Page 9

9

Swirly

*Ren*

“ S he… what?” I couldn’t have heard him right. Then again, we did just catch Arda rocking a tree’s world. One she seemed to think was a camel. A talking camel.

“Stop mumbling, Steven. Sounds like you’re gnawing on a mouthful of dicks,” Arda yelled at the tree, then burst into a fit of laughter.

Jalen shook his head, his mane of damp blue hair shifting across his broad shoulders. “She’ll be out of it for a while.”

My heart raced as Arda’s bizarre behavior began to make sense. Even now, she was ranting and raving at the tree she’d tumbled out of like she wanted to throw fists. And with Karsen busy stemming the—deep breaths—sickening blood flow, it was up to me to make sense of what happened.

“Is she gonna be okay? Shouldn’t you have posted a warning or something?” I crossed my arms, squaring off in front of the big bronzed alien—who, despite my taller-than-average height, topped me by more than a head. “And why the fuck are you growing hallucinogens in your garden?”

The bastard had the audacity to chuckle. “I don’t get many visitors. If I’d known Rhelt had given you the gate code…” He winced. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter what I thought. But your friend will be all right. Most of the effects of the drosse should wear off within a day, though she might experience brief flashbacks for a week or two.”

Karsen said, “Drosse. I’ve heard of that. It’s similar to LSD, but naturally occurring instead of chemically derived.”

“Fuck.” I chanced a glance back and released a sigh. Kar had wrapped Arda’s ankle with gauze, hiding the nauseating sight of bone poking out of her skin. “Let’s concentrate on getting her to the ship. The med-bot can flush that crap out of her, right?”

Standing, Karsen brushed the dirt off her knees. “Unfortunately, no. At least, not completely. There’s only been a few preliminary studies about those flowers back home. The Verne ’s med-bots won’t be equipped to deal with it.”

“Like I said, she’ll be fine in a few days. Dionions have been using drosse for centuries. She just needs to ride out the effects,” Jalen stated calmly.

Karsen nodded her confirmation, and only then did the anxiety pinging through my chest begin to settle.

I dragged a hand through my hair and turned back to Jalen. “Fine. We need to postpone our hike until she’s back to normal.”

Jalen rocked on his heels. “If that’s what you want.”

Crossing the garden, I ignored the bloodstained dirt and the roiling in my stomach and kneeled beside Arda. “Hey, Capt. I’m gonna call Lux. Once the sun sets, he can bring the hovercart to take you back to the ship.”

“Your face. It’s so… swirly .” Arda patted my cheek, grinning absurdly.

I glanced at the sky. “Is she stable enough to wait until nightfall?”

“Yeah. Better she doesn’t put any weight on her ankle.” Karsen studied Arda shrewdly. “And the pain doesn’t appear to be bothering her.”

“That’s one reason we use drosse,” Jalen explained. “She won’t feel a thing.”

“Great.” I straightened, lifting my hand to my neck, ready to activate my comms implant. “We’ll be back in a couple weeks when her flashbacks are over.” The last thing we needed was a repeat of this madness when we were in the middle of the jungle.

“About that…” Jalen twisted his lips. “You might want to reconsider waiting that long.”

My hand fell at my side. “Why?”

“It has to do with that issue I brought up earlier. If we don’t leave today, it will be months before we can safely hike where you want to go.”

Karsen lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s a river we need to cross. It’s only passable on a few days each year.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

He nodded to the sky. “You can blame the moons and the tides. With all three moons in the sky, the waterline drops enough to wade through. That’s happening again tomorrow night, and once again fifteen days from now. But after that, the rainy season will be at its worst. If we miss the current window, we won’t get another chance for months.”

“Months.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “Arda won’t want to wait that long.” And truthfully, she shouldn’t have to. Not when she’d already been living in uncertainty for so long.

“Can’t we swim across when the water’s higher?” Karsen asked.

“Not safely.” Jalen tilted his head. “Is whatever you need to find important enough to risk your lives?”

Karsen scratched her chin. “What about a bridge? We could chop down a couple trees.”

