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  Proxy

  Book Two of The Unwelcome Trilogy

  R.D. Brady

  Books by R.D. Brady

  The Belial Series (in order)

  The Belial Stone

  The Belial Library

  The Belial Ring

  Recruit: A Belial Series Novella

  The Belial Children

  The Belial Origins

  The Belial Search

  The Belial Guard

  The Belial Warrior

  The Belial Plan

  The Belial Witches

  The Belial War

  The Belial Fall

  The Belial Sacrifice

  Stand-Alone Books

  Runs Deep

  Hominid

  The A.L.I.V.E. Series

  B.E.G.I.N.

  A.L.I.V.E.

  D.E.A.D.

  The Unwelcome Series

  Protect

  Seek

  Proxy

  Published as Riley D. Brady

  The Key of Apollo

  Be sure to sign up for R.D.'s mailing list to be the first to hear when she has a new release!

  Prologue

  Twenty-Two Years Ago

  The fireflies were out in force. Six-year-old Lyla Richards ran through the long grass barefoot, her hands cupped together to catch one. Wearing faded lined shorts and a top with half a dozen small holes, her chestnut-colored hair was pulled back in a loose braid.

  She stopped after a few feet, waiting as the small bug circled a flowering bush before landing. She rushed forward and scooped it up. A small glow emitted through her fingers. She grinned. “I got one!”

  Her sister, Muriel, age eight, hurried over, a smile on her face as well. She was the spitting image of Lyla. If not for the slight height difference, they could be twins. “I got one too.”

  The girls put their hands together, slowly uncurling their fingers. The fireflies lay in the palm of their hands. The fireflies’ abdomens blinked on and off. Lyla’s firefly spread its wings, ready to take flight. She began to close her fingers.

  Muriel shook her head, lifting her hands to help her bug fly. “No. They want to go home. Let them go.”

  “Okay,” Lyla said, although she had wanted to keep the little guy. The house was so dark at night, and with her mom sick, it felt colder. Having the little light next to her bed would have been nice.

  “Girls.”

  Muriel and Lyla turned at their father’s voice. Barid Richards stood highlighted in the dim lantern light from the doorway of their small cottage. He was tall, his head nearly reaching the top of the doorframe, and his shoulders were nearly as wide as the opening. Lyla felt an immediate sense of safety seeing him. He was tall, strong, and as far as Lyla was concerned, perfect. He was the best fighter, the best father, the best hunter. The best everything.

  “Time to come in.”

  Lyla gave the fireflies one last longing look before following her sister. Muriel threw her arms around her father’s waist. “Is Mommy feeling better?”

  Their dad rested his hand on the top of her head. “Not yet, pumpkin.”

  Lyla hugged him from his other side. “But she will get better, won’t she, Daddy?”

  He didn’t answer her question, just ran a hand through her hair. “The moon’s bright tonight.”

  Lyla turned to stare up at it. It was bright.

  “Can you see him?” her father asked.

  Lyla squinted, trying to make out the features on the moon.

  “I see him!” Muriel said excitedly.

  Lyla squinted harder. “Um, me too.”

  Her father chuckled.

  “Tell us the story again,” Muriel said.

  “All right, come on.” He led them over to the old wooden swing. He took a seat, and the girls scrambled to tuck into his sides. He wrapped an arm around each of them.

  “His name was Ta’Chiko. He came to visit us before your momma was pregnant with each of you. And he had the knowledge of the universe at his fingertips.”

  Lyla played with the zipper on her father’s jacket, listening to the smooth, deep cadence of his voice. With her head on his chest, she felt each of his breaths. He seemed so strong.

  Not like her mom. Her mom had been strong. But then she’d gotten a little cut. And now she could barely get out of bed. It frightened her how quickly her mom went from being so strong to being so weak. She snuggled in closer to her dad and pushed those thoughts away. Right now, she felt safe. Her dad would protect her.

  Her father’s voice rumbled through his chest as he spoke. “I found Ta’Chiko when I went out hunting one night. He was hurt.”

  “And you made him better,” Lyla said.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “I helped him heal. But he was very old. And his life was almost at an end. But he spent a year with your mother and me. He was a good man.”

  “And he made us special,” Muriel said.

  Her father’s arm tightened around them. His voice was soft when he spoke. “Yes, he made you special. Very, very special.”

  1

  Lyla jarred awake, her breathing rushed. She hadn’t slept long, a few minutes at most, but the nightmares had been waiting. This time it was Riley who’d been taken into the veerfinah. Lyla had run and run, but the distance between her and the ship never seemed to shorten.

  It had been two days since the assault on the breeding facility. It had been a clean getaway. There’d been no sign of pursuit. Apparently Pxedlin had really managed to remove the tracking beacons on the veerfinah. They had gotten everyone back to the Gatsby without incident.

  Everyone except Miles.

