Corsairs: Kaspar (Corsair Brothers 2) - Page 103

Well, he might like his odds, but I am definitely not liking mine. He thinks Kas is a rival gladiator and…I'm the Cracker Jack prize? I guess? If I say Kas isn't a gladiator, is he going to go back and kill him? The thought makes me panic. "I don't know his name," I say. "Just that he wants me to call him Killer. Are you taking me back to the compound?"

"Maybe. Maybe after I get tired of you." He reaches out to touch one of the knotted buns atop my head, one of his heavy (many) hands snagging on the strands of tangled hair. "I've never been near a human before. This is gonna be…entertaining."

We should have never left the tree-ship.

70

KASPAR

Sterre's tortured howls echo how I feel inside as we tear through the jungle, looking for signs of Alice.

She's nowhere. Other than the scrap of her skirt that Sterre won't let go of, there's no sign of her. She's just vanished. Sterre circles wildly, her nose to the ground, looking for hints of Alice's trail, but she can't find anything. The carinoux pauses by some rocks, but…they’re just rocks. They’re not going to show us the way to Alice. So Sterre howls mournfully again, circles around, and howls even more.

I know how she feels. I'm losing my keffing mind.

My Sunshine.

Something's happened to my Sunshine.

She trusted me to keep her safe. She's been so tough all this time, so scrappy and fierce, and I've let her become endangered. She trusted me and I've failed her.

I drop to my knees in the soil, hating myself. My lungs feel like they're dying on me all over again. I can't breathe deep. Can't pull in enough air. Breathe, I can practically hear her say, but I don't want to. I don't want to do anything without her. I need her.

I dig clawed fingers in the dirt. Did one of the keffing beetles get her? Was there a pit I somehow missed? Did she fall into the water and drown? Did another carinoux find her and decide she was a snack instead of a friend?

"Still no sign of her, huh?" Gloom asks as he comes up on me, his tone careful. "Should we…go on without her?"

I turn and snarl at him like a wild animal.

He raises his hands in the air. "Just asking. Just asking. I mean…the whole goal was to get away, right? But you've been going in the wrong direction for a bit now trying to find her, and I was…ah…just curious." He scratches his head and his ridiculous hair stands up. "I mean, I know she's cute, but I bet you can get another human if you fight well—"

I jump to my feet, ready to choke him. Ready to destroy him for running his stupid, foolish mouth. I grab him by the straps of the pack he has slung on his back and bare my teeth at him. Let him say one more thing. Let him act like Alice doesn't matter and…

…and then what? Fighting with Gloom won't bring Alice back. I need to focus. I clench my jaw and release him, even though the adrenaline pumping through my body is demanding that I hit SOMEONE. "She's not a prize, you idiot."

"But…she's human?" He says this like it explains everything.

"She's not a prize. She's my mate." I grit the words out, glaring at him. "And I'm not a gladiator. I'm a keffing corsair. We're stranded on this planet, and I'm not leaving without her, understand?"

"Oh." Gloom blinks. "She's your mate? Well, of course we have to find her, then." He crosses his arms over his chest. "What are our options?"

I run a hand down my face, my thoughts raging even as exhaustion threatens to overwhelm my senses. When was the last time I slept? When was the last time I drew a deep breath? What if my lungs give out just when Alice needs me most? I touch my pocket, but my data pad isn't there. It's in one of the packs, because it's dead.

Dead. I don't like that word. Alice isn't dead. She can't be. I grind a palm against my brow and cast another look at the dirt, hoping for a missed footprint, a scrap of clothing, something. All the while, Sterre frantically runs in between the trees, looking for a scent.

But there's no scent. There's no scent anywhere.

How does my mate disappear without leaving a scent? "I don't know what our options are," I say roughly. "I don't know enough about this keffing planet. I know blaster fights and how to win in a bar fight. I don't know anything about jungles."

Gloom puts his hands on his hips, watching Sterre. "Yeah, I'm not much help either. I can tell you which glads to avoid, and which ones are the most dangerous, but other than that, I'm not much help out here in the woods either."

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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