by Ruby Dixon
My upper arm throbs. It’s freshly bandaged, but it still stings like the dickens. Once the sensors went off, we set into action, readying to leave the camp. Before we did, though, we had to take care of matters. If the sensors were trackers, we had to get rid of them, and fast.
Out came the knives, and five minutes—and a lot of tears—later, the trackers had been removed. Pashov had been sent to dump them into the nearest metlak cave. Let the little green men take them if they want captives.
Now, the rest of us trudge through the snowy dusk, except for Josie, who is carried by a big male called Haeden. We’re trying to ignore the bitter cold, in search of something Vektal called a sa-kohtsk. It would have the khui we needed, and it, he told me, would save us.
I am all for being saved at this point. Exhaustion is making it difficult for me to keep up, and Liz is so weak that Raahosh decides to carry her slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
One of the scouts appears, waving his spear overhead. “Sa-kohtsk,” he calls into the driving wind. “In the valley. Hurry!”
Vektal puts an arm around my waist. He is now carrying Tiffany, who’s too exhausted to lift her feet. “Come, my resonance,” he tells me. “Not much further.”
“I’m good,” I tell him, plodding ahead. “I—”
The ground shakes under my feet.
“What was that?” I ask, stopping. Terror ripples through me as it happens again. Even the snow at my feet vibrates.
“That,” Vektal says, urging me forward again, “Is a sa-kohtsk.”
Oh, shit. I’m a little terrified of what we’re about to find, but we’ve come this far. Vektal and his men press ahead, so we have little choice but to keep up. “Have you hunted these a lot?” I ask him.
“Not often,” he tells me. “Only when a khui is needed. They are too fierce otherwise.”
“Great,” I say dryly.
“This will go well,” Vektal tells me and gives me a comforting pat on the arm, which only sends a flare of pain through my new wound again.
At least when I get a khui, Maylak will be able to heal me. At this rate all she’s going to have left are a bunch of Georgie-shaped pieces. I ready the knife I carry with me.
“What’s happening?” one of the new girls asks, shivering in her furs. Her name’s Nora, I think, and she’s one of the stronger newbies.
The ground thumps again, and Vektal points at a copse of pink feathery trees ahead. “Take the women there. If the creature comes for you, hide amongst the trees.”
“By climbing them?” I look at the other women. “I don’t think they can climb.”
“You won’t need to climb,” Vektal says. “He cannot get to you through them.” I wonder at his words, but there’s no time to talk. He presses a kiss to my forehead and then passes Tiffany off to me. She’s so weak that she clings to me, and I have to drag her over to the trees with Nora’s help.
It feels a bit sexist to have all the women huddling under the trees as the men go off to fight, but I look at the women around me and feel a little despair. We’re weak, exhausted, and not used to all this cold. If the little green men showed up right now, we’d be helpless to fight back against them, even if we outnumbered them.
The ground shakes again, and at my side, Kira clutches a spear while Liz moans unhappily. “What the fuck is that Jurassic Park shit?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her. But I ready the knife I carry with me.
Something gives a high-pitched roar, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It seems close, really freaking close, and the ground shakes again. Megan chokes back a sob of fright, and the other women are whispering. I hiss for silence because I want to know what the hell is going on, damn it. The thought of Vektal out there with some huge monster frightens me.
What if he gets hurt? What if he . . . dies? My heart clenches at the thought. In such a short period of time, I’ve come to care for him more than I like to admit, even to myself.
I don’t want to be here if Vektal is not.
A gigantic head rises over the trees. I suck in a breath, staring in horror. There’s a thing with four glowing blue eyes, two sets stacked on top of one another. It’s got enormous tusks and is covered in long, grayish shaggy fur. It gives another high-pitched roar and lumbers forward, the ground shaking. It’s taller than all the trees, and as it moves past, I see long, twiggy legs with wide feet pushing through the snow. An alien hunter hangs off of one side, clinging to a spear sticking through the creature’s flank.
