Page 96 of Wrapped in Their Arms

The space was massive—easily the size of her old high school gymnasium, with ceilings tall enough to accommodate the enormous alien who lived there.Thewalls were an unpleasant shade of muddy yellow, and the floor was covered in thick, dark fur rugs that looked like they might still be alive.

The stench hit her immediately—a musky, sour odor that clung to the air like mildew in a closed-up locker room.Itwas part body odor, part wet fur, and part something else—something animal.

“Dios,” she muttered, waving a hand in front of her face.“Howcan anyone live like this?”

Trash littered the floor—wrappers, half-eaten food in foil packets, some kind of weird crunchy shells that looked like insect exoskeletons, and what appeared to be the fragment of a bone gnawed down to splinters.Awaste bin the size of a city dumpster sat ignored in the corner.

Muttering under her breath,Noellebegan gathering handfuls of trash and tossing them into the bin.Thewrappers crinkled and crunched as she moved, and the floor squelched underfoot in some places.Shetried not to think too hard about what she might be stepping in.

Once the floor was mostly clear, she turned to face the bed.

It was gargantuan.

Twice the size of anyCaliforniaKingshe’d ever seen, the bed was covered in tangled blankets, thick and scratchy, woven from what looked like animal pelts.Therewere six massive pillows, each the size of a twin mattress, and they were all flattened or bunched up like someone had punched them repeatedly in their sleep.

Noelle sighed.

“Okay.Youcan do this.Mightas well get started.”

She climbed up on one side, grabbing the edge of a filthy, dark green sheet that smelled faintly of old cheese, and began dragging it up the mattress.Ittook both hands and most of her body weight.Onceshe got it to the top, she smoothed it out with quick swipes and did the same for the other side.Thecomforter was even worse—it was twice as thick as a regular duvet and heavy as lead.Shehad to lift and flip it like she was folding a tarp over a small car.

Then came the pillows.

She jumped, bounced, and elbowed them into fluffiness, one by one.Herhair stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her arms ached from hauling and smoothing, but she refused to stop until the bed looked at least somewhat habitable.

When it was finally done, she wiped her brow and looked around.

“Not bad for one littleEarthgirl versus theTrolloxpit from hell,” she muttered.

Bur now it was time to tackle the bathroom.

The ensuite was just as oversized as the bedroom.Thesink was a broad, shallow basin that resembled a stone trough, with two spigots on either side—one that oozed pink slime and another that gurgled out dirty brown water.Themirror above it was cracked and foggy, and the floor was covered in black tiles that stuck to the soles of her feet.

But it was the bathtub that made her gag.

A dark ring of grime lined the inside, thick and crusty, like it had been building up for years.Itsmelled faintly of swamp and decay, and she had to cover her mouth with the top of her dress to keep from retching.

“Nope,” she said aloud.“Iamnotscrubbing that without some kind of help.”

She spotted a stepstool leaning against the wall—apparently even theTrolloxhad to reach the higher shelves sometimes.Draggingit to the cabinet above the sink, she climbed up and opened the wide, clunky drawer.

Inside was a large bottle of cleaner, shaped like a teardrop with alien glyphs printed down the side.Thanksto the translation bacteria she’d taken on theMotherShip, the label resolved in her mind.

Spray foam onto stain.Waituntil foam dissolves.Rinse.

“Sounds simple enough,” she muttered, grabbing the heavy can.Itwas almost too large for her to hold one-handed.Shepopped the cap and aimed it at the ring in the tub.

The foam hissed out in a dense cobalt blue, expanding as it hit the grime and clinging like glue.Noellewaited, nose wrinkled, as it began to bubble and hiss, slowly eating through the filth.Aftera minute, the ring started to melt down the drain in rivulets of dark brown sludge.

She turned on the shower to rinse the rest away and was about to declare victory when her foot bumped something solid.

Noelle looked down.

There, beside the tub, was a bone.

It was long and pale and had a few strands of reddish meat still clinging to it.Itwas also nearly as long as her forearm.

“Oh myGod,” she whispered, gingerly picking it up between two fingers.Itwas slick and cold, and she fought the urge to drop it immediately.