Ice Read online

  “If you recall from the contract you signed, there are some risks involved when visiting a new planet. The information packet sent out was very clear that the general Earthling population does not know aliens are real,” Gary defended. The hands of his human costume still hung from his wrists. Ice thought about pulling the skin suit off him. As a human, Gary could only be described as creepy. “Didn’t you listen to the entire recording?”

  “Which part?” Snow asked. “The part where it said to join you for jolly-making on Earth, where the humanoid females were digestible food?”

  “Or the part where you said the women were compactible and ready for travel?” Frost added, sliding his hand over the alien’s head to force the skin suit to wrinkle on his face. It ripped a little in the back.

  Gary reached for his face and pulled at the skin suit around his eyes, ripping it open a little so he could see. “You are not allowed to eat the humans.”

  “That’s not what your recording translator said in Sintazian,” Ice answered.

  “No. That’s all wrong. I was assured those were the best translators on the market.” Gary seemed very upset. “We can’t have our clients eating humans. This must be addressed at once.”

  Ice knew that Sintazian translators were often wrong, even the best ones, but he didn’t bother to put Gary at ease. The man and his crew had left them behind. It was their fault he’d been captured and brought to the facility where…

  Where Elle saved me.

  With each step through the shaded mountain path, he felt tension rolling over him. This is what had to happen. He needed to get his brothers home. They had to leave Earth. It wasn’t safe.

  Yet, he didn’t want to go. The thought of Sintaz should have brought him pleasure, but instead he just ached for what could never be.

  “Elle would never survive on Sintaz. Why would you even bring us to a place whose inhabitants could not come back with us?” Ice demanded.

  “Elle?” Frost asked.

  “Arrangements could have been made,” Gary said. “There are special domes the humans use when living in Antarctica.”

  “The place with the fat cookie monster who forces pointy-eared children to work in his factories?” Frost inquired.

  “Yes,” Gary said. “We would have employed the same technique on your planet. As long as they only went outside in the advanced ESC frozen-technology snowsuits, they would have been fine.”

  “Who is Elle?” Snow grabbed Ice’s arm, stopping him. “Did you find a woman?”

  Ice nodded. “She is the one who freed me from my prison.” He looked at Gary. “I need you to locate her, so I know she is well. She was shot trying to help me. The people she took me from were not pleased.”

  Gary put out his hand for the handheld.

  “Is this the location?” Frost asked before giving it over.

  Gary nodded. He took the device and said, “I need transport for four and a location transport for a bride named Elle…” Gary looked at Ice expectantly.

  “Elle Rollins,” Ice said. “But not for transport. I will not take her to Sintaz only to imprison her in a dome she cannot easily leave, not after what she did for me. That is not a life I would condemn her to.”

  “Forget that last command. I need transport for four and a health report on Elle Rollins, gunshot wound—”

  “In her side,” Ice inserted.

  “—in her side,” Gary ordered through the handheld. The response he received was not in any language Ice understood. Gary handed the handheld back to Frost. “They are coming. You should be on alert.”

  “Why?” Snow looked around. “What did the ship say?”

  “Mm, nothing,” Gary mumbled, not looking directly at them. He pointed up an incline. “We should keep moving. No reason to dally.”

  “What is dally?” Frost whispered as he leaned closer to Ice.

  “I think it is when they count items,” Ice answered.

  “Why would we count…?” Frost again looked around.

  “That is tally,” Snow interrupted his brothers. “I think dally is when a human goes to a private room and—”

  “This way, this way,” Gary insisted. For a smaller alien, he moved fast when he wanted to.

  “I hear something,” Frost said. “This sound is not like the others.”

  Ice had been thinking of Elle more than paying attention to what was going on around them. He tilted his head and nodded as he detected footsteps.

  “Someone comes,” Snow said.

  All three brothers turned to look at Gary. He made a weak noise and said, “I told you not to dally.”

  “Is this a trap?” Ice demanded. He grabbed Gary by the arms and lifted him off the ground. “What did you do?”

