by Ivy McAdams
The shards of bone protruding from the tip of the tail swipe through the riders, scattering most of them and striking a gray-blue levadon in the side.
I can hear it scream from up on the slope as it falls.
“Holy shit,” Gemma mutters.
My thoughts exactly.
She puts an arm around me as we lean over Pearl’s neck, letting her pick up the pace.
Below, the riders reform and swarm the dino. The warrior on top shouts and stabs his spear into the creature's back.
Another warrior has dropped back, circling around to his fallen comrade. It doesn’t take a second glance to recognize Drek’s square shoulders and black side braids. His red levadon sprints and leaps, dashing through a maze of yellow berry bushes to the flailing gray dinosaur on the ground.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “Please tell me that’s not normal. It looks hurt.”
Gemma’s voice hisses through her clenched teeth. “It’s not normal.”
We’ve more than half covered the distance between the crest of the slope and the bellowing stego. I’m hungry to know what’s happening, but my nerves are beginning to tick as well.
What are we doing down here? This thing just took out a giant, trained to fight it.
I mean, I’m as helpful as a newborn puppy right now, but I notice Gemma doesn’t have a weapon either.
Ahead of us, Drek pulls his levadon up and jumps to the ground. He's quick to hop over the fallen dinosaur's tail and join his comrade. I watch with an open mouth as Drek drops his spear, plants his feet, and heaves his giant silver shoulder against the levadon's hip. It squeals, thrashing its head against the ground.
Beyond them, the hunted dinosaur shakes its massive body, nearly dislodging the warrior from its back. Other riders close in on it, a couple sticking spearheads into its hips. The creature roars as it spins on its back leg.
It’s surprisingly agile for such a big animal. In less than a second, it’s knocked warriors aside and is running back in our direction.
Gemma tenses behind me and the levadon beneath us lifts her head higher, watching the approaching monster in earnest.
"What the fuck," Gemma hisses, edging Pearl in a diagonal pattern in an attempt to avoid the beast.
It doesn’t look in our direction, however.
Its eyes fall on Drek and the warrior on the ground.
“No, no,” I cough, eyes widening. “They’ve got to move!”
We angle toward them, but the beast is much closer than we are.
Drek gives a loud, guttural roar as he heaves against the fall levadon again. And, dammit, it moves. He hefts that T-Rex thing a foot off the ground and the other warrior wiggles free. Drek lets go of the dino and grabs his spear from the grass. The fallen warrior limps a few steps back as the beast bears down on them.
Until Drek hurls his spear and strikes the stego in the shoulder. The blade implants deep in the muscle between the creature’s neck and collarbone, and it screams, veering off course.
The two warriors duck close to the ground to avoid the swinging tail as the dinosaur turns and careens into the field again. It’s slowed enough for the other warriors to catch up and they hop on its back like a flea infestation. Bright ropes of glowing yellow blood splash as they attack, finally managing to take the beast to its knees.
Gemma huffs out a shuddering breath of relief. Kovak was among the last wave of warriors to jump, and they’re all safe.
Thank the Lord.
My gaze jerks back to the fallen males in the grass, nudging Gemma in their direction.
“Over there.” I point at Drek and the injured warrior.
We dash to the small group and I try to slide off before we've come to a stop. Damn, this is not a horse. Thankfully, Gemma catches me by an arm. I yelp when she nearly pops it free from my body, but at least I didn't break my legs.
To my surprise, Drek is at my side in a heartbeat, helping to lower me the rest of the way to the ground.
“Are they alright?” I ask, peering around his body to catch a glimpse.
Drek’s deep voice is charged with adrenaline and I can tell he’s explaining what happened, even if I don’t understand his words.
“He’s lucky he wasn’t crushed by his levadon,” Gemma said, moving closer with a hand on my shoulder. “Though Drek says his leg may be badly injured. His levadon is in bad shape.”
