“Well, I’m not staying here, waiting for you to turn into a corpse, either.” I slid my hand into his shirt, finding the dagger strapped there.
Before I could pull it out, he trapped my hand, covering it with his. His hold remained encouragingly firm.
“You are the most infuriating being,” he said, gazing at me with his eerie, glossy eyes. “The most fascinating and beautiful one, too. I’m glad I lived long enough to meet you.”
Was that a goodbye?
I bit my lip, willing my voice not to shake. “You’ll live longer than that. I will get help, Vrateus.” I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the dagger at his chest.
“I can’t stop you.” It wasn’t a question, more like stating of fact to himself.
“I need to go. I need to do something.”
“Here.” He allowed me to take out the dagger. From the holster at his thigh, he then took out a device that reminded me of a laser gun I had seen in old movies. “Take this, too. Shoot from a distance, don’t let them get too close.”
“Thank you.” I tucked the dagger into my boot, keeping the gun in my hand. “I’ll be right back.”
“No.” He shook his head several times, as if unable to stop it after just once. “Don’t come back here. Tell Malahki to hide you. There are lots of spaces to hide around here. I used them when I was a child. Tunnels, cracks in the hulls, gaps between the walls...”
Sitting on the floor, he tilted to the side as his voice trailed off.
“Vrateus!” I shook him again, sitting him upright. “Stay awake.”
I grabbed the tablet he had given me. Finding a video with the most obnoxious music of the last species I had studied, I set it to play in a loop, then turned the volume all the way up.
“Wait for me!” I shouted over the noise. “Please. I’ll come back. I promise.
He swayed, his head nodding. There was no way of telling whether it was involuntary or in reply to my request.
With no time to lose, I dashed to the door.
Thankfully, the corridor behind it was empty. Keeping my back to the wall and the gun in my hand ready, I ran toward the gardens, praying that Malahki was there and that it was able and willing to help me.
Chapter 15
ALL SEEMED EERILY QUIET in the gardens when I arrived. Creeping between the planters, I peered through the vines and branches, hoping to glimpse the lithe shape of Malahki nearby. I was also watching out for any trouble, hoping that everyone else would have gone to their beds by now.
Most likely, Malahki would be also asleep at this hour. I hoped that it slept nearby somewhere and that I could find it and wake it up.
I heard nothing but the soft rustling of leaves and the quiet trickling of water from the irrigation system. Then a hand covered my mouth as someone grabbed me from behind, pressing both of my arms to my body.
“What are you doing here?” Malahki’s calm voice sounded above my ear. Next, the damirian slid its hand to my gun, taking it from me.
I jerked my head to the side, freeing my mouth. “I need your help.”
Malahki lifted the gun into my line of sight. “And this is to persuade me in case I refuse?”
“No. The gun is to protect me from anyone I may run into on my way here and back.”
The damirian let go of me, inspecting the gun in its hand. “Probably wouldn’t have helped you anyway, human. Most of the males around here would let you shoot their eye out for a chance to fuck a female. A gun wouldn’t stop them from trying.”
I paid little attention to its words. Right now, I had no time for fear.
“I need your help,” I said again. “And I need it quickly. What can I use to neutralize the effects of the fuhnid mushroom poison?”
“Nothing.” Malahki pressed its colorless lips into a thin line. “There is no antidote.” It turned to leave.
“There has to be something,” I said, with nothing much but blind faith to keep pushing. “How did you find out the mushrooms were poisonous in the first place?”
“We obtained that information from the ship that delivered the spores.”
Delivered. As if it was an order, voluntarily fulfilled.
“Has anyone poisoned themselves with their juice before?”
“Yes.” Malahki walked away, and I rushed after it.
“Has anyone died?”
“Also, yes.”
I grabbed its arm, yanking the damirian to a stop.
“He can’t die.”
“Who is he?” Malahki didn’t sound annoyed at my insisting. Though its detached tone of voice didn’t offer much hope for help, either.
“Vrateus has been poisoned. I need to counteract the effects before it’s too late.”
