by Ella Maven
Except I didn’t get far. A hand twisted in my hair as sharp claws dug into my scalp. With one strong pull, the hand yanked me back into the room with the terrifying green creatures. I landed on my back with a loud thud, and all the air left my lungs. I gasped for breath as I struggled to remain aware of my surroundings.
“There’s the human,” said one of the creatures, his voice garbled by a gigantic underbite and wicked fangs.
“Get her and let’s go,” said the other.
I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, but a giant green hand was coming at me, about to wring my neck. I let out a sob of defeat just as a figure, backlit by the surviving fire, appeared behind the green monsters.
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” growled a deep voice I recognized. Two blacked-gloved fists rose in the air, crossed at the wrist, and I caught the slightest flash of light glinting off a shiny black edge before they hacked downward.
The sound was unlike anything I’d heard before. A hiss and thunk. A dripping sound followed as dark liquid pooled at the feet of the green monsters. No life appeared in their eyes, and I watched with horror as slowly they crumbled to the ground, heads nearly severed from their thick necks.
Standing behind them, black blades jutting from his forearms and on top of his head from among his orange mohawk, stood Fenix.
Six
Fenix
I stepped over the bloodied bodies at my feet and reached for Jennie. Touching her with my gloved hands hadn’t caused me pain before, so I immediately pulled her to her feet.
She panted, and her gaze drifted from the dead ogrices to the machets on my forearms. Before I could retract them, she reached out one finger and touched the bloody, sharp tip. Slowly, I retracted them back under my scales, and her eyes went wide.
“They are called machets,” I said. “Drixonians use them in battle.”
She nodded, but her posture remained stiff and wary.
I had just nearly beheaded two ogrices in front of her, so it was likely she was scared. Of them. Of what happened. And maybe of me.
Footsteps pounded into the room and I whirled around, ready to fight more, but this time Bezmir stood in the doorway, two of his crew at his back. His gaze landed on Jennie and he sagged against the door frame. “Thank fleck. She’s alive.”
“No thanks to you,” I snarled. “I heard what they said. You’d shown her off to some gripes who are known to flap their mouths too much. Word got to the closest ogrice clan, and they came to take her with them. This is on you.” I pointed a clawed finger at him. “And I’m the reason she’s still alive.” I kicked an ogrice body at my feet. “So, from here on out, I’m in charge of her and only me. I’m surprised she’s stayed alive this long in your care.”
“Watch your mouth, Drix,” Bezmir hissed.
Of course, his pride wouldn’t accept my words. I didn’t give a fleck. Anger coursed through me, igniting my blood. I just barely kept my fire under control, and that was only because Jennie remained in my arms. “Then don’t question again what I say needs to be done for her care. You worry about everything else. Or you’ll never get your Kixx supply.”
The Rogastix’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t forget what stakes you have in this. You can act like her hero now, but you’re using her just as much as me. I might be the bad one, but so are you.” He glanced at his crew. “Take care of the bodies.”
To me, he ordered, “We leave now before the ogrices send another troop.”
My gut soured as he turned on a heel and walked out. His crew stalked in and I retreated to the bedding pad with Jennie as they dragged the bodies out the door, slamming it shut behind all. The room was a disaster. Glass littered the floor from the broken window, the basin was tipped over, and water dampened a corner of our once-clean furs. Jennie kept glancing at the pools of blood and streaks from the dragged bodies.
“Are you okay?” I ached to touch her, but I didn’t want to have to explain why doing so would cause me pain. “Did they hurt you?”
Her hand lifted to her scalp and she prodded it before shaking her head.
I didn’t like her expression, a mix between sadness and shock. “Jennie, look at me.”
She did, but her eyes weren’t focused.
“What do you need? What can I do?”
She shook her head and looked away before taking a deep breath. Her eyes closed briefly, and she clenched her fists on her thighs before exhaling loudly. Then she looked at me with a firm nod and stood. Wrapping the cloak I got her around her shoulders, she shook out her hair, and then got to work packing what little belongings we had.
