“You sleepwalk.”
Esme let out a soft groan. “Only when I’m stressed. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t been sleepwalking every night since we got here.”
“This would definitely count as a stressful situation.” Payton cocked her head to the side. “Maybe Ben has been looking out for you and keeping you in your sleeping bag.”
Esme thought about it. That would explain the dark circles under Ben’s eyes. He’d not only watched over them to keep them safe from aliens, but he’d also made sure she didn’t take a walk-a-bout in the middle of the night.
Esme took in a long breath. “I don’t doubt it. Thanks for not letting me stray.”
Payton nodded toward the entrance. “If it hadn’t been for the monsoon out there last night, I would’ve tied your purse to you and let you walk out of my life. But lucky for you, I started feeling guilty. I didn’t want you to break a leg on your late night wandering. The rocks are slippery when they’re wet.”
Esme glanced toward the narrow opening. The sun was still shining brightly. “Weather cleared.”
“Yeah, but now we have bigger problems. Go take a look,” she squinted at Esme, “and by God be quiet about it.”
Esme’s interest piqued. She pushed the sleeping bag away from her and inched toward the opening to peer outside, glancing over the rocky landscape. Jagged rocks of different sizes looked as though they’d grown straight from the ground. The light bounced off the smooth grey and brown surfaces and made them gleam like glass.
Some slabs sloped downward and jutted against other slabs that angled in a different direction. There was no rhyme or reason to the formation. There was clear evidence of last night’s rain, pools of water were trapped between rocks, forming pockets of small lakes that shimmered as a result of the sunlight.
“Nothing much out here—” She was beginning to wonder what had Payton so frightened when she spotted them. Twenty feet from the cave’s entrance were two aliens locked together on one of the downward sloping rocks.
They both had the appearance of some overgrown lizards, green and scaly. One had the other bent over on all fours while it pounded into it from behind. Esme couldn’t rightfully tell if they were a male-female or male-male couple, they both looked the same. As the one pounded, the other scratched at the rock and screeched. The sound was odd and weird on her ears.
Then the alien leaned back, and the one who’d been bent over turned around. The second before the alien got to its knees, Esme caught site of the gleaming pink thing that she guessed was an alien’s penis. The other alien took the pink thing into his mouth and began sucking.
Ew. That’s not right.
As Esme backed away, her knees dug into the ground. Her body seemed heavier than it should have been. Her mind swirled with panic. If one of those things caught her would it expect to bend her over too? The stakes were higher than she’d let herself realize.
Alien mate.
She would be expected to have sex with one of those things. There was a small sense of relief when her feet hit the wall, and she twisted to rest her back against it.
“I guess we’re stuck in here until they finish.”
“They’ve been going at it for a while now,” Payton whispered back. “After it stopped raining, I went out to plot an escape route. I came back to wake you up and let you know that I was taking off.”
Esme frowned then glanced at her watch. That didn’t do a lick of good. According to her watch, it was four-thirty in the morning. Old habits die hard.
“The alarm? I didn’t hear it. Which is weird since it’s loud as hell and heart-stopping.”
Payton slapped the wall she leaned against. “This again. The rock buffered it. I almost slept through it too.”
“Huh, I don’t know if that’s a plus or a negative.”
She really didn’t. On the one hand, she didn’t want to hear the alarm. And on the other she really, really needed to know when the hunters were free to roam again.
Esme let out a deflating sigh. “How long have they been going at it?”
“Over an hour now.”
“Ugh.” Esme slumped to the ground. “How can they have sex that long?”
“Easily.”
Esme turned away from Payton’s questioning gaze and mumbled. “I thought the average time was about twenty minutes or so.”
Payton quirked her brow. “Seriously? The ‘average time’? Honey, I feel sorry for you if that’s all your guy spent doing the deed.”
Esme initiated her bedding to fold. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I read about it in a magazine somewhere. Probably my doctor’s office or something.”
“You read about it?” Payton said too loudly. Her eyes opened wide with alarm, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. For a few tense moments, they both were silent, waiting. When nothing happened Payton scooted closer. “You can’t be a virgin. Seriously. How old are you?”
Esme picked up the small disc that used to be her sleeping bag and stored it into her comlink. “You sound like that’s so farfetched, Payton. I had a lot on my plate.”
“So much that you couldn’t get laid?” Payton’s voice was higher than usual.
Esme glanced out the opening to make sure the aliens hadn’t heard anything. Nope. They were still going at it like two horny rabbits. “Shhh. I know you’re surprised, but keep it down, I don’t want the lovebirds out there to find us.”
“Okay, so spill the details,” Payton whispered.
“Details? I don’t have any. That’s why I’m a virgin.” Esme rested her head against the stone wall and focused on the ceiling. “Now look at me. Abducted by aliens, forced to run for my life in some warped game, dangerously on the verge of becoming an over-sized praying mantis’s reluctant bride.”
“Oy.”
Esme glanced at Payton. “He’s bent on capturing me, you know. I’ve seen him twice already.”
“And I thought the alien hounding me was what nightmares are made of.”
“Hideous?”
