Chapter 16

I pad into the living room, naked and yawning, hoping that Abraxas is in the mood to take me back to the hot springs. I could really use it after last night. I scratch at my belly absently, pausing to glance over at Zero. We haven’t talked much. Not a big loss. I’m starting to realize that I kind of hate her.

“What are you staring at?” I grumble, narrowing my eyes. Her cursor pulses menacingly.

“You mated with him.” It’s an accusation if I’ve ever seen one. “You’re a fool.”

I curl my lip in a sneer and flip her off. I don’t see Abraxas anywhere, but I can sense him, an apex predator on the prowl. He’s close by, probably securing breakfast. I haven’t missed a meal yet.

“Yeah? Jealous because you’re a brat in a vat at best and a hard drive at worst? You have no idea how good it feels to devolve to a cellular level. Get luckier.” I start to turn away when she fills her screen with a wild rant.

“He’s mated dozens of other humans before! He fucks them and then he eats them. He’s going to eat you, too, and you’re too stupid to see it coming.” She doesn’t stop there, flying into a textual rage. I just stand there and let her vent all of that pent-up frustration. Much as I dislike her, I get it. She’s been trapped here all alone for so long. A pang hits my chest, something like sympathy—if I were capable of such a thing, I mean. “He uses his pheromones to attract females, and then he mates and kills them. Just like he did to the dead female outside. I didn’t want to scare you off at first, but I can’t let this go any further. Eve, you must get us both out of here while you have the chance.” She pauses there, like she’s waiting for me to respond. I don’t. “He mated that female after you blacked out. You just didn’t see it.”

“Look,” I start, feeling anger prick my skin. “I can deal with a lot of shit, but how stupid do you think I am? You’ve been living with the guy for years. You should know that he’s pretty much the opposite of everything you’ve just said.”

“He’s infected you! I bet you’re even thinking about staying here. It happens to all of them. I’ve met too many human females to count at this point.”

I smirk.

“You said I was the first person you’d been able to talk to in years. Nice try, Zero. I’ll take you to the market at some point because I promised that I would, but don’t talk shit about my mate. It’s really starting to piss me off.”

I turn away from her in time to see Abraxas prowling out of the woods—with a female Aspis trailing behind him. My mouth drops open. I feel suddenly exposed, looking around for a fur and grabbing one of the ones I left in the nook. I drape it over my shoulders as he hops up into the ship, dropping a dead … erm, thing on the floor. Looks a bit like a giant purple toad.

As I watch, several more females come out of the bushes to stare at us.

“What the … what the fuck?” I turn to Abraxas, but he looks so absurdly pleased with himself, the cat who fucked the cream. Or however that phrase goes. “Zero was insulting you, and I stood up for you, and what the hell is all of this?” I’m gritting my teeth so hard that my jaw aches, tears of frustration budding at the corners of my eyes.

Abraxas turns to me like he’s confused, and then he smirks. He retreats to the nest for the other translator and then comes back to stand on two legs beside me, staring out at the gathering of female Aspis with their glowing crimson stripes and their long tails.

“Female, you are upset.” He stands there as I turn and punch him in the stomach. It’s not abuse. It does literally nothing to him. He just looks down and then redirects his attention to my face. “Why? This is a glorious day.”

I look back at the gathered females, all of whom are staring at me curiously. Some of them are scratching at their horns with their back feet. Some are licking themselves like cats. Others snort and take off, pausing to piss on bushes as they pass. That last thing, that annoys the shit out of Abraxas.

“What is this? Your goddamn harem?” I gesture at the females, the fur falling around my shoulders. I clutch at it to keep it up. My cheeks are blazing, and I hate that Zero is listening in on this conversation.

“Harem?” he repeats the word, dropping to a crouch in front of me. His mouth ripples in a growl. “There is no harem. You are my mate. My female. It is customary for unmated Aspis in the area to visit and acknowledge a new mating. They are here to see you.” He picks me up in his tail, fur covering and all, and then hops down to the ground, setting me in front of him.

I notice that he keeps his body more or less wrapped around mine.

“An alien female. Interesting choice.” One of the larger females sounds disappointed. She leans in like she might sniff me, and Abraxas’ scales rise in warning. He snarls at her and she retreats a few steps. “I hear they are prime breeding.”

