Corsairs: Kaspar (Corsair Brothers 2) - Page 102

There's no sign of Alice anywhere.

69

ALICE

Having to pee what feels like every ten minutes really sucks when there's no place private to go. I've had to endure embarrassing moment after embarrassing moment while traveling with two men, so the moment I get the chance to squat behind a bush in private and have no one listen in? I'm all for it.

No sooner have I pulled my skirt down and crouched amidst the ferns than there’s a thump in the distant trees. I look over in time to see Sterre bounding away. A second later, a rock flies through the air, hitting a bush, and I wonder why there are rocks coming from the direction of the water.

Then, there's a hand over my mouth.

The water hits me, cold and brutal, and I realize I've been dragged under. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out—water rushes in. I think for a moment I've been grabbed by some sort of awful space-crocodile, but when we resurface a moment later, a big, brutal-looking arm raises high and flings my wadded-up skirt farther than I thought anyone could throw anything. It disappears into the scattered trees on the bank, and a moment later, I see an opalescent streak chasing after it.

Sterre. Oh no. How did she not see me get caught?

I thrash against the hand over my mouth, but it's so big it covers the lower half of my face. I claw at it, and a moment later, a second hand moves to my throat, pressing on it. Everything blurs and grows dark, even as we sink under the water again.

When I come to, I immediately vomit water. I roll onto my side, vaguely aware that I'm in the dirt, and puke my guts out. Once all the water is gone from my stomach, I heave for breath, gasping, and open my eyes. I stare at a big, gray foot. It's got four toes, unlike Kaspar's three, and is shaped more like a hoof than an actual foot. The toes flex, and I look up.

That…is not my mate.

I sit up weakly, vaguely remembering that my skirt is gone and I'm naked from the waist down. Well, no, I have waterlogged boots on, and my toes inside them feel like shriveled prunes. Water. Right. Someone snatched me off the bank and yanked me into the water. Judging by how much liquid I vomited, he dragged me back under, too.

I'm really regretting my choice of skimpy costume. I'm acutely vulnerable like this, and my new captor doesn't look friendly. I glance up at him. He's built terrifyingly thick, his skin a pale, opaque gray that reminds me of a rhino. His face is heavy, his eyes set too close together, and his top lip and nose are beaked together like a turtle. He's bald, too, and that doesn't help with the turtle impression. When he reaches for me, I notice he's got four arms, and they're all look alarmingly strong.

I scuttle backward as he grabs at me. "Who are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that?" His voice manages to sound both sonorous and nasal, like he's speaking through a stuffed nose. He squats down near me as I press backward into the nearest fern and tilts his head, studying me. "I'm out here to find the bait and bring back his head, but I have to admit, you're a sight more interesting."

The bait must be Gloom. I swallow hard, looking at my surroundings while keeping an eye on him. We're still close to the river, but I don't know where. There are more trees here, and the planet looks like it's in the same spot overhead, but that doesn't tell me much. Does it move from this vantage point? Is the moon locked? I don't know jack about astronomy so I'm useless.

I'm also in danger if he's taken me a long ways away from Kas. And…Sterre? What about Sterre?

"You should put me back," I say loudly. "If my mate doesn't catch you, my cat will eat you."

He honk-grunts, a noise I've never heard before in my life. "Your creature won't be able to find you. Their noses are easily fooled by the water, which is why we're sticking by it." His mouth stretches into an almost grin. "So you're not the human Lord Sir keeps at the compound?"

The what? There's another human? I stare up at him and his small, beady eyes, and I don't know how to answer that. If I say no, it's not me, is he going to tear me apart? If I say yes, it's me…is he going to tear me apart? "Why do you ask?"

"I think you are." He leans in, shoving that menacing turtle-like face into my personal space. "Can't be that many humans around here unless they're planning on giving out more rewards. Either way, I like my odds." He licks his lip. "That male you were with. Which glad is he? How's he getting that idiot bait to cooperate?"

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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