Page 9 of Entangled by the Alien Mercenary (Monster Mercenary Mates #4)

Tasseloris

My female was more exhausted than she wanted to let on. I suspected that she did not believe she could trust me, but I would earn her trust soon enough. If I had been on the run for as long as she had, I would struggle to accept help when it was offered to me, too. From what little she did share with me, I got the impression that it had been months since she’d last slept peacefully. That was a long time to sleep with one eye open, so I was not surprised that her exhaustion was getting the better of her now.

We were in no rush. If, like she said, her data was safely hidden, we still had more than a week to retrieve it. Camping here for the rest of the day and night would only give the Varakartoom a chance to catch up to me, and I’d feel better knowing I had some of my brothers with me by tomorrow. I had not traveled that far from the wreck; it shouldn’t take them more than a few hours to find me.

Elyssa had curled up in my bedroll and fallen asleep after our talk and a second helping of the stew. It was a berry- and herb-enhanced reheating of an emergency ration, and I was glad she found it to her taste. Often, these rations tasted like crap, but here on a Viridara planet, I knew what to add to improve their taste. The Entling did not need that kind of sustenance, but she’d delicately nibbled on a spoonful out of curiosity. I had finished the leftovers and then gone out to set snares to augment our food supplies. I could not shake the feeling that we might be on our own a little while longer. We’d certainly remain down on the planet until we’d retrieved Elyssa’s data—that’s what the Captain had sent me down for, after all.

Night had fallen, dark settling over the forest, when I returned to the cave to check on my sleeping female. My perimeter wards had not shown any sign of activity, but I still scouted the woods to make sure we were safe before I settled next to the campfire again to keep watch. “A name,” I murmured quietly as I watched Elyssa sleep. She had her hand tucked beneath her head, her mouth curled in a slight smile. The delicate point of her ear stuck through her pale hair, and her Caratan chain glittered in the fading light of the campfire.

The Entling tilted her head my way when I spoke. She’d drifted closer to Elyssa, giving into her curiosity now that my female was asleep again. Any closer, and the Entling would be able to reach out and touch my mate’s cheek. I could already tell what had drawn the sweet one’s attention: the glittering gold chain and its small golden medallions. They glittered prettily, and the Entling was drawn to them. “You shouldn’t bother her while she’s sleeping, sweet one. She needs her rest.” Pink flowers ruffled along the Entling’s head and shoulders, as if she were offended. “Pinky, how does that sound? Petals?” The latter was the name of the Viridara port city I’d grown up in, and I discarded it immediately, even if it did suit her.

“What about…” I dug deep into my memory to come up with the name of my favorite great-grandmother from my father’s side. The woman had passed before I’d taken the Plantist tests, and she’d always been kind, if a little senile. She also always carried a pouch of dried, sweetened berries with her and wore flowers in her hair. I hadn’t thought of her in years—forgotten, pushed away along with the memories of growing up in my mother’s household and, later, the Sacred Grove. “Nelumbo Necifura? Nelly for short?”

She did not respond to the name with a sound, but more blooms began to open along her spindly arms and all along the tendrils that gave her the appearance of wearing a skirt. I took that to be a good sign. “Nelly it is.” Nelly and Elyssa—my girls. How odd. I’d left on this mission thinking I was going to prove myself, alone. Now my goals had shifted to include two entirely new beings, and I hadn’t even thought of how they were going to fit into my life yet. Elyssa might be able to live aboard the Varakartoom, but I could never take an Entling off her planet… Problems for later.

I watched as Nelly danced around Elyssa’s sleeping figure, humming a gentle tune that lay on the edge of my hearing—notes I almost heard, notes I missed, and bell-like sounds I definitely heard. The Entling was growing less fearful of stepping onto the rock, as if she was beginning to learn that it wasn’t dangerous to her. I didn’t think it was, but I knew I had to double-check when I had a chance. As a boy, I recalled seeing my first Sire during a Festival of Flowers. I remembered marveling at the huge, tree-like creature as it strode along our cobblestone streets. It had not harmed the huge Sire, but then, the Sire had been around longer than the city of Petal. Did that mean Nelly was safe to touch rock? Or would she be safe only when she had grown up to be a Sire herself?

