When I could hold it off no longer and sleep started to claim me, I reached for him. Bartholomew came to my side without a word, and I hauled him close, settling him right next to me.
We would discuss permissions tomorrow. For now, he was perfect against me. By the Crystal’s light, I’d never felt anything so wonderful. His head was tucked against my shoulder and his hand rested on my stomach, fingers trailing over me in lazy motions. I drifted off, warm and content.
Chapter 7
We are not alone.
After Serlotminden was deep asleep, I wiggled out of his hold and unwound his tail from my calf. He was a tactile person, always trying to touch me, but it didn’t feel like he was creeping on me, more like he was reassuring himself that I was still here—that he wasn’t alone. Vince had done that at times. He’d needed to hold my hand or pull me close to feel safe.
Tactile people needed to be touched. I got that, even if I didn’t reciprocate the feeling.
I crawled over him and left the warmth of the tent, flicking the lantern back on—it shut itself off on a timer and I didn’t know how to change it. Serlotminden probably did, but when he waslast awake that hadn’t been my main concern—making sure he ate had been.
The frigid temperature of the shuttle made me shiver as my breath rushed out in a foggy cloud. Fuck. It was mind-numbingly cold out here. The tent was probably notthatwarm, not that I had a thermometer, but it was a million times better than the rest of the cabin.
Snagging some of the clothes from the tent as well as a blanket, I tugged on a loose pair of pants over my thin jumpsuit. Serlotminden wasn’t much taller than me, but he was far wider. He was exceedingly muscular, like he was intimately familiar with the gym. That had never been my scene, even prior to being abducted. I tied a piece of rope around my waist to keep them in place—the hole in the back for Serlotminden’s tail worked perfectly as a belt loop—then wrapped the blanket around me.
I started to sort through more panels. The rations were in an insulated container, so I didn’t worry about them freezing. There were circuit boards and tech parts that meant nothing to me, more clothes, these were jumpsuits, a couple of pillows, a bottle of thick liquid that smelled like Serlotminden’s rainy fragrance, a bar of what I assumed was soap, and not much else. I shoved the pillows and clothes into the tent, then went to the cockpit.
The front window was broken inward from the crash. Snow and rocks blocked it. We weren’t getting out that way. I had no idea what to do with the computer, so I left it alone.
The cargo bay was small, with a couple of locked crates in it. One was about the length of my arms, but the other came to my chest and was twice or maybe three times my width. They would have to wait until Serlotminden was awake, unless I planned to hit them with some of the larger pieces of debris in the hopes of breaking the locks.
That didn’t seem smart. For all I knew, there were explosives or weapons inside that wouldn’t appreciate being hit.
Ice and frost covered the metal walls and floor, but the bay door was easy to identify. I slammed the button closest to the hatch, assuming it opened the door, but nothing happened. There was no power anywhere in the ship—even the emergency lights in the cockpit had turned off—so I wasn’t too surprised. Hopefully, it was that rather than snow blocking the entrance. If the latter was the case, no one would find us, and a horrible death awaited us.
Serlotminden would probably eat me. Maybe that was better than dying of thirst. At least I didn’t have to worry about it at this exact moment. He wasn’t doing anything physical until he healed. If I thought he was going to kill me… then I guessed I could do him in first.
I swallowed as screams and the thud of fists on metal echoed in my mind. Nope. That wasn’t going to happen.
Whatever. It was what it was. Stressing about it right now didn’t help anything.
My hands ran over the door. Maybe there was a manual override. That was a thing, right? I was working on sketchy knowledge from sci-fi shows and books and the limited access to technology I’d been allowed on Xome. A panel near the door popped open; a lever sat inside. I yanked on it with a loud groan. Shoulders screaming and arms trembling, I pulled and pulled andfuckingpulled.
The bay door slowly creaked open. Wind gusted in and chunks of snow and ice tumbled inside, but the way was clear. Closing the door might be a problem, but it was the future me’s problem. I wasn’t going to worry about it at this exact moment.
Carefully, I climbed out, slipping on the frozen ground.
The shuttle had crashed into a cliff, and debris covered most of the ship, leaving the bay door clear. Anyone flying above wouldn’t see us. I had no idea if Serlotminden’s boyfriend would perceive our signature or whatever it was called because of therocks; I truthfully didn’t know how it worked. Cleaning the bodies and shit left behind from the fights hadn’t given me much access to technology, so my knowledge was extremely limited.
Dark blue trees with dancing fronds like palm trees formed a jungle in the distance. The cliff behind us was tall enough I couldn’t see the top, and it was a sheer drop, neither of which bothered me, but the car-sized nests sure as hell did. They were ginormous and formed from huge branches into spheres with gaping doors that had rough hides covering the entrances.
I hunched as a prey feeling swept through me, making me freeze like a deer caught in headlights.
What kind of animal even used a nest that size? Nothing I wanted to meet, as it most likely enjoyed skinny human. That would be a fitting end to the worst rescue in the history of rescues. Eaten by an alien bird.
My gaze roved over the nests, searching for any movement. There were no squawks, no cries, no creaks from the branches. I didn’t see the flutter of wings or anything similar. In fact, there was no movement whatsoever, which was eerie.
Perhaps the nests were empty.
It was possible that whatever massive avians occupied the cliff had flown to warmer temperatures. That’s what happened on Earth. Why not here? Or the nests might be old and have been abandoned. There was no way to know.
I could stay here hunched like a rabbit or I could move forward. Nothing was threatening me, and the current danger was the cold. Forcing myself to breathe, I waited for my muscles to relax, then slowly stood. Tense, I crept away from the shuttle, shoulders curled against the cold.
Snow, snow, and more snow. I didn’t see much else. It covered everything. The only signs of life were the trees, which moved independently without wind. I gave them a wide berth. For all I knew, they ate people. That was not how I planned to go.
My feet left a path back to the ship as I searched. For what? I didn’t know. People? Civilization? A fully stocked spaceship to get Vince, then go home? I hoped so, though that was unlikely.
