Page 19 of 80% Beef 20% Cake (Alien Fated Mates #2)
19
T he lift’s hover turbine stuttered to a stop and opened to the bustling command center. The itch under my skin was driving me mad, and once more, I had to stop myself from digging my nails into my arms to relieve the sting. For a reason only the goddess Sola would inflict upon me, it was only in Ginger’s presence that I didn’t want to scratch my skin off.
D’irk, Sisip’s second-in-command, waved me toward the projected map where he leaned against the rail, one eye on me, one eye on the location of his teams. “Doin’ okay? Hill just reported in. That was some crash.” He scanned me from head to toe, assessing my health while admiring my new armor. “Still can’t believe Yurst has the balls to demote you, but expects you to stay on the team. What a sack of mantu gas.”
I flashed him a smile I wasn’t feeling. Last moon’s patrol had been a disaster. I’d wrecked my hovee and had to be rescued yet again. “Not a scratch on me.” I ran a thumb over the bright white fur lining my tunic. “Lead protector or not, there’s no way I would leave Yurstille to the hellsna.”
Ginger had given me another gift. A magnificent one. Then she’d left before I could even acknowledge it, leaving me even more confused.
Saluda sidled up beside us and pressed a container of hot javae into my hands. “You owe Ginger for that one.” He whistled, eyeing my new clothes. “That’s one fine female.” The young Drack’s eyes glazed over, and the fierce itch under my skin returned with a vengeance.
A week had passed since Ginger left, and the deep purple skins she’d left me moved like an extension of my body. I’d never owned this caliber of clothing. On Yagras, the clothes had been designed to protect the wearer, but they were generic. These were tailored to perfection, and every line of my body thrummed, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice whenever I put Ginger’s expert work on. A true warrior’s clothing. But my vision turned red at Saluda’s open appreciation of Ginger.
I turned to Saluda. “Her needs lie with a Rock Dweller. Expect no gifts from Ginger.”
D’irk’s gaze moved from my clenched fists to Saluda’s dreamy face and his chest heaved as if he were holding in laughter. “Geo mentioned Ginger will be at the market today.”
That’s right, today’s market day. Someone must have a salve for this rash. D’irk couldn’t deny me a hoverbike if I brought back supplies. It bothered me that Ginger had not contacted me while she was at Makir’s. She’d come back if her symptoms returned, right? I really hoped her stubbornness wouldn’t prevent her from asking for further treatment. If I could just get a quick look at her…
“D’irk, I can do the supply run today.”
Stars shone in Saluda’s eyes. “Me too.”
D’irk’s gaze fixed on the map, where a clump of enforcers, represented by blinking lights, congregated near the mantu plains. “You two need some rest after last moon’s patrol. D’Rasma’s on it.”
“Fine,” Saluda muttered, the knobs on his back stretched his shirt as he headed for the tunnel to rest as directed. Any day now, I expected his wings to sprout.
Jaw clenched, I jogged back to the lift tube. D’Rasma had been in the hover bay not long ago. I could catch him. My lunal ring tunic swooshed softly as I ran. Breathing deeply, I reminded myself that Dracks were useless to Ginger.
Beside a pile of scrap metal, D’Rasma backed his hoverbike up to a waiting trailer. Twisted metal ribbons, scavenged fragments from past times, leaned against the black volcanic rock wall that housed the hoverbikes.
With seconds to spare, I helped him attach Makir’s supply trailer. “I need a salve for this blanting rash.”
“A salve, huh?” His deep brown Boola skin gleamed in the sun. “Nothing to do with a certain someone selling her clothes at the market today?”
I squirmed under his narrow-eyed inspection, resisting the urge to scratch in front of him.
His smile warned of the smart comment coming. “Although you are strangely shimmery. Maybe they have a de-glittering poultice?” D’Rasma laughed and lifted his chin to the trailer. “Hop on.”
Was I that obvious? Warm spring air passed over my exposed arms. Copper rings traveled down my arms and hooked over my three fingers. I flipped my hands over, eyeing the skin between the rings, more silver than gray, and dismissed it as an allergic reaction.
Main Street’s market spread before us as D’Rasma parked next to a motley collection of hovees. Fabric banners hung from tables and rustic wood booths, where they curled and drifted in the light breeze. Stacks of baskets of all shapes and sizes, overflowing with wares, were suspended from ropes and spread across tables. Savory mantu sizzled on skewers, and containers of tangy fermented vegetables filled the streets with their mouthwatering aroma. A Nacer female pushed a cart laden with packets of warm roasted seeds so spicy my stomach burned from the scent alone.
