Damn the embargo! The Aurelians we’re more used to dealing with – the ones without the loincloths and tribal tattoos – have access to the highest-quality medical supplies. My human-made sealant gun has none of the numbing qualities that the Aurelian versions possess; so the treatment that might save this alien’s life causes pain akin to killing him all over again.
But it’s not like I have much of a choice. I focus the sealant gun again, aiming the sputtering beam against the rest of the wound. Through inhuman willpower alone, the injured Aurelian doesn’t put his hands out in front of the tool to stop the beam, or try to push me away. He just grits his teeth and bears the agony stoically.
That much I’m grateful for. My only other hope is that the gun continues to work long enough to seal the injury completely.
The Gods must be looking down on us. The sealant gun finally flickers and snuffs out only after the wound is completely sealed.
The gush of green blood finally stops.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. The alien looks down at his sealed wound, smiling faintly – as though this near-fatal injury had been just a minor inconvenience.
Then, incredibly, he stands.
“No! Wait!” I yell, putting my arm on the top of the alien’s shoulder to try and stop him from getting up. I might as well have been standing in front of a train. The Aurelian shrugs me off like I’m weightless - getting halfway to his feet before he finally falls back down to the ground in a heap.
I dive forward and thankfully catch the green-blood alien’s head in my hands before it can hit the hard ground. I didn’t just use up the last of my sealant gun to treat a gunshot wound, only to have him die of a concussion instead!
The alien had been courageous to try and stand – but he’s lost so much blood it’ll be a few days, or even a week, before he can stand effortlessly again.
Unless, of course, Aurelians heal faster than humans. Once again, I’m so ignorant of their physiology that I can’t even answer that question.
But even as I congratulate myself for saving this Aurelian’s life, a new horror hits me.
We may have survived the Scorp attack – but what happens when the Capital sends reinforcements and finds three of their hated Aurelian enemies here in the city?
I stare down at the passed-out Aurelian. He has a strong jawline, and close-cropped hair. No stubble frames his masculine face. He’s the most attractive man I’ve ever seen, and even while unconscious he makes my heart pound in a way I’d never thought possible.
But I don’t have time to waste with thoughts like that. I need to save the other two kids – Runner and Tyler. Even if it means going out into the battle that waits for me outside.
I swallow hard, nervous about what awaits me.
I feel safe enough in the company of these three aliens, but I know there’s no such safety outside. The huge, half-reptilian Scorp will be roaming the streets, and it’s probably suicide to try what I know I must.
But I stand up, ready to face my fate.
7
Forn
I blink groggily and open my eyes. I fainted for a moment, losing myself to darkness – but it didn’t claim me completely.
I know it should have done – by rights I should be dead right now. It was the endless abyss of the void that should have grabbed me, not the warm fogginess of mere unconsciousness.
The strange woman – my mate – has saved me by some kind of otherworldly magic. By some miracle, I’m cured. I saw how much blood I’d lost – even now I lay in a pool of it, watching it hiss and fizzle against the floor. No man should suffer a wound that spills so much of his life’s blood and still live to tell the tale of it.
Yet, somehow, this sorceress used her incredible healing powers to stop the bleeding before the last of my blood spilled out; and pulled me from the brink of oblivion.
If she can work this magic, what else is she capable of?
I know instinctively. She is the one who will heal my tribe.
The thought emerges in my brain as though it was placed there by the Orb-God Himself. It rings true in my mind, as sure as the sun rising in the morning. I need to bring this beautiful woman back to my planet and take her into our tribe’s cave; to heal the masses of sick Aurelians, their female mates, and our vulnerable children.
I look down at the wound on my chest, which is but now merely a scar. The room spins around me but I breathe in deeply and taste my mate’s scent. She smells right. Just breathing her in makes me feel stronger.
A shiver travels the length of my spin. Even more than that – she’s untouched. A virgin. I can sense it – and I know that I will be the one to claim her innocence.
The gorgeous virgin has seen that I’m conscious, and she seems surprised – astonished, perhaps. She clearly has no understanding of how resilient our Scorp-blooded warriors are.
The beautiful female reaches out a hand, and I take it. Her eyes widen ever so slightly at the touch of my skin against hers.
Her hand is calloused – the roughness of a woman unafraid of hard work. She’s clearly been left to take care of herself on this planet. I ache to take her with me, back to our world, where she’ll never have to work again. There she can bathe in the cool, clear streams and I can rub soft-grass pulp over every inch of her delicate body. I know I could stare into those gorgeous blue eyes of hers for hours or even days.
I clamber to my feet and
