Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

If this is a rescue, I don’t like it.

I woke to the floor vibrating beneath me. The sensation sent an ice shard right to my heart, and I froze, unable to move. For a moment, I smelled the stench of too many bodies crammed together, heard the sobs and cries of terror, and felt the overwhelming dread that I was going to die. That this was it—my last moment alive.

My arm throbbed in time with my rapid pulse, drawing my attention from the uncomfortable memories. I took a deep breath, trying to force myself to move, but my limbs were locked in place as a sense of helplessness filled me. I was stuck. Once again, I was stuck and going somewhere else. I tried to take deep breaths, but my lungs didn’t want to cooperate and my pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out the vibration.

A pulsing throb went through my arm, and I focused on that. The pain. It was so clear and real. No shadows. No guilt hiding beneath the memories. No panic. Just my body telling me I’d been injured. Straightforward.

I drew in a huge gulp of air, then held it before releasing it. I did it again and again, then one more time. Slowly, my pulse settled, and I shifted. Moving was possible. First things first, I checked my arm. A jagged white cloth stained with red was wrapped around my arm. Red. Blood. I blinked, trying to collect my scattered thoughts.

What had actually happened, and where the fuck was I?

The cabin around me didn’t say much. I was on the sole bed in the room. The walls were metal, though far nicer than anything I’d seen on Xome, and there were plenty of panels that looked like they popped open for storage. Besides the recessed lighting and a small monitor, there wasn’t anything else.

All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks. That fucker. The purple drakcol had cut me with his claws and kidnapped me. He’d fucking abducted me. Twice now I’d been taken by aliens. Why couldn’t people stop kidnapping me?

One second, I was on the reasonably comfortable bed, and the next I was in a heap on the floor, groaning. The ship lurched again, sending me sliding across the floor and into the wall, making me yelp. I scrambled to my feet, tangling in the silky blanket, and smacked into the wall; blood coursed over my lips and tears rushed to my eyes. Swearing, I gingerly pressed my fingers against my nostrils to stem the tide from what I guessed was a broken nose.

What the hell was happening?

I slid again, hitting the bed, though the mattress cushioned the blow. I forced myself to my feet and scrambled to the doorway. Crashing into the walls, I rushed down a tight corridor that opened into a cockpit. The white-haired drakcol was at the controls. He peered back at me, his deep green eyes wide while his slit pupils were narrowed.

“Ah, human, you’re awake.”

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, voice calm, as the ship squealed and lurched again.

“We're under attack.”

“No shit.” I could’ve figured that out myself. I slammed into the wall again, my shoulder screaming from the impact. Where the hell were the stabilizers?

The shuttle jerked, and I staggered, hands landing on the alien’s shoulders to catch myself. He didn’t even react, and his fingers continued flying over the controls.

“Who’s attacking us?” There was no way Agk was coming after me. He didn’t care enough. I was a product to be used and thrown away—nothing more, nothing less.

Vince. God, I’d left him behind. I had to go back for him.

The drakcol pushed me toward the stool beside him. “Xoi. They are after this ship or me. I’m not sure which, and they didn’t bother to tell me when I politely asked.”

“Why would they want you?” I asked, then paused, finally recognizing him. “You’re that racer.”

The drakcol gave me a wide smile that made me frown. He blinked like it was unbelievable that someone didn’t like his smile. The ship jolted, and he pressed buttons faster.

“Dontilvynsan,” he said, and at first I thought it was his name, but another drakcol appeared on the monitor.

The behemoth with black scales and purple hair stared at my drakcol. “What’s going on?”

“I’m under attack.”

The ship groaned, and I swore. I was getting rescued by a maniac, and I was going to die because of it. Not starvation. Not being sold to a restaurant. Not exposure. Not being ripped apart in the fighting ring. No, I was going to die because some drakcol decided to “save” me, then mounted a piss-poor rescue.

I was past the point of caring, though fear did zing through me at my imminent demise. Besides, wasn’t this exactly what I deserved?

All that I truly regretted was leaving Vince. He would never know what had happened to me, and I couldn’t imagine Agk being kind about one of his slaves wandering off. What would he do to Vince?

“Where?” the new drakcol demanded, voice deep.

“Sent you my coordinates.”

“Why are you in Xionian space? You should not be there.”

“I found a human,” my kidnapper said.

“What?”

But there was no time to answer. A purple vortex appeared in front of us.

My kidnapper shouted, “They opened a slipstream. I can’t veer out of the way.”

“I will come for you, Serlotminden,” he said. “We will always come for you. You must hold on. Promise me.”

“I promise,” Serlotminden replied right before we went through the vortex and everything went dark.

The ship stretched and creaked. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. Everything was happening and nothing was happening, then I released a huge breath as space returned to normal.

“Slipstream. Not comfortable,” Serlotminden said. “My first time.” His fingers tapped on the buttons and screens, then he yanked on a yoke. “I have no idea where we are, but we need to leave. Now. Because the other ship is right behind us.”

“You need to take me back. I did not ask to be saved.”

“We can’t go back.”

“I left Vince.”

“Vince?” he asked with a growl.

“Another human.”

He didn’t respond, because the ship lurched as our pursuers continued to attack. I grunted, struggling to stay seated. The stool didn’t have a back for some weird reason, making it difficult to stay on, but it did have arms that I clung to like a cat confronted with water.

The ship veered as Serlotminden did his best to flee the xoi who were hell-bent on pursuing us.

“Why do they want you?” I asked.

“I’m a prince, and this is a very nice shuttle. Newest model. My brothers gave it to me.”

“So they plan to ransom you back?”

“Maybe. Or this is simple theft.”

“Perfect,” I said.

Speaking wasn’t possible any longer, because the ship kept jolting and bumping from the barrage. One of Serlotminden’s hands flew over the controls as the ship moved in a nonsensical pattern while the other controlled the yoke with practiced motions. I kept falling out of the seat, even as I braced against the console in front of me, trying to stay on.

Suddenly, everything went red, and a blue silhouette of a drakcol said in a monotone voice, “Engine failure is imminent. Shields are at ten percent.”

Serlotminden glanced at me, and I recognized the expression. We were going to die. I sighed, terrified and yet oddly relieved. I was tired and the weight of everything I’d done was like rocks strapped to my back. Finally, it was over. I didn’t have to carry anything any longer. I didn’t have to hear the screams anymore.

He angled the nose of the ship toward a planet, sending us into a death spiral as flames licked the metal. “I’m going to try to set us down.”

“My name is Bartholomew.”

“What?”

“If we are going to die, I want you to know it. I don’t want to die alone.” I met his gaze. “I’m Bartholomew Reginald.”

“Serlotminden.”

The ship shrieked as we spiraled to a no doubt fiery death.