by Ivy McAdams
But that sure seems like a human thing to do. Talking to a dog. Dax did it like it’s no big deal, but he also reacted to it. Does this crazy alien talk to animals?
I suppose that won’t be near the strangest thing I’ve seen today.
My head rests back against my seat and I look Zeus up and down like he’s got shit to hide.
“Make a new friend?”
He cocks his head to the side, big ears swaying on his head. He’s got that innocent puppy look, but I don’t buy it.
“Just watch what you eat. Who knows what it’ll have in it. Can’t trust this guy.”
Zeus snorts.
My eyes narrow a little. Is he backtalking me?
Whoa, no. Come on, Esme. Dogs don’t talk. That’s just crazy.
I turn my gaze to the front screen, even though there are only boring beams and wires on the ceiling of the carrier ship outside. I just need to flush everything out of my head and relax. It’s the only way I’m going to make it through this fiasco with my sanity.
Dogs don’t talk. I’ve been abducted by a damn alien, but at least I’m still alive. My captor has randomly decided it’s chow time and left me here to fetch food. I wish I could break out of these binds because it’d be the perfect time to escape. Although I don’t know where the hell I am or how I’d ever get home.
The weight of despair settles in my gut. It hurts. My stomach grumbles.
No, wait. That’s just hunger pains.
I close my eyes as the ache deepens.
I’m starving.
Dammit.
Chapter 5
Woof.
All my muscles jump at the muffled sound. I’ve been staring at the different screens on the dashboard for what feels like an hour, watching for anyone or anything out there that could help me. I don’t know if they can hear me if I scream, but I’m pretty sure the last thing that strolled behind the ship had an octopus for a face, so no thanks.
Woof.
It’s been so quiet in the cockpit, besides my talkative stomach, that even Zeus’s soft woofs are startling. I’m not sure I’m up for acknowledging him yet, him and his communicating with the enemy. After a nice long pause, I give him a reluctant glance anyway.
But he’s not looking at me. His eyes are locked on the floor beneath my chair. I frown and peer over the edge of the metal seat.
Two beady black eyes gaze up at me. Behind them are a small scaly body and big chomping incisors.
I scream, jerking my feet in the air, only to have them snapped back into place.
The ugly reptilian rat sits up on its haunches to look at me, its little nose working the air.
A violent shudder rips through me and I squeeze back into my chair, trying to get as far from the creature as possible.
“Get away! What the fuck is that thing, Zeus?”
His nose is working like crazy too, and he stares at the animal, ears drawn back and hackles raised. The rat turns at the vicious growl but doesn’t seem overly concerned.
“Oh my God, you’re so ugly. No, don’t touch me!”
The rat sticks its nose out, sniffing at my leg. I kick out and try to shake my chair. The vermin squeaks and backs off, waddling away. It disappears out the door, and I nearly burst into tears in relief.
At least Dax was right. Moving helped.
“Fuck, Zeus. Warn me sooner next time. That’s disgusting.”
My shoulders bunch as another shudder shakes me.
“Holy crap. Are there any more of those? I don’t want to be dinner.”
Zeus lifts an ear, then turns his eyes toward the doorway. A sinking feeling hits me.
Tiny toenails scurry over the floor and I tense. Shit, it’s back.
Only it’s not just the rat. He’s brought company. Three scaly critters come running in. I scream when they get close. Zeus snarls, baring his teeth, but they only give him a short glance. Then they’re on me. One bites into my boot. Another crawls up my leggings.
Oh my God, I’m going to be eaten alive. I told that asshole alien I would and he didn’t even fucking care.
Wait, what’d he say?
They won’t touch things that wiggle.
I thrash like I’m being delivered to the electric chair.
My body doesn’t move like I want it to, but it’s enough to make them stop and look at me. Although the one on my boot goes back to gnawing.
Did he seriously tell me to move around while leaving me restrained? If I see that dumbass again, I’m going to kill him.
Zeus barks again when one of the rats crawls into my lap. It’s way too close to my face and I scream. It hisses at me.
Then all three of them turn toward the door. My lapsitter turns to jump down just before a blue bolt of light hits it. It shrieks as it flies into the dashboard and slams into a screen. Its two companions scurry, but another two bolts fly, striking a second rat.
I scream again in the chaos, doing my best to duck low and keep my head safe as I peer at the doorway.
Dax’s huge form fills it, shoulders nearly touching either side of the frame. He holds the rifle I tried to steal earlier and it’s pointed at the vermin. The remaining rat scurries for the door, dashing between Dax’s legs. He lets it, giving it a good boot in the ass.
Once it’s gone, he looks up at me with his normal stern face.
I think I’m shaking, still slumped down in my seat and doing my best to at least block my face with my shoulder. Everything happened so fast that I’m still processing.
I was almost eaten. As much as I want to go off and rage on Dax for leaving me, I almost want to plant a kiss on him for saving me. Being eaten alive was just not something I wanted to experience.
“I told you to move around and they’d leave,” he grumbles.
“Funny, they didn’t seem to be disturbed by my rapid eye blinking.”
