Page 24 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
I let out a startled laugh.
The last few minutes have been a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs but I’m choosing to believe in my friends—minus Najar—and focus on the positives.
“Thanks, Khephren. This means a lot to me.”
“My pleasure, Felix. Here we go.”
I wait, my heart thumping so loudly I swear I can hear it, until my sister’s beautiful, familiar face pops up on screen.
Strangely, it almost makes me tear up.
Her wild mane of curly auburn hair is in disarray and it looks like we just woke her up. She yawns widely.
God, I love her.
Gemma blinks at me for a moment and then her eyes go huge. “What the fuck is happening right now? Am I still dreaming?”
I give her an awkward little wave. “Hey, Gemsy. So, yeah, some crazy stuff happened last night, and, well… surprise!” I hold out my arms and do the jazz hands things she taught me when she was doing drama club in high school. “I found aliens in the desert.”
Gemma makes a choking noise, and I hurry to continue, aiming to get it all out before she loses her shit. “And they… er…invitedme aboard their ship for an intergalactic adventure.”
She goes so pale I can count every freckle on her nose and I’m worried she might pass out.
Khephren waves a few pink tentacles in the air. “Fear not, sister of Felix. Your brother is our guest, and we will take very good care of him.”
“What in the tentacle-porn hell is going on right now?” Gemma demands.
Luna steps forward. Or should I say, she sashays closer, eyeing my sister with obvious interest. “Hi, there, gorgeous. I’m Luna, the ship’s engineer.” She waves a green tentacle. “We are part of the species known as Dravethians, and we possess a few more appendages than you humans. They come in quite handy forallkinds of things.” Luna follows that up with a wink.
To my surprise, my sister’s cheeks turn a surprising shade of pink. “Uh, hi, Luna. I’m Gemma. What kind of trouble did my brother get himself into this time?”
“Don’t worry. Felix is a sweetheart. He did nothing wrong. The fault was entirely ours, you see. He happened to spot us and our ship when we were trying to remain hidden from human eyes. We basically panic-abducted him to try and figure out what to do.”
Gemma glares. “You guys better not be planning to hurt him.”
Kickass little sister to the rescue!
“No way.” Khephren hurries to respond. “We’re just taking him along for the ride while we tour a few planets before heading back to Earth. I promise we’ll keep him safe.”
“You can trust us,” Luna adds.
“I’ve never met an alien before, but I must say you’re quite beautiful.” Gemma’s expression relaxes and she twirls an auburn curl around her index finger. “Green’s actually my favorite color.”
My mouth drops open. “Are you… flirting with one of my abductors?”
“Not abductors.Friends,” Khephren chides.
Luna licks her lips and stares at my sister. “I’ve always had a thing for redheads. And your curls?” She practically purrs. “They’re divine.”
“What the hell is happening right now?” I ask.
Sasha snickers and rips open a bag of dill pickle potato chips. “Luna’s hitting on your sister. She likes the ladies.” He pops a chip in his mouth and crunches on it. “Fuck yeah, I missed these.”
“Be sure to save a little so the food generator will know how to recreate them,” Khephren tells him while stroking his back with a tentacle.
Sasha licks crumbs from his lips. “Thanks, Tentacle Boy.”
“Gemma,” I say firmly, “you do understand that I’m light-years away from Earth right now and roaming the universe with a bunch of aliens on their ship, right?”
