Cassie looks behind her and take a deep, shuddering breath. “I guess there is nothing for me here. So.”
Her fists are tightly clenched and she puts one white-knuckled fist in my hand.
“Please don't let me regret this,” she says half to herself.
I close my fingers over her cold, trembling fist. “I swear I will protect you, Cassie. Forever.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes. “I must be a big softie and romantic at heart, because...I actually believe you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cassie
I gulp when I feel Vorik's hand close around my quivering fist. His hand is warm, large and calloused. But his touch is kind and gentle.
I don't know if I am being stupid and naive, or brave and adventurous in choosing to leave with Vorik. But I have nothing to lose—except my life. I was telling the truth when I said that I never had a home. I don't have any family, and I honestly can't remember how it feels to have one. My grandmother died a long time ago, and I wish I can remember her face and her voice, but I can't.
I remember hearing a strange question over the radio once. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
I didn't understand what the question was all about then. But I think I do now.
Now that I'm leaving Earth, if there is no one to miss me or mourn me, have I really lived?
Or merely survived?
And survive I did. I was bounced from foster home to foster home, and I learned to sleep with a pocket knife under my pillow because even though I locked my bedroom door, a locked door is no deterrent to someone with a dirty, corrupted, evil mind and heart. When I attacked the bastards to defend myself, I was labeled violent and uncontrollable.
No one believed me. The system that was supposed to protect me left me in the hands of those depraved monsters. I had to fight for myself. I refused to break, and I survived.
I survived. That's all I have been doing. Surviving. Trying to stay alive, and not let anything or anyone get to me.
Home is an alien concept. My small, sparse rented room isn't home. There is no one waiting for me there. No one waiting for me to come home, no one worrying for me.
I have no doubt that my landlord will find a new tenant before the end of the week.
I am surprised to feel the prick of tears behind my eyelids. I don't know what is causing me to get all emotional and teary. Maybe it's the kindness that Vorik has shown me, kindness which I have seen only too rarely in my fellow human beings. Heck, it took an alien storm dragon to rescue me from that human piece of shit. No one came to my aid even when I screamed. Someone must have heard me shouting and screaming in that alley, but no one bothered to come and help me.
I am leaving nothing behind. Just some worthless belongings, and a bank account with a hundred dollars in it.
I force a shuddering breath into my lungs. The sensation of tears in my eyes is both foreign and familiar. I haven't cried in a long, long time. I've learned that tears achieve nothing. They just make you look weak, and the bullies, the abusers, the scumbags always go for those they think are too weak to fight back. So I stopped being weak, and I fought back.
Tough. That's me.
So.
No reason to think that this little trip to Svaata will kill me.
I distract myself by wondering how we are going to reach the spaceship. Will Vorik change into a dragon and fly me to the spaceship? Or maybe…
I shake my head, realizing that I have been keeping my eyes closed for some time now. I know I shouldn't be ashamed of my tears, but I am. I don't want anyone to see me cry. Even Vorik.
Especially Vorik.
Because...I like him. I want him to like me back.
And I want him to respect me.
We got off to a good start. I don't want my tears to spoil anything.
I open my eyes and blink. I sway a little on my feet and feel Vorik hold my shoulders to steady me.
“You okay?” Vorik asks worriedly.
“Y-yeah. I'm fine,” I lie, waving a hand. Sheesh, what's wrong with me? First the tears, now this nausea. I feel like throwing up. But only wusses cry and puke when they're afraid to do something.
“Let's go. We don't want to miss the boat. I mean, ship. We don't want to miss the spaceship,” I babble before stumbling forward.
Vorik catches me in his arms. “Cassie.”
“I...” I blink and look around but I'm not focusing very well. Everything looks kind of blurry.
“Deep breath,” Vorik commands. “Breathe. Slowly.”
I do as he says and the nausea subsides.
“How do you feel?”
“Fine,” I lie. “Just fine. Come on, let's go before I change my mind.”
“Human!” a male voice exclaims.
I start and snap my eyes open. That's not Vorik's voice.
My eyes widen as I stare up at the strange faces in front of me. There are four males staring at me in shock. They are all tall, broad and wearing that odd uniform of interlocking metal plates.
I jerk back in fright and open my mouth to scream.
“Cassie, it's okay.”
I turn to see Vorik beside me. He is holding me protectively and I immediately relax against him.
If not for Vorik's arms around me, I would have crumpled into a heap. My legs feel too weak and wobbly, entirely incapable of supporting my weight. Which is pretty ironic, considering that I am feeling kind of weightless right now.
I manage a feeble smile and say to Vorik, “I guess we're not in Kansas anymore.”
“We're not on Earth anymore,” Vorik answers.
“We're on your ship,” I wheeze, looking around wildly. “I'm on a spaceship...”
Vorik is speaking rapidly to the four men in an alien tongue. Vorik seems to be giving commands to the men, so I guess he must be the leader of this crew.
I try to get a better view of Vorik's crew but my eyes start to water and I feel the horrible urge to throw up again.
