by Hope Hart
Terex shifts. “It is almost impossible to imagine.”
I smile, thinking of how surprised I was to learn about the Arcav technology that they take for granted—like their ability to easily travel between planets.
“It does,” I agree. “We don’t have mishua, but we have horses, although people don’t ride them to get to places anymore where I live. They mostly ride them for fun.”
“Then how do you get from place to place?”
“Well…” I’m about to attempt to explain how cars work when the mishua suddenly stops, a weird sound leaving her throat.
Terex tenses. “Voildi,” he growls. He jumps off the mishua, and my heart pounds in my chest as he stares up at me.
“Listen carefully,” he says. “If I fall, you must cut this strap right here.” He points to a piece of leather that’s wrapped around the mishua’s nose.
“This will tell Kini to return to camp,” he says. “She will move quickly, so you will need to hold on as tight as you can, do you understand?”
I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you.”
Terex bares his teeth at me, and I jerk my head back as he stalks closer.
“You will do whatever I tell you to do if it means your safety,” he says.
I nod because he expects me to, but he obviously still knows nothing about human women if he thinks that I’d leave him behind.
Terex turns, scanning our surroundings. He leads the mishua behind him, and within moments we’re surrounded by a pack of Voildi.
“Braxian scum. Traveling all alone so far from your territory? Time to die.”
These Voildi look like the pack that found us on the ship. The leader’s eyes meet mine.
“You look tasty,” he says. “I bet your meat is tender.”
Bile rises in my throat, and he laughs just as Terex leaps forward and slides his sword underneath his ribs.
It happens in an instant, and Terex immediately slides his sword free before swinging it again and beheading the Voildi in seconds.
I gag as the head rolls toward me, but I don’t get a chance to puke because Terex is instantly attacked from all sides.
They’re leaving me alone for now. Because they don’t see me as a threat. The thought pisses me off, and I reach for one of Terex’s knives, which is practically a sword in my hand.
“I need your help,” I tell the mishua, who ignores me.
I kick her as if riding a horse, and she makes a dangerous sound, tilting her head to stare at me from one red eye. I remember Terex saying mishua refuse to be ridden by females.
“Whatever happened to the sisterhood? How about you do your girl a solid and help me help Terex?”
Kini ignores me, and my heart races even faster as Terex barely dodges an attack from a Voildi who managed to sneak up behind him.
“If you don’t help me, I’m getting off. Terex will be so pissed at you if I die.”
I swing one leg over, and the mishua finally moves, almost dislodging me. I squeak as I flail on her back.
“You did that on purpose,” I growl.
A Voildi is backing closer to me, completely disregarding me, and I’m going to make sure it’s the last thing he ever does.
These assholes would eat me if they could, and there are currently six of them attacking Terex. He’s like a machine, cutting them down in blindingly fast motions, but I can see the strain on his face.
I lean forward, ready to jump on the Voildi’s back, my knife clutched in my hand.
“Hey, asshole,” I call. He turns just as the mishua jolts forward, and I bury my knife in his eye.
“Ew, ew, ew!” I pull it out, gagging as he screams, and then Terex is there, beheading the guy as he glares at me.
“What did I say?” he roars, then turns, gutting the first Voildi to rush him.
And then there are four. My hand is shaking, and blood drips from the knife. My mouth waters ominously, but I shake it off.
“You can puke later, Ellie.”
I eye the Voildi. Now that Terex is guarding me more closely, I can’t get to any of the others. Probably a good thing. The fact that I managed to stab the last one was sheer luck.
Terex punches one of the Voildi in the face, and the Voildi’s nose explodes as Terex stabs another one with his sword. He pulls his sword free, but more Voildi are attacking, retribution on their faces.
Within moments he’s down to three Voildi, but these ones are the better fighters. They’ve waited for him to get tired, letting their friends die first.
Shit.
They attack from all sides. Terex is larger and swings his sword like a man possessed, roaring a challenge. The first one to lunge forward is the first to die.
And then there are two.
They attack together, and I hold back a scream, unwilling to distract Terex as the Voildi leap forward. One of them slices at his leg, attempting to distract him while another leaps up and tries to take his head.
Terex guts the Voildi, snarling as his sword slides home. But that moment of inattention costs him, and I let out a shriek as the first Voildi darts forward and stabs him in the side.
I instantly know that it’s bad.
Terex growls, pulling the smaller sword out of his side and stabbing the Voildi with it. We meet each other’s eyes, the last of the Voildi choking and dying around him, and I shriek again as Terex falls to his knees.
Terex
Life is made up of moments. And the moment I allowed that filthy Voildi to stab me was the moment I lost my life.
I’ve fought many battles over my lifetime. I know when a wound is likely to kill me.
If we were back at camp…I have no doubt that Moni could heal me. Unfortunately, we are still many hours from home.
Ellie appears, kneeling beside me, sobbing. I didn’t want to leave her like this.
“Get…on…mishua. Kini will…take you…back…” I run out of breath after that—closing my eyes for a moment.
“Don’t be stupid! I’m not leaving you here. I have that green paste from Moni. Will it help?”
