Текст книги "Surviving Skarr"

Автор книги: Ruby Dixon

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Chapter Ten

VIVI

“Oh lord, they just keep going,” someone whispers.

Another person giggles, and then we hear Flor moaning. It’s nighttime, and we just crawled into the tent to sleep. It’s like the moment they were alone, Flor and I’rec were all over each other, and we get to hear everything. Every gasp, every wet slap of skin, everything.

I should be horrified that we can hear them having sex, we can hear Flor demanding that I’rec lick her harder, that we’re all hideously aware of everything they’re doing. Instead, it makes me throb between my thighs because of resonance. Even thinking about how much I loathe Skarr doesn’t make the needy pulsing go away, and that’s incredibly disturbing. Flor says that resonance will push me toward him at some point unless I get it turned off, but the turn-off is worse than the resonance.

Right now I don’t know that I believe that. Because Flor and I’rec clearly adore each other. They have no problems sharing a bed or their lives. They were friends, she said, before resonance hit.

And I’rec is nothing at all like Skarr. Skarr is like…the shittiest personality traits rolled up into one lizardguy with long, pettably soft curls.

And then I get mad at myself for thinking his curls are pettable. Ugh. I pull the blankets over my head.

“Good idea,” says Colleen, who’s at my side.

Flor starts moaning even louder, and another woman in the tent groans. “How are we supposed to sleep?”

“Maybe they’re exhibitionists,” says Sabrina, her voice cheerful even in a whisper. “We shouldn’t judge.”

“If I can hear you eating someone out, I’m going to judge,” Gabriella retorts.

“Go to sleep,” another person whispers, and things quiet down.

Maybe it’s just me, but I actually sleep pretty well that next night. We’ve got furs to block the cold from the ground, and the tent keeps out the wind. I sleep pressed between Dawn and Colleen and we share a blanket, and it reminds me of…something. I chase that something feeling all night but it never materializes into a memory.

I wake up and pull on my boots, then head for the fire. I actually really enjoy tending to the fire. It’s comforting for me, something I remember doing even when I don’t remember my own name. It’s become a bit of a game, too, to keep the coals burning bright while trying to use as little fuel as possible.

A few others are seated by the fire this early. Two of them are the guys—the human one and the big grayish-blue one that’s from a race called a “moden.” His name is Kyth, and he seems more relaxed than some of the other men—other gladiators—we were dropped here with. Sabrina is awake, too, and she’s peering into Kyth’s eye with distress.

“No glow,” she says. “Are you sure you feel all right?”

Kyth shrugs. “Just tired.”

“And you didn’t feel it fade? Or die? Or anything?” When he shakes his head, she purses her lips. “Maybe it’s hibernating.” She glances around, looking over at me. “Vivi, let me see your eyes real fast.”

I resist my natural urge to shrink away and hide from attention, because now everyone’s looking at me. But Sabrina has been nice and friendly, so I force myself to take a step forward and let her peer into my eyes.

“No, hers are still glowing just as bright as Jason’s,” Sabrina frets. “Maybe you got a faulty one, Kyth.”

“Twice now?” Jason asks.

Skarr approaches, much to my dismay, but Sabrina immediately pounces on him. “Let me see your eyes.”

“Oh, come on,” Jason says. “Even from here I can see his glowing. His khui is fine. It’s just Kyth’s that’s a problem. Mine is good. Vivian’s is good. Yours is good. It’s just Kyth’s.”

“Vivi’s khui is more than good,” Skarr immediately states. “It is clearly the best.”

My face flushes with mortification at his words and I stab at the fire, wishing the ground would suck me up. A convenient sinkhole would be nice right about now. Even worse? My khui started purring at the sight of him, but at his words it’s getting even louder, as if it approves.

“A khui is a khui,” Sabrina says, furrowing her brows at Skarr. “There’s no better or worse, I don’t think.”

“There is better,” Skarr says confidently. He moves to stand next to me and I immediately circle the fire, moving away from him. He doesn’t seem to notice, too intent on correcting Sabrina. “Her khui knew to choose me out of all males. That makes it the best. It is enhancing her already powerful and clever nature, and she is beautiful and wise. That makes her khui the best.”

God. Is he fucking with me? I don’t dare make eye contact with him in case my khui’s song really goes crazy, but the stuff he’s spouting is strange and illogical and embarrassing. I wish he’d go away.

Even as I wish that, my body pulses with heat right between my thighs. Stupid khui.

