Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Vanessa urgently motioned for her to join the other women. Alice hurried over, keeping one eye on Luka.
She slowed as she neared the group, noticing a few women were gone. Only three of the five remained. “Where did the other two go?” she whispered.
Vanessa glanced around, making sure they weren’t being overheard. “They left before these dudes got here. When that guy carried you off, they got freaked out and decided to take their chances in the woods instead.”
Alice glanced at the tree line of the dense forest.
Who in their right mind would choose a black alien forest? Are they trying to be eaten by the Predator? She stifled the judgmental thought and reminded herself that she had no idea where they were coming from. For all she knew, those women had suffered much worse than she had.
“Should we tell the men?” Alice glanced at the remaining women, trying to recall who was missing. The ill-tempered woman and the small one who’d snapped into a fighter’s stance at the first sign of danger were both gone. Alice found it odd they’d decided to go off together, considering their short-tempered exchange earlier.
The older woman with long, flowing white hair spoke in a slow, smooth voice. “They’ve had so many choices taken away from them. If they want to leave, they should be allowed. It’s their choice.”
Alice found that she agreed with the woman. Personally, she thought it was stupid to run out into the dark forest of an alien planet, but it wasn’t her choice. It was theirs. Still, she couldn’t stand the thought of them alone out there. “What if we learn more about this place and the people before deciding anything? If we all agree those girls would be safer with us than in the woods, we tell someone.”
Vanessa and the silky-voiced woman nodded, but the small woman Alice had watched cry in her room only darted glances between the three. Alice recalled Vanessa saying she hadn’t thought the woman spoke English. She only knew a little Spanish and French. Maybe the girl would know one of those languages.
“¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français?” she said, doing her best with her accent.
The small woman knitted her brows and stepped toward Alice. She pointed over to Izzo, standing near the floating vehicle that was apparently being used to transport Sal, Gishen, and Helas. In perfect English, she said, “What’s going on? Can we trust them?” Her voice was loud, as if she was unable to monitor her volume.
Alice quickly raised and lowered her hands and mouthed, “Too loud.”
The small woman clapped a hand over her mouth, tears making her amber eyes glassy, and shot a fearful glance toward Izzo. He stood watching her with his head tilted. When a tear slid down her cheek, his brows drew together.
Vanessa scooted next to her and began to run her hands up and down the terrified woman’s bare arms. Her forehead crinkled in concern as she looked between Alice and the silver-haired woman. “She must not be able to hear us.”
Alice caught the girl’s attention and, making sure to exaggerate her mouth movements, she slowly said, “What’s your name?”
“Daisy,” she whispered, almost too quietly for Alice to hear. “The things that took me hurt my ears. I haven’t been able to hear anything for a few days now.”
Alice nodded and patted Daisy on the hand, then turned her attention to the last unnamed member of the group. It was clear this woman was older than the rest of the group, but she’d aged so gracefully. Her tanned face and laugh lines told stories of being happy and being in the sun.
“Rita,” she intoned with a warm smile.
They all straightened when they saw Izzo walking over to them.
“We’re ready to head out now.” He addressed the group, but his eyes kept flashing toward Daisy.
“Where are we going?” Vanessa asked, stepping in front of Daisy, who was clearly uncomfortable with his lingering gaze.
Izzo frowned. “Gishen, Sal, and Helas will be taken to prison, and you’ll be escorted to The Pearl Temple.”
“What about Luka?” Alice asked a little too urgently.
Vanessa smirked at her then turned back to Izzo, waiting for an answer.
He looked confused by her question but said, “He’ll ride with us, and then I’ll bring him back home. We need to get the drug out of his system and figure out what happened.” He pointed to the second floating vehicle. “We’ll take that cruiser with him, but don’t worry, he won’t wake up.”
“But—” she started, intending to explain that she wasn’t afraid of Luka, but Izzo was already heading away.
The women in the group didn’t move but instead looked to her. She flushed.
Are they waiting to see what I do?
