Initiation (Xylon Warriors 1) (6 page)

“Now there’s a visual,” Erik replied. “I’d pay big to see that wicked tongue of yours between her legs, licking her out.”

Alexa’s stomach clenched. No! He wasn’t serious. Was he? Her gaze met Braden’s, and their eyes locked. He seemed to be studying her reaction to the sexually charged words. Her face heated, and she tore her gaze away.

“Shut up, Erik,” Kam replied from across the room.

Leila’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Always the bastard, aren’t you? You have no compassion for initiates.”

His eyes darkened, and he stormed over to her. Alexa sank back in the chair. He looked ready to kill. Amazingly, the woman stood her ground. Alexa wondered where she got the courage to go toe to toe with a man like him. He towered over her and could probably crush her with one hand.

“Careful, Leila. I don’t take shit from Class 1 Warriors, so I’m certainly not going to take any from a Class 3.” A grin crossed his face. “I bet you’d love to do her.”

“Get out of my face, Erik. My opinion stands, whether you want to hear it or not.”

His smile faded. “Fine. I may not have much compassion, in your opinion, but I have enough
passion
to get even a frigid bitch like you hot and bothered and begging for some good, hard cock.”

Alexa gasped.

“Hey!” Braden shouted. “We don’t have time for this shit. Leila, I need you to explain the Initiation to Alexa. I think she’ll be less intimidated if you’re the one to fill her in on the details and importance of the ceremony. But I need to talk to you in private first.”

Alexa stayed huddled in the chair while Braden and Leila went into the other room. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he expected her to agree to that Initiation thing. He was in for a surprise.

She warily watched Kam and Erik pace the floor. Erik frightened her. He was so intense and aggressive. Kam somehow made her feel safe with his caring eyes and calm voice. And Braden…well, his dark and mysterious aura got
her
hot and bothered, to use Erik’s words, that was for sure.

Once she realized he wasn’t going to hurt her, the initial attraction she felt had grown. And somehow, she did believe he wouldn’t harm her. Regardless of what he seemed to think she would agree to.

“Why do you treat Leila like that?” Kam asked. “She’s a good woman.”

“Yeah? So why don’t you try for a hump or suck?”

Kam glanced at Alexa with an almost embarrassed look in his eyes, then turned his attention back to Erik. “Because you want her, and for more than that.”

“Like hell!”

Kam cocked an eyebrow and raised a small monitor. This one looked different from the one he had earlier.

Erik pointed a finger. “Don’t try to analyze me with that sensor piece of crap.”

“What is that?” Alexa interrupted. She hoped her question would diffuse the argument between the two men. Besides, the bluish panel caught her interest.

Kam walked over and crouched in front of her. “It monitors and analyzes emotions. You don’t need to be afraid of us, Alexa. I know your fear has subsided a great deal. But you
can
completely trust us. We’re the good guys. Really.”

“And the three who attacked me outside?”

“Not such good guys.”

Erik snorted. “There’s an understatement.”

“Braden said you were specially trained. Trained for what?”

That gentle smile of Kam’s again crossed his face. “Let’s just say that we’re very capable of fighting our enemies.”

“Those creatures…what are they?”

Erik muttered something under his breath and turned away.

“They’re called Egesa. They’re from Marid, one of the five moons of Xylon.”

A planet with five moons. Like in her dreams. Could these people really be aliens?

“It’s a slaving colony basically. But don’t worry about them, Alexa,” Kam answered, cutting his eyes momentarily toward Erik, who was still mumbling to himself. “You have enough to deal with, right now. You’ll learn everything, in due time.”

Chapter Four

Alexa watched Braden, Kam, and Erik file into the hallway, frowns on their faces, like a line of little boys banished from their playroom. If she wanted to try an escape, now would be the time. She glanced toward the window, gauging the chances of success. She’d have to kick out the sunscreen. That would take time, not to mention cause a lot of noise. She wasn’t even sure she could do it. She’d have to incapacitate Leila first. The woman was smaller than she was, but Alexa didn’t know what kind of training the woman might have. She could be a killing machine, for all Alexa knew. They did call themselves Warriors, after all.

