Page 23 of Alien's Luck
Ari stared at her hand, then slapped the palm of his right hand to hers. He grinned, pleased with himself. “We’re nearly at our destination, and we need appropriate party attire. Can I trust you to behave?”
“If you can refrain from being a condescending asshole, I can behave.”
“As you say, deal.”
CHAPTER 6
CARLA
Sunlight danced on the water. One sun dipped near the horizon, turning the water silver. The other sun was at least an hour or two from setting, setting the sky aflame in a riot of reds and oranges.
Carla sighed, leaning against the pier’s railing. The metal gave a little wobble but held. Good. She was too tired for any of the rusted railing’s drama.
“Explain the meaning of that noise,” Ari said. He stood a foot back from the railing, holding two to-go drink cups of something hot, judging from the steam from the top.
The sunset reminded her of home, but that felt too familiar. Confessing feelings of homesickness was something friends did, and Ari wasn’t a friend. He was a temporary business associate.
“Just tired,” she said, giving Ari an easier truth. Yesterday at this time, she and Poppy were getting ready for a dishonest night’s work hustling. “I’ve been up since yesterday, and, no, being knocked out for two hours doesn’t count as sleep.”
“This is for you. It will help.” He thrust a cup in her direction.
Carla cracked up the lid and sniffed. The brown liquid didn’t smell like tea, coffee, or their alien equivalents. “Is it a stimulant? Pass. I just need some shuteye.”
“It is a broth of fermented bean paste and mushrooms,” he said. She must have appeared skeptical because he added, “It will keep you warm.”
She accepted the cup and took a cautious sip. The broth was salty and not too rich. It reminded her of miso soup. “Thanks. It’s nice.”
The human-friendly settlement turned out to be a quaint seaside village. Well, at least during the day. Who knew what happened after dark? During the day, it might have been any small town on any law-abiding planet. The streets were filled with busy people going about their business and running errands. Vendor stalls were clustered in the village center. Shops had their doors open. Windows lacked bars and security glass. Carla saw exactly zero security. People were just minding their own business.
It was weird, like some village from a horror movie. Carla wouldn’t have been surprised if the villagers shifted into cannibal werewolves after dark and terrorized the streets in packs. Yeah, that seemed more plausible than a picture-perfect tourist-friendly village.
Even weirder was Ari. He was almost… nice. Bizarre, right? They spent the afternoon gathering the necessary supplies. For Ari, that meant fresh food for the kitchen and body armor. Not from the same place, obviously. A cheese and ammo emporium would be strange, but it would keep with the general vibe of the place. Nice on the surface, filled with fancy cheese, and then a touch murdery in the back room.
Necessary supplies for Carla meant a skimpy outfit. She didn’t mind—really—but it was kind of exhausting. She was bait, and bait worked best by showing a lot of flesh. On this world,humans were prized possessions, either sex toys or pets. If given the choice, she’d take being a pet over the alternative. Too bad no one interpreted that to mean dressing up their pet humans in cozy sweaters. No, it was all thermal bandages and thongs. Being bait also meant blending in, so she had to suck it up and deal with the thermal bandages and thongs, even if it was gross.
And chilly.
While being measured by the tailor to have the skimpy outfit altered to fit, Ari added a stack of sensible, comfy clothes. Carla refused on principle. She didn’t need him to do her any favors because favors weren’t free. There was always a cost. Ari replied that the jumpsuit was offensive to his eyes, and he was doing himself a favor.
So that happened. He was sort of nice but a complete ass about it, so that was on brand and didn’t concern her. Now, he brought her soup. Was Ari secretly a marshmallow? No. She found it easier to believe the ugly jumpsuit offended his dapper sensibilities. She found it even easier to believe he would renege on their bargain and keep her as a pet for real.
Yeah, that made sense. If that gargoyle thought he had her trapped, he’d better think again.
The long day weighed on her. The countdown on Poppy’s zombification was ticking down, she had to trust that a deal-making gargoyle wouldn’t turn all nefarious and betray her, and her mind felt sluggish. She really needed a solid eight hours of sleep.
She shifted her weight, the rusted railing groaning.
“I would not be so confident as to rest all my weight on the railing. It is rusted and does not appear to be secure,” Ari said.
Her lips twitched in a smile. His concern sounded almost genuine.
Probably doesn’t want his investment falling into the water.
“It’s fine,” she said.
“It is not fine. The water is hazardous.” His wings did a fluttery, shivering motion that looked uneasy. Huh. He stood a good two feet away from the railing, too. Maybe the concern was genuine.
“Are you afraid of the water?” she asked.