I move closer to the dinosaur on the ground. Its body is tense and it's making a horrible squawky whimpering sound. One of its big back legs stretches out like a board, toes curled under and knee locked. It looks unnatural. There's a bloody wound over its hip where the tail spikes punctured its skin. Red lights buzz back and forth underneath the dino's hide, flashing warnings and discomfort.
“Yikes. That leg looks dislocated,” I murmur.
“That’s not good,” Gemma says with a grimace. “You think they’ll kill it?”
I blink up at her. “What?”
“You know, like horses. Don’t they shoot horses that break their legs?”
“Sometimes, if it’s irreparable and the horse will suffer. Or if it belongs to an outdated asshole.”
Gemma presses her lips in tight. Drek stands on my other side, hands on his hips and a glum look on his face.
The injured warrior looks just as blue. He kneels near the dinosaur’s head and runs his fingers over the animal’s neck as he murmurs gently.
Everyone looks so solemn.
I turn my eyes back to Gemma in surprise. “They are going to fix his leg, aren’t they?”
She nibbles at the edge of her lip. “It doesn’t sound like it. He’s busted up.”
My mouth falls open. “It’s just out of place. We’ve had plenty of goats dislocate a leg, falling down or getting in fights. It’s not that difficult to fix.”
Gemma’s brows pop up. “It hurts really bad thought, right?”
I shrug. “Well, yeah, but—”
Her eyes move to the squawking hulk of a dinosaur at our feet skeptically. “You want to try your hand at getting this guy to sit still and not eat you for that?”
I scoff, pressing my hands into my hips. “We can’t do nothing. He’ll die out here.”
I look between the aliens around me. Gemma doesn’t speak again, but the comforting whispers of the warrior on the ground tug at my heartstrings. He can’t lose his bonded mount because they’re afraid to fix its leg.
With a gentle shove, I move past Drek to the dinosaur. He grabs my shoulder, speaking in earnest. Not being able to understand him makes it all the easier to brush him off.
“No, look,” I demand, stepping closer to the injured leg and pressing a pair of fingers into the animal’s muscle.
It snarls, rocking its body and snapping its huge teeth in the air.
Drek’s hand is on my shoulder again, squeezing hard.
When I look up at him, I put all my determination in my eyes. It’s all I can do without the use of words.
Then I slip his hand off my shoulder and place it on the animal’s hip, sliding it across the overly stretched muscles and exposed joint parts. Surprise flashes in Drek’s eyes. Then he frowns. At me, at the dinosaur. I can see the gears working in his brain.
“Gemma,” I say, my hand still covering Drek’s on the animal. “Tell him it is out of place. That’s why the leg looks like that.”
Gemma speaks their tongue and translates his words in return.
“He understands. He’s seen this injury before. It is a death sentence for a levadon.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s not. We just have to do a little maneuvering.”
I move down to the dinosaur’s foot. It’s bigger than me. Massive. Hulkingly heavy. But I try to pick it up just the same. A lift and twist, pushing it back toward the beast’s body.
There’s no way I can move something so heavy, but I attempt it. At least until the dinosaur screams and snaps at me.
Drek tugs me out of the way and takes my place, seeming to understand what I’m
doing. He murmurs stern words at his companion and the other warrior does his best to calm the beast, stroking its neck and speaking soothing words. It doesn’t help much, but at least the thing isn’t trying to eat Drek.
The Second in Command lifts the leg off the ground up to his knees. The dinosaur bellows, angry and hurt. It can’t move well but that’s not stopping it from trying.
“Good, okay. Twist this way.” I mime the direction with my hands, pretending to move the leg myself. “Twist, yes. Then push in.”
Drek’s eyes are locked on my hands as I gesture and he moves with them. The muscles in his arms bunch and pull as he lifts and manipulates the gargantuan leg. It must weigh more than he does. But he puts his strength into it.
When he pushes, the dinosaur nearly comes unglued, thrashing his tail and craning its neck to snap at Drek’s leg. The warrior shimmies away a couple inches, nearly catching some teeth, but he doesn’t let go. Sweat beads on his brow and his lips pinch together. He doesn’t have much strength left and I cross my fingers the hip joint will slide back into place.
