by Cara Bristol
She’s here. She’s HERE! Anticipation burgeoned inside, spreading through my blood, burrowing into my bones. It felt so real, like my mate was indeed here. I rubbed my temple as if that could quiet the whispers in my brain, and then barked, “Number two!”
This selection had hit me harder than the others I’d directed. I’d been so sure I’d draw a chit this time. My gaze locked on Madison leaning against the wall, ankles crossed, arms folded. My horns vibrated.
I averted my eyes. “Number three!”
One by one, men leaped forward to stake their claims. Tovio, number fifteen, selected a female with straight dark hair.
Thirty, fifty-seven, sixty-four, sixty-eight, seventy-one, and eighty were from my tribe.
Madison fidgeted as couples paired up and vacated the lodge.
Kellian, number ninety-two, the last of my tribe, strode to a curly-haired female, wearing a puffy coat similar to Madison’s gray one. Madison straightened, focusing on Kellian and the female, who I realized must be his friend.
My tribesman introduced himself. “Will you be my mate?”
“I’m Garnet,” she replied with a big smile. “Yes, I will!”
His grin stretched from ear to ear, but then wavered when Madison ran over and grabbed Garnet in a big hug.
“You—be happy. I hope this is everything you expect it to be,” Madison said in a choked voice.
The eight remaining men and the other women watched impatiently. I couldn’t hold up the selection any longer. “Ninety-three!” I called.
A man bounded over to an attractive female. He asked, she gave him the answer he sought, and they moved away to collect her belongings. Madison and Garnet continued to talk, but they’d moved off to the side. Kellian hovered, his expression disgruntled.
“You, be happy.” Garnet embraced Madison. “It’s okay to live. You have a right.”
“I know.”
“I’ll see you again, won’t I?” Garnet said.
Madison’s mouth drooped. “I don’t know, Gar…I wish I could say…”
They hugged again, and Kellian growled.
“It’s okay,” Garnet said. “He’s a friend.”
“Listen, I’d better go.” Madison’s voice seemed to catch.
“Think about coming back under different circumstances.”
Madison shook his head. “Not gonna work for me.” He glanced at Kellian. “You treat her right!”
Looking offended, he snapped his head. “Of course!”
Garnet hugged Madison then shoved him away. “Go—before I cry. Go!”
She’s here!
Madison met my gaze, gave me a quick salute of farewell, pivoted, and marched out of the lodge.
Chapter Three
Madison
My eyes watered from the drying effects of the cold. I wiped at my cheeks with a mitten, but the tears had frozen on my face. While we’d been in the lodge, it had started to snow heavily, filling in the tracks leading from the SS Masquerade to the lodge. Head down, I followed the faint impressions back to the ship.
Probably, I wouldn’t be back. I needed to get a life. A real life, not a pretend one.
Though I might never see Garnet again, it was Enoki’s face that came to mind, and I realized I would miss him, too. He’d been the lone bright spot of coming to this planet.
In a room full of tall, masculine men, he stood out, and I liked him. I regretted not getting to know him better on my previous trips. However, if I had, it would make leaving more difficult. It pained me to leave one friend, let alone two.
Toot! Toot!
Seated behind her alien hottie on a snow skimmer, Garnet waved at me. No doubt Kellian was happy to see me leave. He hadn’t liked seeing another man hugging his new mate. I waved, and then they zoomed off into the forest.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and scrubbed at my cheeks again.
She’ll be okay. She’ll be okay. Dakonians were decent people, and Garnet had had her heart set on this for a long time.
The snow fell harder and faster, blanketing everything. I hunched my shoulders and focused on following the vanishing tracks toward the glow of the lighted ship. My breath formed puffs of steam in the frosty air. Behind me, the lodge had almost disappeared; I could detect only a gray blob among the white. A feeling of sadness swept over me.
I’ll never see him again.
