Broken Skies by Theresa Kay Read Free Book Online Page B

refuse to move.
    “I don’t have time for this, Jax.” He runs one hand through his hair causing the blond spikes to stick up even more. “We’ll get Jace. I’m not letting you go there alone.”
    “But you don’t understand—”
    “No.” Flint leans in closer, his voice strained. “You don’t understand. I can’t let you go to that city. Jace would never forgive me. You and I will figure this out, but you have to come with me and I have to turn the alien in. There have been attacks…”
    “Attacks?” Something in his voice tells me that this is serious.
    “The erks,” Flint says. “They’ve been wiping human settlements off the map. Bombs. Guns. Some things we don’t even know what they are. Whatever that thing told you, whatever promises he made you, they’re lies.” When I don’t say anything, he continues. “I don’t know how you came across it, but I can guess it was a single ship doing a flyover? They’re scouting us out.”
    “Scouting us out…” As much as I don’t want them to, Flint’s words make sense. The single ship. The aliens’ heated conversation and their reference to looking for something. Even Lir never really said what they were doing out there. “And Jace? Why would they take him?”
    “I don’t know.” He averts his eyes and shifts us back toward the other men. “But I bet it does. The erk was using you to get back to his kind. Who knows what it would have done when it got you there, maybe even taken you too.”
    I shake my head and back away, the burn of tears stinging in my eyes. Lir has been nothing but nice. We had a deal. He’s my only option. There’s no way he… or is there? Has he even been honest with me? My eyes reach Lir as Flint grabs my arm again. Maybe he thinks I’m being hurt— more likely he’s just worried about losing his leverage— but Lir jumps up and moves toward me, much faster than before. Has he been faking his weakness?
    It’s not fast enough though. One of the men catches up with him and hits him twice on the back of the head with the butt of his gun and Lir goes down to his knees. His eye bore into me, begging me to do something, but my feet are frozen. What if Flint is right? I turn my head away, unable to watch anymore even though I can still hear the sounds of fists striking flesh. I blink quickly to prevent the tears from falling and lean into Flint.
    “Let’s go,” I say. One way or another, I’m going to figure out what’s real and I’m going to get my brother back.
    We stop outside the large building where Dane’s office is and Flint motions Daniel forward. “Take Scott and Michael and put the erk in one of the cells.”
    “Sure thing,” says Daniel. “Come on guys, let’s put this thing where it belongs.”
    Two of the soldiers step forward, Lir’s limp form draped between them. He hasn’t woken since the last time they hit him. The splash of green blood on his collar draws my eyes up to the still dripping wound on his temple. Shouldn’t he have stopped bleeding by now? Should I even care?
    I pull my gaze away and shake my head. Flint wouldn’t lie to me, especially over something that involved Jace’s safety. Besides, this rescue mission will be a whole lot easier with some soldiers behind me. Forget the alien. Forget that he may or may not have saved my life in the woods. Forget that compassion in his eyes on the porch and the feel of his skin under my fingers. Really forget that last one.
    After filling my lungs with a deep breath, I follow Flint up the stairs, without looking back.
    “Enter,” Dane’s voice booms after Flint’s knock and we walk into his office.
    Flint nods at his father. “Sir, there’s been a breach. An…unauthorized outsider was found within the perimeter.”
    Dane’s eyes travel from Flint to me and back again. “And why is she here?”
    “The intruder is an erk…an E’rikon. They took her brother Sir.”
    Dane tilts back in his chair and intertwines his fingers in front