long, prod-like device in his hand and I can smell the burning stench of flesh.

  A red haze comes over me. This vile creature has been harming our mate. With a roar, I descend upon him so quickly he doesn’t have time to turn around. I reach for the first thing I see—a bulbous, fleshy, gray brain protruding from his head.

  I grab the hunk of raw meat and pull.

  It is warm, pulsating in my hand and a rush of warm, thickened gray liquid rushes over my clenched fist. I fling the blob onto the floor and reach in for more.

  The creature is gurgling as if he cannot speak. His right side of his body twitches, though strangely enough, his left side does not. And then he is still.

  I wipe my hand across the front of him and push him to the floor. I untie Eretar. I’m about to check for injuries when she flings herself into my arms, her legs wrapped around my waist.

  “Shh, little queen,” I soothe. “Let me check you—”

  “I’m fine,” she sobs. “It’s not my blood.”

  Not her blood? It is a purplish wet against the blue of her skin. The purplish hue of our people, not red like the humans. Not grayish black, like the alien.

  “Where is Shen’robi?” she asks.

  Diont answers from behind me. “The others have found her. Or what’s left of her.” He shakes his head to indicate her demise.

  Eretar is shaking in my arms as she nods frantically. “I was hiding in the tunnels below the floor. It was wet and dark, and I didn’t realize what the wetness was until light shined into the tunnels.”

  Diont cups his large hands around Eretar’s face and smacks a kiss onto her tear-stained face. As usual, it stirs my blood to see her so well taken care of. But I tamp down my desire because this foul vessel with the stench of death is not the place.

  “Shh, my mate. We have you now. You are safe.”

  “It’s almost dark,” Drakar says. “Let us get to the other ship before the creatures emerge.”

  Jack leads us back to the ship while Persephone stays behind with Drakar to find any glow rocks besides the one they have on display in the main part of the vessel. The one that Eretar says Shen’robi paid them with. As we head outside, the faint smell of smoke is still in the air from where we bombed the doors. The suns are growing dim, and the night is coming alive with growls as areas of ground soften to allow the night creatures to escape its confines.

  One by one, we hurry into the Stargazers’ ship. As a safety precaution, Jack shines huge lights into the space between us and the other ship to create a passage for Drakar and Persephone when they return. The emerging creatures shriek and hiss, but will stay away from the light once they get free from the dirt.

  It is not long before Drakar and Persephone return. We raise the door to the ship to lock ourselves in.

  “Would you like to shower?” Persephone asks Eretar gently. The blood on her is drying and crusting.

  Poor Eretar is confused and looks at Persephone oddly.

  “Uh, clean up. Bathe, but the water comes from the wall. We can use real water on this vessel because of the power the glow rocks supply us. Not all ships have water.”

  Eretar nods shyly.

  “Come, I’ll show you how to work the mechanics. Atan?” The female has a small grin on her face, and I realize I’m just as dirty as Eretar from carrying her.

  And from pulling the alien’s brain from the root of his head.

  We follow Persephone as she takes us to a wash area and shows us how water is adjusted with a wave of the hand over wall sensors. She tells us to drop our clothing into a box-like machine for automatic cleansing and in the meantime, we can wear disposable garments that tie with a rope in the center. She grins and points out her size for Eretar and Jack’s larger one for me.

  “When you’re done, we’ll be rustling up food and watching all the night creatures from the invisible walls of the ship, so make your way out there. It’s fascinating, so we’ll take some extra time to study the animals.”

  I nod, and she leaves. Very slowly, I start to remove Eretar’s clothing, pleased to find she has the belly chain that Diont and I made for her.

  “It escaped harm.”

  She smiles at me. “It was safe under my skirt. And it lit up the tunnels I hid in. I was very grateful.”

  “In the humans’ tradition of when they choose to mate, the male gives the female a ring for her finger. Diont and I changed it up and thought, instead of a ring, this belly chain would be the symbol of our union. We would show it off during the celebration we were to have to surprise you in our village. The humans are planning this wedding for us for when we return. I cannot wait any longer.”

  The door is pushed open and Diont enters, holding another white garment like the two that hang from the door. He hangs it. His eyes are on Eretar as I remove the chain from our mate’s belly. She is standing bare-breasted with moccasins and a tiny leather skirt.

  There are raw, red burns across her chest.

  Diont hisses. “You’re injured.”

  She looks down at the marks and winces at the intensity of the marred skin. “They don’t hurt. I don’t feel anything.”

  The marks are deep enough to scar. They are raw and a mixture of red and purple.

  “The water may sting,” I warn. “We need to see if the Stargazers can fix you.”

  “No,” she says. “My people will need proof of the damage done to the royal line because of Shen’robi. It is the only way to go back to the way it was with my brother ruling in my stead. This is what we need to allow me the freedom to leave.”

  “I will not have you suffer,” Diont says. “If they start to hurt, we must ask if they can remove the pain but see if you can retain the wounds.”