Leila sat down on the bed. With an understanding smile on her face, she caressed the yellow and green pattern of the comforter, giving Alexa a moment to assimilate everything that was happening. “I guess you’re a bit out of sorts with all this,” she said, repositioning herself on the bed, so she sat between Alexa and the window.

Alexa nodded in response and inwardly sighed. So much for escape. Leila was no fool. The up side was that she felt more at ease now that all the testosterone was gone. She needed a break from the men, and she needed answers. Talking to Leila would be easier. Or at least less intimidating. “I came here to settle my mother’s estate as soon as I was able. She died a couple of weeks ago, from a heart attack. Mostly, I’ve lived abroad with other relatives all my life. Shuffled from place to place, with no explanation why.”

“It must have been a hard life for you.”

“I didn’t know anything different. That’s just the way it was. Supposedly, her missing journal contains the answers. I received a call from a woman who said she had it, and I was supposed to meet her in the cemetery. That’s where I came across Braden and a lot of stuff I don’t understand.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. And for the information obviously kept from you all your life. You’re having the dreams?”

The question caught Alexa by surprise. “How did you know?”

Her nightmares were always of some strange red and green planet with five multi-colored moons. She’d had the images in her head for as long as she could remember. In the dreams, she was always running from some danger she couldn’t see. And searching for someone she couldn’t name. She had to do something, accomplish something vital. Carry something to, or for, those she loved. The dreams had gotten so powerful, so repetitive, that she often felt her sanity slipping away from her. Each time she awoke from one, it took her longer and longer to recover.

“The visions will ease off after the Initiation, then eventually stop altogether.”

“What’s their significance?”

“It identifies you as an off-worlder, half-breed Xylon—still unclaimed. Your father was one of us, Alexa. Our men used to be able to mate with any humanoid-type female from another world and produce children, but that stopped approximately twenty years ago, for reasons we don’t understand. We no longer have that many females on Xylon. And many are sterile. So, we’re now seeking females born from Xylon genes, particularly Warriors, left on other planets, in the hope of re-populating our own world with children who are strong and can help us fight the Egesa, who are at this point threatening our very existence. Not to mention causing problems on other worlds, including Earth. Your dreams simply prove you have the correct DNA to carry a Xylon child in your womb. I’ll run a test to be sure, but I already know what the result will be.”

Alexa sat there, staring at the woman. This was unbelievable. Even after everything that she’d already seen and heard.

Leila pulled a small book from inside her jacket. The gold lettering on the front stood out from the brown, suede cover.

“That’s my mother’s journal!”

“Yes. Braden retrieved it from the house before you arrived.”

“Braden. He was the one who lured me to the cemetery with that note, not the woman?” Anger filled her. He’d manipulated her, and she’d fallen right into the trap. “Why? To witness that woman being fucked, or initiated, or whatever you want to call it? Did he think it would turn me on so much that I’d beg him and those other two out there to do the same thing to me? Who was the woman who called me on the phone? You?” Unable to control her tone, her voice rose with each question.

“No, Alexa. It wasn’t me. Braden took the journal for safekeeping. He found it when we came here looking for you. He didn’t send the note, though he did know about it. We suspect Daegal ordered it sent to lure you out where the Egesa could get to you easier.”

“Oh.” The common sense of Leila’s words sank in. She kept hoping they’d trip up somehow, contradict something already said, so she’d know for sure they were lying. But no such luck. “Daegal. I’ve heard that name before. He’s associated with those others who attacked me.”

“Yes. The Egesa serve him.”

Egesa? She kept hearing that term too, but remembered what Kam had told her. “The bad guys. Is Daegal one of them? I mean, you referred to him as separate from the creatures, it seems like.”

“We’re not sure what or who Daegal is, other than their leader. No one who has seen his face has ever betrayed him and lived long enough to tell the secret.”

Alexa bit her bottom lip. “What do they want with me?”

“They were in the graveyard, hoping to capture you. Make you sterile, so you would be incapable of producing Warrior children. That’s the Egesa Initiation. The Warrior Initiation is almost identical, except instead of making a person sterile, it prepares their body for breeding.”

