by Sophie Stern
“Do those bite?” I ask, pointing at one particularly long, purple fish-thing.
“Of course they bite. Don’t fall in the water. They’ll eat you before I can get to you.”
“I’ll do my best,” I whisper, but I’m not so sure this is a good idea.
It kind of seems like a terrible idea.
Ezra produces a sort of harness thing from his bag and puts it on me. He puts one on himself, too, and then he attaches a rope that will hold us together.
“But if I fall into the water, won’t I drag you down, too?” I ask.
“No, but even if you did, there are worse ways to die than by the side of a beautiful woman.” I’m not sure what to say to that. Ezra always knows exactly what to say to make me feel beautiful, sweet. He always knows exactly what to say to make me feel perfect.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt as accepted as I do when I’m with him, and I don’t want the feeling to end. I never want this to end. I don’t want my friendship, my romance, my whatever-it-is with Ezra to end.
So I take a deep breath and I follow him to the first rock.
“I’ll go first,” he says. “Look,” he points to the edge of the rock, close to the surface of the water. “There’s a small ledge on each rock and there are places up high to grip. Move slowly, okay? Don’t rush. Just hold on and move carefully. Watch your feet. You won’t be able to put your entire foot on the ledge, but that’s all right.”
“I think I can do this,” I say, looking at the rock. It’s huge, but if Ezra says it’s going to be okay, then I trust him. I know he won’t do anything to hurt me or risk my life.
“Of course you can,” he kisses me. “You’ve got this, baby.”
Ezra goes first. Despite his huge size, his enormous stature, he makes standing on the ledge of the rock look easy. He points to the holes up high where he grips the rock with his hand. Then he moves over a little.
There’s plenty of slack on the rope, but it’s time for me to join him. I try not to think about what’s going to happen if I fall into the water, and I reach for the first rock. I can do this. I have to do this.
“That’s it,” he says, looking over at me. “Nice and easy.”
Nice and easy.
I remember learning to ride a bicycle and my father saying those same words to me.
“Nice and easy, darling,” he said. “You’ve got this.”
I remember my first day at Martian Modern Dance class.
“Nice and easy,” Dad told me. “You can do this.”
I remember the first time I had to give a speech.
“Nice and easy. It’s all you.”
Now, it’s not my father saying those words to me. It’s Ezra, but the feeling is the same. I feel like he believes in me, so I can do this. I feel like he trusts me to handle it, so I can. I feel like no matter what happens, he’s with me, so everything is going to be okay.
I think everything is going to be all right.
My foot finds the ledge and I pull myself onto it. I grab onto the upper-part of the rock and cling to it as my other foot comes up. Now I’m not on land at all. I’m on the rock, and if I look down, I can see into the water.
It goes down, down, down. It goes so far that I imagine reaching the bottom must not even be possible. You probably die before you reach the bottom. You probably get eaten by one of the weird fish swimming around down there.
They look hungry and I don’t like that.
“Come on,” Ezra says. “Eyes up, buttercup.”
He’s scooting along and I join him in the process. Slowly, we move our feet and hands as we inch along the rock. After a few minutes, Ezra lets me know he’s going to jump to the next rock. It’s more of a large step for him than a jump. For me, it’ll definitely be a jump.
When it’s my turn, I eye the space between the rocks warily.
“Don’t look down,” Ezra reminds me. The ledge at the edge of the rock is thicker and wider than it was before, so I have space to stand and turn my body for the jump. I take a deep breath and count to five. Then I just do it. I take the leap. I go.
My feet hit the ledge and my hands scramble to find something to cling on, but there’s nothing. I start to slip, to fall, but then I feel Ezra’s hands wrap around my waist and pull me up.
“There you go,” he says. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” I repeat, as if I don’t quite believe it, and to be honest, I don’t. “But that was close.”
“You’re okay,” he says once more. Then we keep moving. We repeat the process of carefully walking along the huge boulders, jumping to the next, and then walking again. We do this over and over and over. By the time we’re almost across the water, I’m hungry, sweaty, and completely out of breath.
And then we reach the shore.
We land on the beach and I instantly want to sit down, but Ezra guides me toward the trees.
“Back into the jungle for us,” he says. He looks around warily. “We don’t want to be out here for too long.”
“Why not?” I ask, wondering what kind of predator is lurking, waiting for beach-goers. He just shakes his head, though, and leads me back into the jungle, back to our quest. My legs hurt and I’m tired, but I don’t complain as we get back into the shade and keep moving. There’s something comfortable about this area, about moving through this place with Ezra, but once we’re beneath the protection of the trees, he tells me what he’s worried about.
“Someone was watching us,” he says.
“Someone?”
Stremon.
It had to be.
He had to have found me.
That’s it.
I’m doomed.
“Or something,” he says carefully. “I don’t like it. I caught movement several times and this place is always desolate. Aside from the fish,” he adds.
I shiver when he says that. I could see the fish circling closer and closer to the surface of the water as we walked. They should have been low, moving down into the darkness and depths of the water, but they didn’t. They were hungry, and that was just further motivation not to fall in.
