Venomous: (Alien Warrior Book 1)

by Penelope Fletcher

  Blocking my nose, counting breaths, I pressed my forehead onto Fiercely’s scaled nape.

  It took every ounce of my common sense and self control not to jump off his back then run screaming for Venomous.

  The ship was under siege.

  Warriors died horribly paces from me.

  It was not the time to act on flight impulse because if I ran, I’d get caught.

  If I ran, I would die.

  Slipping, I wrapped my legs around Fiercely’s waist then clasped my own wrist, arms locked around his neck.

  It hurt, my wrist throbbing, but my fear of falling was greater.

  The corridor was crammed with six-limbed Rä battling Dei San.

  The raiders stood two to three feet taller with considerably more mass, rendering the superior Rä warrior skills equal to their brute strength.

  Physically, it was all I could do not to faint, emotionally, I was all over the place.

  Why hadn’t Venomous found me?

  Hadn’t he woken?

  Please let him be awake and able to defend himself.

  I was beside myself with worry.

  How will I find him if they get him off this ship?

  Panting with fright, I pressed my mouth to Fiercely’s spiky ear. “How did they find us in open space? Are we ship jacked? Is there ship jacking in space? Is ship jacking even the right term?”

  Babbling, I gulped down far too much air, panic building on top of the stress that had been built on more panic.

  I didn’t know how to maintain equilibrium.

  How am I supposed to deal with the constant terror without going nuts?

  “Are we in a shipping lane?” I shrilled. “Because if we are I don’t think that was smart. Not that I’m judging the pilot.... Actually, I am judging. Harshly. Considering the circumstances, I have every freaking right to be pissed. This was meant to be a rescue! They are ruining this rescue, and it is rude.”

  Ignoring my high-pitched blether for what it was, nonsense, Fiercely retreated until my back bumped the wall.

  “Thsst!” He’d put himself between me and danger. “They must have lain in wait until we were out of range of an Alliance planet to launch this attack.” Thumping a fist against the inner hull, he hissed, a savage sound of frustration. He clamped a hand around my ankle. “I cannot get you out. They block the route to the escape pods.”

  Chills rippled across my flesh. “We can’t leave the ship. Where’s Venom? We have to get him first.”

  More Dei San flooded the corridor.

  The conflict swung in their favour, overwhelming the warriors with sheer numbers.

  Cursing, Fiercely shuffled until we ducked around a corner ignoring my anguished pleas to find my mate.

  Running a claw along the dented wall, he grew still, palms pressed to the metal, his head tilted back.

  A black opening appeared above us.

  It hummed, the noise originating from recessed fans, and blew fresh, cool air onto our upturned faces.

  He lifted me. “Get inside.”

  I did, but turned around to stick my head back out. “Venom–”

  “You are no good to him dead.” Bloodied talons stroked my hair. “In here you will be safe. It is better this way. I can look my nest mate in the brille knowing I did all I could to keep you from suffering at their hands.”

  Mind fixed on one thing, finding Venomous, the meaning of his words flew right over my head.

  I grabbed his hand.

  It was slippery with gore, still, I held it tight. “Hide with me. Once they pass, we’ll go after Venom together.”

  “You will never know how your words tempt me. Lumen you are.... I am becoming....” A violent tremor shook him then he pulled himself together. “Venomous One must be seeking you. I will go to him. I cannot abandon him now I have found him, and Nāga has a female on board who needs protection.”

  Terrified of being abandoned, I wanted to beg him to stay. I sucked it up. “Please find him. Please.”

  “Venomous will come for you. If not.... Thsst! Honoured Rä’Na, Lumen, death is worth it to have found you. Forgive me. I should not have separated you from him.”

  The vent snapped closed, and I was alone in the darkness.

  For the longest time, I huddled there, immobile, staring at where his face used to be then I fell onto my back and covered my face with my hands to weep.

  Tears streaked my temples and wet my hair.

  It felt as if I lay there forever, sobbing, digging my fingertips into my skull worried I’d go insane.

  Time passed.

  I grew to hate the dark.

  How long has it been since Fiercely left?

  The fighting had been so close, I’d heard the horrendous screeches of death.

  In a brief moment of calm, I rallied, hoping the warriors would beat the Dei San back, but when it became clear by the terrible sounds that wasn’t happening, I simply begged for it to end.

  I could hear their torture.

  The screams, the screams, the screams, they were horrifying.

  Sounds of pain and anguish tore at my soul, and I believe for a time, I lost my mind.

  Venomous was out there.

  Surely he’d be awake, and not lying defenceless, his body dragged away to be shackled, or worse, made sport of.

  Made to scream.

  The thought made me physically sick.

  Luckily, the little I’d eaten made a syrupy puddle that wasn’t too bad to lie in.

  What if I never see him again?

  More time passed.

  As the gurgles of death quietened, I became conscious of pressing matters requiring my attention.

  I was stuck in a vent, and I had no idea how to open it.

  Only Fiercely knew where I hid, and there was a strong likelihood he’d died trying to reach Venomous.

  Therefore, no one knew where I was.

  Not only was I locked inside a vent I couldn’t unlock, I was aboard an enemy occupied battleship floating, literally, in the middle of nowhere.

