“Lady Tiur, do not look upon my work with jealousy as Selene would deny Medea her Jason, as she herself was torn from her sleeping Endymion. Look kindly upon my work and bestow your blessings upon it.”
Dropping down into her chair, she leaned back and stared up at the stars. She supposed that, if she were a decade younger, she could have qualified for that Mate Index Program thingy, but she wasn’t sure if she’d like it. Although they advertised finding love among the stars, she knew that women went to whichever alien liked the look of her enough to essentially buy her. That didn’t sound like a promising start of a relationship. She’d much rather trust her magic and the gods to bring someone to love her into her life.
The universe sure was a big place. When she was younger, she’d never imagined how vast the possibilities would be. Sure, there’d been Star Trek, Babylon 5, Firefly, and other flights of fantasy she enjoyed, but they were so far removed from reality that she’d never given it serious consideration. She allowed her imagination to wander, running through different possibilities of what her destined mate would look like. After all, he didn’t have to be human. It would be more convenient if he were, but the gods give you what you needed the most.
Who knew what the lady of love would devise?
Drawing her shawl more tightly around her, she settled further back and reclined in her patio chair, aimlessly connecting the lines of stars into familiar constellations. Ursa Major circled Polos, cursed to never bathe herself in the waters of the primordial river that dwelled at the horizon. Her finger moved on the hunter Orion, endlessly chasing his prey.
Her eyelids grew heavy as a light flashed overhead. Another trading vessel from a far-off world, she suspected. Over the last five years, it had become common to see the vessels light up the sky as they descended through the atmosphere. Not too long ago, bored young women found considerable sport on those docks before the authorities tightened security. There had been too many instances of women either running away with aliens or being outright kidnapped. Deena suspected that the authorities were more concerned with the former, especially after an ambassador’s daughter slipped away to live with her mates on Edokora.
Can’t deprive the government of their coin, after all.
Yawning, Deena roused herself and pushed off the patio chair to make her way back into the house. She glanced at the mess sitting on her indoor altar and grimaced, passing by it on her route to the kitchen. Although her nona would have scolded her for not taking care of it right away, she was famished and exhausted. She would clean it up in the morning before she left to do her usual stint of giving readings at a local shop. Readings and simple conjures kept a roof over her head, food to eat, and simple comforts. She didn’t go in until nearly noon, so she’d have plenty of time to set her altar to rights before she had to go.
With a practiced hand, she put together the ingredients for the clam chowder and then, after setting the kitchen timer, curled up on the couch and turned the TV on. Settling on a romantic comedy, she half-watched and half-dozed as the warm smell of cream and the salty tang of shellfish spread through the house.
Just as the smell became strong enough to make her stomach grumble, the timer dinged, and Deena gratefully returned to the kitchen, ladled out a bowl of thick chowder, and dug in. The chowder was still uncomfortably hot even after she blew on each bite, making her eyes water, but it did its job. Her belly was warm and full by the time the last bite was eaten. Rinsing her bowl and stowing the leftovers in the fridge, Deena gave in to her exhaustion. Turning off her television, she walked through the familiar dark hallway to her room.
The glow of the full moon drifted through the curtains of her bedroom as she slipped into bed. They were still partially open, as they had been all day, but she didn’t have the energy to deal with them. Her conjuration often wiped her out. It was enough that she was able to stumble out of her clothes and burrow beneath the warm blankets covering her bed.
As the moonlight bathed her face and her eyes drifted closed, Deena wondered if she would dream of him tonight. It was an old tale that sleeping beneath the light of the full moon could show you the face of your true love. She’d like to believe that. She could use something sweet to dream of.
DEENA KNEW SHE WAS dreaming. There was no way that any place on Earth looked like the sight before her. The sky was nearly golden in color and everywhere around her, red sands stretched out as far as the eye could see, broken up only by a rich nearby oasis with violet fronds and trees.
A strange insectoid creature as long as her arm scurried out of a mound of sand, with several long-barbed tails flying around it as it crawled on numerous legs toward the water. Deena backed up to give it plenty of space. The tails reminded her of a scorpion, and she had little doubt that the stinger would be venomous. She wasn’t sure why she should be worried in a dream, but the natural fight-or-flight instinct didn’t seem to care for such logic.
A deep horn sounded in the distance, and a flock of ugly leathery beasts sporting the most beautiful feathered wings she’d ever seen, lifted off from the trees around the oasis. She wondered what could have frightened them. Was it the sound of the horn?
The ground below her feet began to tremble as if something huge was moving across it. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to look around. A monstrous reptilian creature the size of a monster truck trudged over the ground, kicking up sprays of sand as he went. He bellowed and shook his head, his brightly colored harness jangling with metal bell-like cones hanging from the reins. Its milky eyes scanned the oasis and it bellowed again, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
This was no dream of a lover; this was a nightmare!
