The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,205

the biosensitive suit at the bottom of his pack, checked the wound in his side, then pulled on his human apparel. Luckily, he hadn't been hurt too badly, only a minor laceration. If he could find someplace safe, he'd suture it. If not, it should heal fine. He'd probably slammed into the table when they hit the ground, regardless of the motion dampeners, which meant that his ribs might be damaged as well, and there was definitely some bruising, but nothing fatal.

That didn't mean it wouldn't hurt. When he flipped the fleece hood over his head, his body made sure he knew that much. A flash of pain up his left side was all, but it was one sign of his limitations. Tsij took a long, slow breath and concentrated on the strange color of human skin. Pink, almost sandy, yet neither. Nothing else was quite the same color. He envisioned the coppery skin of a man from one of the television programs they'd intercepted years ago, trying desperately to remember all of the details. The white part of the eyes and the black center with the colored ring around it. He chose brown, then altered the shade of his hair to match. There was nothing he could do about his form, but Gahnek were close enough to humans that most would never notice.

Staggering forward, his mind whirled, trying to think of all the details. Lost in his thoughts, he slipped through the dark woods near the edge of town. That was why he didn't notice the lone human female until he almost crashed into her. He was too preoccupied with not standing out.

"Uh," he muttered, holding his hands out in what he hoped was an apologetic manner.

"Shit," she gasped, then chuckled. "You scared the crap out of me!"

English. She spoke English, and that was a language he knew. Unfortunately, it didn't narrow down his location that much, since he wasn't an expert on dialects, but it did give him a few cultural clues. Wherever they'd landed was a western nation, most likely with a higher level of technology for the planet. That, sadly, would only make things harder.

"Didn't see you," he mumbled, hoping she wouldn't notice his inability to pronounce all the words properly.

"Nah, it's ok. I mean, we're all a bit shaken up after that, right?" Her eyes tried to peer into the shadow of his hood.

He couldn't help it; he looked her over. She was slight, typical for human women, but her face was angular like a Gahnek's. Her coloration was muted. Caucasian, medium brown hair, a few freckles across the bridge of her nose, but she didn't look as alien as he'd expected. She was also waiting for a reply.

"Yeah. That was crazy," he agreed.

She let her eyes roam across his body, then sucked in a breath and stepped closer. "Are you ok?" she asked, looking at his ribs.

Tsij forced himself to laugh, ignoring his racing heart. "This?" He wiped his hand across his injury, feeling dampness on his fingers. Then he smiled and held it up, exposing the dark blue stain. "Just spilled my drink when the ground shook. Anyway, I'm sorry to have frightened you."

He pulled his cheeks up in a weak smile, then hurried back the way he'd been going, hoping she wouldn't follow. He made it over the next rise, then paused to breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn't. Nope, the girl was still following the path, and she was completely alone.

Locking his color pattern into his mind, he trailed her, moving silently and keeping out of her line of sight. Unknowingly, she led him right through the streets of whatever town this was and to a quaint residential area. Homes were packed together like boxes in the cargo bay. Stairs led from the ground to those on the upper levels. Transportation was stored in functional rows, all on a hard-packed surface that he couldn't remember the name of. It didn't matter.

What did was that he'd just found a place to call "home." Waiting until no one was around, he made his way to the highest floor, checked again, then found a maintenance hatch to the space he thought was called an attic. If humans were living in these dwellings, then his noises wouldn't be noticed. It also meant that the chances of security detecting his heat signature or movements were greatly reduced - if they even had that capability.

Sliding between the vents and wires above the apartment complex, Tsij found