Sienna, page 5
She was dozing when Gray finally returned, a bowl of steaming hot food in his hands. Bongo trotted inside beside his master, the dog looking at Sienna, then back to Gray, and to Sienna again.
“Ready to talk yet?” Gray asked her casually.
She sat up on the bed, shoving a hunk of hair from her face while she blinked to focus on him. “What do you think?”
He sighed heavily. “That’s a shame.” He slurped up some noodles, the scent of garlic and meat saturating the air. He held up the bowl. “These noodles are super tasty. If there’s one thing I can say about Earth, it’s how good their food is.”
Her stomach compressed. She might have stuffed herself stupid last night, but she’d been sporadic for too long with her eating habits. Her calories were still too low. Skipping breakfast and now lunch was already leaching away whatever energy she’d made from last night’s meal. “You know my terms,” she said tightly.
“And you know mine,” he returned succinctly.
“Then I guess we’re back to a stalemate again.”
He slurped up some more noodles, closing his eyes as though in great satisfaction before he tipped the bowl up to his mouth and he drank the liquid remains. “Guess so,” he said with a shrug. Then he pivoted and stalked back to the door. “Let’s go Bongo.”
But the dog instead sat and whined, looking up at Sienna as though he didn’t want to leave her. Gray snarled a little, acting more animal than Bongo.
“I see where your loyalties lay now, Bongo,” he said, then slammed out of the bedroom as though he was a child with his toy taken away from him.
Bongo whined again and Sienna grinned down at him. “I think I’ve just found your master’s weak spot.”
Her victory was short-lived. Within hours her stomach was rumbling, and not even the chemical water she drank made her feel any better. She bent with cupped hands, allowing Bongo to drink some more of that water she caught.
She dried her hands on her pants. “I’ve got to find a way out of here.”
Striding out of the bathroom, Bongo trotting alongside her, she went straight to the window, flipping aside the net curtain before she began trying to peel away the screen from its frame. Impossible! It was some kind of a thick mesh security screen that was screwed down inside the frame.
She peered through it. It was easy to see why he’d chosen this house. With the house situated up high, a treed valley sloping away below, his pair of wings would be perfect for a quick getaway. He’d be able to glide a great distance and beat anyone on foot.
She sighed heavily at the drop below. A pity the same couldn’t be said about her. Even if she could take off the screen she’d never survive the fall in her human form.
But what about in your primary form?
Her breath shuddered out. Could she find the strength to shift shape? At least then she’d also have a good chance of breaking through the screen.
She stepped away, the net curtain falling back over the indestructible screen. Either way, it was too late in the day now to risk escaping. She’d wait until after Gray came in with dinner, taunting her to eat, then she’d slide into a full bath and shift into her primary shape.
Chapter Eight
It was dark outside, pitch black thanks to the thick clouds Sienna had seen building in the sky, covering any light that might have otherwise shone down from the heavens.
She stopped pacing to glare at the locked door. It was obvious Gray had decided not to visit. So what was he trying to do? Make her wish for his company as much as something to eat? Huh. If he thought for even one second she’d give into him for a couple of bites to eat and the so-called pleasure of his company, he could think again!
Leaving Bongo fast asleep on top of her bed, she stalked into the bathroom and turned on the bath taps. Then shutting the bathroom door, she flicked its lock across for good measure. Gray might have seen her naked in her human form, but she wasn’t about to let him see her naked in her Strazanian form.
If she could even manage to shift.
She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the half-filled tub. Her nose wrinkled at the unnatural, chemical odors that wafted up with the steam. It was so unlike the natural purity of the Great Waters. With a heavy sigh, she lowered herself into the water.
She wouldn’t think about the manmade substances in the water that made her weak while any nutrients made her strong. It was a double edged sword. She was damned it she did, damned if she didn’t.
Closing her eyes, she slid completely under the water, focused now on shifting into her primary form. She frowned when absolutely nothing happened. She usually only had to step into the river and her scales began to form, the webbing between her fingers and toes growing without thought.
But then the river had all the nutrients her body needed, while the bathwater was questionable at best.
She pushed back sudden panic clawing at her insides and instead concentrated harder, the outside world then fading away as her one of her bones snapped and reformed, then another and another. Her muscles stretched and remodeled, and her fin pushed out from her spine while her green scales shimmered as they surged all over her body.
Joy suffused her from the inside out. She’d done it! She’d actually shifted into her Strazanian form! She didn’t bother pushing her head clear of the bathwater, not when her gills were more than capable of breathing underwater. It was pure luxury to stay wet, to stay fully submerged, as long as she didn’t dwell on the chemicals she also bathed in.
Tinkle. Splash. Trickle.
It took her a second to realize the bathwater was overflowing. She surged up and out of the water, reaching for the taps then to turn them off before she pulled the plug free, the drain gurgling as water drained away.
She bit her bottom lip as she eyed the waterlogged, tiled floor. Gray would have quite the mess to clean up. She pushed a hand to her mouth. At least it might distract him from chasing after her. With any luck she’d be miles away from—
Clank. Clank. Clank.
