Nadine's Champion: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Icehome Book 8)

by Dixon, Ruby

  I'm not going to, though. Like a moth with a flame addiction, I'm going to feed my bad habits. I finish drinking my tea and look over at Penny. "I guess we could ask Thrand to go with us today."

  "You guess, huh?" Her eyebrow arches and she smirks at me over her teacup.

  "Yeah, I guess," I say lightly, grinning. "I'm sure he'll go. It'll be just the three of us, I think. Bridget's helping with the long-house today."

  "Just the three of us? So cozy." Penny downs the rest of her tea. "I'll try not to get in the way too much."

  "Girl, please." I roll my eyes and laugh. Like we're going to make out in front of her all day long or something. I might be smitten by the man and his skills—and his arrogance—but I'm not that big of a jerk. "I should go find him—"

  "Speak of the devil," Penny murmurs.

  Sure enough, Thrand stalks up to the fire, his spear in hand, white hunting cloak over his shoulders as if he read my mind. He nods in our direction, shoots me a smoldering look, and then leans on his spear, as if waiting.

  I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, trying not to get all flustered at how good he looks. Or the fact that he lightly rubs his mouth when he looks in my direction, as if remembering last night when we…yeah, I can't think along that path or I'm not going to get jack shit done today. I need to focus.

  "It's amazing how you two have managed to keep this secret for so long," Penny whispers to me, "Because you're both obvious as fuck."

  Are we? I guess we are. I bite my lip and pretend to smooth my leathers over my body, cupping my breasts because I know they fascinate him. His gaze follows the movement of my hand, and it takes everything I have not to smile.

  Just then, Harlow's baby starts to cry and the tired mama shakes her head, walking away from the fire and heading toward her tent. Now's my chance. I sidle over to the rinse bucket and clean my cup, then hang it on the hook by the fire. As I do, I glance over at Thrand. "You wanna come hunting with me and Penny today, Ketchup?"

  The smile that curls over his fangs makes my body throb. "You know I do."

  * * *

  We head out and the day's far more pleasant than it should be. The weather gets gray and somewhat stormy looking, but no snow falls so we don't head back. There's fresh powder on the ground, which makes tracking easy, and after following snowcat tracks for a while, we find a den…and teeny, tiny paw prints and the faint sounds of mewing inside.

  "Nope," I tell Thrand when I see the paw prints. "If this is a mama with babies, we are not eating her."

  "Agreed," says Penny. "I can't do it. I'm still having a hard time eating things and realizing that they have faces." She shudders.

  Thrand gives me a curious look, a smile on his sexy mouth. "You would leave it because it has young?"

  "You can hear the kittens," I tell him. "I love cats. I'm not killing their mama."

  Instead of giving me shit, he just smiles wider, as if what I'm saying is adorable. "Your soft heart has no place in a hunter's world," he murmurs.

  "I am one hundred percent fine with that," I say, and then add, "And I do plenty fine hunting so far, thank you very much."

  "We shouldn't eat predators anyhow. Their meat tastes different," Penny says, wrinkling her nose. "It's not my favorite taste."

  I shrug, because meat is meat and I'm not going to be super picky over it. Is snowcat my favorite? Not really. But will I eat it? Heck yeah. I'd prefer snowcat to that tentacled slimy crap that gets fished out of the ocean and we eat that on the regular, too.

  "You will want to eat dvisti, then," Thrand says like the know-it-all he is. "They are plant-eaters. Much tastier." And he winks at me. "I think I saw tracks back over the last rise. We can probably find them."

  I bump him with my hip as he moves past. "Dvisti it is, though I have to let you know, back home we didn't eat the horses, either. We rode them."

  Penny laughs. "She's got a point."

  Thrand shoots me a look over his shoulder. "I bet I can ride one."

  "Oh, here we go," I tease. "Yet another challenge from the cockiest man on this planet."

  "I bet I can," he says again, grinning. "Wait and see."

  17

  NADINE

  "No," I say flatly as we stare down at the herd of dvisti in the shallow canyon below us. We lie atop the ridge in the snow, peering down at the herd below. "Bad idea."

