Chapter 12
Alex kicked her heels aimlessly. Although the dining area was sunk into the floor much like the bed was to give the Seshanamitesh occupant plenty of space for their massive tails, she felt like a toddler at a picnic table.
Even her ass didn’t fit right on the bench.
She felt as if she were constantly about to slip right off the edge as she absently peeled apart the insect she had skewered to the table.
It was perhaps not the best location for her little autopsy she was conducting in a fit of boredom, but the table was always thoroughly cleaned before meals.
“You’re a nasty little fucker,” she informed it as she peeled away its massive, hooked mandibles.
The view didn’t get any better. Removing them only revealed the hideously large, serrated teeth-like structures that rested just beneath a pair of tarantula-worthy fangs half the length of her pinky.
Possessing a black, thorny body structure, every inch of it looked hostile, right down to its vivid orange wing casing marked with blue bio-luminescent spots designed to warn off predators.
It was not an insect to try one’s luck with.
That coloring went straight to its wings which had glowed with a light that shimmered from its delicate structures while it was alive.
“Your wings are pretty though. It is always the pretty ones that will eat you alive,” she mused with a little chuckle.
Quite literally, if she wasn’t mistaken about what appeared to be signature features of a predatory, flesh-eating alien insect.
She was in the process of peeling off the murder-bug’s most appealing feature when a loud commotion from the tunnel leading out from the nest drew her up short.
She paused, her hand freezing in the air in front of her as she tipped her head and listened.
A hissing murmur of quiet voices drifted up the tunnel.
And not one of those voices recognizably belonged to Therxian.
There was someone entering the nest! And not just one someone.
Alex reacted instantly as she half twisted-half rolled from the bench, yanking free the needle anchoring the insect in place.
It slid from the table with a wet, sloppy sound and landed with a rustling crunch, but she didn’t spare it so much as a glance as she ran over to the bed and made a running jump for the pile of cushions.
She scrambled over them as the rasping sound of several tails undulating over stone grew louder with their approach.
Rolling into her hidey-hole, the entrance hidden by shadows and numerous piled cushions and furs, Alex pressed against the stonework, her cheek resting against the cold rock as she peered through the small fissure that allowed in air.
It didn’t provide her with much of a view of the room, and the muscles between her shoulders bunched anxiously.
“Over here. Place the platters along the table,” a spring green male ordered, his tail curling around him in a way that suggested superiority over whom he was talking to.
“Be quick about it.” He suddenly paused, his body angling.
His gaze fixed on something on the floor for a moment before lifting to the slimy smear on the table.
He grimaced, his sharp teeth baring with displeasure.
“Someone, clean up that disgusting mess.”
A slender male passed through her field of vision.
She didn’t see where he went, but it didn’t take a genius to know that he was cleaning up the remnants of the dead insect she had been meticulously pulling apart.
He moaned in dismay over the wet, crunchy sounds of the bits of insect being gathered.
“Therxian is in a mood again,” he observed, and the supervisor grunted in agreement, his gavo twitching.
“He could have at least refrained from killing a prized dolvu. They are expensive to acquire. What a waste,” the supervisor sniffed.
The other male grew quiet, indicating a brief halt in his activity. “This... this appears to be matriarch Zara’s dolvu. She was quite proud of it. I believe it disappeared just yesterday while she was preparing to depart following the gathering.”
Alex grimaced. Oopsie.
The supervisor hissed. “So do not tell anyone. The last thing the palace needs is more trouble because of the blood males of the royal line. First it was that one returning with a human, and now this one is determined to bring the wrath of the noble matriarch council down on all of us. Just bury it somewhere or drop it in a crevice far from here. And bring the food in already. He will be returning soon. It all needs to be ready.”
The other male murmured in agreement, and the soft sound of him retreating was quickly followed by the rolling rasp of several Seshanamitesh converging toward the table all at once.
