by Ella Maven
She tugged on my biceps. “Can you walk? We have to leave now!”
Spurred into action, I tucked her under my arm, ignoring the stabs of pain in my bleeding sides and raced toward a bike, making sure to keep the tangled web of numa over our heads. Hunners pinged off of it like an ice storm on a roof.
When we made it to the nearest bike, I threw my leg over it, my poor balance nearly sending me off the other side. I hauled Reba in front of me, checked Luna was safe between us, and flipped the bike to life. As it lifted into the air, I heard Gaul’s anguished cry, but I didn’t look back. As much as I would have loved to exact some revenge, I was too weak, and Reba was too precious. Revenge could wait. Escape was the priority.
With Reba safe in front of me, I sailed the bike out of the gates and headed home. I wouldn’t stop until we made it to the Night King gates, no matter the pain or the fatigue.
Reba had saved me. I wouldn’t put her in danger again.
Fourteen
Reba
I still couldn’t believe that worked. The entire plan had to be made in a matter of hours. Sure, I had observed all the pieces I’d needed to escape, but they hadn’t fit together, and there hadn’t been an urgency, until I’d watched them drag Ward’s unconscious body through the center of camp and brace him to some pole in a complicated metal contraption that looked like some torture device straight out of medieval times.
For a split second, I’d contemplated getting the hell out of this place and striking out on my own. Ward had given me some lessons. I knew which plants were safe to eat and how to avoid the deadly animals. But that had been a fleeting thought. I refused to believe Ward had betrayed me. I was going to use my brain to escape this place, but I was going with my heart when it came to Ward. He’d shown me care and tenderness. He’d talked about his brother and his friends with love. I had to trust his heart was good. If I was wrong, then maybe I deserved to die a miserable death on this planet. But at least it had been my choice.
So, I’d taken advantage of the shift change. The evening crew was always a bit lax. They tended to enjoy a quick smoke of some putrid-smelling stick at the corner of the hut. Maybe they weren’t supposed to partake while on the job, so they hid? It didn’t really matter why, it just mattered that for a few brief moments they left my door unguarded. Just long enough for me to slip out and creep into the shadows. Dusk was perfect, because my hut sat close to the back wall and was the first to be thrown into darkness when the sun ducked beneath the wall.
From there, all I had to do was open the gate, and pray the hunner nest which I’d seen on the way in was still there.
It was. I’d hacked at a nearby numa vine, stomped it into a mat, and killed one of those fuckers. Then as I’d hoped, the nest converged on me like a swarm of locusts straight out of Revelations.
That was when I second-guessed my plan. Could I actually outrun these damn things? I had to lead them into the camp and get them to attack the Red Hands. But not Ward.
My plan was flawed.
But somehow, thanks to Ward hulking out and busting out of his torture device to lurch toward me like a living corpse, my plan had worked. I’d done that. Me. Miss Relies on Pepper Spray. Miss Kinda Helpless. Miss Often Makes Wrong Choices.
I sat on the front of our stolen bike with my hands gripping the handlebars, feeling mighty proud of myself until I remembered the reason, we were in this mess in the first place was … me.
I sobered quickly. I was the one who ran from Ward and got caught by alien crocodiles. I was the reason Ward was on his own, without backup, and got nearly beaten to death by those Red Hands assholes.
Then his arm wrapped around my waist and his raspy voice spoke in my ear over the rush of air. “My brave, smart little human. You saved me.”
The words warmed me, but I still felt guilty. “I’m the reason we were there in the first place.”
But my words were carried away on the wind, thrown out into the night as I willed them not to be true.
I wasn’t quite sure how long the journey was. A few times, my eyes closed, and I was jolted back awake by a turn that Ward took or a bark from Luna. But soon, the dense forestry cleared, and we roared up a tree-lined path on a steady incline. In the distance, I could see a looming shape. I squinted, but since moonlight was my only guide, I wasn’t able to discern what it was.