I just stand there, confused as all get out. I’ve only ever seen one other Aspis, and she was as wild as they come. This is a hair more civilized.

“They are always aroused and willing,” another agrees, yawning with that massive mouth and giving me the chills. I have to turn away. The memory of being swallowed is still too fresh. Between that and the brothel chains, I might actually suffer nightmares at some point. “Never did I believe a day would come when you were mated, male.” She snorts and moves to leave. “May your mate bond carry you far.”

There’s some buzzing interest at that. I look up at Abraxas, crouched back on his haunches, looking bored. But when he sees me staring at him, he smirks again, and I want to slap him so bad that my hand itches. He thinks this is funny.

“I take it you were an eligible bachelor?” I query, knowing only he can understand me. From what I can see, he had his pick of the litter. There are a dozen females in the vicinity. None are looking at me as a meal just now which is a nice change of pace.

“I am a mature, powerful male, highly prized,” Abraxas responds easily, and while I can understand him through the translator, they can all understand him as well. Several of the females rumble with growling laughter.

“May it carry you far,” another adds. “This favored breeder of the market traders.” She makes a displeased snort and stands up, shaking herself out so that her scales ruffle like feathers.

Abraxas gives me a triumphant look in response, and my stomach gurgles.

Slowly, the other females disperse. Abraxas waits until they’re long gone, and then he goes about urinating on every bush and rock and tree that they touched. I just stand there, mind whirring wildly.

“That was, um.” I scratch at my temple and squinch my eyes. “So basically everyone gathers together to gawk at the new mates? Do they do that for everyone or just weird pairs like us?”

“Weird?” he queries, coming over to stand beside me on all fours. His tail sways behind him in amusement. I pretend not to notice the smug look on his face. I don’t think about last night, and our silly discussion about fertility, or the way he whispered seeded into my ear. “What about our mating is abnormal? Because you are an alien? Do not think I am the only Aspis with a foreign mate. We are fertile and quick to adapt.”

Right.

“We’re not having a child,” I repeat, and he gets right up in my face, grinning at me like a wild thing.

“No? You are seeded even now. Make no mistake.” He sits back on his haunches and stares up at the ship. “We may need to move dens. This one is quite small.”

My head spins, but surely, his words are mere conjecture. He can’t know anything. Even if … we were compatible like that, he wouldn’t know now. We had sex last night. That’s ridiculous.

“I like this den.” I cross my arms and look back at it, thinking about Zero. “By the way, the computer hates you.” I point up in her general direction, waving my hand around. The fur slips down my shoulders again, and I hike it up. Some clothes would be fantastic right about now. “Do you know what I mean when I say that?”

He stares at me and then snatches me up with his tail, hopping back into the ship. I might need to come up with some sort of rope ladder or something so I can get down, but also something I can pull up easily when I’m inside. Abraxas sets me down and then stares at Zero’s screen. She’s cleared it completely. Even her cursor is gone.

“The alien tech,” he replies belatedly, looking the screen over. “It does not concern me.” He looks back at me, and his face is as serious as I’ve ever seen it. “You were brought here against your will. Others who come here freely do not have good intentions. They round my people up, kill and capture, harvest our tongues. They cut trees and burn forests, crush mountains for minerals, and they do not care about any of it. The ones who crash, the ones who die, they have earned their fates.”

He trots past me into the nest, and I follow.

“Have you ever … have you ever seen a half-breed Aspis?” I ask, desperate to change the subject. What he’s telling me, I could’ve guessed based on the market and the Tusk Men and all that. But damn, it makes me feel sad. Abraxas is the most emotionally complex creature I have ever met—myself included.

“I have.” He looks so unbelievably smug when he passes me that cloth bag from yesterday that I almost forget to care what’s inside of it. “A human and Aspis bred child. I have seen that.”

My eyes widen, and my hands tremble, but there are no words.

Eve, really? Why do you think you know best here? You’re a caterer!

If we’re talking amuse-bouche, I’m the GOAT. Alien sex? Not exactly.

“You might’ve told me that last night,” I breathe, clutching the sack close. Trying not to think about his sack. Big and plump and heavy and— Oh shit. I am in huge trouble. Why do I always have to be contrary for contrary’s sake?! “What did it look like? Was it creepy?”