What about Elyssa? Who was she? Where had she come from? That she was on the run was obvious, and that she knew damning information on Jalima also had to be true. The crimelord wouldn’t have sent males after her if he didn’t fear what she could do. She had admitted to knowing Brace during a time when he’d been owned by Jalima as a gladiator. I didn’t even know Brace was once a feared fighter of the sands, let alone that Jalima had been his owner. It made sense, though, because our captain, Asmoded, had a vendetta against the crimelord and a penchant for collecting males with similar goals—like Aramon and Solear, like Jaxin, and now, it seemed, like Brace.

I was still pondering all these questions when Elyssa began to stir in her blankets. A soft moaning noise escaped her, her head thrashing against the pillow, her legs sliding beneath the blankets. She was having a nightmare of some kind—a dream filled with darkness, maybe even bad memories. She tossed and turned, making pained noises, but she did not rise. Unable to stand seeing her in distress, I went to her side and gently cupped her cheek. “Wake, Elyssa. Wake up, you are dreaming!” She did not wake, but her head twisted into my palm, pressing closer. Eyelids flickered with the rapid movement of her eyes, but her expression was starting to go lax again, the distress smoothing away as if it had never been.

I waited until she seemed to fall back into a deeper sleep before I gently lifted my hand away. Instantly, a frown furrowed her brow, and she began moving restlessly again. Okay, my presence soothed her; that was good. I tried not to preen smugly at that knowledge. She was suspicious of me when awake, but asleep, she knew exactly where she belonged and that she was safe.

Settling on my side, I curled one sail beneath me to lie on and slipped the other over the two of us. Then I drew her carefully into my arms and snuggled her against my chest. Her relieved sigh and the way her slender body relaxed against mine were my reward. Her scent and the instant arousal her nearness evoked were my torture—but worth it, so worth it. “Sleep, Elyssa. You are safe,” I murmured against the crown of her hair. I’d rest with my girls for a while and be fresh and ready for action when my crewmates showed up in a few hours.

Nelly seemed to agree with this plan. She drifted along the sail doubling as a blanket, then settled into the crook of my neck to nap herself. Perfect.

***

Elyssa

I woke up warm and rested. This was the first time in a long while that I’d woken up slowly, rousing from slumber all languidly, like I had all the time in the world. I had to be in my bed back home on Elrohir, and my servant Asweana was going to yank open my curtains and bring me a breakfast tray any minute. It smelled good, but I couldn’t place the scent. Was it some kind of new herbal jelly the chef was testing to go with his fresh bread?

Blinking open my eyes slowly was difficult, my eyes felt a little gritty with dust. I rubbed at them with the back of my hand and instantly noticed the pale white bandage wrapped around my wrist. My breathing stalled in my throat, and I forced myself to assess the situation. This wasn’t my bed. How had I been able to think it was? This was nothing like the silk sheets or fluffy pillows, and yet, I was very comfortable.

There were bandages around my wrists, a well-worn bedroll that smelled good but also like a male; it jarred my memory, flushing away the pleasant prospect of a lazy morning in my brother’s Elrohiran mansion. No, I’d never have those again. I was a woman on the run, hunted by Jalima’s males until I either struck a blow that made them back off or they killed me. The question was, could I trust Tass? Warmth in the pit of my stomach told me that I wanted to, that my first instinct was a wholehearted yes. In the light of day, I forced myself to make a more rational assessment.

I was alone inside the small cave, and the fire had been banked. Only coals glowed in the fire pit, but wood had been stacked nearby, waiting to be used. There was no second bedroll, but a backpack with supplies was leaning against one wall. A curious scattering of loamy earth lay in a circle around the fire pit and came all the way to the edge of my bedroll. A dip in the dirt there was curiously shaped like a man—a large man—as if Tass had lain down at my side, too close to be polite, and slept right next to me. My stomach didn’t just feel warm now; it clenched and swooped, excited by the thought that I’d been that close to him. Now I was sad I had been asleep for it. What would it have felt like to be in his arms? I was fooling myself; had I been awake, I would have told him to get lost.

