by Lynnea Lee
“They can’t travel so fast,” Ulia said. “They are only humans. Look how short their legs are.”
The leader, Jadig’s guard, growled at them. “I don’t care. We need to get to the clearing on the other side of the forest to meet the shuttle. If they don’t catch up, we will drag them behind us.”
But Angie knew it was a baseless threat. The soldiers didn’t have a way to drag them along. There were more captives than soldiers, and even if they threatened to shoot the women, which she doubted they would, they couldn’t physically go much faster.
They continued their forced trek through the woods. Angie recognized this area. They were near the amberberry patch she and Holden had covered during the last harvest. There were some poisonous plants here that caused hives and irritation. If their captors happened to walk through them, it would slow them down and give Holden and Ryek a chance to find them.
She looked around carefully for the innocent-looking plants and saw them at a distance, but not in the path they were going. And she couldn’t think of a way to get the group to go towards it. Too bad.
The Dominion soldiers ushered them inexorably towards the open field at the other side of the forest. Each rustle of leaves or movement in the trees made Angie’s head pop up, expecting one of her men to come to her rescue. There was never a time she’d wanted to hear them boss her around more. But they never showed.
They finally slowed when they reached the edge of the forest. And there, waiting for them, was a shuttle. The door opened, and Jadig stepped out, still looking just as scowly and mean-spirited as ever, maybe even more so. He focused his eyes on her small form. Damn! If looks could kill, Angie would be dead many times over.
This didn’t look good at all. She didn’t make her daring escape from Palik Outpost just to be back there three years later. It would be much worse this time because Angie had so much more to lose. Her life on Earth had been average. Meanwhile, her life on Reka 5 was exceptional, no matter how often she complained about her impasse with Holden.
And now, with Ryek in the mix and the two of them promising her a family, she’d been given a taste of true happiness. Would life be so cruel as to tear her future away now that she knew what it could be?
Please, Holden, Ryek, come and rescue me. I’ll never run off again. And we can pretend to be mates forever. I’m already starting to believe it. Please!
“Why if it isn’t Blondie?” Jadig gripped her by her ponytail and jerked her head to the side. He had never bothered to learn her name in the months that he had owned her. He had several human slaves, and he’d called them by the color of their hair. “This must be my lucky day. I didn’t even have to search for you. Do you miss me?”
Angie didn’t reply. She’d learned that there were never any right answers with Jadig. And despite being free for years, she suddenly felt like a slave again. Scared.
“Do you know how much fucking trouble you caused me when you ran off? The whole fucking household went into an uproar. Every slave thought to make an escape, and every servant demanded more pay.
I had to hire more guards to maintain order. And even then, I struggled until I started killing those who acted up. The pretty little redhead, the one who bruised easily, tried the same thing. I had to kill her to make an example of her. It wasn’t enough. Those idiots kept trying. Do you know how many slaves died because of you?”
No! Candace! Jadig had given her a green shift because it contrasted with her hair. And with her pale, nearly white skin, red hair, and green clothes, they had often called her Candy Cane.
She must have let her grief show on her face because Jadig continued, “Oh yes, she died because she tried to pull the same stunt you did. Almost got away too, but I grounded the merchant’s ship before it left. Four slaves, Blondie. I had to kill four slaves because of you!”
He hit her across the face, and stars exploded in her vision. The world turned white before regaining its color. Then, before she fully recovered, he hit her again. He continued to shake and rattle her violently as he bitched.
“Things were good for a while. But then that picture of you all happy and smiling at Reka 5 circulated among the remaining slaves and servants, and everything turned to shit! Everything!” He shook her so hard, her brain rattled in her head, and it felt like her neck was going to snap. “The whole fucking house revolted! The Dominion got news of it and demoted me. Palik Outpost was mine! I owned it! But they took it away, and now I’m stuck in space like some lowlife. They didn’t even give me a good ship. The piece of junk is falling apart!”
His cheek creases unfolded, and his fangs elongated. This action used to terrify Angie, and Jadig did it just to get a reaction from her. He used it often to intimidate the human slaves. But she’d seen it so many times on Holden, and compared to Holden and even Ryek’s half bloodlust, Jadig’s was laughable. It wasn’t real bloodlust. It was a pale imitation.
Seeing that she no longer shrank back from his unhinged jaws, Jadig wrapped cruel hands around her neck and squeezed. Angie scratched at his arms and hands, panicking as her air supply dwindled. He didn’t let go. Her heart pounded violently in her chest as she struggled ineffectively. Dark spots threatened to grow in her vision.
Suddenly, a body landed on Jadig’s back—a small body. And Ulia’s face showed behind her attacker’s shoulder.
“Get off of her, you piece of shit!”
Then another, even lighter body jumped on. “Yeah! Get off of her.” One of the other humans had leaped onto the Tallean male as well.
Then, they all piled on, scratching, biting, and kicking. Jennifer’s little hands reached around and clawed at his eyes, and Jadig shrieked as he was forced to release Angie to protect himself. It took the other soldiers pointing a blaster at Angie to get them to stop.