We were nearly upon it when two walls became visible, stretching in front of us to end on what seemed like a cliff on either side. “What?” I wondered to myself, just as Ward pulled to a stop. Two figures came toward us.
“Who is it?” one asked.
Ward dismounted and staggered a little. One figure stepped into a beam of moonlight, and I spotted blue skin, horns, and a red armband on his arm. Was this it? Were we home?
“Hey—” the warrior began.
“Get Daz.” Ward snarled. “It’s Ward.” As soon as his name left his lips, he stumbled and collapsed.
I shrieked and launched myself off of the bike to his crumpled form in the dirt. The two warriors shouted. The gates flew open, and one raced inside as the other hauled Ward over his shoulder like he weighed nothing. His dark eyes lit on me. “Human?”
“I’m … yes. I’m Reba.”
His expression softened. “Ward said he’d find you.”
“He found me,” I whispered, feeling tears prick my eyes. “In more ways than one.”
He turned and jogged inside. Holding on to the fur pack at my back containing Luna, I ran as fast as I could to keep up. Drixonians seemed to appear out of every corner, hulking blue beasts with piercings and horns.
“Take him to his hut!” I heard a voice call out, and the warrior carrying Ward changed directions. While dark, a few dim lights illuminated the area inside the walls. At first glance, it looked a lot like the Red Hands camp, with a few single huts lining the one side and a large apartment-type structure along the other. I didn’t have to time to gawk though. We headed directly to a hut. The door was already open, a smaller warrior standing at the entrance with a bag.
We burst inside, and Ward was placed on a pile of furs along the corner. I rushed to kneel at his side, and he moaned, semi-conscious. It wasn’t until now I noticed large gashes in his sides. Added to the mangled mess that was his face and bruised body, it was no surprise he’d collapsed once he realized he was home. How had he managed to drive the bike the entire way here?
A small light in the shape of a sphere illuminated the space. The smaller warrior stepped up to Ward’s side, and I appreciated the affectionate way he placed his hand on Ward’s forehead. “Hey there. We missed you for many rotations, and you greet us in this condition?” He tutted with a small smile on his face.
Ward coughed and then moaned with pain. “Fleck you. Just fix me, you bastard. And Reba has an implant. Found one in a hideout.”
The warrior’s nubbed brows lifted before he nodded at me. “I’m Rokas, the Night Kings healer.”
“Hi, I’m—I’m Reba.”
Ward groped blindly for my hand. “Rokas, make sure Reba is taken care of. Find Daz and the other females—”
“You know she’ll be safe here.”
“She is All,” Ward said, meeting Rokas’s gaze as best as he could. “And she,” his eyes met mine, “is all to me.”
“Ward—” my eyes watered, knowing I was the reason he was in this much pain. It was all because of me.
“Promise me,” Ward said.
“I promise.” Rokas held up a syringe and looked at me. “I’m going to stick him with this, and it’s going to heal his injuries, but it’s going to put him out for a while as it works on the more serious ones I predict are internal.
“Ribs are busted,” Ward mumbled.
“And you’re bleeding like a stuck pivar.”
“Red Hands,” he winced. “Had me in Drixonor.”
Rokas froze when Ward spoke the last word, and his eyes flared. “You lie.”
Ward snorted. “I wish. Gaul is even worse than I remem
ber.”
Rokas placed a hand on Ward’s shoulder. “Sleep now and heal, warrior.” He plunged the syringe into Ward’s face, and then his side. I watched in absolute amazement, half wondering if my mind was playing tricks, as Ward’s swelling decreased and the cuts on his face closed. The slashes in his sides healed over more slowly, but soon the only clue he’d been injured was the tacky blood remaining on the furs under his body.
His eyes closed, his chest heaved with deep breaths, and he slept. I placed my hand on his cheek, happy to see that his face was no longer pinched in pain. “You healed him,” I whispered. “So quickly.”
“Valerie is still not used to how fast our medis works,” he said.
