Rogue Warriors of Lorr
Stolen by the Alien Prince Chapter 11

Gianna's guards left her as she entered the main area of the dock. She headed into a public restroom to clean herself up a little and then joined a line of people getting on a small shuttle to the space station.

The collection of beings heading up to the station was a very strange mix. No upper-class passengers were here, which was to be expected. Gianna hated to admit it, but it looked like everyone going to the space station was on some kind of illegal business. The shuttle trip was a short one, and Gianna was grateful for its brevity. It wasn't fun being packed into a tiny space with a bunch of weird aliens and dodgy-looking people. As far as she was concerned, the tickets were far too expensive, as well. She was not checked or scanned at the port, and Gianna felt that the operation might have been too easy. Either she was being set up, or the guards at the dock and the station itself were paid to look the other way.

As she walked out into the surrounding streets, she saw a small group of young people hawking a game of chance. She grinned as she hurried over. This was one game she knew how to win, even if it was rigged. Gabe and I have been playing this gig since we were little!

"Come, pretty lady!" one of the kids shouted. "Try your luck in the game of chance."

"I certainly will," she said, pausing by the table and rifling through her bag. She slapped a stack of money down on the table.

"Three games," she said.

The young guy whistled. "Big spender! Welcome to my table, pretty lady. Let's see how you play!"

The others watched as she threw down with the leader of the group. It was a simple game, guessing the location of a small bauble as he shifted metal cups back and forth. She knew it had nothing to do with which cup it went under. The trick was slipping it from place to place by hand as the cups were moved.

She beat him three times, watching his frustration rising each time. Gianna raked the money into her purse and stepped back. She had tripled her money already, and she couldn't just stand here and keep beating him, especially if she wanted to keep a low profile. "Thank you for the game," she said, backing away. "It was very fun. I'll be off now."

"Hey, wait!" the kid yelled. "That's bad form. Get back here!"

Uh-oh.

Gianna ran. The kids followed her. Immediately, she cursed her own stupidity. This was not a familiar place. She had no idea where to hide. The kids were right on her heels, and she turned down dark, narrow alleys to avoid them.

Of course, the smart thing to do would be to run toward the security officers, but I can't do that with a bag full of drugs.

Even though the kids were quick and nimble, she managed to lose them by ducking through a hole in a fence and waiting for them to run past.

Gianna held her position for a while, waiting for her heart and her breathing to settle. As soon as she stopped panting, she checked her instructions, slipped out of her hiding place, and headed back to the dock.

She didn't need to go all the way back to the common areas near the shuttles because her instructions led her to the ramshackle areas far beyond the well-lit, secured dock. Every bar in this area was surrounded by hard-looking humans and aliens who glared at her as she passed by.

Gianna didn't get far before three big aliens and a bald, muscular human began to follow her. She was so afraid, she wanted to run, but she also knew that would only make things worse.

She had no doubt these guys were security of sorts for the criminals, and if she didn't prove she was one of them, they would make her disappear.

Gianna took a deep breath and stopped, turning to face the big, tough aliens and muscular man. She stuck out her chin and narrowed her eyes.

"You guys know Droka?" she asked, her voice coming out hard.

The biggest alien quirked an eyebrow. Obviously, he knew the name. "This way," he muttered, gesturing down a side street. Gianna walked ahead of them, trying to appear confident.

"To your right there is a door," the alien said. Gianna stopped abruptly and looked. She saw a dark, narrow door there and slipped inside. The toughs followed, blocking the exit.

In the glow of a single lamp, she saw an ugly, frog-like alien sitting at a table. Gianna was very frightened now that she was going to be robbed, so she pulled out the package and pushed it across the table. Droka-she assumed that was who it must be-took the package and put an envelope down on the table.

Gianna didn't even pause. She snatched up the envelope, stuffed it into her shirt, and ran. As she left the room, she heard laughter, but she didn't even care.

Up ahead, where the street began to get lighter with security lamps, she saw a little stall. Gianna breathed a sigh of relief when she saw comm devices for sale. She hastily purchased one and called Kozien.

"Hello," he muttered.

"Kozien! It's me."

"Where are you?" he snapped.

"In the back alleys of the station. The one outside Jorvlen. I had to do a deal, and now I think I'm in big trouble!"

