Page 18 of A Mate for Vasek (Tallean Mercenaries #11)

Vasek

Vasek depressed the tab of the canister again, but nothing came out except for a tiny hiss of air.

He shoved the canister back into his pack.

He’d retraced their steps halfway back to the shuttle.

And it seemed the pirates had not lost interest, because Vasek could see two ships hovering above.

The question was whether they’d sent any shuttles down, and if they had, where did they land?

If they hadn’t, maybe they’d give up after realizing how precariously perched the shuttle was, and decide to focus on their next victim instead. But Vasek wasn’t willing to bet on it.

And how in Stars’ name was Vasek going to get his ship safely out of its treacherous position?

It was time to call in that favor. He needed a rescue. The plan originally had been to call in the rescue immediately after landing, but he had been pleasantly distracted by one super sexy female.

It was well into the morning by now, and with the olfactinull he’d sprayed below their tent hiding their scent, the stalker had gone back to its den to sleep off the hottest part of the day.

But when it woke up with an empty belly, it would remember and find them again.

And by then, the chemical would be starting to fade.

They didn’t have any more of it left since he’d used the final bit to mask their trail away from the shuttle, which was why he needed to call on someone who’d get to them quickly.

Pulling out his comm unit, he went through his contacts looking for the best option.

It would need to be someone likely to be around Vosthea, and preferably have the means to rescue his shuttle as well.

And it needed to be someone who wouldn’t turn around and steal Dawn from him.

He’d promised her he would bring her to Kean’s compound, and he wasn’t going to let a dishonorable thief make him break his promise.

But what if he wanted to break that promise himself? What if he wanted to keep her? What if he’d finally found the one person he was willing to risk it all with?

He could offer her a job on the ship. Technically, she would still get her freedom, but with him. He wasn’t sure she would take it, though, not after what she’d seen of his life these past few days. His life wasn’t always this exciting, but it wasn’t event-free either.

What if he was the one who finally broke this horrible streak of bad luck in his family? This line of thinking was dangerous, and Stars did he know it! But he couldn’t stop the idea from filling his chest with warmth and hope.

Had he lost the gamble already? Was this the mate bond starting?

He’d let her choose whether she wanted to stay with him or at Kean’s compound. He had to be there for the unification celebration anyway.

He selected Berus’s contact. Berus looked like a total brute, but was actually a good and honorable male.

He also had a female of his own. The most recent news was that Cami had decided to stay with him, joining the crew of the New Horizon , formerly known as the Revenge .

It would also mean that Vasek might be able to convince the crew to help him get his shuttle out of the trees.

The New Horizon would have the capability since the crew sometimes dealt in salvages.

“My friend. How can I help you?” Berus’s voice came from the speaker, scaring a few small creatures that had gotten used to Vasek’s silent presence.

“I’d like to call in a favor.” Vasek started back toward his tent, eager to see Dawn again.

“Of course. I’d never deny a male who’s saved my life. What do you need?”

“I require an immediate evac. I’m in the Vosthean jungles, and I need to get to Kean’s stronghold. There are enemies after us.” He sure hoped that Berus was on the planet, and not in the middle of a mission. There wasn’t anyone else who would be as ideal a candidate.

“You are not alone?”

Vasek couldn’t miss the interest in Berus’s voice.

He hesitated. Berus was Dominion once, and despite Vasek’s insistence that he hadn’t wanted a mate because of his job, he wondered if Berus knew the real reason.

Surely, Berus had heard about the curse.

“N-no. That’s why I called you and not someone else.

I assume you still have a human female, so you will not covet this one. ”

“You have a human woman?” asked a surprised-sounding and definitely feminine voice in the background. Cami must be with him.

“Yes. No.” Vasek looked even more flustered. “It’s… a long story. I know the jungles are dangerous, but can you please bring Cami? This one is wary and doesn’t trust me. I think a friendly face will help her relax.”

Even as he said the words, he wondered if there was truth to them anymore. Yes, Dawn had been wary of him, but that was days ago. But seeing a happy, well-adjusted human would definitely help. Maybe Cami could convince her that Earth was no longer an option.