He lounges in the nest, relaxed and happy and fulfilled, and drums the fingers of his left hand on his right forearm. Those bejeweled eyes of his sweep me like I’m a queen in need of worship. My knees tremble and I sit down, pulling the bag closer and cuddling it for support.

“She was lovely, human in shape like her mother with the black scales of her father. A tail. Wings. Horns. Do not fear, my mate. Our child will have no problem surviving nor finding a mate.” He tilts his head, waiting for a response.

I don’t know what to say to any of that, so I open the bag instead and turn it over, spilling its contents into the nest.

Clothes. Lots and lots of clothes. My mouth drops open as I study the pile of fabric on the floor of the nest.

“How did you …” I start, and then my voice trails off as I pick up a shirt.

It’s Jane’s shirt.

It’s Jane’s fucking shirt.

My breath catches as I clutch it against my chest, heart pounding. She always, always, always wears her lucky t-shirt under the ugly suits she wears to work. This one has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it. Used to belong to her mom before she got arrested. Shit, fuck. Tears sting my eyes as I bring it to my nose and smell it like a crazy person. No. No, no, no! It smells like Jane’s Chanel No. 5 perfume that she wears because—and I quote—”it’s just bourgeois enough to please my clients, but not so bourgeois that I hate myself for wearing it.”

I turn to Abraxas, seeing that he’s stiffened up, ready to fight for me. He’s concerned, but he doesn’t know why I’m upset.

“Where did this come from?” I ask, choking on the words. I can’t breathe. I feel sick. I’m over here cuddling up to an alien guy and my friend is … what? … searching for me? She could still be in the market, looking for my ungrateful ass. Cop Guy still hasn’t shown up. It’s been eight days since I saw him.

“A cart run by Tusks,” Abraxas replies, grabbing me with his wing-hands and tugging me into the circle of his arms. “There were no human females on it. I promise you that, my sweet mate.”

I’m trembling now, and I hate that. I strive never to show weakness or vulnerability. Something about Abraxas makes me want to strip my soul bare so he can see down to the bones of my humanity.

“I have to find Jane, Abraxas.” I’ve told him this before, but it’s possible that with the translator issues, he didn’t quite get it. “She’s my friend—closer to me than my own sisters—and she was abducted with me. I heard her calling my name in the market just before I got grabbed by that tusk dude.” I look down at the shirt before lifting my gaze back to his.

He isn’t happy about it, that’s for damn sure.

“You are going to leave me,” he says, and his voice, that guttural growl of his true words, breaks my heart. “You will return to your planet with the other humans.” He closes his eyes, but instead of turning away from me or running off, he tucks me closer. I’m enveloped in his heat, his presence, his scent. I cling to him with Jane’s shirt trapped between us, and I don’t know what to say.

“Maybe I could figure out a way to fly home for a bit, and then come back here?” I’m talking with my cheek crushed to his neck, fingers digging into his smooth skin. “That’s possible, isn’t it? Other aliens do it. They come and go.”

“The only ones who would be willing to do what you have asked …” he rumbles, his words shaking my entire body. “Are the ones who would as soon violate you as they would comply. They will not listen to me, and I cannot make them.” He releases me suddenly and stands up on all fours, backing away from me with his wings raised and his tail thrashing. He’s agitated, the spikes along his spine and tail standing on end, oozing venom. I snatch his tail when he swings it near me, pricking my hand on one of the spikes.

I stare at the venom on my open palm as he crouches down to lick my skin, adding his healing saliva to the mix. Um. Isn’t this sort of a big deal?

“Am I going to die?” I ask, thinking of the state he was in when he was envenomated.

“Mated pairs are immune to venom,” he tells me, but there’s a deep level of unease in his voice that I haven’t heard before. He’s upset. Rightfully so. “Eve, I do not wish to keep you prisoner here, but you must understand that you cannot leave.” He turns to me with an expression of complete and utter sympathy. “I have tried to make it so you understand, but I do not know how this alien tech interprets my words. If we are separated, we will both die. I have seen it happen as quickly as seven sunrises, but never longer than sixty.”

I have no idea what to say to that.

“Stay put,” he snarls at me, stalking past and disappearing past the curtain. I can feel his presence as he moves away, the musky smell of him clinging to the air.

