Page 24 of Alien Attachment
Through our bond, I feel Jhorn go utterly still behind me—not the stillness of fear, but of a predator calculating the best angle of attack. The warmth I’d been feeling from him shifts to something cold and dangerous, like standing too close to a reactor core about to overload.
“How did you find us?” I ask, buying time while my mind races through our options. None of them are good.
“Your ship,” he says, clearly enjoying having the upper hand. “The Nomad’s transponder signature was flagged in every system in the sector. I was already here when you docked, just waiting for the right moment.” He pauses, tilting his head. “Though I have to admit, I didn’t expect to find you two getting... cozy... in a maintenance alcove. Makes this more interesting.”
Heat floods my cheeks at the implication. “We weren’t—”
“Sure you weren’t, sweetheart. Just a friendly medical consultation, right?” His augmented eye whirs as it focuses on my healed arm. “Impressive work, by the way. Very... thorough.”
The way he says it makes my skin crawl, and I feel Jhorn’s protective instincts surge through our bond like a tidal wave. The hunter must sense the shift in mood, because he moves with blinding speed, grabbing me and yanking me in front of him as a shield before I can react.
The barrel of his blaster presses against my temple, cold and unyielding, and I curse myself for getting distracted. Three years of courier runs in the worst parts of the galaxy, and I let myguard down because an alien with pretty eyes was giving me the full healing treatment.
“Don’t try anything, ‘asset,’” he says to Jhorn, his voice taking on a mocking tone. “Wouldn’t want your new... pet... to get damaged before delivery.”
The word pet hits Jhorn like a knife to his core. I feel it through our bond—a spike of rage so pure and overwhelming that it takes my breath away. The air around us seems to vibrate, and I swear the temperature drops several degrees.
His eyes begin to glow, shifting from violet to a piercing, electric blue that illuminates the dim alcove like twin stars. When he speaks, his voice carries harmonics that seem to resonate in my bones.
“Release her.”
It’s not a request. It’s barely even words—more like the sound a storm would make if it could speak. The bounty hunter’s grip on me tightens, but I feel him shiver.
“I don’t think so,” he says, though his voice lacks its earlier confidence. “ApexCorp wants both of you intact, but they didn’t specify undamaged. I’m sure they won’t mind a few—”
He doesn’t get to finish. Jhorn’s tendrils emerge from beneath his cloak like living weapons, unfurling with a speed that defies physics. One knocks the blaster away from my head with surgical precision, the weapon spinning away to clatter against the far wall. Another wraps around the bounty hunter’s wrist with enough force to make the bones creak ominously.
A third tendril coils around the man’s throat—not squeezing, but poised to do so with lethal intent.
The hunter’s cybernetic eye flickers in panic as he’s lifted slightly off the ground, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the deck plating. Jhorn steps forward, his face transformed by cold fury, his tendrils pulsing with patterns of light thatseem to communicate rage, protection, and absolute territorial dominance.
“You will not touch her,” Jhorn says, his voice deeper than I’ve ever heard it, resonating with power that makes the air around us vibrate like a struck bell. “You will not take her. You will not speak of her as property.”
The way he emphasizes that last word sends heat through me that has nothing to do with the situation and everything to do with the possessive undertones in his voice. Even in the middle of a life-or-death situation, apparently my body has opinions about Jhorn going full protective alien mode.
The tendril around the hunter’s throat tightens fractionally, and the man’s organic eye widens in terror. Through our bond, I feel Jhorn’s intent—not to kill, not yet, but to hurt, to punish, to make an example that will ensure no one else tries to claim what is his.
One of his tendrils begins to glow with an intense, painful light, moving toward the hunter’s face with deliberate menace. I don’t know what he intends—some kind of energy discharge? Acid? Neural feedback that will fry the man’s brain?—but the absolute certainty of harm radiating through our bond terrifies me.
“Jhorn, STOP!” I shout, my voice echoing in the narrow alcove. “Enough! Don’t kill him!”
Jhorn freezes instantly, his tendrils still extended but motionless. The glow in his eyes flickers, confusion replacing fury as he turns to look at me. The bond between us pulses with conflicting emotions—protective rage warring with his desire to please me, to obey my wishes even when they conflict with his instincts.
“He threatened you, Kaylee,” Jhorn says, his voice returning to its normal register but still vibrating with suppressed power. “He spoke of you as if you were cargo to be delivered.”
“I know,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady despite the way his protective fury is affecting me. “But killing him will just bring more hunters. We need information, not a body count.”
Jhorn considers this, his alien features shifting as he processes the logic. Finally, he nods, though I can feel his reluctance through our bond. His tendrils loosen their grip on the bounty hunter, who collapses to the floor with a satisfying thud, gasping and clutching his throat.
I retrieve the fallen blaster, checking the charge while keeping it trained on our unwelcome visitor. “Who sent you?” I demand. “Specifically. I know ApexCorp posted the bounty, but who’s your handler?”
The man coughs, his cybernetic eye recalibrating as he glares up at me with a mixture of fear and professional frustration. “Go to hell.”
Jhorn moves forward again, his tendrils rippling with renewed menace. The patterns of light running along their length shift from blue to an ominous red that probably means bad things for anyone on the receiving end. The hunter flinches back, suddenly finding his voice.
“Wait! Okay, okay. The bounty came through Keller. Laricus Keller, ApexCorp’s head of security. He’s running the retrieval operation personally, called it top priority.”
“How many others are looking?” Jhorn asks, his voice deceptively calm.
