Arrival, page 8
part #1 of Captured Earth Series
I don’t know if she realizes, but even though she just whispered those words, I’m pretty sure the aliens heard what she said.
But I force a brave smile at her.
I’m not scared.
I’m trusting my instincts here. Leaning on them.
And I…
I trust him.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend…right.
Right?
Chapter Twelve
ADIRA
My steps are shaky as I rise. I’m much weaker than I thought.
So much so that I almost stumble. But I catch myself in time.
I dart a glance at Fer’ro and he pulls his arm back.
He’d been about to touch me. To stop my fall, perhaps.
Those intent eyes of his are on me now, they never left, and I have to pull my gaze away as I face the water.
He’s not the only one watching me either.
They all are and I feel like some sort of spectacle as I walk on shaky legs toward the lake.
I stare out across it.
The surface glistens in the sunlight and you wouldn’t know what lies beneath.
The wreckage…the bodies…what’s left of the Feeders.
My lungs constrict at that thought and I glance behind me.
A chill goes through me at the many eyes directed my way.
At Fer’ro.
He’s still watching me too.
He’s so focused on me, I don’t know if he is aware of anything else around him.
This is a test.
He is testing me as much as I am testing him right now.
My so-called “hunting” skills are about to be graded. A sure indicator of my species’ strength—of what we’re capable of.
If I appear too weak…will they turn against us?
Will they judge us as unfit for…whatever they are here for?
I gulp at the thought and put one foot in front of the other and then another.
It’s silent as I walk. Eerily so.
Those of his kind along the shore stop to watch us go and the silence is unnerving.
There are no birds in the small amount of trees nearby. No signs of life anywhere.
Still, I continue on, my gaze averted as I keep my focus in front of me.
If the fate of humanity really depends on my hunting skills…
We. Are. Fucked.
I’m walking, or rather, limping for maybe a few minutes when I glance behind me and I jerk a little.
Fer’ro’s eyes bore into mine.
He’s still following me.
How can someone so big be so quiet?
I glance away quickly, suddenly aware of his gaze on my back.
Did I say I trusted him? Cautiously so?
I’m not so sure what I feel anymore.
But I’m a rational woman…right?
They haven’t hurt us yet. They could have harmed us while we all slept.
I gulp as I turn my head to the side a little and catch Fer’ro’s huge form in the corner of my eye.
I feel like prey with the way he looks at me. Not just him either…all of them.
It’s like looking into the emotionless gaze of an apex predator.
Some deep-set instinct within me is telling me to run.
Run, right now!
But my mind is wrestling with the logic of it all.
A breath shudders through me as I try to lean on the arm of reason.
Even if I run, he’ll catch me, and if he wants to hurt me, there’s nothing I can do to stop him.
I’m not in a power position.
Forcing away the fear that’s giving me heart palpitations, I continue putting one foot in front of the other.
I can focus on what I can control, and right now, I’m being given the chance to find food.
I’ll do my best to procure some for the three of us.
So, I focus on walking.
The shore of this lake is a bit rocky, which doesn’t help, but when I glance in the direction I’ve come, I’m surprised at my progress.
I’ve walked some distance away from Sam and Mina and, it may have been a subconscious effort, but I’ve walked away from where I think the orb fell too.
There’s a rocky area near the shore that leads into the water. Broken wood sticks out of the surface and some of the planks are still nailed together.
The remnants of an old pier.
I head toward it, searching for something I can use to try and catch some fish.
Shit.
I don’t even know how to fish with proper tools much less with what nature provides.
But my brow furrows as I search the ground.
I spot a branch as I hobble along and I grab it.
It’s about as long as a walking stick and thin.
I don’t have a knife so I use the next best thing I can think of.
My teeth.
Lifting the edge to my mouth, I bite and gnaw at the branch to sharpen the end as best as I can.
I huff as I work.
It’s hard doing things with one hand.
Behind me, Fer’ro watches. I see when he moves toward me to help but when I stiffen, he pauses.
I don’t know if he was trying to help or not.
I’m not so sure I want to get unnecessarily close to him.
By the time I reach the pier, the branch is pointy enough to poke something.
As I step upon the rocks and begin to hobble across the pier, there is a click behind me.
I pause and turn my head to the side so I can see him.
Fuck. What’s gotten over me?
I can’t even face him fully.
“That does not seem like a stable hunting spot.”
His voice is such a deep baritone that the inflection makes the words sound foreign to my ear.
But I nod. “You’re right. It’s not really. But it will hold.” I think.
He clicks at me again and this time I meet his gaze.
Secondary eyelids slip across his eyes before disappearing again.
The sight has me frozen as I stare at him.
“And if the female falls in?”