I put the shirt up to my face and close my eyes, falling back into the furs. Since there’s nobody around, I just scream. I let out all my frustration in one horrible pterodactyl shriek.

The sound of claws on metal precedes Abraxas’ return. He’s in the nest and nearly on top of me before I can register his presence. He brackets my face with his wing-hands and leans in with a rippling snarl.

“Female, what is the matter?” he asks, searching me all over with such tenderness that I hate myself all over again for ruining his life. I’ve ruined it. I came here and distracted him and took away any chance he had of mating one of those beautiful females we saw this morning. I took his … whatever his penis spirals are called, and I still can’t just let myself enjoy it because I know he’s right. How delusional am I? I can’t get rides to and from Earth with cuddly Trevor the Asshole Green Giant. I can’t hitch a ride from the sex trafficking tusk men. If the phrase gas or ass ever meant anything, these aliens would embody it. Oh no.

I have to make a choice: my family or … my mate. Earth … or my mate. Pizza … or my mate. Music … or my mate. But I don’t have to make a choice between my mate and Jane.

“We need to find Jane,” I repeat, and I say it hoping that the ‘we’ comes across as strongly as I meant it.

Abraxas draws away from me, but he pauses, looking back and then licking a spot on my temple. I take it like a kiss, curling Jane’s shirt in my hands as he leaves the nest without another word.

I’ve recovered some of my emotional faculties by the time Abraxas returns, my body leaned casually against the wall. I’m propped by a single shoulder, eyes closed, fully dressed. I’ve chosen to wear Jane’s t-shirt, no bra (because I’m in space, duh, why the fuck would I ever wear a bra again?), and a pair of up-the-ass jean shorts.

I’m looking cool until I go to adjust myself, slip, and nearly slam the back of my head against the floor. Abraxas catches me like it’s nothing, yanking me to him to dangle off the floor as he looks into my eyes.

“We will go to the market,” he says, and then he releases me suddenly, handing out a massive … uhh, thing. It’s a metal thing, like a ring of some kind. It’s all techy and weird with lights on it and some really fucking disturbing spikes on the inside. “Here.” Abraxas offers this device to me easily, and I take it, grunting a bit at the weight. He tilts his head to the side using his wing-hand to point at his neck. “Capture me.”

“Capture …” I trail off and then look down at the item in my hands. My nose wrinkles, and I scowl automatically. I chuck the thing onto the floor the way Abraxas does, breaking it. He looks absolutely stunned as he drops down to all fours in front of me, sniffing my hair vigorously, like he might be able to figure out what’s wrong with me. “No.”

“No?” he repeats, and then he narrows his eyes, curling his lip at me. “You like this word much, don’t you?”

“You want me to put that hideous collar on you? With the spikes inside it? Why?” I wait, but he just stares at me again, like he thinks he can glean something from my expression. “I heard you mention pets and jeweled leashes.” I point past him to the coil of bejeweled chain near the doorway. “You want me to walk you into the market.”

“You will not be bothered, and I will not be attacked on sight. Many traders keep Aspis as pets.” He says this matter-of-factly. I don’t happen to find it a very matter-of-fact thing at all. It’s sick. It’s absolute fucking insanity.

“That’s not okay,” I say, and he drops his head to look at me.

“You are strange,” he says, standing up in front of me. “I do not regret picking you.”

He turns away from me and moves back over to the doorway, looking out and into the woods. I do my best to pretend like I didn’t hear his last statement, trotting after him to stand at his side.

“Well, it’s not okay. Isn’t that moth thing a prince? Why doesn’t he do something about this shit?”

Abraxas blinks at me and then leans in, sniffing the side of my face again. When he talks, his breath heats my skin and makes me squirm.

“The Vestalis are scum. They play at being righteous while sucking the universe dry. Parasitic liars. World eaters.” He turns away from me, crouching and gripping the edge of the ship with a clawed hand. He’s frustrated with me right now, and I don’t blame him. I’d be frustrated with me, too.

“Finding Jane doesn’t mean I’m leaving,” I tell him softly, unsure exactly what it is that I’m actually trying to say. “It just means finding Jane. For all I know, she’s probably mated to an alien, too.” I’d laugh, but it’s not even a joke. I’m serious. If one of these fuckers got me, she’s a goner, too. That bitch never could say no to a pretty face. She dates like it’s an Olympic sport.