She inhaled sharply. No! She didn’t want Gray to come into her bedroom now. If he saw her in her primary form he’d immediately know what she was up to and her chance of escape would be null and void.
The bedroom door creaked opened before Gray entered the bedroom, his soft tread stopping in front of the locked, bathroom door. “Sienna, are you okay?”
She pushed to her feet and climbed out of the tub, not bothering to dry off. “I’m fine,” she said flatly.
He exhaled roughly. “Are you ready to talk?”
“No.”
“I don’t want you going hungry.”
She stepped closer to the door, glad her voice was still relatively the same despite her different form. She put a hand over the talk-stone in her brow, making sure he couldn’t see its bright green glow under the crack in the door. “Are you telling me you’ve found a conscience?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not a monster. I don’t want to make you suffer.”
She sighed, wishing she could believe him. But of course he’d say or do anything to make her compliant. “I don’t want to talk to you right now...maybe in the morning I might feel differently.”
His impatience emanated through the bathroom door. “I’m sorry, Sienna, I don’t have that long to wait, not anymore.”
She didn’t have time to react, but it was instinct to step aside as he kicked the door in before it slammed against the wall. It was probably just as instinctive to then jump, spin and kick as he stood gaping at her in all her Strazanian glory.
Then her foot connected to his face and she sent him flying backward. He hit her bedframe with a clank, making Bongo jerk awake on her mattress and jump to the floor. She raced out of the bathroom door and through the opened bedroom door, Bongo hot on her heels. Slamming the door shut, she threw the bolts back into place.
It was stupidly satisfying when his fists thudded against the door, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Sienna, don’t do this, I beg of you. We’re running out of time.”
“I have all the time in the world, asshole.” She glared at the door, imagining Gray on its other side. “Enjoy your vacation.”
She patted Bongo on his head then strode jauntily down the hallway and away from her prison, only vaguely aware of the closed door of another room next to her own. She passed a lounge room to her right, with its polished wooden floors and gray modular lounge. The dining room was next, with its round table and cream-cushioned chairs.
It wasn’t until she saw the interconnecting kitchen that she stepped inside it, opening the pantry then to rip open a packet of corn chips and shoveling a handful into her mouth. She continued eating them as she left the kitchen to enter the master suite.
Walking into the closet, she selected a long black T-shirt and dragged it over her head. It would have to do, at least it was long enough to cover her extremities.
Shoving some more corn chips into her mouth, she dropped some on the bedroom floor for Bongo, then tossed the packet away. Pushing open the front door at the end of the hallway, she stepped out onto the landing, with its stack of stairs that led to the ground floor.
Another chorus of bangs sounded on the door in the bedroom where she’d been held hostage, then she was running down the stairs, Bongo once again on her heels as he followed her with excited yips.
Shit. She couldn’t do much about the dog. She had to escape before Gray got out of the room and came after her again.
It wasn’t until she got to the ground and saw under the house with its concrete slab, where solar lights lit up the perimeter in a soft glow, that she spied an old fashioned pushbike with an open basket on the back. Was this Gray’s mode of transport?
She didn’t care. It was perfect for her to make her escape. A bike was a whole lot faster than being on foot. She was only glad for the solo-riders she’d had as a child on Strazan, before she’d been shipped off to the Royal Academy for the Gifted, like she’d been nothing more than fodder to keep the rest of her family wealthy.
She winced. She refused to think about her family now. They’d sold her out, plain and simple. Thanks to her rare powers she’d been worth a mint, and her family had gladly cashed her in. Her parents had sent her away with nothing more than a cursory hug and a few guilty goodbyes.
She pushed the bike out from beneath the house, following the concrete driveway toward open gates. She couldn’t help but note the absence now of the banging on the doors. She stilled, and looked up at the bedroom window. A shadow filled the security screen, a large male form standing at the window with wings outstretched, a small noise then reaching her ears.
Shit. He was undoing the screws to the screen.
She needed to hurry.
She climbed onto the bike and began pedaling, getting a feel for riding once again as she turned onto the side of the road and followed it, Bongo running beside her. She glanced at the dog, the bike wobbling under her uncertain grip. “Bongo—home!”
His tongue lolling out, he turned to her, and with a joyful bark, he leapt through the air and landed in the basket behind her seat. She wobbled some more, his extra weight unbalancing her. Then she righted the bike and pedaled hard. She didn’t have time to stop and force Bongo out. She needed to get as far away from the house as possible.
The road sloped downward and she stopped pedaling with the downhill run. A handful of cars roared past, their bright headlights make visibility almost impossible thanks to the glare. That she had to put a hand over her talk-stone, reducing its fluorescent light, didn’t make things any easier. But at least she wasn’t using up more of her energy, keeping balance was her only concern.
The road ahead divided and she turned right, following the downward trajectory that would eventually lead her back to the river. It was also the fastest route away from Gray.
She wouldn’t think about the fact he could glide through the air after her, and might appear in the air overhead at any second.
