by Ella Maven
I nodded, feeling stupid at how disappointed I was. “Right.”
“Kotche,” he gripped my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. “This is all because of you. I’m only muscle here. This is your mission. Your mind. Your bravery.”
I blinked away the tears prickling my eyes. My heart pounded at his words and goosebumps lifted the hair on my arms. I let out a shuddery breath. “You’re right.”
“I know I’m right,” he grinned. His eyes glowed as he pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Be right back. And then… we’ll talk.”
I smiled at him. “We’ll talk.” There was so much I wanted to say, and I already couldn’t wait to find out what kind of happy life I could possibly have in this galaxy. As long as Bosa was at my side.
Clicks fell like rain and Bosa disappeared in front of my eyes. He’d told me his pants were specially formulated to camouflage like his scales, so with the putty hidden inside of them, he was completely invisible. I reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing with my fingers. He returned the squeeze, and I detected the faint blurry outline of his body before his hand left mine, and he was gone.
I waited, watching the cargo ship as several Gattrix guards stood watch, pacing the dock with laser guns strapped to their chests. I hated the fuckers, from their gross mandibles to their hooked feet. I shuddered, remembering the feel of their venom stinging my shoulder. The skin was nearly healed now; only a slight red rash remained.
I crept a little closer to the edge of the copse of trees and studied the cargo ship. I’d told Bosa that placing the putty near the fuel tank was the best option, as the ship would flame up in seconds once ignited. I tried to squint to see any sign of Bosa, and just when the breeze picked up, I saw the putty—his hand and body were undetectable, but the familiar colors of the putty were visible, moving through the air like magic before being placed under the hull. He must have climbed over the landing equipment to reach the spot.
I smiled, nearly giddy with excitement, until something caught my eye. There were a few port windows near the front of the ship, and I could have sworn I saw something moving inside. Was that a face?
A hand—brown and five-fingered—slapped the window and I stood up with a jerk, wishing I had binoculars. What was in there? My heart pounded, white noise rushed in my ears, just as more movement flashed in front of the large front windows of the ship. I watched in horror as a few Gattrix shoved a dozen women at the front of the glass. They huddled together, chained and trembling. Footsteps sounded on the dock as a small contingent of Gattrix marched toward the ship, led by Frenz.
I could barely see through the rage coursing through my body. This was a setup. It had to be. Frenz drew me out with the departure application, and filled the ship with women, knowing I wouldn’t be able to blow up the ship…
“No!” I screamed as I raced out of the copse of trees. My head reeled. I didn’t want to draw attention to Bosa, but from where he was on the underside of the hull, he couldn’t see the women.
I ran like my hair was on fire, knowing this was practically suicide but unwilling to look into those women’s faces and let them be burned alive in a ship with their captors. I couldn’t do it, and maybe that made me a weak human. They could take me from Earth, but they’d never take my humanity.
Bosa’s voice rang out, loud and clear. “Karina, stop!”
But I couldn’t, not as I stared into the faces of my fellow women. I knew what horrors they could face in this galaxy, but I also knew what kind of happiness they could find… if given the chance. Bosa had shown me that. I refused to let them die this way.
I waved my arms frantically as the squad of Gattrix leaped from the dock and sped toward me. Frenz remained behind, thin arms crossed over his chest, his mandibles clicking with glee.
“Run,” I shouted to Bosa, hoping he knew I was talking to him. Why had he shouted and drawn attention to himself? I took a sharp turn away from the cargo ship and ran harder. The Gattrix would catch me, but hopefully this would give Bosa time to get away…
Laser fire rang out, pinging the ship, and I looked over my shoulder, stumbling when I saw a bronze body materialize as it fell from the hull of the ship. He hit the ground with a thud, and I opened my mouth on a blood curdling scream. “No!”
How had this gone so wrong? Gattrix shrieks pierced the air, and I felt a hook tangle in my hair, tugging with a sharp jerk so that my feet flew out from under me, and I landed on the ground on my back. Above me, several Gattrix hovered. A few drops of venom dripped from their mandibles to burn my skin. Frenz’s voice boomed from somewhere behind me. “Bring them both.”