Him? No, I meant Garnet. I was sad because I was leaving my best friend. I could never do what she had done. If I was romantically interested in an alien—which I wasn’t—there could be no future together. Garnet had pointed out that couples married and moved away from their family and friends all the time. However, they remained on the same planet—they could visit. I couldn’t abandon my family and jettison modern technological comforts for subsistence living on an icy world.
One of these times, Enoki would pick his Earth female. I could feel it in my bones. I was surprised he hadn’t drawn a chit already. I’d caught women shooting him flirtatious glances on the chance he’d been in the draw.
Not this time, bitches.
But, one day he would call out his own number. I wouldn’t be here to see it.
I swung my arms and stomped my way toward the ship, trying to stay warm. My teeth chattered as the frigid air pierced my cold-weather gear. Damn this icy planet. This wasn’t a snowfall, it was a freaking blizzard. It would be easy to get disoriented and go the wrong way. Fortunately, the bluish beacon of the lighted ship kept me headed in the right direction. I glanced behind me. The lodge and horseshoe of huts had vanished. All gone. The village, Garnet, Enoki.
I turned around.
No light.
The light couldn’t have disappeared. I hadn’t moved. It had been there a second ago. The light! The light! Where was the light?
It flickered on. My heart thudded in relief.
Off.
On.
Odd. Why was the ship blinking?
The ground beneath my feet vibrated, and a thunderous rumble like a sonic boom almost knocked me on my ass. The light went solid, and then the bluish blob rose into the snowy sky.
For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. Then the horror hit.
“No!” I screamed. “No! Wait! Wait!”
I scrambled through the snow. “Stop! Stop!” The ship’s breath, the illuvian exhaust, blew in my face as the craft continued its ascent.
I screamed, waved, and jumped. “No! Don’t leave me! Come back!”
The blue orb shrank, growing smaller and smaller until it dwindled to a dot, and then the speck disappeared.
This couldn’t be happening. How could the ship have left without me? The captain had to have known I wasn’t on board. The computer had recorded the departures and would show I hadn’t arrived.
Unless…
I clapped a hand to my neck. The original translator had been replaced. What if the tech had failed to code it into the system? The computer wouldn’t realize I hadn’t boarded yet because it would show me as never having left at all!
“Come back! Don’t leave me here.” I sank to my knees in the snow and cried.
Chapter Four
Enoki
Alone in the lodge, I sat on a tree stump and stared at the glowing red embers. Eager to start their new lives and anxious to beat the storm back to their respective camps, everyone had departed. I should have gone, too, but the revelry of congratulations and welcome that would ensue when the men rode in with their females deterred me. As tribe leader, I should be there, but for some reason, the disappointment hit me harder this time than all the others.
It felt almost like…grief.
I’d checked the weather a few moments ago and discovered near whiteout conditions. I’d tarried too long, and now I’d have to wait out the storm in one of the emergency shelters. My camp was one of the closer ones, but being out in a blizzard wasn’t safe—especially on foot. Because I frequently traveled among
the fifteen tribes, I had a skimmer reserved for my use, but I’d given it to Kellian. Like all the other tribes, ours didn’t have enough vehicles to go around, and with a new mate, he needed it more than I.
She’s here. Here. Here.
If only the whispers would cease!
Go…go…go…
Go where? I grabbed my head to block out the sound and relieve the imperative to do…to do…what? An urgency to act burgeoned inside, increasing the turmoil caused by the voices.
The only time the voices had fallen silent had been when Madison Altman had arrived. As soon as he’d left, the Fates had begun whispering again. Why wouldn’t they stop? The murmurs dogged me as I hunted kel, chopped firewood, prepared my meals. They invaded my dreams, awakening me at night. If my mate had been near, she would have revealed herself by now.
Perhaps it wasn’t the winds of Fate speaking to me. Maybe my own desire had manifested. Perhaps I should seek out the tribe healer and place myself in his care. Ardu might have a tincture to quiet the voices, quell the unrest, put mind and emotions at ease.
Or he might relieve me of my duties. If a tribe chief could not physically or mentally govern, a healer had the authority to declare him unfit to rule. Snow madness happened rarely, but when it struck, ordinary rational men could become reckless, violent, or both.
