Chapter 31
Holly
Waking up was gradual – the gentle ascension from a deep and luxurious sleep. The kind that left you feeling like you were back in the warmth and perfect comfort of the womb. Nothing hurt, everything was warm and snuggly, and her mind was peaceful.
Which was why she was surprised when she opened her eyes to see not her ceiling or Romival’s, but instead the white, sterile tiles of the healing center accented by the cream-colored glow of the three healing rings encircling her bed.
“What…”
Oh. Right.
She turned her head to the left and saw Alanna yawning as she stretched and Hattie rubbing her eyes as they woke up as well.
Then, she looked right and saw Scarlet was already sitting up, her rings at the head of her bed, deactivated, while Peony sat beside her, both of them watching her with smiles on their faces.
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Peony greeted brightly.
Holly grinned back as she sat up, the movement automatically deactivating the rings and causing them to dart up to their station at the head of the bed. “Isn’t Sleeping Beauty supposed to be woken with a kiss?”
“That can be arranged,” Scarlet grinned while Peony turned to the door and yelled-
“Romival! Holly wants to see you!”
The door slid open immediately and Romival walked in. His face a tight mask of concern that lifted slightly when he saw her.
“You’re awake,” he breathed, crossing the room to her bedside as Atem walked in, Donivi just a step behind him.
“Hey.” Holly smiled at Romival, holding out a hand that he immediately took, holding it to his chest as he looked her face over.
Then, to her confusion, he pulled her lower lip down and inspected it.
“’at are you looking ‘or?” She asked, the question a bit mumbled.
“Making sure the blue is gone,” he growled, releasing her lip and instead caressing her cheek. “You feel all right? Nothing hurts?”
She shook her head, leaning into his palm. “I’m all right. What happened?”
It was Atem that answered, giving her a summary of what occurred after she had smacked the cupcake out of Peony’s hand. By the time he finished, the others were fully up as well, sitting on the edges of their bed, frowning seriously.
“This will not happen again,” Atem promised, looking each of them in the eye as he said it to impress upon them the seriousness of his vow. “Havali is changing the protocols for food inspection. Making it more stringent. You all will be safe, I guarantee you.”
“Right when we had my ‘eat more food’ intervention too,” Hattie said, trying to make a joke. But only the girls laughed. Romival, Atem, and Donivi still looked serious.
“Holly.” Atem saluted her, fist to his chest, surprising her. “You have done me a great service and honor by saving my mate and pup.”
Holly felt herself blush as she shook her head. “You don’t have to get all formal about it, Atem. We’re family. Family looks after each other.”
“Aw, babe!” Peony drew out the word happily. “I love you, too!”
Holly laughed, but, again, the guys were unaffected.
“Ask anything of me and it’s yours,” Atem said, still stiff and stoic.
“Stop, Atem!” Holly protested, looking to Peony for help.
Peony chuckled, jumping off the bed. She threw her arms around Atem, grabbing his fist and forcing it away from his chest.
“You’re making her uncomfortable,” she said. “Family doesn’t trade favors. We give them away.”
Atem was frowning, using the hand she had grabbed to cover her stomach and its tiny bump. The baby in her belly. The one that Holly had helped protect with her actions. And Holly understood that, for him, she had done something more than just a familial act of love.
“Atem, really, don’t worry about it.” She smiled at him, crossing her legs as Romival stroked her back gently. “You or Peony would have done the same for me. That’s what it means to be a family. A clan. Right?”
Atem reached out and covered her hand with his, giving her a soft smile. “I am unworthy of you. My brave, human sister. But I will not forget this.”
Holly chuckled. “Just don’t beat Romival too badly when he comes to claim me, all right?”
Romival stiffened beside her, and she realized what she said too late. Before she had a chance to do anything but turn red, he was wrapping his arms around her as Atem chuckled.
“I’ll beat him an appropriate amount,” her alien brother promised as Romival growled in pleasure at her acceptance of his intentions.
She wouldn’t have been surprised if he challenged Atem right then. By the gleam in his eye, he might very well have done so.
Except his combot started chiming.