  “We adjusted the ground sensors after you were taken last time.” Gary’s legs kicked in the air. “I didn’t want you to think we were incompetent after we missed there being a threat last time.”

  Air pressed down on them from above and Ice looked up as a ship passed. The running lights were off, and it was hard to see the craft except for how it blocked the moonlight and cast a shadow over the ground. Ice set Gary down and the alien ran after the ship.

  “Go,” Ice ordered his brothers. They ran after Gary. A soft glow of light indicated a ship door was opening to let them in.

  A plank extended from the spaceship. It wasn’t a large vessel, and not meant for long-range travel, but the main ship would be nearby.

  “This way,” a man bellowed.

  Ice paused, letting his brothers go up the plank as he turned away from the ship to watch for trouble.

  “You’re not sacrificing yourself to save us this time,” Snow said, reappearing next to him.

  “Don’t think we’ve forgotten that act of stupidity,” Frost added. “You can bet we’ll be having a discussion about that later.”

  His brothers grabbed his arms and pulled him up the plank. They entered the ship.

  “Ah.”

  The feminine sound was faint, but enough to make Ice inhale sharply in recognition.

  The plank began to retract.

  “I’m sorry, brothers, but I can’t go back with you. I can’t leave her.” Ice grabbed hold of the entryway and launched his body forward, over the plank, so that he landed on the ground. He bent his knees, listening for Elle. The ship’s door closed and clicked into place behind him.

  Figures appeared in the moonlight, dark, shadowy men. He heard banging behind him as his brothers tried to get off the ship. He willed Galaxy Brides to take off. Now that he knew his brothers were safe and on their way home, he could concentrate on Elle.

  He could pick her voice out of a chorus of millions. What was she doing out here?

  The banging lessened, and the ship began pulling away from the surface.

  When she didn’t make another noise, he yelled, “Elle!”

  “Ice, run,” she screamed. “Run—”

  The sound was abruptly cut short.

  Ice did run. He went toward her voice. It didn’t matter what happened to him as long as she was safe. He yelled as he charged into battle, using all the pent-up anger he felt toward the Milano Foundation.

  “Don’t shoot, I need the aliens whole,” someone ordered. “Tasers only. You three, stop that ship from taking off. Do whatever you have to. Shoot it down, but don’t let them get away!”

  “Ice, get out of here!” Elle grunted and cried out in pain.

  “Elle, where are you?” Ice tried to follow the sound of her voice. He threw his arm to the side, clotheslining someone who approached. He knocked the man to the ground. “Elle!”

  “Mmm-aaahh.” Her scream was muffled.

  “You want your girlfriend? Come and get her,” the man in charge taunted. He recognized the scientist, Dr. Hanklen, who had done the tests on him.

  Ice came to a stop as he entered a small clearing in the trees. The scientist stood beside Elle, who lay on the ground clutching her stomach. He held a gun trained on her.

&n
bsp; “Let me help reunite the lovebirds.” Luther reached down and grabbed Elle by the hair. He jerked her up. She flailed weakly as he forced her to stand. “There, that’s better. Why don’t you come over here and give her a kiss?”

  Luther pressed his lips together in a mocking gesture.

  Ice cringed. “You are not to my liking and you smell like cheese.”

  Luther scowled. He let go of Elle’s hair. She stumbled but didn’t fall. Dr. Hanklen pulled her arm and forced her next to him, pressing the gun into her side.

  “He speaks English,” Dr. Hanklen said to Elle. “You told us he didn’t understand anything.”

  “Fuck it. Kick his ass, Ice,” Elle yelled.

  Ice wasn’t sure why, but the doctor didn’t stop him from fighting Luther. The man charged, aiming his shoulder for Ice’s stomach.

  Ice braced himself for the blow, anchoring his feet as he leaned forward. He used the force of the man’s strike to help him lift Luther’s weight up and over. He flipped the human over his shoulder, jarring Luther’s stomach before dropping him. When he turned, Luther was rolling over onto his hands and knees. Ice did as Elle had commanded and kicked him in the backside with the heel of his foot.

