38.

Home.

She couldn't believe it. She was finally going back home.

Home!

She did a happy dance within her mind, barely containing her excitement as she let that giddy smile spread over her lips, her sparkling gaze thievishly shifting between Meoni and Emerick as they both walked a few steps ahead of her.

"How much time do we have?"

"Eleven earthian minutes, at best,"

Madeleine listened to them converse as she quietly followed them through the maze-like palace.

"You truly are skillful, laxian. How did you succeed?" Meoni asked, her long and silky black tresses swishing over her bare back as she turned her head to the side and rose her sight to look at Emerick.

"I shot him in the head. Five times, to be precise," He simply answered, keeping his gaze trained ahead.

"What? H-how-" She stuttered with utter astonishment.

"He was completely distracted by Madeleine. Apparently, that is actually possible,"

"I did not fully believe either that I could temporarily eliminate him so fast. Until I realized that he did not even sense my presence," Emerick explained, receiving an incredulous snort from the princess.

"Well that is something I could never believe under ordinary circumstances. But you, little earthling," She turned to look over her shoulder, directly at Madeleine as she expressed a knowing smirk.

"You are no ordinary human being, are you?"

"There is something within you, aside from that ancient illyrian DNA. Something much stronger," She pensively said with a look of wonder, receiving a lost one from Madeleine.

"Like what?" Her eyebrows scrunched up with confusion.

Unfortunately, Meoni didn't get to answer as Emerick suddenly tensed up again, swiftly turning around to face Madeleine as well.

Her breath hitched up within her throat as she found those gloomy and darkened eyes peering right back into her own, his touch creating a small pool of heat dancing in her stomach as he gently wrapped his hand around her arm.

"Stay close, and please don't try to trade your life for my own again. I am far from worthy,"

Her lips parted, having yet to react as he turned back around and prepared his guns, positioning his body so that it was serving as a living shield for her.

Her mind still reeled after his words, everything else droned out as it forcibly lured her back to the memory of what she'd almost said to him earlier.

No. She did not want to think about it. She just couldn't. She didn't want it to be true.

The possibility...of her being in love with-

No!

Her hands unconsciously clenched over the warm and smooth surface under her palms, only now realizing that she was actually holding onto Emerick's waist as she felt his muscles tense.

"Don't be afraid, Madeleine. You're safe now. I will take you back to Earth,"

Her eyes widened, warmth filling her entire being at the sound of his words. And before she could even stop herself, she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him as tight as she could, sticking her forehead against the middle of his hot and muscular back.

"Madeleine-"

Emerick's breath caught up in his throat, the feel of the little earthling's fragile arms around him evoking a completely new and foreign sensation within his chest cavity.

It felt...warm and tingly.

He didn't even know how to properly describe it.

But he didn't care. Because he found himself to be enjoying it... So much that his body went on automatic mode, allowing his mind to remain drowned into an euphoric state whilst his hands worked to mercilessly shoot at everything that crossed their path with swiftness and precision as they started encountering more and more of the Alpha's vast army along the way.

Both him and the princess fought the incoming soldiers whilst keeping the earthling safe at the same time, flawlessly syncing and intertwining with each other's moves as if they had known each other since forever, and not just a couple of hours back.

They anticipated each of their moves and worked together into a lethal and perfectly-executed dance, dodging bullets and taking down body after body without even breaking a sweat, their prowess only highlighting their otherworldly nature, the true extent of their strength and the gaping difference between the human gene and theirs.

They were gods amongst men...

Human skill and strength seemed like a rather dumb and tasteless joke in comparison, Madeleine thought as she watched Meoni hold onto Emerick's corded arm with one hand as she fluidly lowered herself and slid between his legs, over the slick floor as she expertly shot a few soldiers coming from behind his back. She then flipped back up to her feet and ran back to Emerick's crouched form, using his shoulder for momentum as she stepped over it and darted in the air, landing a few powerful kicks into a soldier's face. All that in less than a second.

Hell, she almost missed some of their actions as they moved so incredibly fast, not even wasting a single step or breath as they swiftly moved even when taking guns and ammo from the dead bodies.

"We need to move faster,"

She suddenly blinked as if pulled out from a trance at the sound of Emerick's voice, her brows scrunching up as she processed his words.

Was that even possible?

She watched as he hulked straight towards her with determination, stopping to peer between her wide eyes.

"I will need you to hold on tight, Madeleine. Can you do that for me?"

She barely had the time to give out an absent nod as he snuck one arm under her butt and threw her up against him, forcing her to wrap her limbs around his neck and waist, holding onto him like a baby monkey.

"Do you need me to carry you too, illyrian?" He turned his head to the side to throw Meoni a look, the ghost of a smirk dancing on his lips as he watched her narrow her dark eyes at him.

"You offend me, laxian,"

"I will need you to use your maximum speed then. We only have a few spaces of time left until the Alpha's full recovery,"

Madeleine's muscles tensed at the sound of his words, clinging tighter against him right before he unexpectedly dashed into a crazily fast sprint.

She swallowed that small shriek that threatened to escape, burying her face into that sweet-scented spot between his neck and shoulder as that invisible force exercised by the air around them pushed her harder into him, even feeling the strong and steady beat of his heart against hers, the very blood within her flowing at the same rhythm as if commanded by it.

She drew in a lungful of that sweet scent, fastly growing intoxicated by it again as she could feel those pleasant sensations revive into her body. She couldn't understand what was happening but she didn't care anymore. He was becoming too addictive to let go. She didn't care whether she was falling in love with him or not, or whether this was just an illusion provoked by certain unnatural factors.

The only thing she wanted to do, was to remain right there, in between his arms until the very end of time.

To have him touch her and-

Her drifting thoughts abruptly ended as he rather firmly placed his hands over the sides of her waist, the action surprising the hell out of her and even making her feel ticklish as he rose her up in the air before putting her down, but not before earning himself a squealing giggle.

"I-I'm sorry, you took me by suprise," She apologized with blushing cheeks as she noticed the rather distraught look on his face.

"I'm fine, I promise!" She rushed to assure him, the male giving her one last look before turning to tap away onto a glossy display sitting right next to a sturdy-looking door.

"I'm here! Sorry for the delay!"

Madeleine startled as the illyrian princess shouted from right behind her, making her turn around to face her.

"Are you prepared to go back home, little earthling?" The princess' dark eyes met Madeleine's sky blue ones, sparkling with something akin to excitement and even a little bit of unrest.

Yet before the girl could answer a hissing sound cut through their momentary silence, drawing their attention back towards Emerick.

Madeleine's lips parted, her sky blue eyes glittering with emotion as she peered past that open door, looking at the familiar inside of a traveling pod.

Home. She was going home.