“That’s good,” I murmur, still moving my hands. “Push until it won’t go anymore, and then twist just a little.”
As my hands move over one another like a slow-motion barrel roll, Drek's shoulders and body adjust to the side, leaning, twisting. And there's a soft click.
The leg jerks free of Drek’s arms and settles on the ground. The dinosaur immediately stops squawking and lifts its head with a curious tilt. Drek falls back out of its strike zone, pressing a hand into my chest and pushing me back as well.
But the dino isn’t looking to grab him. It rolls up into a sitting position, the injured leg tucked up underneath it as it should be. The beast’s chest heaves with its breath, nostrils flaring wide as it recovers.
“The pain should be nearly gone,” I say with a smile.
“Wow,” Gemma says as she steps up next to me, staring at the dinosaur. “How’d you do that?”
“Farm girls just know some things.” I grin, feeling accomplished.
The warrior on the ground is beaming, speaking quickly to his beast as he strokes its head.
Drek looks down at me. One of his eyebrows lifts as his mouth curves into a half-smile. It's the most expressive I've seen his face and holy cow is it lovely. Sexy and warm. Apparently, I've impressed him, and thank goodness for it.
Chapter 6
Eva
“You’re right. I see why this is their sacred animal,” I say through a mouthful of glistening roasted meat. It’s rather beefy, but also sweet. It’s been cooked to perfection with an array of spices, served with a waterskin of some sort of alcohol to wash it down.
Gemma, dressed in a beautiful white leather skirt and top that glitters, smiles as she takes another bite of food. “Isn’t it? From what I’ve heard, it sounds like the big celebrations only happen once or twice a year around here, but we’ve had two in just a few weeks. How lucky am I?” She chuckles.
Next to her Trinity is dressed in a similar outfit, though hers positively shines with small attached gemstones. They catch the green firelight—yes, that’s right, green...I gave myself a pinch to be sure I was seeing it correctly—and throw sparkling lights over our feet. She gives Gemma a playful shoulder bump.
“Lucky dog. We’ll be sure you get as much of that stuff as you can eat. Feed the pregnant lady down here. She’s hungry!”
The women giggle. A few other female Kutarians near us do as well.
They all look beautiful. Nice clothes. New braids and styles in their hair. Most of them wear circlets of gorgeous purple flowers that smell like lavender and chocolate.
Unfortunately, the only clothes they could find that would fit me was a young girl’s dress and it wasn’t meant for hips and boobs. Even while Gemma promised it wasn’t that revealing, I vetoed the thing. It’s bad enough being the only strange tiny human at this party, sporting a sexy oxygen mask to boot. The last thing I need to go along with it is an accidental nip slip.
So I’m dressed in the same pair of jeans and striped blouse I was abducted in.
At least I’m comfortable.
Even if I do feel like I’m playing the E.T. version of Where’s Waldo.
Find the human!
Gemma did at least comb and pull back my hair. I even have my own little tiara of purple flowers.
“Is it time to dance yet?” Jade asks, leaning over Trinity with a grin.
"Should be soon," Gemma says as she scoops the last of the steak from her plate into her mouth.
Trinity sniffs at her nearly full plate and makes a sour face as she sets the food aside. She hasn’t eaten much tonight and if I had to guess from the green tinge in her silver cheeks, pregnancy may be getting the best of her appetite.
Instead, she focuses on Jade. “We can dance now if we want to,” she says, a defiant tone in her voice but a smile on her lips.
Gemma laughs as the two skip out into the open section of the circle.
“So this is a real Dances with Wolves place, huh?” I ask Gemma once the ladies are gone.
"I suppose it is a bit like that. Living in huts. Killing our own food. But the parties are fun." She snorts out a chuckle.
I laugh and take a drink. This may not be the normal frat party we liked to hit back at school, but it’s still a celebration. “Yeah, a party for you and the other Amazon ladies here.”
