Serix ducked down behind the barricade, gritting his teeth as he heard the sound of bullet render flesh across the cavern once again. He never thought he would see the day when he loathed his own fighting abilities, but here he was, cursing himself for being such a good shot. He stared down at the gun in his hands, trembling with a mixture of emotions: anger at the Lunairans for disrupting their peace; fear for his and Cassie’s wellbeing; shock from shooting his own people. He hated everything about the battle.

Suddenly, he was ripped from his thoughts by a heart wrenching scream. He looked up to see the teenage girl, Terra, kneeling over a lifeless body. One of the half-bloods had been killed. He continued to watch in horror as one of the Lunairans took aim at her. Being too far away from the scene, he could do nothing but stare as Sarah swooped in to rescue the traumatized girl, saving her from getting shot.

Forcing himself to look away from Terra, he began to analyze the rest of the fighting in the cavern. Time seemed to slow down strangely as he took in one group after the next. The able-bodied Lunairans, executing precise military maneuvers; the crippled Lunairans, nursing their wounds or firing at their enemies from behind columns of rock; the humans, trying desperately to save their home. Despite his lifetime of preparation for war, it all made him sick.

Taking a steeling breath, Serix lifted his gun once more to shoot at the attackers. His violet eyes scanned the battlefield in search of a target, quickly landing on one female Lunairan not too far from where he was crouching. She moved with the characteristic grace of any female of his kind, but he could see hints of weakness when she stepped on her left leg. She was injured.

He raised the barrel of his weapon, taking aim… and then froze.

“Celuria?” he gasped. The female spun around at the sound of her name. She met his eyes for only a moment before she pointed her own weapon at him and fired. He swiftly ducked behind the barricade to avoid the laser, suddenly grateful for his quick reflexes. There was no doubt in his mind: This Lunairan was Celuria, the female he had found friendship with on the ship, and who had—as rumor would have it—been assigned to become his mate.

And she had just tried to kill him.

He rolled out of the way as a set of boots landed hard on the ground where he had been kneeling just a second ago. Celuria had jumped the barricade. She swung at him with a bladed weapon, which he dodged by jumping to his feet. Not wanting to give her a second chance to hit him, he stuck her wrist, disarming her of her knife. She followed with a punch that connected with his jaw. 

As they engaged in hand to hand combat, Serix’s mind reeled. Why was Celuria here? Why was she attacking him so viciously? He sidestepped another punch, throwing one of his own in return. She was fast, but he managed to throw her off balance—just enough that he was able to knock her to the ground with a sweep of his right leg. He pinned her down, twisting her arms behind her back to force her to yield to him.

“Get off of me, cretin!” she spat, writhing beneath him.

“Why are you here?” he asked, ignoring her insult. “How did you find us?”

Celuria just grunted as she continued to fight against his grasp.

Serix twisted her arms a bit more, causing her to cry out in pain. His anger was starting to get the best of him. “Answer me, Celuria!” he snarled.

“Traitor,” she gasped. Her eyelids fluttered as if she was beginning to fade from consciousness.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I didn’t want to do this, but you give me no choice.” He cocked his arm back and dealt one swift blow to the back of her head, knocking her out. If she wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know now, he could at least take her prisoner for the humans to interrogate later on.

Serix dragged Celuria’s body out of harm’s way, binding her hands, feet, and mouth with some rope and cloth he found nearby in case she was to wake up before the battle ended. Once that was done, he rejoined the others to find that the humans were finally beginning to turn the tide of the battle. Some of them had taken Lunairan prisoners as well, while others continued to fight off the remaining invaders. He exhaled in relief. It seemed like the fight was finally drawing to a close.