  She stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. It was a real ceiling, made from plaster and still smooth. A large light fixture hung in the middle of the room, adorned with little crystal beads.

  It was the nicest house she had been in in years, probably ever. The Gatsby was an estate from the Before. There were twenty-seven bedrooms and almost as many working bathrooms.

  And they would need every last one. They had brought all thirty-two avad women from the breeding facility back with them, along with thirty-five avad children. Plus another six former Unwelcome guards.

  The humans numbered at forty-five.

  And she wished with everything in her soul that they numbered at forty-six.

  “You’re awake,” a voice whispered softly through the dark.

  Lyla rolled onto her side. Arthur lay on his side as well, his bedroll next to hers. Riley, Maisy, and Iris were still sleeping on the other side of Arthur. Lyla and Arthur had both placed their bedrolls closest to the door, making themselves the first line of defense.

  “I’m awake,” she said just as quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else, although she was pretty sure everyone would sleep in. They had been working extremely hard for the last two days, getting the Gatsby up and running and helping ease tensions between the two groups.

  No one had worked harder than Arthur. He’d worked as translator, nursemaid, and just plain muscle. He was always the first one to pitch in when help was needed. But every chance he got, he also scoured the Naku tablet for any additional information on the history of the avad. Finding out the avad were originally from Earth had lit a fire in him. But with everything going on, there had not been much time to devote to it.

  Getting the women from the breeding facility settled had been the most difficult. Maisy and Iris had probably been the best ambassadors for the humans. They played with the toddlers, oohed and ahhed over the babies, and brought a smile to more than one face. It was hard to keep up a block against that kind of unconditional acceptance.

  Overall, the transition was going well. The women from the facility were glad to have the freedom and the luxury of being able to watch their children grow without fear of them being taken awa
y. But a few of the women were pregnant. That scared Lyla to no end. Without Miles here …

  She choked off the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. She couldn’t think of him, not when it was dark, not when she had no way to help him.

  “Did you sleep?” he asked.

  “A little.” She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Miles being carried away. If she had only been a little faster, he would’ve been here.

  Instead, he was in the clutches of the Naku. And all Lyla had was her imagination working overtime, conjuring up one horrific image after another. If it wasn’t Miles being taken, she imagined Riley, Maisy, Iris, even Arthur being taken. Her unconscious mind tortured her every time she managed to sleep.

  Arthur reach out and took her hand. “We’ll get him back.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything. Because she knew what they were facing. He was being held on the mothership. She was sure of it. No humans except for slaves were ever up there. Which meant there was no easy or even subtle way for them to sneak on board. It would have to be an assault.

  Or she would have to leave it up to the avad who were currently with them to get Miles back. Arthur and Thor had offered to go. Pxedlin had as well. But they still didn’t know where Miles was on the ship, and the ship was the size of a small city. And they didn’t have confirmation that was where he was.

  But they did know what was happening to him. Thor had reluctantly explained the methods the Naku would use to extract information from him. They would test him—physically, mentally, and horrifically. They wanted to know why the Cursed existed. And Miles was going to provide them those answers, no matter what they had to do to get them.

  Which led to a whole new slew of worries. If they managed to get Miles back, who would he be when he was returned to them? Of her three children, Miles was her most kindhearted. He’d never outgrown that part of his personality. He had an enthusiasm for life, and he simply trusted others. It was his trust that the Unwelcome could be more that had brought them Arthur, as well as everything that had happened from that point.

  But would he still trust implicitly when he returned home? Could he? When he returned, would he be the same Miles? Or would they have changed him in a fundamental way that would scar him for life?

  That thought hurt her more than anything. When she had taken on Riley, Miles, and Maisy, she had promised herself to keep them safe.

  And she had failed.

  It was a dagger to her chest every time she thought of Miles being up there. At the same time, she knew she needed to get her emotions under control. She would be of no use to him if she couldn’t. She needed a plan, a way to get him back.

  She stared into Arthur’s eyes and knew he would do whatever was necessary to get Miles back.

  She also knew it wouldn’t be enough.

  I need a miracle.

  2

  The lab was quiet. Xantar was the only one in it besides the two subjects in their cylinders. Their new acquisition, a Cursed, had been able to push off his mental probes. Even in sleep, he was able to keep Xantar out. As the oldest of his people, he was by far the strongest. He had never met a subject whose mind he could not infiltrate.

  Until now.

  In the planets the Naku had come across, the creatures had all been easily overtaken. Primitive but intelligent minds, they had little defense against the Naku’s well-developed cerebral power.

  The humans were slightly more advanced than some of the other creatures they’d come across, but they were still less advanced than others. Had they been left unmolested, they would have been overtaken just as easily. But someone had interfered with their biology. Someone had given them a defense.

  The rumors of such a weapon had been alive within the Naku for centuries. But as they conquered planet after planet, they had faced no significant resistance. Greater minds than Xantar’s concluded that the rumor was just an attempt to boost the morale of the inhabitants of the conquered planets. A failed attempt to protect them psychologically.

