Raff (The Vorge Crew Book 4) Read online

  Prix backed up and lifted his hand, making a gesture with it. Two of Prix’s guards rushed forward to attack.

  Raff sucked in a deep breath and threw his blades, hitting the approaching males in the throats. They staggered back, clutching at the blades buried deep, before falling over. He went for his daggers lining his belt next, twisted his upper body, hoping the human followed directions by holding still and not moving. She’d trip him, if he didn’t outright step on her.

  He threw his daggers in rapid cessation, taking out the four Raxis by targeting their throats too. It was the fastest way to kill. They fell back, blood spraying. He whirled around, bent, and grabbed the small guns hidden inside his boots.

  Screams of panic erupted from the marketplace. Shoppers and merchants ran to leave the area or to seek a place to hide. It helped him know who to kill. His enemies ran at him instead of away. He opened fire on the last two approaching guards as he straightened before they could slam into him.

  Prix tried to flee and dove toward a nearby table. His body cleared it and he fell out of sight. The jackass knocked it over to give himself cover. Raff spun, avoiding stepping on the huddled human at his feet, and shot more advancing guards. He saw Prix’s head lift out of the corner of his eye and dropped one of his weapons, reached for the back of his neck, and yanked out the longer blade he kept sheathed down his spine. His finger and thumb pressed the two points on the handle to activate it. He threw it at table and watched it stick deep into the wood.

  He twisted, crouched, and put his body over the human. A loud blast deafened him as the bomb inside the handle exploded. He waited to see the destruction until after the pieces of the table flew through the air and landed around him. It stopped and he turned his head.

  Prix was down, not moving, and covered in blood from where the blast had thrown him. It was tempting to go make certain he was dead but there wasn’t any time to spare. More guards would be scrambling to their location after hearing a bomb go off.

  Raff rose, grabbing hold of the human’s arm as he did, to pull her up to her feet. “Grab the back of my belt and don’t let go. We need to move. Stick close. We’re not out of danger yet. I have a shuttle waiting nearby. We need to get the hell off the surface fast.”

  She didn’t speak but grabbed hold of the back of his belt. He took off, mourning the loss of so many weapons he didn’t have the time to retrieve, making her run to keep up with his longer strides. Weapons were replaceable though. Life wasn’t.

  His gaze darted around, looking for any signs of another attack. Most of the aliens they passed avoided his gaze or stayed on the ground where they’d dropped. He made it out of the market ship and crossed the desert strip to where shuttles were parked.

  He was glad to see no one had messed with his ship. The force field protecting it glowed blue to show it hadn’t been tampered with. The tiny shuttle wasn’t much but he owned it.

  Chapter Two

  Raff made it to the shuttle and punched in the code on his wrist bracelet to drop the shield. The door slid open when it sensed him and he reached back, grabbed the human by her wrist, and yanked her roughly in front of him to put her back to his front.

  “Don’t fight me if you want to live. They are going to come after us hard and fast. Do everything I say.”

  She looked up at him, fear showing in her eyes. He hated the sight but didn’t have time to explain more. He wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted her higher, and threw them both inside the cramped cockpit of his shuttle. His ass hit the only seat and her rounded bottom slammed onto his lap. He released her, reached up to hit the engine switch with one hand, closing the door with the other.

  The loud sound of the engines coming on line was welcome and he grabbed the human, grateful she wasn’t big, and adjusted her on his lap to give him access to the controls in front of him. Her body felt stiff, her breathing ragged from their running, but she wasn’t fighting him or screaming. He was grateful for that. They needed to lift off fast.

  Something hit the side of the shuttle with a loud ping. He flinched, grabbed the thruster control, and shoved his knee against the dash to brace since he didn’t have time to buckle in.

  “Hold on!”

  He pushed the thrusters full blast and the shuttle lifted straight up, violently. That caused the woman to make a whimpering sound. The force of the maneuver at least kept them in place as they rapidly shot into the sky. He needed to get out of weapons firing range before they took out his engines or thrusters. He watched their elevation and finally eased off when they reached eight thousand feet. An alarm chirped at him and he snarled, his gaze going to the screen to his left to glance at the readout.