If it wasn’t too late already...
I shoved the terrifying thought away. Losing all hope and my mind along with it wouldn’t help anyone.
“Make him retch,” Malahki suggested with the same calm aloofness that proved extremely irritating right now.
“I did. Would that be enough to save him?”
“No.”
Now, I really felt like punching the damirian, to knock off its serene composure.
“I need something more effective,” I insisted, grabbing its arm again.
Malahki glanced at me, worrying its bottom lip with its teeth, as if hesitating.
“There is something, isn’t there?” I stepped in front of it. Hope and determination vibrated through me, making my hands shake. “I know you have nothing in common with the savages out there. You don’t participate in the fights. I haven’t seen you in the mess hall, either. How do you spend your time? Pruning and seeding, sure, but there must be something else. Unlike all of them here, you’ve been raised and educated outside of the Dark Anomaly. You’re smart. Mushrooms would present a challenge for your mind. Please tell me you’ve experimented with their fascinating qualities. For medicinal purposes, if nothing else?”
The damirian remained silent, looking like it was about to turn away from me again.
“Malahki, please,” I exhaled a whispered plea.
“Knowledge is the only asset, the only advantage I have over ‘the savages out there’,” it replied, flexing its jaw. “I work hard to gain it, and I’m not obligated to share it with anyone. No one cares about me here. Why should I care about anyone?”
“Do you think I care about this place, about any of them? I don’t care about Vrateus, either.” Something pinched uneasily inside me at these words, but I kept going, “But I don’t want him to die. What do you think will happen if he dies? To you? And to me?”
“Someone else will take his place.”
“Who? You are a smart—” I stopped myself before saying “man.” “You’re a smart individual, Malahki. Surely, you can see that there is no one even remotely as capable as Vrateus to keep this place going the way he has. If he dies, anarchy will prevail. Neither you, nor I will be safe.”
“Most of the species here respond to female pheromones in their lust. They have been leaving me alone.” It shrugged.
“So, you’ll be okay with me potentially being raped, without Vrateus’s protection?” I fisted my hands at my side, stopping myself from saying more. As outraged as I was by the damirian’s indifference, I knew that an argument with this person would bring me nothing.
“No, of course not.” It frowned.
“Then help me, please,” I begged. “Besides, it wouldn’t be just rape that we would have to worry about. If Vrateus is gone, none of his laws will stay. The cannibalism will return. Your genderlessness won’t protect you from being eaten. Neither you nor I are strong enough to fight them.”
Malahki’s chest rose with a sigh. “That is true. I am not strong enough to fight any one of them.” Its facial muscles twitched. “What will I get if I save the captain’s life?” it asked, narrowing its eyes at me calculatingly.
I suppressed a breath of relief. This wasn’t over yet.
“What do you want?”
; Malahki gave me a long, measuring look. It was unnerving in its intensity, as if the damirian had just truly seen me for the first time. “I’ll need a favor from the captain.”
“We’ll have to hurry,” I snapped, losing my patience. “Otherwise, there won’t be a captain to grant a favor.”
“Fine,” it relented. “I want you to promise the captain will hear me out once he is well and able.”
“If he is well and able.” I bounced on my heels. “Hurry, please.”
Malahki demonstratively folded its arms across its chest. “I’m waiting for your promise.”
“I promise,” I rushed the words out. “I will tell him you saved his life and asked for a favor in return.”
Malahki seemed satisfied by my words. Waving me to follow, it headed to the tall planter with the bright fuhnid mushrooms.
Raising the clear cover, the damirian plucking one out of the dirt. It then squished it between its palms, letting the vivid pink juice drip back into the ground. He then sprayed the now flat-like-crêpe mushroom from the bottle under the planter.
“Here.” Malahki ripped a wide round leaf from a vine nearby, wrapping the flattened mushroom he’d rolled into a tube. “Feed this to the captain, with a glass of water. Just one cup of water, though, no more. Wait for ten minutes, then make him throw it all up again.”