For a second, I don’t realize he’s speaking about me.
I blink at him.
He’s not moving at all. And I realize now that when he does move, his movements are measured and calculated.
As if…as if he is being cautious around me.
I frown a little as I glance down at the water.
It laps against the wooden pier peacefully and the sound is calming.
“If I fall in, I’ll survive.”
When I look back, those fire eyes are still on me, studying me, and his ears twitch as I turn and continue along the pier.
He doesn’t follow.
Guess he’s going to stay there then.
No problem. Having him so close unnerves me still.
I can get it done quicker too if he doesn’t come any farther.
Something moves on the rocks behind me that makes me pause, my gaze snapping to the location of the movement, and I turn to look just as a small bird hops on top of the rocks.
A robin.
Surprise makes me hold my breath.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. It’s the first animal I’ve seen in so, so long.
It’s a tiny little thing and I wonder what it’s doing all the way out here.
It looks at me, twisting its head in that strange way birds do, before it tweets at me.
Happiness fills me so much I choke on it.
But that happiness quickly diminishes as I see a dark shadow in the corner of my eye.
Fer’ro moves toward the bird, his arm outstretched.
“No!”
He pauses.
“It’s just a bird. Leave it alone.”
He eyes me.
“Please.”
“A…bird?” he says in that strange way of his.
I nod.
“A bird,” I repeat.
“Not sustenance?”
I gulp at that. “Yes…but no. I don’t want to eat it.” I couldn’t imagine killing and eating such a beautiful thing.
The bird tweets again and I watch the alien’s ears twitch with bated breath.
The little bird must have suddenly gotten the cue because it flies off.
I release a sigh and watch it go.
When I look back, the alien is staring at me so intently, I forget what I was doing before.
Oh.
Right.
“Hunting.”
Turning, I continue making my way gingerly across the broken pier.
The wood is rotten in some parts and a bit slippery but I will not allow Murphy’s law to get the best of me now.
As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I slip.
There’s a single moment of my eyes widening as I realize I’m going down and the next, there’s a strong hand against my back, steadying me.
My surprised gaze shoots to the alien who’s suddenly by my side.
How the hell did he move so fast?
My heart does a big thump.
I was right. He’s calculating his movements so he doesn’t scare me.
Why else?
If he can move like this…
Fuck.
Well, there goes my instinct to run away.
Now I just want to hide.
I straighten as soon as I have my footing, but not before his touch sends a lightning bolt down my spine.
“Th—Thanks.”
He doesn’t reply but his ears twitch toward me almost comically.
I turn from him and continue moving along the pier. More careful this time.
The wood creaks as Fer’ro follows close behind me.
I can still feel his eyes on my back and it’s making the hairs along my arms rise.
The pier leads into the water a fair bit and soon we’re standing over water deep enough for sizeable fish to be lurking in.
I crouch and Fer’ro watches me for a second before he copies me.
I find myself staring at him in disbelief.
He’s so huge, he looks funny crouching the way I am.
A nervous laugh huffs from my nose and his ears flatten against the side of his head.
It’s almost…adorable.
I snap my gaze away from his at that thought.
This is a being whose people destroyed a machine not even our missiles could take down.
There’s nothing adorable about a demon.
Trying to ignore him as best as I can, I eye the water.
It’s murky. I can hardly see anything.. But I grasp my stick and I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
My bones are aching and I’m about to give up when I see a fish.
It darts through the algae and disappears for a moment, it’s silvery skin appearing catching the light.
Grasping my stick tighter, I hold my breath, waiting to see it again.
And then I do.
There!
I’m so excited, too excited, that I shriek and stab my stick in the water too quickly.
There’s a hiss behind me.
Fer’ro.
One glance over my shoulder and I jerk back so hard I almost fall into the water.
Fer’ro has risen over me, his blades are out, spiking along his arms, and his lips are pulled back.
Wicked fangs are bared at me.
Shock, fear, has my breath stuck in my throat.
How stupid was I to venture away from Sam and Mina?
Right now, in this moment, I can see just how foolish that was.
Was this what he had intended from the start? Had he just been waiting till we were alone to attack me?
To eat me?
But the aggression the dark alien is expressing lasts only a second.
He stills, and the blades retreat but it takes a few more moments for his mouth to close and conceal those wicked teeth of his.
Gulping hard, I don’t move.
What the fuck was that?
I’m almost too scared to look away from him.
If I look away, will he try to attack me again?
But something flicks at the end of my stick so hard, I almost lose my hold on it.
A fish.
A small one but a fish nonetheless.
I…I caught it?
The little victory catches me unaware and I realize I’d had no faith I was going to catch anything at all.
