Krotian hated this planet. Its inhabitants were violent and unpredictable, with access to just enough technology to make them dangerous. And there were so many of them.
Trying to conquer this world was stupid. His brother Kemp had died proving that point. Still, Krotian, Battle Lord of the Second Arm of Force Dimas, had an obligation to follow orders. His father Dimas would kill him for anything less.
Children of Loriah had been hidden here for long enough to grow into adults, and at least one of them had dangerous information. As soon as Krotian found the data sphere and destroyed it, he could leave this cold world and its violent, unpredictable inhabitants behind.
His goals reached farther than Earth or even Loriah. His sights were set on another world—one filled with a more primitive people who would worship him as a god. Taking control of their tiny lives would be easy. Just the way he liked it. And that world was warm, unlike this frosty winter slum.
Homes everywhere were left vacant and rotting, their previous owners gone. Finding shelter and places to hide had never been easier on any world than it was here. Even without the aid of electrical power, the basement of this house was a welcome refuge from the cold.
His own personal security detail roamed the floor above—equal parts strong, lumbering Dregorg and tough, violent Cytur. He’d laid traps at all the entry points. Even if he was unlucky enough to be discovered by one of the few Loriahan warriors who roamed this world, they would kill themselves gaining entrance.
Krotian settled in front of a glowing orb, holding his hands out to the heat emanating from it. The human child he’d locked in a small closet whimpered loudly enough to be heard through the sturdy door.
Waiting was a waste of valuable time, but Krotian didn’t dare go hunt the Imonite woman himself. There were too many dangers on this world—too many people to see him.
The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to his presence here. One story on their vast news networks and every Loriahan warrior on this small planet would come for him. Even with a force of Dregorgs and Cyturs guarding him, he’d be dead before sunrise.
Better to use the humans’ weakness for their offspring against them and let the boy’s father do all the work. No one would look twice at the human, and if he was caught in the act of kidnapping the Imonite woman, Krotian could simply find another human tool to use.
All he needed was the sphere. The woman would be an extra bonus, but she too was expendable. Once he had the sphere, the rest of this planet could go up in flames for all he cared. At least that would make it warmer.
A noise from upstairs drew his attention. Movement. A shift of heavy Dregorg feet and the scrape of Cytur claws—all moving toward the front of the house.
The basement door opened and a thick Dregorg voice called down, “The human is here. He carries someone.”
The woman.
Krotian smiled. He could almost feel the warmth of the tropical sun on his face. “Let them in.”
Talan waited until the attention of the Dregorgs and Cyturs was focused on the diversion he’d created before he signaled Radek. The other warrior was hidden along the eastern side of the house, disabling the traps protecting one of the windows.
Reece shifted where he was draped over Talan’s shoulder.
“Hold still,” Talan whispered.
The man went still. So far he’d obeyed every order Talan had given him, right down to pretending to be Zoe. Not that Reece and he could have switched places. There was no way the human could have carried him, not even to save his son’s life.
Talan moved slowly, as if the weight was a huge burden. His knit cap hid his tattoos fairly well, and he’d removed his glittering earring chains that would identify him as an Imonite warrior, but as soon as he got close enough to the house, the Dregorgs would recognize him.
He’d fought them before, and it seemed like what one of them knew, all of them knew. His only chance of not being discovered was to buy Radek enough time to slip inside and grab the boy.
Talan’s shadow stretched out ahead of him, long and stringy in the glaring headlights. He was backlit, making it harder for the Dregorgs to see his face. His movements were awkward and not his own, giving them one less thing to recognize him by.
The phone in his pocket buzzed—the signal indicating Radek was inside.
Talan intentionally stumbled and dropped the man to the ground. Reece stayed limp as he’d been told to do, hiding his face from sight.
Wind rose from the north, sweeping away from the house and taking Talan’s scent with it. They’d chosen their approach specifically for that reason, knowing how keen the Dregorg sense of smell was. They relied on it as much as their sight, and Talan had no illusions that his scent hadn’t been catalogued and shared with all of Dregorg kind.
“Inside,” called one of the creatures. “Faster.”
Talan panted like he was out of breath and pretended to struggle to lift the man back over his shoulder. A little closer and the headlights would no longer obscure the enemies’ vision.
Suddenly, there was a loud hiss and a cloud of mist filled the doorway. Cyturs and Dregorgs began to topple over like felled trees, crashing into each other.
As the wind pushed the poisonous cloud toward Talan, he ran to the side, keeping the frail human out of harm’s way.
The phone in Talan’s pocket vibrated again. All clear.
“Stay here out of the poison,” he ordered Reece, setting him on his feet. “I’m going in after your child.”
Krotian heard the heavy bodies of his guards tumble on the floor above. He didn’t know what had happened, but it hardly mattered. Anything that could fell ten beasts of war was not something he was going to stay and face. Better to leave and let the traps placed throughout this house take out the threat.
He’d find another way to attain the data sphere—one that posed no risk to him.
The human boy was going to be too much trouble to bring with him, so instead, Krotian activated the trigger on the explosives tucked inside the closet with the child. Whoever found him was going to face the last surprise of their life.
Krotian deactivated the trap on the cellar doors, which were hidden inside a lightless alcove. He pushed them open a crack. Snow tumbled down on his face. It had completely obscured the presence of the doorway, making it an excellent emergency escape.
He always had an emergency escape.
With a silent command, his suit hummed for a moment before the sound was beyond his hearing. He looked down to make sure that his presence was hidden, and through his invisible arm, he saw the stone steps leading up.
Perfect.
Heavy footsteps sounded upstairs. Slow, careful. Two men. Heavy.
The indicator on his belt buzzed. At least one of the intruders was Loriahan, which meant they were far more dangerous than some stray human.
Krotian didn’t wait to see who they were. He slipped out through the cellar doors and ran toward where his vehicle was parked along the street.
As he neared his van, a buzz at his waist caught his attention again. The device only went off when he was close to a Loriahan. It had stopped buzzing as he’d fled the house, and then started again.
Either he was being followed, or they had another warrior posted in the direction he fled. He couldn’t tell where, so he stopped and surveyed the area.
A truck was parked just out of sight of the house. Its lights were dark, but the hum of its engine told him the machine was running. Inside sat a shape in the shadows.
He froze in place, breathing slowly so that the mist of his breath didn’t give him away.
The shape shifted toward the light just enough for him to make out the delicate, feminine bone structure of a cheek. She was too small to be a warrior. She could have been a Loriahan child.
Or she could have been raised here, one of the Taken, now grown.
Excitement fluttered inside Krotian’s chest. She was alone. Her protector had left her here, presumably to keep her out of danger.
Without a sample of her blood, he couldn’t be sure of her identity, but that would be easy enough to collect. And if she was the woman he sought—the one he’d sent the human man to collect—he was one step closer to finding the sphere and getting off this frigid planet.
All he had to do now was get close enough to ensnare her in his gaze, and she and all of her secrets would be his.