Chapter Three #2
Now might not be the best time to ask, but she couldn’t help herself. “Where did you come from, and why are you helping me?” She gnawed on her bottom lip to stop her chin from wobbling. Great, her shivers were taking over. “What’s in it for you?”
Azazel paused and turned to face her. For a moment, the sharp planes of his face softened. “I’m here because it’s the right thing for me to do.”
Well, wasn’t that just a dandy non-answer? She’d like to believe him. Really, she did. Maybe living in LA and working in the movie business made her distrustful of everyone, but trust was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Not here, and certainly not yet.
Another clang rang out, closer this time.
He grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him as he drew his katana in one smooth motion.
The blade gleamed in the dim light, a promise of both protection and danger.
“Stay behind me.” His voice was low but commanding.
Toni swallowed hard, her heart pounding as she did as he asked. She might be skeptical as all get-out concerning him, but she wasn’t stupid. Even if he was sent to betray her, hiding behind his hard, muscular, warm body was as good a place as any.
Now if only she could quell the spark of something deep inside her that urged her to trust him. No way. That stupid something could just shut the hell up.
Azazel tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana as they moved through the incubation room.
The faint hum of the crystalline walls matched the steady pulse of his frustration.
Toni’s sharp remarks and her reluctance to trust him grated on him.
Son-of-a-lilit! What he wouldn’t give to stop everything and address the growing mistrust creeping between them.
It’d make things so much easier. Maybe it’d help calm her the constant shivers.
Perched next to him on his shoulder, JR14 clicked his front metallic claws.
“Observation: subject human female named Toni exhibits recurring signs of mistrust toward primary organic. Probability of this hindering cooperative efforts: 72.3 percent.” His voice came out cool and analytical.
Azazel’s jaw tightened. Great, his unemotional bot picked up on the apprehension she harbored about him. With his gaze fixed ahead, he muttered, “Thank you for the insight, JR14.” Tack that info onto the expanding list of problems making this rescue damn near impossible.
The pods lining the walls cast eerie shadows, and their contents flickered like ghostly specters. Behind him, Toni’s teeth chattered.
Her breathing was shallow, her steps hesitant as she trailed behind him.
He stopped and faced her. His lips flattened as he studied the blue hue on her full lips.
She skidded to a halt and stood there, shivering, her jaw quivering and her arms wrapped around her waist.
Damn it! He’d better do something. This damn place was as cold as a refrigerator.
“Here, put this on—” He whipped his tunic off and handed it to her.
“—or you’ll freeze to death.” He’d rather conjure up a warm jacket with soft insulating fur, but he didn’t dare use his psychic powers.
That would be a sure way to get caught by the Krystalii.
Toni clutched the fabric close to her chest as she watched him with wide eyes.
“Won’t… don’t you need it? W-won’t you be c-c-cold?” Her voice caught.
Moving close to her, he tilted her chin up and looked into her cornflower-blue eyes.
He couldn’t resist feeling her soft skin, but the brief touch served a more important purpose: it allowed him to send her a drift of warmth to overcome the onset of hypothermia in a way that wouldn’t alert the Krystalii.
“You don’t have to worry about me.” He took the material from her clenched fists and pulled it over her head.
It was so big on her that the sleeves covered her hands, and the hem went to her knees.
“I’m used to the cold.” Plus, he could regulate the temperature of his body to keep himself warm. He sent another brush of warmth her way. “Now, don’t fall behind,” he admonished before he turned around.
“Aye-aye, mon Capitaine,” she muttered.
At least the quiver was gone from her voice. But Azazel couldn’t help but catch the stress in her tone as she masked her fear with sarcasm. He smiled as the tension in his shoulders relaxed. Sarcasm he could deal with.
She reminded him of his younger brother, Arakiba, who did his damnedest to irritate him with his vast arsenal of sardonic nonsense all the time. It was how his brother dealt with fear or when he was unsure of something. That experience allowed him to relate to Toni using it.
And he respected her strength and her refusal to crumble under the weight of the madness she found herself in.
He grimaced. It gnawed on him that she expected him to betray her.
If only he could enter her mind to show her the real person he was.
If he could do that, it might ease some of her worries.
Too bad that wasn’t a good idea on this ship with so many psychically strong Krystalii.
