Page 78 of An Alien for the Future

Dropping the kitchen towel, I wipe my hands on my skirt as I walk out to Tovan.

“It’s alright dear,” I say, my voice making him look over his shoulder. “It’s alright. We’ll find another way.” I smile at Tovan before my gaze shifts to his comm, only to find intense green eyes staring back at me from beneath a metal mask. The bounty hunter is staring into my soul.

I can’t look away. It isn’t fear. I don’t know what it is. Awareness?

Tovan releases a breath. “Urgmental…I suppose we shall do business some other time. When you’re more…agreeable.”

Tovan shifts his claw to end the transmission when the bounty hunter speaks.

“Who is that?”

We both stiffen. Tovan’s brow tightens slightly as he sits up straighter. “My mate.” The way he speaks, his voice has changedcompletely, and I catch a glimpse of that male who fought to protect me, fought to get to me.

“You didn’t say she was human.”

My hand slides to Tovan’s shoulder, squeezing slightly.

Now what does this stranger mean by that? Obviously, he has an interest in humans. If what Tovan said is true about him uploading English on the servers, perhaps we should have tried to discover exactly whybeforewe contacted him.

I’m suddenly feeling unsure and I squeeze Tovan’s shoulder again. He stands from where he was sitting, blocking me from view of the bounty hunter’s piercing gaze.

“What does it matter, Urgmental?”

I can hear the male grunt, almost as if he’s laughing. “You know, you’re one of the few that call me by that name.”

Tovan is still stiff. “It is your name, is it not.”

The bounty hunter grunts again before a beat of silence passes. I strain my ears to hear, wondering if he’s still on the line when he suddenly speaks again.

“I’ll be at your lodge in the next sol. I’ll bring your translator upgrade. And don’t worry, no charge.”

My frown increases when a second later there’s an audible click. Ping ended.

Tovan is standing staring at the device in his claw when I walk around to face him.

“Tovan?”

His gaze shifts to mine.

“Who is this male?”

His gaze shifts back to the comm as if he can’t quite believe what just happened.

“He is…complicated. He’s known for being unpredictable, but he’s not inherently dangerous. At least, not to those he doesn’t consider a threat.”

I swallow hard, my mind racing. “And us? Does he consider us a threat?”

Tovan shakes his head. “No, I don’t believe so. If anything, I think we’ve piqued his curiosity.”

A shiver runs down my spine at his words. Curiosity from a bounty hunter doesn’t sound particularly comforting. But then a thought occurs to me, and I feel a small wave of relief wash over me.

“Well,” I say, trying to inject some optimism into my tone, “at least he doesn’t know where we live, right? So maybe it’ll be alright. We don’t have to meet him if we don’t want to.”

Tovan’s expression grows somber. “He’ll find us.”

Because he’s a frickin’ bounty hunter. Oh shit. I feel my heart rate quicken, but as I look at Tovan, I see determination in his eyes and some of the anxiety seeps away. This is Tovan. He won’t let anything happen to me, and I won’t let anything happen to him.

The next day dawns bright and clear, and after a night of thinking through the possibilities, I wake with a determination myself. We have a gun now, a ‘blaster’ as Tovan calls it. After that stranger’s visit and what he almost did, we thought it best to get some protection. I’ve never fired a gun in my life, but Tovan has. If this bounty hunter wants to find us and start trouble, then he will be surprised when we won’t make it easy for him.

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