Another bounce threw me into Cair’s legs, and we rolled across the bridge. I clung to his massive body, my lifelinethrough panic and fear. Vomit threatened as we rose and slammed onto the floor a final time before, in a jarring stop, the forward momentum of the ship ceased. Except I kept moving, unable to stay attached to Cair like the barnacle I tried to be. I tumbled the final feet to the far side of the bridge. My head struck metal, and the world went black.
Chapter Six
The smell hit me first.I tried to move and discovered my body had opinions about that. My limbs felt heavy, like I’d been poured into wet concrete and left to set. A low groan escaped me before I could stop it, vibrating unpleasantly through my chest. My fingers twitched. They were slow and uncooperative, but at least they responded. That felt like a win.
Okay. Conscious. Breathing. Not on fire.
That ruled out a few worst-case scenarios.
The smell grew stronger as my brain booted up properly. Sweet and rotten at the same time, cloying in the back of my throat. I swallowed, immediately regretted it, and gagged. My stomach clenched in a violent warning.
Oh.
Oh no.
I turned my head just in time and retched again, my body heaving with an enthusiasm I absolutely did not share. When it was over, I lay there panting, eyes squeezed shut, forehead damp and cooling too fast.
Classy. Kidnapped by aliens and I’d already ruined the local ecosystem.
I sniffed the air again, trying to place the sweetness battling with rancid. Oh. Right. My own vomit. I licked my lips, tasted sour spittle. Yep, I threw up. So gross. Even living in Vegas, I managed to avoid ever vomiting.
Where was I?
A hospital room, my brain supplied hopefully. Or maybe the desert. Vegas had plenty of places that smelled weird and made strange noises if you wandered far enough off the Strip. A nature preserve. An immersive art installation. I would acceptliterally anythingthat did not involve extraterrestrials.
I listened harder, cataloging what I heard like I could logic my way out of this. Sounds flowed over and around me. Rhythmic chirping. Pulsating buzzing. Loud, resonant croaking.
None of it matched Earth.
My chest tightened as that last comforting theory collapsed.
The answer refused to come. My attempt to identify my location had failed.
This symphony of nature sounded beautiful, however. And even more confusing. The combination of soft and hard beneath me.
I was outside. My eyes struggled to open. I focused on my last memory. Walking home from the restaurant?—
The hairs on my arms lifted all at once, a full-body shiver of instinctive alarm. I wasn’t alone. I hadn’t imagined the voice last night. Whatever—or whoever—had taken me was still here.
“You are awake,” the low, melodious voice washed over me.
Now my eyes snapped open as the memories from last night flooded my overloaded brain. A tightness in my chest when I bolted upright made me gasp for air. Kidnapped. Alien ship. Sexual interrogation. Prisoner. Crash landing.
I blinked rapidly, trying to calm my racing heart. A diffuse pain shot through my body. Carefully, oh so carefully, I turnedmy head this way and that. No immediate headache wracked me. Hopefully, that meant no head trauma.
My jaw dropped in absolute-fucking-awe. I was on an alien world! The very air appeared filtered through a lilac prism, coloring the scenery in shades of purple. The flora was like a tropical rain forest on steroids. Huge flowering plants towered over us. Large flowers that looked like a cross between roses and hydrangeas sat atop deep violet trunks.
Something brushed my ankle.
I yelped and jerked my leg back, heart slamming painfully against my ribs. A thin, ribbon-like plant recoiled in response, its surface shimmering faintly before curling in on itself. Not aggressive. Curious.
Great. Even the plants were sentient-adjacent.
The air itself felt different—thicker somehow, like it carried weight along with scent. Every breath filled my lungs too fully, leaving me faintly lightheaded, like I’d stood up too fast. If this planet had a gravity setting, it was close enough to Earth to lull me into forgetting I was very, very far from home.
Tiny white flowers on aqua stems created a vibrant carpet of color at my feet. Or, to be more accurate, my ass, since I remained sitting. Next to Cair, where his body heat chased away the chill I felt, maybe from the shock of the ship’s crash. Or maybe just from him.
I coughed to clear my throat. “We didn’t die.” Amazement dripped from every word.