Alice had never been a leader before, but it seemed as though her show of bravery earlier had earned her the respect of these women.
Chin lifted, she walked over to the floating machine and found Izzo already seated inside, Luka slumped in a corner to his left. Alice frowned as she sat across from Luka rather than next to him.
Daisy sat next to her, keeping her head down and her gaze averted from Izzo, who continued to stare at her. The man was so enthralled with the quiet girl that he hadn’t even seemed to notice Luka’s mating marks. Or maybe he had noticed and didn’t care. It was possible Helas had lied about how rare they were.
When all of the women were loaded into the vehicle, the door slid closed. Everyone except Izzo tensed.
He glanced around with a nervous smile. Attempting to lighten the mood, he held out his hand to Alice, palm up. “I was told this is a polite greeting for Earthlings.”
Alice glanced at his upturned palm and tried to figure out what he meant. With a chuckle, she realized what the human woman he’d mentioned before must’ve told him. Tentatively, she took his large palm and turned it to the side, then grasped it with her own and shook his hand.
Izzo’s cheeks reddened. “Oops.”
Both Vanessa and Rita shook his outstretched hand when he offered it. When he held it out to Daisy, Alice could see him hold his breath.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Izzo murmured.
Daisy’s eyes were still trained in her lap, and when she made no move to shake his hand, he looked to Alice in confusion.
When did I become the human-alien mediator?
“Her hearing’s been damaged. I’m not sure how,” Alice explained while softly nudging Daisy. “She can’t hear you.”
Daisy looked up to her then toward Izzo’s outstretched hand.
Alice reached over and squeezed her arm with an encouraging nod. She couldn’t imagine how much more difficult and terrifying this whole situation would be if she couldn’t hear. At least she’d been able to speak to Helas and understand that she was on an alien planet. How much did Daisy understand about what had happened to her?
The fear shone on her face, but Daisy lifted her hand to Izzo’s anyway. Their eyes locked as he clasped her hand in his much-larger one and shook slowly.
Everyone’s eyes widened as a low purr sounded from Izzo.
Vanessa and Rita began to giggle. Daisy glanced at the laughing women and then quickly snatched her hand back, blushing profusely.
“You can freakin’ purr?” Vanessa blurted between restrained laughter.
Izzo let his hand fall to his side but looked unashamed while he dreamily muttered, “Sorry.”
Listening to Rita and Vanessa laugh made warmth spread through her and her eyes glaze with tears. The cab of the cruiser was filled with a lightness she never thought she’d experience again. Vanessa let out a small snort, which only made her and Rita laugh harder. Even Daisy was now looking around the cab with a smile, though she continued to avoid Izzo’s avid stare.
During the rest of the ride, Izzo spoke endlessly of their city and the place they were going to now, called The Pearl Temple, but she’d only been half listening. Her eyes and thoughts kept straying to Luka, still unconscious in the corner. Would he be as chatty as his brother was when the dr
ugs finally wore off?
Her gaze traveled down to the bloody, burned skin around his wrists, and her fingers twitched. Having been able to touch and console him at her leisure for the past few weeks, she wasn’t surprised to feel the ache to hold his hand and whisper comforting words in his ear.
Was it wrong for her not to want to bring up his marks to Izzo yet? If she brought them up, she’d have to describe the events leading to his marks appearing, and she wanted to hang on to the happiness she felt just a little while longer before reliving that nightmare. Keeping it to herself also made her feel more connected to Luka. As if they shared something special and private.
She felt subtle anxiety start to creep around the periphery of her thoughts. Although she’d done her best not to become too attached to Luka, she knew she was. Even now, the idea of being separated from him made her skin tingle with panic.
A knot tightened in her stomach, then another, and another as thought after thought ran through her mind.
What if he wakes up and is angry with me for making his marks appear? What if he never wants to see me again? Worse yet, what if he doesn’t turn out to be the person I think he is?
