Arrival, page 13
part #1 of Captured Earth Series
The medic looks down at Mina and then at her belly.
He stares at it for so long before looking back up at Fer’ro.
Fer’ro stiffens and I get the sense they are having some sort of conversation that I cannot hear.
“What’s happening?” Sam whispers. “Why is everyone just staring at each other?”
“I think they’re talking to each other,” I whisper back.
Fer’ro’s ears twitch at my words. I think I’m right.
“Do it,” he says and my gaze flies back to the blue-eyed one.
I watch as he glances at me and Sam and then back at Fer’ro and I don’t need a translator to guess what he’s saying.
“We want to stay. We’re not leaving her.”
The medic looks at me then and he clicks something at me.
“It is…dangerous, Adee’ra.” Fer’ro’s voice washes over me like a thick wave and I don’t realize I’m holding on to his arm until I feel his muscles flex. “For your safety and for Sa’am’s, you should wait outside. Ga’Var will take you to private quarters until the med bay is free again. You also need medical attention.”
I shake my head at him. Nothing’s been more dangerous than the past few days, weeks, months?
I trust Fer’ro. I know he will do what’s best for Mina, but like every other human on this planet, all we have left are each other.
I cannot leave her.
Sam senses when I stiffen and she steps beside me. “I’m not going anywhere either.”
Her eyes are wide as she stares at the medical tools and I see when she gulps.
The medic clicks again, his gaze on Fer’ro and even in his slitted alien eyes, I get the sense that he is saying, “fine, it’s their choice. I tried to warn them.”
I grip Fer’ro tighter as the light brightens some more and the medic takes out something that looks like a sharp blade.
With a quick movement, he sets the blade against Mina’s skin and flicks his hand upward.
What’s left of her dress rips in two and falls to the side.
Her belly is exposed for all of us to see.
There’s a growl and a hiss to the side, and San’ten’s blades rise.
Mina’s belly is even bigger than I realized and I slap a hand over my mouth. Her skin is stretched so much that I can see the network of veins underneath it.
Something moves underneath her skin.
Something big. It distorts her belly somewhat, as it swims.
Knowing what’s in there, I don’t know how I do it, but I manage not to throw up at the sight.
I feel Fer’ro stiffen again and then he is turning and sweeping me off my feet.
“Wait!”
A sense of utter betrayal suddenly sweeps through me as Fer’ro moves out of the room.
Before Sam can respond, Ga’Var is doing the same to her.
“I am sorry, Adee’ra,” is all I hear as Fer’ro moves far too quickly into the corridor.
The last thing I see before the doors close behind him is the medic lifting his blade.
Chapter Twenty-One
ADIRA
I’m slamming my hands against him, my curses echoing in the hallway as Fer’ro moves into another room and sets me down.
“What are you doing? I’m not leaving her in there all alone!”
With that psycho, I want to add.
I try to brush past him but he holds me still.
“No,” he growls. “We have waited too long. It is far too mature to expose you to it.”
My shoulders heave as I look up at him.
“What do you mean?”
“There is no time to explain.”
He hits something on the wall and the wall disappears into a transparent shield.
“Whoa,” Sam mutters.
Across the shield, I can see Mina on the table, the medic still over her.
I step forward, pressing my hand against the shield. It’s solid, like glass.
He’rox hasn’t cut her yet. He is looking in our direction and I realize it’s not a one-way mirror.
He can see us too.
Off in the corner of the room, is a tall being with so many spikes I almost do not recognize San’ten.
He is completely distorted with the multitude of blades around him.
My breaths are still coming hard as my heart thumps against my chest.
“Are you sure it’s okay for him to be in there?”
Fer’ro bristles beside me. His suit actually moves.
“No,” he says.
Not the answer I expect and my eyes widen. “What do you mean? Why is this so dangerous?”
Fer’ro’s gaze flick to me. “I have to go back, Adee’ra. One or both of my brethren in that room will not be safe.”
I blink at him. I don’t understand why they’re being so ominous.
What could be so dangerous about something that should, essentially, be a baby?
“You stay here. This room is secure. You will be safe. And…when that thing comes out…do not let anyone who has been in that room inside.” He pauses. “Even if we beg.”
I glance at Sam but she is now as terrified as I am.
I manage to nod at Fer’ro and he pauses again as he looks down at me.
At that moment, I want to hang on to him because I feel something is about to happen that I won’t like.
I open my mouth to say as much when he pulls his gaze from mine and turns.
Ga’Var follows him out the door and as I watch them leave, the ba’clan pulse against my arm.
It’s a warm feeling, as if they are trying to comfort me and I brush my other hand against them.
“Adira?” Sam calls my name and I move over to where she is standing, arms crossed, in front of the barrier.
Fer’ro and Ga’Var are back in the room and their focus is on the medic.
I wish I could understand what they are saying because they’re obviously discussing something critical.
