Penny

 

She was in heaven. Warm and wrapped up in soft, clean sheets; this had to be heaven.

Her memory was foggy. She remembered the fire in her belly, the spreading poison that froze her muscles and made her unable to resist as the Suhlik dragged her through the snow.

Oh. There it was. Her memory came back, drowning her in a deluge. Shit. Walking around the corner, expecting to find Kol but instead she stood still like a dummy while the Suhlik captured her. She couldn’t breathe. Her throat closed up in panic and she tried to run away to hide, but strong hands held her down.

“Hold her,” an unknown man said.

“Do not injure her!” another man said. His voice was odd: familiar and strange all at once.

“Penny honey, you need to calm down,” a loved, long-lost voice said.

In her struggle, Penny caught a glimpse of the room. She was on an enormous cot—Mahdfel sized—set up in an orderly line of other enormous cots. It seemed like a field hospital set up except she recognized the mural of green Midwestern farmland on the wall. This was the ballroom in the student union.

“You’ve sustained some serious lacerations to your abdomen,” the unknown man said. “We stitched you back together, but the poison keeps weeping. You’ll heal in time. Until then, take it easy.”

Weeping. That sounded painful and disgusting. A quick brush to her stomach confirmed a thick layer of gauze under medical tape.

“Aunt Jas?” Her voice came out in a rasp, dry and sore.

“Right here, baby girl. You were hurt, but you’re going to be okay.” The hands that pinned her shoulders gave way to soft hands cradling her face. Jasmine leaned in, her face worn and hair more grey than the last time Penny saw her. She wore the most ludicrous pair of gold earrings, complete with a giant fake pearl. Accessory options were limited in an alien invasion but dang, they were tacky. Where did Jasmine find those?

“We were so worried about you,” the older woman said, eyes watering.

“Momma? Dad? Chris?” Penny asked before a cup of water was pressed to her lips. The liquid felt divine, soaking into her parched mouth.

“Everyone’s fine. They managed to get to a shelter before the raids started.” Aunt Jasmine rattled through a well-rehearsed story of where the family was the day the invasion turned deadly and how they managed to find each other again. Jasmine had a bad feeling that morning and left work early. She went to campus to find Penny, but the raid started and she found herself stuck in place. While speaking, Jasmine’s hands touched Penny’s hair and her face, as if to verify that she was real and not a dream. “The only person we couldn’t find was you, honey.”

“I was home.”

Jasmine’s gave a tired laugh. “I knew it! I knew if you couldn’t get to the safe zone, you’d stay put. How many times did I ask you to check my address? How many times!” Her angry tone was directed to someone over Penny’s shoulder.

Out of curiosity, she turned to find the target of Jasmine’s ire.

Kol’s knotted brow said it all. “You made no request of me.”

“I asked someone. One of you.” Jasmine waved her hand vaguely. “You can’t expect me to tell you apart.”

This was going well.

“Hey, Aunt Jas. This is Kol. I see you’ve met. Also, why do I hear you here?” Penny tapped the side of her head.

Jasmine huffed, arms crossed. Kol did the same.

This was going really, really well.

“I authorized the implantation of a translator chip. It seemed prudent,” Kol said.

“I’m her family and I didn’t authorize it.” Jasmine lifted her chin, resentment dripping off every word.

“Wait, how can you understand him?” Penny asked.

Jasmine’s eyes softened for a moment and removed an earring. “It’s not exactly fashionable but it reduces confusion.” She turned back to Kol. “She’s awake now, so you can leave.”

“I will not leave the side of my ma—”

“Friend!” Penny shouted, louder than she intended. “Kol’s my friend.”

His shoulders slumped and her heart hurt with regret. Whatever they were—dating, boyfriend and girlfriend, mates—it was more complicated than friendship.

“Yes,” he said, “I am her friend.”

“He helped me,” she said. His eyes flashed. Oh, so that’s how it was. He could tolerate only so much of her stretching the truth. “We helped each other,” she amended.

“I owe my life to Pen-knee,” he said. “She pulled me from the water when I was unconscious. I would have frozen or drowned without her intervention.”

Jasmine turned to Penny, eyes wide. “You did that? How? How did little old you pull all of him from the water?”

“He was buoyant.” Moving Kol in the water had been the easy part. “We got stuck in the storm. Oh, the tree! Jas, I’m sorry. The house got hit in the raid and there was a fire and then a tree fell through the roof.”

Jasmine nodded. “That’s just stuff and junk. I’m thankful you’re safe.” She gave Penny’s hand a squeeze. “I suppose I have you to thank for bringing her here.”

Kol stood at attention, back straight and tail uncharastically still. “A Suhlik patrol discovered our location and captured Pen-knee. I terminated him.”

“You mean you terminated his plans,” Jasmine said.

Kol did not amend his statement.

Yup, meeting the family was going super well.

“Vadi Kol,” a voice thundered. Kol snapped to attention as he pivoted towards the large red male stalking towards him.

The male moved with dangerous intent. Everything about him reeked of confidence and authority. This had to be the warlord.

Jasmine’s hand squeezed Penny’s shoulder and Penny leaned in.

The warlord paused at the foot of Penny’s bed, sniffing the air. “This female. Explain.”

The tattoos on Kol’s arms glowed faintly silver. The warlord’s eyes narrowed and he tossed an accusatory glare to Penny. For a long, terrible moment, Penny was convinced that the warlord would end her.

“I located this female in the unprotected zones. A Suhlik patrol attacked and we were forced to seek shelter for the duration of the storm.”

The warlord completely ignored Kol as he spoke. “Is this true, female?”

“That’s it in a nutshell,” Penny said.

The warlord nodded briskly. “And you pulled this warrior from the water?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to let him drown.” Seriously. Why did that surprise people?

Another brisk nod. “Thank you for my son’s life. You have done us a great honor. Our clan is in your debt.” The warlord turned his attention back to Kol. “Come. You are released from protecting this female.”

Kol did not move.

The warlord cocked his head to one side. “Unless you have another claim—”

The significance of the word claim did not escape Penny’s notice. Kol gave her a beseeching look, asking her to claim him now, but she panicked. Her throat dried up and no sound came out, even when she opened her mouth.

“I do not,” Kol said, voice resigned.

“We still have that date, Big Red,” Penny managed to call out to his retreating figure, but her words felt like too little, too late. “Don’t stand a girl up.”