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“Shhh…. calm down.” I attempted to soothe Nebula. Agitated, she pranced around my head. With my knives trapped under my buried legs, I needed Tuga’s help to get out of this mess.
Nebula burst away from me. A heartbeat later, a wailing death cry rang through the cavern, trailing into a blissful silence. The back of my neck relaxed into the humid moss floor. Tuga had shot true.
Tuga, blood dripping from his forehead ridge, strolled toward me with a giant grin plastered on his face. “Napping on the job again? No wonder they sent you away.” He brushed his hands together as if wiping off the crumbs from a sandwich. “You might need this.” Tuga pulled a long knife from a scabbard on his hip, but it slipped through my fingers when he passed it to me.
“I owe you my life, old friend.”
“And you may be the most pathetic thing I’ve ever witnessed.” Tuga grinned as he picked up the knife and carved deep into the hellsna beside my right knee.
My legs dripped with the gore from the dead worm’s innards. My stomach heaved, and I turned my head to the side and vomited, then gathered a breath. “How’s that for pathetic?”
Tuga chuckled before winding his hands through my armpits and tugging me backward. “Who would’ve thought the lead of the elite guard couldn’t handle a little blood and guts?”
I took one breath, then another, and rose on shaky legs. RitRat scurried away as I leaned my weight on Tuga and embraced him. “I know one thing for certain.”
Tuga’s forehead ridge furrowed, and he dipped his head. “What’s that?”
Drunk on victory, I smiled. With Tuga as my crutch, I leaned into my friend. “I can’t wait to wipe the smirk off Devile’s lips when he takes a look at us alive and kicking.”
Tuga patted my forearm. “You got that right. Let’s get the blant out of this wormhole.”
Afternoon light spilled from the entrance, and I took a moment to lift my chin toward it. When I turned my wristportback on to report to Sisip and check on Ginger, my elation switched to alarm. A distressing number of notifications were pinging through.
26
Cocooned in JayJay’s arms,I slowly stirred awake. Today was the day he and Tuga faced the hellsna, and I needed to put on a brave face. I traced the leaves tattooed on my wrists, surprised to find no tenderness. JayJay’s soft breaths ruffled my hair, and despite my anxiety, I sank into his warm embrace, reveling in the waves of love and contentment washing through me. I’d never felt a connection like this with anyone—as if I’d been rebuilt into something stronger, something bigger than life, something more real.
From the corner of my eye, I watched my wristport vibrate off the sewing table and plop into the sea-colored moss below.Likely just a reminder to take my medicine, but now that I was awake, I could no longer deny the pressure in my bladder. JayJay looked more peaceful than I’d ever seen him as I wriggled free of his hold.
Scooping up my wristport, I groaned at the early hour, then grabbed a change of clothes and a towel. I’d have plenty of time to return to JayJay before he left to face the hellsna. Inch by inch, I eased the door open before hopping off the ledge. A lightness in my joints I’d thought lost forever brought a smile to my lips. A perma-grin plastered my face as I walked the quiet path to the shower room. Someone had left a recorded message.
“This message is for Ginger Ellis in regard to the Global Design Guild’s World’s Best Designer Championship. We received your initial acceptance, however, we have not received the portfolio of the work you will be presenting. The deadline has now passed. Please return my call at your earliest convenience to explain, and an extension may be considered. If no further contact is made, the Global Design Guild will consider that your withdrawal from the competition. Kindest regards, Deidre Hall, Global Design Guild Director.”
Vines had already woven through the walls of the temporary washroom, and I rested my forehead on the leafy door. Tears blurred my vision as the reality of losing my chance to compete with the best of the best tore into me with fresh vigor. Then, fumbling with my wristport, I found one of the many emails I’d missed while preoccupied with nursing JayJay. I typed back a quick message.
‘Thank you for your consideration. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I can no longer compete.’
Then, even though I’d thought I’d come to grips with not participating, I sat on the toilet and sobbed. Giving up your dreams sucked. As a final tear crawled down my cheek, I promised myself it would be the last. There were plenty of designchallenges here. This was only a fork in the road, not the death of a dream.
While in the shower, I visualized a new life. A much fuller life. One where I balanced a career with a giant, gray-skinned Rock Dweller. One where I was healthy.
The door next to mine snapped shut, and my eyes jumped to my wrist to check the time. Shit! JayJay would be getting ready to go. I bundled my dirty things in my towel and unlatched the door.
A thick gray arm reached through the gap, stopping me in my tracks. Before I could scream, Devile, eyes glowing with menace, had muzzled me with a wide stretch of tape. A bolt of fear raced through my veins, and my breaths grew short and fast through my flared nostrils. But when Devile lifted my wrist to his mouth and traced a linnea leaf with the point of his tongue, fear turned to rage.
With as much momentum as I could gather, I stepped back, threw all my strength into my leg and kicked him where it counted. My toes ached in my pointed boots, but the shock on his face was worth the pain. I ran past his hunched form as he cradled his dick, and I clawed at the tape over my lips.
“Not so soon, pretty female.” He grabbed me by my wet hair, twisting my head until I fell to my knees.
Damn it! Why did I pick today to wake up early and have a shower? Pain seared my skull, and my heart hammered as I struggled with the tape, the need to scream clawing at my heart.
“I see I need to teach you to play nice,” he hissed, binding my wrists with some type of lock, leaving me at his mercy.
I dug my heels into the moss as Devile towered over me, forcing my stubborn feet farther into the enormous cavern with each wrench of my hair. He may have been small for a Rock Dweller, but he’d still overpowered me in seconds.
“Inmate 141. How could you have chosen him?” His eyes rolled, the whites showing like a rabid dog. “You’ve wasted your precious gift on that dishonorable Rock Dweller.”
My arms burned, bound behind my back with zip tie-like enclosures. Each jolt abraded the tender skin. “You’re the only dishonorable one here,” I screamed through the tape.