Sitting up, I tried to get my bearings in a different way. Where was this cave? And where was Tasseloris? I still wore all my clothes, though my boots had been left near the fire, getting warm and dry. A canteen of water sat on the floor next to the bedroll, along with a neatly packaged energy bar. I drank my fill and ate without reservations while stomping into my boots and heading for the cave entrance to peer outside.

It was light, but it was still early. The cave was situated on a slight incline, and I could see out over a stretch of the forest. Mist clung to branches, and silver and violet streaked across the still-gloomy sky in a bright array of colors to the west. There was no sign of my strange mercenary companion—not so much as a footstep in the dirt. Not that I was any good at tracking things, but I imagined the muddy ground should have lent itself to boot prints. My feet were leaving them, so why hadn’t his? Or had it rained since he’d left? I felt an odd sense of abandonment wash over me at the thought, as if I did not like the thought that he’d left me behind. It was silly. Besides, his backpack was still in the cave—he’d come back for that, if not for me.

If my thoughts had the power to summon him, he appeared beneath a tall tree. His armor looked a little worse today, the gap over his ribs allowing me to see his green skin and the darker purple stripes that decorated him. His Iredese were flared—bright golden spots that danced along his temples—and his hair was raised in a wild, voluminous mane of leaves and strands around his head. He looked tall, imposing, forbidding in the way he had his sharp jaw gritted. When he raised a hand and waved, his tone was friendly as he greeted me. Around his raised hand, the small plantish creature danced, partially in the air, partially clinging with pink tendrils to his thick wrist.

“Tass!” I called back to him. “Is everything all right?” I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had him rattled, but he had smoothed away his tension—his Iredese shutting, hair fluttering to lie against his head once more. He was all smiles as he bounded up the hill in a few great leaps, and I peered curiously behind him to see if he was leaving any prints. None. Of course, he knew how not to make tracks, but how did he avoid them in the freaking mud?

I hadn’t realized I was standing in a slight drizzle of rain or that I’d moved out of the cave opening toward him. Not until he raised one of those massive leaf-like appendages that draped like wings off his back. It was a massive umbrella that he curled above my head, his black eyes glittering and his mouth stretched in a wide smile. “Feeling better this morning, Elyssa?” he asked me. So he was ignoring my question. I wondered if he just didn’t want to tell me or if he thought this question was more important. I knew what it would have meant had my brother done this, but somehow, I didn’t see Tass as the type to keep secrets. His expression was just too open and eager when he looked into my face.

“Better,” I agreed with him, my arms sliding around myself to ward off the chill in the air. This was a jungle, and I’d never been to one before, so I didn’t actually know what the weather was supposed to be like, but it was colder than I expected it to be. Mostly, today, it was miserably wet and foggy. “So now what? What’s going on?” I knew he probably expected answers from me as much as I wanted to know about him—unless he already knew exactly who I was. He claimed he was here in Brace’s stead, that he was supposed to be meeting me. Could I really believe that? My brother’s home and friends, the nasty people that had often visited our house—none of that made me inclined to trust quickly.

“My brothers should have caught up to us by now. There must be something delaying them. It’s not great, but we will manage on our own. We’ll eat, and then we will set out to retrieve your data. The faster we can leave here, the better.” To my surprise, he raised one of those weird tentacle vines sprouting from his back to hold up a pair of fat, already plucked birds. I assumed those were going to be our breakfast. My stomach turned—not at the thought of eating freshly hunted bird, but because of Tass’s plan. He was basing it all on a lie, but I couldn’t bring myself to correct him. Not yet. I had to be sure I was safe with him first.

Allowing him to lead me inside, I watched as he stoked the fire for cooking. The little plant creature was dancing along the trail of dirt, twirling and making gentle cooing noises. She brushed by my leg each time, closer and closer, until I knew it was not a mistake. She was checking me out, touching me with her vines. Was it curiosity? I was also curious; I’d never seen a creature like her before. A plant that wasn’t a plant, an animal that wasn’t an animal. Was she an adult of her species? Could she talk? She looked so similar in shape to Tass and me—two arms and legs, a head and eyes, even a mouth.