  And then they’d arrived on Earth and discovered the rumor was true. It had been a fluke discovery, but without it, they would have been overrun. Xantar did not believe in luck, but their extensive precaution had allowed them to discover the risk and take steps to eliminate it.

  Xantar replayed the recording from the breeding facility. He had viewed the recording multiple times already, but he felt as if he was missing something. He did not understand what he was seeing, and that feeling was not something Xantar was used to.

  On the module in front of him, the subject fought one of the avad. From size alone, the victorious outcome of the avad should have been assured. And yet the avad had lost. The subject’s full arm swung in the air, landing blow after blow to the avad. As soon as the fight was finished, the arm dissolved, leaving the subject with only half an arm.

  The subject was a Cursed, the beings who had been rumored about for centuries. He knew they were capable of defeating the avad, but to see an actual manifestation of a body part …

  Xantar was not surprised easily. But that discovery was surprising.

  His gaze strayed to the subject in the cylinder at the back of the room. He was a strong specimen, despite the missing half arm. He had sustained injuries during the attack. They would not begin any of the more physical tests until the subject was fully healed. Xantar wanted a clean test, not false results due to earlier injuries.

  But he had been sure that while unconscious he would be able to slide into the subject’s brain—only lightly, for they did not want to damage him yet. Xantar had felt sure that he would be able to discover the reason behind their abilities with the initial probing. But he had failed. Aek had tested his physiology with every tool at her disposal. But she still could not determine exactly how the abilities manifested.

  The next step would be physical tests of endurance to create a baseline physical level.

  But Xantar believed that he might understand the trigger for the abilities. His gaze shifted to the other cylinder. The female avad had been in containment almost since the moment she had been recovered from the human camp. She had been pulled from her slumber for a few small tests, which she passed, but she was test subject one. They needed to understand why her genetic similar had turned from the Naku.

  The door to the lab slid open. Fejel glided in, pausing to place his finger to his forehead. Xantar returned the gesture. Fejel made his way to Xantar’s side. A problem has been observed. It appears six Unwelcome have been taken from the breeding facility as well.

  They are not among the dead?

  We thought that as well. But I double-checked the numbers and the IDs. Six are missing. They must have been taken.

  Xantar frowned. Why would they take the Unwelcome? To care for the women? To guard the humans? It seemed unlikely, but there was a precedent. The Unwelcome Geothorxed had said they did not torture him but simply asked him questions. Were they looking for answers? What could the Unwelcome tell them? They knew nothing of importance.

  Has the veerfinah been found?

  No, Esteemed Leader. The tracker seems to be malfunctioning.

  Not possible. It must have been removed.

  Would the humans know how to do that?

  Xantar nodded. That is most likely why they have taken the avad. To learn about our technology and defenses.

  What would you like me to do?

  Continue to search for the missing avad. And send a group to the last known camp. See what they know.

  Yes, Esteemed Leader. Fejel bowed his head before leaving.

  Xantar narrowed his eyes staring at the floating avad. Her genetic similar had begun all of this. Before his desertion, the avad had behaved as they had been programmed to behave. Now, things had become unpredictable.

  Xantar did not like unpredictable.

  Xantar turned his back to the Cursed. Disturbances among the avad ranks had been observed. They were less efficient. There had been sleep disturban
ces. But it had not been noted until after the breeding facility attack.

  A small kernel of fear wafted through Xantar. The avad protected the Naku. They were critical in ensuring the success of the Naku’s mission.

  He glided closer to the Cursed’s cylinder. The subject was muscular, although not particularly tall compared to the avad. But with his abilities, the height and increased muscle mass was unnecessary. Even without it, the subject could defeat a stronger and taller opponent. It would be more effective if they did not need to go through the enhancements the chelvah required.

  All they needed to do was figure out the trigger and the catalyst that allowed the change to take place within the subject. Once they did, they would have access to a whole new group of protectors.

  He gazed at the subject, who twitched in the cylinder. Soon the avad would not be needed. They would have an even more lethal group of chelvah to keep them safe.

  3

  It was quiet.

  That was the first thing Miles noticed. It wasn’t the normal quiet, with the soft hum of insects and the movement of the wind. It was the complete absence of sound.

  His body felt strange as well. As if he was floating but not. He tried to force his eyelids open, but they felt so heavy. He struggled for a moment, all the while straining to hear something, anything. But beyond him there was an unmoving wall of silence. Where were the sounds of the camp? Even with their cabin, the sounds of people walking, talking, and laughing usually drifted through the walls. At night, there was the comforting lullaby of the crickets.

  I’m not at the camp.

  The realization hit him slowly. His brain felt sluggish, as if it, too, had been in a deep slumber. He struggled to pull up a recent memory, something that could tell him what was going on.

  A tall brick building nestled into the side of the mountain appeared in his mind.