“He’s something alright. Don’t change the subject. Let’s focus on you. I’m just wondering how you kept your hoo-ha on lock-down through your college years.”
“Really, Payton?” Esme nodded toward the entrance. “Don’t we have other pressing matters at hand?”
Payton spread her hands out then laced them behind her head. “It seems like we have nothing but time until those two finish and move on.”
Esme let out a sigh and folded her legs, pulling her ankles close to her. “I graduated high school early. I took some test, and those results fell into the right hands. I was offered a full ride scholarship to Brown. I moved from my parent’s house into a dorm.”
She chuckled to herself remembering how awful it had been. She had thirty-page papers to research and write and didn’t have time for anything else.
She shrugged. “The first four years I had a really nice roommate who took me under her wings. Then for my Master’s program I struggled to fit in with my new roommate. After that, I somehow convinced the Academic Dean that I needed my own place.
“I was starting my Ph.D. program and the other kids my age were college freshmen, straight out of high school and away from their parents for the first time with only partying on their minds. The dorm life wasn’t for me anymore, but I couldn’t afford to live on my own.”
“So you’re a brainiac and a sheltered kid.”
Esme shook her head. “No, I wasn’t sheltered at all.”
Her parents had wanted her to have a normal life so badly. She remembered her mom packing her bag and dropping her off for sleepovers with girls she didn’t have anything in common with. She’d hated every forced interaction, but she’d gone, only because it had meant something to her parents. They’d been so afraid she would grow up too fast and look back on her childhood and regret not enjoying it more.
“I was just a smart kid who chose to focus on school instead of hanging out with friends, and being interested in things other
than clothes and boys.”
“Wow. I actually feel kinda sorry for you.”
It wasn’t the first time someone had told her that. And this time, like the others she instantly became defensive.
She straightened and glared at Payton. “There’s nothing to feel sorry about. I love learning. I was about to apply for another Ph.D. program before all of this happened. I had…have a good life.”
Payton put up her hand. “Calm down, Einstein. I’m not saying that you didn’t have a good life. I’m just sorry that you didn’t get to live a little before you woke up in this nightmare.”
Esme turned her head in a huff. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to make it to Level Three, and I’m going home. And when I get there, I am going to let my hair down.” She nodded. She’d given a lot of thought to it already. Plans would be made. “Maybe I’ll go on one of those online dating sites, go out for after work drinks with my co-workers and live more.”
Her parents would be happy with that plan. They’d always told her that she’d spent too much time with her nose in books and going to school. They’d only been worried about her. She knew that now. They were proud of all her accomplishments, but they’d wanted her to live a fuller life, and to them that meant taking vacations, having more friends and getting married and having kids one day.
“So Level Three, huh?”
Esme lifted her chin. “I can do it, Payton.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” Payton sang the words. “Let me see your comlink.”
Esme held up her hand and Payton did the same, comparing the two.
“Just as I thought,” Payton continued. “When you were sleep, I checked my number thingies, and it was going much faster than yours. Now they’re synced.”
Esme winced. She’d known this was precisely what Payton had wanted to avoid from the start. “Sorry. We’ll split up as soon as we can get out of here.”
Payton nodded.
An uncomfortableness fell over them.
“So what’s your story?” Esme broke the silence to ask.
“Don’t have a story.” Payton scooted back to where she’d been sitting, putting space between them again.
“Really? You made me admit to being a virginal spinster, and you’re not going to tell me anything about yourself? Pft. That’s just lame.”
Payton rolled her eyes. “Way to make me feel guilty.”
“Well, you should. That’s not fair.”
Payton didn’t respond, and after a few tense moments, Esme didn’t think she would.
“You don’t have to give me your complete backstory. I was just curious about you and Jack.”
“Fine. I was out late walking Jack when I got taken. I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since…leaving my husband.” She began making designs in the dirt on the ground. “Normally I would’ve checked the security camera feed to calm my nerves then watched television until I fell asleep, but that night I was jumpy. I’d gotten a hang-up call on my new burner cell phone and I…I thought maybe he’d found me again.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude. You don’t have to finish. It’s not my business. Sorry for pressing you about it.”
Payton continued to draw as if she hadn’t heard Esme. “If only I’d stayed inside I would be going to a divorce hearing today instead of stuck in a cave held hostage by the hornies.” She took her cell phone out of her back pocket and tapped the screen.
“It’s been off since I got here,” Payton continued. “I don’t know why, but when I got up this morning, I had the urge to turn it on. A reminder popped up. ‘Divorce Court Today’. I was dreading it before. But now I would do anything to be there instead of here.”
Esme chuckled. “I’d choose divorce court any day over the mess we’re in.”
“I was having nightmares about it. About seeing my ex again. Having to stand there and tell the judge…stuff. Now I know it’s not the worst thing in the world.”
“Hey, you aren’t alone. We’re all in this together.”
“No, we aren’t, Esme. If one of us gets caught, we’re carted off to God only knows where. We all came here together, but we aren’t leaving together.”
“And then you still won’t be alone. You’ll have Jack by your side.”
