Page 13 of I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com (Cosmic Chaos #1)

Lok cut an imposing figure at the mouth of the cave. He stood with his arms crossed, glaring out into the storm. When lightning flashed for dramatic effect, I half expected him to spin around and regale me with evil plans of world domination. Instead, he scowled at me.

Which shouldn’t have been effective enough to have me curl into myself like a naughty child, but it was. The blatant disapproval in his silver gaze was cold enough for my brain to helpfully recount every single mistake I’ve ever made on a stage until my skin scrawled with the need to apologize. The flash of lightning became stage lights. The water dripping from my clothes morphed into the sickeningly sweet chunks of apple pie I’d spilled on myself after a juggling trick gone wrong.

Dorothy the disappointment.

Probably shouldn’t have fired that therapist.

“I—”

“Don’t apologize. You don’t mean it,” he said sternly.

“I don’t?” My words came out as a question, but we both knew the answer. “I don’t,” I said again, stronger the second time. I balled my fists, spine straightening with the practiced mask of a woman who actually has her shit together.

But I didn’t and he knew that. He had to. I could see it in his eyes. Hell, everyone could probably tell what a wreck I was if they just took two seconds to look and see that there was something wrong with me. My clothes were always wrinkled or covered in fur, my hair was dry, I’ll never be as skinny as I was in my pageant days, I’ll die before I get my degree, I couldn’t even drive a stick shift.

I bit my lip to keep it from quivering. “He could have died.”

Seeing as he was still out there, he might die anyway. Sol, Toto, Intern, most of the herd, it was anyone’s guess who made it out fine. Blossom rested against the wall of the cave, occasionally sneaking glances at the world outside. I didn’t need years of study to guess what she was looking for. Her mate was out there. So was mine.

“Are you aware that you are very small?”

“I mean…by human standards I’m actually pretty tall.”

“You are small.”

“Relatively speaking.”

“And yet you charged at a full-grown billjaw, the Gruulorak no less, with no hesitation. Which, and I do want to be clear on this, was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” A hint of admiration crept into his voice, but it was quickly overshadowed by concern. “But more importantly, it was monumentally foolish.”

I bristled again at his censure, feeling defensive despite knowing he was right. “Sol was trapped. He could have died,” I repeated stubbornly.

“You could have died!” The force of his shout reverberated off the walls of the cave, making me flinch. He must have caught my reaction, because he took a deep breath and visibly reined in his anger. After a moment, his posture relaxed on a long-suffering sigh. His hand scratched at the back of his head as he regarded me with a mix of frustration and tenderness. “I don’t know how things work in your species,” he began, his voice more gentle now. “But as a Sankado male, I need you to be safe. If you get hurt, this world and everyone in it will turn to ash beneath my hooves.”

Hot.

“That seems like a bit much, even for a war general.”

Promises flashed in his silver eyes. “Let me assure you, it’s not.”

“…How passionate.”

“Dory, I’m serious. You are my Zhali. My reason for being. I’m not letting you run off in a storm to look for a dead man.”

“He’s not dead!” I yelled. He wasn’t. I could feel it in my bones. From the moment Intern shot me with that dart, maybe even prior if I was honest with myself for once, something in me was drawn to the both of them like a moth to a flame. No matter how much I tried to ignore it. Maybe if I’d run from them at the start, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad. If I’d let Sol walk away from me on the beach, then I might have been spared the festering ache of his absence. But I didn’t. Instead, like an idiot , I’d told myself it’d be fine just to have a taste and be on my way. Then I’d shared my body, my bed, and banter around a breakfast table. Now I knew the crooked curve of his smile and how fucking good it felt to be the one to put it there.

He couldn’t die now. Did the poached eggs mean nothing?

Our bond was sealed, and the need to go to him pricked scalding needles into my heels until I wanted to run headfirst into the rain. Sol was alive, and the thought of him out there alone made me sick. “He’s not dead, but he could be hurt. We need to go look for him.”

Lok’s mouth formed a thin line, but he remained steadfast in blocking the entryway.