His brow twitches lower as he looks down at the restraints. Then he moves into the cockpit without another word. As if the conversation is just over. Not that I could have died. Or that he made a stupid mistake. He steps over a rat body and nudges it out the door with the toe of his boot.
He places a paper-looking sack I didn’t realize he was holding in his lap as he sits in his pilot chair. Zeus leans his nose toward it as Dax unpacks something that has such a pungent smell that I have to lean away. It’s like diving into a spice rack. Not altogether unpleasant but so overpowering that I blink back tears.
“A zorna-fold for you,” he murmurs as he holds it out toward the dog.
When Zeus doesn’t reach for it, Dax slides one of his sleeves up to reveal a metal bracelet on his black and gold forearm. A couple finger pokes to it makes the chair beep once and release Zeus’s straps.
I sit up at attention. It’s about time he let us go.
Though he doesn’t seem to turn any of his focus on me. He sets a strange-looking piece of food on a side table-like platform next to Zeus’s seat. There are a few pieces of some kind of plant—a space vegetable of some sort—and a few strips of what I think is meat, but instead of a soft pink center, it’s blue. The color itself is enough to make my toes curl.
Except my stomach still growls.
Dax glances in my direction at the sound. His glowing green eyes lock on mine, the slight tilt to his eyebrow seeming to ask a question. Maybe if the sound came from me, or why. I look away like I’m not starving. But even that strange blue meat is beginning to look delicious.
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
I scoff as if the question is ridiculous, even though I’m a bit surprised to hear it. What does he care if I am or not?
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not eating your food.”
“I wasn’t offering you my food.”
My gaze cuts back over at him. What game is he playing anyway?
He holds a tortilla-looking shell—an avocado green with some sort of cheesy strands toasted right into it—piled high with roasted blue meat, a red leafy vegetable, and a white sauce that’s definitely where
the spicy smell is coming from. It’s making my mouth water.
“Then it doesn’t matter whether I’m hungry or not.” I shake my head, looking back to the windshield.
It’s irritating enough that my body is betraying me right now. Why does the food actually have to be appealing? I would eat one of those blue-meat tacos. It may look really weird, but I’m dying here.
Dax’s horns move slightly as he gives his head a subtle shake. Then he dips his hand into the bag of food and produces another green-shelled taco, wrapped in a thin paper-like substance that reminds me of tissue. He holds it out to me.
I don’t want to take it. I mean, I’ve been abducted, strapped down like a damn mental patient, and left to be eaten by rats. I have some pride left in me. No matter how small. Every bit of me wants to ignore his offer.
I told him no. No food. I don’t trust him or anyone else out here in space not to hurt me. Why should I? He’s already told me he hates humans.
I assume the only thing keeping me alive right now is that I have an appointment, and the council is paying nicely to have me brought in. Who is this council deciding my fate anyway? Did I offend someone I didn’t even know existed?
Dax waves the food at me and the smell of cooked meat wafts at my nose.
Damn, why couldn’t I at least have eaten dinner before being abducted? It was ready. Back at my house. Oh shit, did I turn off the oven?
“If you’re not hungry—” Dax starts, but my stomach answers him promptly.
It growls, and I close my eyes to hide their rolling unnaturally far into my skull.
The alien grunts.
“Fine,” I bark, opening my eyes to glare at him. “I’ll eat your stupid space food if it’ll shut you up.”
Dax doesn’t react to my outburst, just leans across the space between our seats and holds the taco closer to my face.
I move out of his reach. “I can do it, thanks.”
He regards me sternly, one of his eyebrows perking. He doesn’t move to hand me the food or release me.
“Excuse me?” I say. “Can I get out of here now?”
His silent stare is heavy and difficult to sit through. He’s like a giant, horned statue, with the interesting gold tattoo on his face that I didn’t pay much attention to until now. It’s intricate and shimmers, almost like it has its own glow.
When he finally speaks, his voice is not much more than a murmured whisper. “I don’t trust you.”
I don’t know why that feels like such a slap in the face—I mean, I don’t trust him either—but give me a break, man.
“You’re not going to release me because you don’t trust me? What do you think I’m going to do? Fly off in your ship?”
He snorts, though I can’t tell if he’s laughing at my suggestion or angry about it.
“You can’t fly this ship.”
“Then what? I’m going to run out the door into this huge ship full of aliens that might kill me?” Never mind that the thought had crossed my mind earlier. I’d still been tempted to do it.
“Last time I caught you out of your restraints, you had a blaster pointed at me.”
My jaw tightens. Dammit.
His eyes cut into me and I feel like I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. So, yes, maybe I did threaten his life before. Kinda, since I’m not sure I could have gotten that gun to go off. But that doesn’t give him the right to hogtie me. And now he’s going to taunt me with the food?
“How do you expect me to eat this thing then? Shove my face in it like a pig?”
He falls quiet again, and that irks me for some reason. I’m mad and he doesn’t care. How did I get the strong and silent suit sent after me over someone with a little heart?
Rather than say anything else, he moves the taco thing up to my mouth again.
“What, you think you’re going to feed me?” I ask.
The side of his nose curls when he frowns. “Are you hungry or not?”
My fingers clench the armrest. “Am I going to let you feed me like an invalid?”