Gemma snorts. “You’re still a new woman among the tribe. It’s for all of us.”
My eyes drift over to the human-alien women that have gotten up to dance. They're already surrounded by four males.
“I may be a new woman around here, but I’m not exactly what they’re looking for I don’t imagine. Not like that anyway.” I nod to the courting display happening right in front of us. My first episode of National Geographic: Xion V Edition.
Gemma purses her lips and nods. “Probably not. They might kill you.”
My brows go down so fast they strain my vision as I glare at my friend. “What’s that supposed to mean? You think they’re going to kill me for being human?”
Her nostrils flare. She’s fighting a big smile but I have no idea why. How the hell does she think she can just throw out information like that and laugh about it?
My fingers clench on the waterskin.
Am I in danger here?
A tickle of fear flutters in my stomach. But Gemma still looks amused as hell.
Then she lifts her fist in the air and slap-taps her straining forearm muscles.
“No, I mean they will destroy you.”
The way her fingers curl around her arm and her eyes stare pointedly back at me finally get the message through.
Are these men hung as big as her forearm? Or mine? Either way, holy shit.
It’s a good thing I’m not on the mating schedule. I’d be fucking dead.
Literally.
I shudder, averting my eyes.
There's a chance one the size of my forearm could be interesting. Challenging. Probably mind-blowing.
But Gemma’s forearm?
My stomach knots at the very idea.
Next to me, Gemma rocks as she laughs, giving me a sporty clap on the back.
“Why, Eva,” she snorts. “You’re looking a little green. Is everything okay?”
I wrinkle my nose at her and stick out my tongue. It only makes her giggle louder.
I’d been seriously considering asking to take the herb again, especially after weighing my options this morning with Waella. Switching to a new body sounds terrifying, but my options are thin. I’m to the point where remaining the small human pet of these people for the rest of my life sounds horribly lame and unfulfilling.
But now I’m wondering if I should reconsider. Staying human may be safer if nothing else. Sure, the mask sucks and trying to drink from this skin while having to constantly remove it is a huge pain in the ass, but at least I don’t have giant aliens sniffing around me like horny dogs. Giant aliens with massive appendages sw
inging between their legs.
How can they even walk?
I glance at one of the nearest males and examine his forearm. It's very large. And long. A quick peek at his loincloth and his leather-clothed thighs has my mind reeling. That big?
When the legs start moving in my direction, my eyes widen and I look away. But not before I catch sight of who’s approaching.
Drek.
I press my fingers against my mouth, forcing myself not to bite into my lip and chew away the wave of hot embarrassment surging into my face.
Please tell me he didn’t see me looking.
Gemma hasn’t stopped laughing, and now she holds her stomach. “Red now too? Eva, you’re so colorful.”
She snorts and wheezes, almost unable to catch her breath. I think I see some tears.
Normally I’d be unable to help myself and fall into a fit of giggles with her. If I wasn’t so mortified over being caught checking out Drek’s junk.
Oh, Lord. Shoot me now.
I clench my hands between my thighs, tightening my legs around them and trying my best just to pull myself together.
When Drek steps over the log next to us, I will my body to cooperate and calm down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t listen well.
My cheeks and my neck burn like fire. Even the tops of my ears are hot.
Shit. What have I gotten myself into?
Drek speaks as he sits on the log. Something that sounds like a greeting.
His long legs are spread as he perches on the seat much too close to the ground for his tall frame. He wears a nice cut of pale leather breeches beneath his loincloth. The pants are certainly more like riding chaps because I can still see his inner thighs twinkling through when he sits. I look away quickly, growling internally that I will not blush even more.
“Hi,” I squeak, hugging my waterskin of alcohol to my chest.
Next to me, Gemma still can’t contain herself. She giggles and snorts, giving Drek a tiny wave as she wipes at her eyes.
Come on, girl. You’re totally going to blow my cover here.
Drek speaks in his deep, rolling voice. With its slow cadence and a curious tilt of his mouth. He's got to be asking what we're laughing about.