Right, we were leaving. We had to. The ogrices would continue their attempt to steal her, as they considered her a resource they would resell. Which was what Bezmir was doing. Which was what I was doing.
I patted the front of my pants. Sewn into the lining was coded instructions for Zecri’s plan. I’d been terrified I’d forget it, and even now the memory of it was fuzzy. Once we were on the cargo ship heading to the exchange location, I’d take it out and study it. I knew the first step was keeping Jennie alive. The second was getting on that ship. I couldn’t remain on this planet with her. Rexor and Mikko had the same conclusion with their females—Vixlicin was no place for humans.
Jennie stepped in front of me holding the pack out. I grabbed it and tossed it over my back. “Thank you, sorry. I was thinking.”
She nibbled her lip and then bent at the waist. She brought her face so close to mine that I froze, unsure what she planned to do until she turned her head at the last minute, so her lips were right by my ear. And that was when I felt the softest puff of air and two rasping words. “Thank you.”
She lingered there for a moment, and when she pulled back, her cheek brushed mine.
I braced for the zing of pain, but none came. Stunned, I remained motionless as she looked me right in the eye before standing up. My cheek remained a small portion of my body that didn’t ache. What was it about her touch?
I rose to my feet and glanced around the room at what was left. “You’re welcome,” I murmured. “I’m sorry this happened. Bezmir called me downstairs to talk right before the ogrices came crashing in. We fought them but two slipped by and came up here searching for you.”
She nodded.
“Bezmir is an idiot,” I grumbled. “His stubborn boast over having you nearly got you taken. Flecker.”
Her smile returned. Maybe she liked when I cursed. I reached for her hood and, careful not to touch her, pulled it up over her head. Only her small face remained, dark eyes watching me. “Now let’s get off this planet.”
We made it outside the village largely undetected, moving in small groups in the dark.
Bezmir and his crew had a handful of caged hover vehicles that were fast and had decent protection. We loaded five of them with his crew and supplies before driving off in formation—his crew at the front, back, and sides with our vehicle in the middle. I sat on the back benches with Jennie, while Bezmir and Hirtz sat in the front seat. Frix, his pet, was left behind.
Low headlights lit our path across the red sand dunes. Large rock formations, backlit by the dim light of the moon, created pitch black shadows.
Jennie sat huddled in her long cloak with her head bent. I wished I could draw her into my arms, but I didn’t want to be distracted by the pain. I had to make the small amount of Kixx I had last as long as possible. Avoiding touch was the easiest way to hold the worst of the pain at bay.
I longed to comfort her by holding her. I had seen Mikko and Rexor do that with their females, but the Uldani had taken that ability from me, when they altered my body. I flexed my ruined hands in my gloves and clenched my jaw.
We rode up a dune and as we crested the top, the small docking station which was our destination could be seen on the horizon. Bezmir gripped the bars of the caged vehicle with his laser gun on his lap and peered into the distance.
I readied the pack on my back, wanting to be prepared to get on the
cargo ship as soon as this vehicle stopped. I didn’t like how open and dark it was outside. Any enemy would be able to sneak up on us.
Just as the vehicle slowed down when we neared the station, Jennie’s head shot up with a jerk. Her eyes were wide, and I caught the reflection of a passing light in the brown depths. “What—?” I said out loud seconds before the vehicle in front of us exploded in a ball of fire.
Cursing, Hirtz spun the wheel of the vehicle wildly to avoid the burning vehicle just as another hiss of fire hit the sand right next to us.
Bezmir lifted his weapon just as shadows began to materialize out of the dark, shouting a rallying war cry. I recognized their forms immediately—more ogrices. Dozens of them. Bezmir’s remaining crew scattered from their vehicles. Inside, we were easy targets.
Bezmir and Hirtz fired well-placed shots with the laser guns, taking out any approaching ogrices. I hauled Jennie out of the back of the vehicle by the neck of her cloak and shoved her under a hover vehicle. A seek later, a crew of ogrices descended on me with blades and clubs. One got in a cheap shot to the side of my head before I unleashed my machets and began to carve a path in the enemy.
