She tapped her cheeks and sighed.She isn’t quiet now.
Dommik stood over her. His shadow blocked out the light. Her delayed reflexes annoyed him.
Death comes so easy to the weak.
The girl looked away from her hands and slowly up at him. Green eyes met his, wide and startled. He walked past her to his gate.
The picture of her was solidified in his mind. Short copper curly hair that framed rounded cheeks with a splattering of freckles. Her hair was pushed back behind her ears but small tendrils rebelled and fell forward. If he ever had a missive to hunt down and kill a sprite, he knew what to look for, who to look for.
“I’m here for the job,” she said.
“There is no job.” Dommik opened the door and walked through. A thump sounded behind him, a gasp and a bang. The girl forced her way through the doors and followed him. He repeated without turning, “It’s already been filled.”
She huffed, keeping pace. “I don’t see anyone else here.”
They walked out into the open airfield. Dommik took a deep breath of almost fresh air, filled with the smell of dust and engine exhaust. And the subtle smell of the girl behind him that he couldn’t place.
“I don’t need you and if you keep following me, you’ll have security on you within seconds. You’re not authorized to be out here.”
“You haven’t even given me a minute. Look,” she breathed heavily, stumbling behind him, “I heard what you do. You’re not a monster!”
Dommik stopped.
He turned around.
His ship loomed over them like a wave about to crash.
She continued with a gulp, “I heard what the others were saying. You’re not a monster.” Emerald green eyes met his again.
“And you’re an idiot.”
The girl dropped her bag and crossed her arms. “I’m not.”
“I’m a Cyborg. I hunt forfun. I kill forfun.I am the fiend everyone says I am. If you’re looking for an adventure,” she flinched at the word. “or trying to prove something, find someone else. If you’re looking for a Cyborg to fuck, join the breeding facility. You’ll be dead within a week of working for me.” Dommik turned toward his ship’s hatch and watched as the Molucs were led into his high-tech menagerie. “I told the EPED, I work alone.”
“So you don’t have an assistant.” Her eyes narrowed at him.
Dommik warned, “Dead within a week.”
“That would be my problem, not yours.”
He tensed as she followed him into his ship, breathing heavily and pulling her bag behind her. It screeched over the concrete. He moved toward his androids who were settling the Molucs into their temporary home. He heard the girl gasp as long, white fuzzy wings extended out behind their bullet-proof habitat. His robots programmed the interior to mimic the Moluc’s planet’s icy ecosystem.
Their fuzzy fur extended out, threatening, like a spooked cat. The pair of dragon-like creatures hopped around the home they knew from many moons before. He couldn’t be sure if they were upset for being moved again or reluctant to be back on familiar ground.
The girl moved up to the glass as the creatures buried themselves into the quickly accumulating snow until they disappeared under the drifts.
“Get off my ship,” he growled. Seeing the girl, so unlikely and wrong on his ship, and in his space unnerved him. He had half a mind to throw her into a cell like one of the other countless animals he transported.
The girl clutched her bag, her hand clenched on the handle of the suitcase as he stepped forward and invaded her personal space. She was tall but still a head shorter than him. He could hear her heart race, could sense the tension wrack her body, he could even smell the desperation and courage come from her.
They stood there, staring at each other, neither one backing down and slowly, strangely, something shifted between them. It was muted and weak but it was there.
Her soft, round face gave her the appearance of a pixie. The tiny curling tendrils of her hair stood to attention and didn’t move as they should have. It was a disservice to her features. They were meant to move in a breeze.
I’ve never had a fairy before.Dommik broke the moment and looked around at all of his empty cages.
“Let me explain,” she said, pulling his eyes back to her. She set the bag down. Bright green eyes stabbed him. A soft stab, but a stab nevertheless. “I need this job.”