  “Agreed,” she says softly. Then she drops her skirt.

  My brain short circuits at the beautiful sight of the luscious curves of her hips and thighs. I kneel before the queen of the undercaves, lifting a small foot to remove her moccasin. Her hand caresses my shoulder. I remove the other, barely aware of Diont stripping behind me. Because I can’t help myself, I press a kiss to her thigh before I rise and strip my own clothes while he leads her to the shower.

  I gather all of our clothing and place it in the box for cleansing before following them into the shower. Diont is holding her under the spray and from my side view, I can see his erection pressed against her. The bottom of the floor where the water runs is flowing a purplish hue as it washes the blood away. They don’t use the lather of a leaf here, but I wave my hand over a sensor that Persephone showed us and a squirt of bubbly foam fills my palm. I smooth it over Eretar’s shoulders and back, massaging my mate gently.

  She moans softly, tucking her head into Diont’s shoulder, and he catches my eyes with his. I know what the look says. She is ours.

  It has never been an argument to share a mate. Sometimes it happens. With Diont, I am okay with it
. There are no jealousies between us, not like the jealousies the females of her tribe have shown.

  The way I thought I would be at having to share. I always thought I was a male with selfish ways. Or perhaps they weren’t selfish. Perhaps I was just slightly jealous. Of all the other males for my mate to be attracted to, it was Diont. Diont—one of the greatest warriors of our crew. Strong, brave, cunning, attractive. So attractive that he has never once wanted for pleasure mates. But I have come to realize that she wants me as much as she does him. That means, in her eyes, I am at his level. And that makes me want to be the mate that she needs.

  Chapter Twelve

  By the time the three of us make our way back into the main area of the ship, the others are sitting staring through the clear walls, watching the creatures of the night fight with each other.

  Jack approaches with a tray of odd-looking food. “Bet you worked up an appetite,” he says with a snicker, and I’m sure he knows we couldn’t keep our hands off Eretar.

  “Do you have a salve for burns?” Diont asks.

  Jack’s eyes turn sharply to Eretar. “They burned you?”

  “Yes, my chest. It doesn’t hurt. My mates are worried that it may hurt later. But I can’t have it healed. My people need to know what Shen’robi caused by her betrayal. It is important for the future of my tribe.”

  “Okay. Do you mind if I take a look at it? Or I can get Persephone.”

  We have no idea why he would pull the female Stargazer from the window where she enjoys the gore with the others who are betting as to which night creatures are strongest. Perhaps he thinks Eretar is of the same mindset as our human females who would blush furiously upon nudity. Naturally, the idea doesn’t occur to a Blaedonian. Eretar opens her garment without hesitation, baring her breasts, and Jack winces.

  “I see why there’s no pain. They don’t hurt because those are third-degree burns. The nerves are damaged. The pain will definitely come later, so I don’t really want to leave you like this.”

  Persephone steps behind him and studies Eretar’s chest. “We can speed the healing and bypass the pain she would have had between the blessed numbing period and the healing time. That way she’ll carry the scars but not have to deal with the pain.”

  Jack looks at her with the same admiration I’m sure Diont and I show Eretar. I wonder if he even realizes how he feels about the Stargazer female. “You’re brilliant,” he says softly and Persephone blinks her long, silver eyelashes. They are tipped with black, which looks dramatic. For a moment, Jack looks lost.

  Jack tears his gaze from Persephone when I snicker. “Have a seat, sweetie,” he says to Eretar. “We’ll fix you up, and you can eat and watch the live fights from the windows in no time.”

  Persephone laughs. “Yes. It’s a cruel trick on your night creatures to use a wall with half invisibility. We’re using the glow rock Shen’robi gave to the Drurians to switch the invisibility on and off. It enables our power to flash the invisible wall every so often, giving the creatures a glimpse of us inside. When they approach, the metal wall of the ship stops them. They’re so confused.”

  Her laughter is contagious.

  Drakar brings a chair over and Jack extends the bottom to lift her legs so she can lay back. She relaxes as Persephone brings a strange device to Jack.

  Jack shines lights over the burns on her chest and we watch as the wounds age, becoming less swollen, less reddened, morphing into scabs and then dissolving and puckering into silvery-blue scars.

  Beautiful scars of strength, honor, and determination.

  Jack speaks softly the whole time. “I think the aliens planned this. They thought to damage you with the highest degree burns to give you a reprieve from pain, and then when it hit later, you would be willing to do whatever they wished as they manipulated the burns. It would have been a horrible torture. They probably practiced on Shen’robi, but were too aggressive and killed her instead.”

  Diont’s fists are clenched. “Did you have to kill him so quickly?” he snarls at me.

  “He didn’t have a painless death,” I answer truthfully, clasping him on the shoulder, aware that somehow our roles have switched. The three of us have become comfortable with each other.

