Dream Unchained by Kate Douglas Read Free Book Online Page B

more company.”
    Energy sparkled and swirled in the air around Liz, then slowly settled into two distinct pillars of blue and gold. A tall, beautiful, bronze-skinned man stepped out of the closest column. Like the other men, he wore loose-fitting pants and nothing else.
    â€œBolt!” Morgan slipped past Mac and took the guy’s hand as Rodie threw herself against Bolt’s chest, practically toppling the Nyrian. “What’s going on?”
    The second column wavered a moment before forming into an equally beautiful, dark-haired, fair-skinned man with brilliant blue eyes. “Duran?” Finn pushed past Morgan and Bolt and grabbed the Nyrian in a powerful hug. “Thank the gods you’re safe. Tara’s worried sick. Me, too.” He stepped back, still holding on to Duran’s arm as he looked the man up and down. Finally reassured his Nyrian was unharmed, Finn turned to Bolt. “What the hell happened?”
    Bolt gazed at Morgan and Rodie, sighed, and shook his head. Still holding Morgan’s hand with his free arm wrapped around Rodie, he acknowledged Finn with a quick glance but addressed Mac. “It’s not good. The Gar appear to be moving against Earth ahead of schedule. I think they realize that humans have spaceflight capability, and they’re afraid you’ll be able to mount a defense of your world. The Gar are and always have been a cowardly race. They want what your planet has to offer, but they’re not willing to face risks to take it.”
    Mac glanced at Dink. He stood to one side, studying Bolt, obviously fascinated. Always the newsman. “When do they plan to attack?”
    â€œSoon,” Bolt said. “It’s already begun. Approximately two of your hours ago, they left their orbit behind the moon. Nattoch thinks it will take them about three of your days to get into position where they can begin to siphon off your atmosphere, unless they decide to hunt first. If inhabitants aren’t edible, they generally steal atmosphere first, which kills off the living creatures. Then they’ll go for minerals, water, even fossil fuels, but that’s not going to happen here.”
    He folded his arms across his broad chest. “We’ve made the decision to stop them. We’re taking a stand here, with your world, whether the rest of our people survive or not. Our hope is to save as many of us as we can before this ends. There are already too few Nyrians on board to power the vessel for more than a few hours, but we need to kill the ship before it gets too close to Earth. In less than twenty-four hours, they’ll cross that line and it will be unsafe for us to destroy the vessel.”
    Mac nodded. “We’d become collateral damage from the size of the explosion?”
    Bolt nodded. “Exactly. Nattoch made the decision to send the first group now. Duran and I are the only ones without our soulstones. The others . . .” He turned and smiled in the direction they’d gone. “All of them are whole and free. Xinot, Ian, and Darc are running the entire ship on their own. We stayed long enough to make sure they could handle the power needs without giving our escape away. We’ve never attempted it with only three of us, but they were doing well when Duran and I left.”
    â€œI didn’t do a head count.” Mac glanced toward the door and then focused on the two Nyrians. “How many of you are left, and what’s our time frame for getting all of you off the ship with stones intact?”
    He couldn’t keep from glancing at Zianne. The tiny squirrel slept soundly in spite of the infusion of energy. This wasn’t looking good for her at all. How the hell were they going to rescue the others and find her soulstone in time?
    Bolt glanced at Duran before answering Mac, almost as if requesting permission to speak. Mac wondered at the Nyrian hierarchy. Nattoch was obviously in charge as their elder, but