Bay's Mercenary [Unearthly World Book 1] (5 page)

While they walked,
Blu’s
eyes
glowed
a brighter
red, and he was watchful of something. Bay caught a whiff of something
unpleasant, a terrible odor not unlike a dead fish left to rot in the sun. At
one point, he stopped and dragged her up under an arm and growled into the
mist.
Blu’s
muscles bulged larger; his teeth, that
once looked normal, appeared twice as big as their regular size, filling the
space that separated the teeth and becoming sharp as tiny daggers. The fine
black fingernails on his hands also grew to about three inches long and ended
in razor sharp points. Bay could have sworn he grew in height as well. The
wrinkles on his hard flesh stretched taut, making him appear well over seven
feet in height. He looked horrifying, and Bay would have screamed if she hadn’t
known he meant her no harm.
Blu
seemed to be
protecting her—from what, Bay had no clue.

Blu
seemed to concentrate hard, and
swirling smoke turned to fire as his gaze intensified into the jungle. Bay
heard a screech, caught sight of a tiny flame and heard an angry snort as the
fire suddenly went out. Bay looked up at
Blu
; his red
eyes not only glowed fire, but seemed to
be
fire.

Whatever had been
in the woods backed away; Bay had seen the vegetation rustle but saw no sign of
what it was. Obviously, it wasn’t interested in more of a confrontation—or
figured she wasn’t worth the risk of battle. Once the danger had passed,
Blu
took a deep breath and his features returned to normal.
Bay breathed a sigh of relief, but from that point,
Blu
kept her in his arms, pressed to his chest, maintaining the fiercest
expression. His huge hands stroked her skin to calm her and he crooned to her.

Bay’s attention
was drawn from her thoughts to a child who was close to her size. The boy of
their species—
Zargonnii
from what she interpreted—was
cute and shy. He gazed at her with a look she wasn’t certain she could decipher.
Curiously, Bay looked around but could see no mother; perhaps she was in a
different room. Bay had yet to see any female of their species, perhaps they
were skittish.

The structure Bay
was in was interesting. The same dismal foliage surrounded the outside of the
building. Inside, it was brighter, homier. There were over-large, stuffed
pieces of
furniture,
white furred carpeting on the
floors, and a window looked out over a backyard with a very high, solid-looking
black fence. The same white carpeting covered the walls and ceiling like one
giant pelt.

There were
different items placed strategically around the room; some looked out of place
and Bay wondered if this
Zargonnii
male was a
collector. She had yet to determine what occupation
Blu
was in. She guessed him to be a type of warrior, but while she had been aboard
the space vessel, there had been no fighting she was aware of. If
Blu
was a warrior, he never showed that side to her; he was
very gentle when he touched her. Irritatingly, both
Blu
and Finn had continued to wash her like a pet. When Bay tried to take the soap
or push their hands away, they were too persistent, and since they weren’t
hurting her, she gave up.

The two large
creatures continued to shout at one another—they seemed to be arguing about
her.
Blu
was waving his hands in exasperation and
finally headed towards the door and motioned her to follow, calling her name.
Bay rose immediately. She wanted no part of the angry-looking
Zargonnii
creature. He was a tad smaller than
Blu
but massive nonetheless and frightening. The male child
cried out and both men turned to look at him. He pointed at Bay and went to his
father, obviously pleading his case.
Blu
looked smug
and the other male creature, Zane,
Blu
had called
him, looked none too happy.

The creature,
Zane, looked at Bay, then into his son’s hopeful expression; he finally nodded,
and with a growl, looked up at the ceiling. The child whooped in delight.
Blu
left; the door closed behind him with a loud bang
before Bay had time to react. Bay screeched and went flying towards the door.
Blu
took care of her, why was he leaving her here? Where
was he going? She had been positive he would return her to Finn.

“
Blu
?” she cried out in her agonized voice, as she had yet
to heal. “
Blu
wait.” She pounded on the door.

Bay hammered her
fists against the hard wooden surface until they hurt; the double doors were
fifteen feet high and a foot thick. She howled for
Blu
to come back until she was hoarse.
Blu
took care of
her; he fed her and kept her warm. What if this new being was like the
Tonan
, what if he hurt her? Why did
Blu
abandon her? What had she done? Bay sobbed in dismay; she sank slowly to the
ground calling for
Blu
, for Finn. What had just
happened? Her entire world was torn apart. New creatures stood near her; they
weren’t familiar, and she didn’t know them. She felt so alone; once more she
had been abandoned, betrayed and handed off to another like some unwanted pet.

Bay continued to
sob and felt a small hand touch her shoulder. The boy
Zargonnii
held up a funny-looking stuffed creature that had seen better days. His fuzzy
hand stroked clumsily at her hair, and for a second, Bay had an overwhelming
urge to just shove him away. She realized he was trying to make her feel better
by giving her a toy—no doubt it had belonged to his last pet. Bay could have
howled her misery.
Doomed to spend her life as a child’s pet.
The only thing she could do was
wait
until her throat
healed enough to make someone listen, and learn as many new words as she could
during that time.

The boy continued
to shake the stuffed creature at her until his father called him back. The boy
moaned, walked to the far corner of the room and tossed the toy onto the black
mattress. After a woeful look in Bay’s direction, he made his way into one of
the other rooms. Bay stayed pressed tight to the door as the father approached
her. It was easy to see he wasn’t happy with the situation, but when he
squatted before her, his tone was calm.

Zane looked
similar to
Blu
, but there were definite differences
in their facial features, enough to tell them apart. Zane’s cheekbones were
higher and more prominent; his nose was a bit smaller. He had full, light
bluish lips and Bay could see the purest white of his teeth with their odd
spaces. A single white eyebrow stretched across both sides of his face, down
his relatively bare neck to his furry shoulders and the top of his back. Since
Bay had become used to these creatures, they weren’t nearly as frightening as
she once thought they were.