  The man slid but did not fall to the ground. He rolled to the side before Ice could kick him again.

  “Imagine what we’ll be able to do with a specimen like this, what we’ll learn from him,” Dr. Hanklen said.

  “You’re a monster,” Elle seethed.

  “You’re probably right,” Dr. Hanklen agreed.

  Luther swept his leg as he came out of the roll. He hit Ice in the back of the knees and send him hard onto his back. The breath left his lungs in a rush and he gasped several times to get it back.

  “Ice, get up!” Elle called.

  He kicked his legs, pushing his body up from the ground so he landed on his feet. He glanced at Elle. She leaned away from Dr. Hanklen, who didn’t release her arm.

  The fight became a fury of closed fist punches and open-handed palm thrusts. He heard the man’s knuckles crack as he hit Ice’s stomach. That is why one shouldn’t fight with fists.

  Stupid human.

  He grunted in pain as a fist hit his jaw. In return, he shoved his palm hard into the man’s chest, near his heart.

  Luther’s eyes widened as he grabbed his chest. He fell to his knees. Ice followed him down, hitting him in the face to make sure he stayed down.

  Three fighters came from the woods. They surrounded Ice. Though they were smaller in size, their number would make it harder to defend against after the beating he’d just taken. Still, he lifted his hands, circling as he waited for the first to strike.

  “Get him,” Dr. Hanklen ordered.

  Suddenly, a battle cry rang out from the trees—and he heard the charging feet of his brothers. They’d gotten off the ship to aid him.

  “Go back,” Ice ordered. “You can’t be here.”

  “We’re not leaving you to have all the fun,” Snow dismissed.

  Snow forced one of the three men to face him instead. Frost appeared and did the same with a second man. That left Ice with the third. The battle was over before it started. Snow took a few blows before locking his arm around the man’s neck and riding him to the ground until he passed out. Frost hit his opponent hard that he fell and did not get back up.

  Ice’s man jumped back and ran into the forest.

  The three brothers faced Dr. Hanklen.

  “Is this Elle?” Snow asked.

  “Nice.” Frost grinned. “Are there more of her?”

  “Stay back or I’ll kill her,” Dr. Hanklen warned, jamming the barrel into her so hard she cried out in pain.

  “Kill her and we kill you,” Snow said. “Slowly.”

  “Shoot one of us and we kill you,” Frost added.

  “I think you can see how this is going to go,” Ice said.

  Dr. Hanklen eyed each of them in turn. “This isn’t over.”

  He released Elle, shoving her at Ice before slowly backing away. She fell weakly against him and couldn’t support her own weight. He lifted her into his arms. His brothers instantly formed a shield around her as they faced the doctor. Ice knew his brothers would do everything they could to protect his woman.

  Hanklen backed away, his gun pointing at them. Snow and Frost took a step back, prompting Ice to carry Elle into the trees.

  Suddenly, Hanklen turned and dove behind an uprooted tree.

  “Go,” Snow ordered.

  Ice didn’t have to be told again. He carried Elle as Frost darted ahead to lead the way back to the ship. It had moved locations, but they found it hidden in the shadows of a small cliff.

  Frost banged on the metal. Seconds later, the door opened. Ice glanced behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. Snow stood between them and the trees to offer protection.

  “Get her inside.” Frost tugged Ice’s arm, prompting him to go first.

  Ice ducked into the spaceship. The metal holding area wasn’t pretty, but it had seats. He set Elle on the largest one and strapped her in. The door closed, and they heard the rumble of an engine. Ice sat next to her. Her head dropped but her eyes were open.

  Holding her hand as they took off, he didn’t take his gaze from hers.

  “You came back for me,” she whispered, a ghost of a smile on her face.

  “I could not leave you,” Ice said.

  “You’re his woman,” Snow stated loudly from his chair.

  The ship shifted, and he felt the pressure of takeoff.

  “He loves you,” Frost added. “We saw it.”

