The Melier: Home World (Women of Dor Nye Book 2) (19 page)

The screech and howl of pain the monster emitted snapped Gi’Moy from her frozen state and she finally noticed the Trep behind her

“This way!” Lucia beckoned her and turned to run. She was trying to sooth and shush Lenny’s cries while paying attention to the turns she was taking when another Trep stepped in front of her.

Her feet skid to a stop and she nearly fell, putting out her hand against the wall to help steady her body. She began to back away, but the Treps blaster went off as Gi’Moy bolted from behind her and rammed into the intruders side.

She hadn’t even really been sure the queen decided to follow her.

The blue beam sung through the air and missed its original target of Lu’s face, instead searing through the flesh of her right thigh. She clutched Lenny to her chest tighter than she meant to as the misery filtered through every possible neuron in her system.

A strangled scream erupted from her lungs and she sagged against the wall as the pressure to put weight on her right leg was just too much.

Gi’Moy’s knife like claws tore out the Treps throat and she wrestled the blaster from his talons. The queen looked around once and then signalled for Lucia to follow her.

Adrenaline ushered her, but she was much slower than a few minutes prior. Every step she took, an aching twinge wound up her body, jolting her brain and making her sweat with the effort to just keep
moving
.

The white dress held a singed, black streaked tear, as if she’d stood too close to a hot iron bar. Dark red blood stained down the length of it, and she felt the sticky warmth in her slipper coating her heel.

Gi’Moy was a few lengths ahead of her as they reached the garden and Lucia wiped at the sweat beading her forehead that only worsened as they trekked through the heat of the evening. Just as she was about to slip into an alcove to hunker down and wait for everything to calm, the queen was snarling her displeasure.

“Give me the youngling,” she said impatiently, which only made Lucia pause and clutch Lenny closer. “You are too slow with that wound. You will move faster if I hold her.”

“Where are you taking us?”

“To a safe place, but you will not make it if you do not hand over the youngling.”

She breathed heavily, as did the queen while they stared at each other in the darkness. The seconds ticked by and she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to hand Lenny over. How was she to know if the queen wasn’t lying and planned on killing them both? With the Treps attacking, Gi’Moy could blame their deaths on those
things
. No one would think to not believe their queen, and even if they did find it suspicious, there would be no proof.

But she didn’t see any other options left except to
trust
Gi’Moy’s word. If she did stay in the garden so close to the palace, she risked the Treps scenting her. If no one came, she could eventually bleed out, die of infection or thirst in the heat, essentially sentencing Lenny to death right along with her.

Any way she cut it, she and the babe were going to die, but there was a small chance of survival if the queen was telling the truth.

Lucia kissed the fussy babes forehead and placed her in Gi’Moy’s arms.

“Okay,” she whispered, determined to
make
her body cooperate as the queen turned and led the way. She could tell the queen was moving much slower to allow a wounded human to keep up with her, and she was silently thankful.

The night grew darker and they were soon passing through a hidden gate at the back of the gardens and stepping into the nearly black forest. Lucia could barely see anything with her human sight, even once her eyes adjusted to the darker atmosphere.

Many times she tripped on tree roots which only seemed to weaken her despite the adrenaline she still felt wearing out her veins. Sweat dropped from her chin and moistened her body, causing her dirtied dress to cling like a restricting bag about her form.

Noises from the beasts roaming the night creeped around them, and while she was afraid of what was lurking and could no doubt smell her blood, she was more worried about the queen holding her youngling and how badly this entire situation could turn.

More so than it already had, anyway.

“We are almost there,” Gi’Moy whispered into the night.

It already felt like they’d been traveling hours, even though Lucia knew that was impossible. It was most likely her fear soaked mind stretching time and swirling with thoughts of impending death, and worry for her mates, and the rest of the royal family.

I just left them there.

She sucked in a breath, determined to make the stinging of her throat die down.

A hand swiped under her chin, coming away wet as she nearly walked into Gi’Moy who had stopped. She was only a shadow and Lu hadn’t even heard her cease moving.

Lenny was silent, which scared and relieved her. If there was wailing on top of the scent of her blood, it wouldn’t just be the Treps they’d have to worry about, but every nocturnal predator she only imagined roamed the forests.

Slight rustling of leaves pierced the silence and then Gi’Moy was ushering Lucia into the face of a stone wall. Before she could protest, she went
through
the rock and stood in a dank hallway.

She sighed.

Another holographic projection.

She didn’t think she would ever get used to
fake
walls and doors. Gi’Moy once again stepped around her and a
whirring
filtered to her ears, followed by a gust of musty, cool air that hit her as a yellow light outlined a door in the bumpy stone wall. It lifted with a
swish
and they were stepping inside.

The dim yellow lights began to rise in intensity until the cavern was completely lit. It was literally a retrofitted cave. The walls were corrugated and nothing hung on them; only certain holes were drilled for the pocketed lights around. Doors led off the main cavern to other rooms, she assumed and a small, open kitchen sat to the left of the main area.

The door sealed shut behind her and Gi’Moy typed in a code on the number panel beside it, locking them in. That’s when she held out her arms to accept Lenny, but the queen brushed past her instead.

“You will need rest, and that wound cleaned before
ookla
insects scent the blood,” she said as she set Lenny on a large cushion, causing Lu to grimace at the idea of more alien bugs. Gi’Moy disappeared momentarily only to return with a bowl of hot water and supplies. “Sit.”