That’s when Fer’ro’s blades suddenly rise all around him. So does Ga’Var’s and I know enough now to understand that means they feel threatened or are about to attack.
The medic brings his blade down, slicing through Mina’s skin and blood fills the table.
I’m frozen as I watch.
It’s too much blood.
They can’t let her bleed out.
There is a sick pulsing in her stomach and I hold my breath.
“What are they waiting for? Why don’t they take it out and kill it?!”
I can’t take the suspense. It feels like I’m about to go into cardiac arrest when something moves fast, so fast I almost don’t see it.
It falls to the floor and I have a moment where I see gray.
The Gryken.
It’s huge!
There’s a moment where I see its blurry form before chaos explodes in the room.
The medic is wheeling Mina away to another room whose door was an invisible rectangle in the wall, while Fer’ro and the others…
Someone smashes into the barrier right in front of me and I jump.
“Fer’ro!”
His back is to me while San’ten is to his front, his teeth bared, his blades all extended.
I don’t understand what’s happening.
And where is that fucking thing? The Gryken.
Somewhere in the back, Ga’Var is tearing the room apart. I think he’s trying to find it, while Fer’ro is desperately trying to hold San’ten off, even though San’ten looks like he’s about to rip his throat out.
Every slash San’ten aims his way, Fer’ro dodges but without aiming an attack on his own.
He’s playing defense, but San’ten looks crazed.
His claws extend and he swipes at Fer’ro, drawing blood.
A scream leaves my throat as that blood splashes against the barrier, painting it a deep, dark red.
I can’t see anything, but it’s not because of the thick blood slowly dripping down the wall in front of me.
I can’t hear Sam’s deep intake of breath as she stares transfixed. I can’t see Ga’Var ripping the room apart in the background.
I can’t even see San’ten as he aims another strike.
All I can see is Fer’ro.
I watch as the scene plays in slow motion before me.
He dodges another attack as San’ten aims for his throat.
The sharp blade misses by an inch and pierces the wall in front of us.
Fer’ro.
Against my arm, the ba’clan pulse in a rhythm that beats with my heart.
Fer’ro!
He manages to throw San’ten across the room and the dark-eyed male collides with the wall.
San’ten falls to the ground but he’s not down yet, for he’s rising again.
I’m staring at them, wondering what the hell is happening, why San’ten is trying to kill Fer’ro, when something comes sailing through the air, right at me.
I jerk backward instinctively but whatever it is doesn’t reach me.
Instead, it lands on the barrier right in front of me and all I see are sharp teeth sticking into the barrier itself as huge dark eyes meet mine.
I’m staring into the eyes of the enemy and God knows, it’s terrifying.
The Gryken screeches at me.
Even with the barrier there, the sound dampened, I can still hear it.
Its six limbs are extended and it catches itself as it slips to the floor to stand on them.
“Holy fuck…” Sam whispers.
Its rows of teeth clamp down and open again.
Its face is wicked.
All I can see is pure evil.
I want to look away, but…I can’t.
There’s a dark blur in the background as San’ten rises once more and rushes toward Fer’ro.
I only have a moment to scream his name before Fer’ro moves in the opposite direction, away from the male charging at him.
He moves so fast, it’s hard for my eyes to keep track.
Smooth. Efficient. He flips in the air, going airborne as he dodges San’ten.
At the same time, one of the blades on his arms extends as he descends.
The Gryken screeches again, just before Fer’ro’s blade pierces through its skull.
The body goes limp and dark blood splashes against the barrier, mixing with the blood already there.
My heart is in my throat now.
What the hell just happened?
Fer’ro is staring at me through the barrier, those lava eyes of his engulfing me. And then he…collapses to his knees.
I don’t know what gets into me.
I just have the sudden urge to get to him.
My arm pulses, as if his ba’clan are telling me something, and then I’m darting from the room.
“Adira?”
I can’t even pay attention to Sam. I just have to go.
I press my good hand against the side wall where I assume the door is but nothing happens.
Something tells me to try the other, the one with the ba’clan, and I do.
The door materializes and disappears. In the next second, I’m running through the opening, heading back to the med bay.
As soon as I enter the med bay I stop in my tracks.
The whole room is destroyed and San’ten is standing before me.
But his blades are retracted now and he’s standing, staring at Fer’ro.
“What have you done?!” My scream hits him and he turns to look at me.
I should be afraid.
I know I should be. Instead, I’m running into the room, my feet taking me toward the one thing that’s calling me.
This strange alien male who in on his knees facing the barrier.
Fer’ro’s blades are still out and the Gryken is still pierced on the end of one of them.
“Fer’ro?”
I crouch before him, but his gaze is unfocused.
“What have you done to him?!”
At my words, San’ten takes a step closer.
“Stay away! Don’t you come any closer!”
My hands hover over Fer’ro’s face.
He isn’t responding at all.
His eyes are open, but it’s like he’s not there.
