Page 13 of Splintered Shadow
Until this foolhardy guard.
Vekele understood why Baris thought so highly of the captain of the royal guard.
He sighed. “Harol would expect nothing less,” he said.
Truthfully, a visit from Harol would not be amiss. A familiar ache grew behind his front eyes. The damage to his eyes meant the pupils failed to expand and contract correctly. He only noticed when he developed a headache. He should have worn the protective lenses, but he disliked the reminder of his injury and would rather endure the pain.
“Very good, sir.”
Vekele marched up the ramp into the ship. They had an hour until they arrived at Summerhall. He would do what he could for the female and hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Four
Sarah
Everything hurt,so she wasn’t dead.
The gray guy with the ears and all the eyes stood over her, frowning. In one hand, he held a bottle, and the other pointed to her leg.
Right. A nightmare puppy used her as a chew toy.
She hoped that was medicine and not poison, but her throat was too dry for snarky comments. Whatever. If it was poison, it was poison. There was nothing she could do about it.
She turned her head away as he cleaned the wound. It stung for a moment, then a numbness crept up her leg.
Dully, she realized she should be freaking out. Portal. Another world. Monsters. A girl was entitled to a freak -out, but a lifetime of stories had prepared her for magical portals leading to adventure. Alice had her rabbit holes. Wardrobes were notorious transportation devices, as were ruby slippers—or silver in the books.
Now Sarah had a cell phone-generated portal to an alien planet. Not a problem. The last few hours fit a familiar story shape, and that made it manageable.
They were in a sterile white room. She lay on top of a bed with pillows behind her back. The blanket felt scratchy.
A large window took up the majority of the opposite wall, framing twin moons.
Not Earth.
Yup, she should be freaking out.
Her eyes fluttered shut, too heavy to stay open. Maybe she’d have a proper freak -out after a nap.
* * *
Someone movedher to an upright position and pressed a glass of water to her lips. They were not gentle as they tipped the water into her mouth.
Sarah coughed, dribbling water down her chin.
The gray guy frowned, which had to be his default expression.
The second attempt at drinking went better, with less dumping of an entire glass down her throat.
A hand roughly turned her face from side to side. More frowning. Muttering. A finger poked and prodded the side of the head.
Using all her energy, she leaned forward and reached for him with her good hand. Gently, she turned his face from side to side, imitating how he inspected her.
Caution flashed in the blue eyes on the side of his face. The ones in front remained dull and gray. She suspected the front ones were not the dominant eyes, which was a weird quirk of evolution, but whatever. She wasn’t an alien expert or, you know, a biologist.
His ears were long and pointy, like an elf. His complexion was gray. Dark hair tumbled forward, shorter on the sides to not obscure his field of vision. His mouth pressed into a tight line, as if grumpy.
“I like your face,” she said.