Alice had been in a lot of bad relationships in the past. Not just romantic ones, either. People seemed to think that because she was a nice person, they could walk all over her. And the sad truth was, she let them. Last year, after her piece-of-shit boyfriend, Jeff, cheated on her for the third time, she’d yelled and cried, but his response had reduced her to ash. The words replayed in her mind now: “Why don’t you leave me, then?”
Why hadn’t she left him after the first time she’d caught him cheating? Because she had a bleeding heart, that’s why. His tearful apologies, excuses, and promises had pulled at her heartstrings.
It was ridiculous, but she already felt closer to Luka than she ever had to Jeff. What if Luka turned out to be just as bad or worse? She couldn’t imagine he was, but what did she really know? They’d never even had a real conversation.
Stop it! You’re spiraling. She blinked away her unshed tears and tried to focus on something positive. These were all what-ifs, and there was no point being upset about them now.
A thought popped into her mind. “Izzo. Do you know what time it is?”
He glanced away from Vanessa, who’d been grilling him endlessly for the past five minutes. “Uh, yeah.” Reaching over, he touched an innocuous part of the cruiser wall. A display full of alien symbols popped up. “It’s six before prime.”
Alice sighed a pent-up breath and slumped in her seat. She crossed one arm over her stomach and began biting her nails again. Of course it is.
Chapter 8
From the name “The Pearl Temple,” Alice had been expecting to be taken to a white marble-columned building on a hill, where they’d sequester her with other unwed women. Looking at the scene before her made it clear she hadn’t been listening to Izzo at all.
The word temple must just be an odd translation of this place because, to her eyes, she could see nothing resembling a temple.
After walking through a towering arched gateway and seeing their new home for the first time, the women had all stopped in their tracks. A shallow body of water, thousands of feet wide in every direction, sprawled out before them. Although expansive, the lake somehow looked quaint, like a koi pond in a giant’s garden.
The two moons, now closer to each other in the night sky, illuminated hundreds of floating blossoms on the water. Some of the pale pink and yellow floating flowers were small enough to fit in the palm of Alice’s hand. Others were as large as a car. But they all seemed to angle themselves toward the soft moonlight.
They must be where that wonderful smell comes from. The delicate scent of sweet flowers hung in the heavy air even without a breeze. Though not as humid as the mountain had been, the air here was still thick and warm.
Glowing creatures in various shades of blue and green were visible just under the surface of the water, swimming lazily and illuminating the thick stems of the watery plants. Their long, eel-like bodies twisted and curved as they swam, delicate ribbons of light trailing behind them.
Hypnotized, Alice followed the progress of one creature as it moved, but it disappeared near the center of the lake where a large, domed building stood. The water must be deeper there.
The round building rose from the middle of the lake like the center of a giant lotus with smaller buildings jutting from its sides like petals. Scattered over the rest of the large lake, hundreds of small, pale homes sat floating on the water. The white sides of the structures shone with a faintly iridescent shimmer, similar to that of a pearl.
Is that where the name comes from?
“Why is this place called The Pearl Temple, Izzo? On Earth, ‘temple’ means a place for worship, not housing.” When he didn’t answer, Alice glanced over and found Izzo watching Daisy take in her surroundings with a contented smile. She stifled a grin. “Izzo?”
With raised brows, he focused on Alice, seeming surprised to find her there. “Oh, uh…” He cleared his throat. “Centuries ago, this lake was used for spiritual purposes. People would come here to pray or meditate or think. The bilom,” he said, pointing at a glowing creature swimming nearby, “are the guardians of Pearl Lake, so when they built here, they named it The Pearl Temple. The bilom are electric and sting anyone who gets in the water.”
Rita leaned over, watching a bilom flit back and forth. “But why Pearl? They don’t look like pearls.”
Izzo shrugged. “I don’t know what pearls are on your planet. Our translators do what they can, but they aren’t always perfect. The bilom produce little stones instead of eggs on occasion. We call them pearls.”
“That’s pretty close to what Earth pearls are, I guess. Not the same kind of animal, but hey—” Vanessa smiled, propping her hand on her hip “—who’s to say one animal’s trash isn’t as good as another animal’s trash when it comes to making jewelry? Do you guys gather the pearls?”
