Kidnappping Casey Read online

The man’s eyes rolled up into his head before he fell back. His large body crashed to the floor. Casey turned away. The fighting was still going on but she saw bodies down. Terror hit her as she scanned the still, large bodies on the floor until she realized they weren’t Zorn. She didn’t see Argernon.

  She got a glimpse of him when two men fighting in the front line went to the floor together. He was on his feet fighting another Collis. Argernon spun, his powerful leg shooting out, nailing the man who was trying to attack him from behind. The man hit the wall hard and went down. Argernon roared his rage. She saw blood on his face. Men moved as they fought so Casey couldn’t see Argernon anymore as the melee blocked her view.

  A sound carried her way. She spun around. Zorn men, six of them, were running from the opposite direction. They actually had to jump over the alien she had killed. One of the men grabbed Casey with his arm locking around her waist. She gasped as her feet left the floor as he swung her out of the center of the corridor. He leaned back against the wall, lifting her up his body and adjusting her in his tight embrace until they were chest to chest. She dangled a good half a foot from the floor but she still had to raise her chin to get a look at his face. His fingers wrapped around the tool she still gripped, tearing it from her numb fingers to toss it away from them. His hand went to her waist.

  Shock tore through her. The Zorn man looked a hell of a lot like Argernon. He sniffed at her, frowning, as his gaze flew to hers. He growled. She waited but the conis didn’t translate. Her attention turned to the wall. She saw that it was there, but it wasn’t working anymore. She looked back at him.

  “Can you understand me?”

  He nodded. One hand released her waist. He turned their bodies as he tore his gaze from her. She followed where he was staring. The Zorn men had all of the Collis who were still alive on the floor. Argernon stumbled forward from the mess, covered in blood. Casey saw his head lift. Their gazes locked.

  “Let me go.” She hit at the chest of the man holding her.

  The Zorn gripping her let her slide down his body. He released her the second her feet touched the floor. Casey was shaking as she closed the distance to Argernon. He just stood there waiting. Casey was alarmed with how pale he looked and there was a good amount of blood on him. He had it on his face, in his hair, down his chest, arms, and shoulders. His pants were torn above the knee on one leg. Blood even covered his bare feet.

  She was in front of him in seconds. “Are you all right?”

  Her hands reached out but he growled at her, showing sharp teeth. She jerked her hands back to just stare up at him.

  “You look so pale. Please let me touch you.”

  He growled again holding out his hands, showing her the blood as he turned his hands over. He met her look, slowly shaking his head. He made a sound she identified as he mimicked rushing water. Relief hit her.

  “You want to shower first before I touch you?”

  He nodded.

  The man who had grabbed Casey walked behind her. He growled something to Argernon causing him to smile. Argernon was still smiling as he gave his full attention to the man behind her. He opened his mouth but instead of growling he softly groaned. All the tan color drained from Argernon’s face as he slowly sank to the floor.

  Casey lunged forward trying to catch Argernon. He was too damn big to hold up but she did manage to slow him just enough so that the man behind her could lunge forward to grab Argernon too. The man gently lowered Argernon to the floor. Casey ended up on her knees next to him clutching his hand. His eyes were shut, he was too pale, and while he was breathing, he was definitely unconscious.

  Argernon’s almost look-alike snarled loudly at all the men around them. He grabbed Casey’s arm, ripping her away from Argernon. She cried out in protest but the man moved fast. He dug his hands under Argernon’s body, lifting him. The man groaned slightly. Both men were about the same massive size but the man stood up with Argernon cradled in his arms. The man snarled, jerked his head to Casey, and then was storming away with Argernon.

  One of the Zorn men moved forward to grip Casey’s arm. He softly growled at her as he gently pulled her to her feet. He gripped her hand, pulling her down the corridor. She realized they were heading in the direction that the man had taken Argernon. She walked faster, almost running. She did run when she saw the man carrying Argernon ahead. She tore her hand away from her escort’s hold. She wasn’t going to let Argernon out of her sight.

  It was some kind of medical room. Casey saw an older Zorn man in the room as Argernon was gently placed on a flat bed. The Zorn doctor, Casey assumed, shot her a curious glance but then ignored her. The man went to work.

  Argernon’s obvious relative moved to stand next to Casey. She looked up at him. “Are you Argernon’s brother?”

  He turned his head to stare down at her. He gave her a nod.

  “Is that a doctor?”

  The man hesitated before he shook his head no.

  “Where is the doctor?” Fear hit Casey. “He needs one. Isn’t there a doctor on the ship?”

  The man looked grim as he growled, shaking his head, looking pissed as his eyes lingered on his brother’s still form. The man attending Argernon was cleaning off the blood. Casey moved forward to grab some of the small hand-sized towels the man had put on a small table next to the bed holding Argernon. She wanted to help so she worked on his other side, cleaning off the blood.

  Argernon’s brother helped strip Argernon out of his pants so they could turn him over. The conis wasn’t working so they couldn’t talk to each other but both men understood her. That was something but she was still frustrated. They found a large bleeding lump on the back of Argernon’s head. He had a knife wound on his thigh where his pants had been torn above the knee where one of the Collis bastards had stabbed him. He had cuts, bruises and a few claw marks to show for the fighting. The worst and most worrisome injury was his head. The bulge from the lump was bad.

  “Do you have ice? I need something really cold to put on the wound to reduce the swelling.”

  The older Zorn got the equivalent of an ice pack. Nothing more could be done for Argernon’s head injury. Casey and the older Zorn cleaned and bandaged the other wounds. Casey helped the older man treat each man as more injured Zorn came looking for help. He wasn’t a doctor but he obviously had a little medical training.

  * * * * *

  They were three days from Zorn. The ship was crippled but the engines were fine. The conis program was damaged and they weren’t able to retrieve it. Communications were down all over the ship. They couldn’t even get in contact with the Zorn home planet. The Collis had taken out their long-distance communications when they’d fired on the ship.

  Argernon’s brother visited often as Casey stayed at Argernon’s side. He didn’t wake up and she was worried sick over his head injury. By asking questions she knew they were having all kinds of electrical problems. Some parts of the ship weren’t livable so most of the Zorn moved to deck three with Casey and Argernon. The water systems were down so even showers were out. Casey knew they were also having problems with food since she was handed packets of dried food to eat.

  Casey tended to the Zorn men who were injured while Argernon remained unconscious. Over twenty Collis attackers had been killed when they’d boarded the ship but the Zorn had only suffered four losses along with the death of Rachael. At least thirty Zorn males were living in the same area Casey was, so by Day Two everyone smelled due to the scarce water supply. The air circulating wasn’t the greatest either but she’d been assured they wouldn’t suffocate when she’d noticed the poor air quality and had asked someone.

  She was frustrated. Argernon was healing but he wouldn’t wake up. The knot on his head had gone down. She’d talked to him while he slept, begging him to wake up, but he’d continued to sleep deeply. Every time exhaustion threatened to take her, she’d climb up on the bed with him to curl into his side. She rarely left the room they were keeping Argernon in except to use th