The Lonely Orphan (The Lost Planet 5)

“Just us,” he answers, the idiot.

“Unbelievable,” the other one says.

“You’re cleared to land.”

Willow gives me a surprised look, but I signal to her to stay calm. “They’re going to kidnap you,” she says.

“They can fucking try.”

“Yes, kidnap. We’ll be kidnapping you and Willow both. The others are none of our concern.” Spikes sounds confident. Perfect. They won’t know what hit them until it’s too late.

They have Aria. But not for long. “Is that so, monster man?”

“We’re on our way, alien.”

“Alien?”

“Do you see any other aliens around?”

“The whole alien gang will be here ready to give you a warm welcome. Bye, boys.”

I signal to Willow to disconnect the communication.

“What the hell are you doing?” she hisses as soon as it’s disconnected.

“They have my sister. They said they want you, too. How would they know your name if they didn’t have your mother as well?”

Willow’s eyes widen and go hazy. “Mom?”

“Great.” Zoe throws her hands into the air. “Now you’re both crazy. We should have had them land in the lava pits or something, not invited them in for a fucking cup of coffee. What if there are more of those monsters on board? What if they’re planning to take over? What were you thinking, Lyric?”

“I was thinking they have my sister.”

“So you’re willing to risk everyone here in order to get her back?”

“Don’t be stupid, Zoe. I’m not an idiot. I would never risk the women here. Besides, you saw their cabin. It’s just two of them. We’ve dealt with a lot more than that and survived.”

“That doesn’t mean we just invite them in! They said they were going to kidnap you.”

“She’s right,” Willow says. “We have to have some sort of plan before they get here.”

“How much time do we have?” I ask.

“About fifteen minutes, but I don’t think that’ll be enough.”

“It’ll be plenty. Now let’s get going.” I stalk out of the communication center, and Zoe and Willow follow close behind.

“Where are we going?” Willow asks.

“We’re going to go meet the monsters, of course. Give them a proper welcome to Exilium.”

Then, I’m going to make them give me back my sister.

Welcome to Exilium, boys.

2

Hadrian

The computers are pinging with warning that the mountains are near, but Theron and I are in awe of something else. Water. So much of it. An ocean is what the female aliens back at the facility had called it.

“Have you ever seen anything like it?” I ask, my eyes wide, taking it all in.

Theron is mashing buttons without having to look as his attention is on the ocean. “Never. All my travels have turned up barren lands. Usually, I never ventured out this far because I assumed the whole planet looked the same.”

It’s sad that my first thought is that Aria would love to see this. I’d love to see her face as she marvels over the beautiful view. And I’d marvel over her.

Soon.

Soon I will see the look of pure happiness on her face when I return Lyric into her waiting arms.

“We need to be ready,” Theron says with a sigh as he pulls on a lever that makes the ship lower.

“For landing?”

“For attack.”

I snort. “The females can’t attack us.”

“You’re arrogant,” he says with a shake of his nog. “Take it from someone who knows. That mortshite will kick you in the rump one day.”

I think about Aria. Her lovely brown hair. Her speckled skin. Dark gray eyes. Aria has the fullest lips—pink and pouty. I’ve spent too many solars fantasizing about what they taste like. How they’d feel if I tugged on them between my teeth.

Aria is harmless. A tiny little thing compared to her mate.

And Lyric?

It’s her younger sister. I don’t sense a threat. That’s not arrogance, it’s just common sense. She and Willow will both be beyond thrilled for us to rescue them and return them to their families.

Theron and I will be heroes.

Aria’s told me about the heroes in her films. The male who always gets the female. Happily ever afters is what she calls them. I want to give her a happily ever after. A real one and not an “acted” one.

“Landing pad looks clear,” Theron says as he guides the Mayvina down onto a small rectangular strip that overhangs the rocks the ocean seems to crash against angrily. “You see anything?”

I scan the prison that seems to be hidden within the mountain. Aside from the landing strip and some antennas sticking out of the rock, you wouldn’t know it was even here.

“Nothing,” I say, ignoring the nerves in my gut.

“Grab a zonnoblaster,” Theron instructs. “We need to be ready for anything.”

“Are you rekking mad?” I snarl. “And accidentally send Aria’s sister to The Eternals?”

The ship touches down and a door slides up, inviting us into a ship bay. Theron shoots me a nasty look before slowly easing the ship into the bay. It’s dark inside and when the door closes behind the ship, we’re enveloped completely in darkness.