by Erin Raegan
“The message was very sensitive and should have been passed to him immediately.” Tohn looked out the window in contemplation.
“What was it about?” I asked, frustrated. Why were they being so evasive?
They looked between each other, hesitation on all their faces but Olynth’s. He just looked more pissed than his usual pissed.
“The commander met with the Order’s Council,” Tohn said haltingly. “Permission was granted to intervene with the Vitat for the humans.”
“Okay… that’s good, right?” That was awesome. If they really were there to help us, they could now. That was more than awesome. I wanted to shout in excitement but still felt suspicious about their true intentions.
“It is good,” Tohn said firmly. “What is not good is that the message was kept from Fihk by the commander’s council.”
“The ones who are being silent?” I asked, a little dread starting to fester. I knew it was too good to be true. Fihk and the others may really be here to help us, but I knew another species wouldn’t travel the universe to help an unknown planet for nothing and clearly, someone didn’t think they should.
Tohn nodded. “Fihk must give the order to attack. The Commander’s army is at the ready but cannot be called to action without his or Fihk’s direct order. Without Dahk One aware of Fihk’s absence, Olynth cannot command them. If they were made aware, they may not even accept Olynth’s orders without Tahk passing him command.”
“Tahk can’t order them through a message?” I asked, why couldn’t this Tahk guy just tell them over their alien video?
“Our communications with Home World and Tahk have been disabled,” Albun snarled.
“By the council?”
“We do not know.” Albun sighed and scrubbed his face. “They could have sabotaged our communications from Dahk One, but it is more likely they snuck on board at some point in time.”
“Still, Tahk must be present, and he passed the duty to Fihk. But with Fihk indisposed…” Tohn gave me a pointed look.
Olynth growled, and I clenched my jaw.
Tohn sighed. “I do not say this to guilt you, Bahyly.”
“Good, cause that would make you a dick,” I spat.
“I know this word.” Tohn smiled softly. “Yes, I do not wish to be a dihk. But it is truth. Fihk is unable to command the warriors into battle as he is. You could solve this problem―”
Olynth snarled a curse and smashed his fist into the wall, denting it.
“No,” Nathan growled from behind me, making me jump. I’d had no idea he had come over and was listening.
“Young Nahythahn, we do not wish your Bahyly harm,” Tohn said gently.
“But Fihk does!”
“We’re done.” I clutched Nathan’s arm. He didn’t need to hear this. I pulled him to the door.
“You won’t do it,” Nathan hissed when we marched through the door, ignoring our angry shadow.
“It?” I grinned at him to mask my own anxiety. “How do you know what it is?”
“I’m ten, not dumb,” he grumbled. “He hurt you.” He looked pointedly at my many bandages, a look of terror on his face.
I stopped and held his bony shoulders. “Look at me.”
He did, reluctantly.
“I know you’re not dumb, but that”—I nodded back toward where the command deck was— “that’s for me to worry about, not you.”
“I won’t let them make you do it,” he said firmly and lifted his chin.
Olynth stepped up to us. “Nahythahn, I will not let them force her.”
“I don’t trust you,” Nate spat and looked away from him.
He had every right to say it, but it still bothered me. I should never have let us get caught in this mess. It was only hurting him. Nathan should have never felt betrayed by these assholes. I should have never let them get close enough.
Nate and I walked to our room, and I let him step inside ahead of me before I turned to Olynth. “What now?”
Olynth glowered at the wall over my shoulder. “I must find out why the council keeps their silence and why they would dismiss Tahk’s order.”
“And us?” I asked. All that was important, for the sake of humankind and all, but what about Nate and me and the others? I didn’t know how to fly a spaceship to get out of here, and I seriously doubted the rest did, so we were stuck and reliant on these assholes. It didn’t sit well.
“You wait,” he said firmly and nodded into the room.
I scowled at him. Wait? Was he serious? For how long?
“You will be fed and allowed free roam of the ship until the matter is settled.” He turned and started away but stopped and stiffened. His head turned so I could see his profile but not his eyes. “Stay away from the cell.”
“You mean Fihk?”
He turned and faced me so I could see the rage in his eyes and bared his fangs.
“Got it,” I mumbled.
In the room, I looked at my brother and sighed. This was going to suck. For weeks, we’d run on adrenaline alone. I didn’t know how to function anymore if we weren’t running for our lives.
“Let’s go check on the others,” I said to Nate.
Maybe they could help us figure out a way off this ship and back to Earth.
Chapter 12
Bailey
Two long days passed. Two insanely boring days filled with nothing but sleeping and eating and putzing around. Two days with no word of Fihk or the council or saving Earth.
Linda asked about her daughter nearly every hour and got nothing back but “in time.” Nick and Star refused to leave their room. They holed up inside, cleaning their guns and most likely plotting a hostile take-over that was doomed to fail. Linda latched onto Nathan with a ferocity that surprised me. She was, after all, by her words, a “shit mother.” But she fed him and watered him like a potted plant and Nate handled it like any good kid would—he loved the attention but scowled and blushed like he hated it to save face.
