Page 17 of Jaider’s Desire

“About last night, Molly…,” he trailed off. I stared up at him, waiting.

Finally, he was going to say something. He was going to be sweet and admit he enjoyed being with me.

I smiled. “Yes? What about it?” I asked, and he took a deep breath.

“I need you to never speak of it again,” he said, and his words crashed into me like a freight train. “You must keep it a secret. We must pretend as though it never happened. My heart does not belong to you. I don’t want one night of being drunk and indulging myself to ruin what I could have with a Revian female. Is that understood?”

My heart sank to my stomach. I didn’t know why I expected him to say something nice. He had already proven how rude and heartless he was, so why was I expecting anything more from him? But his rejection still hurt like hell.

I straightened up to my full height, putting my chin in the air, “I have already forgotten about it. You weren’t that good anyway,” I said, acting nonchalant and pretending I wasn’t affected.

He froze in his tracks behind me, and I kept walking, feeling a sick satisfaction from insulting him. I wanted him to feel bad, and be hurt by my words, because damn it, I felt really pissed off about it.

“This way. We’re going up,” he said stiffly, walking toward a path leading up the side of the mountain.

We walked for hours, and I was still infuriated, but being out of breath the entire time kept me from lashing out at him. When we finally reached the top, the day was halfway over.

“Stay here and rest, I’m going to peek over the edge. This could be very dangerous,” Jaider warned.

I was glad to take a rest. I sat down on a rock, and pulled off my boots and socks, letting my toes wiggle in the air. I leaned back and let the sun’s rays soak into my skin as I waited for news from Jaider.

“My father was right,” he announced as he returned. I tilted my head.

“About what?” I asked him.

“There is a Compier base on the other side of this mountain,” he said. “I have found a suitable spot for us to sit and watch, but we must be very quiet. Remember, Molly. We must be very careful. Do you understand?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yes, show me,” I said, hurriedly putting my socks and boots back on.

I followed him to a spot on the other side of the ridge, laying low to the ground on our bellies and looking down at the Compier’s base. I couldn’t believe how close we were to it. His military skills were really shining through, as it was a very good hiding spot.

I couldn’t believe how the Compiers looked. They were nothing like the Revians. They were somewhat human-like, but more of a cross between lizards and people, and the sight of them was quite unnerving. They didn’t have that beautiful look of the Revians, as they were entirely more menacing looking. Just the thought of Emma being held captive by them was very disturbing to think about.

We began to watch as two of the Compiers starting fighting each other over some food, or whatever it was they were arguing about, they just started wrestling across the ground with their long tails whipping about violently. They had long forked tongues that flickered out of their mouths as they scratched at each other with long razor-sharp claws.

After a couple minutes, they were pulled apart by another Compier who seemed to be the one in charge. As he yelled at them, his words caught our attention.

“You need to go feed the human, stop this fighting!” he yelled.

“Yes, Captain Yizer!” the two Compiers yelled back. I turned to look at Jaider, and he placed his finger in front of his mouth, shaking his head and signaling for me to keep quiet. I nodded and we both followed the Compiers with our eyes as they disappeared out of sight.

Jaider motioned for me to stay low on the ground and move in the direction where they disappeared. As I followed, I gasped in surprise when I caught a glimpse of Emma. Jaider quickly put his hand over my mouth and I nodded. He furrowed his eyebrows at me but let me go.

Emma was being kept in a large cage, about the size of a small car. She looked well enough, but the gaunt of her face and the hysteric look in her eyes told us she was probably scared out of her mind.

When one of the Compiers approached the cage, she moved to the furthermost corner, cowering away from them. As the cage was opened, and food and drink were given to her, my heart sank. She immediately scampered towards the food and ate it as soon as the Compier left.

I felt so guilty. She was being kept in such horrendous conditions, whereas Betty, Amy, and I were being treated fairly well. I wanted to cry, but I bit my lip and held it in. I felt so helpless I couldn’t do anything to help her, but I knew I had to keep quiet.

I felt Jaider’s hand wrap around my arm, and he motioned with his head for me to follow him back to the area we had rested.

“Oh my God, Jaider. We have to get her out of there. What can we do? What can I do?” I pleaded, but he shook his head sadly.

“We can’t do anything for her right now. Remember, our only mission today was to gather data,” he said. “Did you recognize the human captive? Is she Emma?”

“Yes, that’s her,” I answered.

“Good, then for now, our mission is complete. We have to report back to my father and the Council so they can organize a rescue mission for her, as well as clean out and raid this Compier base. We must go now before we are caught,” he said, and he began to move back down the path we came.