Page 44 of Invasive Species (Outcasts of Oloria #2)
THIRTY-ONE
ARABELLA
Shit.
Gara's mask turns to face me and my chest seizes, popping the warm bubble of our bond. There’s nowhere to hide in the stark openness of this room except under the bed, so I motion him under there. They only have to duck their heads to see under and discover him, but it’s our only chance.
He shakes his head once and presses the intercom, clearing his throat. He goes all calm, Gara in a crisis, whereas I'm mentally screaming for him to run.
“My patient is unwell,” he replies to them in a bland voice. “Please return in one cycle.”
The guy on the other side snaps, “I have orders from the most majestic Prif herself. We’re coming in.”
One of the walls trembles, tiny blocks twisting back on themselves to make a doorway. Three hulking aliens exactly like the triplets block the exit, huge purple muscles flexing and scales so dark they’re almost black on their forearms, creating thick gauntlets tipped with curved claws.
Triple shit.
They balk when they see me, but I know it’s not my puny size or alienness that intimidates them. It’s my femininity. They pull their stares from me and lock onto Gara, moving as one toward him like a hunting shoal of sharks.
Gara puts himself in their path to block them from me. “Please do not interfere with my patient?—”
The lead guy seizes his throat in his black fist, so fast it’s a blur. He doesn’t even look angry; this is just another day’s work for him.
Gara’s hands rise reflexively but then he lets them drop to dangle at his sides, and his helplessness cuts through me.
“Hey,” I hiss. “Let him go.”
With a grimace, the lead male drops him. “Apologies, female, I will not intrude long. Our orders from the Prif are to apprehend and scan all Selthiastocks. Any with faulty chips are to be taken away for questioning.”
Questioning my ass; they’ll kill him. “Well, I'm ordering you to leave my healer alone.”
Agony twists his face. “Female, I cannot obey.” He gestures toward his brothers. “We will administer ten lashes to each other for this crime, but I must not fail. The Prif demands it.”
I bite my lip, trying to think. I can't put my foot down like I did with Dom and the others, but if I don't do something, they'll take Gara away from me.
“Give me your arm,” the one with green eyes barks, brandishing a handheld device like a knife at Gara.
My darling alien slowly stretches out his forearm, and I know from the scales hardening to click together on his throat this is going to go very, very bad.
The police clone grabs his wrist and twists, sweeping the scanner up Gara’s arm. Nothing happens, no noise or beep, but the policemen jump into action at the same time anyway. One grabs Gara’s other arm and another moves behind him, seizing his hair and yanking it back to bare his throat .
It's dead silent apart from my ragged breathing, close to sliding into uncontrollable sobs. I can't fall apart right now, Gara needs me.
“Where's your chip, clone?” the one at his throat hisses, ripping off his mask.
It clatters to the floor and Gara swallows, his Adam’s apple dipping. I have to do something .
I slam my fists into the soggy nutrient bed. “Don't you know anything about humans?” I snap.
The policeman blinks at me, and Gara’s eyes meet mine. They’re desperate, but also warm, swimming with love I can feel cradling my heart through our mini bond.
Using the contact to give me courage, I channel my best Laura impression: “You've learned my language, but you don't know anything about us as a species. I can't have chips near me, it will interfere with my heart and I'll die!” I glare at them. “Do you have chips?”
They hastily shove their forearms behind their backs. “We do, female. We are sorry, we didn't know. But we regret, we have orders…”
His voice fades into a mumble as a sensation of cold fingers touch my temples. It's the opposite of what blooms in my chest when I’m with Gara: this is intrusive and unwelcome.
One of them is reading my mind.
“Get out,” I tell him, and the alien staggers to one side, as thrown as Nevare was when he dipped into my brain; I guess it’s really overwhelming for someone not used to it as I am.
Thank the holy noodliness for my ADHD.
He falls to his knees and heaves in a choked breath. Holy shit, it’s really bad for them, but I can’t help feeling a little thrill of vindication for landing some kind of punch against the guys trying to take Gara away.
The other two stare at their fallen brother and then get to their knees too, but not to help him. They press their foreheads to the floor, arms shaking as they brace themselves, bowed over in utter eerie silence.
Gara plants himself between me and the police clones. “How dare you try to read my m—my patient. Get out now, and never return.” He whirls around to comfort me, hands shaking as he checks my pulse and smooths my hair back from my face.