Abraxas rumbles a growl that’s definitely his version of a laugh.

“We will fly over the market then; you can take a look.”

“I can’t do this to you,” I reaffirm, crossing my arms. “I can’t take you to the market and risk you. Those nets, those guns … I just can’t. Not even for myself.” I swallow hard. “Not even for Jane.”

I put both hands over my face again.

We need a different plan, one that doesn’t risk Abraxas whatsoever.

I drop my arms by my sides.

“We need to find someone that’s on the road and threaten them into looking for Jane for us.” I turn to Abraxas, but he’s already grinning at me. Looking at him right now, it’s hard to equate the maniacal creature with the loving mate. He’s admittedly terrifying. Yeah, erm, I must be soulmates with this guy because he never scared me. Not once. Tabbi Kat would piss her pants. “Does that sound workable?”

“You are a devious female,” he says, snatching me up in his tail and dropping to all fours. He puts me on his back, and it really shouldn’t be sexual, but it is. It is. I grit my teeth and grab onto his horns. That really does it for him. He makes this low purr of frustration, and then hops out of the ship. His wings swing down in a hard motion, and then we’re in the air.

It takes me a few minutes to adjust to being in the sky. But once I do? I’m riding an alien dragon. Are you fucking nuts? It’s amazing.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I whisper, and Abraxas rumbles. He pulls his wings in sharply, banks a hard left, and then we’re plummeting. I might scream, but only for a second. I snap my mouth closed, nearly losing my grip on his horns, and then he’s coming down hard and using his tail to smash the side of a wagon.

Ah, so that’s what happened to me then.

All I remember was being in the cart and then being on the ground. Nothing in between. Musta scented my sweet femaleness after he nearly killed me, eh?

People—not Tusk Men, but something else—scatter from the wagon as Abraxas swings out his tail and decapitates one of them. The body flops to the ground and blood sprays everywhere.

“Dude, you’ve got to chill out for a second. We need to keep at least one alive.”

“One only. He will not come back for anything but the cargo and only then if he thinks he will get to keep it all to himself.” He scrabbles across the ground, snatching one of the other fleeing aliens by the neck. With a blithe toss, he smashes that guy into one of his teammates like he did to the Tusk Men at the brothel. Abraxas picks another man at random and lands on two feet behind him, snapping his neck and then flinging the corpse to the side.

I can’t even describe what it’s like to exist in that moment.

Maybe it’s better. Maybe it’s worse. Doesn’t matter. This is another planet, and I feel that right now.

“Where did the last one go?” I ask, looking around. Abraxas spots him first, dropping back to all fours and sprinting. He lunges and smashes a clawed hand into the man’s back, pinning him to the road. The alien screams, and it’s the most grating sound I’ve ever heard in my life.

I hop off of Abraxas’ back and come around to squat near his head.

“Can you understand me?” I ask, and it takes a minute, but he eventually shuts the fuck up. “Good. How are you today?”

“Aspis whore,” he spits out, and I don’t even seem to need my translator to understand him. “The whole market is looking for the pair of you.” He smirks at me, but his mouth is wide and fat like a toad’s. The expression looks strange on him, like he picked it up from watching too many humans but doesn’t understand it at all. “Rumor has it that the Vestalis prince wants you—badly.”

Abraxas crushes the man’s neck, spattering me with blood. I lift my head up slowly to look at him, but he’s unapologetic.

“If they’re looking for us, he will not go in there and do what you want him to do. He will report us and lead bounty hunters our way.” Abraxas steps back and licks the blood from my face. It’s … a lot to process. I push him away, and he lets me. “I am sorry that you were dirtied by his spray.” He literally apologizes to me in the midst of carnage.

“Thanks, cutie.” I give his cheek a pat with my hand and then shove up to my feet. I head straight for the ruined wagon, lifting the curtain flap at the back. There’s something inside, like a box or … or a cage.

Pale fingers curl around the bars, and my heart soars. It’s Jane! I step forward, reaching out for my bestie’s hands … when I see the nail polish. No. It’s hot pink. Jane fucking hates hot pink.

“Oh my God, Evelyn!”

It’s Tabbi Kat.

“No. Nope.” I turn around and start walking.