That he must have carried her for miles uphill to take her to his house only showcased his strength and endurance. A shiver skittered down her spine. He’d make a terrible enemy. If he caught her again there’d be no mercy. He’d force her to talk by any means possible.
Another car swished past, the driver honking the horn at her audacity riding on the side of a highway at night. She only hoped her uncovered scaly arms and legs weren’t fluorescent green under the headlights.
Bongo woofed, reminding her that he was a passenger, and no doubt enjoying every second of the ride. She might have found it exhilarating too, with the cool night air blowing through her hair and under the long T-shirt to her bare skin beneath. Except this was her last ditch effort for freedom, everything was on the line, including her life.
It wasn’t until she sucked in a deep breath of air that was tinged with river water that she laughed with heady relief. She might actually make it! She might actually get to the safety of the river to escape both Gray and the Dronians.
Shit. She sucked in another, far more horrified breath. She was still in her primary form! The Dronians might pick up her energy output and possibly track her down. But she didn’t have the strength or the time to shift back into her human form. She had to get to the river and mask her true self.
The road flattened out ahead, forcing her to pedal to keep her momentum going. Bloody hell. When had her fitness levels tanked so drastically?
It’s not your fitness. It’s your lack of nutrients from too little food and even less time spent in the river.
The road came to a T-intersection, forcing her to choose left or right. Except, straight ahead, past a thick strip of grass, her Strazanian vision made out a dark ribbon of water.
The river Dahrt.
Gladness left her giddy and even weaker, and she stopped pedaling so that the bike cruised slowly to a stop on the other side of the road. Bongo jumped out and panted exuberantly, life to him in that moment just one big adventure. She shoved the bike onto its side in the tall, concealing grass.
“Let’s go,” she said to Bongo with a wry grin.
She pushed under a barbed wire fence and then ran toward the water. She was almost there, her breath heaving in and out of constricted lungs, Bongo galloping beside her, when a winged shadow swooped overhead.
Gray.
She scowled. He wouldn’t stop her this time. She ripped off his borrowed T-shirt, running faster and harder before all but freefalling over the river’s bank before she gained foothold, took two more running steps, then dove through the air and hit the water hard, allowing it to envelop her.
Chapter Nine
Gray landed lightly on his booted feet, his outstretched wings helping to keep his balance. After folding his wings shut behind him with a snap, he turned around just in time to see Sienna dive into the water, her green fluorescent scales and her talk-stone lighting her up in the river and making her easily visible with his superior vision.
Except he’d lose her fast once she swam into the deeper water, where the river’s murkiness would conceal her.
Bongo raced over to him with a whine, his distress clear.
Gray pulled off his human clothes. “Don’t worry, she won’t drown.”
The dog cocked his head to the side and whined again, as though uncertain whether to believe him.
“Stay, Bongo. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And he’d have his prize with him, one he didn’t intend to lose a second time.
He left on his boots and under-armor. The special hide and sap repelled water, ensuring his under-armor and boots wouldn’t get heavy and waterlogged. He ran hard toward the bank, his arms and legs pumping, then he threw himself over, taking note midair of the fluorescent green that was quickly fading away in the water.
Diving into the murky water, he wrapped his wings around his torso, reducing any drag and enabling him to cut through the river like a torpedo. Only once he’d slowed did his wings stretch out and beat through the water like a manta ray.
Sienna probably didn’t know it, but his species had adapted to water and were able to move through it with considerable speed, much faster than any human. If Sienna didn’t suspect his swimming ability, he might actually catch her by surprise.
His only weakness was his lungs. Though he could hold his breath for much longer than a human, he didn’t have gills. He’d have to come up for air eventually. For now though, he had enough oxygen to follow the luminescent green, he just had to stay in stealth mode and hope she had no idea he was closing in on her.
A glint of iridescent green deeper in the river ahead made his pulse surge. She was slowing down! Yes, she was diving deeper, but she clearly felt safe now and was probably just enjoying absorbing the river’s energy and imagining she was alone with just the many fish and other aquatic life for company.
His wings swooshed silently in the water, pushing him through the water with ease. If only it had been half as easy to convince Sienna to tell him everything she knew. Time was now of the essence and he didn’t want to hurt her by forcing the truth, but he would if it meant saving his people.
Not just his people, entire galaxies of sentient beings would be wiped out if Sienna stubbornly refused to talk. Without her knowledge, his people couldn’t possibly devise a way to protect themselves and fight back.
The Dronians had to be destroyed at all cost. A shudder rippled through him. He would despise himself for having to hurt Sienna, but there was no other option. He’d tried to be civil and had asked her nicely, but it’d been a waste of time, a gamble that hadn’t paid off. He was less a bounty hunter now and more a soldier; he had no choice but to be ruthless.
His world and his people could no longer afford for him to be Mr. Nice Guy.
It was enough that he was burning up what little bit of oxygen he had left in his lungs to drive forcefully through the water. Sienna was right in front of him, lying motionless in the water, her green talk-stone now glowing a gentle light while her eyes were shut.