  “I take it these are your brothers.” Elle’s smile fell a little and her eyes closed as the pressure increased. She seemed to struggle with holding up her head.

  He saw the hint of blood on her shirt, from where she’d been shot. As soon as they reached space, he would make sure she was put into a medical booth and healed. He remembered seeing one on the ship.

  “They are not wrong.” Ice held her hand tighter. “I do love you, Elle. I can’t leave you.”

  “I’ll go,” Elle said, not looking at him. “Wherever you want to be, I’ll go too. I love you, Ice. When I thought I’d lost you forever, I couldn’t bear the pain of it.”

  “Try to stay awake, Elle.” He could only hold her hand but it was enough. He felt her warmth, detected the beat of her heart in her wrist. “I’ll take care of you. I promise. Just hold on a little longer.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  One week later…

  Elle sat on her parents’ porch surrounded by the beauty of Voyageurs National Park. Sunset in Northern Minnesota fascinated Ice and his brothers, and they all three stood on the lawn gazing at the sky. No one would look for her here. The Milano Foundation would be hunting for Ellen Sharp who’d grown up in Long Island and had no living relatives. The foundation didn’t know about this place. No one did. She could only hope the foundation took the lies on her application at face value and didn’t question her identity to the point they discovered the falsehoods.

  That didn’t mean the threat wasn’t still there. The Milano Foundation would still want to capture the Sintazians. They would have to be vigilant. If trouble came, it was just a small hop into Canada. She knew the terrain, and they’d be able to walk across the border. It would buy them time to disappear. The envelope of cash that Ice gave her was hidden in the guest house for such a day.

  She pulled the blankets tighter around her body to fight off the chilly weather. By the end of the month, snow would be falling, and it wouldn’t stop until late April or May. It wasn’t Sintazian temperatures, but she felt this was the best compromise she could manage.

  They were safe. They had a home. Yes, explaining the whole alien thing to her parents had been tricky, but Elle thought they were coming around. Her parents insisted they stay, regardless of the strangeness of her guests. She knew her father would like Ice when he got to know him. How could he not? He might be an alien from outer space, but Ice was
the most honorable man she’d ever known.

  The blue had started coming back to their complexions. All except Frost, who could not take the medicine needed to get rid of his true coloring. Here, in the isolation of the national park, they didn’t need to hide who they were. Locals tended to keep to themselves when it came to strangers but were always ready to help out a friend. She hoped that, in time, those who came to meet her new family would be understanding and offer them the same courtesies they would any other neighbor.

  “We do not have skies like this on my planet.” Ice joined her on the porch. He sat beside her on a bench and held her against him. He rubbed his hand against her arm as if to warm her. “Is there any pain today?”

  “Please stop worrying. I promise I’m fine. Whatever those Galaxy Brides aliens did with their magic machine worked. It’s like I was never shot.” She tapped her side. The memory of the pain was still there, but the skin was healed. “I wish Earth would get its shit together. And maybe the aliens would share that technology with us and we could end world suffering.”

  “When the time is right, the reptilians will make contact.” Ice kept rubbing her arm. “Are you very cold?”

  “It’s not bad tonight,” she answered.

  “You feel cold to me.”

  “Stop fussing. I’m fine.” She laid her head against his shoulder.

  “No. I think I should warm you.”

  Elle got his meaning and laughed as she lifted her head to look at him. “Mm, maybe you’re right. I do feel a sudden chill coming on. I don’t think this blanket will be enough.”

  “Elle.” Frost approached, stopping them from leaving the porch. “I have made up my mind. I do not wish to go back when Galaxy Brides comes to check on us in four months. I would like to stay here. Will you help me find a place? And a woman? I would like a woman.”

  “I would like a woman too.” Snow joined them. “And a place. But mostly a woman.”

  “I would love for you to stay on Earth.” Elle knew that would make Ice very happy. “The place, I can definitely help with. As for the women…” She started to deny them, but seeing the hope in their expressions, she said, “I’ll have to see what I can do.”