I release the alien and stalk back to the herd for another.
Wind whistles over leathery wings; it’s the sound of hobs speeding past me. One of them drops out of the sky into a skid that ends with him on his knees before the female I’ve discarded. His hands come up gently, cupping her face. I don’t wait to see the others landing to comfort her. I’m on a mission. Unfortunately, the cries of one have set off alarm in the others and now they’re all more wary of me than usual. They race to edge back from me even as I storm straight to them. It’s ironic: when I want them out of my way, they only manage to be underfoot. It’s baffling. If they’re capable of being this good at avoiding me, why can’t they stay out of my way all the time? When I near the retreating mass, I feint, watch them all change direction like a startled school of fish—then I snatch a female by the gathering cord that bundles her long mane. My ears fold sharply, trying to protect my hearing from the shrillness of her sudden scream.
Over the din, I hear a clearly-called, “BASH!”
I expect Gracie because that female can be counted on to put her snout in my business and to dance in danger’s way, always—but when I glance over my shoulder, my dorsal spines fall against my back. Because it isn’t Gracie—it’s Isla.
“Are you traumatizing innocent women again? Pro tip: don’t tell them your muscle rub is made of alien slobber...” She trails off, seemingly struck dumb at the sight of my trapped human. “Um, Bash? Let go of her ponytail before you snatch her bald.”
The human with this ‘ponytail’ is stumbling and sobbing and escaping me before I even process that my hand released her. I stare down at my clawed fingers as if I don’t know them anymore. Then I bring narrowed eyes to Isla. “Come with me.”
Isla’s expression almost becomes hesitant. By her words, I see her concerned pause is a lie. “I can’t believe you just grabbed that chick by her hair. Are you feeling okay, Mr. Hyde?” She feigns a wince, her comely nose wrinkling. “Or is it Dr. Jekyll right now?”
I give a hard tilt of my horns in the released-human’s direction. “Does she look injured to you?”
Isla eyes me, giving me a lightly disappointed look that I feel like a horn stab into my gut. “She’s totally freaked out.”
“That is not what I asked. Also, I cannot control the emotions of others.”
“Sure, but you have to grab her by her hair? You could stand to be a little nicer,” she chides.
My nostrils flare. Smoke burns my throat, and I bare my teeth, exhaling it from under my lips. “This is me ‘nice.’”
Isla drops her nose and widens her eyes meaningfully. “Mayyybe work on that.” Then she throws her small arm out, gesturing. “Lead the way, Grumpy.”
I move to lead her to my chair, and she trots to keep up with me. It comes as no surprise at all that she chatters the entire way there. “Seriously. You were fine a minute ago. What got you upset?” She gives me a shrewd look. “Have you had breakfast? You haven’t, have you? I think maybe there’s a correlation here.”
I slow my pace and scowl down at her. “I’m not upset.”
Her hairline seems to lift as she makes a show of tilting her head and raising her browfurs high, high, high up on her soft-looking, no-scaled forehead. “Whatever you say, buddy.”
Buddy. My translator supplies: friend.
My chest fills with heat, like I’ve swallowed my own fire.
Hobs suddenly drop to the ground around us like the flock of guards to a princess. I’m sure they wished they were Isla’s guards, or any female’s. To belong in a service is a hob’s greatest desire. They move to flank us—surrounding me in case they need to catch and hold me, and surrounding Isla in order to tug her away from me should they feel she’s being threatened.
In an oppugnant reaction, my tail whips out and wraps itself around Isla’s belly and jerks her against my side.
The hobs slam into each other, all their eyes going round at the sight of me clutching a human so closely. I ignore them and tow an amused-but-slightly-alarmed Isla alongside me.
When we reach the wall, I drag her right up to the face of it. “What does this read in English?”