Page 32 of Gemini
“You are not welcome here,” I said.
“Wh-what? I-I don’t understand, I—what do youwant?” His arm moved in a circle in front of him, thebrooch in his hand almost stabbing itself in my chest. “Stay back!” he yelled.
Like Wendy, his translator must not be updated with our language. I did not care. It was not an obstacle to me killing him.
My hand found his throat and I squeezed, relishing on the sight of his face turning purple and his eyes bulging. On the feeling of his blood pumping in his veins. On the air being stuck in his lungs.
So much that I did not notice the device in his hand. Did notseehim press on it before it was too late and the shuttle exploded.
I stood through the pain and ripped the debris stabbing my skin with a groan. Fire. There was fireeverywhere. So much light that I struggled to see.
I stumbled away, trying to find some darkness in the forest when a pained moan caught my ear.
Alessio.
The bastard survived his own cowardice.
I followed the delectable sounds of pain. The smell of burnt skin that was not my own.
There he was, crawling on the floor, his legs broken and bloody.
“What did you even try to do?” I mumbled as I took a hold of his ankle and pulled.
He screamed, half in pain, half in terror as he rolled onto his back and stared at my dark eyes. His blond hair was now brown, matted with mud and blood. His strange clothes shredded and covered with dirt and burnt holes.
“Wh-what do you want?” he yelled.
Right.He did not understand me. Why was Wendy so terrified of this man? Hesoiledhimself before I even grabbed him. Was so terrified that he had chosen to go up in flames rather than let me kill him.
I pulled a sharp shard of their shuttle that had lodged itself in my thigh and pushed it through his chest, ignoring the blood gushing from my wound. I pushed it deep enough that it dug into the earth at his back. Only when his eyes turned empty did I step back, stumbling on my feet, head dizzy.
The fire behind burned hotter.Shit. We needed to take care of that before it spread too wide. Maybe the brightness already alerted other night Gemins patrolling around…
After a couple of steps, I fell to my knees, groaning in pain from various wounds and burns on my body. This damn…scrawnyman had blown up his own fucking flying vessel. I never would have guessed he wasthismad.
My parents’ hive was too far. I was losing too much blood and my head was still ringing from the damn explosion.
I looked over my shoulder, considering the other option.
Shit. Ireallydid not want to do this. But I had no fucking choice.
“Nitochi?” John—the human scientist also known as myuncle—said as he opened the door before I could even knock. “What’s going on? Do you have something to do with the explosion and the fire?” I narrowed my eyes, looking at him. Full exploration gear. He was getting ready to head out and deal with the damages. “Dearheavens…Are you okay?”
His bag fell to the ground with a soft thud and he slid his arm under my shoulders. “A human decided to blow up his own shuttle rather than facing me,” I grumbled as he led me inside his home. “He is dead now.”
John paled. “Dead?”
“Yes,dead. He was here to take Wendy away. She was scared of this man.”
He nodded absentmindedly and helped me sit on a cushioned seat. “Dear god, your mother will have a fit…”
“You do not have to—”
“John?”Shit.
My aunt stepped out of their bedroom and froze at the sight of me. “Nitochi?”Double shit.“What has happened?” she asked and kneeled in front of me. “Was he touched by whatever exploded?” She turned to John. Herhusband.
“Please do not tellAnyi…” I pleaded. “She will make a scene and worry for nothing. I’m—”