Had the endless storms, isolation, the loneliness gotten to me?
Go. Go. Go. Now.
A breeze swirled through the lodge, eddying around me and stirring the dying fire. I glanced behind me. The door flaps hung in place without moving. The lodge was vacant except for me. Ash-coated embers flared red in the pit, and moments later an invisible force pressed between my shoulder blades.
I remained seated and jabbed at the embers with a long pole. I might be losing my mind, but I would decide when I departed, not my uncontrolled emotions, a voice in my head, or a mysterious pressure trying to force me out of my seat.
Perhaps it was better I hadn’t gotten a mate because what female desired a man who’d gone insane? If I snapped, who would care for her, protect her?
Another man. After a suitable mourning, an available female would be quickly claimed.
I’m not going to snap. I’m going to carry on as before, lead my tribe and guide the council.
However, a visit to the healer would not be remiss. I wouldn’t need to tell him everything, only that I needed a tincture to calm down, quiet my mind.
The wind without origin swirled in the pit, fanning embers to flame. Faster and faster it circled, spinning ash, coals, and flames into an angry whirlpool. Up and up, faster and faster, it spun. Gaping in disbelief, I scrambled from my seat to avoid being burned. I’d never witnessed anything like this in my life.
I edged away to avoid burning debris, and the eddy calmed. The farther away I moved, the slower it spun until the whirlpool collapsed on itself.
I was seeing things now besides hearing them. I covered the live embers with ash to prevent another flare-up then donned my kel and left the lodge.
Before bunking down for the night, I’d stop at the tavern for an ale. When one’s sanity is in doubt, imbibing a fermented beverage was sure to help, I thought wryly.
A thick blanket of snow coated land and air. I couldn’t see the tavern or the ring of stone huts around the lodge. But I didn’t need to see the tavern to find it. If I veered to the right and kept to a straight line, I’d walk into it. I’d grab a jug of ale, and then feel my way to an emergency hut.
Wind whipped at me, throwing taunts and swirling snow. Here. Here. She’s here. SHE’S HERE!
“Shut up!” I bellowed. “Shut the Fates up!”
Silence descended, sudden and absolute. The wind ceased howling.
“Help…me. Help.”
A faint voice. Not in my mind, not in the wind, but real. Somebody was out in the blizzard? “Hello? Who’s there? Where are you?” I pivoted, squinting through the white.
“Over here! H-h-help.” The husky voice cracked on a sob, sounding familiar.
“I can’t see you. Where are you?”
“I d-don’t kno—I—ca—get up. Hurt—” The voice drifted in and out as the wind picked up again.
“Keep talking,” I ordered. “I’ll find you.”
“Hurry. Oh galaxy, hurry. I’m so c-c-old.”
“Oh galaxy”—no Dakonian would say that. I’d only heard the phrase from…Terrans. The strange accent. The familiarity. The boyish voice. “Madison?”
“Yes!”
My heart pounded! What was he doing here? “Madison? It’s Enoki. Keep talking.” I pivoted my head, sweeping my gaze across the blanketed ground.
“Enoki! H-h-here. I’m over here.” His teeth chattered, but his voice sounded louder. He had to be close.
Speaking would use energy he needed to warm his body, but I needed to hear him if I had any chance of locating him. “I’m coming, Madison. Keep talking.” I tried to sound confident.
Half-blinded by snow and dusk, I tripped over something in the snow and fell.
Madison yelped. “Y-y-you found me.”
I scrambled to my knees by his side. Snow coated his face. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you? Why are you lying in the snow?”
“You d-d-didn’t hurt me. I twisted my ankle. I can’t put weight on it. I’m freezing. I was afraid I would die out here.”
He would have if I hadn’t found him. “I’ll help you to your ship.” I squinted into the fog of snow.
“You can’t. It’s g-g-gone. It left without me.”
“It left you behind? What happened? No—don’t explain now. We have to get you inside first. Can you stand up?”
