The leader paled a bit but his blaster didn’t fall.
The one whose gonads were in jeopardy began to gurgle something, which Riv assumed was some sort of protest to his boss.
After this, he doubted they would be friends anymore.
As the leader moved his weight from one leg to the other, Riv glanced to his side, intending to check on the female, but when he looked, his eyes fell on an empty space.
The human wasn’t there.
In alarm, his gaze scanned the area quickly to see where she’d run off to hide when he spotted her behind the male with the blaster in his hands.
“Dohnt moove muhth-er-fuhk-er.”
Chapter 17.5
Why had she thought this was going to be a simple trip?
Of course, nothing in this universe was simple. And she’d thought life on Earth had been complicated.
Moving behind Riv as slowly as possible so as not to catch the eyes of the aliens confronting them, she made her way to his other side.
Grot was snarling in the face of one of the aliens and not biting him to death, but it was obvious from the dog’s stance that one word from Riv and he would tear into the male without hesitation.
The one that was choking was still gripping Riv’s arm at his throat, trying to free himself, and the other male seemed to not think of her as a threat because he looked like he’d forgotten she existed.
Good.
Moving slowly, she slipped her mother’s watch from her wrist.
Fuck.
She had no idea what she was going to do but Riv was in trouble because of her and she had to do something.
As soon as she was in range, she spun and pressed the watch into the back of the alien’s head.
The male stiffened and Lauren swallowed hard.
“Don’t move, motherfucker.”
The alien froze.
For a few seconds, no one said anything before the slow laugh of the one she was holding up with a watch, the leader she assumed, met their ears.
He began to turn his head to look at her but she pushed the flat face of the watch into the back of his head some more.
“I said don’t move, fucking Predator, or this thing will blow your head off.”
Winging it.
She was totally winging it.
Here’s to hoping he had no idea what a watch was and that he didn’t decide to test her theory.
At the very least, she hoped she was buying Riv some time so he could think of something.
“Tell your jekin to remove whatever device she has against my cranium or I will shoot a hole in yours.”
Riv’s head turned slightly and she knew he was looking at her.
“You can’t understand her, can you?” he said after a few moments, so calmly it was as if he didn’t notice the gun at his head.
She was mildly aware that there was an audience around them and that only made this trickier. But chances were that none of them could understand her either.
And that was her advantage.
“He can’t understand you,” Riv said to her. “Pity.”
The way he said it had her frowning slightly till it dawned on her.
He was speaking in not-so-code. But she’d already been planning on using what he was hinting at to her advantage.
Hopefully, he’d play along and they could get of this shit.
“This is just a watch but you don’t know that.”
“What did she say?” The leader jerked his gun into Riv’s skull.
Riv paused before answering. “She said it’s a mini brain scrambler from her planet.”
Lauren almost choked but she caught it in time.
“It is completely useless. It can’t even tell the time anymore.”
“Translate,” the male said.
“She said it’s one of the most dangerous weapons on her home planet. It’ll fry your brain in a matter of seconds.”
The male stiffened, his eyes darting to the side as he tried to look at her without moving.
Lauren kept her face unaffected, though that was a monumental task.
“I should probably slap you with it, make it hurt you for real, just a little,” she whispered.
The male blinked and his blaster shifted a little. “What was that?”
“She said the longer she holds it, the longer your brain will fry. All she has to do is tell it to do so.”
The male shifted slightly.
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
Riv didn’t hesitate to answer. “You don’t.”
The male paled a little and after a few seconds, he lowered his blaster. Hands outstretched to his sides, he dropped the weapon.
Shit.
She hadn’t expected that to work.
As Riv released the male was who choking and the male scampered off, Grot eased off the male on the floor and turned to growl at the male before her.
Grot looked utterly terrifying.
All his teeth were bared and there was thick slobber dripping from his sharp fangs as if he was just dying for a meal.
He moved to stand beside Riv but the way the dog was standing told her that he was ready to pounce at any moment.
“I knew this watch would come in handy, but not like this.”
“What did she say now?” The male’s eyes darted backward as if he was trying to look at her without turning his head.
“She’s going to let you go now. Walk away and never phek with us again. Understand?”
The male nodded slightly.
As soon as she removed the pressure of the watch from his neck, the male hurried away with a few backward glances, almost tripping over his friends who was just rising from the ground.
Lauren watched him go, her shoulders still stiff with apprehension.
As the male moved away from the human, Riv glanced down at her to ensure she was okay.
He didn’t know why but the males irritated him to high phek.
Even more than the human did, and everything about her irritated him.
She seemed unhurt. Her eyes were still alert, though, as she kept her gaze on the retreating males.
She’d surprised him.
He had no idea if her device was indeed dangerous but her quick thinking had been impressive.
As she fixed
