That usually meant someone died. Or will die.
And right now, Erzo had only one question in him. He grabbed the front of Arik’s shirt. “Where. Is. Polly?”
28
“Wake up,” came the female voice that Polly never wanted to hear again.
Polly blinked, the smell hitting her first. She winced and covered her face. Smelled like foul body odor mixed with rotten fruit. Everything felt cold, and she laid on a hard metal floor.
She put her hand over her mouth. Her head throbbed.
Ugh.
As everything came into focus, she saw the green-skinned alien over her face. The same female that had taken her from the apartment.
Breal.
Polly would have spit on her, if she had any spit. Whatever they’d hit her with, it sucked all the moisture out of her body. It felt like they had left her in a desert. At night. She was freezing and dry and even the air tasted bitter.
“Here,” Breal said, pushing a little bulb filled with water at her.
“No,” Polly snapped, shoving it away. Why should she trust her? What, were they friends now or something?
Not likely.
Breal sighed. “Take it. Drink the water. You need hydration. Drink it, or I’ll shove it down your throat.” She forced the bulb toward her, and Polly noticed the defined muscles in her arms. Even her legs look muscular in the skin-tight pants she wore.
“Fuck off,” Polly snapped, though her body ran on autopilot and accepted the water. Probably because part of her didn’t doubt that Breal could have shoved it down her throat.
And damn, if it didn’t taste amazing. She sucked the whole little bubble of water down at once.
“Feel better?” Breal asked, her voice softer.
Polly nodded, her head not hurting nearly so badly. “Surprisingly, yes. Could drink two more.”
Breal handed her another one. “I’m sorry. This isn’t what either of us wanted.”
Polly shook her head. "You who?”
“Erzo or I,” she said, and put her head down.
“You had a plan for this? Erzo said we had to come back. But he didn’t mention this. It was bad enough you all were following us around.” Polly said.
Breal stared at her, her expression changing. “You can see the cloaking fields.”
Polly nodded. “And it’s creepy as hell, by the way. You all have been around for days.”
“Scouts, figuring out where you all were. They didn’t mention you could see them.”
“Then I faked it well.”
“Probably a good thing,” Breal said. “Likely gave you both a few more days.”
“Great,” Polly replied, shivering. “Extending the stalking. There’s a reason it’s a felony on my world.”
“Well, remind me not to visit.” Breal crossed her arms, and her tail flicked. “Erzo was taking too long. We have to get this resolved.”
Now that Polly was more hydrated, her equilibrium was coming back. And so was her anger at Breal and the rest of the Charro. “You literally dragged me from my home, hit me upside the head, and now I’m in this horribly smelly room,” she said as she looked around.