Her eyes swept from the queen to Lenny and then back. She wanted to tell the queen she was fine, but her body was weakening without the adrenaline keeping her going any longer. Breathing heavily, she dragged herself to a chair and lowered with a wince.

“The wound is not deep, that is good,” the queen said stiffly and pulled up a chair beside Lu. “The blood is dark, which is good too.”

She had no idea what that even meant, but she took the queens word for it. Again her eyes went to Lenny.

“She will be fine,” Gi’Moy said, annoyed while she lifted Lucia’s dress up over the wound and began to clean it.

She wasn’t sure what to say, seeing the queen dip the clean cloth into the warm water. The pain of the liquid hitting the wound made Lucia sag in the chair even more, and bite her lip so she wouldn’t make any noise.

“The wound has been partially cauterized by the energy beam.”

That doesn’t make it hurt any less!

Gi’Moy began stuffing the wound with some sort of foul smelling ointment that made Lucia gag and cover her mouth. The stench of rotting
flesh
twisted her guts and had her stomach muscles shivering with need to clench and expel.

Don’t vomit, don’t vomit.

“It may smell awful,” she said, still in that irritated tone. “But it will heal you fast. Your flesh is weak.”

“I am thankful for your help, but I would appreciate it if you saved the insults until
after
.”

She grunted.

Maybe that’s where the brothers got it.

By the time Gi’Moy wrapped another cloth around her thigh and tied it off, Lucia’s stomach was flip flopping, making her dizzy, and her breathing was even more labored as she tried to ignore the stench.

A noise had both of them stilling, their breathing nearly dying off completely.

Chuff. Chuff, chirp, chirp.

Gi’Moy groaned and went to the door, pressing in the code again and it slid up for a few seconds, allowing the white fluff of MoMo to zoom past her and chuff up at Lucia as he circled her chair, chirping happily and licking the air.

“Oh MoMo,” she sighed, a relief flooding her that the silly pet was alive.

“Traitorous creature,” the queen grumbled, sliding the door shut again while Lucia smiled down at MoMo, letting her hand fall to pet him and show she was okay.

“He probably followed your scent here,” she groused. “Which means others can as well.”

She was still surprised the queen was
this
talkative. It was the most she’d spoken to her directly, and she knew it was probably because there was no one else around.

“Where is ‘here’?”

“It is an outdated safe location. I have not been here since I was a youngling.”

She watched as Gi’Moy began walking around the cavern, touching things and getting reacquainted with the place. The silence continued when MoMo stopped his chuffing and stood guard beside Lenny as she slept on the cushion.

As her mind was known to do, it wandered back to her worry of the princes.

Was it stupid of her to have run away from them? Were they safe? A lump choked her throat at the thought of them being overtaken by the Trepnils.

Why are they even here?

More secrets.

They shouldn’t have been able to get planet side.

No Trepnils had been allowed planet side in over eight years, since the war. She had learned that much during her time there, and in her own research. It was part of the peace treaty between their people.

“How did the Trepnils get onto Melierun?” she whispered.

“We are at war,” the queen said, shaking her head like Lucia was asking a nonsensical question.

Her brows knit together in confusion.

“But the war ended years ago. I don’t understand.”

Gi’Moy regarded her with suspicion, and then shook her head once more. “My sons hide things from their mate.”

Lucia’s stomach dropped as she realized how true that was. How could they not tell her they were at war
again
? She didn’t doubt they could protect her, but she was part of
them
. Partners were supposed to tell each other things, be honest and open.

She tried to go over things in her mind, replay the past few months to maybe recall something she had missed, but nothing was coming forth. If they had hinted at a war, she never noticed. They certainly had never told her because that was something she most definitely would’ve remembered. Lu wasn’t sure what she could’ve done to help, though she would have at least tried.

“Why?”

“They want Val’Ja for killing Ta’Ra’Enn,” she growled. “They most likely have him by now, if he is not dead.”

With the rotting stink of the ointment already rolling her stomach, the thought of the Treps killing Soren gave Lucia the last push her gut needed, and she bent forward and hurled into the bowl with the soiled cloth and water that had been used to clean her wound. Her chest shuddered as she sucked back breath after breath, her hand coming up to wipe the spittle dribbling from her lips.

Pull yourself together girl.

Breathe.

“We have to find out,” Lucia babbled and looked around for something to communicate. “Are there any CIDs here? Or comms of any kind?”

“Settle yourself,” she admonished. “Everything is jammed, and the equipment in this cavern is at least two decades outdated, if it is still working at all.”

She should’ve known. Treps always shielded any communication except their own. Without communication, it was much easier to overtake ships. It was exactly how she’d been unable to comm her crew the last time she was willingly aboard a Trep ship, so of course they would use it when invading a planet.

Imagine the loss of life.

“How long will it take the guard to find us here?”

Gi’Moy made a noncommittal sound. “It would depend on how severe the invasion is. My guards were killed before I got to a safe room in the palace. This cavern is probably the last place they will look whenever a search happens, if one does.”

The finality in the queen’s voice sent a shiver up Lucia’s spine. It was like she was already accepting that her family was dead, and they would be next, eventually. Or die before anyone found them.

Maybe she was being naïve, but Lucia refused to accept that.

“Can I see the tech?”

“I have told you, Trepnils have blocked-”

“I heard you, but I
know
their systems and I might be able to piggyback in, find out what’s going on.”