Amid the cheerful chaos, I scanned the crowd, searching out Ginger. My ears buzzed, and my nose twitched as I worked my way toward a piece of fluttery white fabric I confused for Ginger’s hair. An older Boola sat on a cushion on the ground, where he plucked the strings of his wartu as a chorus of voices accompanied him. Before I wove around him, I swiped my wristport over their meter, depositing a few credits.
Pressure throbbed at my temples. Why hadn’t Yurst or Sisip placed enforcers around the market? A couple of off duty Dracks staggered out of the cantina and through the mix, but they’d be useless if the market fell under attack. Though D’Rasma was in the crowd somewhere, the tingle didn’t ease, and I palmed the back of my neck.
Eyes landed on me from every direction with each step I took. Either the news of my banishment had spread, or my warrior’s clothing was drawing all this attention.
“JayJay?” Sully asked.
I turned to my friend and slung an arm over his shoulder, laughing. “Who did you think it was?”
“What the blant happened to you?” Sully cracked a wide smile. “Do they have a shop selling Rock Dweller clothes for the rich and famous in that volcano? You look like an ancestor from one of the history books in the Keepers’ Library. Shiny like them, too.”
Shiny ancestors? The Keepers’ Library admitted very few. I wasn’t surprised that Sully had a more complete education in Rock Dweller history—after all, his fata was a keeper. My shoulders rolled back. “Ginger made them for me.”
Sully’s deep baritone shot up an octave. “A gift?” His eyes locked on my raw wrists, and his eyes glazed over for a breath. “True mates…” he whispered.
Images of the ancestors, as they’d appeared in my mind when I’d meditated in the hot springs, sprang to life. Males with iridescent skins and tattooed arm cuffs stood hand in hand with their females, each mated couple’s wrists etched in the leaves of the sacred linnea tree. Only in the spiritual plane did female Rock Dwellers exist in numbers that matched the males.
Sully’s younglings bumped into me, jerking my mind back to the present. I shook my head at the doubts creeping in. It couldn’t be true.
“That’s impossible,” we said in unison, bumping shoulders and laughing.
“Hey, hey, Uncle JayJay. Bye, Uncle JayJay.” YimYim ran ahead to a long table covered in wriggling larvae.
“I missed you, friend.” I polished Sully’s head with my hand. “And I have many questions. But first…” I pulled a cloth-wrapped bundle from my gear bag and passed it to Sully. “Please share these with TeyTey.”
Sully handed me the bag of roast nuttels he was crunching on. “Hiti mushrooms? And these look like tinga.” He held up a long blue fruit. “Where did you find these?” His eyes flashed with interest.
“When it’s safe, all the Rock Dwellers must come to the Starry Volcano.” My gaze grew unfocused as I stared over the sea of species at the market. “It’s as if pieces of home have been shorn off and planted here on Tern. The volcano is lush and warm and feels as if Sola has kissed your skin—the same as the hot springs at the rocky outcrop. They’re like a sister to the Black Rocks of Nara on Yagras. The ancestors’ voices are just as strong.”
Sully knocked my elbow with his, bringing me out of my daze. A couple of Tigs tipped their tawny-furred chins in a greeting as they passed. “How much whiskey have you had this rotation? Or is a certain female addling your brain?” He snorted. “You sound like one of the ancestors’ acolytes. We are many moons from Yagras. Now tell me more of these gifts…” The lunal rings rustled where he played with one.
“No, it truly is a twin planet…” I stopped explaining when Sully rolled his eyes. All he wanted to know was if Ginger had selected me as her male, and I had no easy answers. “Humans view gifts differently. Ginger doesn’t know what she does.” I scanned the crowd as I absently scratched at my wrists. Though taller than everyone here, I still hadn’t spotted her yet. “Where is she?”
“Follow me.” Sully waved to Tino and Sannit, who both did a double-take when they saw me. We dodged a puddle and ducked through an archway formed from potted trees. “She has a booth with TeyTey past all these plants.”
At last, Ginger’s voice carried through the leaves. The itch under my skin eased, the tension in the back of my head shrank, and my breath came easier.
She sat beside TeyTey, hidden in a forest of lacy green fronds, while Sully’s boys nuzzled chirpy yellow fluffs under their chins. The pleasant brown stripe on top of her head had grown, her usual silver-white fading, but my heart stuttered at the shadows under her eyes. Why hadn’t she sought my seed?
Laden with clothes, the table in front of her held packages labeled in an undecipherable script on one side. Beside the peeping crates, strange bumpy packages stood ready for sale.
I watched, unseen, as D’ovey placed a package of baked goods on the table. Ginger rifled through her custom orders before lifting one covered in loopy writing. The weather was much warmer now, but D’ovey quickly opened the paper and placed his linobee hat on, smiling like a youngling.
“No trade necessary, D’ovey.” She tried to give him back his package. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get this to you while you still needed it.”