Hirtz and Bezmir were bellowing something, but I couldn’t hear them, too focused on saving my life and protecting Jennie’s hiding spot. Until I heard a victory cry in an ogrice’s rumble that stopped my beating cora.
I whirled around to find one of them holding Jennie aloft by her neck. She fought wildly, hood off, hair flying, fists pummeling. With a growl, I slashed at the last ogrice in my path and raced to her.
Hirtz and Bezmir were in their own battle, as well as the rest of the crew, but I had to get to Jennie. She managed to pry herself from the ogrices grip and hit the sand. He reached for her again, but from the sand she produced one of the blades. With her mouth open in what I could only imagine was a wordless roar, she plunged it straight into his neck. Blood spurted. The ogrice staggered, stumbled, and fell. She scrambled away from his body just as more ogrices closed in on her.
Now wasn’t the time for close combat. These ogrices had to die. And now. I ripped off my gloves and held out my palms. Flames flickered to life, and I set about making these fleckers pay.
Jennie
The green creature was dead. I was pretty sure. The blade had gone right into his neck and he lay motionless in the sand. I couldn’t quite believe I’d done it, as I felt like I was stabbing a rhinoceros hide—thick and tough.
I looked around frantically for another hiding spot, but the ogrices were everywhere. A group sprinted toward me, drawn by the body at my feet. Giving up on hiding, I chose fighting instead. Gripping the blade with my sweat-dampened palms, I sought to pull it from the body. But it wouldn’t budge. Not an inch. Sounds of battle raged from all around me. Laser fire pinged overhead, and yet the ogrices continued coming, undeterred by the fight.
I let out a soundless choking sob as I gave up on the blade. It was stuck in this creature’s neck and it wasn’t coming out. I had nothing to fight with but my own hands.
Suddenly, heat bloomed to the right of me, like a space heater was blasting me in the face, and an orange light spread across the sand. I turned and stared dumb struck as Fenix raced toward me, hands outstretched, and holding literal balls of fire in his palms.
I blinked, barely able to believe what I was seeing when he let out a yell and shot fire balls from his palms. They hit the first wave of ogrices, immediately lighting them up in flames. He didn’t stop there. With a thundering roar, he unleashed a stream of fire, igniting every vehicle until we were surrounded by a wall of flames. Until we, along with Bezmir’s crew, were separated by the attacking ogrices. By fire.
Closing his fists, the fire went out, and he ran to me. He picked me up by my cloak and hauled ass to the stairs of the docking station. “To the ship,” he shouted to the Rogastix crew. An ogrice hand reached in during a break in the flames to grab Bezmir, but Fenix lobbed a fireball at him. A cry sounded and the hand dropped Bezmir. The Rogastix leader stared at Fenix in wonder before stumbling after him.
Boots clattered up metal stairs. I tried to run beside Fenix, but mostly he held me in the air by my cloak, so all I had to do was hang there.
In the dark, I could barely make out the hulking shape of the cargo ship, but with a hiss, a door opened and lighting spilled out onto the grated walkway as we lunged inside. Shoving me behind him, Fenix turned and sent a few more fireballs down the closing ramp. Pained cries followed as the silhouettes of flaming bodies fell to the ground below.
I remained crouched on the ground, heart racing, the smell of smoke lingering in my nose, as the door shut. Behind me, Bezmir was hollering at his crew to get the cargo ship off the ground. Fenix, who hadn’t moved from his spot at the door, suddenly swayed on his feet, his head bobbing. I lurched forward just as his muscles seized, and he hit the ground with a thud. Sliding to the floor at his side, I checked his body for injuries. His eyes were closed, and his body shook with tremors.
I couldn’t see any visible wounds, but when I got the first look at Fenix ungloved, I gasped. His hands, wrists and forearms were a twisted mass of burned flesh. The scales were warped and blackened. Wisps of smoke still floated above his palms.
Oh Fenix, I thought to myself. What happened to you? What are you?