I was about to ask who Valerie was when heavy footfalls entered the hut, shaking the floor beneath my knees. I turned to find a gigantic figure—bigger than Ward—filling the doorway. For a moment, his upper half was in shadow, but then he stepped into the light, and I gasped. The left side of his face was marred by scars, and his horn was broken off in a jagged edge. He snarled, and his dark eyes, black as night, focused on me.
“My brother should have let you fend for yourself,” he growled at me, his voice deep and dark. Terror shot through me, raising the hair on the back of my neck as I shrank away from the imposing warrior. His brother?
“Gar,” Rokas said in a soft tone. “Watch your tongue. She has an implant and can understand you.”
“Even better,” he spat.
Rokas sighed. “Your brother will be fine. Don’t insult his female while he’s not awake to defend her.”
Part of me wanted to say I could defend myself, but I didn’t have a defense. I had run, and Ward had gone through hell because of my actions. I’d once been so eager to meet Gar, to see the warrior who Ward admired. And now he hated me on sight. I couldn’t even blame him.
“His female?” Gar snarled. “She bears no loks. He wouldn’t choose a disloyal, disobedient female like this one.”
The words were daggers to my heart.
“Gar!” Roared a voice from behind the big warrior. Gar stepped aside. Another giant stepped inside. His black and silver streaked hair hung down to his shoulders and his septum was pierced with a large gold ring. His armband matched the rest of the clavas, but his was rimmed in gold thread.
His eyes met mine, and where I expected censure, there was nothing but a confident kindness. He stepped forward but maintained a respectable distance, probably because I looked frightened for my life. “I’m Daz,” he said. “Drexel of the Night Kings. You’re safe here.”
I couldn’t help it, my eyes flicked to Gar, who crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look at me.
“Gar’s words are just that. Words. He won’t hurt you. No warrior here will hurt you.”
“Wh-where are the other women?” I needed to see them. I needed proof. I wasn’t taking anything to chance after all I’d been through.
A tall woman entered the hut, making the space rather crowded. She had dark skin and her long hair in braids down her back. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest and stood with her feet braced similarly to Gar. “Seriously?” she barked at him. “I could hear you yelling from my bed, you big asshole.”
This woman. Yelled. At Scary Scarred Gar. My eyes nearly popped out of my head.
He curled his lip at her. “You didn’t see my brother’s condition, Miranda. Right before I walked in, I overheard him say that Gaul had him in Drixonor—”
“And I’m sorry for that, but he’s here now, healing, and instead of comforting him you’re in here being a dick yelling at a woman who is clearly terrified of you. Did anyone ask what she’s gone through?” She waved around the room, and three males—even Gar—avoided looking at her.
With a toss of her head, her expression immediately softened, and she strode to my side, dropping into a crouch in front of me. “Hey you. You okay?” Her expression was so kind, so tender, and thank fuck so human.
Was I? Sort of. No. Maybe. I didn’t know what to answer, so I nodded, then shook my head, then nodded again before shrugging and bursting into heart-rending sobs. Miranda, bless her heart, gathered me in her arms. She let me bawl like a baby all over her shirt.
“S-s-so sorry,” I blubbered. “I sh-shouldn’t have run. But I was scared. B-battle and blood. B-but Ward rescued me and th-then he was hurt b-because of m-m-me.”
Miranda ran her hand up and down my back in a soothing caress. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We were all scared then. I don’t blame you for running. None of us do.”
“G-Gar does and I w-was e-e-excited to meet W-Ward’s brother and n-n-now he hates me!” I wailed. I couldn’t hold it in. The many days of terror and uncertainty and mind-numbing captivity had broken me. It was amazing how our minds and bodies finally caved when we felt like we had a soft spot to land. My soft spot was Miranda. At that moment, based on her comfort and kind words, I would have done just about anything for her.
I felt Miranda turn, and I glanced up through tear-blurred eyes to see her turning a wicked, if-looks-could-kill death glare on Gar.
His nostrils flared, and while he didn’t apologize, he did drop his gaze and stomp out of the hut.