Others gather around the fire, and I’m relieved to see Flor and I’rec join us. People snicker and share smug little smiles at the sight of the loving couple, but I don’t care about their escapades last night—I’m just happy they’re drawing the heat off of me.

“How is everyone this morning?” Flor asks.

“Kyth’s khui died again,” Sabrina says immediately.

“I had a rough night of sleep,” Valmir adds in a sly voice. I didn’t even hear him come up. He stands across from me by the fire, his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his strange face. “Someone kept screaming.”

A few of the women give tired chuckles.

“Yes, well, someone was having an excellent time.” Flor isn’t ruffled by the teasing. “Kyth, let me take a look at your vitals. Everyone else feeling okay?” When no one else volunteers any aches or pains—or khui death—she nods at her mate.

“We will be breaking down the tents and heading out for the village,” I’rec tells us. “You will like the beach. It is protected from the worst of the winds and snows and there is plenty of fishing. Food is shared between all and there are many friendly faces.”

“Sharing,” Skarr mutters. “Bah.”

“Is there a problem with sharing?” Flor asks even as she holds her fingers on Kyth’s big wrist, taking his pulse.

He shrugs, his jade-green skin stark against the white furs bundled against his skin. “I would rather compete.”

“I would compete, too,” Chalath adds. He rubs his hands, and I can see wicked claws tipping his fingers. “I am ready.”

“There are no competitions,” I’rec tells them in a hard voice.

“You lie,” Skarr replies, all confidence. “You told me yourself that hunting is a competition. That we compete to get the most meat to feed the females. And then of course, there is the breeding competition.”

Breeding competition? Oh my fucking god. My head jerks up in horror. “What—?”

“Breeding competition?” another woman screeches. “No fucking way! You guys are having a competition to get us pregnant?”

Flor shakes her head. “What? No! No one’s doing that—”

“I am doing that,” Skarr replies. “My mate has been chosen by my khui. All that is left is to best her in a fierce battle and give her my son.”

I can feel people staring at me. I can also feel my mouth drawing into an expression of pure, abject horror. “That is not happening,” I say in a small voice, and when it doesn’t properly convey my anger, I say it again, louder. “That is not happening!”

“I’rec, handle this,” Flor says. “I need to check Kyth out and I can’t right now.”

I’rec grabs Skarr by the collar and drags him away from camp, no doubt for a nice “talk.” That is one way of handling it, though I suppose it’s too much to ask that he comes back wearing Skarr as a pair of boots. I breathe a sigh of relief as they leave, but everyone else is still watching me, waiting to see what I’ll do.

I do what I always do. I duck my head and escape. I head for the tent, where I decide I’ll hide out until it’s time to break it down.

The day doesn’t go as planned. Kyth is given another khui from a small rabbit-like thing, but it dies before lunch, making Flor fret. One of the tents falls over, and I help fix it up again, because Isadora and Natalie have no idea what they’re doing, and I…do? Sort of? Vague memories rush through my mind as I pull the tent together and drive stakes into the frozen ground while they watch.

“Shouldn’t you angle those?” Natalie asks me.

I shake my head. “Straight is better.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to be angled,” she replies. But she doesn’t pick up a rock to hammer them in, so she’s clearly not confident in her answer.

“What if we’re replicants, you guys?” Gabriella is saying nearby. She’s scraping furs, learning how under Flor’s tutelage. “Like in Blade Runner? They only lived for four years. What if we fall apart after four years? Because the clone pieces stop working?”

“Will you quit scaring us?” Isadora says. “We have enough to worry about.”

“I’m just saying!” She puts her hands in the air.

My insides clench with fear. What if she’s right? What if we’re discards? What if we’re flawed in some way? Is that why they ditched us? Because we’re a shitty batch of clones and we got thrown into the galactic trash?

But the conversation draws both Natalie and Isadora away. I finish hammering the stakes in and make sure the tent is taut and won’t fall over. Yasmin is there scraping furs, too, and I wonder if I should learn how to do that. Nothing in my memories has surfaced about hides or furs, so whatever past I might have had with camping, it didn’t involve skinning.

“How does the whole ‘replicant’ thing work anyhow?” Yasmin asks.

“The movie was kinda vague. Just that they were people created to do human jobs and they only lived four years and didn’t have proper emotions.” Gabriella shrugs. “But some of the replicants had emotions anyhow. Maybe that’s why we’re on this planet. Someone created us all fresh and new and realized we had emotions and just like, tossed us down here like scraps.”

