Raine knew she had to speak up. There goes being on their team, she thought morosely.
“Excuse us, because we’re a little upset that a young boy, who I should have been protecting instead of you, is now in the hands of aliens that have done nothing but kill people since they landed on Earth.”
“You are blaming me for the boy being taken?”
“No, we’re blaming you and”—Tayla gave Ulf a dirty look—“Ulf. Raine only went to help you because he told us that he would protect Piper.”
Skars looked toward Ulf. “Why would—”
“I tried to help the boy, yet King Jurzed reached him before me. I didn’t expect King Jurzed to take the boy. I could have beaten any others taking her from the distance I was to him. King Jurzed never takes humans into his household, you know that. By the time I realized he was going to take the boy, it was too late,” Ulf explained.
Raine frowned. “Why would he have made an exception for Piper?”
“King Jurzed is experienced in battles. He saw you protected me, and I was protecting you. That you cared for the boy was obvious. King Jurzed knew he could use the boy to bargain to get what he truly wants.”
Raine looked in the direction the Olggan had taken Piper. The young girl had to be terrified. Lucas had made sure that Piper had been protected since she had been born. Their mother had died shortly after having Piper, their father dying in a car accident shortly before her birth. Lucas had rearranged his whole life to care for the child after his parents’ deaths.
“Lucas is going to kill me.” Using the sleeve of her shirt, she swiped at the tears she didn’t want the Vikings to see.
Skars stared at her uncomfortably. “Who is Lucas?”
“Piper’s brother,” she mumbled through her shirt sleeve. “I should never have left our hiding spot. If I hadn’t been so worried about you, I would have turned back when I saw Piper and Tayla following me.”
How was she was supposed to explain to Lucas that the gray and black aliens, who had been the one to claw him, had a blue king who had taken Piper hostage so she could be traded for another alien he really wanted to kill.
A question came to her mind as she tried to come up with the explanation. “Why did King Jurzed look different than the other Olggans?”
Skars brows knitted. “King Jurzed isn’t Olggan. He saved their planet when Xioarius almost destroyed it. They rewarded him by making him king.”
“King Jurzed isn’t from the same planet as the Olggans?”
“Neinn, he is from Neptune.”
“So, he is a Neptunian.” Raine nodded, as if it made perfect sense when all she wanted to do was sit on the ground and have a good cry.
“Partly.”
Raine clenched her jaw. She would bite her tongue before she would ask.
“The other half is Viking,” he supplied without her having to ask. “We’re cousins.”
She really could have lived without knowing that fountain of information.
Tayla’s reaction was opposite of hers. While she wanted to cry, the other woman started howling in laughter.
The Vikings gave Tayla wary glances, while it just made Raine want to cry more. Both were at their breaking points. Tayla was just another bit closer than her.
The big, massive Viking closest to Tayla whacked her on the back as if she was choking, sending the woman to her knees.
Raine hadn’t moved back when Tayla had started laughing hysterically. She did now.
Tayla abruptly stopped laughing, a bright patch of red highlighting her high cheekbones. Even the other Vikings stared at Ulf in stunned surprise.
“The woman was bewitched,” Ulf gave the explanation at seeing their shock. “I knocked the demon out of her.” Ulf then extended his hand, as if he was going to assist Tayla back to her feet.
“Be careful …” Raine started to warn him.
Unmindful of her warning, Ulf bent down to lift Tayla to her feet without her help.
Raine’s eyes widened in astonishment as Tayla heaved herself into Ulf’s arms to put him in a headlock. Her wrapping her legs around the Viking made Ulf lose his balance.
Raine thought about taking the opportunity to take off, but couldn’t bring herself to miss out on what Tayla would do next.
Ulf ended up on the ground as Tayla body-slammed herself on top of his chest before the Viking could regain air. His head was clenched between Tayla’s thighs as she leaned her back against his chest to exert more pressure on his thick neck. She was strangling him while the others remained watching, making no attempt to help.
“King Jurzed wants to trade? Tell him you’re willing to trade yourself for Piper. One of you fuckers can take him and bring Piper back here, or I’ll kill him,” Tayla warned Skars through gritted teeth.