At hearing his name, Jack stood and wagged his tail and climbed over Esme’s legs. Esme lifted her arms to let him curl in her lap. When he settled, she scratched behind his ears.
“Yeah, I’m glad he’s with me. Jack always has my back, and he can take care of himself. Unlike…”
“Adam and Lexi.” Sadness and anxiety filled Esme. She’d been so caught up in her peril that she’d almost forgotten about them. “I fell asleep and missed roll call last night. Did…?”
Chapter Sixteen
Esme couldn’t finish her sentence. She’d been running on adrenalin, and when it worked its way out of her system, she’d crashed. Hard.
“I told everyone that I was watching you snore. They know you’re okay.”
“Miranda? Ben?”
“Miranda and the kids are fine, and Ben got away just after you did. He found a hollowed out tree, and he’s sticking close to it until his leg can heal enough for him to find something better. Everyone is fine, except…”
Esme held onto Jack’s ears. Her heart beat against her ribs. “Who?”
“Kaylin. She was taken. Some of the aliens set a trap, and she got caught in some kind of netting. The others tried to get her out of it, but couldn’t. They had to scatter to save themselves.”
“I saw Yesenia. Our pods passed each other.” Tears burned her eyes. Esme rubbed them, suddenly feeling exhausted again. “Are we going to make it out of here?”
“Yeah, we are. We have to be smart. That means no traveling in large groups.”
Esme’s heart dropped. How could she do this on her own? She was no Ben or Payton. They both were more skilled than she was.
“Those aliens probably see it as a gold mine,” Payton said. “No hiking for miles just because. Find an area, get to know it and learn how to survive in it. That’s what I told everyone last night. No more treating this like we were meant to win.”
“We just need to survive,” Esme repeated, more to herself than a response to Payton.
“Survive and take pictures of this place. Hm. I wonder how much the pictures will go for when I sell them to CNN?”
Esme wiped a tear from her cheek and despite herself, chuckled. “We have to plot how to survive this mess. We shouldn’t be thinking about hawking pictures to news outlets or magazines.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about selling my pictures to hack jobs. I’m talking gold star news organizations. Don’t act like you haven’t thought about it, Einstein.”
“I haven’t. My phone’s in my purse. I haven’t turned it on. I’m trying to save my battery.”
Payton waggled her eyebrows. “Good. More money for me.”
Esme pulled her phone from her purse and turned it on. Her battery was at ninety-five percent. She guessed she could take a few pictures. If her battery died, she could get three full charges from her portable charger. She snapped one of Jack curled in her lap.
“We need to be documenting our time on this planet,” Payton said. “When we get back to Earth we’ll be able to sell the pictures for a lot of money.”
“Maybe you’re right. If I don’t have photographic evidence, no one will believe me. I don’t even think my parents would believe a story like this.”
“Hi, mom and dad. I know I’ve been gone for a while, but guess what? I was abducted by aliens and forced to play out some survival hunting game.”
Esme snorted out a chuckle. “As much as they love me, I really do think they would have me committed if I came home with a story like that.” At the thought of her parents, all the playfulness left. “I know they’re worried sick about me. My dad is probably organizing search parties, and my mom and sisters are losing their minds.” Her eyes burned. “I-I don’t
know if I’ll ever see them again.”
“You will. That’ll be your motivation to finish this game and win. Do that, and you get to go home to your family.”
Esme sniffed and wiped her eyes. “What about your family? Do you think they’re out there looking for you?”
Payton gave her head a slight shake. “They’ll…they’ll think that my ex finally got a hold of me. They didn’t want me to marry him in the first place, and when things turned…sour, my mom and dad couldn’t wait to tell me ‘I told you so’. They didn’t want to hear anything about it. I pretty much had to escape my ex and do everything on my own.”
“That must’ve been hard.”
Payton let out a heavy sigh. “I was in hiding for about a year and a half. I hadn’t had contact with my parents since before then. I kept in touch with my little brother. He’s probably the only one who would raise a fuss when he finds out that I didn’t show for my court date. My ex would probably think that he’d scared me out of showing up.” Payton let out a humorless chuckle. “No, no one would miss me for a while.”
Esme opened her mouth, wanting to tell Payton she was sorry but snapped it closed. She didn’t know Payton all that well, but sorry was probably what Payton didn’t want to hear right now. She aimed her phone at Payton and took a picture.
“Hey, what did you do that for?”
Esme lifted a shoulder. “Just documenting you. You have a, ‘I’m going to beat this game, so I can go home and give everyone the middle finger’ look about you. It’ll be a significant turning point for my book.”
Payton lifted an eyebrow. “So you’re writing a book are you?”
“You’re doing CNN. I’ll do Oprah.”
A laugh burst from Payton’s mouth, and she stifled it with a hand. “Oprah?”
“Hell yeah. It’ll be a dream come true. Oprah will come to my house and I’ll make her tea. My mom will make her enchiladas and we’ll talk about my experience. She’ll add my book to her book club reading list.”
“And you guys will end up being best friends.”
“Of course,” Esme deadpanned.
The Game Warden's Mate: An Alien Abduction Romance (The Hunt Book 1) Page 13