I stared at the dark green package in its hands.
“Are you saying to neutralize the poison that is killing him, I need to give him more of it?” I asked sceptically.
“Isn’t that how many poisons work?”
“No.” I shook my head. “A sip of wine, laced with fuhnid juice, is about to kill Vrateus. How is feeding him an entire freaking mushroom supposed to help?”
“By drawing the poison out,” Malahki replied calmly. Shoving the leaf-wrapped mushroom into my hands, it took the spray bottle again and cleaned its hands, then sprayed my hands holding the package, too. “I squeezed the toxic juice out of the mushroom. If the captain eats it now, it will soak up whatever fuhnid juice there is in his body. He would have to get it out of his stomach afterwards, so the poison doesn’t seep back into his digestive system and bloodstream.”
“Are you confident it will work?” I stared at the package in my hands, afraid to hope. “Has anyone ever tried this?”
“I have. Myself.”
That was a relief to hear.
“Only I’ve had more time for ‘experimenting’ as you’ve named it,” Malahki added. “I completely dehydrated the mushroom and grounded it into powder first.”
“Powder?” I huffed in frustration. “That is very different from what you’ve just given me. Do you have any of the actual powder left?”
“No. Unfortunately, I don’t.” The damirian pursed its lips. “And you don’t have the luxury of time to be picky.”
That was true.
“Well, thanks for this.” I pressed the bundle to my chest.
“Where is Vrateus?” Malahki asked, handing me back my gun. “How far do you have to go, now?”
“He is in my room.”
“It’s next to his, then.”
“Is it?”
“His is the second glass capsule. There are two, side by side.”
I had seen the second bubble next to mine, but it had always been dark, and I assumed it was empty. Vrateus had never told me it was his room. Not that I’d ever asked.
“Don’t use the corridor to go back,” Malahki said. “Take the garbage tunnel from here. It’s safer. Just make sure you get out in time. There is an opening in the wall, not far from your room.”
I knew about the opening. I’d already used it during my failed escape.
“Thanks. I’ll take the tunnel.”
Chapter 16
LYING ON MY BELLY ON the conveyor belt inside the tunnel, I travelled feet first toward my room. Afraid to miss the spot where I needed to get out, I kept my hand on the wall, trailing my fingers in search of the loose panel. When it moved as I passed, I quickly crawled back to it, ready to climb out.
The distant tromping of footsteps suddenly reached me from the corridor, making me pause. I spread my arms and legs wide, removing them from the belt and pressing them into the walls of the tunnel, then froze in place, listening as the footsteps approached.
“We didn’t find his weapon storage.” I recognized Wyck’s voice.
“He hides it somewhere,” Crux growled in reply.
The sound of their voices made my knees shake from fear. Nothing good would come if the errocks found me here, alone and pretty much helpless. Straining to stay off the conveyor belt, I couldn’t even free a hand to use the laser gun tucked into one of the pockets of my bodysuit.
I desperately hoped Lesh wasn’t out there with them. Or if he were, that he wouldn’t be able to catch my scent. The soap I used made me undetectable to the errocks’ acute sense of smell, but no one mentioned if it worked the same for Wyck’s terrifying pet.
“No matter. He won’t be able to do much now, anyway,” Crux kept on talking. “Use whatever we have for weapons. Get everyone in the mess hall. Kick them out of beds if you have to. They’ve got a new captain, now.” He guffawed, his voice thick with satisfaction.
My heart dropped.
Was Crux behind Vrateus’s poisoning? He sounded as if he was at least aware of his captain’s current condition.
No. Crux had just called himself the captain. He already thought Vrateus gone.
If Crux was in charge now, I stood no chance. Vrateus was right, the best course of action for me would be to get back to the gardens. I harbored no illusions, Malahki wouldn’t go out of its way to protect me. But Crux was cruel and unpredictable. No one could be safe with him in charge. Maybe, I could convince Malahki to be my survival partner. We’d find a place to hide and watch each other’s backs.