I’m not sure if I want to laugh or cry. What happens is a sob of happiness and fear that lodges in my throat.
Through the corner of my eyes, I notice Fer’ro’s blades rise part way as he watches me and I promptly silence myself.
I can’t tell if he’s about to attack me or not.
Maybe he’s like one of those predators that attack when you’re not looking.
For that reason, I keep my gaze on him as I pull the branch toward me.
It’s pierced right through and the fish flaps, trying to get off it.
Fer’ro watches the fish move.
“Sustenance?” he asks.
“Yes.”
He stares at it before he stands.
“You are a good hunter,” he says.
That sob that’s lodged in my throat constricts the muscles there.
Is that it?
Have I passed the test?
FER’RO
The fire crackles under the morning star that blesses this planet.
Er’th they call it. Hyu’mans they call themselves.
Strange designations that Adee’ra exposed when I asked them of her.
They required the fire once more, though their star has risen.
I obliged.
I lit it for them on top of the embers that had died the night before.
I am as surprised as my brethren when Adee’ra pierces the sea creature with another stick.
At first, I think she is simply doing so to make it easier for her to tear into its flesh.
But then, she stretches it over the flames, turning it periodically.
Ga’Var bristles and I hear a few discontented clicks from the others.
They have gathered near to watch her…prepare the meal.
At the sounds we’re making, Adee’ra glances up at us and pauses.
She looks back at the meal then at us again.
“Do you want some?”
Not one of us moves.
We cannot respond.
She is asking…all of us this?
Every single hackle on me itches to rise.
For a moment, I forget that she is not Vullan. She has no idea of our customs.
But it seems Ga’Var has completely forgotten for he thrums and I hiss at him.
Adee’ra pales and I am immediately regretful.
I do not mean to scare her.
I scared her earlier too, while she hunted.
But that time, I was simply surprised by her battle cry.
I reacted involuntarily.
Ga’Var ignores me and takes a step toward her.
Anger flares within me immediately and my hackles rise.
“No,” I click.
He stares me down. “Why rekking not? She has offered.”
My teeth clench so hard I have to ball my fists to prevent my hackles from rising farther.
If Adee’ra sees me in my true fighting form, any progress I have made with her so far will be lost. And…I do not know why I care about losing this progress so much.
“She does not know what she offers. Stand down.”
Through the corner of my eye, San’ten steps closer. “It doesn’t matter. We cannot oblige anyway. Look at them. They are weak, feeble, beings. A mating with one would certainly break its bones and kill it.”
Ga’Var glances at Adee’ra and the mere fact he is looking her way, contemplating it, sets me on edge.
“She is not Vullan. She is not inviting you to her feathers.” I pause, waiting for my words to sink in. “Adee’ra does not know that offering you sustenance is an invitation.”
Why should I have to explain this?
It should be clear to him.
I sense that Adee’ra stiffens at the sound of her name.
She and the other female exchange glances but Ga’Var isn’t backing down.
“Um,” her voice seems to still the air around us. “We can share. It’s not a problem.”
My gaze falls to her then to the sea creature. Its outer skin is being roasted by the flames and I cringe a little at the loss of nutrients.
It is already dead.
Why is she killing it again?
But what I focus on is the fact the thing is so small.
It will hardly feed her and the two other females, yet she is innocently trying to share it with us.
I sense when Ga’Var backs down the moment his shoulders relax.
“It is fine, little female.”
Adee’ra pauses a little.
It is the first time someone other than myself has spoken to her. I hide my surprise. Ga’Var’s ba’clan have assimilated the language too. Shortly, the others will follow and we will all speak the language of this land.
“You eat, Adee’ra,” I say to her as I grip my womb mate by the shoulder and pull him away.
Chapter Thirteen
ADIRA
I don’t know what the hell just happened.
I stare at Fer’ro’s back as he almost hauls his friend toward the water.
The others still sorta hover around us but I am getting used to their presence.
Slowly.
It doesn’t seem like they want to share the fish. I never expected them to, but because they are hovering, watching, it was rude not to offer.
Either way, more for us.
The fish is small anyway, but it’s better than nothing.
“It looks so good,” Sam murmurs, her mouth practically watering.
Mine is too. I have to swallow several times so I don’t drool over myself.
“It smells even better,” I almost moan.
One of the aliens, the dark-eyed one, makes a click that’s sort of high-pitched and I’m beginning to sense it means disbelief.
I’d heard it when I offered them some of the fish in the first place.
I almost chuckle.
It’s obvious they think the fish is gross.
Well, their live spaghetti is worse.
“Think it’s done?” I ask Sam. I was never a good cook but the way I feel right now, I could have probably eaten the fish raw.