“There’s another lake deep in mountains where the majority of bilom live that some people harvest pearls from, but it’s difficult to do without disturbing their environment too much.” A grin spread over Izzo’s face. “It used to be if a person wanted to court someone, they’d try and prove their love by diving into the water and retrieving a pearl. If they weren’t stung, it was meant to be.”
An image of Luka slowly emerging from the lake in a sopping-wet white shirt, with a satchel of pearls in hand, popped into her mind. Well, hello, Mr. Darcy.
“Do people ever do that anymore?” Alice asked.
Izzo laughed and shook his head. “Males do sometimes. On a dare, if they’re foolish or young. But they all get stung nowadays. Usually, they’re carted off to the medbay without so much as a pebble.”
“That’s interesting and all…” Vanessa squinted, scanning the water. “But how are we supposed to get around? Is there a boat?”
“You need a pass. Oh, look,” he said, pointing across the water, “there she is now. Metli will give you passes and escort you over.”
A woman wearing a bright purple coat emerged from the central building and walked to the edge of the floating green platform that surrounded the structure. Then, she stepped off. As one, Alice, Vanessa, Rita, and Daisy took a step forward, eyes straining to see what the woman was walking on. From this distance, it appeared as if she were stepping on the water itself. But that couldn’t be right.
Each foot closer Metli came, the more certain Alice was that there was a platform under her feet, but it seemed to be clear.
“I have to take Luka home now.” Izzo’s eyes lingered on Daisy. Motioning to Metli, only a short distance away now, he added, “She’ll take you to meet the Queen.”
“What Queen?”
“Is the whole world ruled by a queen?”
“What’s Metli’s job?”
Rita and Vanessa shot questions at Izzo while Daisy glanced between them all with raised brows, but all Alice could concentrate on w
as the fact that the only thing in this world that made her feel safe was about to be taken away from her.
“Maybe I should go with you, in case Luka wakes up.” She glanced past Izzo to the open door of the vehicle, visible through the archway.
Izzo glanced between her and Luka, slumped in the cab, finally noticing her interest in his brother. “I assumed you wouldn’t want to see him after…after the way I found you two together. Did you spend a lot of time with him in the facility?”
Alice decided it wouldn’t do any harm to answer honestly. “Yes. Helas was trying to get him to recognize me as his mate.”
Izzo’s jaw slackened, and his posture straightened even more. He squinted toward Luka, then did a double-take. He mouthed a few unintelligible words then finally focused back to Alice. “He recognized you? His marks appeared?”
She nodded, hoping he’d decide to bring her along.
The woman finally appeared next to them. She was shorter than Alice by a foot at least, but somehow still appeared willowy. It was as if someone had placed a model’s limbs on a petite woman’s body. She wore a magenta coat that ballooned out around her neck and shoulders, then cinched at her small waist and ended mid-thigh. On her legs, she wore one piece of matte-black material that acted as both her shoes and pants.
Although odd, the whole ensemble worked. Metli’s strange frame and coiffed gray-blue hair, along with the stiff geometric clothing, made her look like she’d stepped out of a high fashion spread from a science fiction magazine.
“Hello, human females. My name is Metli. Please take a token and two of these pads.” She raised her arms, hands outstretched, and Alice flinched. Metli’s long arms extended toward them just a little too far, and the subtle alien difference in anatomy scratched at Alice’s senses as if she’d just recalled the sound of nails on a chalkboard.
In one hand, Metli held four small purple tokens. In the other was a small stack of long, oval translucent pads.
Alice peered at the unfamiliar alien woman, then turned pleading eyes toward Izzo.
He crinkled his forehead and shook his head slowly. “It’d be dangerous for him to wake up in this state with you around. It makes sense now that he tried to attack me earlier. I thought it was just because he was drugged, but if he’s newly mated, he’ll be a little more vicious than normal. Stronger too. It’d be better if you stayed away.”
Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 Page 7