Page 32 of Alien Jeopardy (Mated & Afraid #1)

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

Ellison

By the time the rain stops, I’m shaking all over. My teeth are chattering.

Rex is asleep, one cheek against the bench, his body folded into itself.

The cut on my hand stopped bleeding. Maybe an hour ago, maybe less, maybe more. It’s impossible to tell how much time has passed.

My stomach grumbles, and I shade my eyes against the sun now peeking out from the clouds.

I cut the engine, afraid that if I keep driving while I’m this tired we’ll end up rammed into a tree or worse. Who knows what Ken is capable of?

We don’t have Barbie here to tell us.

Tears threaten, and even though having a nice cry would be totally warranted right now, I know it will both give me a migraine and probably make my work enemies happy.

“Fuck you, frenemies,” I mutter. “May this show find you distinctly unwell.”

Ah yes, pettiness, my fine feathered friend. I glance around and try to get a grip.

“We made it,” I say out loud, sinking to one of the benches. We made it past the first AI challenge.

And damn, did it suck.

I stretch my leg out, my feet wet and waterlogged from standing so long, and my toes brush up against the tacklebox.

Food.

I need calories, and I need rest, and I need to make a new plan.

Of its own accord, my hand reaches up and pats me on the back.

“Good job on the last plan, me,” I say out loud.

Rex stirs but keeps sleeping.

The sight of him, alive, asleep, makes me smile, warmth from it helping my teeth finally stop chattering.

I lower my voice. “Okay. Next plan: Tacklebox supply catalog. Eat food, take care of Rex, take care of my hand. Dry out shoes.” I glance at where they’re hanging in the water, the knot in the laces still holding up.

Thunder rumbles overhead, but it sounds so quiet and far-off now that I don’t even bother looking up.

The tacklebox is what I need to focus on.

I hadn’t bothered refastening the latches, so when I open it up again, there’s a fair amount of water in the first tray holding what I sure as shit hope are rations.

The first silver foil pack glints in the watery sunlight, and I eye it with increasing suspicion.

I don’t know what’s written on it, and my translator isn’t providing any sort of feedback on what could be in the packets.

I decide to ignore my hunger for now.

Definitely not worth trying to eat something that might poison me.

Water droplets spray as I pull up the first level, revealing the second tray where I’d found my knife.

The knife I forgot about in my rush to get away from the weird-ass monster cage fight.

A glance tells me it’s fine, on the bench directly in front of the motor-thing I’d somehow managed to get working and steered all the way to where we are now.

I mentally add “figure out where we are” to the to-do list.

The tray holds a few smaller knives, and I eye them suspiciously without one clue as to what they could be for. I have my big bad knife, and I’m happy enough with him that I don’t feel like even looking at these smaller ones.

They creep me out a little.

Sighing, I lift the third tray, and I can’t contain my cry of joy at what I find inside it. Of all the things, this is something I definitely know how to use.

“A comms pad,” I say reverently, pulling out the brand-new piece of tech and hugging it to my chest like it’s an old friend. Hopefully Big Bad Knife doesn’t get jealous.

Finally, I stop hugging it and stare down at it.

It’s not far off from the tablet I used on Earth, and this model is one I’d been drooling over for a few months.

It takes me a couple seconds to turn it on and program it to my biometrics, and I squeal in renewed delight as the contacts app pops up, revealing the names I wanted to see most in the world.

“Thank you, Ken,” I say reverently.

Poppy. Lily. Lucy. Selene.

God, I hope this means they’re still alive. Did they go through the same shit we just did? I have no idea.

Now I can find out, though.

My hands are still trembling badly enough that it takes me much longer than it should to set up a group chat. Water drips on the screen and I wipe it away, thinking it’s raining again, before I realize I’m crying.

Ellison: Are you all okay? Did you find your comms tablets?

I realize as soon as I’ve sent it that the second question is super redundant, seeing as how they won’t be able to message back unless they’ve located a tablet of their own.

I hope my friends are okay.

The thought turns my overwhelming fear for them into something else, something I didn’t really expect after the adrenaline rush of saving Rex and getting us safe.

Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage. Not at Poppy, though blaming her would be easy enough, or at myself, because I certainly did sign up for the damned show—but at the AI who took us from fun reality premise to actual life-or-death danger.

