Page 5 of The Highseer's Mate

Cristina talks into the mic next to me, sending out an SOS when the system finally gets to the checks I was hoping for.

Atmosphere air quality: breathable.

My lips part slightly.

Wherever we are, the air itself won’t kill us.

I set my hands flat on the control panel and shut my eyes, processing everything.

We’ve landed somewhere that isn’t Earth or Mars. We have no idea where we are. The ship is wrecked and control can’t hear our calls.

We’re doomed.

We’re in way over our heads.

I’m in way over my head.

But I have to figure this out. None of us are thinking clearly and it will only take a few days before the resources on board will run out.

“We need to look at all of our options,” I say, my eyes still shut. “Talk things out and figure out what to do before we make any rash—”

Suddenly, the door to the locking chamber rattles to my right. I whirl around to see the metal shaking as if something from the outside was trying to get in.

Cristina screams and drops the microphone, running back through the corridor into the hold of the ship to get away from the commotion.

“Get in your pods!” I order in a muted, hushed voice.

If the thing outside is sentient, it would have heard Cristina’s scream. It would know there was at least one living being inside.

“Now!” I whisper and wave as Ryan stands rooted in place. Nicole abandons Melina on the floor, covering her up with some tattered linens and hopping in her pod.

The door rattles and a bang from the outside nearly stops my heart.

Ryan gives me a pained look and then turns. She’s the last to get into her pod when the door to the locking chamber is torn completely off.

It’s dark outside, but even amongst the shadows, there’s no way to miss the massive, hulking creature that steps inside the ship.

Fear claws into my belly and I can’t breathe, but I can’t look away either.

It’s huge. Tilted, amber eyes appraise me as I take a step back and nearly trip over my own feet. A strange, guttural grunt erupts from its mouth and I still, every hair on my body raising up in this thing’s presence.

It takes another step in my direction and I realize that I’m the only thing stopping this thing from getting the rest of the girls. My teeth chatter as my entire body shakes, running on pure adrenaline as I take a hesitant step forward and reach for a metal pipe rolling around near my feet.

If I’m going down, I’m going down fighting.

And I’m saving the rest of the girls from whatever this creature is.

Chapter 3

Paige

Itake another quick step forward and raise the pipe.

“Get out of here!” I shout.

My voice shakes. The alien thing doesn’t make a move. Its chest rises and falls with a deep breath as it watches me, its catlike eyes raking up and down my form.

It’s seven, maybe eight feet tall—hunching slightly to fit inside the ship. Dark gray skin stretches taut over a chiseled, muscular body. Short, straight black hair frames a stern face. My gaze lowers down its broad chest and tight stomach to the dark leathers that cover thick thighs.

---