Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) by Stormy McKnight

placed throughout medical and at the doorway.
    “Now that the extra guards are here
do you think I should add more?” Cali teased Nellia.
    “Ten is plenty.” Nellia laughed.
    “I think even the large one would
have trouble with ten Cestori security guards.” Cali looked over to Vareen, who
hadn’t stopped staring quietly at the black clothed male.
    The medical computer started
beeping at one bed, then another. Before Nellia had made it to the first bed Cali
gaped in horror as the four prone males moved so fast as to be flashes of
color.
    Nellia screamed and fainted dead
away. A golden blur swept past her, along with red and blue ones. She heard
fighting coming from the other room. The scariest part was there was no
screaming or gun blasts, just the soft thuds of flesh striking flesh and bodies
hitting the ground.
    Cali tapped her comm badge, “This is the captain—” her knees
buckled and she stopped her emergency announcement. The largest male suddenly
towered over her, and that he wanted her to stop talking was clear. She slowly
tapped her comm badge to break the connection. His eyes were glowing an
impossible electric shade of blue. Growling menacingly, he reached for her.
    “Leave her alone.” Vareen jumped
between them and Cali stumbled back and fell over the body of one of the
guards.
    “Vareen. Don’t—” she fumbled to see
if the guard was still alive. With a small sigh of relief, she found that he
was. His weapon hadn’t even been drawn, so Cali wrenched it from the holder on
his hip.
    “I wouldn’t hurt the small female.”
The black clothed male’s voice was so deep it rumbled around medical. “Dak?
Tae? Arik? Is this area secured?”
    Cali looked behind her to see the
other three had returned. They strode to stand next to the tallest male.
    “Yes, Mica, there were only ten
guards.” The golden male seemed to find this amusing.
    “How many dead Tae?”
    “You even need to ask?” The red-shirted male answered. “No need to be
insulting.”
    “I only got to watch.” The blue
clothed male had laughter in his voice.
    “How is it insulting?” Vareen
snapped. Cali had never seen her friend so angry, and she couldn’t blame her.
“You’ve killed innocent guards. They were only protecting us.”
    Before Vareen had finished her
sentence, Mica was pressed indecently against her friend. A male that large
shouldn’t be so graceful! To Cali’s further astonishment, instead of backing
away, Vareen stood her ground and glared up at him.
    “I like this one, ” Mica announced, and then bent his head to
breathe deeply at Vareen’s neck.
    Cali drew her weapon up.
    Mica snatched Vareen as if
weightless and tossed her over his shoulder.
    “Let me go,” Vareen yelled. Cali
could only watch as her friend strained against the hand on her back.
    Cali jumped up and pointed her
weapon at Mica.
    “Cali, No, Don’t shoot, ” Vareen called and Cali met her friend's serene gaze.
    The other three males growled low
in their throats but didn’t move.
      “Let my friend go or I will kill you.” Cali
was seething, how Vareen could be so calm was beyond her.
    Behind her an inhuman voice
growled. “Leave this one.” Cali’s whole body felt like she was being encased in
freezing gel, beginning with her brain, which stopped working and oozing down
her body. Her arm lowered and she turned slowly. Drake?
    His chiseled chest was in front of
her, but she refused to believe it. Raising her eyes, she saw his stubborn
chin, slightly crooked nose…electric blue eyes?
    “Drake?”
    Cali snuggled into his warm body and sighed sleepily. “What a terrible
nightmare.” Pressing her face into his smooth chest, her lips automatically
caressing the skin. “It seemed so real, ”
Cali smiled mischievously when gooseflesh rose along Drake’s chest.
    “Cali…” Drake’s voice held an uncertainty that had her frowning. What was wrong ? She struggled to wake up.
Opening her eyes, she found she was lying on Drake’s