“No,” I moan and clap my hands over my mouth.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Vorik
I hold Cassie as she takes deep fortifying breaths and stares around the spaceship, her eyes bugging. Her cheeks are puffed out and her hand is pressed tightly to her mouth. She looks a little green, and I know that green is not a usual color for a human.
I berate myself for not being more careful. I teleported us back to the spaceship using my Commlink, but I failed to consider the effects of teleportation on human physiology. Cassie is strong and tough, but she isn't like us.
My crew is crowding behind me, and their faces show various degrees of shock, curiosity and amusement. The four soldiers, my most trusted fighters, eye Cassie warily and keep a safe distance from her.
The four of them yell out in alarm and jump back when Cassie bends over and hurls a pungent mess from her mouth.
“Is that contagious?” Kazran shouts, pointing at the spreading puddle on the floor.
“What is she doing?”
“Why did you bring a human back with you, Vorik?” There is an accusatory note in Renwal's voice.
“Is she a souvenir?” Yul asks.
“Smells bad. Really bad,” Kazran mumbles, clapping his huge hand over his nose.
I glare and growl at my crew, but they don't take my hint to shut up. Their comments keep coming and they become even more vocal in their disapproval.
“Return her to Earth now, Vorik. She's diseased!”
“She'll spread her disease to us!”
“What were you thinking?”
I rub Cassie's back gently and ignore my hysterical crew. Imagine four, fierce, deadly storm dragons being afraid of a small human woman.
“Who is she?” Brogaan asks quietly.
I look up at my oldest, most experienced Captain. Brogaan has seen more wars and fought more battles than me, and he is the best pilot we've got.
“Cassie is...” I try to search for the right word, b
ut only one word stamps itself on my mind. “Mine.” I take a breath and repeat firmly, “She is mine.”
A knowing smile slowly spreads across Brogaan's face. He looks from me to Cassie and nods. I know that nothing escapes Brogaan's shrewd, experienced eyes but right now, I don't know what he is thinking.
Brogaan nods and straightens up. “You!” He points at Kazran.
“Who? Me?” Kazran yelps and looks around desperately hoping that Brogaan is pointing at someone else.
“Yes, you. Clean this up,” Brogaan snaps.
“Why me?” Kazran wails. “I don't want to die!”
“You won't die, you big oaf.” Brogaan rolls his eyes.
“That...that stuff...” Kazran points at the mess that Cassie has made with a shaking finger. “It's poison! I'm sure it is. It smells really bad!”
“Humans can't produce poison in their bodies. The human female is unwell. But she won't kill you,” Brogaan explains with studied patience.
“I'll clean it up,” I say, holding Cassie to me. She has stopped spewing matter from her mouth but she looks terribly weak and exhausted. She rests her head against my chest and mumbles an apology.
“I'm sorry...” she mutters.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I tell her.
“I made a mess,” she mutters, grimacing.
“Don't worry about it. I'll clean it up.”
I look up in surprise when Kazran salutes and steps forward. “Commander.”
The men almost never address me by my title. There are only twenty of us left, the only surviving squadron. We are more like brothers now, so they simply call me by my name.
“I will do my duty, Commander,” Kazran says, his youthful face set in hard, stubborn lines.
“No.” I glance at Cassie and state emphatically, “Cassie is mine. I will take care of her.”
CHAPTER NINE
Cassie
Vorik and the rest of the men on the spaceship are speaking furiously but I don't understand what they are saying. Vorik speaks to me in English but addresses his men in their own language.
There are many harsh, hard consonants in their language. I try to decipher what they are saying from their expressions and body language, and I can only gather that they are unhappy about me throwing up all over their sterile, shiny spaceship.
“I'm sorry,” I stammer. “I'm really sorry.”
I think maybe it's the lack of gravity or something that's scrambling my mind and my insides. I know Vorik has somehow transported me to his spaceship in the blink of an eye.
I am in a spaceship, with five big, fierce-looking alien males. And yet, I feel strangely, perhaps stupidly, unafraid.
Vorik is standing protectively in front of me, shielding me from the rest of the males, and I know that he won't let anyone hurt me. I believed him when he said he would always protect me. I still do. He has given me no reason not to trust him.
A young male, and he looks the youngest of the lot, is arguing with Vorik over something and gesturing at me and my half-digested dinner on the floor.
“I'm sorry,” I say, louder this time. “I'll clean that up right now. Do you have a mop somewhere?”
The men stop talking at once. They all stare at me, and I see that even though they have different colored eyes, all their irides are ringed with silver.
Vorik turns to me and says, “I'll do it...”
“No!” I am surprised when the rest of the men protest together with me. Their loud, vehement “No” drowns out my voice.
I stare at them. “You...you speak English,” I stammer at last. “You said no.”
A hush falls over the men. Finally, the young soldier says with a smirk, “We learn fast.”
“You sure do,” I mutter under my breath.
These aliens are highly intelligent and adaptable. They have mastered the most common human languages in a very short time, and they possess sophisticated technology that enables them to travel billions of miles across the universe. Plus, they can shift into dragons.