  "They are close," Thrand says. "We are upwind. They cannot smell us. I will sneak up quietly and leap on the back, and ride it, just as I promised."

  "No," I hiss again, jabbing him in the side with my finger.

  "I bet you can't do it," Penny singsongs lightly, giving me a wicked grin.

  I shoot her a look. "You're not helping."

  "Why do you not like this idea?" Thrand asks, rolling onto his back on the snow. He puts his hands behind his head and gives me a casual, confident look. "I can ride one."

  "They're wild horses! It's dangerous!"

  "They're the size of alpacas," Penny says. "The biggest danger is one taking a shit on his boot."

  Both of them laugh, as if I'm being a spoilsport.

  "Fine," I say, shrugging. "If you break a leg, I'm going to say 'I told you so' all the way back to the healer's tent. And I hope she gives you hell for risking yourself."

  "Bah. You make it sound like I will be hurt. I have encountered far more dangerous things than grass-eaters."

  "Motherfucker, do you see grass around here?" I gesture at the endless snow. I know the dvisti hooves are slightly cupped and pointed on the front because they paw at the snow, digging to get to whatever roots they can find, and I'm worried that's going to be more dangerous than anything. "You just don't know these creatures like Cashol does. Or Raahosh. Let them hunt the dvisti—"

  I've said the wrong thing, though. Even as I say it, I can see the challenging expression on Thrand's face. It's like waving a red flag in front of a bull, telling him that someone else can do something that he can't. I shoot Penny a look. "Fine. I give up."

  "Good. I can ride it, and then I will kill it and we will bring it back to camp tonight for a feast," Thrand declares. "Watch my spear."

  "What are you going to use as a weapon?" Penny asks as he gets to his feet and tightens his boots.

  "My knife," he says, and then places the leather-wrapped hilt between his teeth and gives me a wicked grin.

  I just roll my eyes. "Go ride the horse, then, show-off."

  He flings his cloak off his shoulders and I could swear he flexes his muscles in front of me, like the arrogant show-off he is, and then he winks in my direction before grabbing the edge of the ledge and picking his way downward. I hate that he's rather skilled at climbing, and he's moving so quietly that the dvisti have no idea he's heading in their direction.

  "Man, he stands out against the snow," Penny whispers to me. "He looks like a damn blood stain."

  He does, I have to agree. I have no idea how the dvisti can't see him, because he's all I can see. Every movement of his graceful, muscular body is starkly outlined against the gray cliffs and white snow, until it seems impossible to me that the animals below are blind to his presence.

  It makes me twitchy and nervous.

  “He’ll be fine,” Penny reassures me. “He’s a damn gladiator.”

  “Gladiators can get trampled,” I grumble at her. I doubt she’d be so blasé if it was S’bren risking his stupid neck just to ride a dvisti. “He’s so arrogant he’d practically dare one to do so.”

  She chuckles, and then sucks in a breath when Thrand crouches, his body tensing as he moves into position above the dvisti herd. It’s hard to tell from our vantage point above, but it looks like he’s still dangerously high up. I bite back a scream as he leaps forward, arms extended, and the herd jerks to alertness.

  A split second later, he slams onto the back of one of the dvisti, nearly knocking it into the snow. The poor creature makes a panicked squeal and bolts forward, and Thrand knots one hand in its shaggy fur, the other raising high into the a
ir in triumph.

  That crazy idiot did it.

  Penny laughs, calling out after him as the herd races out of the canyon, trying to outrun him. He holds onto the bucking, wild dvisti even though his legs practically drag on the ground. He’s entirely too heavy for its spindly legs and it’s clear the creature has no idea what to do with him. They wobble and sway, and the thing shivers, trying to flick the a’ani off its back over and over again. For a moment they look so ridiculous that I laugh despite myself.

  I can’t believe he’s riding a wild dvisti.

  Even as I chuckle, a large shadow glides over the snow. It passes over us, darkening the skies for a moment and then heads toward the scattering dvisti. I catch sight of huge, brownish wings and a triangular head moments before a monster swoops from the skies and grabs both Thrand and the squirming dvisti into its claws and flies away with both of them.