“Holy shit,” Liz says. “What the hell is that?”
“I think it’s a sa-kohtsk,” I say, feeling faint. It looks like a Macy’s Parade float with legs. And they’re going to kill that thing? Dear God. Be careful, Vektal, I send out quietly. More of the men run past, chasing after it with spears. I try to pick out Vektal in the group, but I don’t see him. He doesn’t carry a spear, only knives and a sling, and the thought fills me with dread.
“I wish I had a bow,” Liz says as we stare at the creature lumbering past.
“That’s random,” Kira comments, her tone awed. We can’t take our eyes off the sa-kohtsk.
“I was a champion archer when I was a teenager,” Liz comments. “Though I don’t know if I could shoot that thing.”
“Huh,” is all Kira says.
I stride forward through the snow as the creature lumbers away from the trees, the hunters chasing it. Where is Vektal? Where? I follow behind in the distance as the men harass it with spears.
The creature bellows again, and his head swings low, dipping toward the ground. An alien grabs one of the jutting tusks, and as the creature jerks his head back, the man goes flying onto the creature’s head, barely holding on. I suck in a breath as I recognize the graceful movements and the long, fluttering black hair. Vektal. My hand goes to my mouth, and I press my fingers against my lips so I don’t scream in fright.
Please don’t get killed for me, I think. Please.
I watch as he gracefully flips to his feet atop the monster’s head. It swings back and forth, trying to dislodge him, but Vektal’s holding on tight. He pulls something from his vest —a bone blade, I think—and raises it high into the air.
With a battle cry, he plunges it downward, and the creature screams and writhes in pain. Behind me, a few of the women choke out cries of their own. I’m breathless as Vektal raises the knife and slams it home over and over again, driving it into the creature’s eye.
With a final gurgle, the creature staggers. It takes one step forward and then collapses. The ground shudders with the force of it, and I can’t help but rush forward to Vektal. I push through the thick, knee-high snow, ignoring my exhaustion. I have to get to him, to know he’s all right.
When I do, I see he’s covered in blood and gore from the creature, wiping his face clean on one edge of his vest. He grins at me, and it’s so boyish and did-you-see-me that I choke back my sob and fling my arms around his neck. “You scared the shit out of me,” I babble in English, not caring that he’s getting my new clothing all gunked up.
“Georgie?” he asks, patting my back. “Are you well?”
“I am now,” I answer in his language. “That was scary as hell.”
“They are strong,” he admits. “But not so strong that I would not bring one down for you and the humans.”
“Just as long as this is not a regular occurrence,” I tell him.
His hand touches my belly, and there is warmth in his shining eyes. “We will need one for our kit, and I will gladly do so.”
“All right, all right,” I grumble. “So what now?”
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Now, we get the khui. Gather the women.”
My stomach drops at the thought, but I force myself to nod. If they risked their lives to get us the symbionts, the least we can do is hold up our end of the bargain, since it’s for us anyhow.
I go to Tiffany’s side and help her walk, trying to seem more confident about this than I really am.
If I freak out, so will the other humans. I need to be cool, calm, and collected about things.
I manage to remain cool, calm, and collected for all of five minutes as we gather nearby. The men are watching us avidly, hope and hunger both in their eyes. I ignore them, focusing on the gigantic fallen sa-kohtsk. The long, spindly legs are splayed, and the fat belly of the creature sticks out. I look for something that resembles a remoraplease please don’t look like a remora—but the thick, bushy coat of the creature hides anything that might be living against the skin.
“Where are the khui?” I ask, since the men seem to be waiting for the humans to say something.
“Inside,” Vektal says. He moves forward and touches my jaw. “Are you ready, my Georgie?”
Oh God. I don’t know that I am. I swallow hard. “Let’s do this.”