Daz spoke up now. “I’m sorry for Gar. Your name is Reba, right?” I nodded, at least comforted by this warrior who despite looking lethal, didn’t scare me. “You met Miranda, and I promise as soon as the sun rises, we won’t be able to keep the other women away, including my cora-eternal Fra-kee.”
I shot Miranda a questioning look at the phrase cora-eternal. “His mate.” She answered. “Frankie.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Wait, was she the one he took away?”
Miranda nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, but it’s okay now. We’re all okay. Look, I can tell you’re dead on your feet. Let’s get some rest, and tomorrow we’ll explain everything. Frankie and the other women will be so happy we’re all reunited.”
Fatigue had hit me a while ago like a wall. I nodded. “That’s probably for the best.”
“You want to come to my room?”
I glanced at Ward and bit my lip. I didn’t want to leave him. He’d meant safety to me for so long, and I wasn’t willing to give up his presence when I’d gone without it at the Red Hands’ camp.
Miranda spoke over her shoulder. “I’ll stay here with her, Daz. Can you send Frankie over in the morning?”
He propped his hands on his hips. “How come a few females come into my clavas and all of a sudden I’m not the feared leader but just a messenger?”
“Oh, you’re still feared and big and bad and oh so many muscles,” Miranda pitched her voice high. “Protect me, big strong male!”
He rolled his eyes and walked out of the hut, muttering to himself as he shut the door. “She’s mocking me. I know she’s mocking me…”
Miranda turned to me with a smile. “All right, Reba. Let’s get you horizontal. But no funny business.”
I snorted and despite the circumstances, felt my lips curl into a smile. “I can keep my hands to myself.”
Fifteen
Reba
I remembered Frankie as small, but loud and mighty. She’d fought like a wildcat when Daz had dragged her away from us. But now, she was all smiles, her hair in a shiny high ponytail as she greeted us the next morning the second we stepped out of Ward’s hut. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay! We were all so worried about you.”
She held me at arm’s length and surveyed my body as if checking for my condition. “Miranda showed you the cleanser and got you a change of clothes, I see?”
“She did.” I turned to smile at my new friend, who stood behind me like a proud mother.
“Well then let’s go get breakfast! We had to keep Xavy away from the cooktop because he fancies himself a chef, but everything he makes taste suspiciously of alcohol.”
I wrinkled my nose just as series of yips came from the hut behind us. Frankie reared back. “What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s Luna,” I said before calling over my shoulder. “Come here, girl!”
“She tamed a welf pup,” Miranda said. “The guys’ll just love this.”
Luna had grown considerably since I’d found her in the forest. Already she’d doubled in size. When she leaped into my arms, I grunted under her weight. “Meet Luna.”
Frankie blinked at my pet but made no effort to pet her. “Um.”
“What the fleck?” I heard and turned to see Daz striding toward us, gaze on Luna.
Instinctively I twisted at the waist shielding her with my body. “She’s my pet.” I lifted my chin in the air.
“Pet?” Daz looked absolutely puzzled.
“Is it that weird?”
“Only thing weirder would be a pet salibri,” he muttered. “Whatever. You three need to get to breakfast. The other females are waiting not so patiently.”
“What about Ward?” I asked.
“Rokas will be there in a minute to check him over. Based on his injuries, he’ll probably sleep most of the rotation. I’m going to sit with him until then.” With a kiss to Frankie’s temple, Daz retreated inside.
With one last look at the hut where Ward slept and healed, I followed Frankie and Miranda toward the large apartment building structure. Luna trotted behind me with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Inside, warriors were everywhere, eating at tables, talking in groups, and sweeping the floor. Everyone had a job, and everyone seemed busy. Not a single one looked at me like they wanted to eat me, kill me, or hurt me. In fact, most of them ignored us.
The women were not who I remembered. The huddled group of half-naked, terrified, and traumatized women who’d been shoved off a spaceship on a foreign planet were no more.