  “Fuck! We have a breach in the hull.”

  The human on his lap looked at him, seeming paler than she had before. The blood on her lip looked stark in comparison. He hated to see terror in her eyes and figured letting her know what was going on might calm her a bit and make the situation less frightening. Talking much wasn’t his thing but he’d try more for her sake.

  “We can’t break atmosphere with a breach. We’re stuck on the planet for now. I won’t let them get you.”

  He had to adjust her body to reach the comms. A display of light out of the corner of his eye and another alarm went off. It signaled that they’d been targeted for missile fire. He turned his head, staring down out the side window, and saw what appeared to be a flare shooting toward them.

  Prix must have upgraded the city’s defenses. He reached around the human and grabbed the controls, flying them the hell out of there. The missile tried to follow but it disengaged after a few miles and the attack alarm silenced. The hull breach one still beeped. They couldn’t leave the planet but it didn’t mean they had to hover above the city to remain targets.

  Once he flew them three hundred miles away he had the craft hover in place again, Raff reached for the comms. They weren’t damaged at least. He opened a channel to The Vorge, hoping they were still in range. He’d told them he’d be on the planet for a week, not less than a full day. His crewmates had dropped him off early in the morning to go visit a station located on the other side of the solar system.

  “Dovis?” He waited.

  The male responded within seconds. “What’s wrong? I didn’t expect to hear from you for a week.”

  “I had problems.”

  “Are you injured? If not, we’ll pick you up when planned. We’ve already set a course and are fourteen hours out.”

  Raff grit his teeth. He knew the male purposely tried to piss him off just to see how many words he’d get out of him. Talking wasn’t Raff’s thing. “I rescued a human from slavers and had to fight my way out of Daba City. They got a lucky shot and pierced the shuttle hull. Bounty hunters will be sent after us if Prix survived. Come get us and send down the larger shuttle.”

  “Shit. Prix is that bastard who tried to kill us when we first came looking for you, isn’t he? The prick that didn’t want to let you go because you were his main muscle? Are either of you hurt? I’m changing course.”

  Raff glanced down at the human on his lap. “That’s Prix. Female, are you hurt more than the damage to your face?”

  “They shot me with something.”

  He sniffed. “I’m only smelling a faint scent of blood but your lip is busted. Where is the other wound?”

  She lifted her arm and shoved up the robe covering her skin.

  He saw a tiny bloody scratch on the meaty part just under inner elbow. “The shot barely nicked you. You got lucky. They missed.”

  Her lips turned down at the edges of her mouth and then she licked them with a little pink tongue. “A shot as in a syringe. They injected me with a drug. That’s why I started fighting so hard. They said it would make me livelier, whatever the hell that means. I feel lightheaded and weird.”

  Raff tried to think of what they’d inject the female with. He reached up and gently gripped her jaw, forcing her to turn her head more his way. She tensed but didn’t strugg
le as he leaned in closer, staring deeply into her light blue eyes. They were a pretty color but alien. He couldn’t tell if anything was wrong with her by studying them.

  “Weird how? Can you be more specific? Do you feel sick, as if you will lose the contents of your stomach? Do you feel as if you’re going to pass out?”

  She blinked a few times. “Drunk. Really drunk and thinking is hard to do.”

  “We’re coming,” Dovis spoke, reminding him comms were still open. “I’m increasing speed to make it back there in twelve hours. I take it you got away for the moment?”

  “We did,” Raff confirmed. He was concerned about the female, trying to guess what Prix would have ordered the woman drugged with. He’d have to get the med kit to run a scan on her.

  His shuttle blared another alarm and he cursed when he realized why. Two shuttles were inbound. He adjusted the female on his lap again and grabbed the controls. “I’m going to have to hide us, Dovis. Remember the cave where I picked up my belongings from? That’s where I’ll be.”

  “As if we could forget. We didn’t have a shuttle small enough to land there and had to climb down with rope.”

