Page 57 of Whisked Away By the Alien

I never should have avoided talking to him. This mess is all my fault. But I will fix it. I won’t let Sten die.

I shut the warehouse door behind me, realizing how dead and isolated this place really is when it’s not a work day. I see no one in any direction. No buses moving. No one walking. And the snow’s coming down in buckets now. At least I had the good sense to wear my boots.

Between the harsh winds and blinding snow, the fifteen-minute walk turns into thirty. I’m freezing and can barely feel my fingers. The temperature’s dropping fast. This isn’t a normal snow storm. It’s a blizzard!

I wait at the bus stop for twenty minutes past when the bus is due. There aren’t many buses on a holiday, but this is a main stop. Or it used to be. Nothing’s moving here and in the distance. No yellow headlights shine through the snow and no red brakes light the darkening sky.

If I stay out here much longer, I’ll freeze to death. My only option is to go back to Sten and make him as comfortable as possible and pray he survives.

* * *

STENIKOV

I wake with a start.Wherever I am, it’s dark in here. And cold.

Something’s pinning my shoulder and arm down. Memories rush at me all at once.

“Golda?” I call out as I bolt upright.

“You’re awake!” She embraces me in a fierce hug that alarms me until I realize she’s fine, and only scared for me. I’d passed out. When I reach up to the gash on my forehead, I don’t feel blood, fresh or dried. The tenderness tells me I didn’t imagine getting injured.

“I cleaned your head wound. And your arm.”

“My arm?” My left arm stings as I rotate it, but I haven’t lost function.

“The bullet went through and you stopped bleeding. I found some alcohol to pour on it to prevent infection.”

So smart, my female. She bandaged my arm expertly; I see no need to undo the cloth. She cleaned my horns, too. I wish I’d been awake for that part. I would have enjoyed her fingers caressing my horns one last time.

“We lost power a few hours ago.”

With a click, she turns on an archaic lantern. We’re in the warehouse, laying on a thin layer of towels on the cold hard cement with a thicker layer of blankets piled on top of us. This is roughly where I killed the last male, but I don’t see his body.

“Where are the bodies? Why are we on the floor?”

“I dragged them to the back and covered them with a sheet. I couldn’t move you more than a few inches. I wanted to get the police to help you to a hospital, but the bus never came. And it’s a blizzard out there, Sten. There are no phones here. We don’t have a way of calling out.”

I peer at my comm, shattered by a bullet. “Come here,” I whisper so softly she’s forced to bend really close to me. When she does, I pull her down on top of me.

“Sten! You’re injured.” She tries to break free of my hold but I don’t let go. I need time to decompress and the best way is with her in my arms.

“I’m going to crush you,” she says as if that’s possible. My female is tiny, despite her insistence otherwise. But I must admit, I enjoy how she’s squirming against me, waking all of me to her presence.

“You could not possibly crush me. And it’s a flesh wound. I’ve had worse.”

“You could have died.”

“And leave you unprotected? Never!”

She laughs and stops fighting my hold. “You make everything sound so easy. Five men tried to kill you. Doesn’t that unnerve you at all?”

“No, but it angers me that you were in danger. And alone. What happened before I arrived?”

“Remember that discrepancy I told my family about? It turns out no one’s been stealing from the warehouse. The Brotherhood’s been shipping illegal weapons into port with legitimate products. By the time we weigh the containers, Wilson and his goons unload the illegal goods. That’s why the shipping containers weigh less than what’s listed on the bills of lading.”

“You know for sure the Brotherhood is behind this?”

“One of the guys involved, Ridge, I’ve seen him with known Brotherhood members before.”

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