“Evelyn, get your ass back here!” she screeches at me, but I have to take a minute, leaning over and putting my hands on my thighs. I close my eyes and struggle to breathe. Of all the people in the entire universe, it had to be her. A random stranger would be preferable. What is my life? “Evelyn!”

Abraxas moves up to stand beside me, peering down at me with keen interest.

“Another human female?” he asks, and I jerk my head in his direction. I narrow my eyes as he grins at me again. “Jealous already? This bodes well for my chances as your mate.”

“Don’t be an arrogant dick,” I mumble, turning back around to follow him as he peers curiously at Tabbi Kat. As soon as she notices Abraxas, it starts. The screaming, I mean.

“What the fuck is that thing?” she screeches, and I cringe. If the alien man’s screams were annoying, this bitch has just stolen his crown. “Evelyn, run!”

“It’s Eve,” I correct through gritted teeth. “My name isn’t short for anything. I’ve explained that.” I march up to the wagon and then just stand there with my arms crossed. Tabbi looks … pretty bad. I won’t lie. I soften toward her immediately as I study her tangled hair and swollen face, the drab brown gown that she’s wearing. She’s actively crying, cuts and bruises up and down both arms and legs. She’s barefoot. “I thought Trevor and his twin were into you?” I whisper, trying to keep the situation as light as I can.

“What? They’re fucking aliens,” she snaps, eyes widening as Abraxas approaches. “Oh my God, gross. It’s hideous.”

I swallow hard. I’m not ashamed though. Actually, I want to tell people that Abraxas is my mate. I’m pretty damn proud of that. Look at him. He’s a badass—and he’s nice. How often do those two things come in the same package?

“This is my mate, Abraxas.” I hold out a hand to indicate him, and he growls.

“Hello smelly female,” he says, but she can’t understand him. All she’ll hear is that snarl. We’re going to need a third translator.

Despite everything, I’m going to rescue Tabbi. Don’t get me wrong: that doesn’t mean I like her. I don’t. I honestly think I hate her, but she isn’t the worst human ever born. She’s never murdered anyone. Never raped anyone. Never tortured anybody (except with her shitty music). I can’t condemn her to death because her music sucks and she suffers from severe narcissism.

“Your mate?” Her eyes widen to enormous proportions. “You fucked that?” she asks, glancing his way. Abraxas sits there in a gargoyle crouch, one arm over his knee, wings spread, tail drawing patterns in the dirt. He looks like a demon as his horns pulse with amethyst heat. “How? It doesn’t have a dick.”

I look at him, assuming that he’ll show her the way he did me. He doesn’t. I smile and look back at Tabbi.

“Have you seen Jane?” I don’t hold my breath. My friend is crafty. If she was wandering around the market, I’m sure that she’s as free as I am. That is, she’s not actively in captivity, but she can’t get around easily to look for me.

“You’re the only human I’ve seen since you left me in that stupid tent.” She smirks at me, but it’s just sad because she’s so beat to shit. Poor thing. “Oh, and since you lied to me about the Punk’d thing, Jane is definitely fired and so are you. I will ruin your name, and you will never cater another event in Portland or anywhere else in Oregon. Hell, you’ll be lucky if your name isn’t trashed worldwide when I’m finished with you.”

I let her have that. If she actually believes that shit still matters, she’s lost her mind. Also, where the fuck is Madonna, the opossum? No sooner has the thought crossed my mind than the little animal is peeking its head out of the pocket of the ugly brown sack dress. I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Tabitha Katherine,” I begin, using her real name. Tabbi Kat is the nickname her dad gave her before he passed away. There is some depth to this girl. Not a lot. But some. “You’re going to be okay.”

Tabbi collapses to her knees, dropping her face to her hands. She begins to sob as I look back to Abraxas.

“Can you get her out for me?” I ask.

He licks the side of my face in response, and then grabs two bars in either hand. With nary a tensed muscle, he pulls the metal out of the wood frame and tosses both pieces aside. I kneel down and put my arm around Tabbi. I’m just assuming Abraxas can hold us both. He’s not at his largest size, but, as I’ve said, he’s a big guy.

“We should probably get out of here,” I tell Tabbi, helping her to her feet. I look at Abraxas again, trying to gauge what we’ll both be comfortable with when it comes to carrying Tabbi. Frankly, I don’t like her touching him. We should’ve left her in the cage and carried that.