“Nonsense. This is the finest hat I’ve ever owned, and I plan to use it as a pillow cover until the cold season returns.” D’ovey patted the white fur.
I laughed out loud. Ginger’s head snapped toward me, and a whorl of black and silver hair fanned around her before she caught my gaze. The sparkle in her eyes drove the rest of the antu’s itch out from under my skin.
She turned to face D’ovey again, but her eyes lingered as if she had to drag herself away. “Here”—she grabbed something off the table and added it to D’ovey’s package—“I’m testing these slippers. You wear them on your feet around your house. Let me know what you think.”
After a quick wave for TeyTey to take over, Ginger pushed her chair out and approached me. Her gait wasn’t as smooth as last week, and when she drew near enough, driven by instinct, I reached out and brushed the dark crescent beneath her eye with the pad of my thumb.
In that moment, everything slid into place. She needed to heal and return to Earth, even if it meant I might never see her again. I couldn’t stomach her suffering, and I definitely didn’t want to stifle her dreams.
“You look amazing.” She trailed a finger along the thigh of my hide pants, stirring my coil to life. It took all of my control not to drag her back to our private cave and give her the medicine she needed and the connection I craved more with each passing rotation.
She stepped back and dropped her hand, as if just noticing she was running her hands over clothes that also happened to contain my body. “What are you doing here? Are Geo and Makir okay?”
I shook out my clenched fists. “They’re fine. I’ve come to help.”
“With what?”
Good question. “To sell your things.”
She glanced over her shoulder. TeyTey was handling the customers with ease in their organized booth. Her shoulders lifted, and I thought she might send me away, but warmth simmered in her gaze. “I suppose you could sell the eggs.”
Ah, the bumpy packages must be eggs. I nodded, relieved for any excuse to stay near, and moved out from behind the plants. Ginger stepped back, her eyes caressing every clothed muscle, inventorying my body in lingering detail. One muscle enjoyed the attention too much, and I shifted to adjust.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you for the armor.”
The gold in her hazel eyes shimmered when she took in the elephant charm necklace still wrapped around my wrist.
Lifting my arm, I gave it a shake, jingling the little charms. “What do you think?”
Her focus jumped to my bicep, which might have been flexing extra hard through the little rings of my shirt.
“Give it a rest, JayJay,” TeyTey called out from her seat at the table. “Do you want every female in Tern pregnant? If so, keep strutting your stuff.”
Sully’s forehead ridge furrowed. “Hey, I’m right here.”
“She’s right,” Tino said. I had no idea when he and Sannit had joined us. “You look like a warrior from the days before.”
It had been weeks since I’d spent time with my Rock Dweller roommates, so I could overlook their ridiculous comments. Tino and Sannit patted my back, and their simple acceptance flooded me with warmth. They finally had all the details, not just what the Yagras news had reported, and I swallowed a lump in my throat.
Sannit bought a chick hatched from the chickens Ginger had brought from Earth. Great, the cramped sono would now have a chicken running around, throwing tiny feathers everywhere. Devile would arrive any day with the bloodroot fungus. Then, this battle would end, and I’d return to life as a building crew foreman living in the crowded sono with a bunch of young Rock Dwellers and a chicken.
With me standing beside her, advertising her wares, Ginger’s wait list grew so long that she refused more names. Everyone wanted some version of my armor. Of course, they would pay good credits for theirs. None would receive such a fine gift.
As the market came to a close, I lifted the box Ginger was packing out of her hands and attempted a quiet voice. TeyTey’s ears were too close, and she kept nailing me with knowing glances that unnerved me. “Ginger, I’m not required to return until tomorrow. How about I complete this for you, and we can go to Geo and Makir’s?”
Ginger took a deep breath and released the box to me, her voice stilted. “Yes…uh…uh… That would be fine.”
A moment later, the ground rumbled, and the town’s alarm rang through the air.
“Everyone to the trailer,” I bellowed. “Ginger, TeyTey, grab the younglings.”
TeyTey fumbled with her colorful head wrap. “Is it the hellsna?” She latched onto YimYim’s hands. “No! It can’t be them. Not in Yurstille.”
Sully quieted her as we raced to D’Rasma’s hovee, and I shouted into my wristport, “Ras, I’ve got the hovee. We’re evacuating those in need, and then we’ll return.”
Hoping the audio message would get through, I cranked the starter, and the hovee jumped to life. As if they’d read my mind, Sully, Tino and Sannit hopped on the back of the trailer, the females and younglings protected in the middle. With a steady hand, I kept the hovee low and slow enough that they could reach out and grab those who needed it the most.
“We’re at capacity back here!” Tino yelled.
