"Enough until you are sated, my little mate," he tells me. "If you will force me to fly you into dangerous places, then at least let me care for you in this way."
It's an odd feeling, to be cared for so intently. No one else ever has. Not even old Adeline. Don’t get me wrong, she did her best. But sometimes things would slip out of her mouth that would remind me of the hardship my mother dumped on her. And so I sit, and I eat, tucking Rynn's gifted feathers behind my ear to make use of both hands so I can tear the cold meat a little more delicately. Rynn stares at those feathers for a good long while. Once he's satisfied that I'm well-fed, we move out to find Mavyx ready to hear his High Spear’s command.
Before leaving, Rynn assigns three hulking Protectors to watch over Alana, Chastity, and Bea specifically. Chastity looks positively gleeful at having been given her own personal muscular bodyguard. Bea, on the other hand, looks a little worried as she eyes one of the assigned Trixikka - the one with horrible facial and body scars and a leather patch over one eye. I don't blame her. He is imposing.
"Come, my mate," Rynn says as I'm waving goodbye to my friends, before he bends, swooping me into his hold, carrying me bridal-style in his strong arms.
I'm proud that I manage to suppress my little yelp. "You better not drop me!" I hiss, trying to appear unfazed to the girls watching nearby.
"Never," he vows. "Zahreenah." At my name, I finally meet his bright turquoise eyes. "I willneverdrop you."
And I believe him.
Chapter 15
SERENA
I'm not sure how long it takes us to fly to the site of the ship. All I know is, it takes far too long. Right at the beginning of the journey, I decide it's best to keep my eyes firmly shut with my face pressed into the side of Rynn's warm neck - just in case I get a glimpse of just how high up we are and decide to barf. By the time we land in the small clearing, my arms ache from holding onto him with a death grip and my legs wobble when I try to support myself. One of the Trixikka guards accompanying us grins at me as I'm thanking all the deities I can think of for being back on terra-firma. "It was an enjoyable flight, was it not?" he teases with a boyish grin. I kind of want to tell him to fuck off.
Instead, Rynn's tail curls around my waist possessively. "With my mate in my arms? It was the best flight I've had in all my memory."
I roll my eyes at that. For a guy who up until a few days ago had never seen a woman in the flesh, he sure is a smooth-talker when he wants to be.
We approach the wrecked ship, the Trixikka holding out their spears in a defensive stance as though the thing might attack them at any given moment. Rynn makes me stay back while his men surround it. I begin to protest, but stop completely when I see a snake-like creature slither out from a gash torn into the side of the ship. It is bright pink in color and forked, with a head on each end where its body splits into two. The Trixikka give it a wide berth, but pay the double-headed pink snake no mind once it's slithered up into the branches of a nearby tree. It's after that, that I think, nope - these guys are all too welcome to go exploring ahead of me. With a short, sharp whistle and a jerk of his head, Rynn somehow communicates with two of his men to come and guard me closely as he is first to step foot inside the ship. Once he deems it safe, his face appears from the doorway, beckoning me inside with him.
I'd happily have lived out my life without ever seeing this ship again. The memory of being held captive, constrained in our chairs as the huge bug-guy, Z'irri calmly explained that we were to be sold as breeding stock is not one I'd like to hang onto. But if any of the pod girls are still here, or there's something in this slaver's ship that could make our lives easier here on planet-bird-man, I have to take a look.
All the Trixikka still brandish their spears as we stand in the belly of the small ship. They look around, fascinated but broadcasting a thick feeling of wariness about everything they see. The space feels so much smaller than it had done before, which I suppose can't be helped when the people you're with are huge, seven-foot, muscled men with wings and flicking tails. Glancing at the row of seats we girls had been strapped to, the memory of gripping each other's hands for dear life invades my mind and I turn my back to them sharply, now facing the wall where once there were sleeping girls, floating in those awful pods. Now, there are none. None at all. "Do you really think those...thingstook the girls?" I ask, staring at the empty wall. If they have, they've taken the pods and all.