Meanwhile, the sound of the footsteps faded into the distance.
Carefully inching toward the opening, I peeked into the corridor, making sure it was empty in both directions. Climbing out, I threw a glance back toward the gardens.
I knew Crux would come for me as soon as he had established his full dominance over the Dark Anomaly or even sooner. The way he always stared at me, I knew he meant danger—probably torture and death.
My instincts told me to run straight to the gardens and hide before it was too late.
Yet I couldn’t leave Vrateus to his fate. Against all common sense, I ran back to my room.
The doors remained closed but unlocked, just the way I had left them. Icy fear spread down my back when I thought errocks could have easily found Vrateus here, weak and unprotected, had they but checked the doors while passing by.
Slipping into the room, I closed the doors, then pulled the cover off the lock panel and slid the part I’d loosened back in to engage the lock from the inside.
The music still blared from the tablet, but Vrateus was no longer sitting upright. His arms tucked under his torso, his legs spread wide, he lay on his stomach, motionless.
“Oh, God, Vrateus...” I rushed to him, praying I was not too late.
He felt cool to the touch, his fur slicked with sweat over his forehead, his eyes closed.
“Vrateus!” I shook him, everything inside me frozen with fear.
Placing my hand on his neck, I found a barely detectable pulse. Weak and uneven, it was still there, easing my horror. Dashing to the bathroom, I filled the crystal tumbler with water then ran back to him.
“Can you hear me?”
I hit the off button on the tablet, plunging the room into silence, eerie and ominous after the deafening noise of music.
“You need to wake up. Now!” Rolling him to his back, I slapped his cheek, making his head loll to the side. “Captain!” Straining my muscles, I tried to heave him up into a sitting position. “Your crew won’t survive without you. They need you...” His large body, a heavy, solid mass of muscle, was nearly impossible for me to maneuver. Still, I propped him into a reclining position by wedg
ing my shoulder under his. “Fuck it, Vrateus! I need you.”
His head rolled to his shoulder, with a muffled groan escaping from his throat.
“Vrateus?” I scooted on the glass floor, sliding behind him. My leg on each side of him, I leaned his back to my chest, propping his head with my shoulder. “You need to eat this right now.” I yanked the bundle with the flattened mushroom out of the pocket at my hip, then unwrapped it, bringing the mushroom to his mouth. “Dammit, Vrateus. I swear I’ll hit you again if you don’t wake up, right now!”
Dropping the mushroom into his lap, I grabbed the glass instead. Pressing it to his lips, I tipped it, letting the cold water spill over his mouth and down his bare chest into the opening of his shirt. He winced with a gasp, and I quickly poured some water into his open mouth, making him sputter and cough.
“Good,” I murmured. “Now that you’re awake, eat this.” I ripped a piece of the dry mushroom and shoved it into his mouth. “Chew it.” I cupped his jaw. “Or don’t chew it. Whatever, just swallow it, please.”
Not waiting for him to react, I ripped another piece off, bringing it up to his face. “Here you go,” I said when he swallowed, then I quickly shoved more pieces into this mouth. “That’s a good boy,” I cooed as if he were a baby eating his first solid foods, not a grown man nearly twice my size, dying from poison.
The last piece of mushroom stayed in his mouth when his head dropped to his chest again.
“Vrateus!” I slapped his cheek again. Hard.
“Guh...” he groaned. “That hurt.”
“Drink this.” I pressed the edge of the glass to his lips. “Or I’ll do it again.”
I watched his throat bob with each swallow as he emptied the glass. I hoped and prayed that Malahki hadn’t misled me, that I hadn’t made a colossal mistake by trusting the damirian and feeding more poison to our captain.
“You’re not only infuriating, you’re also brutal and terrifying,” he muttered, dropping his head back on my shoulder as if drinking had completely exhausted him.
“Oh, you have no idea how scary I can be,” I assured him, trying not to think about how frightened I felt. “Just try dying on me, see how angry I’d get.”
Gravity (Dark Anomaly Book 1) Page 13