Alienus

Chapter Fifty Four

I should probably warn you, that this chapter might be a little...much. It's not pretty. But it's out there now and I can't really do anything about it. I can only hope that you guys like it and don't hate me /\

Also this super cool poster was made by @FromDownSouth! Thanks so much sweety!

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"Who put you up to this?" Rafe asked, slowly standing up, his arms pulling me up as he went. I stood too, my eyes glued to the laser gun in my attacker's hand. Rafe continued to move, slowly pushing me behind him.

The attacker watched all this, his head tilted like he was almost amused.

"Was it Ace?" Rafe asked and my eyes flit to look at him. I could only see the side of his face in the angle I was in. His jaw was clenched and his gaze was trained on the C'Riel before him.

"Sir, with all due respect, it is not you I am ordered to kill. So if you will step aside, this will be so much-" the attacker said.

"Who employed you?" Rafe asked, his biceps bulged against my cheek.

Then, out of nowhere, I felt some pressure in my head, I bit my lip to keep from whimpering. The pressure was insistent and gentle at the same time, but it hurt. When I thought it was going to become worse, my ears popped and I had a few seconds of wooziness. When it cleared, I saw a picture in my head.

I saw ... the back of my head as I stood still, unnaturally still ... and I saw the room we had been in before we were kidnapped to this room. I sucked in a quiet breath.

This was Rafe's perspective when we'd been paralysed in that room!

Why was he showing me this?

"What makes you think I am being employed by someone? I work for no one-"

Everything that was happening in the present, the conversation between Rafe and the attacker, dulled as I tried to focus on what Rafe was trying to tell me. I could hear their voices, but I wasn't listening to them.

I tried to 'mentally' hold on to the picture longer, wondering what he was trying to say.

Then the picture started to move slowly, still in Rafe's perspective. I felt Rafe's frustration, rage and fear at being paralysed like this-unable to protect me. Then, I felt his shock when the C'Riel that had kidnapped us, held up four flat round metallic devices in his hand for only Rafe to see. Then slowly, I felt the pressure Rafe felt when that C'Riel pressed something against Rafe's back.

In the present, I felt Rafe let out a laugh and it came out relaxed, like we weren't talking about an assassination.

"What is your motive to kill, then?" Rafe challenged.

The attacker spread his arms wide, gun and all, "Purity, of course."

I blinked as the image slowly faded from my head and dropped my eyes to look at Rafe's back ... and surely enough there were four of those devices strapped around Rafe's belt. I looked back up at the attacker, slowly lifting the hand that wasn't within the view of him and started removing the devices from where they were attached on Rafe's belt. They came off like magnets, thankfully without a sound. I lowered my hand when they had all come off and pressed them Rafe's left hand, my heart beating in my ears the whole time.

Rafe took only two, leaving the other two in my hand.

"Ah, you are one of those?" Rafe asked.