Page 39 of Marked
I could have enjoyed the feeling of Alaric’ arms around me forever, but I was quickly reminded that we weren’t alone.
Attitude cleared his throat. I turned my head and gazed back at those three yellow bulbous eyes. They didn’t stare back at me with contempt, disgust, anger, or hatred. Instead, they gazed back at me in wonder.
“Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable. A written rendition of such an event will land me a publication in an intergalactic journal of the highest magnitude. Maybe evenIntergalacticNature. OrInterstellarCell,” he whispered, almost as though he couldn’t control himself. “And you, Kendra. Look at you. A perfect masterpiece of human and Lupenii,” he continued. “What I wouldn’t do for a sample of your serum now…”
I cocked my head to the side, and my nose twitched as I sniffed the air. Sure, I felt more like myself now, but my heightened senses were still there. My eyesight was sharper, picking upmore detail than I ever could before. My sense of smell was stronger too. My hearing as well.
What else about me was different?
There was a spare petri dish on the counter, which I hesitantly uncovered. I took a nearby scalpel and neatly sliced my palm, before I squeezed my hand hard over the plastic container. I drew in a nervous breath as I watched my blood drip down onto the surface of the round little vessel.
It was still red, just as human blood was, but there was something else. There was a gray sheen that wasn’t there before, almost as though someone had melted down silver and mixed it together with my blood.
I wanted to know more.
When I opened my palm, I expected to find a wound, only I didn’t. I watched as my skin stitched itself together. I stared in wonder as my injury disappeared entirely, leaving only drying blood on the surface of my skin.
Add incredible healing properties to the list of new things I’d discovered about myself then. What more was there?
I turned back toward Attitude and the look of wonder on his face was apparent. He didn’t say anything though, just stared at the petri dish holding my blood as though it was the most precious and astonishing gift he’d ever received.
“I look forward to reading what you find out about me, and I hope it helps you understand more about the vaccine component you mentioned. I also hope to never hear of you coming in between a Lupenii and his mate ever again,” I said softly, and he nodded, understanding in his eyes.
I didn’t know why I was being so kind to him, but it felt like the right thing to do. He hadn’t hurt me and had even tried to help me understand what was happening to me once I had been brought here to his home planet. Perhaps my compassion was heightened just like everything else.
“I never asked your name,” I said then, turning toward Attitude with a smile.
“My name is Gengry,” he answered.
A strange rumbling sound echoed far away, and my ears perked up. I swung my head toward the door and noticed that Alaric had turned toward it too.
“It appears our activities here have not gone unnoticed,” he growled.
“Please let me out. I need to secure her sample,” Gengry begged, and I turned to Alaric. He nodded once, and I walked over to the Ghengrill. With a sigh, I pressed my palm against the metal plate and the electrical forces abated, releasing him from his captivity. He hardly even looked at us as he rushed over to the counter and picked up the petri dish. He covered it with the plastic top and turned back to us.
“Run. The lower levels lead to an air hangar. You’ll find what you need there,” Gengry offered. He didn’t say anything more as he leaned over the counter and began to distribute my blood into a number of much smaller tubes. It was as though we’d ceased to exist to him entirely. I turned back toward Alaric.
“Get dressed. Then we move,” he demanded.
“There’s a pair of pants in that drawer that should fit him,” Gengry added. He pointed to the same drawer he’d pulledAlaric’s t-shirt from. I opened it and tossed the black and silver pants to my mate.
I dressed as quickly as I could despite the soreness in my body. Once I was fully clothed, I glanced toward Alaric to see that he’d done the same. The extra pair of pants were clearly Ghengrill military issue, but since they were so scrawny and slender, they fit Alaric a bit differently.
They were much tighter, as his thighs were much thicker. I suddenly wanted him to turn around so that I could admire the curves of his ass just like I knew he’d studied mine. I licked my lips and simply gawked at him.
“Keep looking at me like that, mate, and you’ll find out how it feels to get your little bottom fucked in front of more than just Gengry here,” he growled.
I shuddered and turned my eyes to the floor, feeling a hot blush come over my cheeks.
“Take one of their badges. It should get you through where you need to go,” Gengry said.
Alaric walked over to the black bloody mess of the dead Ghengrills and pulled the lanyard from Needle’s headless torso. I should have found the gruesome sight appalling, but I didn’t. Alaric had killed them to protect me, because they’d touched me, kept me from him, and now because of it, the two of us were going to escape this nightmare together.
“Come. Let’s get out of here before company joins us,” Alaric murmured.
The rumbling echo had gotten louder. We bolted toward the door that I’d been brought in through. He scanned the badgeand the metal bar that had locked us inside lifted. The door slid open and I leaned forward, ensuring that there was no one outside yet. We were thankfully still alone.
The rumbling sounded louder out here, but I was still fairly certain that it was quite a distance away. I looked outside the window, realizing that we were several floors off the ground. The hazy line of horizon looked especially fuzzy, and I tried to narrow my eyes and focus on what it was. Maybe it was a storm of some kind.