  Raff remembered Dovis bitching at the time and thinking the male had been afraid of heights. “Hurry. We’re out.” He cut comms. “Hang on, female. We need to lose our pursuers.”

  He dove the shuttle toward the ground to take them off radar. The human gasped and grabbed hold of the sides of the seat. He didn’t have time to belt them in and doubted the straps would fit over the bulk of two bodies anyway. He leveled his shuttle out about twenty feet from the ground. It left him dodging large rocks and the occasional tree. He found one of the deep gorges and drove down into it.

  “We’re going to die,” the female softly whimpered.

  He inhaled, smelling the sweet scent of her fear. “We won’t. I know this planet well. I have a hidden cave that no one else knows about.” He hoped it hadn’t been found, at least. “My crew is coming for us soon. I’m not going to allow you to be recaptured.”

  It was cute how the female turned her head and pressed her cheek against his chest. He dared to glance away from where he piloted for a split second. She’d closed her eyes to avoid seeing how close they were to the canyon walls and outcroppings they flew under. His shuttle was small and cramped but he’d bought it for its ease with maneuverability. It also would fit inside the cave.

  Fifteen minutes later he slowed his speed and narrowed his eyes, searching for the outcropping that marked his hidden lair. He spotted it and dove down, nearly hitting the canyon floor. They didn’t but another alarm blared to let him know of an impending impact. He slowed his speed to a hover, turned the shuttle, and activated the camera in the back to carefully reverse thrusters. He had to fly upward a bit to reach the cave entrance forty feet from the ground. He eased them down on the rock surface and shut off the engines.

  The female still had her eyes closed. He’d have thought she might have passed out but her hands gripped the edge of the seat tightly still.

  “We’re here.”

  “I feel sick. It was all that weaving back and forth you did.”

  He activated the door to open and cool, fresh air blew inside. “Out,” he ordered, not wanting her to throw up all over him and his control console. He gripped her hips with both hands and lifted her off his lap to help her up. She didn’t weigh much.

  She managed to get to her feet and stumbled outside. He wanted to follow but he took the time to search for the hull breach. It was located on the left side in the storage compartment. It was just a small hole but that was enough to kill them if they attempted to reach The Vorge in space. He climbed out, grabbed the med kit from behind the seat, and then exited the shuttle.

  He also removed the imager shield and walked to the cave entrance, programed it, and let it go. The device flew out of the opening and seconds later, it erected a protective barrier. He would have missed the slight flash if he hadn’t been watching for it.

  “What is that?”

  He turned, staring at the female. “Protection in case they followed us. They’ll see sheer rock instead of the opening. It also will feel like rock if anything touches it from the other side. The shield won’t allow anything to enter after us.”

  She stared out the opening. “But it looks like nothing is there.”

  “We can see out but nothing can see in.”

  She bit her lip but then backed away from him. The female had come to a halt near the fire pit he’d built as a youth. It was a round circle of rocks. A camping mat remained on the floor next to it. Behind that area lay a pool that was only about five feet wide that ran the length of the back of the cave. Memories instantly filled his head of the years he and his mother had spent there when they needed a place to hide. He didn’t have time to dwell on the past.

  “Take a seat, female. I have a med kit. The mat probably isn’t clean but it’s more comfortable than the floor will be.”

  He glanced around, glad to see the recent flooding hadn’t reached his cave. There were large cracks in the canyon floor near it, making for great runoff when the rains came. It was part of the reason his mother had picked it. A fresh water source and a natural drain made for optimal survival in the outlands.

  She turned, gaining his attention. “I’m fine.”

  “You are not. You said you felt sick.” He crouched, setting down the kit, and opened it. “You also stated you’ve been drugged. I have a scanner that can tell us what you’ve been dosed with. I had the medical android update it for me to include humans.”

  She didn’t take a seat. He withdrew the scanner and rose. More fear showed in her eyes and her body tensed. She even raised her arms. It was cute. She seemed prepared to fight him.