I pause, running my hand over the edge of the tent, because that does sound possible.

“Wait, they made us? Fresh and new?” Yasmin looks as if she’s just now figuring out the implications of this. “Are you saying I might be a virgin?”

I look down at my hand, where the tattoo should have been, and my skin is pristine.

“I would be happy to help you with that,” Skarr says, walking up.

My jaw drops and I look up to see the lizard-alien staring down Yasmin with a challenging look.

 What the fuck? This guy gets worse by the day.

“Okay now,” Flor says. “Women are allowed to discuss sex without men propositioning them, all right?”

“I am not propositioning,” Skarr says. “I am simply letting her know I would be glad to assist with any learning needs.”

“Uh, that’s exactly what a proposition is, my dude,” Colleen retorts. “I’m not sure what planet you’re from.”

“I am not certain either,” Skarr replies, distracted. He turns and gestures in the distance. “And someone is coming.”

I’ve heard enough. I can’t believe that the guy I resonated to—not that I want him!—is already propositioning other women. What an absolute creep. I shake my head to clear it and retreat away from the campfire. I need fresh air.

No, I need to escape. I hug my leathers closer to my body and head away from camp. Not so far that it’ll be dangerous, but just far enough that I can pretend that I’m somewhere else. It’s daylight, so it should be safe. I sit on a rock and gaze up at the two moons hanging in the sky, one flirting closer to this planet than the other. Another memory pricks at my mind, and I try to follow it.

“Stars are gonna come out soon. Think you can pick out which one is the North Star?”

“No. Can you?”

Dad laughs. “Honestly? No. It’s supposed to be easy but they all look the same to me.”

And I laugh, too.

Dad.

I went camping with my dad. He’s the man I keep getting fragments of memories about. A wave of yearning hits me so strong that my eyes tear up. I wish I was back on Earth with my father right now. That he could reassure me that I’m not a flawed clone. That I’m his daughter. That I’m not on an ice planet but camping with him instead.

But…he’s not truly my father. That’s the mind-fuck of all of this. Even if I was on Earth, he wouldn’t be my dad. Is the original Vivi there? She must be. She must know her name, too. She’s probably camping with him even now, her boots stretched out by the fire, telling her dad about some creep that’s hitting on her at her new job…

“Hey, Vivi?” A voice calls into the darkness.

I brush the tears away and turn to see the speaker. It’s Natalie again. She’s followed by someone, and I’m dismayed to see that it’s Skarr.

“Come get your man,” Natalie says. “He’s grossing the rest of us out.”

Like I want anything to do with that sleaze. “He’s not mine. I don’t want him.”

There’s a masculine sound of protest and then Skarr stalks over to my side. “How can you not want me? I am the most excellent of males.” He slaps a mittened hand at his stomach. “Feel how strong I am. How lean. You will know me for the warrior I am.”

“I don’t care about your muscles. You literally just propositioned another woman for sex while I was in earshot.”

“No, I didn’t.” He looks baffled.

“I have ears! I heard you!” I gesture back at the camp. “You just hit on Yasmin!”

He tilts his head. “I did not hit her. She declined.”

I feel like I’m going crazy. This always happens when I try to have a conversation with Skarr. It doesn’t help that my pulse is humming in my veins at his nearness. That the khui’s song is moving through me, making heat and need spread across my limbs. “Skarr. I was less than ten feet away. She said she was a virgin and you said you would help her with that.”

“A virgin fighter, yes. I am pleased to spar with anyone so they can enjoy my prowess.”

He says it with such a straight face that I believe him. “It wasn’t about fighting, you twit.”

Skarr frowns. “What else would it be about?”

“Sex!” I practically bellow out the word and then wince when my voice carries across the snow. “She was talking about sex.”

His expression of confusion grows deeper. “But…I would not mate with her. I have already resonated to you, and you haven’t even let me attempt to pleasure you.” He gestures back at the camp, where Yasmin is still sitting by the fire. “If we were in the arena I would say that she cannot mate because she has not won a battle, but I’rec told me the rules are different here. Is there another set of rules I am unaware of?”

I just stare at him. I don’t even know that I can be mad. He’s clueless. Not just that, he thinks everything ties back to battle. I think about what Flor said—about how I had to be patient with him as he tries to develop a personality. I’d scoffed at her words but now I’m starting to realize the severity of the situation.

Skarr doesn’t know how to think outside of gladiator battles and fights. To him, everyone is an opponent.

And somehow I’m stuck with his crazy ass.

