Jaron and I raced up the ramp, hot on the heels of the others. Once inside I stumbled to the side and bent my knees, placing my hands on them as I gasped for air. After a few breaths I forced myself to straighten and did a quick inspection of everyone.
The older researchers looked ragged and pale, but no worse for wear. The assistants had gotten their bags and were placing them on the floor. Along with Dr. Wu they were the only ones who’d collected their things.
I frowned and looked around the group again even as the final military officer raced up the ramp and called for the pilots to raise it and get us off this damn planet.
“Wait!” I yelled. All eyes turned toward me. “Where’s Tatiana?”
One of the officers cursed.
“We have to go,” the one taking charge barked. “Close the ramp.”
“Don’t you dare!” I pushed past him.
He snagged my arm, but I had taken some practical self-defense courses and it’s easy to roll your arm out of someone’s grip. The thumb is the weak link. When his grip broke, I raced back down the ramp.
“Jacqueline!” Jaron yelled.
I ignored him. “Tatiana!” I called. I could see her curly black hair in the distance. She was still at the shrines.
I raced toward her and waved my arms wildly to get her attention. “Tatiana!”
She spun in a circle, a confused expression pinching her face, then caught sight of me.
I was wheezing worse than the first run when I got to her. “No time. Get to the ship!”
“What—” she started to run with me but we both froze at a horrible sound, like nails on a chalkboard or… claws scraping along stone.
I glanced around furtively, and my heart nearly shattered in my chest when I saw Jaron, frozen a few feet away. He shouldn’t have followed!
I didn’t see them yet, but I didn’t need to be a math genius to know that we wouldn’t make it back to the ship.
“Hide.” I whispered, gesturing at the shrine right behind us. My gaze automatically sought out Jaron, but he must have had the same thought because he was creeping closer to a boulder the size of a house with a long overhang that a person could conceivably crawl under. He got on his belly and slithered under. I turned and pushed a frozen Tatiana into the arched doorway of the shrine. We couldn’t get inside, there was a stone door that I had no idea how to open, but the arch was large enough and on the correct side of the canyon compared to the sun that there were shadows that would hide us.
My blood rushed loudly in my ears even as I struggled to quiet my breathing. It only made it worse. Tatiana seemed to have the same problem, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. We were on opposite sides, each behind a pillar, otherwise I would reach over and put a hand on her shoulder.
A softswishsounded and I shifted in the shadows just enough so that I could see out. My breath caught.
I’d heard about them. I’d even seen renditions of them, grotesque and terrifying as the Consortium explained what they were fighting against to the people. But the being before me was not grotesque, he was…beautiful.
His face was human enough, but two horns rose from his head, curling back ever so slightly. His eyes were a brilliant emerald green, a shade I’d never seen before, and his body was pure muscle. I could see that even under the supple, leather-like clothing that hugged his big frame. But what struck me the most were the stunning black wings that curved out from his back. They looked thin, but I could tell they were powerful. They had to be to lift him. And the wings had thin lines of gold along what would be membranes on a bat’s wings. Breathtaking.
If I hadn’t been stricken with terror, I might consider it unfortunate that I couldn’t go speak with him. The first alien I’d ever seen.
Movement across from me caught my attention and I squinted into the gloom. Tatiana was making rapid hand motions. It took me a moment to realize that she was using Earth’s universal sign language.
The military will rescue us.I couldn’t tell if it was a statement or a question, but I assumed they would find a way to get us out of this scenario. After all, it was their either lack of knowledge or blatant disregard that brought this situation about in the first place. I nodded once, in case it was a question. She seemed relieved.
When I glanced back out, the vorpyr male was gone. Good. Tatiana seemed to notice as well and lifted her hands again.Should we run?
Before I could answer a cry made my blood ice over. Jaron. Had they found Jaron? Renewed fear, more fear than I’d everknown, held me in its merciless grasp. Before I could even think I was signing to Tatianastay hidden. Her eyes widened. She shook her head, but by the time she was reaching for me, I’d already started out of the shrine.
A grunt of pain met my ears, and I scooped up a heavy rock. I was numb, like my body was on autopilot as I crept forward. All I knew was that I had to help my brother. I couldn’t be the reason that my brother died, I couldn’t live with it. Our mom had just died of cancer barely two years ago and we promised her we’d always be there for each other. I couldn’t lose him too.
I peeked around a chunk of stone jutting out of the ground. Jaron had blood trickling down his face, and a vorpyr had him pinned against the canyon wall. He had him up so high that his feet couldn’t touch the ground. I refused to stop and let myself consider that my brother, as big as he was, was still dwarfed by the vorpyr. I took a deep breath and, gripping the rock as hard as I could, raced forward, raising it so I could strike his head.
Jaron’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth, a look of horror blooming on his face. Something slammed into my back between my shoulder blades and I flew forward, somersaulting on the ground until I smacked into the canyon wall. The numbness I had felt dissipated. I snapped back with clarity, realizing the danger I was in.
Disoriented, I gasped and blinked, trying to collect myself. I scrambled for a rock next to me, but a huge black boot stepped on it and I shrank back.