My eyes are heavy, but my face is suddenly warm, and I rouse myself enough to meet Ellie’s beautiful eyes. “Did…you…hit me?”
I feel my lips curl. Fierce female. Sorrow fills me. We were supposed to have a lifetime together.
“Terex! Will it help?”
I shake my head and immediately stop as the movement makes pain explode in my side. “For bones.”
“Okay.” Even with my eyes closed, I know Ellie is biting her lower lip in that absent, sexy way she does.
I hear ripping, and a growl leaves my throat as she presses something against my wound.
“Jesus, there’s so much blood, Terex.”
More ripping. Is she tearing her dress?
“Kiss me…one last time…tiny female.”
I crack open my eyes to find Ellie scowling at me.
“You’re not dying,” she declares even as tears run down her face. “You don’t get any kisses until you’re back at camp.”
“Cruel female.”
She’s no longer listening, jumping up and rushing to the mishua.
“I need your help,” I hear her say, and I almost snort. Mishua barely understand our language. The human language will be completely foreign to them. Unlike us, they have no translators in their ears.
“Ellie—”
“Are you listening, you stubborn beast? I need you to help me.”
I crack open my eyes again as a shadow falls over my face. I don’t know how much time has passed, but the mishua stares down at me, leaning down to sniff at my wound.
“Okay. Now we just have to get you on her back.”
I blink, and then Ellie is above me, her face pale and streaked with tears. She slides her arm out of her sling, and the remaining color drains from her face. Then she leans down, staring me straight in the eyes.
“You’re losing too much blood. If I can get you on the mishua, I can get you back to camp. But you have
to help me. If you pass out, I won’t be able to lift you. Do you understand?”
Her voice rises at the end as panic chokes her, and I nod. I can feel my blood beneath me, cooling on the ground. My chances of making it back to camp alive are not high, but if this is what my female wants, this is what I will do.
Even if it may kill me.
“Okay. How do I make Kini kneel?”
I snort. “Mishua…kneel for…no one.”
Ellie scowls at me and then directs that scowl up at the mishua, who snorts at her.
Ellie clicks her fingers, gesturing to the ground as the mishua stares at us. “You know what we need, Kini. He can’t get up that high.”
The mishua lifts her head as if uninterested, but her gaze quickly returns to us.
Ellie gets to her feet, her eyes narrowing threateningly. I open my mouth as fear fills me. Mishua require respect and can become incredibly dangerous within an instant.
Ellie reaches for one of the Voildi’s knives and points it at the mishua. “Kneel or I’ll cut you open,” she says.
I almost laugh even as terror makes my hand shake as I reach for her. This tiny female threatens a mishua that could lash out and kill her in half a second.
Unfortunately for Ellie, her threat likely doesn’t come out as she intended it. Her voice is desperate, her words choked.
The mishua stares at her for a moment longer, and I open my mouth to beg her to run, and then I blink, stunned.
Kini drops to her knees, bowing her head.
I’m still attempting to understand this when Ellie nods. “Thank you,” she says, then crouches next to me.
“Okay. I’m going to put my hands under your arms and pull. But I’m a weakling, and you’re a giant. I need you to use those warrior legs and push back.”
“Ellie,” I try one more time, and she simply scowls down at me.
She will be carrying my body back to camp.
I nod. If this is what she needs, this is what I will do. I can deny my tiny female nothing.
Ellie leans down, and a sound leaves her throat. The kind of sound she should never have to make.
Her arm.
“Ellie—”
“Push, damnit!”
I gasp, spots appearing in front of my eyes as I manage to push backward, scooting to where Ellie directs me. My vision swims, and I close my eyes until my cheek stings again, then open them to see Ellie’s pale, beautiful face.
“Terex!”
I blink up at Ellie. She’s screaming, and I wonder how long I was out.
She moves her face closer to mine. “One more. One more, and you’ll be on the mishua, and I can get you home.”
Home. I would like to die with Ellie in my arms, my king at my side.
This will hurt.
I manage to make it onto the mishua, and Ellie somehow arranges my body so that I am slumped over Kini’s neck, one leg on either side.
Ellie nods, and a sob escapes as she leans forward, kissing me gently on the cheek. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Terex. You saved my life. Now I get to save yours.”
Adrenaline hits me as the mishua gets to her feet, and I realize what my tiny human is doing. She will not be able to reach the leather strap on Kini’s nose while also on the mishua’s back.
I open my mouth, and a roar leaves me. “Don’t you dare—”
My stubborn female gives me one last watery smile and then reaches out with her knife and cuts the strap.
Chapter Ten
Ellie
The mishua snorts at me.
Is she…laughing?
“You know the rules,” I tell her sternly. “Get back to camp.”
Terex growls—a low, dangerous sound that would make me shake in fear if he wasn’t bleeding like a stuck pig.
“I am on her back…and she will…not leave without my order,” he snarls. “Get up here. Now.”
Terex has lost all patience with me, and I can’t really blame him. I don’t know how he expects me to get on the mishua’s back now that she’s standing, but I move to the side, staring up at him.
He holds out his hand, and I shake my head. I can’t get up so far without him, and I’m not going to risk making him bleed any more than he already has.