He waved his hand in the air, gesturing for the comm to connect without turning away from her with a hungry look that made her shiver all over. She had a feeling she was going to get rewarded very well for the offhand comment. She was looking forward to it.
But then Romival, Atem, and Donivi all started growling. It wasn’t their affectionate or sexy growl either. It was angry and violent and shocking. Not just because Holly had never heard that sound from Romival, but also because she had never heard Donivi growl at all.
When she lifted her eyes, she understood. A cold wash of fear rushed through her body as her breath caught and, reflexively, she pulled back. The creature on the holodisplay wasn’t really there, but just seeing that reptilian face was enough to make her heart skip a beat.
Ratchi were reptilians that looked like dinosaur people.
They had an elongated snout rimmed with sharp fangs covered by thick, stiff lips.
The one on the comm now was dark green, darker than the green of the ones that had originally kidnapped her.
This one was also bald whereas the ones that had her before all had hair-like quills.
“How did you get my comm signature?” Romival asked, snarling his fury.
The ratchi laughed – a hissing sibilant sound that made Holly tremble.
She wasn’t the only human affected either.
Hattie, Alanna, and Scarlet all drew back as though the creature was in the room with them.
Only Peony leaned forward, glaring viciously.
But Peony had always been the bravest among them.
Holly, however, was a coward and she couldn’t handle being near even just a light recreation of a creature that probably wasn’t even anywhere nearby.
“Who are you?” Romival growled as Atem approached. The Dominani wasn’t growling. He was glaring fiercely, but he was silent. Like he was sneaking up on her. From the direction he was coming, she wouldn’t be able to see him.
“Sizuka Hassrana. Remember it and give it to your Dominani. Tell him that I will be taking everything from him as he did from me!”
The voice was a bit high pitched, and Holly realized that this ratchi was female.
Her features were certainly more sensuous compared to the blockier features of the males.
Holly was just barely used to people with three eyes and tails.
She definitely wasn’t able to read the reptilian species that were part of such a traumatic memory for her.
The domini had assured her that all ratchi weren’t bad, and she was pretty sure it was some flavor of racist to believe they all were, but that didn’t change the fact that she only had bad experiences with ratchi.
It wasn’t helped that the female was glaring with obvious and harsh malevolence.
“Tell me,” she smirked, “how many of our prizes did we kill?”
Holly trembled. She hadn’t understood at the time, because no one had bothered to tell them anything when they had been abducted, but she and the other humans had been gifts intended to be given to the clan, the clavas, of their kidnappers as part of a coming-of-age thing.
Ratchi, when they became adults, had to prove it by going out and either performing a great deed for their clan or obtaining something incredible for their clan.
In their case, the gift had initially been Atem, stolen when Atem had been betrayed. However, when they tried to drop through subspace back home, they had messed up their navigation and ended up near Earth where they decided to just grab a few humans as prizes as well.
And according to this female, Sizuka, they still considered them prizes.
But Romival smirked back at her, unaffected by her bragging. “So sorry, female, but your plan was a complete failure. All of the vora vakara have survived. You have failed.”
The angered surprise that flashed across her reptilian face told Holly that Sizuka genuinely believed she would have been successful, and she had wanted the chance to brag. She recovered quickly though, fixing a grin on her face that was only slightly strained.
“That’s all right. Just means I get to think of new and more painful ways to get rid of them.”
Romival opened his mouth to respond, but she was already gone, the comm ending with a blink of light. Immediately, Atem was growling again.
“Track it,” he snapped at Romival.
But he was already working, his comm display up as his fingers moved rapidly through a series of motions and screens Holly had no way of recognizing.
“Atem.” Peony called to her mate, a clear warning in her tone.
He turned to her, his expression strangely calm, even his growl fading. Totally innocent and all the more suspicious because of it.
Holly understood what was happening. Romival had already told her that the ratchi clan that had originally captured them were coming for revenge.
In freeing themselves from them, they had accidentally sicked Atem on them.
And since he killed them, in a way, they were responsible for their deaths.
Others from the same clan, seeking revenge, had come after Atem and failed, losing their lives in the process.
