Page 23 of Marked for Vengeance
She frowned. “Blue death? What in the nine hells is that?”
“An aquatic creature.” He held up one hand and balled it into a fist. “About this big. Bright blue. Squishy shape, and very poisonous. Donottouch. That is how Shatter died.
“Got it. No poking the blue squishy things. I’m sorry about your brother, Venge. I hope wherever his spirit is, there’s good hunting.”
He looked at her in surprise. “You think there is something for us after we die? Even though we are unnatural things?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I do. I don’t think you’re unnatural, either. The verexi might have assembled the pieces differently, but the building blocks must be the same as everyone else’s.”
He’d never thought about it that way. It made a comforting sort of sense.
He smiled and touched her cheek with his fingertips. “Thank you.”
To his delight, she reached up to cover his hand with hers. “You’re welcome. Now, is there anything else I should know about things that might want to kill me?”
“I’ll tell you more about the local wildlife while we walk. Are you ready?”
“Lead the way.”
Six hours of hard walking later, they discovered a problem. Instead of a gentle descent to the river, the heavy tree cover had hidden a plateau that ended in a steep drop to the river valley.
“Well, fuck. That’s inconvenient,” Loris said. “Though the view is spectacular. I’ve never been to a planet this lush or this orange. Something about the spectrum of the sunlight, maybe?”
“Bysshe said the sunlight here is brighter than standard for life-producing planets. I wouldn’t know, because this is the only world I’ve ever seen. The scrawnies kept us on a barren moon. No plants or animals, and not much of an atmosphere. They generated enough atmo to keep everyone on the base alive, but nowhere else.”
“For the record? I was not a fan of the verexi before we met. Now? I really don’t like them. If we ever get off this planet, we’re going to kick their asses for what they did to you and your brothers. Not to mention what they did to theHarvestand everyone on board.”
We.He liked it. She was already thinking of herself as part of his life. He moved to kiss her but froze before his mouth met hers.
A strange noise came from somewhere to their left. Two short, booming beats followed by one long one. He had no idea what had made that sound, but it couldn’t be anything good.
“What wasthat?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out. We need to leave.”
“Excellent idea.” She raised one eyebrow and swept one hand out to indicate the cliff. “Any suggestions on how we do that? And do not say you’ll carry me.”
“No.” He patted the bag at his hip. “This time, I’m going to tie you up.”
She eyed him warily. “I’m not agreeing to anything until I hear more details.”
“It’s more fun when you argue with me,” he complained.
“And I love pushing your buttons, but now is not the time. We’ve already met up with one murdery monster. I’d rather not meet any more.”
“Agreed.” He pointed to a spot about half a kilometer to their right. “Hear that? I think that’s our way down.”
She went still and quiet, paling slightly. “Please tell me that’s not a waterfall.”
He caught her by the hand and set off toward the sound of rushing water. One way or another, he had to get Loris off this cliff and down to the river below. Something in his gut told him he was running out of time to get it done.
11
That morning,she’d woken up with more aches and pains than she could count, but she still felt better than she had in years. Fresh air, exercise, danger, and a hefty dose of mind-melting sex seemed to be the tonic she’d needed.
She’d looked at her wrists, admiring the markings in daylight for the first time. Whatever she had going on with Vengeance, it wasn’t about sex. Well, not entirely. Was she really his mate? It seemed likely, but it was still hard to wrap her head around. They weren’t even the same species. Had the verexi included enough human DNA in their creations make this bond possible? That didn’t seem likely. She was no expert, but as far as she knew, none of the known species bonded like this.
Thoughts like this kept bouncing around her head as they made their way through the forest. She drank it all in, reveling in the wild beauty of this place. As they walked, Vengeance shared what he knew about the plants, the animals, and how they’d survived after the crash.
