Page 10 of Keeping Freya (Warriors of Arracate #3)

Freya

I don’t understand what happened. One minute, I was fine, standing next to T’Rak, and the next thing I knew, I was falling. The drop is short, but my landing is rough. My right foot takes the full hit of my weight, and I cry out when I fall over. My ankle is throbbing.

I bite my lip; now is not the time to start crying. I’m separated from T’Rak, and that’s not a good sign. Luckily, I have my gun. My gun! I definitely dropped it when I fell, so first things first, I have to look for it.

Moving to my hands and knees, I push through the pain and search for the gun with my hands. It can’t be that far. There’s a whole lot of nothing, except for a sticky floor. However, I freeze when I encounter something cold and smooth and… slimy?

A harsh light comes on, and to my utter terror, I am touching feet. Trembling, I look up to see that the feet are attached to a very ugly alien. He holds up the gun in a taunting gesture. “Looking for this? ”

Quickly, I scramble away, rising to my feet as best as I can.

I step back, but I bump into something, and I don’t even have to look to know it’s another one of those aliens.

“Well, well, look what we have here,” he says as he grabs me, and I feel his tongue slithering close to my ear.

“Looks like we found ourselves a fancy human…”

No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening, this cannot be happening to me again. Fucking aliens, trying to take me. I have not fought this hard to get free, only to let myself get taken again. Not without one hell of a fight.

I struggle against his hold. “Let me go, you crazy mother fucker!”

I start yelling, kicking, and wrangling.

Anything to get myself free. The monsters just laugh at my futile attempts.

The one holding me loosens his grip for a second before he shoves me hard.

I stumble and fall, right at the feet of the other one.

He hoists me back up, grabbing my neck in a tight grip.

I already saw that he was ugly, but this close—he is hideous.

He appears to be a reptile kind of alien.

If a lizard, a snake, and a scorpion were to make a human-sized baby, this would be it.

Slimy scales, snake-like head, and a broad tail that has some sort of stinger on top.

It’s currently hovering above his head, and I tremble involuntarily.

He moves his head even closer and licks my cheek with his disgusting tongue.

“Don’t touch me!”

He just chuckles and throws me back to his companion.

I twist my ankle again in the process, the throbbing turning into agony.

The alien almost catches me, but steps aside, chuckling menacingly when I fall to the floor again.

I barely catch myself on my hands to keep my head from colliding with the floor.

I crawl away as quickly as I can, their laughter ringing in my ears.

“She thinks she can escape, isn’t that the funniest thing? ”

I feel someone stepping onto my fingers, and I cry out when he grabs my hair and yanks my head up, all the while keeping my hand trapped. “You’re a nice feisty one. You will make us a lot of money.”

“We can always try her out for a test run ourselves,” the other says.

Terror freezes my blood. NO! I would rather die than let anybody rape me again. This bitch is done. With my last effort, I get to my feet and start to bolt, running straight into a third alien.

“What do you two think you’re doing? Did you ever stop to realize she’s probably not alone?” He grabs my arm and starts dragging me with him. “See if you can find her companions and locate their ship.”

The guy is strong and fast, and I have the most trouble keeping up with him. “What’s wrong with you?” he growls.

“I hurt my ankle.”

The minute I say the words, I regret them, because he hoists me over his shoulder. I try to squirm, but his tail instantly hovers near my face. “Don’t try anything. I won’t kill you, but you will wish I did when I sting you.”

Swallowing, I surrender and hang like a ragdoll.

The fight has left my body. There’s not much I can do now anyway, but see where he takes me.

Now that my adrenaline is dropping, my thoughts are clearing.

T’Rak. I can’t believe I forgot about him.

He’ll find me. I’m pretty sure he will. And when he does, they’re all gonna be sorry they ever touched me.