That was when they heard it. The sounds of snapping branches and crunching leaves that came from the woods were loud, as if something ginormous made them. Angie knew what was coming their way. The other females knew, too. They recognized it, but their captors didn’t. They didn’t know.
Their little kerfuffle had made an awful lot of noise, and Angie was sure that every last predator in the forest knew their location. There was only one predator in these forests big enough to make that much noise. And by the sounds of it, more than one had been attracted by the group, as the crashing seemed to come from two sources. Coilbeasts rarely attacked together, but when prey made this much noise and announced their presence so loudly, it was hard to ignore.
Angie had never been so happy to have the attention of coilbeasts before in her life. Anything that delayed them lifting off in that shuttle was welcomed, deadly coilbeasts included. Besides, she wasn’t sure Jadig intended to even take her with him. He could possibly just want to kill her outright.
Then the smell hit them. The stench of carrion and decay was intense enough to peel paint, and Angie gagged. With a loud crash, the first coilbeast came into view.
The monstrosity was like an overgrown lovechild of a giant python and a Komodo dragon. It was long and sinuous but too thick around the body to be any snake. Thick, stubby, tree trunk legs, each tipped with sharp claws, helped it whomp through the forest. When not whomping through the undergrowth, it slithered with its muscular coils, undulating and rolling. Sunlight gleamed off its metallic, green-purple scales.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Jadig shrieked, and by the smell of it, he had pissed himself. What a wimp!
Chapter 19
Angie and the other girls instinctively huddled together, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. It was easy since the Dominion soldiers were all freaking out and making a lot of noise.
“There’s another. Fuck! They didn’t tell us there were monsters in the woods.”
The forward Dominion soldier readied his blaster and sent a shot towards one of the coilbeasts. The creature kept advancing on the group as if it didn’t feel the shot at all.
“
Do something!” The wailing command came from Jadig. He fumbled with his own weapon. He held it awkwardly as if never trained and unlocked the safety with shaking hands. His shot went wide, missing the beast by a mile.
Remembering the last time she came face to face with this particular monstrosity, Angie scanned the edge of the forest for the highest tree branch she could reach. During the last amberberry harvest, Holden and Vore had taken on a coilbeast after making sure the two females were as high in the branches as they could get.
“We need to get as high into the trees as we can,” she told the females. The soldiers were not paying attention. They were all focused on the two coilbeasts about to strike.
“Yes,” agreed Ulia. “They can climb, but not well, and the branches can’t bear their weight. But I don’t think we can get to the trees. They’re too far, and the two coilbeasts are in between.”
And Angie saw that it was true; they’d never make it. And they’d had a ladder last time. Without a ladder, she doubted she would be able to get up to the first branch.
“Fuck! You are right.”
The first coilbeast lunged, propelling itself forward obscenely fast with the power in its coils. The soldiers fired at it, but the hard armor plating stopped the blaster shots dead in its tracks. The fools didn’t know that they had to pry off the scales one by one before blasters would work on the beast.
The monster struck again, moving much faster than its size, and its lumbering gait, would suggest. It coiled its muscular length around one poor fool. It squeezed hard. The other soldiers kept shooting at it despite the ineffectiveness of their weapons.
The second creature bobbed its head up and down, judging the striking distance for its own attack.
“I don’t think these males know how to fight coilbeasts. They will come for us once they kill the soldiers.” Jennifer looked with disgust at the horror playing out in front of them.
If these males didn’t figure it out soon, this wasn’t going to be a fight. It would be a massacre.
“How about we just run for it while the pricks fight it out,” suggested Angie.
“Great idea!”
The six females stayed as quiet as they could as they rounded the shuttle, trying not to draw attention to themselves. The coilbeasts hunted primarily by sight and sound, though they could sniff out prey if close enough. Once the bulk of the shuttle hid them from the hungry hunters, they broke into a run.
They reached the edge of the forest on the other side of the field and scrambled up the tallest trees they could reach, three per tree. Angie shared a tree with Jennifer and another human woman. They were safe for now. The coilbeasts would gorge themselves on the Dominion soldiers and wouldn’t follow their trail until they were hungry again.
“Thank you for saving me back there,” Angie said to the other females. “I was pretty sure I was a goner, but you all piled onto the bastard.”
“I wasn’t going to let you die,” Ulia said. “You owe me saucy details.”
Angie laughed.
“My comm is in one of those poor bastard’s pocket,” Jennifer lamented. “We could be calling for help right now.”
That reminded Angie. “Holden has a track on my phone. He had it from when we use to date.” She paused. “I guess we are technically back together. But anyway, I never made a fuss about it, and I’m sure he could track it to at least the bloodbath we just escaped. Let’s hope the coilbeasts don’t eat the soldier whole and the comm with him.”
The human woman sitting on the adjacent branch spoke up. “My mate has a track on my comm too. So, we know at least two competent Tallean males are on their way to find us.” She made a face. “Those Dominion assholes were useless as fighters. They didn’t even go into bloodlust.”
Jennifer shuddered from her branch. “Angie’s former owner did.”
“I hope my old owner never finds me again. You just experienced one of my worst nightmares, Angie.” The other woman smiled across to Angie from her branch. “I’m Hunny, by the way. And before you laugh, yes, that’s my name. My parents were creative.”