“Lok, please.” When he ignored my plea, I clenched my fists. “You spoke your piece as a Sankado male. Here’s mine as a human woman. We don’t take kindly to hostage situations.”

“You are not my hostage; you are my Zhali.”

“One of those is debatable. The other is changeable.”

“As your man, I am duty bound to protect you. Even from yourself. Erase any notion you have of looking for the lawyer.”

“Don’t just call him ‘the lawyer,’?” I sneered. “His name is Sol. You know, the guy you had your dick in not long ago? Don’t tell me you feel nothing about him still being out there.”

Lok sighed, his expression hardening as he responded, “His loss is unfortunate.”

I could feel my frustration rising. “He could still be out there! We have to try and find him.”

“And what good would a search do, hmm? Blossom’s too tired to take another step. That leaves me, you, and the storm. Can you track him in the rain? Are you trained to track him at all?”

“Lok, we have to try.”

“No, we don’t.”

“What if it was you out there?”

“Leave me.”

“What?”

“Leave. Me,” he said slowly. “A rescue is only worthwhile if the rescue party comes back. If I were out in a storm with the Gruulorak, do you really think I’d want my Zhali risking life and limb to save me on the off chance she doesn’t slip off a cliff and bash her pretty skull on the rocks? If you are that adamant about finding him, then you will wait for morning when it’s clear and not a second before.”

“I—” Countless arguments clawed at my throat, but what good would they do? He was right. All I had were the clothes on my back and the gut feeling that Sol was still alive. Neither was gonna do shit where it mattered.

I looked past Lok into the storm, hoping for some miracle Homeward Bound situation where Intern, Sol, and Toto came running over the hill into my waiting arms. But the rain was so heavy I couldn’t even see past the mouth of the cave. Let alone any miracle hills for them to bound over.

Tears pricked at my eyes. “This is such bullshit.”

He gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze, then let me sulk in silence as he checked on Blossom. The bite mark thankfully wasn’t too deep. With a good healing salve and bandages, it wouldn’t cause any lasting damage. Much like the cave Sol took me to my first night, this one had been stockpiled with firewood and a few supplies.

I sat by the firepit as Lok carefully blew at the embers until the kindling caught. “Are there a lot of supply caves like this?” I asked.

He nodded and tossed more dried moss into the growing flames. “Resting spots are built all along the paths we use to migrate our herds. Most of them were made by drovers, but anyone that passes through is welcome to use them as long as they restock.”

“Even those of the Night Ridge clan? You and Sol didn’t exactly seem on friendly terms when you met.”

He chuckled. “They’re the ones that seem to have a problem with everyone else, but yes, them too. As sour as tensions can be between clans, this world is far too dangerous to be stuck out in the wild. I’d much rather they take shelter than end up the dinner of a passing billjaw.”

“That’s generous of you.”

“Well, don’t sound so surprised,” he teased.

“Sorry, I just thought you might be at war with them or something.”

“No—well, not on this planet anyway. I don’t know where the rest of his clan hailed from before we were all dropped here, but judging from Sol’s accent, I’d say he’s from Ibemili. That’s halfway across the world from my old home, and they were far too removed to take part in the Broken Plains War.”

“What was the war about anyway?”

Grinning ridiculously, he took a seat beside me. “So many questions. Are you finally taking an interest in me? Where’s the Tamagotchi?” he asked, looking around.

“I can go back to silence, if you prefer,” I warned.

“Testy.” He laughed. “You know, I don’t recall. We’d been at war with the Dulba Empire for most of my life, and the fighting started well before that,” he said, staring into the flames. “My homeland of Sumduul was a vast grassland, home to four major clans. The Dulba Empire sat in the eastern region, my clan ruled the northern plains of Tarssego, Stormforge had the mountain ridge that separated us from the rest of the world, and the Roamcrest were nomads that kept to themselves when they weren’t trading.”

He paused to add another log to the fire. “Tensions were on and off with Stormforge, but we’ve always been at war with the Dulba Empire. I may have turned the tide, but who knows how long that would have lasted. Not that it mattered after the crash anyway.