“Nelly, leave our new friend in peace, will you?” Tass drawled from where he was crouched next to his cooking birds. He was smiling, but tension was visible in the tightness along his shoulders and in the way his leaf wings were raised rather than lying smoothly against his spine. The pair of vines were also coiling and writhing, twisting and curling. It had to be my imagination, but it almost felt like the vines were eagerly twisting my way, only to be yanked back each time before they could reach me. I wondered if it was a reflection of the turmoil inside him—and why did I think that was hot?

Nelly, the plant girl, spun to a stop a few feet away from me. Her large green eyes blinked up at my face, all of her curiosity right there for me to see. I smiled, endeared and already feeling safer because of her presence. There was no way Tass could be bad news with a tiny pixie like that for a friend. “What is she?” I dared to ask, my curiosity about her outweighing my need to know more about Tass at that instant.

Tass lifted his head away from his cooking birds to glance at Nelly, a frown furrowing his brow. “You don’t know? Did you not pass through Bloom before you ended up in the jungle? Pamphlets on the Sires and the Entlings are everywhere. It is Viridara’s biggest attraction.” Begrudgingly, he added, “Besides the lantern festivals.” As if the lantern festivals—which I did know about—were not really worth knowing. I tried to recall the many touristy folders and displays lined up on a shelf inside my hotel. I remembered looking at them because I found it so charming that they had paper folders to look at—very old school. Granted, I’d been on the run, afraid for my life, and very tired when I checked in, but for the life of me, I could not remember something as cutesy as Nelly.

I shook my head and rolled a shoulder in a half shrug, half expecting a lecture from my Viridara companion. Had I offended him by not knowing? This was the first time I was on a Viridara world, and Elrohir, where I’d lived most of my life, did not trade with any of the numerous colonies. Until I left my homeworld on this mad run for safety with my purloined data, I’d never even seen a Viridara. Let alone heard of Entlings or Sires, whatever those might be.

Tass chuckled. “Don’t look so guilty. I’m sure there’s plenty I don’t know about your home planet.” He raised one of the spits with a roasted bird on it and held it out to me. “Breakfast.” I took it and carefully nibbled on the crispy skin and soft, tasty meat. My host let me sit on the bedroll for comfort, but he was done eating in a few quick bites himself and was too restless for sitting. Instead, he inventoried his supplies, lining them up on the floor before carefully repacking each item. His Entling—or Sire?—hovered at his elbow and cooed at all the shiny things, her vines reaching for whatever caught her fancy. Tass let her, and when he did intervene, it was clearly because she’d tried to snatch up a weapon—of those, there were quite a lot.

“This is your homeworld?” I asked in between nibbling on the warm meat. There were over a dozen Viridara worlds, and, very originally, they were even named One through Twelve—or were they at Fourteen by now? I somehow had not pegged him as a local, given that he supposedly knew Brace, wore high-tech armor, and was called a mercenary by Tahirel. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t actually asked Tass if that last part was true or not, but he certainly looked the part.

I was oddly relieved when Tass gave me a curt "no" as an answer, but after a beat or two of silence, it seemed he couldn’t stay mad about my assumption. “I come from Eight, but all Viridara worlds are exactly the same. The landscapes vary, and the names of the cities change. But the worlds are terraformed after Viridara herself—replicas. Seen one, seen them all.” Well, that sounded boring. Maybe that explained why I knew so little about this planet. I’d picked a location at random within reach of what I thought I could travel without discovery, but really, it had been Brace who had suggested our final meeting place.

“Are you done eating?” I was startled by the question, but since my stick with bird was almost finished, I couldn’t exactly deny it. When I nodded, Tass rose and began dousing the fire, kicking the remaining coals apart and covering them with dirt to smother any sparks. “Let’s go then. Lead us to your data. The sooner we get out of here, the better.” At the words, my stomach dropped—not in a pleasant way like earlier, when I thought Tass might have slept protectively at my side. I hated that I was lying to him, but I still had no definitive proof that he was on my side. My brother had been the best conman around; he’d even managed to appear like a wealthy, respectable Elrohirian male in the social circles he’d frequented. You couldn’t trust just because they had a pretty face and a winning smile. So I kept my mouth shut and vowed I’d give it another day. Ask questions. Learn the truth.