With her small eyes, perhaps she cannot see well at night either.
Her small white teeth also seem weak.
Her kind seems ill-equipped for living in the wild, yet they have no fear of it. They took screamer eggs without seeming to question where the parents were. They are foolish. And she is no different, but she is also a fighter.
I like that.
I like Ruby because unlike the other women we took, she has fire in her eyes.
Ruby pushes through the scrub until she stumbles onto a trail. Even then, she doesn’t slow. She’s not listening or looking to see what else is in the forest stalking her, and she is unarmed.
I could leave her and return to my brothers, telling them she fled into the forest—all true. But they would think it odd that I did not locate her. And I do not want to leave her to die, which I’m sure she would. Something would eat her, or at least try. She would not make it easy.
I should snatch her up and take her back, but that is a temporary solution because she will try to flee again. And again. And if my brothers are not careful, she will steal a weapon and kill one of us.
That is a risk I cannot take.
Nor do I want to be the one to quench her fighting spirit. I want to see the spark in her eyes, but I do not want it to be from hate. I want to experience the heat that Sabine looks at Edilk with. I do not know if human women can be mates in the same way as Honey women, but I want the chance to find out.
To do that, Ruby needs to come to me.
She must want to return.
At some point, I will need to stop following and start convincing. But what can a banished warrior offer when she has a tribe that wants her back?
A tribe that has more women than they know what to do with, and men who do not realize how lucky they are.
She walks on, though her paces slow. Fury and fear can push one far, but they are not enough. Worse, they sap strength fast.
She stops and lifts her head.
I reach out with my kam, seeking predators, but only sense the small chittery things in the trees, and a herd of something bigger and slower in the distance. Probably prey animals.
“I know you’re there.” Her voice is low.
If not for the whisperer in my ear, I wouldn’t understand what she is saying, though I might be able to guess.
She turns, staring back along the path as though expecting me to be so obvious. I’m almost offended.
“Come out where I can see you.”
I hesitate. Let her think she is imagining things, or reveal myself?
3
RUBY
Idon’t know how long I’ve been walking, only that I’m tired and my arms and legs feel bruised from being whacked by branches and leaves. I’m glad I’m wearing long pants and long sleeves, otherwise I’d be bleeding from a hundred different cuts.
The bruises throb as my pulse thumps in my temples.
He’s out there.
At least I hope it’s him hunting me and not something else. I don’t enjoy feeling like prey. Around me, nothing moves. The forest activity continues, and I could be the only person alive on this fucking planet.
My fingers curl, ready to fight if I have to. I should’ve picked up a nice stick. Bet he wouldn’t like getting hit on one of his bony crests with that. That’s the biggest difference between humans and the aliens, aside from the fact they are taller, broader, just plain bigger.
They also have bony crests on the head, one above each ear, that creates an electrical charge is also fairly significant. A built-in weapon that is capable of knocking out someone. It can probably also kill.
