Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Meet-cute at first tackle.

Eventually, I wriggled out of Serlotminden’s hold to inspect the crabs. He grabbed me, tugging me back.

“No, they’ll hurt you.”

Mindy was worried about me—to an extreme level. I didn’t know what to think about it, but it was probably how drakcol were. Or maybe it was him. He’d been protective of me since the beginning.

“They don’t seem aggressive,” I commented, successfully freeing myself from Mindy’s arms. I crept closer and crouched. The rock-crab shook slightly. I patted it, and oddly enough, it began to calm. Slowly, it unfolded, and I swallowed my immediate rising terror. The creature looked like a crab, a rock, and a spider had a baby. I choked back the urge to scream and met the crab’s distended eyes.

It studied me for several long seconds before ambling to the river. The other rock-crabs followed suit until the bank was free of them.

I stood with a slight smile. “See?”

Serlotminden held out an insistent hand for me. I shook my head, but interlaced our fingers. He was being ridiculous, but this was a stressful situation, so he was allowed a certain amount of leeway. Besides, at the end of the day, I quite enjoyed how overprotective he was. It made me feel safe… and cared for.

We continued to explore the riverbank in search of something to eat. My gaze kept moving to the waving fronds on the trees. The icy blue leaves never stopped moving. Something about the writhing movement captured my attention and made my stomach churn.

The world disappeared around me as a memory surged. The fight ring back on Xome. The creaky benches. The metal rivet floor around the dirt ring. The rancid smell of death, piss, sweat, and puke. Vince was holding my hand in a vice grip as two people fought in the center. One was a massive garganlic who worked as a guard for Agk. The other was a slight human male that had been brought by his owner.

My eyes had closed, but nothing blocked the screams or the coppery scent of blood as the guard played with the human like a cat played with a bug. On and on the fight continued until the crowd released a disappointed cry. I peeked, and the human was flat on the ground, thrashing as his mouth opened and closed, but nothing but blood came out.

His movements grew more frantic like he was suffocating. No one stepped forward to help him. Vince and I clutched each other, unable to look away, as Agk called for bets on how long the human would last. It felt like an eternity, but I doubted it was more than a minute or two.

When he was dead, Vince and I dragged him to the incinerator. Neither of us said a word—we didn’t know his name, let alone anything about him. What might we have said? He was a human who had been alive, but then was dead.

We burned him to ash along with all the others. All the others who haunted me, asking why I was alive when they weren’t. I didn’t know. I had stood passive and watched them die. I probably deserved to be ash while they breathed.

“Bartholomew. Bartholomew.”

I jerked. Serlotminden was staring at me. I responded, “Yeah?”

“Are you alright? You didn’t answer me. My Flower, are you ill? Cold? What is wrong?”

I breathed through the past and filled my thoughts instead with him—his smile, his petrichor scent, his radiating warmth. “I was thinking about the past. I’m fine.”

His worried expression didn’t change.

“You worry too much about me.”

“Not so.”

“Yes, so.”

I continued along the river, hugging myself as I avoided the sharp brambles. He followed behind me, getting further away than before, but not enough to concern me. Mindy was searching for something for us to eat, but I don’t know what he was expecting—a deer to wander by and let itself be shot? We weren’t exactly being quiet. Traps or snares would work better, not that I’d made either before.

My mother Charity had tried to teach me—she was big into camping and hunting—but I drew the line at killing animals.

Though apparently not sentient people .

Brutally, I shoved the thought away and moved further from the river, looking at the trees and bushes for berries or fruit. That seemed easier. As long as we saw animals eating them, we’d probably be fine. Or maybe Serlotminden had a device that could tell if it was poisonous?

One second I was standing, and the next I was on the ground. My back and hips throbbed as lights flashed behind my eyes. Blood filled my mouth and my chin hurt terribly. Serlotminden yelled my name before breaking off into his rough language.

Something huge was on top of me, squeezing the air out of me. I wanted to thrash, but I was stuck in place by the massive weight. I tried to inhale, but nothing came in. Black dots filled my vision, and my lungs screamed for air, but they weren’t able to inflate.

There was a lot of yelling. Whatever was on me was snarling too; I felt their body vibrating. The thing was covered in light fur and dense muscles, and they were warm, warmer than Mindy.

My head whooshed while a crackling static filled my ears. I was going to pass out. It was coming. If I didn’t get to breathe soon, I’d faint, and there was no way in hell that was going to happen. Serlotminden might need me. My panic was strong, though, and it was freezing my muscles in place and filling my mind with fluff. Even if I wasn’t crushed by the ginormous thing on me, I wasn’t sure if I’d actually be able to move.

