Page 61 of I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Osid chided, but he wore a smug smile of his own. “Let’s get this back to town and go hang that damn star so we can be done with this.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” With a flick of the reins, we were off.

Just then, there was a loud splash behind us. I only had enough time to see Osid’s eyes widen in fear before he steered his reindeer to ram into me and Rudolph. Blitzen took the full brunt of the icicle spear, and the poor creature was skewered straight through the chest. They fell from the sky and Osid’s side cracked against the ice, and it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. My body moved on its own, tugging on the reins until Rudolph dove after him. I reached out, half sliding off the reindeer to grab Osid by the arm. The weight of our combined bodies was too much, and Rudolph strained to shoot back into the air.

Krampus launched another icicle into the sky. Pain erupted in my leg, and I realized too late that it had clipped Rudolph’s side, taking the skin off his flank and shredding half his harness. The reindeer tried to right himself, but the movement caused the straps of the harness to wrap around his front legs.

Panicked, Rudolph thrashed and shook the rest of the harness loose, causing both Osid and me to plummet out of the air. Screaming, I held on to him and waited for the ground to meet us. Rudolph’s saddle caught on the big hand of the clock tower, jerking us both to a stop. Osid nearly slipped from my grip, and I hooked my legs around his hips to keep hold. The extra weight caused the clock hand to move from one to four, jerking us with it as the hand moved to a shaky stop. I looked up to see the strap of the harness was fraying against the harsh metal of the clock hand.

“Shit, shit!” My leg strained to hold his weight, but the damn alien was so heavy I could barely hold on. “Osid, Osid, I need you to help me out here, grab on to something!”

He didn’t answer; instead his head lolled uselessly to the side, his body dangling in my grip.

“Dammit, man, how are you always passing out on me?” Terror, sharp and colder than the ice, froze my tears to my cheeks. I grabbed his horn and shook it, trying to rouse him. One of the two straps holding us to the hand snapped, causing us to jerk. The hand slid down to five. The remaining strap slid farther to the edge.

Chapter 25

Osid

The crimson haze was back, along with its bosom companion, pain. In the recesses of my mind, I felt that there was something urgent I was forgetting. But I was so tired.

“Osid!”

I groaned before prying unfocused eyes open. Even through pain and crimson haze, I knew it was my wicked creature. “Blair.”

Her eyes were panicked; she shook my horn and shouted something but sounded too far away. Blinking, I took in our surroundings. We were suspended on the clock tower, hanging on by a thread. It wouldn’t hold long, and a weak creature like her would die falling from this height. If she planned on living, she’d need to shimmy her way back to the center of the clock and climb down.

Why hadn’t she?

“Thank fuck you’re awake! Grab on to the clock hand, I can’t hold you for much longer.”

Hold me?

Her legs trembled around my waist. She squeezed tighter, determination formed a crease in her brow. Her eyes were wild with fear and…something I didn’t recognize. “Please!” she urged.

She could die from a fall this high and is choosing to waste her strength holding on to me? Fascinating.

A laugh escaped me. “You’re saving me again. What a tenacious thing. To think I ever had the gall to doubt you were mine.” There was a fire in every Sankado. Be it in the mountains of the arctic or the jungles of Kilith, we were built to survive no matter what, yet suddenly I felt a chill for the first time in my life. With her body so close to mine, her warmth flooded me, and I leached as much of it as I could because I knew for certain that I’d freeze if she ever let go. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

She gritted her teeth, still trying to support my weight and hang on to the saddle for dear life. “In case you haven’t fucking noticed, we aren’t safe yet. Don’t get ahead of yourself either; I’m not yours and I still hate you.”

Even in the face of death, she spit venom. But I knew her better now, and that quivering lip gave away the wicked thing’s secret.

“Is that right?” I asked, and the grin was impossible to stop.

“Yes! Now wipe that smirk off your mug and help me figure a way out of this. That rope isn’t gonna hold, and I sure as shit can’t hang on forever.”

“Let go,” I dared.

She blinked at me. “How hard did you hit your head?”

“What should it matter to you how hard? That rope can’t support both our weight, but it can hold you long enough for you to climb your way to safety. If you hate me, let go.”

“Wha— Do you want me to drop you?”

“I want to start over. No, that’s not right. I don’t want to lose what I felt the first time I awoke and saw your face. As much as it pains you to admit it, there’s something here between us, and it started long before the Biwban shot us with that serum. Tell me you don’t hate me, and I’ll devote as much time as I need in earning your forgiveness for everything I’ve done.”

“You are so fucking arrogant! Some of us are just not heartless enough to leave someone to die. Keep pushing your luck, and I will let go.”