From the corner of my eye, I'm aware of Rynn watching me and then turning his attention to the empty wall I'm currently consumed with. "There are mimyckah prints and their scent is strong here," he says, watching me closely.
"What will they do with them?" I ask, shuddering inside when remembering how the mimyckah I’d encountered had looked like he’d wanted to devour me - and not in a good way.
I feel the warmth of Rynn's approach before I spy him coming closer from the corner of my eye. His skin-stars are twinkling and the soft feathers of his wing brush against the back of my arm. "I do not know," he tells me honestly. "I cannot imagine it would be anything good. But we will find them, I promise you that. My Protectors and those of Zarriko's tribe. We will not stop until we find your friends."
Looking at him now, with those intense turquoise eyes, a lump forms in my throat. He's so, so sincere in what he tells me it's almost a jolt to the system to hear it. Instead of standing here, letting his warm, calloused hand skim down the skin of my arm like I see him raise his hand to do, I turn quickly to face the ship's control panel and steel myself, sniffing hard. Rynn's too good and I'm learning that he makes me feel a little off-balance sometimes. I don’t deserve his goodness.
The control panel for the ship is a plethora of buttons, dials, and sliders, all arranged in front of two, oversized, plush leather chairs. I wonder if this thing could still fly. It's doubtful. That burrot worm thing smashed most of the front of it and nothing will be secure enough now to venture into space. So much for trying to fly this thing back to earth. Not that that particular hair-brained idea had ever been a possibility. How would we even find our way back? Who knows how much fuel this thing has left in the tank and what it even runs on. All that, plus the knowledge that there are bigger, scarier aliens than I'd ever imagined out there and they apparently think nothing at all of using human women as breeding stock. I glance at Rynn as he slides into the other pilot's chair beside me, looking immeasurably uncomfortable and absolutely baffled by the console. No, I'll stick to the alien I know, thank you very much.
Pushing buttons at random, somehow I manage to get something to power up, a central screen coming to life, and a few select sections of the console lighting up. Rynn hisses in surprise, his hand going to the belt of daggers at his waist. "It's fine," I tell him, my hand going to his knee.
"The beast awakes," he says, unsheathing a blade and gripping it tightly. "I do not trust it."
He sniffs the air, his skin-stars going manic at his temples as he glances around for any kind of danger. On the screen at the center of the console, there are symbols with writing beneath each one. It takes me a moment to realize I can actually read them. I hadn’t expected that. But of course, the new translator I have tackled the Trixikka written word, why wouldn't it also translate... whatever this is too?
There are on-screen sections for flight paths, communications, ship manuals, emergency medical manuals, radio transitions, ship logs, species cultural notes, and loads more. Trying the communications tab, I manage to bring up a list of incoming and outgoing messages. Curious, I click the most recent.
At once, there is a loud voice and a ghostly image of the head and shoulders of a bug-person floating right in front of us. Rynn wastes no time at all, his strong arm jutting out, thrusting his dagger straight through the eye of the intruder while simultaneously moving to grab me. Except, it's not an intruder. Rynn's blade goes straight through the bug-person's face and then keeps on going, clattering to the console when he drops it, presumably to haul me over his shoulder and high-tail it out of here. "Did you pick up my special order?" the floating head and shoulders ask. The Trixikka behind us raise their spears in defense.
"Wait, wait,Rynn," I say, pulling him back and stopping him from grabbing me. "It's not real,look."
He does.
"Yes, my love," responds an unseen person, though I know whom that voice belongs to instantly. Z'irri. So the bug-person currently projected in front of me must be Mama Z'rykby. "I have the encrypted files of what I am ensured are the most popular earth songs and even managed to barter for some extra of that choc-o-lit, your current favorite is so fond of."
"Oh!" Mama Z'rykby claps happily, her beetle-y wings flaring with excitement. "Jess-ee-ca will be so pleased! As will all the others. We do not want them to get too homesick. Clients will not pay for sad females. These earth songs will help them."
"Zahreenah," Rynn breathes, "whatisthis?" He looks utterly transfixed by the floating head and shoulders.