I was hauled over the shoulder of a Gattrix, and I glanced around frantically for Bosa. When I saw him being dragged by one arm, his lifeless body bouncing on the hilly dirt, I couldn’t hold back my sobs.
Now off the ship, the women were dragged away in the opposite direction, while Bosa and I were taken to a small structure near the docks, empty of everything but chains bolted to the wall. It was like they’d been waiting for us, which only made me suspect even more we’d been set up. They snapped a chain around my ankle and propped Bosa against the wall, his arms chained together over his head at the wrists.
He wasn’t conscious, and a large laser fire wound in his shoulder still smoked. I couldn’t reach him, and I ignored the Gattrix around me as I rasped around my tears, “Bosa. Bosa!”
Frenz emerged from the crowd to crouch at Bosa’s side. “Wake up, Kaluma.” He dug a leg hook into Bosa’s wound, and he opened his eyes on pained shout.
“Stop it!” I cried, hating the glassy, fevered cast to Bosa’s eyes. “Stop!”
Frenz turned to me, his antenna twitching as he wrenched the hook from Bosa’s shoulder, taking blood and tissue with it. I watched in horror as he plucked a laser gun from his holster and aimed it at Bosa’s leg. “Does this make you angry, human? Does this hurt?” He fired a shot right into Bosa’s thigh.
“Stop!” I screamed, sobbing hard as I fought against the chain. Bosa barely reacted to the shot. His body shuddered, and he gazed at me through half-opened eyes.
Blood dripping from his lips, he murmured, “Calm down, kotche.”
“I intended to make you pay by taking a limb at a time,” Frenz said to me. “But I see that hurting him hurts you more. And I never liked this Kaluma anyway. He killed a few of my soldiers.”
Frenz slapped Bosa, who again didn’t react except to flash him a bloody smile. “So, the only way you can get back at me is when I’m chained? So honorable, Frenz.”
The Gattrix stood on his back legs and kicked Bosa’s side, right in his ribs. “We’ll see if you’re still laughing tomorrow when I cut your tongue out of your mouth. I plan to make this last. It’s enjoyable for me, and painful for the human.” He clicked his mandibles at me. “Say your goodbyes now. He won’t be able to talk tomorrow.”
He motioned to his guards, who walked out of the building. I heard the solid clunk of a bolt locking into place, leaving Bosa and I alone in a dingy room with one dirt-frosted window.
Wincing as my ribs protested, I slid across the floor to Bosa’s side. I went to touch him, but stopped myself at the last minute, hands hovering over his body as I was terrified I’d hurt him more. “Bosa,” I sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”
The pain in his eyes clouded the fluorescent blue. “Don’t be sorry.” He grimaced as he sought to sit up straighter, then gave up when his leg failed.
“Don’t try to move,” I ordered him urgently. “Let me think. I have to get us out of here—”
“You get out of here,” he whispered harshly, holding my gaze even as his pupils swelled. “I’ll create a diversion. No matter what, you have to get free—”
“What are you talking about?” I cried. “A diversion? How? There is a whole army of Gattrix outside.”
He wasn’t thinking clearly, I could tell. His eyes weren’t focusing properly, and his whole body trembled with pain. Despair socked me in the chest, seizing my lungs, and
for a moment I could only bury my face in my hands and cry. When had this all gone wrong? I should have refused his help. I should have run away from him. Instead of going home, he was going to be tortured—
“Kotche,” he said softly.
I lifted my head to find his lashes flickering as he struggled to remain conscious. His wounds oozed, and the skin around them was an angry red. “As long as you’re not hurt, there’s hope you can get free. It’s good this way, they will focus on me instead of you.”
“How is that good?” I hissed at him.
His lips twitched. “There’s your fire.” He struggled to sit up again, and this time he surged up enough to touch his ear with one of his chain hands. His claw dug into his earlobe, and I gasped when blood tricked down his neck. “What are you doing?”