“Grab her,” he tells me, so I do. I turn and put my arms around her, startling her. Tabbi goes stiff all over.

“What are you doing?” she asks, just before Abraxas grabs us both around the waist, hauling us up and into the air.

Tabbi screams the entire way back to the ship.

“Leave me alone!” she screeches, scrambling back into the nook where the remnants of my makeshift bed remain. Madonna peeks her head out again and hisses at me. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

I stay away from her, standing next to Abraxas and in front of Zero’s screen. I have the weirdest feeling that they’re going to like each other, Zero and Tabbi Kat. They’re both dicks.

“I do not like other females in our den,” Abraxas remarks, which somehow makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I know he and I haven’t quite talked about what happened this morning, but somehow, it feels implicitly okay. He sniffs the air and narrows his beautiful eyes. “What is this small prey animal she carries with her?”

“The only North American marsupial—” I start and then cut off when I realize he won’t understand any of that. “A pet.” I turn back to my favorite frenemy. “Tabbi, we’re not going to hurt you,” I say gently, trying to get her to calm down. If I have to listen to her sobbing all night, I’m going to lose my mind. We went out to look for Jane today. I didn’t think we were going to find her. I figured this was something we’d need to do over and over again until the mission was fruitful. Plan B was to wait for Cop Guy to finally show up, and then let him know that he should get Jane first and come back to talk to me once he had her in custody.

I can’t make any final decisions on anything until I talk to Jane Baker. She’ll tell me like it is. She’ll tell me if … if it’s okay to stay. She’ll tell me if I should go home. Whatever it is, I’ll believe her.

“Make him go away,” she grinds out, tucked up tight in the corner with her arms around her legs. “I haven’t met one goddamn alien who was anything less than pure hell.”

“Tell her that I will not leave your side,” Abraxas grumbles, lying on his side with his back against the wall. “You may speak with her, and we will feed her, but then she sleeps elsewhere. I will put her in a den close to this one.”

“Let her stay for one night,” I tell him over my shoulder. He narrows his eyes and curls his lip at me. I turn back to Tabbi and sit down beside her, my own back to the wall, my knees up. Madonna scrambles out of her pocket to perch on her shoulder, whiskers twitching as her pink nose scents the air. “What happened, Tabbi?”

“You first,” she snaps out, but I don’t react to her anger. I left a spoiled brat behind in the market, but this is … well, she’s still a spoiled brat but there’s a fear in her eyes that wasn’t there before. I’ve been so lucky this whole time. Waking up under a sign that advertises humans as food, as entertainment, as sex toys, that’s not funny at all. I know that. I narrowly avoided being a forced bride. I was saved from being raped in a brothel. I’m still alive only because of Abraxas. He isn’t an inconvenient random; he’s my only friend on a planet I don’t know if I can leave even if I did want to. I might be over here thinking I have a choice when I have none at all.

“Well, I was purchased by the guys with the big tusks.” I mime their shape. “Then I was saved by this guy. I went into the market once and made contact with an intergalactic cop.”

I don’t mention the Moth Guy. I really don’t want to think about the Moth Guy and what I just learned from the wagon dude. He’s looking for me? Everyone in the market is looking for us? That can’t be good. I also have a feeling that Abraxas is going to bring up the guy’s statement later. Why on earth would Moth Guy be looking for me? I have to tell my mate about the fucking blood exchange.

“A cop?” Tabbi asks, but then she just sighs and shakes her head. “You’re so naive. This is the rest of our life, you know that? We’re never going home.” She won’t look at me anymore, staring at the wall instead. “I was with Trevor and Taylor for a while. I stayed at their place in the market. It didn’t seem so bad at first. We went out clubbing and had drinks and—”

“You went clubbing?” I ask incredulously. I was out here in the jungle with a busted translator and this bitch was dancing and getting drunk? But maybe … that’s not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I take it with a grain of salt. “Then what happened?”

“One night, we got attacked on the street. I haven’t seen them since. I was sold to one of those things with the tusks. He put me in this dress and forced me into a wedding, but I escaped. I ran through the woods for days, got bitten to death every single fucking night.” She looks at me with wide, teary eyes, hand absently stroking her pet. “There are shadow creatures with glowing eyes that come out at night.” Her entire body shudders as she looks out the doorway at the twilight sky. “They’ll be here soon enough. If we don’t have a fire, we’ll probably die.”

