Chapter Seven

"Shit!"

As her breath froze in her throat, Eden desperately thrust her foot out from underneath her. She kicked the alien between his legs with all her might. As he fell back with a roaring groan, Eden rolled out from underneath him and flattened herself up against a corner. She groped for the pull chain to turn on the lights and yanked hard. Her eyes focused urgently as the overhead bulbs activated.

Eden's heart thudded against her chest like a rabid animal caged in a box. Thiago's ransacked room was in absolute disarray. The intruder had overturned chairs. Miscellaneous objects were escaping from open drawers.

Her darting eyes glanced back to the angry alien on the ground. He rocked back and forth as he cradled his crotch. Their eyes met across the room, and Eden felt her blood running cold. She watched as the alien reached out with his spindly arms and grabbed onto the side of a desk. He slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm sorry?" Eden squeaked. Her throat scratched as she screamed at the dark floor below them. "Thiago! Hercules! Help!"

The Blazian lunged at her. His seemingly boneless limbs were stronger than she expected. Eden punched randomly as his fingers wrapped around her throat. His gray fingernails felt like brittle twigs as they pressed down on her neck. Barely flinching from Eden's assault, he smiled, revealing a gaping mouth with a smattering of jagged, blackened teeth. The pressure on Eden's windpipe made tears fall from the corners of her eyes. Her vision began to spin and blur.

A vicious thump sounded from the back of the intruder's head, and he instantly released his grip on Eden. The Blazian toppled backward and fell over the rail of the second floor, crashing onto the landing. Eden could hear a vicious snarl and the scurrying of multiple limbs from the pitch-black darkness of the first floor. The alien let out yelps of pain.

Thiago quickly glanced back at her over his shoulder before racing down the steps.

Massaging her throat, Eden wheezed as she swallowed gulps of refreshing air. She climbed down the steps cautiously, holding onto the wall for support. Her hands shook as she turned on the lights.

Even though the alien was taller than Thiago, he had lifted the assailant's feet inches off the floor, making him flail helplessly in the air. Eden gawked at the blood beginning to crust under the Blazian's noseless slits. His ill-fitting clothes clung to his frame in shreds, courtesy of Hercules. The exposed skin revealed blotches of discolored orange flesh. Thiago dragged the alien toward the door, grunting as he hurled the intruder out of the ship. The disoriented Blazian sprung to his feet, rocking from side to side as he bolted off, away from the madness.

Thiago massaged a kink in his neck. It gave off a satisfying crack as he flicked a switch on the door controls. A heavy metal door slid down from above to seal the gaping doorway. Leaning in to examine the switches, he made sure to key in a code twice, securing the lock. He turned around, shaking his head as he muttered.

"I don't believe I locked the door properly. I apologize."

Eden swung her arms around Thiago's neck and clung to him as she blubbered into his chest.

"Thank you," she sobbed, her eyes screwed shut. Inhaling the woodsy, soothing smell from his clothes, she cried into the fabric. "Thank you so, so much. I don't know what that thing would have done if you hadn't helped me."

"You're welcome," Thiago muttered hurriedly. Trying to avoid making a face at the snotty dampness on his shoulder, he attempted to wriggle away from her. "Wait, what's happening here?"

Hercules neighed in disapproval at Thiago, rolling all eight of its eyes. The animal clamped its opposable legs around itself to mime an embrace. Thiago stopped resisting and sighed. His free hand hung limply next to him as he stiffly patted down on her head with the other like he was burping a toddler.

"It will be okay," said Thiago. The feel of her thick hair was much softer than he'd imagined. "You'll live."

"That hurts," said Eden, ducking away from his mechanical patting. She blew away the strands of hair falling across her face. "Was that a Blazian? What's the use of having all these weapons if you're not going to use them?"

"To answer your first question, yes," Thiago replied, turning to scoop up the trash heaps Hercules was nudging toward him. "And there's no need for that. The weapons can cause extensive damage. I only use brute force to take down targets when it's necessary. He was just another junkie. They're typically harmless."

"Harmless, my ass," Eden grumbled, beginning to collecting fallen tin cups on the other side of the room. "I won't be inviting that snake-man to a party. Whoa. What's this?"