He barely flinched when he flung a bloodied object at me. I bobbled it in my hands before holding a small round disk between my fingers, about the size of my thumbnail. “What is this?”
“You can use that to call my home. Gurla will answer. Tell her that you’re my linyx and you need to be rescued. They will send someone.”
“But what about you?”
“Kotche,” he said again, licking his lips. “Be reasonable. I’m not getting out of here.”
“Why can’t you blank?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t blank when I’m in this much pain.”
“No,” I whispered. “You have to.”
“I might be able to sustain a blank for a brief time. And that’s how I’ll create a diversion. When they are dealing with me, you sneak out and run.”
The thought of leaving him made me want to vomit. “Bosa,” I could hear the whine in my voice. “Please don’t make me leave you.”
“You have to,” he rasped, clearly losing the battle with consciousness. “You’re my salvation. If I fail you, then I’ve failed everyone in my life.” His tone pleaded with me. “Don’t let me die with the guilt of failing you too. Please, kotche.”
His words were like body blows, each scoring a direct hit until the bell sounded. He won this round. He won the whole battle. I closed my fist around his comm device as a violent shudder shook my body. I opened my mouth and screamed out my rage until my voice gave out.
Panting, throat raw, I looked at Bosa. He was staring at me, eyes impossibly wide, and chest heaving. “Karina,” he rasped out harshly before shaking his head. “Wh-where did you go?”
Thirteen
Bosa
She wasn’t there. Her primal, enraged scream had seared me to the core. I’d closed my eyes and when I reopened them, she was… gone.
“Karina?”
“Bosa?” Her voice hadn’t moved. She remained in front of me, but she wasn’t… visible.
“What the yerk?” I whispered. “Karina, hold out your hands in front of your face.”
“What—?” her voice came again before ending on a shriek. “What the hell? Bosa, what the hell?”
“You… blanked.” I said, two words I never thought I’d utter to my human mate. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, if you don’t understand, then how am I supposed to?” Her disembodied voice trembled, and I could hear her frantically moving about on the dusty floor. “Oh my God. Wait, how did I do this? How do I undo it? How do you blank?”
“It’s like lifting a finger.”
Her breath came in short bursts. She was quiet for a long moment until she said in a calmer tone. “Bosa, I need you to blank. Even if it’s for a couple of seconds. Can you do it?”
Just the thought of blanking made my stomach roll. I didn’t want to tell her that the effort of blanking one more time could be the end of me. “Why?”
“Because I think the locks on your wrists are motion-detected. Visual.”
“How do you know?”
She paused before speaking again. “Because my ankle chain just unlocked and because you told me so. In my dream.”
The breath left my lungs on a rush. “Kotche.”
“You did,” she whispered urgently, and I wished I could see her face. “We were alone in a hut made of vines on Torin. And you told me you were glad you brought me home.”
My heart pumped faster. As much as I couldn’t believe we’d get out of our current situation, the Kaluma in me couldn’t deny her visuls. She was my mate, my linyx. Her ability to blank proved it even further, even though that seemed impossible to me. The bond had started when we met, as her visuls were proof, and I believed our mating at the Pucin farm locked in the linyx connection.
“I will blank,” I said, knowing this wouldn’t be good. “But kotche, I will not be able to run well afterward.” The old me would have resented relying on a human, but this me, the one in awe of my mate, was glad she refused to leave my side and was the strongest female I knew. “You will have to help me.”
“Of course,” she said. Her hands settled on my face, cupping my jaw, and I felt her lips press a soft kiss to mine. “I’m right here. Blank to release your chains.”
“I’ll blank as long as I can. Get us out of here and to a cruiser on the dock. Then call Gurla and she’ll tell you all you need to know to operate it home.”
“You’ll be there. You can fly, right?”
How did I tell her I’d likely be dying? “Gurla is better at technology than me.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Ready?”
No, I wasn’t. “Another kiss, kotche.”
