Page 36 of Alien Rescue

Rose struggled and tried to draw her arm out of his hand. “Are you crazy, alien, we’ll fall to our deaths. I’ll use the stairs and meet you down in the street.” She pointed down. “In about an hour.”

He lifted her into his arms. “You will go down with me. I will keep you safe.”

“No, let me go. Don’t you dare.” She kicked and screamed with no effect. Visions of splattering to the pavement made her fight harder, but he was too strong.

Before she could blink, he held her tight in one arm and leapt for the side of the building. She screamed, and remembering his wince earlier, she put her mouth right next to his ear and screamed at the top of her lungs. He jerked but kept going.

Chapter Twelve

Rose wanted to close her eyes on the harrowing trip down, but at the same time she was too scared not to look. Icy winds streamed through her hair and jerked at her large jacket. He literally ran down the building while he held her against his side. She felt like a doll clutched against his chest. A soon-to-be-splattered doll. If he used any ropes or other aids, she couldn’t see it. She didn’t stop screaming until they stopped moving and her feet made contact with something. Rose cautiously opened her eyes—when did she close them?—and sagged in relief. They were on firm ground. Well, on firm ground covered with water. And her amazing new boots kept her feet warm and dry. But at this moment she couldn’t appreciate that fact.

“You ass, how could you do that?” She punched out, but he moved out of the way with that incredible speed. “You will hurt your hand.”

“Or I might break your jaw.” She threw another punch, and he dodged her again with an agility that was abnormal for anyone that size.

“You cannot hurt me.” He dodged another punch.

“Stop moving around when I want to punch you.” Rose knew she didn’t make sense and she forced herself to stop trying to hit him. She stood glaring at him, her fists clenched.

He threw back his head and let out an unearthly noise. The jackass was laughing at her. He stopped abruptly. “You are a very entertaining breeder. What human males call cute.”

Cute? He thought her wanting to hit him cute? It took a lot of self-control, but she forced herself to move on. She frowned and looked around. This area of the city housed the people who were long past hope to find a job and a good place to stay. Some of them had survived for centuries now in the submerged part of the city. In these areas there was no one walking around to do shopping. But there were people skulking around. She could feel their eyes on them. “Why isn’t anyone reacting to my screaming and your diabolical laughter?”

“I filter the sound.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say to that. It was exciting but also scary what they could do with their technology. Not wanting to even think about the coming fight against the aliens, she stared down at her feet. Again, she marveled at the fact that she could see how cold it was. The water lapped at her ankles, and every now and then, the wind drove the water up to her calves. But she didn’t feel the cold.

“You know, we could make a killing selling boots like these.” She looked up at him and felt her eyes widen.

Zanr had his human disguise on. The weird thing was that no one stood gaping at them. He made a very handsome human. He drew her flush against him. “We do not harm our breeders. If a breeder breaks the law, her warrior may take her punishment. But know this: Giving away or selling jinz izwe is punishable by death. That is the one offence a warrior cannot protect his breeder from.”

Rose stared at him, hyperaware of his warm body against hers. There was so much information in what he’d just said. But one thing was clear: she’d make very sure they couldn’t get their hands on her again when she escaped with the boots and the gadget protecting her from infection. And their shuttle. And maybe she could get her hands on some of his weapons. “Jinz Izwe is the silver metal stuff you make everything with?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, we won’t open a shop selling expensive boots.” She hit his shoulder with her fist. “Never ever grab me like that again. I don’t jump off buildings.” She shook her hand. “Ow. Now see what you made me do.”

He took her hand in his big paw and rubbed it. Heat rushed from the point where his leathery, rough fingers touched her skin. Hopefully he didn’t know what a blush meant. She was hyperaware of him standing so close, she could feel the heat coming off him, even through the uniform. She wanted to step closer to him, feel his warm body against hers, and that was such a crazy need, she wanted to hit him again. How could she react so strongly to one of Earth’s invaders?

He let go of her hand and drew her in to his side. “The bar you talked of is not far from here. We can walk.”

“How do you know where it is? Have you been in New York before?” It was disturbing how easily he managed to get around in a country, on a planet that was foreign to him.

“No, I looked up the coordinates.”

“Oh.” She didn’t see him look at any gadgets or do any searches, since she told him about the bar, but who knew what their technology was capable of? He could even be capable of using his mind to access his equipment. She’d seen a sci-fi movie like that long ago.

“When we are at the bar, I will sit separate from you, but I will watch over you.”

“Thank you.” This was probably where she should insist she could look after herself. But she was grateful to have someone strong watch her back. Big cities were dangerous to strangers, and New York was notorious for their tourist syndicates.

“Be casual about it, but ask him if he knows anything about the stolen equipment from your Golden Age. You should try to blend in, and you should not speak to strangers.”

“I am an agent, you know. You don’t have to tell me how to do my job.” Asking Morgan about the stolen equipment was not the first question she had for him. She’d like to know how Morgan had escaped when the aliens had the Director. And a few other things.

“We will need credits to enter the bar.” She needed to get a TC so she could access her credits.

“I have come prepared,” he said.

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