Chapter 5

Liz

Rolling over yet again, Liz sighed and decided she should just get up. The sun had yet to rise, and she hadn't gotten into the hotel room until long past sunset, but even though her entire body ached for sleep, she just couldn't settle. Between worrying for her nana and feeling guilty about not reaching out to her mother, she'd tossed and turned for the few hours she'd been lying down.

Add in the worms she felt crawling in her belly from the interaction with the pristine alpha, and she wanted to vomit. She flashed from cold to hot, embarrassment over how she'd probably overreacted warring with the unease he'd caused her. No matter how handsome he'd been, she couldn't ignore how her instincts had screamed at her to get away as fast as possible.

Maybe she was getting sick? The last time she traveled through space, she'd needed a few days to recover, but she didn't have time to be sick right now. She needed to find her nana before the enemy attacked Jun'gale.

Sitting up and rubbing her arms, she couldn't figure out why the room still felt so warm, especially since she'd already changed the thermostat twice. After pushing the sheet off her legs, she stood and wobbled to the window. Not wanting to ruffle the curtains, she used one finger to push open a small peephole at the edge and peeked out.

The sky showed some brightening, but the sun hadn't risen above the horizon yet. From her vantage point, she could see how busy the streets were below, and despite there being much less of a crowd than the previous night, there were still many people scurrying around.

Instincts called her eyes to the right, and for a moment she fought the sensation, wanting to study the blockade. When she finally gave in and swept her gaze to the walkway on the outside of her building, she startled. A humongous shadow flashed out of view, too quick for her to discern what, or who, it could have been.

The window shook as the door next to hers shut behind the dark shape. The creature was enormous. Mountainous.

And it was staying in the room right next to hers.

The worms in her belly morphed into snakes, tumbling over each other and unsettling her so much she dropped the curtain and darted to the tiny bathroom. Holding her stomach while she bent over the toilet, Liz breathed through her nose and fought the ridiculous sensations roiling through her insides.

As the air conditioning unit kicked on yet again, the most tantalizing perfume filled her nostrils and sent the oddest sense of calm spreading through her. Like fire and pines, the wild perfume caused a soothing heat to invade her chest, which settled into her belly and spread to her extremities.

Dropping her arm, she moved away from the toilet and turned on the sink. After splashing cold water on her face and using the towel to dry, she looked at her tired reflection.

Determination filled her. The face staring back at her held the same tilted eyes as her nana, and even though their coloring was different, she used the reminder to bolster her courage. She'd get dressed, check out, then try the blockade again. She wouldn't stop until they let her through.

Tossing the towel back over the rack, Liz shuffled into the tiny bedroom and paused. As she picked up her shirt, her eyelids drooped and her arm grew heavier. She looked at the crumpled bedding and blinked, realizing that no matter how much she wanted to rush back out to find her nana, she'd never make it anywhere if she fell asleep the moment she stopped moving.

With a sigh, she dropped her shirt and crawled back onto the bed. As her head settled onto the lumpy little pillow, the calm that had filled her intensified until she couldn't even lift her arm to pull the blanket over her.

The thoughts and memories that had plagued her the last few hours drifted away, allowing her to sink into a slumber so deep, nothing intruded. Covered by darkness and soothed by the delicious scent seeping through the vents, Liz had no choice but to fall into a rejuvenating sleep.

***

Ever so slowly, thoughts snuck into Liz's mind, never complete enough to make sense. They began with the simplest of things—her own hand reaching out, the warmth of a fire, a sense of belonging—and morphed into increasingly disturbing visions. A massive body hovering over hers. Gentle caresses in intimate places. Flames licking up her thighs.

She jolted awake, gasping and blinking at the tiny room in confusion, until she remembered where she was. Weight pressed her shoulders back to the bed as she flopped down and stared at the ceiling. A beam of sunlight snuck past the curtain and streaked across her torso, and when she realized why the room was no longer dark, panic crept up her throat.

She'd slept so long, the sun was high in the sky. She'd wasted too much of the day sleeping instead of searching for a way out of the city.

Guilt crept back into her heart as she rolled onto her side. How could she reach her nana if she hid in a hotel room the entire day?

Slapping her doubts away, Liz forced her body out of the bed, ignoring the myriad of complaints it gave, and threw her clothes on. After using the facilities and doing a quick wash in the sink, she slipped her shoes on and flung the curtain open.

There were still hundreds of people rushing about on the streets, with a few dirty and disheveled groups being funneled through the blockade. A soldier stopped each group before allowing them in, unlike the night before when they passed through freely. With a sinking feeling in her gut, Liz noticed they'd narrowed the space between the concrete blocks and doubled security. No one headed out of the city.

She wouldn't give up. She had to find her nana, and her instincts still screamed that her grandmother was out in the wilderness. Knowing Nana, nothing short of family being in danger or the place burning down around her ears would make her vacate her home, and Liz couldn't leave her to face what was coming alone.

Letting herself think of the direness of the situation for the first time, Liz gathered everything she knew about her nana and fought down panic. The last time they talked on the phone, Nana had been so excited about the tiny community she'd found. If things were worse than she could handle, she'd head there for help.

Liz squared her shoulders even as she blinked away tears. If her nana loved her new friends, the older woman would stay with them, unless every single one of her new family members came to the city.

Which meant Liz might need to convince more than her nana to travel.

It didn't matter. She'd do it. She'd do whatever it took to get her nana to safety.

With her conviction warming her chest and her tails fluffed behind her, Liz opened the door and stepped out onto the walkway.

Her feet carried her to the left, even as she told herself the stairs were to the right. She stopped at the corner of the building and perused the horizon, gleaning nothing but confusion as she spotted a black moon in the sky across from the blazing sun. Shaking her head, she pulled her attention down and looked at the surrounding city.

With the blockade wall on the right and a sea of buildings as far as her eyes could see on the left, Liz let pride rise in her chest. She'd traveled through that chaos on her own, so she'd be able to find a way over the wall.

A hub of movement below caught her eye, so she studied the area, trying to figure out why so many people crowded together. It had to be a market, if she could trust the signs and flurry of people, and was only a few streets from the blockade, the tail end of it beginning near the foot of the building she was in.

She decided it could be a good place to find knowledge and maybe a guide to another way out of the city if they turned her away at the blockade again.

With a plan in place, Liz pulled herself away from her vantage point and hurried to the stairs, squeezing the railing as she rushed down them two at a time.

She'd wasted too much time sleeping, so she had to move fast.

She had to get to her nana, no matter what it took.