Alex rolled her cheek a bit more to the left, pressing harder into the rock until finally the others filed into view around the same time a mouth-watering aroma crept through the nest. Her mouth fell open slightly in surprise as one by one, a small army of small males of various hues hurried by, each carrying a large bowl or platter filled with food that they set down before hurrying away.
And the food just kept multiplying well beyond the usual fare that Therxian seemed to enjoy.
“Holy shit, they are like food faeries,” she whispered to herself, and she immediately pressed a hand against her mouth when the inspector froze, his head slowly turning.
The male’s gavo lifted slightly, and then he huffed to himself about some kind of infestation as he gave the food one last go-over before leaving just behind the departing males.
Alex remained in her hiding spot for several minutes, just to be on the safe side, but when it appeared that no one was going to make an unexpected entrance with another dish, she slowly emerged, sniffing the air.
She gave the room one last scan and relaxed as she zeroed in on the table laden with delicious offerings.
Her stomach gave a hungry growl in response, and she stumbled across the bed, tripping on pillows in her headlong flight toward the table.
Slipping into the sunken dining area, she nearly collided with the table if not for her hands catching her on the table’s edge. She hovered there for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut as she breathed in the delicious aroma. Inhaling deeply, she moaned softly on the exhale.
“Fuck, that’s good. What the hell is the occasion?” she murmured as she glanced along the table, looking for some kind of visual clue as to what was going on.
Not a damn thing.
Her fingers twitched, and she licked her lips as she stared down at the platters.
She should really wait. She clasped her hands firmly behind her back in an attempt to discourage her immediate inclination to indulge in temptation.
She didn’t know what the food was for. Or if it was even safe to eat.
It was a far better idea to wait for Therxian to arrive.
He would certainly know something about it.
Her willpower was strong. Her ability to withstand all trials was absolute. Her strength was... was that a bonbon?
Alex blinked down at a large round of something that looked suspiciously like chocolate.
It wasn’t, of course. There was no way Seshanamitesh had chocolate on that hellhole of a planet without word getting back to a single human.
She would commit unspeakable acts of murder for chocolate at that moment.
In fact, it looked so much like chocolate that she was willing to chance it.
It certainly smelled rich and sweet in a way that appealed to that part of her that had PMSed for far too many years without a decadent morsel like that.
Such luxuries were seldom brought in by Darvel to their colonies.
And even less so to Raza when it was still a colony.
When a shipment of chocolate did finally arrive, the supply was priced like gold.
Far too high for a grunt like her unless she pooled her money with other women to acquire the tiniest piece to savor.
While this wasn’t chocolate, who was to say that it wasn’t a worthy substitute?
It wouldn’t hurt to try... for science...
for the good of all women stranded on Seshana.
Hell, for the Seshanamitesh even. There weren’t many women in the colony who wouldn’t eagerly trade anything for a chance of something even close to chocolate.
It would really be a huge disservice not to make a taste study of it.
Besides, it was just one. Like anyone would notice one little chocolate sphere gone from a bowl filled with them.
Decided, she reached for the sweet and moaned softly as its rich, sweet smell filled her nose. It smelled like a chocolate bonbon stuffed with fruit and nuts, and perhaps some kind of liqueur. It was incredible.
She bit into it. The slightly harder outer casing gave way to creamy innards that were just as sweet as she had imagined.
She didn’t quite recognize the flavors that combined something sweet and fruity with a slightly bitter crunch, but whatever it was, it was delicious.
She popped the rest into her mouth and brought another to her mouth reflexively without thinking.
She gave it a puzzled look and shrugged. Just one more.
She wasn’t sure how the bowl ended up completely empty several minutes later.
She stared at it shamefaced. She really hadn’t meant to eat all of them.
Groaning, she shifted the other bowls and platters around it, hoping to hide it.
She just hoped that she hadn’t just inhaled something important to the feast. Better not to risk anything more, she decided, and she tucked her hands under her bottom, firmly sitting on them.
Therxian was bound to be back soon.