“Maybe they’re hunting the same thing you are,” I suggest helpfully.
“Fereers?” He shakes his head. “Not likely. Most people don’t waste their time on fereers.”
“Why not? What’s so special about them?”
“They’re long and skinny, but tall, and they’re tricky to find. Fereers are excellent at blending in with their surroundings. They nest in little groups and if you can find a nest, you can usually catch at least half a dozen of them.”
“That sounds a little mean,” I point out.
“Would it make you feel better if I tell you they’re dangerous?” He asks. “Their bite holds a potent poison that can kill you if you don’t get medical attention right away.”
“That does make me feel a little better,” I say, but it shouldn’t. I should feel upset that Ezra hunts anything, least of all helpless creatures, but it seems that fereers aren’t quite so helpless after all.
“It’s unusual enough that I’ve come after them,” he says. “I usually wouldn’t bother. It’s annoying, time-consuming, and tedious. There’s no chance another person is hunting fereers.”
“Are you sure it was a person?” I lower my voice and look around. “Could it have been an animal?”
“With the equipment this thing had? Not likely.” Ezra looks at me. “I know what you’re thinking. You think it’s the man. You think he hunted you.”
“I do think that,” I agree. There’s no need to lie. There’s no need to hide this from Ezra.
“If he has come for you, I will protect you.”
“That’s very nice, but he’s good at what he does. He’s not going to sit idly by and let you just take him down.”
“Correct,” a voice says from the trees above us, and we both look up just in time to see a large net dropping down. Quickly, almost instantly, I fall to the ground and roll away i
nto some bushes, but Ezra’s pack slows him down and the net catches him. Helplessly, I watch as Stremon’s net closes around him, capturing him.
He’s trapped and it’s all my fault.
Chapter 13
Ezra
I should have known the fucker was going to set a trap.
I should have fucking known.
I was too caught up in eyeing Willow. I was too caught up in making love to her with my soul.
Fuck.
I sound like a bad romance song, even to myself.
Now I’m stuck in this net and I can’t seem to get out. That’s strange because I use modern tech all the time for hunting, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Each time I wiggle, the net seems to grow smaller.
“Are you wondering why you can’t seem to free yourself despite your large size?” The high-pitched, but obviously male, voice calls out.
“A bit,” I say, wondering when I’m going to get to see this asshole, wondering when I’m going to get to see him up close. I’d like to punch him in the face for hurting my girl. I’d like to kill him.
“It’s Orchidian rope,” he says. “Made from the finest plants on the planet. Each time you move, they become more constrictive. This means that you could essentially kill yourself just by trying to break free.” I can practically hear the sneer in his words. “You could strangle yourself and I wouldn’t have to lift a hand. It’s the perfect murder.”
“There’s no such thing as the perfect murder, asshole, unless you’re murdering yourself.”
He tsks at me and appears from the trees. He swings down on some sort of rope. I can’t see clearly because my own net is becoming more and more confining. I try to listen to his words and stop wiggling, but it’s nearly impossible. My pack is pressed closer to my body, and my arms are tightened at an angle that’s awkward and inhibits my ability to do anything.
I can’t reach for my bow.
I can’t reach for my knives.
I can’t reach for fucking Dagger.
I’m useless.
And suddenly, I feel like I have failed her as a protector.
I promised I would keep her safe, but I didn’t. I promised her everything would be okay, but it’s not. I promised her I would be there for you, but I’m not.
I’m not anything I said I was, and the realization breaks my heart.
My chest hurts and suddenly, I’m not as peaceful as I should be. Suddenly, I’m not as calm and collected as I usually am. Suddenly, I’m not as prepared for the hunt as I need to be. Suddenly, I lose my cool.
I scream.
There’s no way this fucker is going to take Dagger. I’m not going to let him hurt her or kill her. I’m not going to let him lay a damn hand on her.
“Aw, is your big bad alien upset?” It’s Stremon. I know it is. He steps in front of me and I realize he’s exactly as Dagger described. He’s strong and big, but he’s still a human. He’s still smaller than me, and I can take him.
“Go back to Mars, asshole,” I say. I’m going to break him. I’m going to tear him apart. I’m going to break him limb-from-limb. I’m going to destroy him because he wants to hurt my girl. He wants to hurt her, but I won’t let him.
“What the fuck do you want, Stremon?” Dagger steps coolly from the bushes, and surprisingly, I don’t smell an ounce of fear on her.
“Go hide, Dagger,” I say through gritted teeth. She doesn’t need to see this. She doesn’t need to see me turn feral, wild. She doesn’t need to see me go crazy on this man from her home planet.
She doesn’t need to see this side of me.
“I think you know what I want,” Stremon turns to her with a sneer. He’s a crude, sniveling man and I hate him.
Dagger ignores my instructions to hide and keeps talking to him.
“Hmm, what could you possibly want?” She taps her chin and moves closer to me, slowly. She’s being an idiot. She’s almost within his reach. If he wants to hurt her, he’s going to have an easier time of it now. He could leap for her and choke her, strangle her. He could grab her. He could shoot her. I don’t know what kind of weapons he has, but he definitely has something. He definitely has a plan.
