Page 18 of Theirs to Crave

Mariano said nothing, only stared at the pair of shining celestial bodies with lost eyes.

Therry spoke my feelings exactly.

“Fuck.”

Nope. Not going to think about it. What moons? I didn’t know nothing about anything. Determinedly, I ignored the nausea and the spinning in my head and set about finger combing my sodden hair as well as I could. Between the bangs—grown to that perfectly horrid length where they were always in my eyes but not long enough to tuck behind an ear—and the curls forming into massive knots, it was a hot mess. There was no telling how long this break would last, and I wasn’t wasting it on a panic attack if I could help it.

I braided my semi-untangled hair into a thick hank, then tipped my head back. The rain was warm, but it soothed my scream-torn throat. I rubbed at my skin, watching with satisfaction as layers of filth were carried away by the downpour. It stung—I was covered in scratches and cuts—but it was better than letting them fester. Concern nipped at me, and I bit my lip as I looked at Cass’s inflamed burns.

We talked quietly, mostly discussing—and rejecting—a handful of increasingly wild ideas of how to kill the bugs and somehow survive.

For their part, the bugs seemed to be having a disagreement on what to do next. One kept motioning in the direction we’d been going and hissing, while the other folded two of their arms and chittered. The second bug finally threw all four of their arms up and flicked them at the first, who grunted in satisfaction and pushed to its feet.

I sighed. “Looks like break time’s over.” My legs had fallen asleep, and I stumbled as I stood, catching myself on the raised root of a giant tree. Cass bent to help me up, and we both stared at the absurdly cute furry face watching us with inquisitiveyellow eyes from the shadows of the fern-like plant growing at the base of the tree.

Its face was slightly smaller than mine, and delicate, with elegantly pointed ears protruding from sodden braids. In the low light I couldn’t tell what color it was—besides the eyes that fluoresced like a cat’s—but its eyes and ears looked too large for its fine-boned face. Oh, no. Was it...a child?

A tiny voice in the back of my head told me this was exactly the kind of distraction we needed. Let the bugs worry about this new threat, or possible acquisition, and disappear into the jungle while they were busy.

As discreetly as I could, I flicked my fingers in a shooing motion, widening my eyes to try to get my point across.

The alien child tilted their head, ears twitching, and took a step forward.

Cass made a frightened face and pushed the air, shaking her head minutely.

I rolled my eyes towards the bugs and back, then snarled, swiping at the air with my hands curled into claws.

The child stopped, crouching, and flattened their ears, baring small, sharp teeth.

“You guys okay?” Mariano’s concerned voice was accompanied by the squelches of his approach, and I glanced over my shoulder. When I looked back, the child was gone.

Cass and I shared a glance as we joined the others.

“We have a problem,” I whispered. “There’s at least one alien out there...and I think it’s a child.”

Yin’s head snapped up, xyr clouded eyes fixing on me with deadly intensity.

“How do you know it isn’t just some alien critter?” Shane asked.

“I don’t know of any animals—on Earth at least—that braid their hair,” answered Cass, rubbing her arms as if she was cold.

“I tried to get them to run—” I started, but Mariano interrupted me, his voice strained.

“I don’t think it worked.”

A break in the storm let me see the clearing with awful clarity. My furry little friend crouched on a branch not ten feet above the bugs, brandishing something in one raised fist. Moonlight glinted off bared teeth, then the clouds rolled back in and dropped us once more into shadowy darkness.

“We have to—” I don’t know what I was going to suggest we do, but I was cut off by a squeaky roar. The hulking shadows of the bugs exploded into movement, the air full of churning, snarling, and hissing.

“Scatter!” Shane shouted, and darted into the trees to our left, Ria hot on his heels.

Mariano grabbed my hand and we bolted to the right. We ran, pushing through the mud and heavy undergrowth. He tripped over something and dragged me with him. I caught myself with my injured arm, grimacing at the pain. Deep in the mud, my fist closed over a rock the size of a grapefruit. I pulled it out, hefting it in my good hand.

Mariano rolled to his feet, carrying a long black branch, and we bared our teeth at each other. I heard an unfamiliar wail, Cass’s shout, and the muffled hissing growls of the Quoosalk—then they cut off, replaced by the familiar sound of crackling electricity. My brother and I rushed towards the sound—which was kind of stupid in retrospect—but whatever god was in charge of this planet smiled on us, because we burst out of the bushes behind the bug. It didn’t hear us through the downpour, all its attention on Cass and Salat writhing at its feet.

Mariano didn’t hesitate. He shot forward, swinging the branch like a bat. He hit one of its back legs—hard—and kept going, launching himself onto the thing’s beetle-like lower body. It reared beneath him, but he clung on, wrapping his arm around its neck.

The monstrosity’s three free arms flailed, trying to knock Mariano off without losing control of Cass and Salat. My brother tucked himself against its back and brought the branch up, locking his elbows around either end and heaving with a wild yell.

---