Angie laughed. She hadn't officially met Hunny before but had seen her around the colony. Hunny must have arrived at Reka 5 before Angie got her job at the housing office.
“Hunny is a great name. There are Tallean names with no vowels, so you’re ahead of the game.”
Then Hunny turned to Jennifer. “That prick only simulated bloodlust to try to scare her. And it obviously didn’t work! Anyone who goes out to the amberberry harvests has seen Tallean males in bloodlust.”
“Oh.” Jennifer’s voice was soft. “I’ve never seen it until now, and I’ve been here for years. I knew how the cheek creases worked, but I’ve never seen any of the males do it, not even when they are fighting with each other.”
Ulia joined their conversation from the other tree. “We can all unhinge our jaws voluntarily, but not all Talleans go into bloodlust. Some males are more prone to it than others. I’ve only unhinged my jaw spontaneously once. I was still a teenager, and I was protecting my little sister.”
“It doesn’t bother me.” Hunny shrugged.” In fact, I find it really hot.”
“Me too,” Angie agreed. “It’s a big turn on.”
Jennifer shuddered again. “You can keep Holden, then. He was terrifying. But I’m glad to know two competent males are on their way.”
“Make that three,” Angie admitted. “I’m sure Ryek and Holden will be coming together.” Then, just because she wanted to make sure Jennifer would strike Ryek off her list too, she said, “And I’ve seen Ryek with his cheeks uncreased too.”
His jaws had only been half unhinged, but Angie thought a little exaggeration was best to warm the previously enthusiastic female away.
“They’re both yours.”
“Yes,” Angie agreed. “They are both mine.” And she was going to make sure they both knew it once she saw them again.
“I knew it!” Ulia exclaimed. “You’re fucking them both. You lucky bitch!”
“Shhhh!” All the other females shushed her.
“The coilbeast,” Hunny reminded her.
“Oh, right.” Then she repeated softly, “You’re fucking them both. You lucky bitch! I don’t think I’ve known of Ryek spending time with any of the females. How is he?”
Ulia always wanted the details, but she was going to be disappointed. “I don’t kiss and tell, not the details anyway.”
“You’re no fun!”
Their chatter died down as something roared so loud from the scene of the fight that they heard it from the other side of the field. Angie didn’t know which she preferred to have won: the soldiers or the coilbeasts. She hoped they wouldn’t find out.
Holden clenched his jaws together as he read the message on his comm again. It was from Vore. It merely said that Angie was in danger and sent out an SOS—an Earth cry for help—to Lettie. Lettie had called back repeatedly, but Angie had not answered.
He commed Angie. And as expected, she did not pick up.
“One of the groups never came back,” Ryek said. “She was probably with that group.”
Another security officer stood beside Ryek. Holden recognized Kobik from their many meetings. He didn’t know the male well but knew that he was mated to one of the females Holden had trained. Ryek had kept Hunny, Kobik’s mate, in Holden’s groups because she worked in the new colonist area.
Kobik held up his comm. “I have a track on Hunny’s location.”
“I have Angie’s too.” Holden dug into his pocket for his own device and set it to locate Angie.
The two males compared results. The two females were together, or at least, their comms were in the same place. It looked as though the two females with stacked on top of each other, which was odd. Jumping into Ryek’s vehicle, they started out of the colony to search for their females.
As the off-roader passed by the patch of amberberry they’d harvested from just recently
, Holden felt his chest tighten at the memories. There were coilbeasts and dragus in the area, and it was not safe for the females to be out here. Holden doubted the Dominion soldiers were trained to fight the beasts in these forests. They were a special type of terror that required hard-earned experience and knowledge to best.
Kobik must have been thinking of the same thing. “This is coilbeast territory. We ran into a breeding pair here a few years ago with my patrol team. We fought it off and killed the male. But their young should be a dangerous size now.”
“My partner and I took one down during the berry harvest this year just over there.” Holden pointed to the spot he and Vore had taken on the nightmarish creature.
“I hope they are okay.”
Ryek answered from behind the wheel. “We will be there soon, and we will protect them.”
The signals from both comms were still moving, giving them hope that their females were still alive. The forest was thicker here, and the drive was slow as Ryek picked their way through the large trees. As the open skies of a field broke through ahead, they saw the outline of a Dominion shuttle. It was still grounded. They’d gotten there on time!
But instead of their females, they found a bloodbath. No! A sharp stabbing pain pierced through Holden’s chest at the realization that they had arrived after a coilbeast feeding frenzy. If Angie was gone, he no longer wanted to live.
Shaking hands pushed open the safety bar, and he got out of the vehicle. The scent of carnage and entrails assaulted his senses, and his knees went weak at the thought that they arrived too late. Unsure if he could stand, he reached an arm to find support. Ryek was there, grasping onto his forearm and keeping him on his feet.
Kobik rushed the source of their signal and found the comms in a pocket of a torn off pant leg, the fabric soaked in the soldier’s blood. There were pieces of ripped clothing and chunks of flesh littered around the shuttle.