They’d have no trouble picking up the energy he’d have to use.
Not for the first time, he questioned how humans relied just on conversation to communicate with each other.
It was one of his least favorite ways to relate his intent since speaking didn’t only involve words, it also required the right body language and tonal nuances.
By itself, it was fraught with inadequacies and misunderstandings.
But, for now, he’d better focus on finding them a safe harbor or somehow get the Sub-Node to work again. And communicate with her the best he could with what he had. “JR14?” he whispered. “Where’s the nearest exit?”
The spider-like AI scuttled ahead, and the radiant orange in his multi-faceted eyes scanned the room.
“Proximity analysis indicates a corridor at the far end of this chamber. However, activity levels suggest a high probability of Elite patrols within adjacent pathways.”
“Fantastic,” Toni muttered from behind him. “So we’re either stuck in here with the pods of doom or we play hide-and-seek with crystal bad guys. Great options.”
Azazel glanced over his shoulder with a slight smile. “Hebat, I am sure we will uncover another probability.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms. “Oh well, in that case, I’ve got nothing to worry ‘bout.” She tapped her forefinger against her chin.
“I’ll just ignore the fact that I’m trapped in an alien ship with a guy who talks like he stepped out of The Epic of Gilgamesh. What does that word even mean?”
For a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched, but he suppressed the wide grin that threatened to burst free.
“It translates to ‘Lady of the Skies.’ I am impressed you know your ancient Babylonian history.” While he wasn’t from that civilization, it amused him when he discovered how much that culture had taken from the alien Akurns.
“Yeah, well, watching Ancient Aliens has its perks.” She gestured to the rows of pods. “Let’s talk about these things, okay? Are they going to... hatch or something?”
“Unlikely,” JR14 interjected. “Current energy readings show dormancy. Activation requires specific external stimuli.”
Azazel exhaled. Back to the key problem, getting out of here. They needed to reach either the rendezvous point or, if lucky, the shipping dock to grab a spaceship. “Let’s not take a chance that we do something to wake them up. If we move quickly, they won’t become a problem.”
Trusting Toni would follow him, he turned and walked ahead of her.
He heard the silence as she hesitated, but soon her footsteps echoed against the crystalline floor behind him.
It was easy to sense her eyes on him, as if she was trying to decipher whether he was her savior or her doom.
Her unspoken doubt weighed on him. He swallowed a sigh.
JR14 clicked his limbs, his voice cutting through the tense silence. “Alert: Proximity sensors detect movement within 30 meters. Suggest evasive maneuvers.”
Azazel spun and scanned the chamber, searching through the low light.
The faint shadows of the pods shifted, the hum of the ship growing louder.
His grip on the katana hilt tightened as he turned to Toni. “Stay close behind me,” he ordered, his voice low.
“No argument from me,” she muttered, stepping closer. Her tension radiated off her in sharp waves, like static before a storm.
The sound of crystalline footsteps echoed through the chamber, growing louder with each passing second.
Azazel’s senses sharpened, his mind calculating their next move. They couldn’t afford to fight here—not surrounded by dormant Krystalii pods. One wrong move, and the entire room could come awake. “JR14,” he said, his tone clipped. “Options.”
“Recommendation: Proceed to the ventilation shaft located five meters ahead. It provides a direct route to an unmonitored sector.”
Azazel glanced at the far wall, where a faint outline of a vent was visible. “Can you open it?”
“Affirmative.” The AI’s iridescent wings fluttered out as he zipped forward with mechanical precision.
Toni grabbed his arm, her nails digging into his skin. “What happens if we don’t fit in it?”
He met her gaze, his expression calm despite the tension crackling around them. “We will.”
Her lips parted as if to argue, but before she could, a sharp, metallic clang echoed behind them.
Azazel turned sharply, his katana raised as the first shadowy, Elites appeared at the chamber’s entrance. “Go!” he barked in a harsh whisper, pushing her toward the vent JR14 was connected to.
Toni scrambled toward the bot, her movements clumsy, but didn’t hesitate.
Azazel followed close behind, his blade glinting in the dim light as he kept his body between her and the advancing Elites. “JR14, hurry!” he snapped as he reached the vent.
The AI’s eyes flickered from their orange color to pale blue. “Access complete. Proceed.”