Page 24

Artek

I woke slowly, my mind swimming up from the murky, pain-filled depths of sleep.

Every blink of my eyes was a struggle, hazing my vision around the edges.

Was it dark, or were my eyes not working?

I pulled cool air into my lungs, my vision still dimmed, but a tightness eased inside my chest. Nala. Where was my mate?

Brightness speared across my senses then, and I blinked, my nictitating membranes sliding shut to protect me.

One of Serant’s moons hovered pale and bright above my head.

Stars dotted the sky around it, but tendrils of clouds drifted across the rest. It was that gap in the coverage that had jolted me back to full awareness.

That was not pleasant. With my brain fully leaping to wakefulness, my body also warned me of each ache and pain, each injury it had sustained.

It felt like parts of me were on fire, nerves screaming in alarm, while other parts were too cold.

And then there was the part of me that knew Nala was gone.

With a groan, I forced myself into a sitting position and assessed my surroundings, calm, quiet.

Followed by an assessment of my injuries.

Those were nasty, but not fatal. I had bled quite profusely from a wound along my temple, likely the blow that had caused me to pass out.

I touched the wound carefully along the edges, but a crust had formed; I’d leave that in place for now.

The sled was still tilted on its side, burned and scorched by laser fire, and sprayed with blood and other organic material from my combat with the attackers.

I had never fought another sentient being before, and I knew I’d made some very bad mistakes.

If I’d been better prepared, and hadn’t let myself get distracted by Nala’s kiss, this wouldn’t have happened.

I was certain my friends, like Zathar and Corin, or even Khawla, would never have been caught by surprise the way I had been.

A fatal mistake—but one that Nala was paying for.

Over my dead body. I had to get her back.

Groaning, I gripped the edge of the sled and hauled myself upright.

Half a dozen bodies lay scattered around the small clearing.

The one closest to the treeline had been partially eaten by a predator—or maybe scavengers—but when I roused, they’d been scared off.

Good. That meant I was in better shape than I felt.

Supplies were scattered all over, tipped out of the floating vehicle when I knocked it over to use as cover.

But what I really needed was in a pouch on my sash.

The healing device was not nearly as effective on oneself as it was on another, but I could use it to patch up my wounds.

I forced myself to work on that, even though I wanted to find Nala very badly.

I was useless like this; I needed to gather my strength and get my bearings.

As I worked on stitching cuts back together and smoothing out bruises and scrapes, I scanned the clearing to catalog what was there.

I saw the footsteps, the disturbance by some underbrush, and I was fairly certain that’s where they’d caught Nala and dragged her away.

My laser pistol had been crushed and broken by a boot heel or a rock, but my tablet had somehow landed farther away and remained unscathed.

I was dizzy and weak, but I made up for that with determination.

I was not going to fail my mate, I’d get her back.

Though I was no hunter, I had skills they could never even conceive of.

I could fix up that sled and travel after the Krektar far faster than my tail could carry me.

I’d catch up to them in no time, at least, that’s what I told myself.

But worry for my mate was all-consuming.

At least I had to believe they didn’t want her dead.

The humans on their ship had been their cargo; they probably still thought they could fix the ship, get away, and sell them.

Grimly, I got to work on the sled, munching on the remains of scattered rations as I did.

No wonder my ancestors had spun into civil war, divided over the question of whether leaving the planet was even worth it.

These Krektar, and the fate that Nala and the other humans had gone through, did nothing to convince me that it was safe out there.

But I’d make it safe here, for her. Once I had her back in my arms, I would protect her like I had protected Zap, with a collar packing a personal shield.

I let my mind design that, plan it out while I worked, anything to distract myself from the certain knowledge that she could be hurt, scared, or worse.

When the sled was operational, I threw out everything I didn’t need, stole the weapons from the alien invaders that had been left behind, and set a course.

Even if I could not track the path the Krektar had taken Nala in, I knew their heading.

They would return to their wrecked skyship and imprison her with the other humans there.

I set off with the machine humming, a hitch in the steady pattern warned me it wasn’t going to last forever; it was damaged beyond my ability to repair without the right parts.

Behind me, predators stirred in the shadows, drawn by the scent of blood.

I eyed the glowing eyes of the dark shapes, the hounds, with their thick purple skin and fierce appetite.

They would kill me too. I was lucky they hadn’t found me while I was out cold.

Under the crunch of bones and the howling of delight, I sped away.

Cursing every second it took me to close the distance between Nala and me, praying every minute that the sled would hold out just a bit longer.

In my heart, though, I feared that I’d be too late to catch up, they could have reached the ship by now. It was deep into the night already; they’d had her for most of the day. They’d had her so long already...

***

Nala

My mouth tasted like ashes and something sour, like I’d puked and then rinsed with charcoal.

It was a horrible combination, but at least the dizziness was beginning to fade.

The world seesawed around me, and I recognized that for what it was: I was being carried in someone’s arms. Someone who stank to high heaven, maybe that’s why there was such a foul taste in my mouth.

I knew who it was, too, but that knowledge didn’t help me feel any better. I was royally screwed. Again.

I knew it was a stupid idea to try and fight back. I was not a badass, better with words than with swords. A voice at the back of my head snidely reminded me that I hadn’t been good at anything so far, except asking dumb questions. And getting Artek killed…

My breathing hitched as a wave of emotions crashed through me.

Damn it, no. No, I couldn’t accept that.

He wasn’t dead. But they hadn’t taken him captive; I was certain of that.

When I forced myself to look around, I knew I was right.

A Krektar carried me, and two more were with him, walking ahead of us inside a dark tunnel lit by faint, glowing red lights along the bottom of the floor.

Emergency lighting; that meant we were aboard the Long Hauler.

They’d brought me all the way back to the ship.

It would be easy to give in to a sense of hopelessness.

I knew too much about the odds to expect a rescue.

Even if Artek lived, and even if he had a laser pistol, he couldn’t possibly fight what might be hundreds of Krektar, all armed to the teeth.

He might try to rally others to help him, but Naga armed with spears and arrows?

Those were bad odds. I couldn’t ask that of anyone.

I didn’t want that kind of slaughter on my conscience.

Yeah, giving up right about now would be a simple thing to do.

I was just a silly, pregnant human with far more booksmarts than streetsmarts.

But I hadn’t given up when I’d been fired, faced homelessness, and then the unexpected pregnancy.

I hadn’t let Athol get away with walking all over me when I’d discovered I was carrying his child, and I’d fought for justice till the very end, when they’d arrested me.

I didn’t dare stir and giveaway that I was awake, but my gaze dropped to my belly, assuring myself that all was well.

My head ached, my wrist was a fiery, throbbing mess, but I was alive, and I had my baby to live for, to fight for.

I wanted to believe that I had Artek to fight for too, because if he lived, he’d certainly try to free me.

For him, I had to hang on, and maybe find my own way out.

The Krektar were talking to each other—roughly, sometimes with a jeering or mocking tone.

I could not understand what they said, but I had a sense they were saying crude things about me to each other.

My skin crawled when one of them cast a look over his shoulder, leering my way and licking his fat gray lips with a blackened tongue.

He said something sharp, and they all paused to look at me, busted, they knew I was awake.

The moment lengthened, the three of them sharing looks and then words, but eventually, the one who carried me jerked his chin forward.

There was a pair of doors beyond the other two, possibly their destination.

They began walking again, and I knew it meant I’d be facing whoever was in charge.

Another Krektar, or worse, a human? I wouldn’t be surprised if I came face to face with some UAR officer with far too much security clearance and not enough ethics.