He was still breathing, and his eyeballs flickered below his closed lids. He was alive, his expression twisted into a painful grimace. I felt helpless, afraid to touch him as I didn’t know if that would cause him more pain.
A shadow fell over me. “Oh fleck!” Bezmir hollered. “The Drix is down. Mintzer, take him to a room.”
I scrambled to my feet as one of the crew began to drag Fenix by one arm down a narrow hallway. I hated how little care he was showing Fenix, but it wasn’t like I could lift him myself. I chased after them, my attention on Fenix.
Mintzer led us to a small room, not much bigger than a closet, which had a narrow pad with a packaged blanket on top. Bezmir followed us inside and pulled a small packet of Kixx out of his pocket. “Flecking flames,” he muttered to himself. “I could barely believe it. I’d heard rumors of a Drix firebrand, but…” he shook his head. “Figures he’d be the one who needs this to handle the pain.” He dipped his finger in the green powder and lowered Fenix’s lip to rub it on his gum. Immediately, Fenix’s body stopped shaking, and his head lolled back as his muscles relaxed.
Kneeling at his side, I held my hand over his mouth. When the hot puffs of his breath warmed my palm, only then did I feel like I could relax somewhat.
He was alive, and from the looks of it, no longer in pain. I glanced down his slowly rising and falling chest. Stuck in the front of his pants were his gloves. I drew them from his waistband and slowly worked them over his hands and arms, trying to touch him as little as possible. After what I’d been through, I understood dignity more than anything now. There was a reason Fenix always wore the gloves, and he deserved to reveal his hands again on his own terms.
I hadn’t imagined that whole thing, right? I pinched myself and welcomed the stab of pain. No, I wasn’t dreaming. Fenix had actually … shot flames from his hands. But his skin was ruined… Why would he do that if he clearly suffered and the entire act caused him pain? I had so many questions and no voice to ask them.
“Getting comfortable with him, girl?” Bezmir leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
I ignored him as I brushed Fenix’s hair off his forehead and picked out some charred bits from the strands.
“Do you think you can charm your way into him helping you?” He sneered. “He’s not going to. No matter how well he treats you, that’s only because he’s a Drixonian and it’s in his blood. But Kixx owns him.” He kicked out with his foot, catching me in the thigh.
I sucked in a breath at the pain and refused to look at him.
“Don’t bother trying to win him over. He’s always going to choose Kixx over you, female. Always.” He walked out and slammed the door behind him.
/> I stayed kneeling, Bezmir’s words echoing in my head as I watched Fenix breathe. I didn’t expect Fenix to choose me over Kixx. But there had to be more to his story, a reason for him to be stuck in the thrall of the drug. I didn’t expect my story to end well in this galaxy, but I also couldn’t deny that despite his flaws, Fenix had offered me nothing but kindness. I had to return it, or what was the point of anything?
Seven
Fenix
I came awake with a start, blinking my eyes at a metal-paneled ceiling. The pad I lay on seemed to vibrate beneath me. I lifted a hand to my head, but my movements were slow. I could feel the sour taste of Kixx in my mouth. Something soft brushed my arm, but the pain remained absent, thanks to the Kixx coursing through my body.
I glanced over to see a head of dark hair. “Jennie,” I whispered.
She lay half on the floor, her upper body resting on her arms on the bedding pad.
I couldn’t remember what had happened. Where were we? I gazed around the room, and realized the pad seemed to vibrate beneath me. In the distance, I could hear the dim hum of engines. We must have made it to the cargo ship … but how? The last thing I remembered was riding in the hover vehicles with Jennie. How we arrived on the ship was a big black hole in my memory. When had I taken Kixx?
“Fleck,” I murmured, struggling to sit up. I went still when I realized the scales of my hands felt tight. That always happened after … after I used my fire. I groaned, frustrated at my lack of memory. This seemed to happen sometimes after I used my fire, and it was worse the more fire I produced. With how much I couldn’t remember, I was terrified at what I’d done. Who had a I killed? At least Jennie was okay.