I swallowed. I was in space. Looking at Earth.
A touch alighted on my upper back, and I jerked, whipping around. The woman waved toward the man before pushing me. The man at the end of the aisle immediately snarled, and she stepped back, head tilting to the side, exposing her throat.
Staggering, I started forward.
Stools lined the aisle, all full of people. The aliens watched me with their cat-like gazes, and whispers suffused the room, sounding like the hum of electricity. One alien stood, different from the others. The hulking alien had leathery green skin and a jutting lower jaw. They pointed at me, and a scaled alien tugged them down.
The man at the front stared at me. His expression was calm, but his tail swung and he bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He extended a clawed hand toward me, and I backed up. He blinked but gave no other indication he’d heard me. Another person, a woman, moved toward us. She had gray hair and pale purple scales the same shade as the lilac blooms.
She seemed different than the others I’d seen, older maybe. Her scales were rough and lacked the sheen most of the others possessed. The lilac-colored alien held out a piece of glass, except it glowed bright white. Words slipped out of her thin lips, almost lyrical sounding.
When she stopped speaking, the man released a gruff noise and touched the piece of glass. The white gleam turned into a soft green like a new spring fern.
With a frown, he removed his hand, fisting it behind his back.
The woman began to speak again. When she stopped, eyes on me, I had no idea what she wanted.
“Yes?” I asked.
People whispered, but none of them seemed upset. They were all smiling, which was more than a little alarming with their sharp teeth. At least, I thought they were smiling. Maybe they were growling? Maybe they were going to eat me? Was this an elaborate dinner ritual?
The woman held out the piece of glass. I had no idea what was going on, but the other man had touched it and he was fine. Shrugging, I placed my palm on the glowing glass.
The light swirled around my fingers with tickling movements. The white color changed to a deep red that was almost black. The crowd whispered like angry bees. The man beside me stiffened, and his frown deepened, making my mouth go bone dry. A whimper clawed at my throat at the fierce expression, but I swallowed it.
The woman spoke again in an announcing voice. People stood and released a volley of growls.
I jerked, bumping into something hard. I peeked back, and the blue man stood right behind me. This alien was maybe four or so inches taller than I was, shorter than some of the others I’d seen.
He turned me toward him and lowered as if he was going to kiss me, and I yanked back; words of anger sparked on the tip of my tongue. He stopped, forehead creasing. His hands fell away from my biceps, then he brushed my cheek with the back of his finger. My eyes widened at the gentle touch and the burning warmth of his scales. When he stepped back, the room erupted again.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter 3
My what?
The crowd continued to growl as he ushered me down the aisle. I stumbled beside him, head down, and he gripped my elbow for the barest moment until I regained my footing.
The purple alien had been clinical in her interactions with me, but this blue one pressed close to me, almost touching, hovering. His eyes rarely left me, making me tremble. What did he want from me?
No noise broke the silence as we rode the elevator. I couldn’t even peek at him. He stepped out first, then motioned for me to follow. I did, not fighting. This hallway was much like theother one I’d seen with doors on both sides. He pressed his palm against a lighted panel near a door.
A living room, not shockingly different from the ones on Earth, with a long padded bench, a shelf full of books, a low table surrounded by woven mats, and two closed doors was on the other side.
It was an apartment.
Idid notlike where this was going.
Without hesitation, the man strode into the room, and he scrubbed a hand through his long hair. The action was oddly human, or at least, one I attributed to humanity. I stepped inside, and the door closed behind me.
“I want to leave.” I tried to project confidence by standing up straight, but nausea coiled in my stomach, making me hunch. Being in a strange apartment wasn’t a comfortable situation at the best of times, which this was not. I didn’t do well with new people. Or places. Or situations. Or anything new really if I was being honest, not that I had to be honest in my own head.
The man made the same circling motion the woman had. I crossed my arms and raised my chin, clamping my lips together. His amethyst-colored gaze remained focused on me, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of talking. He took a couple of steps toward me. My back tightened, and I gripped my biceps.
