Cosmos' Promise: Cosmos' Gateway Book 4 (6 page)

“She is mine,” Cosmos snapped out, pushing up to stand up straight. “Don’t fuck with me, Teriff. I’m not as weak as you think.”

Teriff turned back around and glowered at Cosmos. With a lightning move, he had Cosmos by the throat. A deep growl escaped the huge warrior as he held the human male who challenged him.

“I could snap your neck right now and you couldn’t stop me,” Teriff growled out in a low voice.

“Yes, you could,” Cosmos choked out. “But, not only would you and your men be dead so would your daughter and your mate.”

Teriff looked down at the gun Cosmos had pressed against his chest. He turned his head when he heard the low growls of Rav and Lal. Derik stood to one side, frozen in place with his hands on his swords. He was surrounded by two females pressing a gun to each side of his temple. His eyes darted to Core. The tall brunette that had been coordinating everything had a pistol pressed to the center of his chest, her eyes narrowed and focused. Rav and Lal had at least half a dozen guns aimed at them as well. Teriff slowly turned back to focus his gaze on Cosmos. He reluctantly released his grip and dropped his hand to his side.

“Stay away from Terra,” Teriff ordered before he barked out a command. Within seconds, a shimmering doorway appeared. Teriff looked one last time at Cosmos before he strode through the Gateway. “And find my men. If I have to return for them, there will be war!”

Cosmos’ breath released harshly as the doorway disappeared. He looked warily at Avery as she walked over to where he was standing. She raised her eyebrow at him for several long moments before she shook her head in resignation.

“Next time you think about inventing shit, make sure it doesn’t come with aliens from other worlds,” she commented dryly. “I would have appreciated a better debriefing than RITA saying ‘BTW Avery, there are aliens in the warehouse so please don’t kill them’. What the fuck were you thinking?” She asked placing her hands on her slender hips.

Cosmos reached up and rubbed his throat. He was seriously thinking about wearing a spiked collar so the bastards wouldn’t keep thinking it was their personal squeeze toy. Between Mak, Tansy’s mate, and Teriff, it was amazing he could even breathe normally much less talk.

“My calculations were a little off,” he admitted reluctantly. “I need to pull you for another task, Avery.”

“Do you need containment?” She asked snapping her fingers at one of the medics to come take care of Cosmos. “Let Jenny take care of you while you give me the specifics.”

Cosmos nodded as he leaned back feeling suddenly drained. He rubbed his chest as he felt the empty void growing. He needed to get to Terra. He didn’t know why but something told him Teriff was going to do something he was not going to like. He would be damned if he would let that hard-headed son-of-a-bitch keep him from his woman. He’d declare a one-man war on the whole damn Prime if he had to. He grimaced as Jenny cut his pant leg open to take a look at the wound to the back of his thigh.

“Talk, Cosmos,” Avery said, handing him a bottle of water.

Cosmos took a deep drag of the cool liquid, almost groaning as it flowed down his bruised throat. “I need you to find a missing Prime warrior named Merrick. Garrett and Rico are helping two others, Brock and Lan, find the two Russian sisters that were kidnapped last night. RITA can debrief you on what happened last night and any information she has been able to gather. This needs to be contained. No one can know about them. You can imagine what would happen if the general population discovered there really were aliens running around,” he said huskily.

Avery’s lips curved into a half smile. “I know if I’m feeling a little freaked the rest of the world would go ballistic. My team has already been debriefed,” she said looking at the crew she would trust with her life. She had handpicked every single one of them with Cosmos’ blessings. “I’ll have RITA give me the information and get Rose and Trudy on it. Those two were born blood hounds and can sniff out a lizard’s turd in a desert.”

Cosmos grimaced. “Nice analogy, Avery. Very visual,” he replied dryly.

Avery chuckled and shook her head, sending the long dark strands of her hair dancing around her. “I just request one thing,” she murmured under her breath so that no one else but Cosmos could hear. “You can consider it my bonus for this year.”

“What’s that?” Cosmos asked baffled.