His brow furrows. “Am I going to let you go free to run around my ship?”
Without a good retort, I bite my tongue. He’s so damn frustrating.
“Stop being so stubborn and eat,” he grumbles and pushes the food against my mouth.
I barely get my teeth apart before the taco invades. Some of the sauce smears over my lip. I bite off a small piece to get the food away from me. He eases back while I chew the strange space food. The meat has a similar texture as our beef steaks back home but it’s a mix of sweet and salty I’m not expecting. The red lettuce-looking stuff is softer than our vegetables and melts against my tongue. The sauce is zesty and almost too hot. The skin of my lips tingles where it touches. I try to lick it off but it’s hard with a mouthful of food.
All in all, the food is good. Thank God. I want to devour that entire taco now.
When I look up at Dax to ask for more, I find him staring at me. Or more specifically, my lips. The eyes that are always so dark and intense have lost some of their flare. They’re locked in hard and he doesn’t seem to notice at all that I’m watching him. When I run my tongue over my lips again, his eyelids flutter and he refocuses on my face.
I want to tell him the food is good, but I’m not letting go of that yet. I’m still angry at him for all he’s done, but my stomach is certainly celebrating. When he doesn’t move to give me more, I open my mouth in hopes that he’ll get the idea.
His hand comes up between us and his big thumb touches my mouth. It surprises me and I jump. He drags the finger roughly over my lips, gathering the sauce from my skin and wiping it away. When I realize he’s not doing it to hurt me, I find the strength in his hand rather intriguing. Something about the rough pressure against me feels kind of nice. His thumb slides over my mouth again, so I open it and lick the sauce from his finger. The flash of green in his eyes is rather titillating. It seems I surprised him as much as he did me.
Despite the intriguing tingling in my face, my stomach gurgles.
His gaze drops to my abdomen, then back up to mine.
“Can I have some more?” I ask.
His eyes linger, here and there over my face. His high cheekbones catch the colored lights of a screen overhead. Up close he doesn’t look so alien. As long as I don’t pay attention to the black skin or glance up at the horns sprouting up top, but even those are curious now. I want to touch one. Are they smooth or rough, warm like his body or cold like bone? I follow the tattoo that swirls over his brow and zigzags up one of the horns.
I continue to study him as he moves the food to my mouth again. His neck is muscled just right, strong but not bulky. One of the golden swirls runs down the side, where I’ve seen a tendon stand out a time or two now, and disappears into that black spacesuit. The clothing doesn’t give much more than a glimpse of his shoulders and collarbone, and I find myself curious over where that tattoo goes and what kind of beautiful design is under there.
When I open up to take the next bite, one of his fingers bumps my lip and it’s forceful enough for me to believe it was on purpose. My gaze jumps up to his eyes. They’re on my mouth again but move to look back at me. The green glow is softer than I’ve ever seen it and he blinks as if he’s waking from a dream.
Then without another look in my direction, he shoves the rest of the taco into one of my hands and turns his piloting seat back around to face the dash. I want to complain that I’m still hungry and can’t reach my food, but before I can speak around my mouthful, he lifts his arm with his super-tech watch. I can see his strong fingers working the tiny contraption from around the side of the chair, and one of my restraints disintegrates.
I lift my space taco, feeling slightly sheepish over my behavior earlier after the moment Dax and I just shared. Maybe he’s not the scum of the Earth—I mean, universe.
“Thanks for the food,” I mumble, then take another bite.
He fiddles with his buttons and screens without look
ing back at me.
“You’ll need the energy. Our next stop is Metagalactic Cruiser, where the council convenes.”
His less-than-friendly response grates against some of the warmer feelings I was experiencing. His lingering fingers must have been part of my imagination. I roll my eyes.
The low strum beneath the floor hums as the engine picks up.
I don’t know exactly what happened a moment before, but the sudden shift in energies between us throws me off.
“I suppose that means no more snack stops between here and there?”
“No more stops.”
That’s great. I sit back in my seat and savor the last of my blue-green taco. I guess it’s back to flying with the asshole.
Chapter 6
My face is plastered against the wall next to me as I lean to look around the pilot chair. One of the screens on the dash displays the right exterior of the ship. Stars and lovely red and purple clouds of space dust rush by as we cruise along. Among the universe debris float massive beasts. They look like whales but so much bigger. Space goliaths peacefully coasting through the stars. Something about them is so beautiful that I can’t stop staring.
We’ve been traveling for hours, and I’m getting sleepy. Zeus is already dozing under my chair. I don’t know how much sleep I got before our pit stop earlier, but my body feels exhausted.
Perhaps it’s a reaction to space travel. Or a down from the adrenaline rush of being abducted.
Either way, it’s hard to keep from nodding off. Or at least it was until the whales came along.
“Melithralls,” Dax says.
I’m not sure how he sees me, but I wiggle back into an upright position as discreetly as possible.
“What?”
“Those animals. They’re melithralls.”
I haven’t done anything overly embarrassing, but I can’t help but feel self-conscious over getting caught staring. For a long time.
“They seem calm and peaceful,” I murmur.
“They are. Unless you accidentally clip one with your ship.”
