Page 23 of Beauty and the Alien Beast
Brax flopped down on his belly with a doggy yawn, content to wait for his master. Maybe he wasn’t just a big puppy after all, because he was handling this crazy place a lot more calmly than I was. Of course, it probably helped that he was as big as a pickup truck and had teeth as long as my hand.
How did these aliens end up with dogs anyway?
Brax was too huge, his teeth were wrong, and he seemed too intelligent, but he acted like a canine.
He looked like a dog. He had a moist snoot, a slobbery mouth, and floppy ears. He even had that slightly rank damp dog smell from bounding through the wet rainforest for half the night.
Maybe the slavers had kidnapped more than humans when they abducted Earth’s inhabitants. Perhaps they’d taken dogs, birds, and plants.
Ugh, I could really use a shot of vodka right about now.
My nerves were a mess after everything I’d been through—being rescued by a stranger, only to find us both hunted and desperate in the middle of the jungle. But I was glad to have Brax’s cuteness and Teken’s pure heroic alien hotness around to distract me.
Now, if only Teken would bring his ass back here. Preferably with good news, even if I couldn’t understand it.
17
Teken
I hadto get us to the caves before dawn, when we would lose the cover of shadow.
When I’d spotted the unusual light, I was certain the cyborg had sent scouts ahead. It could be no one else. The slavers were territorial and considered the rainforest to be theirs for many miles around. Even the most daring hunters and herb gatherers would not venture this far into their territory. Anyone who did and wasn’t there to pass through to the outposts as quickly as possible was as good as dead.
I moved toward the glow, staying low, aware of male voices up ahead. One of them was the one called Belland, surprising me. I despised the cyborg for his employers, but I had to respect his choice to ride out with his own men instead of directing them by remote.
His tone was cold and tense. I crept forward through the brush, trying my best to get within earshot.
Finally, I found myself on the upper lip of a small canyon, the brush overhanging it hiding me from sight from the hoverbike below. It looked like Belland was taking a report from one of his lieutenants on his communicator. I couldn’t see the glowing screen from my perch, but I could hear the voice that came from it just as I could hear his.
Then Belland barked, “I want to know what your leads are on the thief, not your opinions on my search plans. The earthling he took is valuable Omers property.” His voice was a low, metallic growl, completely empty of pity or patience.
“His information all leads back to the Capitol, sir, as I said. The only new development is that we can’t trace the dog.” The voice was a little tinny and hollow sounding coming from the transmitter. “Our intel says they are wild beasts that are native to these woods.”
Belland rolled his one good eye. “Great!” he spat. “Another problem to contend with. There’s more than one of those cursed dogs out here.”
“Yes, sir,” the voice said on the other end of the commlink. “At any rate, that beast will be the only dog in the woods wearing gear, so he’ll be easier to find.”
I made a mental note of his point.
“Good.” The cyborg scoffed. “Now back to the thief. He can’t be a noble. Every one of those pompous elites has bottomless expense accounts. The only thing that makes sense is that he’s an imposter with no coins who pretended to be a member of a noble family. I just can’t figure out why he’d risk being hunted down and killed.”
The only positive thing I’d learned from their conversation was that my cover hadn’t been blown thus far, which was the best news I’d heard all night. Let them keep thinking I was some idiot thief who was stumbling around the woods, trying to make my way to the outposts.
“We can’t cover the entire damn jungle,” Belland finally admitted grudgingly. “We’ll cover the roads and all near destinations. The Capitol, Vekim, the trade road, Shore Landing… What am I forgetting?”
“Wulfaen Gladiator territory,” a member uttered. “Sector three.”
When he mentioned my home and pack, I stiffened, my heart sinking.
Belland grunted. “That’s a little bit far. Besides, I heard the Gladiators are an inhospitable lot of barbaric, filthy animals that only care about fighting each other like savages.”
His ignorance and insult to my brethren made me grip my sword hilt. For a few moments, I had to fight not to leap off the cliff top and drive my sword into the still-human part of his skull.
I got myself together after several teeth-grinding seconds, but I made another mental note to find a way to separate this half-metal bastard from his life before my mission was over. Not just for what he was and what he was doing, but for flapping his accursed mouth.
“The Gladiators are more concerned about helping their own,” Belland remarked. “And they keep to themselves. But I can’t go back to the Omers and tell them we deliberately overlooked a possible hiding place for our fugitives.”
“Yes, sir.” Another soft cough. “Your orders?”