Tabbi pushes up to her feet and starts to gather sticks, ignoring Abraxas entirely.

“She’s damaged,” I murmur to him, coming back over to stand beside him. I put one of my hands on his horn and curl my fingers around it. I can’t believe I was able to save Abraxas the other night. That was sheer dumb fucking luck on my part. We might’ve both actually died that night. “I don’t want her here tonight either, but she’s not in a good place.”

“Whatever my female wishes,” Abraxas growls, his eyes tracking Tabbi’s movements as she tries … and succeeds in making a fire?! What the hell? With nothing but two sticks? That’s when I notice that she’s gotten a hold of a fire starter somehow.

“Where did you get that?” I ask, coming up to stand beside her. She’s made a roaring fire in less than five minutes. And with an opossum clinging to her back. Impressive.

“I wear it around my neck,” she says absently. “Always.”

Huh.

So Tabitha Katherine has a secret?

“The shadows don’t come here at night,” I explain to her, knowing she won’t believe me. She scoffs and doesn’t bother looking up at me. “Abraxas scares them.”

“I can’t believe you fucked that thing. It looks like an animal to me. Are you a pervert or something?” She’s staring in the direction of the nest, but I can’t explain to her how he tidied and rebuilt his nest to court me. The display in the heat vent. The way he sacrificed the last few hours of his life in an attempt to save mine. She won’t understand, and I don’t need her to.

“Well, he’s anything but an animal.” I stare her down when she looks back at me. Then I correct myself as I lean down to stare at her. “He’s anything but an animal—unless he’s in the bedroom. In that regard, you’d be right.” I smile. “Everywhere else, he’s intelligent and well-spoken and crafty. Plus, he can take down a dozen dudes with cannons and net guns like it’s nothing. Are you sure you want to keep insulting him? He’s letting you stay in his den.”

Tabbi shoves up to her feet and I follow, letting her get in my face.

“You were always pathetic,” she sneers at me, taking her rage out on the first human being she’s seen in weeks. “Jane talks about how sad it is that you work yourself to the bone for people who think of you as less than a slave.”

I cross my arms and wait, letting her vitriol spiral. She’s lost everything. She will never again be the carefree pop star with the massive trust fund. She’s something else entirely now, a dirty, disheveled, and lonely person.

“You’re probably happy being here and fucking some random alien. What do you have on earth to lose? Nothing.”

I shake my head and stare at the floor.

“I have four siblings,” I tell her, wishing I could slap her but knowing that I can’t. “I have loving parents. I have five cousins that I’m super close to. My aunts and uncles are all in my life. I’ve still got two sets of grandparents. I have a huge friend circle, with friends from elementary school and high school and college. Tabbi, I’ve got a lot to lose.” I look back up at her, just a sad, angry human on an alien planet. “So maybe we could just work together for now?”

The idea of being stuck here with Tabbi Kat as the only other human is … depressing. If I’m going to live here, I’d like Cop Guy to at least take her away. You know what I mean? The possum can stay though.

Tabbi shoves me.

Abraxas appears, snatching her violently up in his tail in a way he never did to me. He traps her arms tight against her body and squeezes her hard enough that she has trouble talking. He’s careful not to dislodge Madonna from her shoulder which I appreciate.

“I will put her in the other den. If she does not stay there, she will die in the woods tonight. That will be her choice to make.” He turns and takes off, bounding out and into the trees as I sag back against the wall, eyes closed. I’m suddenly so tired that I could just curl up on the metal floor and fall asleep.

But I don’t have to because … drum roll … I have a beautiful nest.

I open my eyes to look over at Zero.

“Another human has arrived. Intriguing.”

“Is it though?” I quip back at her. “But haven’t you seen dozens and dozens of humans? All the ones that Abraxas fucks and then eats?”

“*cringe*” That’s what she writes. Good. She deserved that clapback, didn’t she? “Do you truly believe the Falopex will come? If so, will you leave with him?”

I don’t respond to that, moving into the nest and stripping my clothes to wait for Abraxas.

He’s pleased to find me naked in his bed.

“Oh, my small female …” he growls, prowling over to me.

He mounts me with his mating cock again, and then curls up to sleep with me partially tucked underneath him.