Page 39 of Wrapped in Their Arms

None of us are alone anymore,Brightthought.Notif we stay together.

And he swore to himself he would die before he let himself be parted from either one of them.

21

NOELLE

Noelle woke to the sound of a loud metallic clunk and the hiss of the cell door sliding open.

She blinked blearily, momentarily disoriented.Shewas still lying betweenBurnandBright, her head pillowed on one massive shoulder and her legs tangled with both of theirs.Theirbodies were warm and solid against hers.Thesensation of being surrounded and protected was so comforting that for a moment she didn’t want to move…didn’t want to remember.

But then the sharp smell of something vaguely acidic and fishy snapped her back to the present.

A guard was at the door of the cell.Thiswasn’t aSkow—it was a huge insectile alien with glinting mandibles and a dull green carapace—and it was shoving three metal trays through the cell door.Eachclattered to the floor with a jarringclang.

“FOOD,” the thing buzzed in a deep, robotic monotone.“EAT.”

Then it clanged the door shut and stalked away, leaving the rank odor of its oddly-jointed body behind.Orwas that the smell of the food?Noellewasn’t sure.

Burn sat up first, scowling.

“Smells like somebody skinned aKrathianskunk and dipped it in sewer water.”

“Gods, whatisthat?”Brightgrimaced as he reached for a tray and passed it toNoellewith exaggerated caution.“We’renot expected to eat this, are we?”

She looked down and nearly gagged.

The tray had three compartments, each filled with something worse than the last.

The largest held a gelatinous grayish cube, trembling faintly like it was alive.Itsmelled vaguely of sour milk and ammonia, and little bubbles kept popping at its surface like a living pustule.

The second held something red and wriggling—long, worm-like noodles tangled around each other like tiny, angry snakes.Everyso often, one twitched and hissed warningly.

The third compartment of the tray held something that was only marginally better.Itlooked like some kind of toasted seed or grain bread—small, nutty-looking things coated its surface.Itdidn’t smell half-bad—vaguely cinnamon-like,Noelledecided.

“This onemightbe edible,” she muttered, cautiously plucking one of the seeds from the bread and nibbling it.Itcrunched pleasantly between her teeth and left a warm taste on her tongue.“Kindof like spicy granola,” she said.

Bright gave her a tight smile as he picked up his own slice of seed bread.

“Let’s pretend the rest doesn’t exist.”

Burn picked up his tray and dumped the first two compartments straight into the waste slot with a snarl.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, eyeing the remaining bread.“Stillsmells like roasted bug ass.”

Noelle gave a faint, almost involuntary laugh and shook her head.Shehadn’t eaten more than two bites and already felt queasy.Nowthat she was fully awake, the recent past was rushing back to her and the memory of the tentacle monster in the pool and the silver probe mapping her womb churned her stomach worse than anything on the tray.

Burn looked at her then—reallylookedat her—and his scowl softened slightly.

“You know,” he said gruffly, “Youlook…different.Notin a bad way.Just…you look younger now.”

Bright nodded slowly.

“You do.Youdefinitelylook younger.”Hetilted his head, studying her.“It’slike your skin’s glowing.Whatdid theydoto you?”

Noelle’s laugh turned sharp and bitter.Shelooked down at her hands—smooth and unlined now, no sunspots, no calluses, nothing that marked the life she’d lived.

“You don’t know whatIhad to go through to look like this,” she said hoarsely.