Page 25 of Taken
Once these other humans wake, they’ll also be able to look at my murals and know that I didn’t exist in this new world alone. There are other beings that survived the Fall, too, even if they are only humanish.
As Lacchus watches me stuff my paintbrushes into my duffel, his head tips to the side in a gesture that conveys his curiosity. I hold up a brush and step beside him, facing a mural I did of that fountain back in Portugal.
“I painted these,” I tell him, sweeping my brush over the wall, but his only response is to frown. “Ugh. I wish we could talk. I suck at learning new languages.”
I really do. Though I learned English and Portuguese from my parents, to say on my resumé that I spoke French and Spanish had been astretch.I never learned to write English, either, so in the end I’d mostly nodded along at what the Sucere recruiters had said when they were going over my contract and had tia Paolina fill out most of my paperwork.
“Rhen…” Pam says suddenly. “If I may suggest…There is a mobile translation prototype you and the…creature…could attempt to use…”
My ears start ringing. I stare down at my watch wishing, not for the first time, that Pam was a real person so I could fight the shit out of her. My voice is shrill and my shoulders are up by my ears as I wheeze, “You had a translator this whole time and you’re only just now telling me?”
“Yes…Rhen. Based on your tone, it does not sound like you are pleased. I would have thought…you would be pleased…given how this innovation might facilitate your communication…”
“BAHHH! PAMELA! Just tell me where it is!” I squawk, earning me an alarmed look from Lacchus. He’s staring at my wristwatch like he wants to snatch it off and kill it, and frankly, I don’t blame him. However, there are only a dozen mobile Pam watches on the ship, and I don’t want to ruin one simply out of frustration with her. After all, we are besties.
Pam recites instructions and I drag Lacchus behind me as I head to the small hexagon-shaped room called the Bridge. I rifle through a drawer that Pam gives me a password to unlock. Inside are about three dozen mini headphone-looking things. I lift one up, follow the instructions to activate it, and then shove it in my ear canal.
Nothing happens.
“It doesn’t work,” I tell Pam.
“It is a prototype…Rhen. It may not work with alien tongues. However, I would also caution you not to make an assumption before you’ve tested it.”
Bish has got a point. I glance up at Lacchus, feeling strangely nervous all of a sudden. I clench my fists, lick my lips and…choke. I literally choke on a mouthful of sand. “Augh!” I hack, placing my palms on my knees while warm, three-fingered hands mold around my back to stabilize me. He rubs soothing circles over my spine, the massive span of his hands wrapping entirely around my ribs, making me feel like a doll.
And then a cool hiss reprimands, “You shouldn’t have been out in the storm, sapling.”
“Holy shit!” I jerk up and whack the back of my head on his chin andfuuuuck…“Oh shit.” Clutching my head while he stares down at me in concern, I start to laugh, tears coming to the corners of my eyes. “OH SHIT! I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU!” My voice is pitchy and Lacchus rears away from me, but I’m way too excited.
I snatch up another earpiece, drop it, grab another, drop that, too, before finally reining in my excitement well enough to be able to reach up and shove an earpiece into his weird ear slit. He rears back and shoves me off hard enough to knock me onto the floor. My butt bounces across the sleek tiled surface, but I don’t care about that. I watch poor, confused Lacchus shake his head, his claw lifting to his ear slit as he tries to get the thing out.
“Stop! Don’t. Can you understand me?”
He jolts like he’s been electrocuted, making me laugh so hard tears come to my eyes.
“What?” His eyes are wide and round and bright, bright yellow.
It’s so strange. I can hear both his normal screech as well as a translation filtering into my ears. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to replicate the screech entirely, but there’s a certain tone to it that, with practice, I might be able to get right. And now that I know what words mean, it’ll be easier to learn in the long run.
I swallow hard, feeling so, so hopeful I could sob. Instead, I wipe my burning eyes and smile up at him with my whole heart.
“You…What is this magic?” he says, his lips moving slowly and the translation filtering in shortly after.
“I know, right? I just…It feels…” I sniff, laugh, rub my sandy cheeks. And then I stare up at him wearing a smile that feels new, different than all the smiles I’ve given him before…I feel suddenly shy, like we’re meeting all over again for the very first time.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Lacchus blinks his big bright eyes. His dark hair swirls white as green scales shimmer down his chest for a moment before reverting to brown skin. His tattered pants are tied at the waist, but the thick hide threads snap when his thighs shift, becoming thick and long and scaled as he drops down to one knee before me.
He grabs the back of my head roughly enough to make me gasp and close my eyes. I jolt at the hard press of his lips to mine. His tongue seeks immediate entry, which I grant, and tangles with mine. The heat of his mouth is so familiar, even if his words aren’t, and I moan, my body ready to receive his…except for the tangle of rope around my waist and chest…and the sand between all my crevices.
Allmy crevices.
I push back on his shoulder a little, and it’s enough. This big, beastly male responds automatically to my touch, breaking our kiss with a harsh growl of his own. He hisses, staring between my eyes, “Hello, sapling.”
Sapling.Owelay.I can hear both words at nearly the same time and smile. “Owelay?” I repeat, trying to mimic his accent. He looks even more surprised than he did the first time he heard my translation. And then the big brute has the audacity to grin at me. And his smile is a magnificent, fangy thing.
“Yes. You are my owelay,” he answers. “Green and full of life, soft and worth protecting.” His knuckle strokes the space beneath my eye. “I was honored you gave yourself to me.”