Terex snarls at me, and I roll my eyes but finally follow his gasped orders and stand on his foot as he hauls me up behind him.
He immediately passes out.
Honestly, I’m surprised it took him this long. I think his worry for me and sheer adrenaline must have been the only things getting him this far.
“That’s fine,” I say, my voice shaky. “At least he’s not feeling any pain right now. Let’s go, Kini.”
Thankfully, the mishua listens this time, and she doesn’t mess around. I hold on with my good hand, wishing I hadn’t left my sling on the ground behind me as every movement jostles my elbow.
My arm is way better than it was, but dragging Terex’s huge body around has done some damage. I’m lucky he was conscious enough to help me because there’s no way I would have been able to get him on the mishua by myself.
Now that we’re on our way back to camp, I give into the fear once more, shaking as tears run down my cheeks. My warrior is dying.
His blood…it was everywhere. I don’t know how it’s possible to lose that much blood and still be alive. Granted, he must have more blood than the average human given his size, but…
Kini increases her speed, and I wish I found a way to tie Terex to the saddle. I’m clutching him, but if he falls off, we’re screwed.
The hours drag on. Terex occasionally groans, but he’s unable to respond, so I pass the time by talking to him, likely driving him crazy with my chatter but hopefully giving him—and myself—something to cling to.
I tell him all about growing up in Louisiana with a mom who won Miss America before we were born and a sister who looked just like our mom and loved the pageant circuit.
“I hated it. I hated the big hair and the stupid dresses and being judged. I loathed being on stage, and I hated that my sister’s old dresses never fit. They always had to be taken up and taken out, and my mother never failed to make me feel like it was my fault that I took after my father instead of her.”
Terex groans, and I freeze.
“We’re almost there,” I lie. I have no idea how far away we are, but we haven’t yet passed the river where we stayed that first night. I’m suddenly longing for Nevada and the other warriors. If we hadn’t split up, this never would’ve happened. Terex wouldn’t be—
“You’re not dying. I know you think you are, but you’re not. My dad had this saying: survival is 90 percent mental. I never understood it until this last week, but now I get it. If you give up, you’re done. If you’re going to go down, at least fight until the bitter end.”
Terex groans again, and I choose to believe he’s groaning in agreement.
“My sister always hated me. I was closer to our dad, and she loathed that we had more in common. I never understood the jealousy ’cause she and mom were so similar, you know?”
I chat for hours, focusing on the feel of Terex, warm and alive against me, and not the feeling of his blood dripping down the saddle.
I tell him about fourth grade, when Amelia hid rotten fruit in the bottom of my backpack and encouraged everyone to call me Smelly Ellie for the rest of the school year. Then I tell him about high school and how my dad had just died, and I was a social pariah after Amelia read my journal aloud. And then I tell him how at night I used to fantasize about going to sleep and never waking up.
We pass the spot where we camped the first night, and I blow out a breath. Kini has kept up a good pace—faster than I’ve ever experienced while riding her.
“Then what happened?”
“Terex?”
He doesn’t reply, and I wonder if I imagined it. Maybe I’m going crazy. But the mishua speeds up, trotting even faster, and I grind my teeth as the pain from my elbow almost makes me cry out.
>
He’s been listening this whole time?
Heat hits my face, and I close my eyes in mortification. Finally, I shrug it off. If my rambling about my trials growing up has managed to give him something to listen to while in that much pain, the least I can do is keep going.
I clear my throat, wondering how much he heard.
“Well, I finally got away for college. I studied my ass off and got a scholarship out of state. By the time I graduated, I knew I wasn’t going to be moving back to Louisiana. To be honest, I had no plans to see my family ever again. I know it sounds mean, but you have no idea what it’s like being around them. I’m the worst version of myself. I’m small and scared and helpless. I let them bully me, and I let myself believe that what they say is true. My therapist said that it’s okay to choose not to be around some people. Even if they’re family.”
I sigh, realizing I’m justifying it. I haven’t met Terex’s family, but from what he’s told me, they’re close. It sounds like his parents are wonderful, and he probably can’t imagine choosing to cut himself off from his family.
“Anyway, I hadn’t planned to go back, but my mom managed to get in contact. She said she was dying. My friend Tim said if I didn’t go and she really was dying, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. He’s usually right about this kind of stuff.”
Terex lets out a low growl, and I jolt in the saddle, cursing when a lightning bolt of pain runs up my arm.
“He’s just a friend,” I assure him. “We’ve never even kissed.”
Terex growls again.
“Stop it,” I snap when he moves his shoulder. “Lie still.”
I’ve managed to wedge more material from my dress beneath his side and where he’s draped over the mishua. I’m hoping that the pressure of him lying on the wound will help staunch some of the bleeding.
But what do I know?
“Anyway,” I continue. “I went home. Of course, my mother wasn’t dying, so I’d taken time off work in the middle of the school year and paid for a last-minute flight for no reason.”
I scowl, still annoyed.
“Female!”
I look up, blinking my eyes in shock. A warrior stands a hundred feet in front of us, sword in his hand, although he quickly stows it when he meets my eyes.