  He resisted smiling. “I didn’t rescue you to only hurt you myself. There’s no need for you to punch me with your tiny fists.” He showed her the scanner. “It will draw blood to test. It’s harmless. Please take a seat.”

  She still hesitated, annoying him.

  “I swear I won’t hurt you, female.”

  “Lilly,” she whispered. “That’s my name.”

  It was a nice sounding one to his ears. He needed her to trust him. The blood on her lip bothered him and he worried about any injuries he couldn’t see. Her robe covered most of her body.

  “I’m Raff. You have my word that you are safe now, Lilly. My cousin is life-locked to a human from Earth. I’m aware that you must have been through quite a lot but I just wish to help you.”

  “Life-locked? What is that?”

  He remembered the term Nara used. “Married.”

  That shocked the little human enough for her mouth to open and she sucked in a sharp breath. He saw suspicion narrow her eyes and could guess what she had to be thinking.

  He found it cute too. “By choice. Nara willingly married my cousin. They are in love. She demanded he keep her. It’s why I had human medical information added to the scanner on my shuttle. In case Nara was ever hurt. She’s family to me.”

  Lilly was afraid to trust anyone. The big alien she faced off against was huge and appeared super strong. He also looked as if he were the adult result of an old Earth’s version of a Viking warrior having a baby with a lioness. He stood tall, had huge muscles, and had an actual mane of blond hair. His eyes were all lion but he almost had the facial features and body of a large human. There were also some sharp looking fangs she’d seen peeking from between his lips when he’d spoken to her. His body was covered in skin though, instead of fur.

  His golden colored exotic eyes were beautiful, but he was some predator cat species of alien. He looked deadly and she’d watched him kill at least a dozen men in that market. It made her terrified since he’d taken them down in less than a minute or two.

  The fact that he said his cousin was married to a human eased her fear her slightly. He could by lying but he seemed sincere. Not that she was certain of that. She’d had zero personal interactions with aliens before being kidn
apped. Pictures and vids didn’t do them justice in real life. It had been her job to input data onto the computer archives of other races and thought she could identify most of them on sight.

  None of the data she’d uploaded from the exploration teams had shown her someone like him. She’d been such a fool when she’d left Earth. It had sounded exciting to work on a research vessel and travel in space to learn about other worlds and cultures. She’d bought the bullshit propaganda about how advanced Earth weapons were compared to other alien races and how safe they’d be.

  Those pirates had boarded Bax easily, which meant their space cannons hadn’t destroyed the threat. The pirates had quickly overtaken their vessel and people had died. The aliens had ripped her away from everything she’d known in less than ten minutes from the time the first warning alarm had sounded until she’d found herself a caged prisoner.

  “Please, Lilly.” Raff’s voice drew her from her thoughts. “Allow me to run the scan and give you medical treatment. Tell me how the Rexis got you. It will help distract you from your fear.”

  Her eyebrows shot up, almost offended at his suggestion. “Talking about the most traumatic experience in my life will lessen my fear? Do you really believe that?”

  He scowled. “I’m not good with females. Or males for that matter. Talking isn’t something I do often. I’m trying my best.”

  His last words resonated with her. She knew all about being in a situation well outside of her comfort zone. That had been her life after she’d left her family to go to school, later when she’d got a job in the city, and it had only gotten worse when she’d stepped foot on Bax. That was the vessel she’d spent six months and nine days on, before it had been attacked. Her co-workers had been vastly different from her and she’d felt like the odd man out. After the attack, she’d just known sheer terror.

  “Please, Lilly.”

  He wanted to run a medical scan on her. Her face and lip hurt. So did her knee. She glanced back at the black mat thing. It was about two feet off the ground and reminded her of a rubber twin mattress. Only not since it appeared to be constructed out of charcoal. She hoped it was softer than it looked as she took a seat, pressing her thighs together and twisting a bit until she sat on the edge of it. Her behind sank into it and she was surprised that it felt cushioned. She couldn’t help but tense as the Viking-cat like alien man slowly approached her. He really was a scary and huge.