  There was no food, and no water.

  I had no weapons.

  Hell, I didn’t even have clothes on.

  I could crawl my sobbing, petrified, naked self ten feet back and forth.

  Taking the time to pace my breathing, I focused on one thing at a time rather than have a breakdown and chew my lips off.

  What would Venomous do?

  Assess the risks with keeping me safe foremost in his mind.

  I can do that.

  It was just thinking, after all, nothing difficult about it.

  My hiding place was secure; the Dei San hadn’t found me.

  They may not even know of my existence, as Fiercely gutted the one that scent tagged me.

  If I could find a way to leave the vent, and sneak about the ship, I might find food and water.

  I could scope out what the pirates were doing then figure out how to proceed after my most pressing needs were taken care of.

  What is the easiest, safest thing to do?

  Wait where I was ... and starve to death because no one was coming back for me.

  The sensible action was to creep around the, fingers crossed, deserted Trekker corridors until I found the escape pods.

  That was where Fiercely tried to take me, so I knew the correct direction to head in.

  Will the pods get me where I need to go?

  Maybe if I get to one in time, I could fetch the Rä help.

  There was the worry they’d all been used, but I intuitively knew the warriors wouldn’t have abandoned ship.

  They would have shoved Nāga’s female into a pod then fought to the death.

  Curling into a ball for warmth, I wished I’d been stuffed into a heating vent instead of a cooling one.

  I cursed Fiercely for disposing of the tunic Venomous had gotten me.

  After cursing him, I wept, taking it back and begging any cosmic deities listening to keep him safe from harm if he was alive.

  M
aybe then he will bring me some bloody clothes.

  Anger narrowing my will to a burning desire to find clothing is what caused it to happen.

  Globules of silver dripped from the wall to land cold on my shoulder.

  I squealed, frantic to somehow rub it off without touching it, but more splashed onto my skin then coalesced into a pool near my hip.

  Then nothing, no fiery pain, or microscopic nastiness trying to devour me whole.

  Feeling stupid to have reacted so badly, my panic abated.

  A sliver of light came from the wall.

  I pressed my eye to it, and saw it was the corridor.

  Fiercely and Nāga had made things happen in the enclosure with a thought, like bringing up holograms out of thin air, or making lights beam brighter or dimmer.

  I had guessed it was a Rä thing, and even if it wasn’t, I’d assumed they would have ensured I was unable to exercise control of my environment as their prisoner.

  I have to think the vent open?

  Dropping my head back, I pretended to stare past my metal cage into the vastness of outer space to stave off the encroaching feeling of claustrophobia.

  Rä used mental commands to control minor functions on the Trekker.

  A logical conclusion and not a crazy one?

  As crazy as being kidnapped from Earth then falling into lust with an alien warrior?

  I blew out a breath then shifted to face the wall.

  Trying not to feel stupid, I directed ‘open’ thoughts at it. “Come on, come on. Melt or whatever.”

  The wall rippled, as if a pool I’d dabbed in the middle.

  Globules separated into metallic beads so minuscule they appeared grains of sand.

  The fluid mass ran into a mercury puddle under my knees, cold, yet not wet.

  Relief soothed my ragged nerves as the wall opened into the same sized hole I crawled in.

  Then I froze.

  It took far too long to gather the courage to leave.

  Rocking, crying because I was so fucking weak, the entire time, I ignored the urge to pee.

  I trained my chaotic mind to focus on one simple fact; staying here means you will die.

  But even that wouldn’t get me moving.

  Venomous might be alive, and might die if you do nothing.

  I inched forward.

  Stopped when the smell of blood wafted from the corridor.

  Soon the dry clicks of my tongue and the rumblings of my empty stomach overpowered my fear.

  The last thing I wanted was to grow too weak to move.

  Dehydration would make me useless, affecting my decision-making abilities, not that they weren’t already messed up.

  Mincing to the mouth of the vent, I stilled when the walls vibrated.

  Nothing is wrong, you’re trembling, keep going.

  Sucking down a breath, I popped my head out, snapped it left then right then jerked back inside within a second flat.

  The corridor was empty.

  Scooting around, complicated when a space is only four feet wide, I slid out toes first.

  An errant thought halted my movement, and I dangled mid air, half in and half out.

  How will I get back into the vent when it’s so damn high?

  It was the only secure hiding place I had, and by leaving it, I’d be adrift with nowhere to run to if discovered.

  Indecision ate at me, the lip of the opening cutting into my stomach hurting.

  Just fucking do it.

  Decision made, heart pounding, I eased down until my arms were fully extended.

  My fingertips gripped the very edge then I took the drop to the floor with enough grace to boost my confidence.

  I spun to put my back to the wall.

  The corridor extended out in a curve in both directions.

  Knowing what lay to my right, I wanted to go left, but the need to know if Fiercely survived was overwhelming.

  The escape pods were in that direction too.

  There would be food rations, and water on one of them for sure.

  Pressed to the wall, I shuffled along until I reached a tight bend.

  Peeking around the corner, I stifled a gasp.

  Vomit surged into my throat, and I clasped a hand over my mouth to smother the sound of my retching.