San’ten clicks something but I’m too filled with emotion to care to try and understand what he’s trying to say.
“It’s the Gryken,” Ga’Var finally says and I realize he’s bloody too.
He’s covered in his own blood.
The Gryken must have attacked him when I wasn’t looking.
“What do you mean it’s the Gryken?”
At the thought of the thing, I glance at it and swallow hard.
It’s hideous.
But it’s dead now.
“The moment it detached from its host, it sensed danger. It needed to protect itself.”
“I do not understand.” I’m still staring at Fer’ro, my gaze falling down his face, his body…
When I glance back at his face, he blinks and I feel a sense of relief.
“Fer’ro?”
I didn’t realize tears filled my eyes till my gaze grows blurry.
“San’ten was not himself,” Fer’ro says. “Forgive him.”
His voice sounds so strained that the anxiety within me doesn’t calm. “This,” and he shakes his arm and the Gryken’s dead body moves, “this was controlling him.”
The Gryken falls off Fer’ro’s blade and slips to the floor with a sickening wet slop.
“What?”
San’ten takes another step forward. He clicks something at Fer’ro.
“It’s only a small wound. You couldn’t help it,” Fer’ro says.
I look at his chest. I cannot see the wound. The suit covers it but the blood against the barrier told me enough.
My chest is heaving as my breaths take a while to slow down.
“Mina,” I whisper.
As if hearing me, the door off to the side opens and He’rox stands in the way.
He clicks something to Fer’ro and Fer’ro answers back.
For a few moments, their conversation fills the room until He’rox disappears behind the door again.
A lump forms in my throat.
“Where’s Mina?”
“Mee’na is well. But it will take days for her body to heal, even with our technology.” Fer’ro’s gaze engulfs me once more. “He’rox says your kind does not heal as quickly as we do.”
A breath I didn’t know I was holding shudders through me.
“I want to see her.”
Fer’ro rises and he staggers a little.
Whatever San’ten did must have hurt him a lot.
I cast an angry glance in San’ten’s direction and his ears twitch before falling back to press against the sides of his head.
Fer’ro moves over to the wall He’rox is behind and presses something in the wall.
Another transparent barrier appears before us and I see Mina…floating above a table.
She is completely naked but there’s not a wound in her belly anymore.
Just a line where her skin has been stitched together.
“Mina…” I whisper.
“She will heal,” Fer’ro says. “We got the Gryken out just in time.”
I stare at her and I feel myself relax a little as I see her chest move.
She’s breathing.
“Just in time,” I whisper. “What would have happened if we…weren’t so lucky?”
“That thing would have birthed itself and used her for its first meal.”
The thought makes me shudder.
What sort of being birthed itself?
Only something extremely terrifying.
I’m still staring at Mina, my hands pressed against the barrier when Fer’ro turns and clicks orders to Ga’Var and San’ten.
He moves away from the barrier and I hear him talking to them before the room goes silent.
I don’t realize we are alone till I glance behind me to find Fer’ro blocking my way.
My gaze moves up his chest to meet his eyes and his ears twitch when I meet his gaze.
“Thank you,” I say and his ears twitch again.
“He’rox will examine you next,” he says.
I glance back at He’rox and I find him watching me through the barrier.
It’s unnerving how the Vullan stare and my spine stiffens a little.
I don’t trust any one of them enough to be alone with them.
Fer’ro is the only one…
I turn back to him, turning this over in my mind.
“I feel fine. These,” I lift my arm with the ba’clan still attached to it, “seem to be helping. I know they’re only on my arm but my whole body feels a little better.”
His ears twitch again. “He’rox will need to look at that too. It is not…usual.”
I gulp as I nod and glance back at He’rox.
“Maybe later. I want him to focus on Mina. She needs all the attention she can get.”
“Then you should rest.”
“What about Sam?”
I’d rushed out of the room, leaving her behind, but when I cast my gaze to that side, I can’t see her waiting there.
“Where is she?”
“My womb mate has taken her to private quarters to rest.”
“Ah.” I nod again and end up folding my arms across my chest.
It’s been so much high-anxiety over the last few hours that now that it’s slowed down, I feel at a loss.
“Come,” Fer’ro says, and then he’s leading me from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
FER’RO
Adee’ra’s scent has changed.
I do not think she is aware of the change at all and I do not know what it means.
The moment she rushed into the room, I’d smelled it.
She rushed in…for me.
Despite the danger San’ten had posed, she’d come anyway, fierceness on her face and in her voice.
Just like a Vullan female when protecting a nest.
I do not know what this new scent means but even while in pain, I have to focus on stifling the thrum threatening to burst from my throat.
I wonder if Ga’Var and San’ten smelled it too.
It wasn’t her fear scent.
That scent is mostly gone.
She doesn’t fear us as much as before.
She doesn’t fear me.
Again, I have to stifle a thrum at that thought, and as I lead her to my quarters, I try to focus on what is ahead of us.
