Page 59 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

59

I Don’t Think He Can Do It

S adie

Something about him, maybe it’s his posture or what he just said, gives me permission to reach to my side and touch his hand that’s resting lightly there. It’s the softest brush of my skin against the furred back of his hand. It’s certainly non-sexual. I just wanted to connect with him on a deeper level. To let him know I’m happy to be here with him, too.

I want to cry. In fact, I’m doing a terrible job hiding that fact. My eyes are tearing. It’s ridiculous that with a fucking dinosaur thundering down below, waiting to eat us, I’m crying over the male at my side because of the ferocious vulnerability he just allowed me to glimpse.

″I smell your tears,” he says as he looks off into the distance. “Are you scared again? I’m trying my best to keep you safe.”

He has absolutely no idea how poignant his words were. It’s achingly sad that the best moment of his life is sitting on this fucking limb with me as we wait for the last minutes of our life to spool into nothingness.

″You’re not responsible for my safety, 1213. I absolve you. We both know the chances are slim to none that we’re going to escape this game with our lives. At some point, it’s going to be every person for themselves and you’re going to leave me behind because you’ll die if you try to save me. I’m telling you right now, it won’t be your fault. Get it?”

I look at him. No, it’s not a look, it’s a demand. When he doesn’t answer, I say, “Tell me, 1213. Tell me you know you’re not my keeper. If this goes sideways, I don’t want you risking your life for mine. And I don’t want you feeling guilty if you can’t keep me alive. I realize I’m small and weak compared to all the other contestants.”

He cups my chin so hard his claws bite my flesh. Not enough to break the skin, but enough to announce their presence.

″I resented you yesterday. I felt saddled with you. I thought I deserved to be chosen earlier. But we’re a team now and I am responsible for you. If that seems too altruistic for you, then maybe I should remind you that singles aren’t allowed to remain in the game. If you die, I die—”

I interrupt him. “You won’t die. They just escort you…” Shit. The reality of this game becomes clear to me. Of course they’re not escorting anyone anywhere. They’re killing everyone who fails to meet the challenges or whose partner dies.

″See? I was right when I called you optimistic. This may be called The Game , but it’s not child’s play. This endeavor isn’t being run by nice people. So if you don’t want me helping you at my own expense because it would be altruistic, then just tell yourself I’m doing it to save my own hide.”

I like this male. He’s alien. Foreign to look at. Even a little scary. But once he got over being outraged about being stuck with a tiny human, he’s stepped up. He’s honest and trustworthy and doesn’t whitewash the facts. I curl against his body and snuggle closer. If this is one of my last moments alive, why not give us both a modicum of comfort?

His hand grazes up and down my side, and we sit in silence. Well, not silence. The dinosaur down below is snuffling in the leaves, rooting for something.

Taking comfort in the beating of Twelve’s heart, I think about my life. I’ve had a good one. I had loving parents who doted on me. From a young age, I had a purpose, which is something I thrived on. When my boobs got too big for a chance at Olympic gold, I didn’t throw away my dreams, I just refocused my passion. I set my sights on trying out for the Cirque. And I got there. Everything was going well until I was beamed up from my bed one night.

It takes a moment to realize, but it’s quiet out here. When I look down, the dinosaur has given up and is wandering off.

″Time to climb down?” I ask.

″I have another idea,” he says as he stands on the limb, then reaches down to help me up.

We both look in the direction we were heading when we were treed. We’re in a thick forest of these tall trees.

″I think we can leap from tree to tree and not have to return to the ground until we’re closer to the hotel.” He points, moving his hand like he’s drawing connect-the-dots from tree to tree.

Not meaning to be derisive, I can’t contain the little bubble of shocked laughter that escapes me.

I was in the Eleura Cirque and I don’t see how I can manage even one leap, much less half a mile of it.

″I’ll carry you.”

Now who’s overly optimistic? I just shake my head.

″I’m a geneslave,” he says, as if that explains everything.

I shrug.

″Geneslaves are a combination of many types of DNA. My primate DNA makes me four times stronger than humanoids my size. It also makes me good at climbing. My feline DNA helps with balance and leaping and provides the sharp claws to latch onto smooth trunks. My tail is prehensile, more primate than canine, and helps with balance. I’ll carry you.”

It takes everything I have not to tell him to go on without me. It’s only when I remind myself that if I die, he’ll die that I give his proposition more thought.

″Okay. One leap. One leap 1213, then we’ll re-evaluate.”

I climb onto his back and get a good look at how far we need to jump. It’s got to be forty feet from this tree to the next, and then he has to manage to get a foothold on a limb. All while carrying dead weight that must be throwing him off balance. I hold back tears as I bite my bottom lip. I don’t think he can do it.