  Bodies littered the blood-drenched deck.

  Rä warriors had been hacked into pieces then left to rot beside their enemies.

  Was Fiercely among the slain?

  Venomous.

  Before I realised my feet moved, I rounded the corner and blindly staggered into the intersection.

  Panic had me scanning the mutilated bodies of the dead in a detached haze.

  They stank.

  My toes squished together in a thick, black substance spilling from the disembowelled body of a Dei San, and I fought a hysterical scream.

  Some of the Rä faces were so damaged, I couldn’t recognize the mashes of bone and brain matter as facial features.

  None of them looked big enough to be Venomous, nor was their colour right.

  There were moments his scales appeared molten gold, and were otherwise deep olive mottled with bronze and amber.

  They were unforgettable.

  Calming, I again scanned the bodies, unable to spot Fiercely’s distinct emerald shade.

  Nāga’s sedate, dark blue was absent too.

  Relief stole through my body, the force of it making me woozy.

  Could they be alive?

  Hurt pierced the horror of my environment.

  If they had survived, why hadn’t they come for me?

  Captives?

  The Dei San would be terrible considering the carnage they left behind.

  Is it down to me to save them?

  Slapping the heel of my palm to my forehead, I leaned against the wall as my knees knocked.

  What if they were no longer on the Trekker?

  How could I do anything worthwhile to help them?

  A more terrifying thought occurred.

  What if I was alone on the ship?

  What if as I stood there woolgathering, the vessel flew into a blazing sun, or an asteroid belt because the pilot was gone?

  After taking a moment to frighten myself silly, imagining the worst, I squared my shoulders.

  I had two options; find the escape pods or save the Rä.

  Only one of the choices was acceptable to me.

  If there was a chance Venomous and Fiercely were alive, I would find them and set them free.

  They’d wrest back control of the ship, and only then would I be safe to completely fall apart.

  Until then suck it up, girl.

  I had to keep focused or I’d go back to rocking in a corner and tearing my hair out.

  A thorough search of the ship was the only way forward.

  Staying where I was any longer increased the risk I’d get caught.

  The Trekker was used in planetary defence, so there had to be a place to detain prisoners, holding cells of some kind like ... the one I’d been in.

  Shamefully, I considered pilfering clothes from the dead to cover my nakedness.

  I decided against it out of respect.

  Determined, I retraced Fiercely’s steps.

  It took a while to navigate the corridors he had raced through during the attack because they all looked the same.

  I’d worried about the walking-through-the-walls issue, but the entire ship seemed more open.

  Or maybe I just wasn’t being such a sissy.

  Each wobbly step I took, I expected to round a bend and confront a hulking Dei San.

  Sheer willpower kept my feet moving.

  It can’t be much further.

  Fiercely ran fast, but he hadn’t been moving long.

  I turned a corner then choked.

  Jerking back, I slammed against the metallic wall and the world darkened.

  Face crumpling, my shoulders shook from the force of my tears, and I slapped the back of my hand to my mouth to
muffle a whimper.

  Dei San.

  It lay sprawled across the corridor next to the threshold of a hazy force field.

  Its snores thundered down the corridor.

  A bright thought sliced through my terror, and the risk of blacking out from sheer fright vanished.

  Didn’t a guard meant something of value to protect?

  Something like prisoners.

  All I had to do was sneak up to the force field, peek inside, and check if Venomous and Fiercely were imprisoned.

  I’d figure out how to pass through the barrier without waking the Dei San if they were inside.

  All I needed was courage.

  I slinked around the corner, breathing in shallow pulls.

  Rather than creep along, knowing I’d lose my nerve long before I got there, I picked up my feet and sprinted on my toes then softly slid to a stop a foot from the sentry’s paws.

  I swivelled to stare inside the enclosure.

  My heart skipped a beat as I took an unconscious step, hands flying to cover my mouth in case I squealed.

  Rä warriors filled the room.

  In the middle of the battered gathering was my male, my Venomous One.

  Fiercely sat next to him, head bent, deep in discussion.

  I swung my arms not wanting to make noise, but couldn’t help a hiss-whispered, “Babe.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Venomous woke.

  He inhaled, lungs expanding with cool air, his chest enclosed in....

  His hands came up to smooth over the matte textile of his full body hardsuit.

  The resilient material hugged his musculature, yet sensation wasn’t dulled nor movement hindered.

  It felt good to be in the garb of a warrior, to be in decent accommodations, and to breathe air not rancid with sweat and death.

  The furs at his back were clean and fresh, the mat beneath them thick and comfortable.

  My Lumen will finally....

  Jerking up, Venomous scanned the quarters.

  “Lumen?”

  Nothing, he was alone.

  His hearts tried to fly from his chest, but he calmed himself.

  Thoughts in disarray, he looked down at his empty arms.

  He could feel her soft, warm weight.

  Impatient, Venomous stretched his mind back, memory tapering into blood, screams, and his alien mate’s salty musk as she wept for those they’d lost.

  She’d ... died in his arms!

  His hearts stuttered then surged on when his instincts forced him to think past the foggy remembrance of her limp body and sightless eyes.