didn’t trust his answer.
And she would be careful in future about her questions. Obviously, their technology was a sore point. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t keep her eyes and ears open and take a few things with her when she got away from him.
Her heart lurched. What if he didn’t take her to Natalie at all? She had to be at the cave to assess the situation. To see if Natalie needed help. Another thought occurred to her.
“Why are you interested in the reverend?” she asked.
They slowed down and she got a funny feeling in her stomach when they lost altitude. Where would he take her?
“He is in our territory.”
For a moment she didn’t know what he was talking about. Then chills settled over her soul. She’d heard those words before and sworn never to live within such a hierarchy again. Turf wars had killed three of her cousins. Her uncle had done the most vicious acts to other human beings for simply entering his territory.
“Please let me go. Allow me to take Natalie and just go. We won’t tell anyone about you.”
The craft slowed and the hollow sensation in her stomach told her they were landing. They set down so softly she almost didn’t realize they’d stopped. “Please, let us go.”
“Quiet.” He got up, opened the hatch, and lifted her with no visible effort.
“Not too round to lug around, huh?” she muttered.
He ignored her and, still carrying her with that gentleness so at odds with his harsh way of speaking, stepped out and onto the mountain.
“Where are we?” she asked the alien and looked around.
They’d landed on the mountain but she didn’t know where they were in relation to the town.
“Your new home,” he said and she knew her life would never be the same again.
Chapter 9
He jumped effortlessly over a fallen log. Julia moaned as her wound throbbed. A strange medicinal fruit smell, mixed with dust, assaulted her nose while sparse pine trees sped past her blurry vision. Probably planted by Natalie.
“Are we on Natalie’s mountain?” Julia asked and tried to lift her head from his shoulder.
She was a city person and all mountains looked the same to her. No landmarks caught her eye. Where was he taking her? How would she get back here if nothing seemed familiar? God, she hoped he hadn’t taken her to the mountains near Denver. She’d be a sitting duck.
He grunted something. The ship simmered and disappeared. She almost cried in frustration. What good would it do if she did manage to get away? An invisible spaceship might be her only way off the mountain. She’d figure out how to fly that thing even if she had to read the manual every step of the way. Her head swam, her wound throbbed, everything around her tilted until it seemed to her hazy mind as if the mountain was trying to shrug them off. She closed her eyes and instinctively counted his steps.
One of the first things her parents had taught her was to count and keep track of turns if she was ever kidnapped. This might not be the kind of kidnapping her family had feared, but she was still being taken to a strange place against her will. The ache in her shoulder intensified until her whole body cringed in pain with every step he took.
Julia forced her eyes open and tried to find a landmark that would orient her if she managed to backtrack their steps. More trees and a big rock were in front of them. Still counting, she peered at it then groaned and laid her head back on his shoulder.
He shook her softly, almost a comforting motion. She moaned again. “That hurts, jackass.”
“Zurian, not Jackass.”
“Whatever. Just don’t shake me again.”
She settled against this shoulder and frowned at the rock. It was getting a lot bigger the closer they got to it.
When they got almost up to it, she saw that it was made of some kind of metal. Treated to reflect the color of its environment, it blended perfectly with the landscape. It blurred into the background so effortlessly, she had to blink
And she would be careful in future about her questions. Obviously, their technology was a sore point. Which didn’t mean she couldn’t keep her eyes and ears open and take a few things with her when she got away from him.
Her heart lurched. What if he didn’t take her to Natalie at all? She had to be at the cave to assess the situation. To see if Natalie needed help. Another thought occurred to her.
“Why are you interested in the reverend?” she asked.
They slowed down and she got a funny feeling in her stomach when they lost altitude. Where would he take her?
“He is in our territory.”
For a moment she didn’t know what he was talking about. Then chills settled over her soul. She’d heard those words before and sworn never to live within such a hierarchy again. Turf wars had killed three of her cousins. Her uncle had done the most vicious acts to other human beings for simply entering his territory.
“Please let me go. Allow me to take Natalie and just go. We won’t tell anyone about you.”
The craft slowed and the hollow sensation in her stomach told her they were landing. They set down so softly she almost didn’t realize they’d stopped. “Please, let us go.”
“Quiet.” He got up, opened the hatch, and lifted her with no visible effort.
“Not too round to lug around, huh?” she muttered.
He ignored her and, still carrying her with that gentleness so at odds with his harsh way of speaking, stepped out and onto the mountain.
“Where are we?” she asked the alien and looked around.
They’d landed on the mountain but she didn’t know where they were in relation to the town.
“Your new home,” he said and she knew her life would never be the same again.
Chapter 9
He jumped effortlessly over a fallen log. Julia moaned as her wound throbbed. A strange medicinal fruit smell, mixed with dust, assaulted her nose while sparse pine trees sped past her blurry vision. Probably planted by Natalie.
“Are we on Natalie’s mountain?” Julia asked and tried to lift her head from his shoulder.
She was a city person and all mountains looked the same to her. No landmarks caught her eye. Where was he taking her? How would she get back here if nothing seemed familiar? God, she hoped he hadn’t taken her to the mountains near Denver. She’d be a sitting duck.
He grunted something. The ship simmered and disappeared. She almost cried in frustration. What good would it do if she did manage to get away? An invisible spaceship might be her only way off the mountain. She’d figure out how to fly that thing even if she had to read the manual every step of the way. Her head swam, her wound throbbed, everything around her tilted until it seemed to her hazy mind as if the mountain was trying to shrug them off. She closed her eyes and instinctively counted his steps.
One of the first things her parents had taught her was to count and keep track of turns if she was ever kidnapped. This might not be the kind of kidnapping her family had feared, but she was still being taken to a strange place against her will. The ache in her shoulder intensified until her whole body cringed in pain with every step he took.
Julia forced her eyes open and tried to find a landmark that would orient her if she managed to backtrack their steps. More trees and a big rock were in front of them. Still counting, she peered at it then groaned and laid her head back on his shoulder.
He shook her softly, almost a comforting motion. She moaned again. “That hurts, jackass.”
“Zurian, not Jackass.”
“Whatever. Just don’t shake me again.”
She settled against this shoulder and frowned at the rock. It was getting a lot bigger the closer they got to it.
When they got almost up to it, she saw that it was made of some kind of metal. Treated to reflect the color of its environment, it blended perfectly with the landscape. It blurred into the background so effortlessly, she had to blink
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