He nods and pulls his longest, thickest blade out of the sheath at his belt. I brace myself as he sets the tip of the blade against the creature’s belly. In a swift motion, he sinks it deep and then begins to cut. Blood gushes and dribbles out of the wound, and someone behind me makes a choking sound. There’s a sickly, coppery smell in the air, and I force myself to ignore it.
Two of the warriors move forward, and they peel back the creature’s wound, revealing a mass of bloodied organs.
“Just like skinning a deer,” Liz breathes at my side in a curiously blank voice. “No big deal. No sweat.”
Vektal moves to the ribcage of the creature and steps on one side then pushes against the other. His big arms strain, and then there’s a snap like a tree falling in the forest, and the ribs split open.
“Really, really big deer,” Liz says.
Vektal makes a few cuts, the sound wet and overloud in the quiet evening. He pulls out a giant organ that must be the heart, still pulsing. It’s glowing from within, the light dappled and shining a pale blue. With one slit, he opens it, and the light spills out.
There are dozens of thin, wriggling gossamer worms in there.
Worms.
Oh God.
One of the warriors approaches Vektal, and he hands off the heart before gently pulling one of the glowing filaments from it.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Kira says faintly.
I think I am, too. But I force myself to remain in place as Vektal reverently frees the long, coiling strand of light and comes toward me with it cupped in his big hands. It’s wriggling and writhing against his palms. “They cannot live long out in the cold,” he tells me. “We must make an incision in your neck and give the khui a safe place to reside.”
His eyes are speaking volumes. In this, I must be a leader. In this, I must trust him.
I swallow hard, looking at that long, wormlike glowing thing. “What . . . what if it goes to my brain?”
“Like that’s any better than your heart?” Liz sputters.
“The khui is the essence of life,” Vektal tells me, even as he cups the snakelike thing in his hands. His gaze is on my face, and there is a mixture of emotions there. If I turn away now, I’m turning away everything he and his people are offering. I’m turning away a life here and love, all for the potential of a Hail Mary rescue.
“In the neck, huh?” I say, my voice faint. “Will it hurt?”
“I do not know.” Vektal approaches me, and I can hear the thing in his hands flicking and making a purring sort of sound.
“Fair enough,” I say. The thing is pressing against his hands, looking for a way to burrow into his skin. I feel faint at the thought of voluntarily letting it inside me . . . but what choice do I have?
I made my choice. I chose Vektal . . . and our child, who might even now be inside my womb.
“Do I need to make the cut?” I ask him. “Or will you?”
“I can,” he says and offers his cupped hands to me.
I take the khui with a small grimace. It feels like a sticky strand of spaghetti, impossibly warm despite the cold, wintry wind blowing around us. The light flickers faintly as it’s transferred to my hands, and I experience a moment of worry. What if khui can’t bond with humans? But Vektal has pulled out a new, clean blade, and his hand has gone to the back of my neck, cupping it.
And then there’s really no going back.
“Are you really going to do this, Georgie?” Kira asks, sounding ill.
“I really am.” I look into Vektal’s glowing eyes as he leans in. He presses a kiss to my forehead, and I’m struck again at how wonderful he is. “I love you,” I say softly.
“You are my heart, Georgie,” he murmurs. I feel the cool press of the knife against my throat for a quick moment and then a sting as he nicks me near my collar bone. Not deep, but enough that the blood crusts up and freezes against my skin.
Vektal takes the khui from my hands and lifts it, and as I see his hand with that weird, glowing filament approach my bared neck, I think No, no, wait, I changed my mind.
But it doesn’t matter.
The moment the khui touches my skin, it begins to burrow, seeking warmth. I suck in a horrified breath as I feel it push through my body. It’s like ice water moving through my veins, and I can feel the thing climbing toward my heart and oh shit.
Oh shit.
Everything’s going dark.
Vektal’s face is blurring in front of mine.
This is a mistake, isn’t it?
But then there’s warmth.
So much warmth.
And humming…
And then darkness.
