Page 113 of Citrine

Ree gets herself under control before I do. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. Abducted by aliens. This is their hunting ground. They bring sapient species like these two and dump them here for trophy hunting."

I'm confused. "I can't believe anyone would pick humans for trophy hunting. As Wroahk likes to point out to me, I am pretty much defenseless."

Ree shakes her head. "No, they didn't. We were on our way to be sold as sex slaves when we crash landed here."

Well, that explains my suddenly larger breasts and flat stomach. "Qué asco.Really?"

"You're right. It's disgusting."

I blink, surprised. I didn't expect she would know Spanish.

She grimaces and continues. "There were ten of us. I know one died for certain. I found one, Silver, just to have her stolen by another of the prey. Hopefully she's okay. Thivoll thinks he was obsessed with her and that he'll treat her well. Kira and Drasuk are back at our cave. I have another woman, Amethyst, still in her cryo chamber tucked away with them. We met a prey alien who knew where another woman was, but he hasn't returned yet. Another is out searching for others."

That all sounds crazy, but I guess it's high time for me to adapt to this being our new normal. "Why is Amethyst still frozen?"

Her eyes roam over me. "I'm sure by now you've noticed that the more contact you have with… Wroahk was it?" I nod. "Right. It starts changes in us. Just a bit of contact with Silver to treat her wounds—the woman who was stolen I mean—and she started to change. I want Amethyst to be able to decide. It's from nanites, but I don't really understand it. We have translators, too, and heal faster, stay clean, plus other things."

I let that sink in for a moment, and then latch on to the least mind-boggling revelation. She clearly likes precious stones.

"So you named me Citrine?" I ask her with a smile.

"I did, sorry. I called myself Indigo to make up for how rude it was. I'm so happy to replace it in my mind with Eli." She starts crying again and Thivoll pulls her close to him and rearranges them again so he can start patting her butt.

I raise my eyebrow at her and she gives me a smirk that lets me know he doesn't realize ass grabbing isn't something you do in public.

My throat hurts again as I turn to where I think Wroahk's head likely is down in the water. "I want to go to shore so I can hugher."

His response is muted, but still forceful. "No. No one else touches you."

Ree makes a pained sound then starts speaking in the whale voice. "Greetings, Wroahk. I would never harm your Eli."

That brings him up out of the water, ripples of it splashing gently against my neck.

He is wearing his angry face, which is no surprise. "Why must everyone steal my voice? No."

I roll my eyes at him and Ree catches me doing it. She gives me a small smile, then she looks thoughtful.

She lets out a small hum like she just realized something. "We thought something was watching us from the water a while back. Was that you, Wroahk?

"Yes."

I whip my head over to him. "You seriously saw someone like me and you didn't tell me? I still can't believe it."

"You never asked."

"Uy, qué care-chimba.I specifically asked you multiple times!"

Now that I think about it, I didn't until just a few moments ago, but I'm too pissed off to admit it. He knew what I wanted.

I can't believe it's a coincidence that I haven't seen anyone else in days and suddenly they are falling from the fucking sky.

They've always been here around us, just a short swim away. He just hasn't been telling me about it. I really might strangle him, but before I get a chance, our company reminds me of their existence.

Ree starts laughing and I can tell her translator let her know I just called him a dickface. I'm too enraged to join in.

"I tell you everything! We've talked about community over and over again. Why would you not tell me?"

He is back to wearing his impenetrable mask. "No. You talked about community. I was trapped with your ceaseless words."

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