Eden picked up a tiny, clear vial wedged underneath the space of the kitchen countertop. She held it up to the light, mesmerized by a vibrant cobalt hue that appeared as she shook the grainy substance. As she started to open the vial, however, Thiago's hand appeared out of nowhere, slapping the bottle out of her palm.

"Hey!" said Eden indignantly. She scowled. "What in the world was that for?"

"Trust me. You don't want that stuff making contact with your skin, not even for a second," said Thiago. He checked the container. Eden trailed after him as he walked toward the bathroom.

"What is it?"

"Pure Xorxes crystals," said Thiago, dumping the vial into the toilet. He flushed it and raised his voice over the powerful vacuuming force of the bowl.

"You know what they say. Xorxes – not even once."

"I don't know what they say," said Eden, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her snorting. "Alien drugs?"

"Folks around here find it highly addictive. It's often used to fry mail-order bride brains into submission," said Thiago matter-of-factly as he closed the door behind him. "It must have fallen out of that junkie's pocket."

The amused grin vanished from Eden's face. She piped down immediately.

"That bastard was as high as the cosmos," Thiago explained. "We call them Fienders. They break into campsites and ships for drugs or any valuables they can pawn off. Unfortunately for this guy, I had neither of those things. The drug doesn't come cheap. A hit costs thousands of credits. It's ruined countless lives. My next target, Krypt, has a crew in charge of manufacturing most of the product around here."

"The gangster of your planet, I'm assuming," said Eden, clucking her tongue. "He sounds like a real asshole. I hope he gets what's coming to him."

"He will," Thiago promised, nodding his head. He glanced up at Eden, who was rinsing off cups and cutlery in the sink. She was yawning so much it looked like her mouth was stuck open. She whipped her stubbornly wild hair out of her face like she was evading a fly. The corners of his lips twitched. "You've had a rough night. You should go back to bed. I can get this cleaned up myself."

"Please sleep with me," Eden suddenly blurted. An instant flush of red covered her cheeks.

Thiago couldn't believe what he thought he had heard. "What's that, now?"

Eden switched off the faucet. She took a deep breath as she nervously dried her hands on her pants.

"Sorry, that probably sounded different than what I intended. Would you mind if you slept up there with me tonight? It's your room, after all. I'm frightened of being in a new place, and I don't want to sleep alone this evening. You can say no if you want to, naturally."

"Slow down. You're getting all worked up over nothing," stated Thiago, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know how my presence will help you sleep, but sure, whatever. If it's what you require for a good night's rest, I'll sacrifice."

"Thanks," she whispered, flashing him a grateful smile. Her eyes landed on Hercules. His massive, fuzzy frame was curled up and fast asleep in a messy nest made from Thiago's scattered clothes. "We should get some rest. I think all of us are exhausted. I'll help you with this mess first thing in the morning."

Thiago followed Eden to his bedroom. He opened his closet doors, yanking out a pillow and a lumpy spare mattress. Swatting away the clouds of dusty neglect, he unrolled an old foam pad on the floor and started removing lumps with his fists.

"That old thing can't be good for your back," noted Eden from atop the bed, peering down at him. She untucked her crossed legs and stretched them out under her. "That's going to make your body ache, and that won't help you tomorrow. I've slept on my share of shitty mattresses. You can sleep up here if you'd like. I won't make it weird."

"I suppose so," said Thiago, tossing the mattress back in the closet and joining her. The bed shifted under his weight as he reached over to turn off the glaring light above them. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Thanks again, Thiago," said Eden. The bed creaked as she turned from him and snuggled into her pillow.

"Good night."

"Good night."

Thiago turned to his side and away from her. The buzzed side of his hair sank into the coolness of his pillow. He closed his eyes. Just as he was beginning to lose himself in the darkness of slumber, he felt the smooth, cold touch of Eden's foot graze against his calf. Stirring, he lifted his head off his pillow and stared at the rhythmic snoring body behind him. The bundle of Eden lay perfectly still. One leg jutted out behind her like a snoozing flamingo.

He fell back on his pillow. When he hooked his toe between the spaces of her foot, his warmth absorbed her coldness. With the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips, Thiago's eyelids closed again. The mark on his forehead briefly glowed before he drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.