“Cute, but sort of useless against these types of handcuffs.” She yanked at the circles to demonstrate.
“Those are handcuffs?” I asked, unfamiliar with the term.
She blinked at me, sleepiness starting to seep into her expression. “What else would you call them?”
I stared at them, then shrugged in a gesture I had learned from her. “Linked circles.”
She snorted softly, although it was loud enough both of us froze, just in case it disturbed any of the nearby Caterri. Thankfully, they seemed not to notice. Either that, or they assumed it was the human doing something weird. That reminded me.
“I smell blood.” I frowned, raking Dana over with my gaze as best I could. She was mostly tucked in her sack, and I itched to pull her out of it and look the entirety of her over, no matter how rude or weird it would be. “Have they hurt you?” My eyes flashed red and I tried to keep the anger out of my tone, but I was not successful.
Dana rolled her eyes again. Part of me wondered if they would eventually roll out of her head with the frequency, but that was something I could ask her later. “They didn’t hurt me,” she said.
“Then why do I smell blood?” I asked suspiciously.
Dana sighed at me, shaking her head. “It’s not my blood,” she said finally. “Let’s talk about what we’re going to do while you’re here.”
I stared at her for a hands-full of moments, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth. The scent was fresh, but there were so many confusing scents in the Caterri camp that maybe I was smelling someone else’s. Then her words hit me again, and I nodded, my attention turned back to the task. No matter what, rescuing her and getting her out of those circles—handcuffs—needed to be our first priority. But first…
“Who was the one you talked to?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. The Caterri that had stayed with her and provided the sack and some food seemed different than the others, not leering at my mate or throwing things at her.
“Squire?” Dana blinked. “Oh, he’s sort of looking after me.”
My mouth didn’t drop open, but it was a near thing. I had not been that astonished since I was a hatchling. “He’s looking after you?”
Dana nodded. “He makes sure I have blankets, that I’m fed, that sort of thing.” There was a faint smile on her lips. “He’s nice.”
Jealousy burned through me. I didn’t want her to speak about anyone else like that. She was mine. Mine to look after, mine to take care of. Mine to save.
Besides, the Caterri didn’t do nice. They weren’t capable of nice. “I don’t trust him,” I said flatly. “He’s up to something.”
“Or, he could be a nice person,” Dana countered.
“He’s a Caterri,” I pointed out harshly. “They’re not capable of being nice.”
Dana’s narrowed eyes told me I wasn’t going to win the war, so for now, I stopped trying. Instead, I switched topics. “What do we do then?” I asked, nodding towards her handcuffs. She knew about metal. Maybe she would have a plan.
6
Dana
I stared at my would-be rescuer, trying to figure out what the hell to say. I’d never been so happy to see a snake-alien face in my life, not that there’d been many opportunities. On the other hand, it was clear he hadn’t thought through what he was doing. It’d become even more clear when he had started fussing with the cuffs and chafing my skin. Him coming to save me was a sweet enough gesture I could almost forgive him for asking to talk to a man.
Almost.
“You can’t get me out of these,” I reminded him, my voice low. The last thing I wanted was for any of my captors to hear us.
“I am aware,” N’Ashtar grunted, his attention on the metal. “I am looking for a weak point.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s metal, there’s not really a weak point.” Well, it wasn’t just metal. There was something else in it, some type of technology that allowed the flimsy chain to be as strong as welded steel, but given how little technology his people used, I didn’t think he would understand. “Where are the others? If you clear the camp, one of the Caterri will have the key.” I spoke impatiently, because really, it was the easiest and quickest solution.
N’Ashtar blinked at me, his tongue flicking out to taste the air. For a moment he looked almost uncertain, like he was a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. The expression quickly faded. “It’s just me,” he said.
I was torn between being flattered and wanting to strangle him. Of course, that got derailed when his eyes narrowed to slits and he licked the air again. I’d lied and told him the blood wasn’t mine, mostly because I didn’t know if N’Akron females got periods and I didn’t really want to go into a long explanation of what it was, because I knew N’Ashtar would demand the explanation.
There was no time for that, but he would have asked for it anyway.
It was sweet he’d come after me in the first place, especially after I had pushed him away so many times and been annoying. On the other hand, who the hell single-handedly came to save someone without backup?
N’Ashtar, apparently.
He scowled at me, the hint of his sharp teeth showing. “You do not approve?”
His frustration made me want to laugh, because really, his life was so tragic, mine didn’t even measure up. No, being at risk of being raped or killed or tortured had nothing on his man pain about coming to rescue me without backup.
“You did not wish to be rescued?” His eyes narrowed further, something I hadn’t thought possible, and the slits flashed dark with anger.
“No, I did,” I said hastily, sensing his temper building up into something both of us would regret. N’Ashtar was usually as easygoing as anyone, but this was different.