As a bounty hunter, he has to be ready for anything, but he also has to learn how to predict the movements of his prey. It’s how he hunts. It’s how he hunted us. Somehow, he got one step ahead of us and that was all he needed. It’s all he ever needs.
“Let me see,” Dagger moves even closer to me. Her movements are slow and calculated, I realize, and I wonder if this means my girl has a plan. Oh, I’m still completely pissed she’s putting herself in danger, but if she does have a plan, that also sort of makes her a genius. “Could you want to kill me because I hear something I shouldn’t have?”
“Bingo,” Stremon says with a glare. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Now, tell me, would you like me to kill you first, or do you want to watch your lover die before I put you out of your misery?” He jerks his head toward me. “Those ropes are getting more and more restrictive. Soon they’ll choke him and that will be the last of your man.”
“Please,” Dagger suddenly sounds horrified, scared, and I wish I could reach to her and hold her. I wish I could comfort her. “You can’t kill him. He has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.”
Stremon just shakes his head: a true villain. “He’s involved now and there’s no going back, sweetheart.”
“At least,” Dagger starts sniffling loudly. “At least let me say goodbye to him. Just one hug.”
“As you wish,” Stremon waves his hand at her like he can’t be bothered to stop her. “Just remember, if he moves, he’s going to die faster, so I’d be careful how much you touch him.”
“Of course,” she nods. Dagger drops to her knees beside me. “Oh, Ezra,” she says loudly. “I’m so sorry I brought you into all of this. How can you ever forgive me?” I don’t smell sadness on her, though. I don’t smell the scent of fear.
No, the only emotion I’m getting from Dagger is excitement and anger.
She’s pissed at Stremon: not scared of him.
She leans in close and at first, I think she’s hugging me, but then her hand slides lower, and I realize she’s feeling around my pockets.
What is she looking for?
Then she finds it.
She finds one of my knives: one of my best hunting daggers.
Quickly and smoothly, she pulls it from my pocket, turns her body, and hurls it at Stremon. Before I know what’s happening, he’s dead on the ground: the knife sticking out of his neck.
“What the dragons?” I say, looking at her. “How the fuck did you do that?”
She just shrugs. “Didn’t you wonder how I got my name? Now, come on. Let’s get you out of these ropes.”
Chapter 14
Dagger
It’s not that I wasn’t afraid.
I was.
It’s just that Ezra is more important than fear.
It’s that Ezra is the only thing that matters.
It’s that Ezra saved me, and I had the chance to save him, too.
I slice the ropes that bind Ezra and instantly, he’s on his feet kissing me, hugging me. He lifts me off my feet and spins me in a circle. Then he kisses me more and more and more.
“You are incredible,” he murmurs.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “You would have done the same for me.”
“I’m so pissed at you for putting yourself in danger,” he says. “But you were absolutely, totally, completely incredible.”
“Like I said, you would have done the same for me.”
Ezra just shakes his head, like he can’t believe what he’s hearing, but he doesn’t push the matter further.
“What should we do with the body?” I ask. “Should we just leave it here?”
“Absolutely. It’ll be gone by nightfall. I guarantee it.” Ezra kneels beside what remains of Martin Stremon and retrieves his knife. Then he starts checking his pockets.
“Looking for these,” Ezra stands and shakes a couple of keys. “He had to get here somehow, right? I’m guessing he’s a better pilot than you.”
“Hey, come on now. I did my best.”
“I’m just saying that having our very own ship could come in handy.”
“How will we find it, though?”
“Easy,” Ezra holds out the keys. Attached to one is a small locator device. It has coordinates, but it also has a little arrow that points in different directions, depending on how the item is turned.
“Is that a compass?”
“It’s a compass that points to the ship. The coordinates are there, too. We’ll be able to find it and use it ourselves. What do you say, Dagger? I think you’ve earned yourself a ship.”
The idea is freeing and calming.
A ship.
We could go anywhere in a ship. Ezra and I could take on the world together in a ship, but I have the dawning realization that I don’t really want to go anywhere. I kind of just want to stay here. I kind of just want to be where I am, who I am. I kind of just want to enjoy Sapphira for a little while.
I’ve been on edge for so long trying to stay out of trouble and trying not to piss off my employers that I’ve forgotten how to live. I’ve forgotten that life is about more than just survival. Life is about the people you’re with.
And oh, I really want my life to be spent with Ezra.
“It’s incredible,” I say, and he pockets the keys.
“Come on, darling,” he says. “Let’s get on our way.”
“Are we going to the ship right now?” I ask, worried the adventure is about to end. Once we get to the ship, that’s it. Our journey is over. Ezra will probably return to the city of Diamond and me? I’m not sure where I’ll be.
“Of course not. We still have to find the fereers,” but the words have barely left his mouth when we hear a strange, high-pitched chirping noise. It doesn’t sound like a bird, but it doesn’t quite sound like an animal, either.