Olynth was never far, but I got more space from him then I did on Earth. He had shit to do most of the day, and I was grateful. I felt as if something was going on with him, something more than usual, and I wasn’t ready to face what I was starting to believe it was.
He was showing signs of possessiveness toward me that were not welcome. It reminded me of Fihk, without the animal snarling and biting. But it was hard to miss. He wouldn’t let any of the other aliens within a foot of me, and he gave up trying to hide his creepy sniffing and straight up went for it whenever I was close. My neck was a major hot spot for him, but my pits, arms, and hair got equal attention.
The first time he threw me against the galley table and shoved his flat nose under my arm, to say I was startled would be an understatement. He held me down and chuffed and growled while inhaling my BO. Nathan laughed his ass off, and Linda even smothered a giggle. Tohn seemed alarmed but let him get his sniff on.
I was young and had made bad decisions throughout my life, but I was not stupid. I knew.
Oh, boy, did I know. Deep down, I knew why Olynth acted the way he did with me. But there was enough doubt inside my head that I kept my mouth shut, especially since no one else was offering an explanation.
The waiting game we were playing was getting old, and I worried these guys had no freaking clue what they were doing. If Fihk was never going to get better unless I did the deed with him, then what was the plan?
We all heard the snarls and shouts throughout the day and night. Fihk was getting worse. We never saw Gunnor because he was constantly guarding Fihk to make sure he didn’t escape. Which was just fine with me. I didn’t want to get attacked or mounted if he got out.
I had a feeling these aliens didn’t think I would survive it.
But that didn’t mean the pressure wasn’t on. Nope. If it wasn’t Tohn and Albun gently trying to bring me around to the idea, Wyvr was practically foaming at the mouth to toss me at Fihk. I didn’t like that guy at all. He either wanted Fihk back or he was hoping t
he encounter would kill me. It was hard to tell.
Olynth shut Wyvr down every time. Olynth was very much against Fihk and me and had no problem showing it. He and Tohn argued about it constantly. Which was all they seemed to do when I saw them. They had their secret meetings and all, but only Vylbor seemed to be doing anything. He had practically torn the command deck apart trying to figure out why they couldn’t comm anyone other than their council. They were trying to reach Tahk or their king but so far had been unsuccessful.
Nathan spent most of his time with Vylbor. He was a nerd and loved all the space gadgets, and since Vylbor was kind of like their mechanic, that was who Nate gravitated toward.
Me? I pretty much moped around, useless. I bugged Tohn and avoided Olynth. But it was Linda, when she wasn’t hovering over Nate, who became my source of entertainment. The woman was uppity. Her and her ironed clothes and fancy heels. How she kept everything so clean was a mystery to me.
The night before, I was able to wrestle Star away from her dad, and we tackled Linda’s poofy hair. It was the only time Nate left Vylbor. He watched Star with a mesmerized, glassy look in his eye that I couldn’t help but tease him over when we went to bed.
Ultimately, the little bit of girl time was cathartic.
Linda got combed hair, and I got to expel all my worries about Fihk to a woman who might understand. We waited until the kids left of course, but then it all flowed out.
She told me about her dead husband, and how shitty she’d handled the last few years with Peyton, and I told her about my insane plan. I reassured her that she could grow a pair and apologize, and she told me I wasn’t suffering from space sickness.
Which led to now.
After the kids fell asleep, Linda knocked on the door, and we met in the hallway with Nick. The burly man was scowling at me with disapproval, but he had his gun, which was all I needed.
“You’re sure about this?” Linda asked quietly.
I nodded a little erratically so I didn’t have to lie. I was not sure.
I was so far from sure, I was in crazy town.
But this couldn’t continue, and the guilt was eating me alive.
Earlier that day, Tohn said Olynth had received a comm meant for Fihk. He didn’t say what it was about, other than that it came from Dahk One and it was from one of Tahk’s most trusted warriors. It was not good. Tohn was visibly shaken up about it. The council wanted something that these guys clearly didn’t agree with. Dahk One was their main ship. The Dahk army resided there, along with the commander’s council.
Tohn had told me not to worry, but Wyvr’s evil grin really put me on edge. He hid it from the others, but I saw it. I did not trust that alien. And it was a different kind of feeling than with the others. He felt wrong.
I’d learned to trust my instincts out of necessity as a child, and they were screaming at me in regard to him.
After that comm, Wyvr completely changed his tune, agreeing with Olynth to keep me away from Fihk. Which told me one thing.
I needed to get in that room.
I didn’t know what Wyvr was up to, but everything inside me screamed that we were on borrowed time. So as much as I didn’t want to, as afraid as it made me, I tore a page out of Peyton’s book and decided to take one for the team. Fihk was about to get himself a mate, and he better damn well come through on a few of his promises afterward.
The only problem we had now was Olynth.
I knew we couldn’t tell Tohn or the others for fear of them alerting Olynth or even Wyvr. That left one alien I figured might help me.
“Let’s go,” I told them and walked as quietly as possible down the hallway.
Nick and Linda would be my lookouts while I convinced the cyclops to help me. And Nick would guard the door from the inside with his gun. It might not stop Fihk if he broke free, but I wasn’t going to put all my eggs in Gunnor’s basket.