And now, the rest of the clan was coming for more of the same.
Specifically targeting the weak, fragile humans.
Only, when Romival told her about it, he had given her the impression that he had things completely under control.
That she wouldn’t have to worry. She hadn’t even thought to tell the others because she had been more worried about Hattie, and Romival had spent a good half an hour promising that she was safe.
Holly was recovering from the surprise of being poisoned. She hadn’t yet had the time to wonder what happened or why. Realizing that it had been a deliberate act and not an accident sent a chill down her spine.
She knew the ratchi were coming for them again, but the other girls didn’t. And Peony was now glaring at her mate’s back.
Romival growled, annoyed, bringing her focus back to him. “Lost it. I was only able to track it to the city.”
“Which one?” Atem asked, looking like he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it said out loud.
“This one. Calvitorum.” Romival banished his holoscreen with an angry swipe of his hand. “They’re somewhere in the city. Or under it.”
“Tell Havali. It’s his job to secure the city. And he’s doing a poor job of it,” he snarled, fangs glinting in the light.
“Atem.” Peony crossed her arms. Her glare deepened. “Explain yourself.”
Once again, his aggression faded as he faced her. Her eyes narrowed on him along with Scarlet’s and Alanna’s.
Romival ducked his head and instead paid attention to Holly, suddenly very interested in making sure she was okay as Atem explained what was going on. An explanation that ended with Peony demanding to know why he hadn’t told them before.
He actually looked surprised when not wanting to worry your pregnant mate turned out to not be a suitable explanation for the omission.
“Can we go home tonight?” Holly asked once the pair had finished making up. They didn’t stay angry at each other for long.
Donivi, who had just finished checking them all over once last time – including Peony who hadn’t even been poisoned – assured her that they could.
“Just be cautious. I don’t know the poison perfectly. If you experience any further symptoms, come back immediately.”
They promised they would as Romival and Atem began to gather them together.
“Can I go to Romival’s tonight?” Holly asked, hating how much it made her sound like a teenage girl asking her father to go out.
But she knew it was the right thing when both Atem and Romival smiled at her with approval and gratitude. Right before Atem fixed Romival with a hard, suspicious glare as Romival did his best to look completely innocent and trustworthy making Hattie and Alanna snicker.
“You be careful with my sister,” Atem growled, a real threat in the sound. It wasn’t just the posturing that a lot of men did when in similar situations. Holly had no doubts that Atem would come for blood if something happened.
“I would never allow harm to come to her,” Romival promised, equally serious.
Holly and Hattie shared a grin. Something warm tickled her chest at the realization that Romival’s promise wasn’t not to hurt her himself. It would never occur to him to need to make such a promise in the first place.
“I’ll see you tomorrow for second meal,” Atem said to Holly, smiling at her one more time before glaring again at Romival as he led the others out.
“So, quick question,” Holly looked to Romival with a smile. “Just how long is Atem going to hate the sight of you?”
“Until I claim you properly,” he smiled back warmly. “And thank you for conforming to our customs. I know it’s difficult for you.”
“Just weird,” she shrugged. “Makes me feel like a kid again.”
Romival held out his hand for her to take so he could lead her from the room. “You’re sure you feel all right?”
“I’m fine. Not even tired.”
“Why would you be tired?”
“I don’t know. I feel like you’re supposed to be tired after something like that.”
“I suppose, if you healed naturally, you would. Luckily, you have access to modern medical technology now.” He grinned when she laughed. “Still, you won’t be doing more than resting when we return to my den.”
“What?” She cried plaintively. “That’s not fair. Someone else gets poison happy and I’m the one that’s being punished?”
He chuckled. “Just for tonight. I need to watch you carefully. You can work on your nest instead.”
She started laughing, surprised not just by his suggestion but also by the barely concealed glee in his face when he made it. “Are you going to stare at me the entire time like you want to eat me?”
He smirked, fangs glinting, assuring her without a word that he most definitely would.
The idea of a man watching without helping while she made the bed had no business seeming that much like foreplay.
But she also couldn’t wait to see how far she could push it before she made him lose that resolution to not have sex with her tonight.