  My laughter turns to a scream of horror. I jump to my feet, watching as Thrand’s hand hammers at the thing’s grip and the dvisti flails wildly.

  Oh god.

  Penny screams, too, and we clutch at each other for a long moment, watching as a monster sails away with our friend.

  With my lover.

  18

  NADINE

  I feel like I'm dying as I watch the enormous bird fly away with Thrand. I'm helpless to do anything—he's so high in the sky I'd never be able to get its attention, much less stop him. Even if I did, would he drop his cargo?

  Thrand's alive…for now. I stare in shock as the bird swoops off on the horizon, and then settles low, as if landing a few valleys over.

  Penny clutches my arm. "I…oh my god. For a moment, I thought it was Ashtar. Only he's that big in the sky, you know? But…" She whimpers.

  I know how she feels. I'm numb inside, unable to stop staring where the big bird has disappeared. I keep staring at the canyon as if that will somehow bring him back. "Old Grandfather," I say woodenly. "It's that skyclaw that the islanders warned us about." I look down at the cloak tossed on the ground. "He was supposed to wear this. They like the color red, remember?"

  "Oh god," Penny says, staring at me in horror. "What do we do?"

  I lick my lips, thinking. I'm terrified, but I'm also full of determination. I stare at the valley, where the bird landed. And I realize I'm not leaving. "I'll go after him," I say to her. "You go back to camp. Get Ashtar and some of the hunters. Get help."

  "What do you mean, you'll go after him?" Penny asks, gawking at me. "You can't do anything against that bird! Did you see it? It's the size of a fucking airplane! We have motherfucking spears!" She shakes hers at me. "You can't win!"

  "Which is why you're going to get Ashtar," I tell her firmly. I squeeze her shoulder, sounding more confident than I am. "I'm not leaving him behind. If there's a chance I can help him, I'm going to take it."

  "Nadine," she protests.

  I gather up his cloak and shove it into my pack. I take his spear in my free hand and look over at her. "Can you make it back to camp on your own?"

  "Of course. But…what if it comes back to get you?"

  I give her a crooked smile. "We hope it doesn't like dark meat?"

  "That's not fucking funny!" she snaps at me.

  "I'll be ok," I reassure her. I pull my cloak—bleach white like the snow—over my dark hair. "It won't see me." Hopefully. I give her a look that begs her not to argue with me. "Just…hurry, okay?"

  She looks like she wants to protest, but after a moment, Penny makes a noise of distress and then races away, back where we came. I look at the distant cliffs, where the bird disappeared, and then try to find my way down into the valley.

  Because I'm going after him. I'm not going to let Thrand die alone.

  * * *

  It's hell making it down the cliffs carrying two spears and a pack, and I scrape the hell out of my arms and legs as I clumsily half-fall, half-jog my way down. I end up sliding on my ass for a long way, too, but eventually I make it to the bottom. From there, I jog as quickly as I can across the valley, not caring that I'm making enough noise to scare off a million dvisti. I just need to find where that bird went. I scan the skies over and over again, waiting for it to take off from the spot it disappeared, but it doesn't. It has to still be there. And wherever it took Thrand, that's where it'll be. I don't know what I'll do when I get there, I just know I can't abandon him.

  It seems to take forever to cross the distance. I'm hurrying as fast as I can, sweating so hard that my wraps are icing up and my cloak feels sodden with condensation. The weather has changed again, the skies growing stormy and steadily darker, and I hope Penny makes it back as quickly as she can. I hope she's racing like I am. Of course she is, I chide myself, and hate that I even thought such a thing. Penny is strong and smart—she'd go as fast as she can because she knows we have to save Thrand. She wouldn't take her time. I have to trust that this will work. That she'll get the dragon and she can lead them back to us. All I have to do is find Thrand—alive—and somehow get him away from the bird for long enough for us to survive until the dragon arrives.

  Who the fuck knows how I'm going to do that. I'll figure it out when I get there.