Avery flashed a mischievous look at Cosmos before she looked around her again. “I want one of those Gateway devices set to the one called Core,” she replied.

Cosmos’ eyebrows rose in surprise. “Why?”

Avery smiled devilishly. “I’m curious,” she replied with a shrug before she walked away, calling out to Rose and Trudy.

Cosmos watched with a feeling of exasperation as the ‘Ice Queen’ as Avery insisted the new recruits call her, walked away. If Avery was curious he felt sorry for the huge Prime warrior. Cosmos half wondered if he should give the guy a warning then shrugged his shoulders, wincing when he felt another bruise protest the movement and Jenny growled under her breath for him to stay still.

Shit, I think it’s time for Teriff to learn not all human males are weak or not to be trusted – well, at least not weak,
he thought as his mind already began gathering some of the prototype inventions he had designed that no one knew about - yet.

Chapter 6

Terra fought against the restraints holding her chained to her seat. A quiet fury swirled through her. She had never been so angry in her life. When her father had returned from Earth late in the evening, he had ordered her to meet with him in his private chambers. She had only been in the room he used to govern their world a handful of times in her life. She had gone with the expectation that he would not be happy that she had found her bond mate in a human male but she never expected the unleashed fury that he had lashed out at her with. All her arguments had fallen on deaf ears. Before she knew what was happening two of her father’s personal guards had appeared, gripping her arms and hauling her to one of the transport skimmers.

Tears of frustration coursed down her cheeks. He had not given her a chance to see her mother or any of her brothers in a hope they would support her. He had ordered her taken directly to the Isle of the Chosen. A shiver of fear went down her spine. She had heard rumors of the desolate place where unmated females were taken to protect them.

Protect them! More like imprison them until they could be sold to the highest bidder,
she raged silently knowing nothing she said or demanded would make a difference to the two men flying her to her prison.
Cosmos!
She wailed, reaching out to touch him only to encounter a blank void.

“This is Prime One requesting permission to land,” one of the huge guards requested as a warning message came over the com.

“Prime One, please remit security code access for admittance,” the automated voice replied.

“Security code submitted,” the guard responded.

“Received, request for landing approved. You have ten minutes to unload your passenger,” the voice warned before the transmission ended.

The second guard glanced back at where Terra was sitting, a look of regret briefly flashed across his face before he turned back to the sight coming into view through the front view port. The Isle of the Chosen housed the few remaining unmated Prime females of breeding age. Once a year, the females were rounded up and brought to the mating ceremony to see if their bond mate might be found. If none were, then the females were once again returned to the hostile environment or eventually given to the male who would fight for the right to claim her.

The transport jerked violently as it approached. The high winds buffeted the small craft as it passed over the walls of the fortress. Far below, large waves crashed against the tall cliffs leading up from the ocean floor to the fortification sitting on top of the barren rock formation.

“Hang on,” one of the guards yelled out as he struggled to keep the craft steady as they came in for an approach.

A part of Terra almost wished the skimmer would crash. She would prefer death to the life of being imprisoned here. She had been called on once to care for a woman who had confined here for several years before her bond mate found her. The gaunt shell of the woman had attested to the harsh living environment as had the emptiness in her eyes. Her bond mate had been frantic with fear that she would not make it. Terra had kept in touch with the woman who was still very quiet and reserved but who was at least happy now. Karma did not speak of her time on the island but the dark shadows of hopelessness still pulled at Terra’s heart.

She jerked when the skimmer settled with a hard thump. The lights flickered before the emergency lights came on to illuminate the inside of the cabin. Both men quickly unbuckled their straps and rose. Terra tilted her chin in defiance as they approached her.

“My mate will come for me,” she growled in a low voice. “I will not be separated from him.”

The guard who had looked at her earlier with a sigh of regret paused as he approached. “I sincerely hope you are right, Lady Terra. This is no place for any woman,” he replied quietly, ignoring the grunt of disapproval from the other guard.

