Wednesday Briefs: Ancalagon Ch. 120

 

A blaring alarm woke me, but Garjah was already up and out of our makeshift bed. He had a weapon in two of his hands, and he was manipulating the comms with his other ones. My body screamed at me from laying in such an awkward position, but I’d spent enough time living rough to know that moving was the only way to ease the stiffness.

“What is it?”

“Movement.”

“An animal?” It was probably unlikely in the city, but what did I know? I still hadn’t had the chance to study the plants or animals nearly as much as I wanted to.

“No, this is way too much movement. Plus, they’re trying to be sneaky.” He pointed to the triggered security alarms he’d wired up, the beams basically impossible to detect based on how fine they were  unless you were looking directly down the beam itself. “I did not train these males.”

I’d thought he was paranoid, making us still hide here and keep watch from a distance, but it looked like not even having Galactic negotiators would keep the Kardoval from trying to wrest back power. I recognized the glint of weapons in the hands of the stills he’d captured.

“What do we do?” My heart began to pound, and I didn’t even notice that Bouncer had woken up when I’d gotten out of the bed until he nosed his way under my lower hand and leaned against my hip. I rubbed his head and neck, letting his rumble distract me from the shakes that wanted to turn me into a quaking mess of terror instead.

There were at least five different officers converging on us based on the comm screens. “Close the trap,” Garjah said.

“Trap?” I stared at him dumbfounded. “You mean to say we’ve stayed out here, hiding like this, because you’ve been using us as bait?”

“Of course. It was the safest choice, and the quickest way I could think to draw out the Kardoval. Their arrogance would allow them to believe that I am afraid of them and their men, that I would fear something happening to you.” He turned to me. “I will never let that happen again.”

“You’re amazing.” He started to smile before I continued. “Amazingly infurirating! Stars!” I growled, literally growled, and Bouncer echoed me. “How about you let me decide when I want to act as bait, and not make all the decisions for us both! I rescued you last time, remember?” He would not start ignoring me when he made plans again and shove me into a bubble because I was not one of his officers and we still didn’t know quite how much my new body could handle. “I will not—”

A new alarm interrupted my tirade. Okay, maybe now wasn’t the time for it. I turned to the comm system. “What’s that?”

“Exterior perimeter has picked up the transport with our backup. They’ll be here before those five can reach the building.”

“They better be.” I stalked off, still angry at him.

 

I used the time wisely, wiping the sleep off my face and body and changing. There were shouts outside, sounds of weapons fire, and I crouched down in the corner with Bouncer in front of me, holding him close so he couldn’t try to run out. He vibrated with tension but as soon as Garjah answered a hail at the door of the shed that was apparently some sort of signal, we were both able to relax.

“Sneaky alien with his traps and setting up elaborate ruses and… wait! I thought you said this place was unknown and safe,” I said. Garjah was busy dismantling the equipment.

“It was. But we were followed, so I knew they’d find us. Now we can find them.”

“You think those men know where the Kardoval are?”

“I do,” he said. “They’ve no one else left, we’ve either captured all their other officers or they’ve joined us instead. Their bolt holes have been raided, one after the other. These officers will know where they are.”

Garjah’s confidence in their knowledge and his ability to get it from them baffled me. “Why would they tell you? They came here to kill you.”

“Maybe.” He tilted his head to one side. “But I can only imprison them. They know this. You and Bouncer on the other hand….”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, I’m playing the savage alien with the dangerous bonded beast again?” I glanced down at Bouncer who was yawing, reminding me our night had been interrupted. “So ferocious.” Well, the sight of all those sharp teeth probably would scare the piss out of them.

“Don’t forget his poison. Excruciating and painfully slow way to die. No cure, you know.” Garjah was evil. Not because he wanted to bring his people into the Galactic and open their planet, but because he was just purely evil when he got that twinkle in his eye.

“Fine, we’ll do it. You ready now? Because frankly, I want hot water, food, and a real bed.” At his nod, I scritched Bouncer behind his ear, prompting him to tilt his head and look up at him. “Ready for some fun?” I asked him.

Strangely, I would swear he had the same glint in his eyes that Garjah had. Bursting out of the shed, we went after the nearest officer who was being held on his knees. “You came to kill me?” I shouted dramatically. “We will kill you right now!” I snapped my fingers my fingers and pointed. “Go!”

True to his name, Bouncer leapt at the man, bowling him over and landing with his front claws out on either side of his face, his heavy body straddling and pinning him down onto the ground. He snarled dramatically, baring his fangs. I never would have expected such a large man to have a high-pitched scream, and the shouts from the other captive officers added to the chaos.

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Julie Lynn Hayes