Page 11 of Zalis
“On Tholla, where you would be if you got on the shuttle and allowed the medics to do their job,” he said.
“Fine, I’ll allow it,” she said, “but only because I’m dehydrated and the room is spinning.”
“Stubborn female,” he muttered, adjusting his hold as they approached the medical shuttle. He carried her like a sack of flour with little concern about the sack’s comfort. It was demeaning, and she hated it. For some reason, she knew that the whole experience would be one hundred percent better if Zalis were carrying her.
“Swear that you’ll bring her to me. I need to see Emry. I need her,” Gemma said.
“I swear, female. I did not disarm eight crude bombs to send you back to Earth without speaking to your twin.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be a waste,” she agreed.
ZALIS
Zalis refused to leave the female’s side. Ren rushing in and triggering a motion detection bomb justified this stance. His reckless behavior meant that he could not be trusted to protect Gemma. Zalis had no other option. He had sworn to Emmarae to deliver her sister safely. He’d stay by Gemma’s bedside until Emry arrived.
Not that he anticipated any peril in the hospital greater than scratchy blankets and bland food. Humans were sensitive about such matters, and Gemma deserved soft blankets and a good meal.
She had been amazingly resilient at the warehouse. She freed herself from her bonds and, despite her fractured ankle, crawled across the filthy floor to cut the ropes binding the other captives.
Gemma was admirable. She had a warrior’s spirit. Soft blankets and a good meal were not enough. He’d bring her a cup full of stars if she desired.
GEMMA
Gemma thrashed on the bed, fighting her way out of a nightmare.
She couldn’t breathe. Trapped in a box, she was suffocating and unable to move her arms or legs. This was hell, conscious while her body remained unresponsive.
She woke in a cold sweat, panting, and unsure of her surroundings. Ambient light from machines assured her that she was no longer in the warehouse. That place had been pitch black at night.
Hospital. Rescued.Her mind repeated these reassurances, but her heart hadn’t received the memo. Fear was there; fear that this was the dream and any moment now she’d wake back up in the cage. Worse, she’d wake up in a coffin-like stasis chamber. The IV line attached to her arm was not helping.
“Your heart rate is elevated,” a calm voice said.
She sat upright, like she could leave the nightmare clinging to the pillow. A dark figure sat in a chair not far from the edge of the bed.
Just a nightmare.
This wasn’t the warehouse. She knew that.She knew that.No cage. A clean bed. If she listened, she heard voices drift in from the corridor. Still, she wanted to tear the IV line out of her arm and flee.
“You are severely dehydrated. I suggest leaving that in place,” the figure in the chair said.
Gemma’s hand fell away from her arm. “Where am I?”
“You are safe.”
“That wasn’t what I asked. What planet? What star system? I know I’m not on Earth. While we’re at it, who the fuck are you?”
“Tholla. In the hospital.” Zalis leaned forward in the chair, the amber light catching the angles of his face and the horns sweeping back from his head. “I am Zalis.”
Zalis. The guy with the laugh who managed to make her feel like an out-of-control nightmare was completely under control. Ish.
Gemma relaxed, her body sinking back into the pillows. There was so much she didn’t know, and too many questions demanded to be asked. She started with the obvious. “Where’s my sister?”
“Emmarae is on her way.”
Now that she was lying down, she felt floaty and disconnected from her body. Her arm flopped against the mattress, as if the tension holding her upright vanished as her puppet strings were cut. She was exhausted, but this didn’t feel natural. It felt drug -induced.
“The others? How are they?” she asked.
