Page 29 of A Mate For Matrix
Matrix’s golden eyes gleamed with mischief. “Why not? I would be happy if you were naked the entire trip.”
She turned scarlet. “Matrix!” she hissed, glancing at K-Nine. “Not in front of an intelligent, cybernetic, talking dog, I’m not!”
From behind them, K-Nine scoffed. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just look the other way.”
Jana covered her face with one hand. “I can’t believe I walked in front of him naked before I knew he could talk.”
“He’s very discreet,” Matrix teased, tugging her hand down so he could press a kiss to her palm. “Now, what’s your plan to get these essentials that you need?”
“I can borrow the clinic’s van,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “I’ll swing by the bank, close out my account, grab some clothes and toiletries, maybe stop by the pet store and pick up a few things for the kittens. I’ll be fast.”
Matrix’s smile vanished. His eyes darkened. “No.”
Jana blinked. “No?”
“Not alone,” Matrix said firmly. “If you’re going anywhere, I’m going with you. K-Nine can watch the ship and the kittens.”
Jana bit her lower lip, eyeing Matrix’s tall, broad frame and distinctly not-from-this-world look, especially the markings along his forehead and neck that she hadn’t really noticed before.
“Okay. But you’ll have to tone down the alien warrior vibe. The last thing we need is for the government to send in the troops.”
Matrix sat rigidly in the passenger seat of what Jana had optimistically called a “trusty old minivan”.
Trusty? More like a rusted deathtrap on bald wheels.
He tried to hide his horror as he folded his much-too-long legs into the cramped compartment. The seat complained beneath him with a sound that could only be described as a mechanical whimper.
The air was thick with the tangy scent of old straw, dog dander, and something else his sensors classified as organic decay and mold spores. His fingertips twitched, overloaded by every microbe and contaminant his receptors detected clinging to the cracked upholstery, the dented dashboard—and he didn’t even want to analyze the crusted brown substance fossilized on the floor between his boots.
He stared at it.
Was it once food? Was it once… alive?
It looked a lot like… dried-up poop.
He gingerly shifted his feet, suppressing a full-body shudder as he avoided the unknown substance and leaned his head back against the seat—only to regret it when his sensors flared again.
Contaminants detected: hair, dander, oil, poultry feathers?—
He sat bolt upright.
“Are you okay?” Jana asked innocently, adjusting the rearview mirror.
“Yes,” he lied, his mouth pursed, afraid to open it in case he sucked anything in.
Jana glanced at him, then burst into laughter. “Don’t look so tortured. You’d think the van was going to eat you.”
“Will it?”
She stared at him as if trying to tell if he was serious or not.
“Seriously?” she asked before she shook her head and focused on the road again.
He didn’t dare respond, his eyes darting around nervously as he mapped a dozen escape routes in case this vehicle decided to spontaneously combust in a terrifying blast—or try to devour them whole.
He swallowed, reached up, and adjusted the dark blue ball cap she’d handed him earlier, the one embroidered with a cartoon dog and cat beneath the words Wilson’s Vet Clinic.
A pair of reflective sunglasses rested awkwardly on the bridge of his nose, and his new black long-sleeved shirt clung tightly to his chest and arms—so tightly, Jana had made a strangled noise when she saw it.
