Page 63 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
“Independence Day? It’s a movie and also my fourth favorite holiday. Oh wow!Andit falls on theFourthof July.”
“I have no idea what that means, either.”
The mining yard was already teeming with aliens who were desperate to escape captivity. No one was moving in orderly lines. They poured through the cave’s entrance, fighting with guards and with each other. Chaos filled Sadie’s senses. Loud screams and constant movement and the smell of something burning.
Vice-Corporal Siganthum-Rycen Lonel Lonel’s men were trying to stop the mass-escape, but it was like trying to contain the rising tide with a bucket. The prisoners saw a chance for freedom, and they weren’t stopping. Sadie wished them all well.
She also wished they’d stay away from her, because some of them looked positively manic. What if she and Xane got caught in the crossfire of the miners and guards?
“Stay close to me.” Xane ordered, as if she had a choice. He was still gripping her arm. “We’re going to the fence, across the sand, and back to the ship. That isallwe’re doing.”
“What about Lord C’don?”
“He can catch up. …Or not. There are other pilots we can kidnap, if he falls. I have told you this.”
“Lord C’don is on our team. We can’t just…Ow!” An eight-foot-tall squirrel creature knocked into Sadie’s side, causing her to stumble sideways.
Xane grabbed her up before she hit the ground. He held her tight for a beat. “Stay close.” He repeated and kissed her forehead. Then he casually deposited her behind his much larger form and attacked the squirrel. He literally picked the guy up and threw him.
The squirrel went careening into another group of fleeing prisoners, and that startedanotheraltercation. The new guys didn’t seem to know whether they should blame Xane or the squirrel for the violence, so they fought them both.
One of them was dumb enough to swing at Xane. Xane ripped off his arm. Not completely unexpected, but ick. Meanwhile, an aqua-skinned man somehow liquefied, trying to drown the squirrel with his body parts.
Sadie blinked in astonishment. This was seriously the weirdest Christmas ever.
Before she could ask Xane if there were mermen in space, something yellow flashed in the corner of her eye. Her face spun around, and she spotted a duckling getting swatted past like a tennis ball.
“Lord C’don!” She raced for their pilot, wanting to save him before he got turned into feathered goo.
“Fuck!” Xane forgot about fighting whoever it was he was fighting and chased after her. “Sadie, no!”
“We’ve got to help him.” She yelled over her shoulder.
One of the octopus guards had Lord C’don pinned to the ground, now. He was trying to slap handcuffs on the poorduckling, but they didn’t fit over his wings. He was squawking and flailing, while another Vipri ran for his life. Obviously, he could only be Jynn.
“Help me save your dad!” Sadie called, thinking he would stop his frantic escape.
Nope.
Instead, he kept right on running. Sadie instinctively turned her head to follow his path, as he sprinted past her. What the heck? Maybe he didn’t hear her?
Whatever Jynn intended to do, he didn’t get far. He ran right into Xane. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Xane snapped, seizing him by the scruff of the neck.
“Do you know who I am?” Jynn demanded in an entitled, whiny voice. “I’m not supposed to be here! I’m heir to a lorddom!”
Xane ignored him.
He struggled to get free, but it was useless. Xane was a Rottweiler in a field of Pomeranians. He moved forward, dragging Jynn along with him, and smart people got out of his way.
“Are you listening to me?” Jynn complained.
No, he absolutely wasn’t.
“Sadie, what part of ‘stay close’ is confusing to you?” He bellowed, like Jynn wasn’t dangling from his fist. Xane clearly blamed her for the whole mess. It was so unfair.
Sadie rose above his grousing. She’d reached Lord C’don, and he needed all her focus. “Hey!” She shouted at the octopusguard who was holding him down. “Leave my pilot alone!” She gave the alien a shove, trying to get him off the Vipri.
“Help, woman!” Lord C’don wailed. “Helllllllppppp!”