I cling onto his arms, my heart thrumming with triumph, and when he meets my eyes, I feel like cheering. But we’re not done yet, so I don’t dare press my lips to his even though I know we badly need this comfort.
The brothers back away, still groveling and pressing their faces down in a trail to the door.
Once the opening seals shut after them, Gara lets out a shuddering breath.
Grasping hold of my shoulders, he rests his forehead on mine.
Without the mask our breath mingles, and he smells so, so good, delicious eucalyptus and refreshing mint cleansing my head and my chest. He’s all I've ever wanted, all I need. Must be pheromones pumping around, but I’m totally into it.
“Are you hurt? Did the reading cause you pain?” His fingers fumble for his scanner, and his normally steady hand shakes as he runs it up and down my body.
I take his face between my palms, meeting and matching his gaze. “I'm fine, Gara. Are you?”
He drops the scanner to clatter to the floor and leans into my touch as if he can soak me in through his skin. “I wish I could fight them, something useful, anything.”
“You’re you, Gara. I think you’re pretty perfect as you are.”
Again he looks at me like he can’t quite believe I’m real. “You saved me. Thank you. ”
“I tried,” I correct him gently. “Thank goodness for ADHD, right?”
“Thank the All-Mother for you.” His gaze goes hot and a warm bubble of fierce love ignites in my breast, taking my breath away.
“That's probably the first time someone’s ever said that to me,” I say.
He frowns. “Of course, people from Earth don't invoke the All-Mother?—”
“I mean, someone… accepting me for me.” My cheeks heat.
“I'm probably reading too much into it, I always do that, and I'm forever leaping seven stages ahead, but, well… teachers always said I’d be so much more successful if only I could focus, and my parents loved me but they were always somewhat disappointed when I didn't quite make it.”
I know I’m babbling but I have to get all this out.
“And my friends love me but I can tell they get a bit tired of me sometimes, I mean, I get tired of me sometimes, so I can't blame them, and…
boyfriends, well, I go too fast too quickly and fall super hard and want more and they're overwhelmed so they back off…” Breathe, Arabella.
Gara’s looking down at me, a small frown on his brow as I gulp air.
“Not surprised that guy got ill to be honest, it's a mess in here,” I say with a chuckle to lighten the mood, but I'm not laughing inside. What have I done? I've put all my insecurities out like laundry on a line. “I mean, even you found me annoying.”
Gara gathers me in his arms, banding them around me and shutting out the world so it's just him and me.
My breath shortens in my chest; he's so handsome, tiny scales glinting over his cheekbones and across the sharp profile of his square jaw, softened now as he gazes at me.
Why did I ever think he was sour and severe ?
His gaze captures my own, emerald eyes glinting. “I was… wary of you, Arra-bellah.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Probably not me as in me, right? It was because I’m a woman.”
A low breath escapes his lips, eucalyptus and mint. His air wraps around me. “Yes, that’s what I meant. You’ve seen how females here hold the lives of clones, in low value with high contempt. I thought you’d be the same, take advantage of our nature. But you didn’t. You, Arra-bellah.”
“Anyone from Earth would have been kind like that. I’m not special in that regard, just…” I tap my forehead. “The stuff up here, I guess.”
“You, Arra-bellah. And that means every part of you.”
It’s nice, but he can’t really mean that. Gara can take my unstructured mess of an outburst and help me organize it, but he won’t want to do that forever.
“I don’t have the words, I…” His green eyes glint as his luscious lips spread in a special smile just for me. “Arra-bellah, you are my treasure, my light, my beating hearts, my moon and my sun.”
His words ring with familiarity that make them a little hollow, like hearing a line from a movie. Where have I heard them before?
His breath is hot on my face, eyes flickering between mine, gauging my reaction. “You are my… prize. My conquest.”
Ah. The greatest hits from the love interests in the Planet of the Pirate Prince series.
I reward him with a smile; I know what he's trying to convey, and it's lovely he wants to say sweet nothings to me, but I love Gara's wit and humor too. What would he tell me if he used his own words?
A small frown wrinkles his forehead, scales darkening into moss green. “What’s amiss? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, but?— ”
He jerks back. “I shouldn’t be this close to you. I’m sorry, I… I don’t know what came over me.”