Page 144 of Seven Oars
Massar was evil, a madman. He looked like an alien caricature of one, a sign that nature gave you warnings aplenty.
If only she’d heard his silent approach.
If only she’d stayed in the Cargo Hold and listened patiently to Anske.
A metal rod stuck out from both sides of Massar’s head.
Rosamma frowned above her gag, her movements slowing.
The rod hadn’t been there a moment ago.And now it was.
If he were a bicycle, it would make a nice handlebar.
Massar was no longer mauling her.He wasn’t moving at all.
Then he was moving, shoved aside by a sturdy, scuffed boot.
“Why can’t you stay the fuck in the Cargo Hold?”
The Striker shook her, rattling her fuzzy brain. His furious face with wild, brilliant eyes—different from Massar’s feverish, brilliant eyes—loomed over her.
Her relief was so great that her blood pressure dropped abruptly, and she felt herself fading.
He pulled the rag out of her mouth with no regard for her comfort and hauled her to her feet.
“Please, don’t be mad,” she mumbled.
Swaying, she clung to him tightly.
His Rix hearts vibrated beneath the resilient fabric of Phex’s shirt, and her puny human one strained to echo their frantic beat.
“The gun I gave you. Where is it?”
He was still mad, and Rosamma was afraid her answer would do nothing to cool him off.
“I left it at the Cargo Hold.”
“I told you to carry it!” he roared.
“I know.”
Now he was even madder.
“You know, and you still don’t do it?”
“Not on purpose. I just…”
She wasn’t going to cry.
She fixed her gaze on his scars.“You have no idea what life I led,” she whispered.“I hardly went out. Everything was safe. I cooked, I read, I cared for my brother… There were no guns. I had no idea places like this existed! This life… I can’t survive here.”
His jaw flexed.
Then he scooped her up and started walking.
If there was a safe haven for her, it was right here, against his chest. She wished he would never put her down, despite an easily detectable hot violence simmering just beneath the surface of his skin.
He took her to the Cargo Hold and dumped her on her pad.