I’m gripping the screen so tightly that the cut on my palm opens back up, blood dripping down my thumb and over my wrist.

Selene: we’re alive

Lucy: same, barely

Poppy sends something too, but the message is blacked out as though it’s been censored.

Nothing from Lily.

I inhale, and it’s a shaky sob.

Ellison: Anything from Lily?

Poppy: Not yet

Ellison: God, I hope she’s okay. Are any of us… okay though, really?

Selene: This place is a trip, but better than some situations I’ve found myself in

Selene: Trust me, you’re all better off here, anyway

Ew. That does not sound good. My finger hovers over the comms tablet and I chew my lip. How do you even respond to that?

Poppy: fucking AI

I suppose you could completely change the conversation, instead of responding, à la Poppy.

Poppy: Bad enough AI is ruining our water supply on Earth and churning out ugly art, but now one is actively trying to kill us? I don’t love it

Ellison: his name is Ken

I’m not sure why it’s important to insist on that, but it is to me.

Selene: At least we weren’t abducted by mercenaries this time

Lucy: You want to talk about it?

Yeah, that’s pure Lu. She’s never met a stranger, I swear.

The boat rocks gently as Rex carefully moves to sit next to me, pulling me into his lap and using one wing as a sunshield.

“Thank you,” I say softly. He’s okay. We’re okay.

Selene: No

Right. That solves that. For now.

Poppy: Ken agreed to abide by the contracts we signed. We can’t opt out now, but if we are critically injured or ill Ken will do his best to assist

Poppy: I am so sorry. I cannot begin to make this right

I take a deep breath because I know Poppy, and I know she’s beating herself up for this.

Ellison: We’re going to make it out of this

Poppy: In good news, he has also agreed to not kill any of us off, so when we complete his new ideas for the show, we all get to go to Sueva.

I’m not sure how legally binding Ken’s word is, but I look up at the clouds still blotting out most of the sun overhead anyway. “Thank you, Ken.”

“Where did you find the tablet?” Rex asks. I glance up at him, warmth spreading through me at the sight of him, whole, talking, right here next to me.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I say, and I’m sobbing again. So much for not having a migraine. “I was so scared.”

“You took a very big risk, a risk you shouldn’t have,” he says, and there’s a note of censure in his voice. I open my mouth to argue, but he presses his against mine, and whatever I was going to say dies on my lips as he kisses me.

“But you saved my life. You are incredible, hyrulis.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I whisper. My hand finds his cheek, the other still clutching the tablet, and I soak him in as he stares down at me.

“It translates to…” He pauses, and my fingers wander up to his temple, then to the gentle striations of his horn. “Queen of my heart. Treasure of my life.” His orange eyes meet mine, and my heart skips a beat.

“No one’s ever called me anything like that.”

“You should know how precious you are.”

The comms tablet dings, and we both look back at it.

Lily: this whole place is fucking fucked

Lily: I’m so glad you’re all alive. And I guess we’re all staying alive? Shit. Shit!

Lily: Good job working that out, Pops

Lily: we’re alive too. I think my ankle is sprained, but Zan is making me a brace right now

Lily: I would say let’s try to meet up, but I think the AI is going to actively keep us from that

Poppy: You are correct. Ken wants us separated. I tried to change that, but there was nothing to work with in the contract when it came to that.

Lucy: I gotta go

Selene: Same. Be safe

Ellison: Let’s check in each morning and night, okay? I will feel better if I know you’re all okay.

Poppy: we can’t discuss strategy, FYI

Poppy: That’s why that one message was censored

Poppy: We should all get back to work though. I get the feeling Ken doesn’t like down time

I like their responses, sending my own goodbyes.

“I think there’s food in the tacklebox, but I’m not sure,” I tell him.

I’m embarrassed to sniffle again, overcome with the rush of emotions from finding out my friends are okay.

We’re okay, and this little game is going to be a shit ton more dangerous than we bargained for, but at least the imminent threat of death is off the table.

“You are a worthy partner. A worthy mate. I only hope I can be worthy of someone like you.”

My jaw drops, but he’s already carefully making his way to the tacklebox, not waiting for me to say anything in return.

He truly expects nothing from me when it comes to returning his feelings, especially now that I’m not in heat.

The surprising thing is, I’m finding it harder and harder to not return them.

Ka-Rexsh is a good partner. I know, deep inside, he would be a good mate, too.