Finally, the weight lifted off me, and I took in a sputtering breath before coughing.

God, nothing had ever felt better.

As suddenly as I was knocked to the ground, I was lifted up. An alien, the one I’d spotted earlier, or one of the same species, held me in their arms before tossing me over a broad shoulder, letting me see their toned ass covered in a fur loincloth. So I was captured again. How the fuck had this happened?

Serlotminden snapped in his language, and the alien screamed right back. I didn’t think they understood each other, but I was pretty certain they were threatening each other. Mindy was probably brandishing his blaster while the other alien was lifting their club.

The other alien gripped my ass, and I scoffed. Are you fucking kidding me? Was I giving off an air for people to touch me? I wasn’t even that attractive, especially right now. I was scruffy, skinny, and dirty. But most of all, I was done. Done with everything.

The panic that normally froze my muscles vanished under waves of anger and frustration and most of all rage. I rammed my elbow into the alien’s ear. He screeched, and I fell. The air whooshed out of my lungs when I crashed into the ground, the hit reverberating through my bones. My back throbbed, and my hips weren’t that happy with me either. Serlotminden rushed toward me, but the alien lifted a massive club, swinging it. Mindy dodged, skidding backward, before lifting his blaster and calling my name.

I crawled on the ground toward Mindy, but the alien swiveled in front of me, barring the way. When he reached for me, I tried to slap him away, but terror filled every cell. This alien was going to take me, and who knew what would happen then. My breath sped up and sweat trickled down my spine as my thoughts clouded into a tangled mess.

An orange beam smacked into a tree, making me jolt and sending bark raining down. Serlotminden. He was still fighting for me. He would always fight for me. Of that I was certain.

The alien whipped in Mindy’s direction and crouched, as if he was about to attack.

I tried to breathe, move, or do something, but panic and pain twined. My spine and hips throbbed, my chin burned, and every movement sent shards of glass through my veins.

The alien launched at Mindy. They were at least a foot, maybe even close to two feet taller, and they were muscle on top of muscle with four fucking arms, but Mindy held his own, clawing and punching the other alien. He kneed the furry alien in their stomach, making them huff. The alien smacked Serlotminden in the side and drew a shriek from Mindy.

His injury. No . I forced myself to my feet, ignoring the pain in my back. I froze. No, not this time . Fear was normal, but Mindy needed help. I refused to be passive again. I refused to watch anymore when I was able to do something to help.

Move, Bartholomew Reginald , I ordered. Now!

Mindy cried again, and I snagged the club from the ground, the weight making my arms and shoulders scream, but it didn’t touch me. All I focused on was that this alien intended to hurt my Serlotminden, then take me.

Never again. I was not getting fucking abducted again.

I swung the club like a bat and hit the alien in the back. The shock went up my arm, but I refused to focus on the pain and hit them again. Serlotminden kicked the alien off, scrambling to me.

Blue blood escaped from the alien’s wounds, but they growled at Serlotminden, who flared his wings and returned the favor. I lifted the club, unable to think or hear or process anything by the all-consuming fear that I was going to be taken once again. My shoulders shrieked, and I swore I felt a popping tear, but in my panic, I didn’t feel any pain.

I stepped in front of Mindy. “Mine, fucker. Back off.”

I tried to lift the weapon again, but my fingers gave out, and it crashed to the ground. Burning began to rip through my awareness, sending tears to my eyes and making my breath jagged.

The alien stared at me, not approaching, then glanced at Mindy. They said something in a soft rumble and held out one of their hands.

An invitation.

Serlotminden yelled in his language as his tail thrashed, nearly smacking into me, and he hooked an arm around my waist, which drew a gasp from me. He instantly released his hold.

Panting, I said, “No. I don’t want you.”

The alien grumbled, upset, though their gaze kept flicking to Serlotminden as they proffered a hand, beckoning. It was almost like they were trying to warn me away from Mindy. We took a step back, and the alien followed, tense. They weren’t going to let me go. How did I tell him I was safe? That I wanted to stay with Mindy.

An idea formed, but I didn’t think it was a good one or fair to either of us. In fact, it was an asshole move. Mindy was taken. There had to be another option, but my brain struggled to conjure one. I was in horrid pain, exhausted, and terrified. This was all I had.

“I think they’re worried you’re going to hurt me.”

“They are the one who hurt you,” Serlotminden barked. “I should shoot them.” But he hadn’t, because I truly thought he didn’t want to kill another sentient creature, which this alien definitely was. Mindy had morals. The thought hurt, and yet comforted me at the same time.

“I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.

I turned around, clamped onto the back of his neck, and crushed my lips to his.