“The rules—” he begins.

I cut him off with a raise of my hand. “Stop talking.”

“Vivi,” he says. “Why would you think I would wish to touch another female when my khui has already led me to you? You are the best amongst these females. You are strong and clever. You—”

I cover his mouth with my fingers, because he keeps on talking, and because some small, strange part of me wants to touch him, wants to feel what his skin is like. It’s not scaly like I thought it would be. It’s warm and smooth and supple, and the scaly look is more of a pattern, except perhaps on his brows and the bridge of his nose.

His gaze flares with interest when I touch him, and his tongue slithers out to caress my fingers.

I jerk away…but I didn’t hate that. Not even a little. And that makes me even more messed up inside. “Just…just stay away from conversations about virgins, okay? When they talk about that, they’re talking about sex virgins, not battle virgins.”

“Why would I touch an inferior female when I can touch you?”

But he can’t touch me. Or can he? Because the longer I stay around him, the more resonance pulls me toward him. “I need to go,” I blurt out. “Don’t follow me back to camp.”

“What if I walk at your side—”

“Still no!”

Chapter Eleven

SKARR

This female is impossible.

I love it.

She challenges me, and there is nothing I love more than a good challenge. Of having to utilize my wits as well as my brawn in order to conquer a fierce opponent. And truly, Vivi is the fiercest of opponents. Any other female would surely be impressed by my prowess and fling herself to the ground to allow me to breed her, but not Vivi. She requires more from me. She knows she is the most worthwhile female ever, and thus I must work that much harder to win the privilege of touching her.

I smile to myself as I return to camp. Every time she tells me no, it just means I must dig deeper.

Ah, I love the hunt.

She avoids me for the rest of the day, but that is fine. I watch her furtively, noticing her movements. She ties the laces of her boots once and then wraps them around her ankle and ties them a second time. Her dominant hand is right. She sometimes squints when an object is far away. Her long mane sometimes blows free from the knot at the back of her head and bothers her, so she tucks it behind her ears.

I memorize all these details, and they all delight me.

“No breeding yet?” Valmir asks.

I shake my head. “She is still having me hunt her. It is like she knows all the things that arouse me. Truly, there is no greater female.”

“If you say so.” He seems less impressed with my mate, but he does not know her as I do, does not watch her as keenly as I do…and if he tries to watch her as keenly as I do, I shall gouge his eyes out.

Flor watches over the females closely, and I am content to stalk my female from afar. She listens intently as the female explains how to skin a kill, and watches with close attention. It is as if she wishes to learn everything about how to survive on this world, and I could not be more pleased. Vivi is smart enough to know we must have knowledge in order to thrive.

The lessons are interrupted when Kyth’s newest khui dies and a new one must be attained, this time from a larger creature. Valmir and Chalath go hunting for it, but I stay near camp, watching Vivi and enjoying the thrum in my chest that reminds me at all times that she belongs to me. My nearness bothers her, because I catch my female touching her chest and frowning, and then her gaze seeks mine.

It is hard not to smile at that, especially when she scowls in my direction. She plays a challenging game…but I like competition.

A creature called a dvisti is brought into camp and slaughtered for Kyth’s second khui of the day and the meat is butchered and roasted over the fire. Newcomers arrive—two of them—and both Flor and I’rec recognize them. One is a male that looks similar to I’rec. Like I’rec, he is strangely hairy with coloring all wrong for mesakkah. The other is another human female, this one the softest-seeming of all. I compare her to my Vivi and find her lacking. Even the clothing she wears is all wrong for stealth. Her leathers are trimmed with pink fur, as if that is a thing that occurs in nature, and she is loud and giggly. Her name is D’see or Day-see or something. I care not. What is interesting is that she is the mate of the male, O’jek, and he watches her as if he wishes to both devour her and behead anyone else that gets near her. They resonate, but their sound is subtle, like Flor and I’rec’s.

Their resonance is finished. It does not have the demanding rumble that mine does. This means O’jek knows how to lure his female into his furs with promises of pleasure. I can learn strategies from him. This is excellent.

It is decided that we will stay one more night out in the open, and then will journey back to the beach village, the Icehome, starting in the morning.

I do not care, personally, where we are—be it mountains or beach (though I have never seen a beach)—because my focus is entirely upon Vivi. Do I try to get her to challenge me this night so I can conquer her and breed her? Or do we enjoy the chasing games for a bit longer?

Choices, choices. I stroke my chin and consider.