Jalen chuckled humorlessly. “You don’t know much about Dionus, do you?”

No shit, Sherlock.

“The jungle is sacred to my people. Any off-worlders who disrespect it are deported.”

That was a little extreme. Cut down a tree and get kicked off-world? But we didn’t come here intending to stomp on the natives’ traditions.

“This has turned into one big mess, hasn’t it?” Karsen sighed.

“While Arda’s recuperating, I’ll build something to help. There’s more than one way to make a bridge.” I’d think of something that would allow us to cross without disturbing the jungle. Couldn’t be that hard, could it?

“What if you didn’t have to?” Karsen’s gaze flicked over Jalen in a way that made my skin crawl. “Arda was prepared to head out on her own. Really, only one of us has to make the hike. I’ll do it.”

Her cool announcement sent a bolt of unease straight through my insides. “But you’re our medical officer. Who will take care of Arda?”

Karsen grinned. “Hm… you’re right. But if I can’t go, that leaves us with only one option.”

A bead of sweat rolled down my temple. “Hell no.”

Her smile fell. “I get it. If you don’t want to go, we’ll wait. Hey, at least you’ll have lots of time to hang with your sister while Arda’s recuperating. Bet the months will fly by.”

Fucking hell…

I narrowed my eyes at Karsen, wondering if she’d sensed it somehow. Had I given my genius crewmate some inkling of my feelings when I’d first told her about the stupidly handsome man hovering behind us?

No. If I had, she wouldn’t have volunteered to take a hike with him. Karsen just wanted to get the job done. And I was clearly the logical choice to go.

Double fuck.

Could I handle spending a week alone with a man ? One who’d awakened feelings in me I’d been having a hell of a time fighting to tamp down since we met.

But was the alternative any better? There was no way Cassidy would stick to herself when she learned of our delay. She’d insist on visiting to help out, and then she’d corner me for that talk she was so desperate for…

I threw up my hands. “All right. I’ll do it.” I whipped around, spearing Jalen with my best icy glare while ignoring the way my flesh warmed under his gaze. “But I’m not interested in anything except finding what we need and getting back as fast as possible. Understood?”

Despite my frosty tone, his smile didn’t dip in the slightest. “You’re the boss, Ren.”

A shiver chased up my spine as my name slipped off his tongue, and suddenly his gaze wasn’t just warm anymore. Fire blazed, sparks crackling in the space between us so fiercely I nearly hyperventilated.

“Noooo. I’m the boss!” Arda’s loopy voice broke through my trance.

“Course you are, Capt.” Karsen kneeled beside her and eased the pack off Arda’s back. “We’re gonna wait here while Ren and Jalen go for a little walk. And we’ll be just a comm call away if she needs anything.” She tossed the bag to me, and I tore it open before sifting through the contents.

I’d call Lux once we left. Arda and Karsen would be safe waiting in the fenced-in yard until the sun sank and he could retrieve them.

“Oh… right. Later, Ren.” Arda blinked, her gaze flicking to Jalen. “Wow! When did we get a hottie?”

Karsen’s lips tightened like she was holding back laughter. “That’s Jalen. The guide.” She jerked her head at me, clearly wanting us to leave.

“Ooohhh.” Arda’s head lolled on her shoulders, and I thought that was the end of it. But just as I finished rummaging through her pack and stuffing the few things I might need into my own, Arda leaned closer. “Don’t worry about Nicky-boy. I won’t tell if you don’t,” she sing-songed.

God, how embarrassing. What the fuck did I do to deserve this?

“Come on.” I tossed Arda’s pack on the ground and spun toward the gate.

“Who’s Nicky-boy?” Jalen asked, that seemingly permanent smile of his finally fading around the edges.

“The hairy man in Ren’s bed,” Arda blurted.

Are none of my secrets safe with hippie Capt unleashed?

Face burning, I snagged Jalen’s elbow before Arda told him about the vibrators hidden in my bedside drawer. “Thought you said we had to leave right away?” I marched toward the gate, ignoring the sizzle where we touched as my friend’s manic laughter reverberated in my ears.