  I'm panting and exhausted by the time I get to the valley, but as I do, I see dead things everywhere. There are corpses of dead animals littering the canyon, old, dark spatters covering the snow. It's like something out of a horror movie and I swallow hard, fighting back the nausea that rises in my throat. It smells terrible, too, like too much meat left out to rot. I press a hand to my nose and continue. This has to be its home…now where is Thrand?

  I move along the walls of the canyon, looking at each dead, trashed corpse and waiting to see bright red skin and black tattoos. I don't see him anywhere, though, and I pause, resting against the canyon wall as I look around me with despair. This has to be it. I look up as a rock skitters down the slopes and see a large brown shape high above, atop the cliffs.

  Fuck.

  I know immediately I have to go up there.

  If nothing else, so I can see his remains for myself.

  19

  THRAND

  I dare not breathe too loudly.

  I lie on my back, careful not to move, my eyes mere slits as I stare up at the monster looming over the nest. The creature—the massive skyclaw known as Old Grandfather—is camouflaged to the same slate-gray shade as the cliffs themselves, unnoticeable except I can smell the stink of his fetid breath from several feet below in the nest.

  This has…not been my favorite afternoon.

  After the creature lifted me off the back of the dvisti, I thought for sure it would eat me alive, and my last thought was one of alarm—that Nadine would not be safe. It is my duty as her male to keep her safe, and I have failed in this. She will have to go back to camp with no one but Penny to accompany her and tell her of the terrible fate that has befallen me. Everyone knows a clone does not live for long. We are expendable, only worth what our master paid for us or what we can bring to a fight. I imagined I would go out in a blaze of glory in the arena, or perhaps in a fierce war.

  I never dreamed I'd get eaten by a flying animal.

  Even stranger than that…the thing doesn't eat me. It tosses both me and the bleating, terrified dvisti into what must be its nest. I'm dazed from the fall, my head swimming, and it is only sheer luck that I don't get eaten by the hungry chick waiting for its meal. Instead, the dvisti is torn apart while I groggily hold my head and try to gather my wits, and then the hatchling flies from the nest. I grab a husk of discarded shell and crouch underneath it by the other egg, which shows no signs of moving.

  And I wait.

  I am not entirely sure what else to do. I know that if I try to leave, the large skyclaw above will attack me, and I have lost my knife. My spear is still at Nadine's side.

  Nadine.

  I think of my female, my heart full of longing. Is she going to cry bitter tears that I am gone? Or will she forget about me? She will cry, I decide. No one will lick her p
ussy as good as I can. No one is as determined to bring her pleasure. Just thinking about her makes my cock rise, even though this is the worst of times and my arms are covered in gashes from the claws of Old Grandfather. I should not be thinking of arousal, but my cock doesn't care. It rises every time I think of Nadine, and like usual, the moment she crosses my mind, it stands at attention.

  It, too, will be sad to never taste Nadine's cunt again.

  I need to escape. I don't want to die here, not when I have a perfect, gorgeous, eager female waiting for me. I glance up at the cliff, my eyes straining to make out the creature's form. I can smell it even if I cannot see it, though. It does not help that my head is spinning and my brow is sticky with blood. There's a knot on my head that throbs with every pound of my heart, and it's keffing hard to concentrate. Sometimes the large creature on the ledge above blurs in front of my gaze, and sometimes it doubles. A head injury, I decide.

  Something the pale, small human healer could heal instantly, but she is not here.

  I'd much rather Nadine be here. She could press my head to her breasts and soothe my aches. Actually, no, I decide. I want her somewhere safe, far away from here. I don't want her to know I was bird food at the end. She would cry far too much. She's already too sad as it is.

  As if my thoughts have called her forward, a small, brown hand appears over the edge of the nest. I blink hard, then squint, trying to focus. A moment later, her curls come into sight, and I hear a low, feminine grunt.

  Oh, kef me.

  Nadine is HERE.

  I grab Nadine's hand and drag her into the nest the moment her head crests the edge. Her eyes widen in surprise, and I slam a hand over her mouth before she can speak. Above us, Old Grandfather lets out a snorted breath and rustles his wings, and she freezes next to me. She didn't see the creature in his camouflage, and her entire body trembles in response.