Free Haven 6 by Aubrie Dionne Page B

Lawless and their unbridled passions. “One more question and I’ll let you go.”
    She licked her lips. “Have at it.”
    “Was Weaver with you? Do you know who he is?”
    The woman smirked. “Your lesser brother. Yes, I know of him.”
    Striver’s fury intensified like a hard fist squeezing his chest. Only fools compared them in his presence. He spoke through gritted teeth. “Was he with you tonight?”
    She laughed, a bone-shattering, high-pitched whinny that tore into Striver’s heart. “No.”
    Relief flooded through him like fresh air.
    “Where is he? Is he all right?”
    She shrugged like Weaver’s life didn’t matter to her. “He went off with Jolt into the darkness.” Her eyes teased him. “Never came back.”
    He waved her away in disgust. “Let her go.”
    The men pushed her from them like a disease. She rubbed her wrists where they had held her and gazed at Striver. He turned away.
    Her voice brought him back to her mean-spirited gaze. “You should let him go, honey. He’s not coming back.”
    Striver’s heart ached like she’d stuck a knife in it and twisted. Suppressing the pain, he turned to her. “Go home.”
    He addressed the men guarding her. “Ignore her. Collect anything that looks valuable. Search for survivors.”
    As she waltzed into the forest, his tribe dashed around him, gathering the silver gadgets and other containers from the wreckage of the camp. Carven walked up beside him. “What about the ship itself?”
    “We’ll gut it. Take everything we can and set the controls on fire. We can’t have the Lawless claiming the skies for themselves.”
    Carven nodded and joined the group. Just as Striver moved to help carry one of the containers, a young man ran up from the ship.
    “Striver, sir?”
    “What is it?”
    “There’s a survivor. She’s unconscious.”
    Striver froze. She? “You mean one of the Lawless?” The last thing he needed was another conversation like the one he’d just had.
    “No, sir.” The young man gave him a knowing glance and pointed to the sky. Awe filled his voice. “One of them.”
    Striver stopped breathing. “Take me to her.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    This is it. The moment of truth. He’d finally meet the people from that mother ship and find out the ultimate reason why the foreigners had sacrificed so much to wander into Lawless lands.
    Striver followed the young man up the ramp, feeling the strange solidity of the metal underneath his leather boots. The inside of the ship pressed in on him like a tomb. He wasn’t used to an impenetrable ceiling blocking the star-studded sky and air that hung stale with no trace of a wind. Panels lit up in sickly green light, and flashing buttons made him dizzy.
    The young man tugged his arm. “She’s over here.”
    Members of his tribe parted, revealing a young woman with a head of pink curls. Striver stepped closer, reminding himself to breath. The survivor, wearing the worst camouflage uniform he’d ever seen, lay on her back. She never would have stepped ten meters into the jungle without being spotted. And that hair! He’d never seen such a bright color. It reminded him of pearl berries in midsummer.
    “She has a steady pulse, sir. But she’s been hit with a coma dart.”
    He knelt beside her and gently probed the wound. Her skin was pale as moonlight and dusted with freckles. She looked like she’d never seen the light of day. Striver turned her head, and a heart-shaped face with a cute upturned nose faced him.
    “Never did I think the aliens would be this beautiful.” Gil, a member of his team, gawked, and Striver gave him a stern look.
    “She doesn’t look like an alien to me.” She looked human. Too human. Human enough for him to have an emotional reaction and a stirring of longing he’d never felt before. He gestured for some of the men to help him. “Come on, let’s bring her back to camp before the Lawless return.”
    As he slid his arms underneath her, his heart raced and blood