From a platform strapped to the harness on the creatures back, a giant of a man with a large jaw, a dark red complexion, and an impressive bristling mohawk leaned forward and shouted something that sounded to her like a string of growls and grunts to the creature. His four arms—four!—were busy controlling the reins with one set, a third holding what looked like a tipped pole that he used to prof the creature’s tough, leathery hide. The short tusks on the male’s face gave him a permanent sneer, magnified by the way his heavy brow drew down. Just behind, several others sat impatiently until finally their mount gave a great shuddering grunt and plowed forward into the greenery of the oasis.
Upon nearing the water, a long rope ladder fell down the creature’s side and several males scurried down holding long metal poles. A male close to her growled, his thumb running along the side of his pole, as three beams of laser light shot forth from it like a trident. He lifted the weapon in her direction, and she screamed.
Pinching her arm, she began to cry out in a panic.
“Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
The world faded around her as the weapon was thrown right through her and into the belly of a large serpent that rose out of the water.
Deena jerked up in her bed, sweat pouring off her, her fingers scrambling over her body to reassure herself that she was whole and well. Once certain it had been nothing but a dream, she flopped back against her damp bedding and concentrated on bringing her breathing back under control.
That was one hell of a dream. She certainly hoped that it had no boding toward her future or the spell she cast. That would give her Halloween a new assortment of hellish terrors. Turning on her side, Deena pulled her blanket up against her neck and resolved to forget all about it.
It was nothing but a dream brought on by an overactive imagination in light of the upcoming season. Nothing more.
OIGR FOLLOWED HIS CREW down the ramp. The damp smell of growth in the air assaulted his nose. Despite revolutions living in space, he still couldn’t get used to the scent of overabundant wet plant life. It was completely alien from the dry, hot smell of sand and stone of Vrol. Even an oasis on his homeworld carried a spicy scent, despite the water itself being cool and inviting once one drove away the vpri that inhabited the deep wells. The smell of rain on the air filled him with unease. No matter how many planets he vi
sited that enjoyed rain, it always felt unnatural to him. The only thing he loathed more than facing a mature vpri was getting caught in a downpour.
He pulled the hood of his cloak further over his face and grumbled.
“Remind me again why it’s necessary for us to wear these if we are welcome visitors with passes to stay on Earth.”
“Legally, we’re fine, but see them?” Nikki hooked a finger at a throng of humans, the majority of which were female, watching from beyond a fence-line. “If they caught sight of you guys, they would probably be all over us like white on rice.”
Oigr offered her a blank stare.
“Rice is a grain that is often white...” She paused as she took in their expressions and sighed. “Never mind. My point being, they’re what we on Earth would call groupies and they’d be very interested in you.”
“They would want to attempt to mate bond with us?” Medif asked, his tone hopeful but skeptical.
“Eh, no, not exactly. Although there have been a few mate bonds, which resulted in that fence being erected. From what I heard, their tastes run more carnal than that.”
“They are just looking for a fuck,” Nazzek supplied helpfully. “Revolutions ago, several fortunate males spoke fondly of sharing a bed or wall with willing human females.”
Nikki shot him a dark look. “Fortunate, huh?”
Nazzek lifted his hands in front of him as if to ward off her anger. “No, my love, I would not wish to be one of them. I have the best female in all the galaxies. I have no need for another female. I just meant that they considered themselves fortunate, especially after it was banned, and many males were quite woeful over the matter.”
“Yes, well, I suppose they would,” Nikki agreed as she strode ahead, leaving them to follow behind. “As soon as we get through the crowd, there should be a cab near the curb, and we’ll be on our way to the hotel. Ah, there it is!”
Oigr looked above the throng of women as they passed among the last of them and saw the strange yellow vessel. It looked a mite... small. He felt a hand on his cloak and saw it in the grasp of a tiny female whose short hair framed her face. She smiled up at him lasciviously. He resisted the urge to bare his tusks at her impertinence.
Although he admired many strong females, Nikki foremost among them, he didn’t himself care to be on the receiving end of such unseemly behavior. One did not just approach another, a stranger, with open lust in their gaze. It just wasn’t done. It went against everything that had been bred into him, generations of Vrooduk teachings about courtship.
He politely removed her hand from his cloak, gave her a small nod to acknowledge her interest, and hastened to rejoin his companions. Medif looked at him with amusement as he slid into the cramped interior of the vessel even as it alarmingly dipped with his added weight.
“Ah, that one really liked you. I knew it was too much to hope that maybe I would have won that stone from you so soon upon arrival.”
Oigr gave his friend a disgruntled look, which prompted the other male’s laughter. Nazzek, not privy to their wager, looked on in confusion but he was soon distracted by the city lights in the distance as their small transport approached.
Oigr was grateful, not wanting Nazzek to even attempt to play matchmaker. It would be just like the younger male to go to outlandish lengths to acquire a mate for Oigr.
He didn’t want that. He didn’t want just any female.
He doubted he would ever find the one who spoke to his heart song. There was a reason that Vrooduk seldom mated outside their own species. It wasn’t a matter of breeding compatibility, but a deeper, more spiritual nature that other species often struggled to understand or accept.
Medif was hopeful that this visit would yield his mate. Oigr wasn’t so optimistic.