She kissed me again, deeper this time, and I sucked on her tongue. My cock stirred despite the pain, which surprised me. The power of my linyx. I pulled back and pressed our foreheads together. Or what I thought was her forehead. “On Torin, you find Gurla, Wensla, and Sherif. You tell them you’re Bosa’s linyx.”
“You’ll be there,” she insisted, this time with a slight tinge of panic in her voice.
“I will be, but I’ll be hurt,” I said. “Please just tell me you’ll do that.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
I let out a long breath as I gathered my strength. My body already burned with fever, and I braced myself for the pain that lay ahead of me until we were safe on a cruiser. Or at least, my kotche would be safe. I closed my eyes, and I blanked.
Pain roared through my body, but I heard a distance clink as the lock on my wrists fell to the floor. My arms fell to my sides, and I fought to remain conscious. Karina let out a whoop and helped me to my feet. I could barely stand, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to carry me, so I pushed through the dizziness and nausea. My vision swam as she knocked on the door. It flung open and a half dozen guards swarmed inside. Voices shouted as they found the room empty… or so they thought.
Karina and I slipped out of the door undetected and invisible. I couldn’t do much more than place one foot in front of the other. My shot leg buckled, and Karina struggled under my weight with my arm slung over her shoulder. I could feel the blood trickling over my scales, and every breath felt like agony. I swore I was seeing things. Gurla. Sherif. My friend Cravus. They appeared in front of me, whispering encouraging words, and when I tried to reach for them, they disappeared like mist.
Karina panted next to me as we steadily made our way toward the docks. I could see a cruiser waiting for us, and it looked like it’d been there a long time, so I could only hope it was empty. We walked past a rack of laser guns, and I reached out to grab one. Sliding it in my pants to conceal it, I stumbled forward. I could feel my scales flickering, and it wouldn’t be much longer before I couldn’t hold the blank. I’d be visible, but maybe that wasn’t so bad. They’d focus on me, and Karina could continue on.
“Don’t even think about,” she hissed next to me. “Hold your blank, Bosa. We’re almost there.”
Gattrix were everywhere, running in all directions as Frenz stood on the dock overseeing the search party—for us. He called out commands to search every inch, and I began to get nervous that someone would bump into us. I could picture a hundred Gattrix opening laser fire on our location. We’d
be dead in no time…
My blank flickered again, and I gasped. “Bosa!” she hissed next to me, and I hated the panic in her voice. “I know it’s hard, but please…”
I did the only thing I could think to do. I withdrew the laser gun from my pants just as my body gave up on my blank. With the last strength I had, I aimed at the putty on the underside of the cargo ship, barely visible, but still there. Firing, I held my breath.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then the cargo ship erupted in a conflagration. Fireballs shot out from the burning hull, hitting the contingent of Gattrix on the dock, including Frenz. They went up in flames, screeching and shrieking as they fell with sickening crunches to the ground below.
“Holy shit,” Karina muttered next to me before beginning to run. I kept up, running on pure adrenaline as I watched the insect who’d threatened to cut out my tongue burn to a crisp. We sprinted up the dock, and we’d just flung ourselves into the empty cruiser when my vision darkened.
I gasped, curling into a ball as pain settled into every muscle, every bone.
“Bosa!” I heard a voice cry. “Stay with me. Oh God, please. I need you!” Her body flickered in front of mine, and I caught one last look at her beautiful, tear-streaked face before pain shot up my spine and everything went black.
Karina
His body went limp, and I thought I was going to lose my mind. Outside the port window of the cruiser, I could see the fire creeping down the dock toward me. I knew I had to get this cruiser in the air, but Bosa was… Not okay. His scales had paled to an off-white, and while I could just barely detect a heartbeat, his chest didn’t seem to be rising and falling.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I whimpered. I’d lived alone all this time on this planet, but now that I’d met Bosa, I couldn’t imagine life without him. “Hang on, baby.” I murmured as I dug in my pocket for the comm device.
