Page 217 of Monsters in Love

MY VEILED PURSUER

OPAL FAIRCHILD

The way my skirts feel around my ankles as they swish to the music coming from outside makes me feel delicate. It’s been so long since I’ve seen myself in anything other than my old, ratty gray Imperium uniform.

“Echo! You look gorgeous; look at you,” Jetta says, taking a piece of my coiled tawny hair into her fingers.

Her face is rosy around the edges from drinking mead. I can smell the sweetness of it on her breath. Still, I’ll accept the compliment. We deserve to have fun tonight after days of setting up the camp.

I look down at my skirt, loving the brighter periwinkle, especially with the way the bioluminescent lights from the planet glimmer off the satin.

“Thank you. I’m glad the commander is giving us at least tonight to let loose.” I giggle, thinking about how hard our work has been getting to this point. We’ve been in space for over a year. I do miss my cabin on ship because the ratty tents are disgusting and smell musty.

“It will thrill Kane to see you looking like this.” Jetta’s hand falls from my hair, giving me a saucy wink. “You’re not wearing your glasses, are you? Don’t cover up your eyes; I’d kill to have those.”

Peering into the holo mirror, I sigh. I wish I didn’t need them, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough credits to get surgery. Instead, the large coke-bottle lenses make my stormy gray eyes bug-like.

“I don’t care what he thinks; you know that.” It’s a lie that tastes sour on my tongue because I’ve had a crush on my boss for years now.

Working side by side in the lab has made it easy to grow fond of him, and he and I worked seamlessly together. Still, it’s something he doesn’t know, and I’ll never tell him.

Jetta shakes her head, making her blonde hair fall free. She pats my arm with a tinkling laugh before patting my shoulder. “Come on, let’s hurry. We only have a few hours until we’ll have to pretend this was all a dream.”

Jetta leaves my tent in a flurry of her yellow dress, leaving my heart racing as I follow. Once we’re both outside, the sound of music fills the air, and I peer up through the trees that glow a brilliant purple and pink. I allow myself only the briefest moment to look at life on the other side, excited at the prospect of finally seeing it up close.

A hand reaches out to pull me away, reminding me that soon enough, we’ll be out there seeing the world, beginning life anew for all of us. “Come on, girl. Your plants will wait for you tomorrow!”

The flicker of something in the distance catches my attention again.

Azgul lives in nothing but darkness, but there’s bright light among the array of swaying trees. The trees of this planet tower like skyscrapers; each limb and flower shine in a multitude of brilliant bioluminescence. They are varying ranges of purples, pinks, bright blue, and all of them shimmering as brightly as the moon.

A few of the trees appear to have bulbous lanterns attached to their bark, and in a flurry of wings, there are bird-like creatures that perch in the higher branches. Some trees have long, slender tentacle-like branches that waver in the wind, while others appear more like trees I’ve seen before, standing tall and strong with leaves that glow.

Yet there is a flicker of light far in the distance that reminds me of fire. “Jetta, there’s something out there,” I whisper, jerking her hand to pull her closer.

“Nothing is out there; this planet is entirely void of sentient life. There’s no boogeyman to get you.” Jetta sighs, dropping my hand. “You need to loosen up.”

A loud trilling battle cry cuts through the air, and a spear hits the side of one of the tents, cutting through it like butter ripping the fabric.

Jetta screams immediately, rushing off into one of the tents, likely for a weapon, but I can’t move. My feet are planted into the grass as I see the monstrous beings on four legs. They have large scorpion-like tails that curl up from their backs with humanoid torsos. Each one has a spear with a glowing fire-like light at its end.

“Echo, move!” I hear my name just as the beasts enter the camp.

My feet swivel, and all at once, I react. My heart is hammering in my chest, but I hear the skittering of their legs behind me.

The crew from the Peony rushes out of the tent, many too inebriated to run, many falling down just as a spear cuts through the air toward the group.

I’m jerked backward immediately by a tug on my scalp as rough hands pull at my hair. I scream out in pain as tears well in my eyes, forcing them closed. “Let me go!”

Gunfire ricochets around the camp as do the shrieks of pain. As I’m pulled backward, I dig my heels into the dirt, hoping beyond hope that it might deter the absolute strength that holds me.

Another shot is fired, and the grip of the beast that holds goes slack. I can’t see where it came from, but on instinct, my legs move. There are so many bodies, theirs and ours, that I choose to maneuver through the tents. Sweat laces my brow, but I shove through until I’m on the opposite side.

“No!” I hear someone yell.

Then there’s choking and a deep, grotesque laugh in reply.

So I run. I run so fast, not thinking about where I’m headed. Deep into the darkness of the woods I go, not stopping until I can’t hear the sounds anymore.

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