Page 4 of Barbarian Brothers

“Keep it cool,” Jewel insists. “We need to analyze this situation.”

Alicia scoffs. “We were kidnapped by fucking aliens, Jewel. Excuse me if I’m taking my sweet time being terrified.”

“We have to get over the initial shock,” Cynthia agrees as the demon creature comes even closer. “It’s clearly happening. We didn’t eat any shady mushrooms. We weren’t on any drugs when we left the beach bar. This is happening, and we have to think fast, adjust to the situation, and—”

“Survive,” Jewel cuts in.

“Survive,” I repeat the word with bated breath.

My heart is beating so fast; it’s making my whole rib cage shudder with every inhale. My chest tightens as the beast reaches us and takes a moment to measure us from head to toe. Perhaps I shouldn’t call him a beast. He’s wearing what appears to be a black leather uniform with gold-brushed tassels hanging from his shoulders and buttons running down his torso. His boots are polished to perfection. I can see my reflection in them. Suddenly, I remember the four of us were taken in our bikinis. Holy shit. We’re practically naked.

“What do you want from us?” I decide to ask the alien, my gaze wandering up and down his ginormous body.

I don’t see any weapons on him. Then again, that spike on his tail would be more than enough. He holds up a long, slender glass vial filled with a sparkling red liquid. It looks like droplets of pure fire. It’s weird. I don’t want it anywhere near me.

He says something, his voice a mingling of purrs and growls, but I can’t understand him.

“Do you understand anything?” Alicia asks me.

“Why, yes, Alicia. I’m fluent in five different alien languages,” I reply sarcastically.

Jewel has a point. We need to survive whatever comes next. But why does this guy look so effing… hot? There’s something about him that threatens to override my fight-or-flight instincts altogether. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s toying with my senses. If I didn’t know any better, I’d consider it a hint of arousal.

“What do you want from us?” I ask again, unable to conceal my growing despair.

He leans forward, and I’m about to scream, but I remember Jewel’s advice and bite my tongue instead. He brings the vial closer. Words slip past his full lips, yet I don’t know what he’s saying. I only know he wants me to drink from the vial.

“Oh, hell, no,” I shake my head and try to wriggle free of my restraints.

But his tail shoots out and wraps itself around my throat. Its grip tightens swiftly to the point where I cannot move unless I want him to snap my neck like a fucking twig. Alicia gasps. Cynthia whimpers. Jewel is frozen on the spot, watching me with ice-cold dread in her eyes. The demon says something again, and I have no choice but to accept the fluid as he pours a quarter of the vial into my mouth.

It feels like boiling tequila. It slides down surprisingly easily, but the heat it expends quickly spreads through my whole body before it works its way up to my head.

“Are you okay?” Cynthia whispers. My friends are watching me, helpless and terrified as I try to make sense of how I’m feeling.

“My brain’s… tingly, I think,” I reply, blinking slowly.

The lightheadedness begins to subside. A sharp ache cuts through my head. It vanishes a split second later, and I look up at my abductor. He must be releasing some kind of pheromone that makes me respond to his presence in such an inappropriate manner. I have to assume it comes with the species—whatever the hell he is.

“Can you understand me?” the demon creature asks.

“Holy smokes,” I croak. “Yes.”

“Good,” he says, then releases me from his tail and moves to Alicia.

She’s about to resist, but I urge her to oblige. “Trust me, it’s not gonna kill you,” I tell her.

“What is it?” she asks.

“I can understand what he’s saying now.”

Stunned but obedient, Alicia nods slowly and accepts a quarter of the vial. I’m surprised by the gentle motions with which the creature operates, as if he’s worried he might break us or hurt us. Then again, that tail can still whip me into the next life if I try something funny. Jewel is next to drink from the vial, then Cynthia.

The demon patiently awaits until the four of us are calmer and able to understand him.

“Can you all hear me the way you’re supposed to hear me?” he asks, sounding annoyingly calm.

“Yes,” Cynthia replies. “What did we just drink?”

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