His crooning tone
was genuine and he studied her. Large hands turned her face in his palms, and
his thumb rubbed across her cheek; he wiped the moisture from her face. From
experience, Bay knew tears weren’t an oddity to the
Zargonnii
.
Perhaps they even understood it was an expression of sadness. Zane threaded his
fingers through her long hair and Bay knew her soft tresses were a curiosity to
these beings. The creature’s hair flowed to his lower back, but was thick and
somewhat coarse like the fur on his body. When a breeze caught
Zargonnii
hair, it ruffled with its fullness as though the
strands came to life, giving the
Zargonnii
a surreal
look, it was intimidating, no doubt a tactical weapon of sorts—to creep your
opponent out. There was no breeze in the home she had been taken to, and Zane’s
mane-like hair was thicker than
Blu’s
had been. It
lay full but flat against his broad back.

At one time, when
Finn was touching her, Bay had reached to stroke the oval bare spot on his
belly; Finn had been a bit surprised, but he didn’t stop her. The skin on these
creatures was incredibly hard and wrinkled in a fine line. Where a human man
would have a six pack, these males seemed to have a ten pack. Bay understood
why, after seeing
Blu
grow bigger and the skin expand
to accommodate him. Just from touch, Bay had determined there wasn’t much that
could penetrate a
Zargonnii
male warrior’s flesh.
Zane examined her teeth, and Bay knew better than to bite—she didn’t want to be
struck on the nose again. Many warriors on the ship had come to curiously gawk
at her, but Finn and
Blu
didn’t let them touch her.

When Zane touched
one of her breasts over the material she wore, Bay squealed in protest and
slunk back. Zane raised his hands in supplication; even pets had areas that
were off limits. He fingered her clothes, frowning, and ran his hand down a
bare leg; he examined her clear toenails. Her foot looked tiny in his huge
hand. Bay suddenly knew how a horse up for auction felt. Finally satisfied,
Zane scooped her up and placed her back onto the black mattress. After a quick
search around the room, he picked up a small blanket and draped it over her. He
motioned for her to stay, and with a shake of his head, he left her alone.

Bay pulled the
blanket snuggly around her. The room she was in was large, high ceilings
stretched to about twenty feet; it was quiet…lonely. Though these creatures had
managed space flight, and she thought them to be intelligent, she wondered at
the primitive—lair. The home was like a den; from outside, it looked
deceptively small.
Blu
had carried her from outside,
down into a darker room; his eyes had grown brighter. Once through the darker room,
they walked up into the open door—it was apparent Zane had been waiting for
them. Zane had smiled at
Blu
before scowling at Bay.

The way
Blu’s
body had tensed when they entered Zane’s home, Bay
could tell there was a problem even as he plopped her onto the black mattress.
Now, looking around, Bay couldn’t help but notice the quiet. On the ship there
had always been noise: the males laughing, the engines humming,
Blu’s
crooning. Finn had kept her close as had
Blu
. One of them had always been in sight. She didn’t like
being so alone. Bay rose and made her way to where the boy
Zargonnii
had disappeared. He seemed nice; it wasn’t his fault she was in this mess. She
found him sitting on a bed scowling over a piece of paper—homework, no doubt.

Bay waited, feeling
anxious, at the foot of his bed. He noticed her immediately, smiled and
encouraged her near him. The child was a miniature version of his father—but
his appearance was cute, not frightening. Bay climbed onto the bed beside him,
looked at his work and frowned. The odd patterns were the same and it became
apparent he was supposed to be repeating different themes. It was simple,
really, once you recognized the shapes; Bay didn’t think the child lacked
intelligence. She studied him carefully; he was younger than she had first
thought. He was so big she just assumed he was a pre-teen
Zargonnii
,
but staring at his frown and gazing at the toys in the room, Bay had the
feeling he was closer to a six-year-old in age.

Bay took his thick
pencil and filled in a space, completing a pattern. The child looked at her in
wonder, and Bay pressed two fingers to her lips to ask him to stay quiet. She
needed to speak before she would be accepted as intelligent. She also needed to
find out what type of male Zane was. Would he be kind to her? If not, she
needed to escape, and if he knew she was intelligent, he would be watching her.

Bay smiled at the
boy. “Bay,” she whispered and pointed at her chest.

“
Draven
,” he replied and looked delighted. Once more Bay
pressed her fingers to her lips. The child nodded conspiratorially.

* * * *

Zane glanced in
the vacant corner where their new pet should be sitting.
Damn.
It was gone. He hoped it hadn’t slunk off to do its business
in a dark corner. He should have turned it off, but for the life of him, he
couldn’t find a switch as he examined her tiny body. Zane hurried to
Draven’s
room;
Blu
had said the
creature was harmless, but it hadn’t been exposed to children. She may have
looked harmless, but Zane knew a pet could suddenly turn psycho if provoked.
The little female disliked her breasts touched—he would have to mention that to
Draven
; he would need to be respectful.

When Zane entered
his son’s room, he was surprised to see his son absorbed in the homework he
normally detested and the female pet was sitting quietly beside him looking for
all the
world like she was interested in what he was doing—her
eyes seemed to scan over the pages
Draven
flipped—
weird
. A
toffling
would have downed half the paper by now, therefore giving
Draven
an excuse for the teacher—“But my pet ate my homework.”

“
Draven
, that pet shouldn’t be on your bed,” Zane scolded.

“Bay isn’t hurting
anything, and uncle
Blu
said he had washed her.
Besides she’s…”
Draven
stopped mid-sentence.