The closer we got to the cell, the louder Fihk became. It was like he knew I was getting closer and it freaked me way the hell out.
“I don’t like this,” Nick grumbled when we stopped outside the door.
Linda shot him a reproachful look. He blushed. I held back a snort. The guy had it bad for Miss Uppity.
“I don’t either, but I feel like I have to,” I said quietly. I didn’t understand it myself, so I knew they wouldn’t. At least Nick wouldn’t.
Linda had seemed to get my reasoning earlier that night, but that could be because she wanted to get to her daughter, and without Fihk, that was looking like it might not happen.
“Just make sure Nate doesn’t come inside if he wakes up and finds me gone,” I told Linda.
She would wait outside to stall anyone who came by, which would hopefully be no one. I didn’t like leaving her out there by herself, but we’d all agreed to leave the kids out of it.
She nodded and stiffened. I smiled and hugged her loosely. She sighed and said, “Be careful.”
I didn’t say anything back, just gave her a squeeze and turned to the door, eyeing the panel to open it. This was the part that could cause a problem. We knew how to open our room doors now that they weren’t locked, but I was betting this one was. I hesitated, looking at Nick. He nodded. I blew out a weighty breath and went to knock, but the door slid open.
Gunnor glowered at me. I ducked under his arm and walked into the first room, his wing smacking me in the face. He spun and glared at me.
“Sorry, dude, but I need your help.” I winced when Fihk’s rage thundered through the door at my back.
Gunnor turned his glare on Nick and Linda. Linda blushed and looked away, and Nick stiffened, his throat bobbing.
When the silence continued a little too long, I sighed. “You know why I’m here?”
He nodded once, sharply.
“You’re not going to stop me,” I warned.
Nothing.
I sighed again. “Let me in then.” I nodded toward the locked door muffling Fihk’s angry roars.
“Stay,” Gunnor grunted at Nick.
“N-no. I go with her.” Nick lifted his chest and stared down the enormous alien.
Gunnor grunted. “You make it worse for her.” He nodded at me.
“Worse?” I asked, my voice embarrassingly high.
Gunnor nodded once. A talker, this one.
“Bailey?” Nick asked.
“Can you keep him chained down?” I asked the muscular alien. He looked bigger than Fihk, but all raged out, I wasn’t sure he could handle him alone.
Gunnor didn’t nod. “Long enough.”
Long enough for what? Long enough for me to escape? Long enough to do the deed?
Long enough to get my throat ripped out?
“Nice,” was what I said back.
“The human would be slaughtered,” Gunnor answered and looked at Nick.
“Right.” I gulped. “I’m human.”
“Your risk.”
I widened my eyes at the floor. Okay, this was a risk, I knew that, but something was telling me to take it. The same thing that told me what I was to Olynth, the same thing that told me Wyvr was not like the others, the same thing that told me little four-year-old Nathan was mine. I had to trust that.
It had never steered me wrong.
“Okay, wait here,” I told Nick.
He grimaced and looked back at Linda uncertainly. “Here.” He shoved something in my hand and tightened my fist around it. Bending close, he whispered in my ear, “It’s a tranquilizer dart.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
I didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a shot. I owed him for thinking of it.
If Gunnor heard him, he didn’t show it, just stepped up to the panel and unlocked the door. I waved to Nick and Linda as they watched me with acute fear in their eyes, then I followed him through the door.
I didn’t know how Fihk still had a voice after all his howling over the last few days, but he did, and he was somehow even louder than before. I barely heard the door slide shut behind
me.
More straps and chains were holding Fihk down now. His chest was completely covered, and his legs and arms were a mess of wrapped chains. But still, still, he was straining against them, wearing them down.
Gunnor stalked to the end of the room and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. So no help from him. Figures.
I didn’t like having an audience for this but having one set of eyes watching us was far better than the room full Peyton had.
As I walked up to the enraged alien, all I could think was how pissed Olynth would be after this. He was going to follow through with that punishment he’d promised me, I just knew it.
If I lived through it.
I nearly left the room right then. How stupid was this? Nathan needed me. If I died in this room, I would be abandoning him in an alien ship in fucking space. But what was our alternative? Wait around for the other shoe to drop?
Something was coming, something bad. I could feel it.
I couldn’t run with Nathan. We were stuck here, and these guys had no clue what they were doing without the alien currently losing his mind to get to me.
This was dumb, a truly idiotic act of brainlessness. But I was going to do it anyway.
And damnit, he was going to like it.
Chapter 13
Bailey
I chucked my boots and jeans in a fit of anger.
Damn aliens. They were ruining my life. Kidnapping, murdering, eating people, and now this.
In my torn black panties, I crossed my arms and observed Fihk.
I’d had sex. A lot. I was a woman and fully comfortable in my own skin. I had urges like any other. And I was damn good at it, if my partners could be trusted. Going by their satisfied smiles when I left their beds, I’d say I was more than capable of rocking this alien’s world.
“How do you guys do it?” I asked Gunnor. Did they have sex like us? I knew it was possible, since Linda’s daughter was currently getting her freak on with one of them. But there had to be differences.
Gunnor didn’t answer. Just observed me dispassionately.
