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The space pirate can't be trusted and there are too many dangers still lurking with what the scientists unleashed into the forest. Only I can keep her safe enough.
CHAPTERTWO
Zoe
Groggy and disoriented,I stir in a soft bed. I open reluctant eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and slowly sit up, rubbing my temples, trying to make sense of where I am.
I touch the white cuff encasing my forearm. It's attached to a crudely crafted, raised armrest stuck to the bed frame, but I don't freak out, remembering Stacy telling us about the medical cuff her new alien boyfriend, Drax, used to heal her. Colorful blinking lights flicker and flash while it softly hums.
Have I been injured?
I'm alone in a room woven out of branches and vines. It's like being inside a giant wicker ball. Sunlight streams in through the cracks in the walls, creating an intricate pattern on the wooden plank floor. In one corner, a small table holds an array of alien devices and what appears to be a computer monitor.
"Wha...?" I mutter, trying to shake the cobwebs off recent memories I can't quite grasp.
I remember being in the crashed ship and Stacy's sudden return after being missing for several days along with an alien like the one who brought us food and water. Drax. He said it wasn't safe for us there anymore and we needed to leave.
We'd been on our way to someplace safer when that giant creature attacked. Tasha had called it Godzilla.
I remember watching the brutal fight. Drax, Rooke, and some other alien with green hair that I didn’t know, had all battled Godzilla.
What happened after? I don't know.
As my senses start to awaken, an intriguing scent wafts through the air. A fragrant and savory combination that reminds me of home. I sniff greedily at the air, my empty stomach twisting in response.
The room around me turns in a dizzying whirl the longer I sit upright. I try to focus on the room, try to recall how I got here, but everything seems to shift like sand beneath my feet.
"Hello?" I call out in a trembling voice. "Anyone here?"
Where are the other girls? Where's Darcy?
Darcy had become a big sister to me, just as the other girls had, but I felt closer to her than with any of the others. Her unwavering kindness made me feel so safe and cared for, always looking out for me with an ever-watchful eye.
Unable to hold my head up a moment longer, I collapse back on the cushion of pillows. Shifting sounds float in from an adjoining room before the shuffling of footsteps draws near.
"Easy now," comes a deep voice, smooth and authoritative.
I turn my head toward the open doorway framed out in twisted vines, my eyes locking onto a massive figure. A turquoise-blue alien stands there, tall and imposing. The one with the green-streaked hair who helped Drax and Rooke fight Godzilla.
He's hugely muscled like a pro-wrestler. Even larger than Drax or Rooke. Sleek, black horns curve along his head like a ram’s. Long, glossy black hair sweeps his waist, streaked in the same emerald-green as his deep-set eyes.
He strides toward me, and I shrink away, recalling we crash landed on a prison moon. If he's here on Zune, that means he committed a crime. Though he had helped fight the monster, he's still a stranger.
And even bigger up close!
Wearing only pants made from some sort of leather and boots that come to his knees, his massive chest is out on full display. This guy has abs for days, so it's not my fault when my gaze drops to rake over his stomach that could double as a washboard.
I try to scoot back on the bed, but my arm is trapped in the cuff, holding me firmly in place. My fingers dig into the soft fabric when he drops to his haunches next to me. My heart races and every nerve screams at me to yank my arm out of the cuff and flee.
"Are you hungry?" His voice is a low hum that resonates through my bones. Moving with a careful grace, as if to show me he means no harm, he lifts a steaming bowl containing the delicious scent my body hungers for.
I gasp, eyes widening in surprise when a tiny squirrel-like creature suddenly hops up on his shoulder. Smooth, royal blue fur dotted with yellow spots covers the rodent’s body. Huge, round golden eyes blink curiously at me as giant, pointed ears perk, swiveling this way and that, picking up sounds beyond my hearing. A fluffy tail swishes behind it as it sniffs the air.
The turquoise alien reaches over to scratch the squirrel under its chin. "This isn't for you, Tris. Your meal is on the table in the other pod."
The tiny squirrel hops down and scurries away. Anyone that's kind to animals deserves to be trusted at least a little in my book. He's just bringing me food and not here to hurt me.
"Was that your pet?" I ask, forcing myself to calm and try to sit up.