There was a short pause as if the brute of a male was weighing whether it was too dangerous to bring his female along.

“I will bring her. Send me your location, and we’ll be on our way.”

Vasek relaxed. “Thank you.”

Then he sent all the information he thought they might need, including images of his shuttle's current predicament, and a code to track his whereabouts through his comm unit. Help would be here soon. He just hoped that the New Horizon got here before the pirates found them.

Dawn

It was the sudden deathly quiet that had alerted Dawn to the presence of a predator near her tent.

She hadn’t even realized how loud the jungle was, with the constant sounds of bird-like noises and the rustling of foliage as the small animals moved around them, until everything just stopped.

It was quieter now than it had been when she’d first noticed the stalker earlier.

Did that mean this predator was more dangerous?

Or did it only mean that it was more dangerous to those up in the trees?

What if it wasn’t a predator but a sign that something bigger was about to happen?

A ship flying overhead? She didn’t hear any engines.

And she knew what Tallean ships sounded like.

They were not silent like the electric vehicles back on Earth.

Didn’t animals go silent before earthquakes? The calm before the storm. Or was that a myth?

But then she heard the rustling outside her tent and to the right. Dawn froze. A feeling of dread filled her chest.

She tried to tell herself that it was just Vasek coming back, but she knew better. The many creatures of the jungle hadn’t gone mute when he’d left, so why would they clam up now?

There was another faint rustling, this time from the left. Her eyes darted to that side, peering at the tough alien fabric of the tent like she expected a claw to slice right through it. To her relief, none did. But the spine-tingling sound of many feet along rough bark had her holding her breath.

Was that from one creature with many legs? Or many creatures with few legs? She didn’t know which one was better. One big, scary thing. Or a swarm of smaller, but still just as scary things.

Dawn almost shrieked when something landed on the tent. She plastered herself flat against the floor, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she worried the thing outside could hear it.

There wasn’t enough light outside to cast a shadow of whatever it was, but there were light indentations where the creature’s feet were, and the tent was swinging just a little more now. Which meant this thing had some weight. It made scratching sounds on the tent as it moved.

Dawn followed its movement toward the mesh viewing port at the side of the tent. Shit! How strong was that mesh?

Then it came into view, and this time, a small scream left her lips before she could stop it.

From her angle, all she could see of the head of the creature was the mouth.

It reminded her of a starfish’s mouth or maybe an octopus’s mouth—just a big maw in the center of the head with rows and rows of sharp teeth, each pointing inward.

It had antennae too. Not just one set but several sticking out around its head.

It was clearly an arthropod of some type.

She wasn’t sure if there were such things on this planet.

But it was definitely buggy, with a hard shell on the outside.

And it was huge. The scratching of its feet behind her told her that it was at least as long as the tent.

Vasek had no problem lying down in this tent, so this thing was at least seven feet long, probably longer.

It crawled over the viewing port, giving her a view of the different segments of its body. It was like an alien centipede, except not, because the segments were not smooth; instead, they were hard and spiky. Whatever it was, it was a hunter. And right now, it wanted her.

Her heart dropped when she realized there was more than one of them. The first had just cleared the viewing port when she saw the second one on a branch. Then it was flying toward the tent, aimed at the viewing port, its many legs extended to the side like a face-hugger.

Holy crap, she was screwed. She’d made it all the way here, so close to freedom, only to get eaten by alien centipede face-huggers. Well, at least she’d had some mind-blowing sex with Vasek before it all ended.

The creatures weren’t completely stupid either, because they both zeroed in on the mesh portion of the tent, probably realizing it was most likely the weakest. They stank too. Now that they’d walked across the mesh, she could smell them. It was like stinky feet with a side of carrion.

She wanted to hurl. And for a moment, she wondered if that would deter them from eating her, but then they might just eat her faster.

The creatures gnawed at the mesh, but the flexible grid was made of tough stuff, so they tried clawing at it instead.

Fuck! They had claws too?