“Unfortunately, the surviving members from all four major clans were brought in on the same cargo ship and dropped in the same spot. I’m guessing only one ship was assigned to the area. As you can imagine, things got violent fast. Besides the Roamcrests, mind you. They took one look at the big wide world and left the crash site on the first day. I thought they were cowards at first. Who would turn down an opportunity to seize control in a perfect blend of chaos like that?

“I could’ve seized that moment. Exploited the infighting among the clans to forge a new empire under my rule. My father fell in the Calamity, which meant I was head of the Singing Arrow clan. To rule is what I’d been trained to do since I could hold a spear. King Osid was dead, and King Towei’s about as useful as wet firewood in a fight. That left both Dulba and Stormforge weak to attack. I could have brought my two biggest competitors to heel and then…”

He trailed off, seemingly lost in the flames. “And then?” I asked.

“Exactly.” He chuckled. “And then what? Rule over a bitter and broken people? Spend my days fending off assassination attempts? I finally killed that bastard Osid, and the world ended. That’s the real kick in the teeth: none of it mattered. He burns my city, where my family stood for centuries, to the ground, and it doesn’t matter. I flood his city, wiping out anyone in it and everything he held dear, and it doesn’t matter. The blood on my hands holds no purpose other than to stain my dreams.

“Once I really sat and thought about it, I realized it would never stop. And I’d rather throw myself off a cliff than keep fighting. At least then it would be a quick death. Sankatul had been consumed by conflict long before I ever took my first breath, and I carried its scars, both seen and unseen. So I found myself at a crossroads: continue chasing my own tail in an endless cycle of violence, or take the coward’s way out.”

“Was there no one you could pass the crown to?”

He shook his head. “Kings don’t retire; they’re beheaded. If I told my men what I was thinking, they’d label me mad. And a clan with a mad king is a weakness just waiting to be exploited. No. It was better for them if I vanished. As luck would have it, dry season brought the first Rumbling, which meant the entire crash site was thrown into disarray. Everyone was far too busy fighting off the monsters of this world to pay attention to me. So I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and it was either the cliff or the yix and just vanished. I left my armor near the Glyph Stone in the Fuchsia Grove and never looked back. Eventually I caught up with those yix herders and asked to join them.”

“What’s the Rumbling?” I asked.

“Have you seen a titanstalk yet? Giant creature with a long neck, shakes the ground when it walks?”

He probably meant some kind of sauropod. “No, but I think I know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, imagine a herd of them as far as the eye can see. Not just them either; horncrest, billjaws, all manner of beasts just came at us in droves out of nowhere. They completely trampled most of the encampment we had managed to scavenge together. It was enough to temporarily get everyone to stop killing each other to defend the rest of the supplies we had on the ship.”

“Do you regret your choice?”

“Not for a second. I would have liked to have been able to say goodbye, but a farewell note kind of defeats the purpose of disappearing into the night.”

“Yeah, I could see how that would be counterintuitive.”

“Get some rest,” he said, tending to the fire. “We’ll look for Sol at first light.” His tone gave nothing away, but it didn’t have to. I knew as soon as he avoided my eye contact that he had no intention of looking for Sol in the morning.

* * *

Under no circumstances should my Black ass be creeping around an alien planet by myself. Even as I left the cave, I could feel my ancestors calling me a stupid bitch. But dammit, I was really worried about Sol. I gave one last look behind me to ensure that Lok was still where I’d left him. The larger Sankado was sprawled out next to the embers of the fire, one arm slung over his eyes as he snored the morning away.

I made my way back to the cul-de-sac and tried to pick up the trail of my other companions. Hell, I’d even settle for T. rex tracks if it meant I’d get closer to them.

“Dory!” came Intern’s voice. I looked to see my avian companion perched on the mailbox of the decimated house waving frantically at me.

I let out a breath of relief and ran toward him. “Intern! Oh my goodness, I’m so happy to see you!”

Thwack.