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The slavers were sadists to set us up for this kind of pain. “How long was I asleep?” I asked.
“Not long enough. You need rest. I wanted to put you in my bedroll, but it got too cold, so I brought you to the fire. I have done my best to tend to you, but I have little in my pack besides weapons and rations.”
I really wanted to trust this alien, but I’d been through too much shit to let my guard down. My plan was to focus on healing and getting as much information from him as I could.
“Why are you out here by yourself?” I asked.
“Self-exile,” he replied. “I was suffering a condition that made me a danger to myself and those around me. There is no treatment but one, and it was not available to me until now.”
My eyes narrowed. “You found your cure in the jungle?”
“Yes. I am no danger to you or anyone else now. Save, of course, for the wicked.”
“Do the wicked include those who sell women?” I figured I’d better confirm his stance on this slavery debacle.
“Yes. Now please come back to the fire. It’s cold.”
I stared at him for a few beats. He was right. It was freezing, but my body was an aching mess, and I couldn’t make it back over to the fire under my steam. “My feet are hurting.”
Without another word, he strode over and picked me up effortlessly. I was disturbingly aware of his masculine scent—earthy and foreign, yet appealing. The heat of his body against mine made my heart skip despite my wariness. He settled me down near the fire against the log.
“I will deal the slavers with for what they did to you,” he said before sitting down next to me.
“Seeing is believing,” I replied.
Naxer was weirdly handsome. He had treated me well so far. He had reacted with horror and outrage at the slavers. But none of that actually meant he was a good alien. He could simply be a wonderful actor with an agenda.
I continued, “And it’s the safety of the other women that I’m more worried about.”
“Understood.”
I hope he did because I would not rest until I found the women I’d left behind. “You said you found your cure out here,” I said. “What was it?”
He stared at me a moment before stating, “I must retrieve more water for you. I will explain when I return from the stream.”
So the alien has secrets. Interesting.
He strode away with a graceful, gliding gait, unlike the thudding steps of the other aliens.
Chaser sat down next to me attentively as the big four-armed man disappeared into the jungle. The doglike creature did not budge from my side, though I hadn’t heard his master say to guard me. I reached out to him tentatively, and he snuffled my palm and thumped his tail against the ground.
“You’re the best boy.” He had a double row of shark teeth, six legs, and was the size of a horse, but his tail wagged and his tongue lolled and his brown eyes were big and even more soulful than his master’s. He acted differently and seemed more like a dog than a beast. “This planet gets more confusing by the hour, big guy.” He tilted his head like a Brooklyn yard dog and I laughed a little. My chest hurt, but laughing felt good anyway.
My laughter died when I heard footsteps. I couldn’t help my wariness as Naxer stepped into view at the edge of the clearing. At a distance, he looked way too similar to my captors despite the lack of horns. Chaser butted his enormous head under my hand, begging for scratches, derailing some of my tension. I sighed and gave him a good rub, wondering how the hell a creature like this could have such a doggy personality. Maybe Naxer would have answers about this and a lot of other things. Or maybe he would fill my head with lies. I would know soon enough.
When he approached, I struggled to straighten, my whole body aching and stiff. I must have hurt myself worse than I thought getting out of that cage.
I almost flinched when he helped me into a sitting position, his huge, warm hands gentle on me. There was something strange in his eyes—it looked like desperation, as intense in its own way as what I had seen in the eyes of my fellow captives. But he smiled as he offered the canteen again. “Here. It will take much to restore you, but do not take it in too quickly.”
I sipped obediently but felt my frustration growing. “I can’t afford to stay here long,” I insisted. “The women need me. I won’t allow them to get sold off and have to live their lives as fucking sex slaves.”
“Sex slaves?” His brow furrowed. “You misunderstand. These slavers are taking advantage of a crisis in my world to make money.”
“Yes. For sex.” I took another sip. My stomach was settling, and as my thirst eased away, I realized how hungry I was.
“No,” he replied. “It is more complicated.”
I sighed heavily. Either this alien was naive or he assumed I was.