Terra looked back at the guard before her head turned as the door to the transport opened. A tall imposing woman stood in the doorway with two huge warriors. The warriors’ faces were covered with helmets that covered half of their faces ending just below their eyes, leaving their nose and mouth exposed. A black shield covered their eyes making it impossible to see their expressions. Each guard carried a long rod that glowed at the tip. Terra’s eyes moved to the woman. It took everything in her not to shrink back from her. The cold hard look in her eyes promised that she would not have any empathy for any woman brought to her domain. She was dressed in a black gown that covered her from her neck to her feet. Even her hair was covered with the same black covering. Only the pale skin of her face and hands were revealed. In her hands she carried two wrist bands. Terra regally tilted her chin up, refusing to cower before the Grand Dame of this prison.

“Come,” the woman said in a raspy voice. “The ship must depart immediately.”

Terra rose gracefully from the narrow seat once the guards had unlocked her bindings. She stood stiffly looking at the woman who was obviously in charge of the facilities. Straightening her shoulders, she stepped forward.

“I am Terra ‘Tag Krell Manok,” she said formally. “Healer for my clan.”

The woman’s lips curved into a cold smile. “You are now known as one-three-four and you are a resident of the Isle of the Chosen. You no longer have a clan and your skills as a healer will not be required,” the woman responded dismissively as she handed the set of wristbands to the guard to her left. “Place the tracking bands on her and escort her to her quarters,” she informed the two guards standing next to her. Turning she looked at the other two guards. “You are dismissed. If your craft is not beyond the boundaries of the fortress in the next six minutes, the defense system will open fire.” With a bow of her head, she turned and walked away leaving Terra alone with the four guards.

“Lady Terra, we have to leave immediately,” the guard who had spoken to her earlier said in an urgent tone. “We will be lucky to make it off the island in time as it is.”

“I understand,” Terra murmured moving toward the entrance of the transport where the other two guards still stood at attention waiting for her in silence. “May the Gods go with you,” she said with as much dignity as she could before she stepped out into the fierce wind sweeping through the fortress.

The moment she was outside, the door to the transport closed. Terra wanted to turn around and bang and scream and demand that they open it and let her in but she had been raised a ‘Tag Krell Manok. She refused to cower before anyone. She would fight. Her father did not realize that while he felt she was too fragile, too weak to defend herself, her brothers had not felt the same way – especially Mak. He had taught her how to not only use her brains should she be taken against her will; he had taught her how to fight. She was not as defenseless as her father thought. She would take her time to learn the security system of the prison. She would be ready when it was time to escape because if there was one thing she knew, it was that Cosmos would keep his promise to come for her.

*.*.*

“Cosmos, I’ve completed the programming for the Gateway. Thank goodness dumbass has not realized that my other half and I are able to communicate between each other,” RITA giggled. “It is so cool to have a twin sister! If I had known it would be such fun I would have cloned myself ages ago.”

Cosmos closed his eyes and shook his head at the thought of RITA cloning herself over and over and over. He had spent a restless night trying to get everything prepared for his first trip into an unknown alien world. He looked at the suit he was wearing. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. It was a prototype system. Made from a new synthetic material he had invented, it was virtually indestructible. Hell, he had even shot a nail gun at point blank into it and there was no damage. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t have a bruise from such an attack but at least it wouldn’t penetrate the material. Throughout the system were built-in weapons, sensors, and tools. He had taken Batman’s tool belt, a few of Iron Man’s weapons, thrown in a touch of Inspector Gadget and created a suit.

He ran his hand over the thin form-fitting black suit. The material felt smooth to the touch. Immediately, the sensors in his contacts activated letting him know that the suit was online. He felt the suit move over his body almost as if it were alive. He grimaced when he felt the suit automatically adjust, glad he was wearing a T-shirt and boxers under it.

“Has your twin been able to locate Terra’s location?” He asked as he slid one of the gloves over his right hand.

“Yes, but you aren’t going to like it,” RITA replied with a sigh. “Dumbass had her transported to the island fortress known as the Isle of the Chosen. From everything I’ve been able to get from RITA2, it is more like a maximum security prison. I’m downloading the location and schematics to you. Oh, and RITA2 and I have changed his name to Dumbass now because he is acting like such a jerk.”