Chapter 3
OIGR RECLINED ON THE bed. It didn’t quite fit his frame, leaving his feet to hang off the end, but it was otherwise comfortable. After visiting a human market, he’d acquired enough pleasing food that he was inclined not to leave his room for the foreseeable future. No need to endure the curious fearful stares when he could eat delicacies such as candy corn and Count Chocula cereal, which was quite good despite the bizarre fanged creature leering on the front of the box.
Popping a fun-size Snickers bar into his mouth, he used the rather inconvenient remote control to scan through the menu. Nikki had complained about the channels but Oigr was vastly entertained. Courtship was such a dramatic, over-complicated affair on Vrol that he’d been delighted to find similar depictions in Earth media.
“Are you never coming out?” Medif wrinkled his nose and kicked aside an empty box of Cracker Jack. That had been delicious, but he’d discovered he wasn’t much a fan of caramel due to its habit of adhering to his teeth, especially around his tusks.
Oigr gestured toward the TV. “I am busy. I am studying human behavior from this show speaking of the days of their lives. This couple is having a most amusing predicament and I wish to discover what happens next.”
Medif sat down at the foot of the bed and narrowed his eyes at the screen.
“Are you sure this is an accurate representation of human social behaviors?”
“I am quite certain. They were even speaking of the Halloween festival. Surely this is a rigorous study. Human courtship seems just as complicated and full of guile as the courtships of the Vrooduk. You have never witnessed the finest skills of negotiation until you see a female from Vrol negotiate her bride-price demands. No one would willingly make a pretense of such absurd situations.”
Medif grimaced. “I certainly hope humans are not that difficult. Nikki doesn’t seem to be that way, but we cannot take one to represent the entirety of the species.”
Oigr nodded sagely. “Very true. I think Nikki may be a rare exception, if this documentary is accurate.”
They both shuddered as a particularly pitchy female on the screen sobbed and she clung to her male.
“Hey guys. Nazzek and I are going to slip out for a b—what are you watching?” Nikki halted mid-step and stared at the TV with horror.
“Oigr found this clever documentary and...”
Much to Oigr’s surprise, Nikki swiped the controller out of his hand with the swift strike of an oasis serpent and turned off the device before throwing the controller back on the bed.
“Okay, rule number one about Earth: daytime TV rots your brain... no, not literally,” she amended as Oigr felt his jaw drop and his hand rose to his head with a sense of urgency. “I mean to say it’s a huge load of crap. Some women do like to watch it because they enjoy the intense drama, but rarely are relationships actually like that. At least, not healthy ones. It’s definitely not a good resource to find what women are looking for or how to behave around them.”
Oigr grunted but didn’t naysay her. Maybe it wasn’t entirely reliable, but he doubted it was quite as groundless as she made out. There had to be some expectation if it were considered entertainment. Some human females were like Nikki, and others were like the female at the dock, but surely there were plenty of females who would understand the value of the courtship process if this was what entertained them.
Nikki rubbed at her brow. “As I was saying, Nazzek and I were going to run down to the mall and explore a bit. I promised to take him through the haunted house... not a real one, a just-for-pretend-fun one. Would you like to come?”
“I don’t understand how a place infested with spirits would be entertaining to mimic. Your holiday is a strange one. On Vrol, we seek only to appease the spirits, sometimes by telling traditional tales that frighten the young, but nothing involving spirits.”
“Yeah, we are a strange lot. So what will it be?”
Oigr looked longingly at his bowl of candy corn and the darkened television.
“I’ll buy you a pumpkin spice latte. It’s totally the thing this season. You’ll love it, considering the way you drank an entire pot of coffee by yourself this morning when we arrived at the hotel.”
He
sighed. He really did enjoy coffee, and if it came in a seasonably delectable version, it sounded difficult to resist. He would brave the stares. Even Medif, as different as he looked from humans, didn’t get the stares that Oigr did. None of them understood how uncomfortable being out in public on this backwater planet made him. Out of all of them, he was the only one who still wore his cloak whenever he left the room.
Still, the promise of a treat somehow made it more bearable.
Oigr lumbered to the closet and yanked out a fresh tunic and the loose billowing pants that were common fashion on Vrol. Nikki made herself scarce as he stripped but Medif lounged on the bed smirking at him as he readied himself.
“You do realize that isolating yourself in this room and avoiding the subject will not get you out of our wager.”
“I am not trying anything of the sort,” he snapped.
“I didn’t think you were, but it would have been amiss of me not to mention it—just in case you were entertaining the thought. If you don’t at least try, it will be forfeit.”
“Did I not agree to come?” Oigr put on his pants, pulling the laces tight, and then followed with the tunic. He finished his grooming by running a rough brush through his mane to pull free any clinging debris. Medif made a sound of agreement in his throat.
Pulling on his cloak, he left the room with his Forad friend close on his heels. Nikki and Nazzek waited near the door. Nikki’s lips twitched with good humor as Nazzek barely restrained his excitement. He looked over at them eagerly as they entered the common room, an impatient sigh sounding loud in the small space.
“Finally. I had nearly talked Nikki into leaving without you and probably would have succeeded if you had been any later. Not that I don’t value our adventures together, but I’ve been waiting to do something all morning.”
A Mate for Oigr Page 2
