Page 10 of Jessica's Mates
I heard something coming closer. They were running. I darted out to surprise them. Having that element, they might not be ready to attack me. But what I didn’t expect was to see a large, blue male in front of me. He came to a halt.
“Wow, hey.” I held my hands up. He was much larger than me, and stronger. But what was he doing out here? This wasn’t good for me if they were tracking him, he could tell them where I was. Crap.
“Do you want to be free?” I asked. I watched as his eyes darted around. Oh shit, this was the male from my first day. The one they held the holo-wand to his throat. I could see the scars it had left behind.
I slowly dropped my bag to the ground and held my hand up.
“Stay, please, don’t go. I can help you.” I wish I knew some Zalli words but I didn’t think I needed to learn any. I didn’t need to where I was going. Well, I didn’t think I did. He watched me; it was as if he was frozen, waiting to pounce on me. My datapad was at the top and I slowly pulled it out. He cocked his head and grunted something at me.
I pulled up my language app and set it for Zalli.
“I can help you escape.” When the words repeated back to him, I could see he was surprised at this. His brows furrowed, and he looked around as if there was an ambush he was waiting for,
“Why would you help me? Your people took me from my world, my family. All I had known. They treat us like nothing but dirt beneath their feet. There is nothing here for me but death and you will help me? Why?”
I felt so terrible to be connected to the M’Mori. If I could shed my scales, I would at once. I didn’t want to look like them. The way he watched me, as if I would kill him, was making me sick. This was not my people. I would never be like them.
“I am also escaping them. My fated mate is here. She is living with the Aashi. I am coming for her, but if I was to be found out, they would kill me.”
He seemed surprised at my words, and he shifted his weight around as if trying to trust me or what to make of me.
“You have a tracking device on your ankle.” I pointed to the silver device that seemed damaged, like he had spent some time already trying to remove it.
“I can help remove it.” He stepped up a few feet from me. What did I say?
“I have tried to remove it; they haven’t come looking for me. I have been here two days now. I do not need your help. I do not trust you to come closer to me.”
I was surprised. Two days. But also, he was much larger than me. And I had no weapons. He must not realize this, and I wasn’t about to tell him otherwise.
“The tracker is still on. They have told me they toy with you all. Letting you think you have escaped, only to come chasing after you. They might be on their way here now. I don’t want you to have to go back to them. Come with me. My mate, Jessica, is waiting for me, and I don’t want you to go back to the mines. They will hurt you again.
“My brother is trying to stop all of this as I speak. He is rounding up others to come free all the Zalli, but I don’t know how long that will take. So please, let me do this for you.” He looked down again at the tracker. The little light flashed blue. I could see the defeat in his eyes. He must have spent a long time trying to destroy it; his ankle was covered in dried, red blood.
Reluctantly, he took a few steps to me, eyeing my hands as if I were going to attack him.
I placed the datapad down on my bag and held my hands up.
“I don’t have weapons with me. M’Mori weapons all have trackers. I don’t have anything to defend myself. Me telling you this, is in trust. I can trust you will not injure me, and I will not injure you.”
He sat down and stretched his leg out towards me. I looked down to the tracker, it was in bad shape but I would be able to remove it. I knew how they went on after I watched a few yesterday. I reached into my bag and saw him stiffen. I made my movements slow and showed him as I pulled out a screwdriver. It was an old tool that many M’Mori didn’t use anymore. I had packed it because it was something I had brought with me when I became a soldier. My grandfather had given it to me when I was a child.
It wasn’t something I thought I would need. It was in case my datapad was damaged. But now it was proving useful in more ways than one.
“Now, I will unscrew the lid. I will turn off the tracker before I remove it, because if I remove it before then, it will send out a loud warning sound, making it easier for them to find us.” Because now it was an us, not just him. I was in just as much danger being near this tracker as he was.
He grunted again and I got to work. It was hard to remove the face as he had damaged it a lot.
“Did you hit this with a rock?” I asked, as I finally popped the lid to the internal components.
“I used the same rock they made us mine. It is hard, but not hard enough.” I nodded. Aket was a hard rock but the metals they used to make the trackers, or any of the tech equipment, was made by a stronger metal. One that was practically indestructible.
“Almost done,” I let him know. Then the tracker dropped free from his ankle. He rubbed it before jumping up on his feet.
“What is your name?” he asked. I smiled up at him as I placed everything back in my bag.
“I am K’Tem. And you are?” I asked in return. He smiled at me, as he touched his injured neck and rubbed his chest.
“I am Sanza. I thank you, K’Tem. I owe you a debt.” And with that, he ran away. I called after him to come with me, but he called out behind him.