• • •
My eyes snap open at some point later. It’s curious because I can feel the wind blowing and snow falling around me, but I’m not cold anymore. Warm fingers brush over my cheek, and I look into Vektal’s handsome face. I feel a little stiff and achy overall, but I don’t feel as weak as I was before. I lick my lips. “How’d it go?”
“Your eyes are a lovely shade of blue,” he tells me, voice warm with happiness.
“Oh?” I sit up with his help and look around. Not much time has passed, I think, since I took in the khui. There’s thunder in the distance, and the skies are black with night. I blink and look around. I feel . . . the same. There’s no weirdness. No oh-my-God-there’s-a-tapeworm-in-me feeling. Everything is quiet.
As a snowflake lands on my arm, though, I look around in surprise. “I’m warm?”
“The khui will keep you warm,” he says, his hand brushing over my skin. He’s touching me everywhere, as if he can’t quite believe I’m all right.
“Wow, okay.” I glance through the camp, and the men are helping the women to their feet. “Did they all take it? The khui?”
“Everyone,” he says, a proud note in his voice. He helps me stand, though I don’t suppose I need the help anymore. I’m just fine, oddly enough. I feel . . . good. “You were brave and led the way.”
“I have a lot to live for.” The sound of the thunder increases, and as his hand touches mine, I feel . . . strange. Aroused. It’s weird because all he’s doing is touching my arm. I look at Vektal in surprise. I fight the urge to kiss his hard mouth, to climb him like a freaking tree, and to drag him into the snow and make sweet, sweet love to him.
Good lord, what is going on with me?
The thunder rumbles louder, and I look behind me.
Vektal chuckles and presses a hand between my breasts. “You hear it?”
“What is that noise?”
“It is you,” he says. “Your khui sings for me.”
I press a hand to my chest. Sure enough, the rumble’s coming from me. I’m purring. “Oh.” Heat pools between my legs, and my pulse starts to thrum as if he’s touched me in naughty ways, just from his fingertips on my chest. “Oh man, I feel . . .”
“I know,” he says, and his eyes glow with a mixture of need and amusement. “I can smell your need, mate.”
“Oh boy,” I say faintly. “Can . . . can anyone else?” If they can, I might die of embarrassment.
“My senses are attuned to you. The others are too busy helping the huma
ns. Look around you,” he says, pulling me against him.
God, he’s warm and big and delicious, and I want to shove my hands in his pants and take his cock in my grip. It takes me a moment to focus, and I cling to his vest as I try to get a grip on myself. Is this what resonating feels like? I mean . . . wow. But good lord. I don’t know if I can stand being this sensitized around Vektal constantly.
Then again . . . the orgasms are going to be mind-blowing.
My gaze focuses on the women in the distance. Tiffany’s on her feet, which is wonderful, and a sa-khui male dotes on her. Almost every woman seems to be escorted by a man of Vektal’s tribe, and the sound of faint purring fills the air.
“Are they all—”
“Not all,” Vektal says. “But some.” At my worried look, he adds, “They will approach things slowly. This I promise.” Then he grimaces. “Except for one.”
“One?” I look around at the sea of faces and notice that one familiar, lippy one is missing. “Where is Liz?”
“Raahosh has slunk off with her like a metlak with a kill.” Irritation clouds his features. “He will answer to the tribe when he returns.”
My entire body tenses. “Is he going to hurt her?”
“Hurt her?” The look Vektal gives me is incredulous. “He takes her to mate her. Harming her is the last thing on his mind.”
Boy, I almost feel sorry for Raahosh. He doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into by taking Liz. She’s not about to let an alien run roughshod over her. “I’m sure Liz will have a few things to say about that.”
He gives a wry smile. “I am sure she will, too.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Raahosh brought Liz back, I think to myself. She’s a handful. “Can we go after them?”
“Raahosh is the best of my hunters. If he does not wish to be found, he will not be found. We can simply wait for them to return.”
“Let me guess,” I say drily. “Barefoot and pregnant?”
He looks puzzled at my words. “Why would her feet be bare?”