“Are you going to stand around all day like a bump on a log, or are you actually going to help around camp?”

I turn to look at the speaker. It is Jason, the human male. He is larger than the females, but scrawny compared to my own impressive build. He is giving me a look of disgust that I will not tolerate, so I hiss at him, baring my fangs. “I am contemplating.”

His brows go up and he gives me a derisive look as he moves to stand at my side. I notice he has a satchel slung over his shoulder, and I realize he has been going around the canyon, collecting the dung cakes for fuel for the communal fire. He has not hunted like the others. I am certain he is capable in his own way, but there is no question that he cannot go toe-to-toe with myself or the other gladiators.

Again, my mind classifies him as “prize” and not “competition.” I flick a hand at him. “Go away.”

“What are you contemplating?” He forms an aggressive stance, as if he means to get in my face. “Who you’re going to attack next?”

Bah. Idiot. Does he think he is a threat? I will not even honor that with the appropriate response. “If you must know, I am contemplating how to win my female to my side. I am debating what sort of challenge will impress her.”

He turns to look at the fire, where Vivi is crouched nearby, tending to it and quietly listening in on conversation. He eyes her, and I frown at him, because he is looking at her for a very long time, and I do not like it. I give him a light shove, because he is likely delicate.

“A challenge, huh?” Jason ignores my sour mood and laughs in my face. “I don’t think that’s going to impress her, buddy. She looks like she’s shy.”

“A ruse so fools like you will let your guard down around her. Let me reassure you, she is a wily one.” I eye Vivi with pleasure, watching as her fingers brush against her ear and she pushes the lock of hair back behind it. Even now she is listening in on another conversation. Can Jason not see that she is gathering intel on the enemy? It is obvious.

“If you say so.”

I scoff at him. “As if you know anything about enticing human females.”

“Are you kidding?” He breaks into a grin. “Buddy, I’ve been around them my whole life. I’m the expert on this planet.”

That makes me pause. I eye him with new appreciation. He has been around females before? Clearly he is a clone, but whoever’s memories he has imprinted in his mind is clearly comfortable with the females. I have seen him talking and sharing blankets with several in a friendly manner. They accept him easily and show him no fear, unlike myself and the other splices. I stroke my chin again. “If that is so, then how do I win her over?”

“Well, you’ve got to show a girl you have game.”

“I have game? I have already told her we are in a breeding competition.” I gesture at the others near the fire. “She does not care that the more time we waste, the less likely…” I trail off as Jason shakes his head at me. “What?”

“No. Not a competition. Game. Like you have game.” When it is clear I do not follow, he continues. “You know, compliment a woman, make her realize you like her, that you’re into her, and then you break into a conversation.”

Is he blind? “Fool, what do you think I have been doing?”

“No, my guy, whatever you’re doing? That is the opposite of game.” His grin broadens. “You’re going around and telling everyone else that you think she’s great, that you’re the best and she’s the best. But have you told her that directly? Have you looked her in the eye and told her what you like about her? Have you made her realize that she is special to you?”

This lines up—suspiciously—with what I’rec said. “I’rec suggested a present to woo her.”

“Presents are good,” Jason agrees. “You have to show her in little ways that you like her. That you’re into her. That you want more than just sex from her.”

But…all I want is sex from her. To copulate as the khui demands. To mate and create a child.

He sees my skepticism. “Look, as a guy, I get it. You might want just sex from her, but you don’t want her to think that, understand?”

“So you wish me to win her by trickery.” This I understand.

“No, no. Man, talking to you is a mess.” He shakes his head. “I’m saying that you take the time to be her friend. Get to know her. Tell her directly the things you like about her. If you tell everyone else that you like her and you don’t say it to her, what’s she going to think?”

“She will think that I am a male that appreciates her?”

“She will think you want everyone else to think that you like her but you really don’t. Human women want to be approached directly.”

“With presents?”

“Sure, with presents.” He claps me on the shoulder. “You’re starting to get it now.”

“And if I do this, then she will yield to me?”

He winces. “I mean, not necessarily?”

I throw my hands in the air. All this information and it is useless? “Then what is the point?”

“The point is that you make her aware of your interest. You make her feel special. You talk to her. You tell her you like her. Over and over again, you do this. Over time, it’ll win her over.”

“So you are saying I chip away at her defenses until she is vulnerable, and then she lets me in.” It is a classic tactic, but one I had not thought to use upon my female. “I will give this more thought.”

And I will consider what a human female would like as a gift.