grin. “Because we might not even make it past tomorrow.”
She gives me a wobbly smile, but it falls when the door opens, and the rest of the blue aliens arrive. I jump to my feet, as do the other women, and my movement brings one of the males’ attention to me. Of course it’s the one that brought me here. He quickly runs his gaze over me, and there’s a faint pulsing in the gold of his eyes.
He snaps his head in the direction of the guard, and we all watch the heated exchange between the males. Their language is guttural and yet succinct, very complementary to their baritone voices. The deep rumbles that pour from their mouths, accompanied by the agitated flicks of their tails, communicate a lot, even without my being able to understand.
My translation: we are in deep shit.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Everyone’s attention zips to Jocelyn, who stands with her fists on her hips. She raises her chin a fraction and narrows her gaze, focusing it on the leader. I assume he’s the leader, but I could be wrong.
He gives her a once-over and dismisses her just as fast. Sensing the violence that’s about to ensue, I race to Jocelyn’s side and grab her arm. She turns her heated gaze on me, and I shake my head, pleading with her to not cause any trouble. I admire her for standing up to them, but now isn’t the time, not when they are the ones piloting the spaceship. However, if I could fly this thing, I’d be all for kicking their asses. Regardless of how improbable that might be.
Her body softens the tiniest bit until one of the aliens raises a device, pointing it in her direction. Instinct, or stupidity, prompts me to step in front of her, and the orange laser trails down my face, temporarily blinding me when it lands on my eyes.
I blink in rapid succession as the males start talking again, and if I thought it was a heated discussion before, then this is one on fire. It’s hard not to react when one of them points his finger at me and then Jocelyn. By this time, the rest of the women have stationed themselves a short distance away, except for Lexi. She takes up a spot by my side and reaches for my hand.
Then the same male scans her, and she squeezes the shit out of my fingers.
My hiss of pain draws the attention of the leader and no one else. His bright gaze searches mine as though looking for something, but then it flickers to Lexi, and the golden hue blazes with light. I can’t stop my curiosity from rising, and I press my lips together to keep from asking.
After all the women are scanned, including Zerina’s daughter, pandemonium strikes. Like a grenade has been tossed into the room, everyone scatters in different directions. Every alien strides in the direction of his charge and promptly hauls her away and out the door. While Jocelyn engages the bulky one in hand-to-hand combat, I rush the male taking Lexi. My palms slam onto his torso, and I shove him with all my might, causing him to take a step back.
Lexi scurries behind me, and I bend my knees, fisting my hands in preparation for his counterattack. “Tell us what is going on!” I yell. “Our lives are at stake too.”
The leader is in my line of sight from one blink to the next, and instead of answering me, he grabs my arms and yanks me to his chest, molding me to his frame. The peculiar sensation from before skitters along my body and psyche, and before I can process it, the room disappears right before my eyes. There’s a moment of darkness, and then I’m standing in the middle of a cockpit.
I don’t have time to absorb my surroundings because they’re not important. Only the male holding me prisoner is. I lift my knee to jab it into his groin, and he’s quick to block the maneuver but does not retaliate.
Well, not physically anyway.
Instead, he places me in one of the two chairs in front of the console and straps me in so tightly that I can’t move anything except my fingers. I’d kick him if I could, but I can’t reach him in the other seat. So I just glare at him while he operates the controls with his hands and presses several buttons with the tip of his pointed tail.
The