Suddenly, Gianna felt a horrible foreboding. She looked up and saw a D'Narvius watching her.

Even though Kozien kept shouting, asking her for more information, Gianna was too scared. She gathered up her things and ran.

The alien chased her.

Kozien was frantic to get to Gianna now. Her comm going dead at that exact moment didn't bode well. He hurried through the docks on Jorvlen, booking himself on a shuttle up to the space station.

He kept trying to call Gianna, but she didn't answer. His anxiety grew. She was in one of the worst ports in the galaxy, where all kinds of shady deals went down.

People were murdered there every day, and Kozien knew that even though it was run by Jorvlens, it was practically lawless.

When the shuttle docked, he hurried through the port, heading to a public restroom. He could ditch the Ethane Breather mask now because he was pretty sure the royal family wouldn't be looking for him up here. Kozien kept his big, hooded robe and wrapped it around himself, covering his horns.

He left the restroom and walked through the main areas around the docks. He kept calling Gianna, hoping to hear a comm device ringing nearby that might lead him to her.

Kozien gave up on the businesses around the docks. Gianna was clearly in the thick of some nasty criminal business, and no way would she be hanging out in the secure areas. With some trepidation, Kozien headed into the dark alleys that spread away from the well-lit docks.

He kept calling her but received no answer. With every moment, his frustration grew. He caught a few hostile looks from burly looking types, but he ignored them. Starting trouble would only slow him down.

If they want to start something, I'll tear them apart with my bare hands!

He was twitchy enough that he felt like he could kill at will. Kozien was so worried about Gianna that his patience with the entire situation had definitely run out.

After a lot of walking with no results, Kozien paused to examine his own comm. He tweaked the controls a little, trying to see if it could track Gianna. The comm was not very sophisticated, but it did thread to Gianna's signal. Eagerly, Kozien waited for the little device to give him a direction. He held it up, hoping for a better signal. The comm beeped, showing a green light.

Then the damn thing rang, almost making him drop it. He saw the number and answered it immediately.

"Gianna!" he cried, almost shouting into the speaker.

Kozien looked around quickly, realizing he was drawing attention to himself. Quickly, he hurried into a shadowy corner and tried to conceal his actions. "Gianna?" he asked.

"Kozien," she whispered.

He could hear her crying, and red-hot fury flooded his veins. "Where are you? What's happening?"

"I'm..." Her voice was lost in a burst of crackling static. Kozien shook the comm device, barely restraining himself from shattering it against the wall.

"I don't know where I am." Gianna's voice came through loud and clear before disappearing into static again. Kozien realized she was not above ground; she couldn't be. That was the only reason the signal would be so messed up. Either that, or she's in a completely sealed metal room.

Kozien didn't like either of those options. "Gianna, can you see anything? Tell me where you are."

"I can't..." she muttered. He heard another crackling burst. "I can't see anything."

"Are you alone?" he bellowed, realizing he was drawing attention again but not being able to help it.

The crackling settled, and Kozien could hear Gianna crying even harder now. He could tell she was very frightened, which made his heart ache with rage.

I'm going to tear apart anyone who touches her!

Kozien had bright, vivid fantasies of ripping the entire dock to pieces, building by building, until he found her. He didn't give a fuck if it upset the Jorvlens or the Lorr. Nothing mattered except finding her.

"Talk to me," he begged. "Tell me what you can see. I need to know where you are. Tell me anything you can see."

The connection went hazy again, and Kozien held in another frustrated roar. It sounded like Gianna might be fighting to hold on to the comm. Maybe she was running from her captors and trying to get the signal to him so he could track her. "Gianna," he whispered. He refused to believe the situation was hopeless. He would find her. He just needed a little bit more time.

God, give me that time! I need to save her!

He remembered the pull he felt in his chest when she smiled, when her joy was so pure it lit up her dark brown eyes. Her life had been too hard, so terribly hard. She didn't deserve any of this.

All Kozien wanted was to give her everything, spoil her with every luxury she'd never known. She deserved to live in comfort without fear and hardship.

I can't bear this.

"Kozien," she whispered before another frightful burst of static. Then a clear, high scream that was his mate in a state of pure terror.

The comm went dead. He tried to call back or open the connection again, but it wouldn't go through.

Kozien looked up to the dark sky, taking deep breaths to calm himself. Gianna was nearby and she was in big trouble.