I gulp as I realize that I have just put myself in the hands of some very deadly, dangerous, powerful creatures.
The young man thumps his chest. “Kazran.”
I let out a breath of relief. He has just introduced himself. That's a good sign. They're not showing me any hostility or aggression.
I mimic him and thump my chest with my fist. “Cassie.” After a pause, I add, “Vorik's friend.”
At that, the men chuckle and start murmuring among themselves. I don't know what is so funny or unusual about Vorik making a friend. I turn to Vorik, but even he is trying to hide a smile.
“What? Am I not your friend?” I ask.
“Oh, you are more than a friend,” Kazran says, smirking at me and Vorik. I raise a brow at him but he doesn't elaborate.
After they have all introduced themselves to me, Vorik turns to his men and says, “I will let Cassie have my bed chamber. We are returning to Svaata, with Cassie.”
I notice that Vorik is speaking to them in English for my benefit. The men glance at me and respond in English so that I can understand what they are saying.
I smile to let them know I appreciate what they are doing for me.
The men scatter to their stations, and Vorik takes my hand and leads me towards a door. “Rest.”
“No. I'll clean up my own mess,” I say firmly. “I feel fine now. Really.” It's the truth. That violent, paralyzing wave of nausea has passed and I am pretty steady on my feet. My body has adapted quite quickly to the new atmosphere. Either that or the air and pressure in the spaceship is pretty similar to Earth's atmosphere.
But as I said before, I'm a survivor.
What doesn't kill me just makes me stronger. Cliched, but true in my case.
Vorik tries to argue with me, but I push past him and head towards what looks like the pantry. “Where do you keep the cleaning supplies?” I ask, opening a closet door.
I jump back when a cache of scary-looking weapons slide out. “Oops!”
Vorik snaps the closet door shut and locks it. “Wait here,” he says tersely and hurries to the back of the ship. “And don't touch anything!” he orders over his shoulder. In a moment, he returns with a small orb.
“Clean,” he says, thrusting the orb into my hands.
Vorik must have decided that it is in the interests of safety and his mental well-being to just let me do the chore and be done with it.
Who knows what I might open next? The safety hatch?
I grin at him and head back to the main area of the ship. When I return, I see the four males staring intently at their controls, their noses wrinkling ever so slightly. Only Kazran is openly pinching his nose and mumbling to himself. I may not understand their language, but I can pretty much guess what he is saying.
The stench of my vomit hangs thickly in the enclosed space. I approach the mess and examine the orb in my hand. I'm sure it is a lean, mean cleaning machine, but how do I operate this thing?
Vorik gently takes the orb from me and throws it into the air. The orb lights up and a tube extends from it as it hovers over the gooey mess on the floor. There is a whirring sound and it begins to suck everything up the tube.
Vorik angles his palm at the orb and moves it to and fro slowly. I realize that he is directing the movement of the orb, meticulously guiding it over the entire floor to suck up every trace of my stomach contents.
The task completed, the tube retracts back into the orb. Vorik catches the orb in his hands and turns it around thoughtfully.
“Um, aren't you going to empty it?” I ask.
“No.”
I follow Vorik as he walks to a control panel and inserts the orb in. He presses a button and rows of words scroll down the screen. I think I know what he is doing, but I ask anyway.
Vorik reads the information on the screen and nods to himself. “Just as I thought. The percentage of meat in your diet is very small.”
I wrinkle my nose. “You just analyzed
my puke.”
Vorik's face remains solemn when he says, “I have to know what you eat. Svaata's atmosphere is very similar to Earth's. But the seawater is more acidic on Svaata. As such, the flora and fauna of Svaata are different. I have to know if you can adapt to our diet.”
“I'm not a picky eater,” I deadpan. “I eat what I can, when I can, as much as I can.”
Vorik's eyes blaze and he says tightly, “You will always have enough to eat from now on. I will never let you go hungry, I swear.”
CHAPTER TEN
Vorik
Cassie doesn't object when I take her hand firmly and lead her towards our sleeping quarters. She looks well enough and she doesn't look like she is going to throw up again, but she should rest. The air in the spaceship has slightly more nitrogen and argon compared to the atmosphere of Earth. I know that Cassie has a very strong, robust constitution, but she looks exhausted.
We each have our own private chamber on the ship. My chamber is the most spacious, since I am the Commander of our squadron and there is a small wash area attached.
I open the door to my sleeping chamber and gesture for Cassie to enter. She peers in and hesitates. “This is your room.”
“It is yours now,” I tell her.
She steps in and the door closes soundlessly behind her. She looks around and eyes the large bed in the middle of the room warily.
I indicate the wash area behind the partition. “You can wash up, make yourself comfortable before you rest.”
“Erm...your bathroom has no door.”
“Do you trust me?”
Cassie smirks. “I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you, Vorik,” she replies dryly.
“So trust me.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Okay. Turn around. No peeking,” she orders at last.
She darts behind the partition and I hear the water running. I sit at the edge of the bed and close my eyes, trying not to imagine her naked under the water.
Vorik: A Scifi Storm Dragon Romance Page 3