“Everyone to the temporary shelter,” I shouted to the crowd as we flew by. D’ovey limped ahead of us as fast as his old legs would allow. A shriek rent the air. The foul beasts were gaining ground, but judging their distance by sound alone, they hadn’t breached Yurstille yet. I forced my thumb off the throttle and kept a steady pace. With my bent arm, I captured D’ovey by the elbow and slung him behind me on the saddle.
“Hold on!” I yelled.
As fast as I dared, I flew the trailer loaded with friends and town folk to safety. Hoverbikes fanned out around us, burdened with more passengers than they were built for. Sully jumped down, ran to the door of a half-constructed building, and flung it wide, directing his family and a host of terrified colonizers to the hatch on the floor.
As if sensing I wouldn’t be staying, Ginger helped D’ovey down, then clasped my hand where I sat on the hovee. When I bent forward to speak to her, she placed her icy hands on my cheeks, and her soft lips brushed over mine in a gentle kiss that fired my blood as much as the advancing hellsna.
“Be careful.” She traced a vein on the back of my hand.
My heart thumped, fueled first by adrenaline and now by her touch. She cared if I was okay. She touched me where everyone could see. If she were a Rock Dweller, she would’ve just acknowledged me as her mate.
Tino thumped my shoulder, his eyes darting between Ginger and me before he yelled over the hoverbike’s engines, “Let’s go!”
Torn between keeping Ginger safe and securing the colony. I hesitated, my hand floating down her silky hair. “Stay inside until I return.”
Much faster this time, with only Tino behind me, we did another sweep through Yurstille. D’Rasma hailed us from the greenhouse. There was no escape from the blaring alarm. When the trailer was half-full of evacuees, Hill, Saluda, Efred and D’unter tore around the corner, their faces like ghosts, and immediately formed an arrow around the trailer.
Hill’s arm circle grew broader and faster, urging me on. Blant. I swallowed hard. If Sisip had dispatched them to assist with this attack, that meant the hellsna would be right on their tails.
The trailer fishtailed as I banked the corner by the cantina, and panicked screams reached me over the alarm. Slow down. You have lives in your hands! I shoulder-checked to make sure everyone was still aboard.
My chest heaved as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Five undulating bodies formed a wall in front of us. Splintered booths and colorful swirls of fabric floated in the air.
“Hang on.” I hit the throttle. Passengers screamed, but we weren’t worm fodder yet.
With expert precision, Hill and Saluda split off, drawing the beasts toward them. I sped toward the shelter. The brakes jolted under my feet when I slammed my booted heel down. We lurched to a stop, the trailer screeching where it jack-knifed behind me, dumping a startled Tig to the ground.
“Stay calm,” I shouted.
Tino and D’Rasma prevented mass panic as passengers scrambled free, and Sannit waved newcomers through the door. Fast as a blast charge, I unhitched the trailer and focused on the shrieks, pinpointing their location before heading back into the fray. Hill’s team was out there without me. If anything happened to them, I would never forgive myself.
My jaw clenched as I cranked the throttle to full speed.
A long swatch of red fabric fluttered from a smashed table below me, and I spotted them. D’unter swung closer, and we antagonized the beasts, driving them down the main street. The cantina’s sign dangled from a tooth dripping with saliva. I buzzed around a beast’s head, doubling my efforts to minimize damage to the storefronts. Hill and Saluda flanked either side of the pack, and Efred brought up the rear.
My team, in my heart anyway, fired laser beams from the blasters Bonic had delivered, but the hellsna’s gelatinous skin absorbed the shots with no actual damage. Instead, they kept the monsters angry and surging forward, and that was crucial. I wanted those blanting beasts out of my town and as far away from Ginger as possible.
D’unter and I dove and swooped. Sweat dripped from my forehead ridge, and I swiped it off while pulling my ringed hood on. I nose-dived at a gyrating head. Its fetid breath soured my stomach, and the rings of razor-sharp teeth that circled deep into its belly urged me to move faster. It would be like going through a meat grinder. There would be no coming back once their mouths caught you.
Bright afternoon sun beat down, turning my head slick. Why didn’t this mutant variation stick to the blanting rules and stay bedded down while the sun shone? Scanning the horizon, I recognized the rocky outcrop in the distance. If our luck held, we’d corral them into a herd of grazing mantu.
Every time I dipped down to tease one of the five gaping maws, the sun blinded me. My heart pounded for D’unter’s safety as he circled and taunted, risking himself for the people of Tern in ways no one should have to. My young team was fearless.
“Foul, Sola-rotted beast!” One of the hellsna broke off from the herd and swung back toward Yurstille. I charged after it, gesturing for Hill’s team to carry on. Why, by the infernal fire of the ancestors, was it heading back to town?