“I can stand. I just can’t walk.” His snort of laughter sounded like a sob, and I was glad I couldn’t see his face clearly, saving us both the embarrassment. Men didn’t cry. Then again, he wasn’t Dakonian. Maybe Terran men did cry. “I tried to return to the lodge, but I stepped in a hole.”
“Let’s get you on your feet so I can help you to a hut.” Grabbing his arm, I pulled him upright. Using my shoulder for balance, he stood on one leg, bending the injured one. “Can you hop?” I asked.
He nodded, and I slipped my arm across his back. I took a step, he hopped. Step. Hop. Slow. Too slow. Shudders racked his body, and every hop caused him to wince with pain. He’d succumb to hypothermia before we got to a shelter.
“Let’s do it this way.” I grabbed his arm, bent my knees, and hoisted him over my shoulder. He weighed hardly anything at all. I’d never met a male, Dakonian or Terran, as slight as he. I set off at a fast lope, retracing my steps.
“Put me down, I can make it,” he protested.
And kel could fly. “This will be faster,” I said.
It was snowing so hard, if I hadn’t known the area, I wouldn’t have made it to the Meeting Place. But I got to the open area fronting the lodge then veered to the row of stone emergency huts and kicked open the door of the first one I came to.
“I’m going to set you on your feet.” I slipped him off my shoulder. He would have toppled over if I hadn’t grabbed him. “The wall is right here. Can you hold on long enough for me to light the lamp?”
“G-got it.”
All the huts were outfitted the same. I felt my way to the table in the center of the room then latched onto the illuvian lamp and groped around until I found the ignition button. It immediately put out a soft glow.
Pale and shivering, Madison slumped against the wall. Hurriedly, I fired up the heater, adjusting the setting to maximum output then rushed to his side. I half dragged, half carried him to a chair by the light.
Snow dusted his face and caked his lashes. Streaks of ice trailed from his eyes down his cheeks as if he’d been crying and the tears had frozen. I suspected he had been. Didn’t the Terrans have any sense? He seemed so vulnerable, defenseless.
How could his people have left without him? Anger on his behalf burned in the pit of my stomach
, but another emotion, undefinable, yet uncomfortable, flared like the eddy of fire in the lodge and made me brusque. “You’re lucky I found you. This climate is nothing to trifle with.” I tugged at his sleeve. “Take this off. It’s soaked.”
“I’m s-s-sorry.” He shivered and fumbled with a tab. When he got his coat unfastened, I pulled it off his shoulders and then helped him stand again so he wouldn’t be sitting on the wet garment. I took my kel off and slung it around him. The outside fur was damp, but the inside was dry and warm from my own body heat.
“I can’t take your coat,” he said.
“Yes, you can. I don’t need it. It’s getting too hot in here already.” The illuvian heater blasted away. It could warm a hut five times this size.
“Let me look at your ankle.” I knelt and gently tugged off his wet boot. The foot sheath he wore underneath was wet, and I pulled it off. Freezing temperatures, wet clothing—he could have succumbed to hypothermia.
His ankle had swelled so much, his foot appeared delicate by comparison, and for some reason, he’d colored his toenails a rosy pink. He couldn’t warm up if his feet were cold so I removed his other shoe. A woolen ball slipped out from beneath his leggings. “What’s this?”
He averted his gaze. “A pair of socks.”
“A foot sheath? What purpose did it serve in your leggings?”
His face reddened all the way to his hairline. Even his ears colored. “It slipped.”
“From where?”
“It slipped, okay? Is my ankle broken or not?”
It was definitely swollen. I smoothed my fingers over his bones. “Can you move it at all?”
He winced but twisted his foot.
“Let’s remove the other foot sheath so I can better compare.”
I studied his two ankles. The uninjured one was surprisingly slender and shapely for a male. “My guess is it’s a sprain. When the snow stops, I’ll take to you my camp so the tribe healer can examine you. In the meantime,” I said grinning, “I hate to tell you—the best treatment is to elevate your foot and ice it to reduce the swelling.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” he quipped.