Alexa shuddered at the thought of going through what the woman on the slab had experienced at the hands of those vile creatures. They weren’t sexy and sinfully hot, like—

She gave herself a mental shake.
Focus
. She had to stay focused. “Braden killed one of them.” She rubbed her arms, suddenly chilled.

“Two, actually. One came back after you passed out. They thought that other woman was you. Until they spotted you in the shadows, I guess. They must have figured out then they had the wrong target and followed you home. I don’t really know the complete details.”

“Why go through the trouble of luring me to the cemetery? They could have just come to the house to begin with.”

“They probably wanted to get you someplace where you couldn’t get any help from neighbors or other passersby, someplace even the authorities don’t normally patrol. After they missed you at the cemetery, they must have gotten desperate though. Time is running short.”

“Short? Braden said something like not having time, too. I didn’t realize he meant it literally.”

“We can’t stay on Earth much longer. If we do, we’ll miss the entry point back to our star system.”

“Which would mean what?”

“We’d be stuck here for several more months, and we don’t have the necessary fuel to orbit our ship for that long. We’ve been in space too long and have regenerated our power to its limit. I’m assuming the same is true for the Marid ship, since they’ve probably been shadowing us the entire time.”

“Okay.” Alexa’s head was spinning with more questions, and from trying to understand what answers she’d already received. She had the sudden urge to search every cubbyhole just to see if she was being set-up and taped for some new, weird television show. She could see it now,
Stupid Woman Convinced She’s Part Alien
, Wednesday nights at 8:00pm. “So, I’m supposed to be some sort of breeder? Half-human and half-Xylon. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm hmm.” If it weren’t for everything that she’d already seen with her own two eyes… “How did you find me?”

“Braden found your mother through some careful research. That wasn’t too hard. A few computer and database cross-references, along with the info we already had, produced a hit. But he couldn’t find you, not your exact location. Lots of information, but no current address.”

“I’m a photographer. I move around.”

“Once you entered the city, he was able to track you through your implanted computer chip. It’s short-range only, so it couldn’t pick you up prior to your entering California.”

“Chip? I have a chip. Where?” Alexa blew out a heavy breath of air. She felt like jumping into her rented car and driving until she was as far from Black Marble as she could get.

“It’s in your brain, very small, very hard to detect, unless you’ve had an MRI. Implanted at birth. At least your father
did
see to that.”

She sat stunned. Now every time she had a headache she’d wonder if it were normal or if her head was about to explode due to some malfunction. She also didn’t like the idea that she was basically a tagged animal, even if the thing only had short-range capability. “Where is my father?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“We don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Disappointment, then suspicion, flowed through her. “If he’s really one of you, how can you not know?”

“He disappeared shortly after leaving Earth and returning to Xylon. The Council, our ruling Board, has sealed the information on his whereabouts. I don’t know why.”

“How come I’ve never heard about you people before? Why wouldn’t my parents have told me? And can I have the journal, please.” If it held the answers she so desperately needed, the book would settle everything, once and for all.

Leila gave her an indulgent smile. “I don’t know what’s in the journal. I’ll have to clear it with Braden before I can give it to you. He did want you to know it was safe though.” She slid the journal back into her jacket. “As far as your parents telling you… would you really expect them to? They obviously chose the human life for you to live, as opposed to bringing you to Xylon. And they moved you around enough to make you difficult to find, if we came looking. But we need you, Alexa. And all the women like you that we can locate. Not only to ensure the safety of Xylon, but also to make sure the Egesa can’t spread their evil to other planets and systems. No more than they already have anyhow. Earth
is
one of those planets, Alexa. You should know that.”

Earth might be in danger? Her stomach clenched at the possibility. “I’m not agreeing to anything,” to say the least, “but if I did agree, then that would mean I’d have to have sex with Braden, Kam, and Erik in order to be initiated, so I can breed and have these Warrior children. Right? Do I have a grasp on the situation here?” How convenient for the men that the Initiation was sexual in nature. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which gender had come up with the specifics for this rite.