  “It was sickening,” Eretar says to Diont, her adorable blue nose scrunched up with disgust. “He lost control of his body functions when Atan ripped his brain out. I watched it course down the leg of his pants.”

  “Is that what that smell was?” Persephone asks with a shudder and glares at me accusingly. “We had to go into each room to look for more of your glow rocks, you know. Drakar pretended to retch, and I had to go into that one.”

  Drakar snickers.

  “What will happen with the ship now?” I ask. While Shen’robi had a dangerous, stupid idea to use a ship to call others, I worry that others who support her in Eretar’s tribe may try it again.

  “We’re doing a bit of population control for your planet,” Jack says. “See how the night creatures are going into the ship? They’re snacking on the dead bodies. As soon as there is a full load of creatures inside, we’ll blow up the ship.”

  “And the other one?” Drakar asks. “The original ship that abducted us?”

  Jack sighs. “You know we had left it here for learning purposes. Plus, you were able to replicate food and items in case of an emergency. But I think with what happened, it’s best to destroy it also. We thought it completely disabled, but we were fooled. One person was able to cause all of this mess.” He waves his hand around.

  “That is another blame that lies directly on my people,” Eretar says. “I am sorry. I will make sure they know the loss of the device is all our fault.”

  “Our mates will be sad,” Drakar says.

  “Not to worry,” Jack says. “On my watch, I’ll check in every now and then. Your mates can duplicate anything they please.”

  “Don’t you have instructions not to interfere with our planet except for emergencies with the discovery of glow rocks?” Drakar asks suspiciously.

  “Yup,” Jack says. “However, I’ll be checking out those future emergencies. Technically, no one said not to land during check-outs.”

  “Looks like the ship is full,” says Persephone, who has been watching through the clear wall. “Some of the creatures are starting to make their way back to the exit.”

  “Let’s get it blown up.”

  Jack heads over to the controls and a bright light blasts the other ship, sending an explosion of flashing lights and body parts flying, though those bounce off the shields of the ship we are on. Outside, the remaining creatures open their mouths as if shrieking, though we can’t hear a thing. They run around, blinded by the light, some with skin that sizzles, others who drop dead from being in such close proximity to the white-hot brightness.

  The night is much calmer as others pick through the remains of their brethren, chomping mindlessly. It is disgusting how they salivate and slurp.

  “Perhaps technology isn’t such a great thing,” Eretar says, pushing away the odd, human pizza that looks a bit like chewed palm of hand. “The night creatures are definitely not meant to be seen.”

  “Yeah, they’re not pretty,” Jack agrees. “How about if we fly back to your village? Seph and I will stay the night and on our way out in the morning, we’ll blow the remaining ship. We can even drop Eretar off wherever she would like.”

  “We’ll go with her,” I say, looking at Diont. He nods. “We don’t want to ever let her out of our sight again.”

  “Why don’t we take a whole party as backup?” Drakar says. “Anyone who wishes to travel back with us afterward is welcome to.” He looks directly at Eretar.

  I understand what he says. It is time for her to decide whether or not to disband her people. After all, more than one of them betrayed her.

  It was just one who paid the ultimate price.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Eretar:

  It is dark when the space ship flies within the gates o
f the surface dwellers’ village. It flashes three times, and a few people who stand in the yard flee to make room. Whenever I spent time in the village in the past, I remember that the night wasn’t quite as populated as tonight. It appears everyone is about, waiting for word about their loved ones sent on my rescue party.

  My tribe has done much to atone for. I cannot believe that we are the Keepers of the Glow and one of our own risked our entire planet with her petty selfishness.

  We disembark the ship, and the shrieks and growls of the night creatures beyond the gates fade into the background as the people of the village hug us and give us well wishes. As I glance around at everyone’s happy faces, I realize I have missed this place tremendously.

  A roaring blaze is in the pit, and the drummers are out making music while people dance. I wonder if Atan would be joining in if it were not a night when he was called away.

  “Jack. Persephone. You found Eretar! Welcome back, sweetie,” Drakar’s mate, Niki, says. She gives me a hug.

  “It was a joint effort,” Jack says. “I can’t believe you found another species on the planet.”

  “Eretar’s tribe are water people. They live in underground caverns.”

  “Don’t the night creatures live in underground caverns?” Persephone asks.

  We move as we talk, closer to where the others are dancing. I’m helped to a seat by Atan and Diont. Reverent mother makes her way over to Niki, handing her the baby. Niki coos at her son and then answers.

  “Yes. From what Atan and and Diont have mentioned, the glow rocks are stronger there. Perhaps it is the source of where they grow? So they don’t have night creatures there.”

  “Fascinating,” Persephone says. “I shall have to add it to the log books to record the history of your planet.” She looks over to me.

  “Eretar, maybe you could tell me about some of your customs and traditions? We’ll see if we can piece together where the two lines of Blaedonian branched off.”