I stretched my arms over my head in the small hallway area of the ship where I laid on the floor on thick blankets. I moaned as a smile came across my face. I had just had the best sex of my life with an alien weredragon. It was better than anything I had ever experienced before, and I was still having an intense amount of afterglow from it. I rolled over onto my back and turned to look for Jex. He wasn't there. I sat up and grabbed a blanket around my chest.
“Jex?” I said. There was no response. I looked around the ship, and I could see every bit of space where I sat except for the small washroom. I stood up and wrapped the blanket around me and went to the wall that slid open. It was open, and there was no one inside. Maybe he was outside the ship making breakfast and getting a start on the day. Then I remembered… Hannah. I had been so caught up in the glow of the epic night of sex that I forgot we were on a mission to find my sister.
I quickly put on my clothes and then opened the door of the ship the way he had shown me. I walked outside, and the sun was barely coming up on the horizon.
I walked around the ship remembering the tiger that was there before. I didn't want to call too much attention even though that tiger was probably injured and knew not to come back to the fire. Jex was nowhere in sight. Perhaps he just went to go get some water or something else, I thought to myself trying to make sense of his absence.
I walked back into the ship and closed the door. I sat down in the pilots’ chair looking out the windshield waiting for him to come at any moment. I looked up into the sky to see if I could see him flying toward me.
An hour passed. I began to grow paranoid and angry. Could he have a Bandan to me here? He got what he wanted after all. He didn't even have to wait to hold up his end of the agreement before I gave in on my side. How pathetic was that?
He could have easily flown back to Willow Springs using his wings, or called for a ship to pick him up the way he had picked up Jared and the others. Dammit. How stupid was I to think that he really wanted to help me? That maybe the over-sexualized brute had changed. But he had not. It was all just a ploy to get me in bed. I felt stupid. I stood up and opened the door.
I stomped out onto the grass and out to the shoreline. I stood looking at the water. I had a mission to do, and I wasn't going to stop until I found my sister. Sure, I had made a big mistake by trusting Jex, but it was a setback that I was going to have to deal with. I was on my own. Time was wasting.
I looked down the shoreline and saw a small private pier in the distance. There looked to be a small rowboat tied to it. I knew that I had to get down the shoreline in order to get to the point that Jex thought the cyborg encampment would be. If I took off walking to find it, I wouldn't get there until nightfall, but the boat would get me there faster if the current was on my side. I had to do it. I turned and looked at the large amount of trees separating the estate homes. They were all overgrown and could hide anything: a tiger, hostile humans, or even cyborgs. But what choice did I have?
I went into the ship and grabbed my gear. I put my backpack on and draped the blaster gun across my body. “You are on your own, Helen. You owe it to Hannah to at least try,” I said to myself.
Then I left the safety of the ship and walked to the shore, then I turned and jogged along the shoreline toward the private pier. I looked over to my left into the gardens and forest of the estates. I was watching for any movement. I hoped the tiger was not living in one of these homes. Seeing me run would make me look like prey.
Finally, I reached the pier. I was glad to hear the sound of my boots on the wooden boards. It was a relief. I untied the rope of the rowboat from the post and jumped in. Within minutes, I was out on the water rowing down the shore.
Suddenly a large shadow cast itself over me. I looked up into the sky to see Jex circling around me. “What the hell?”
He came in low and hovered directly in front of me. His majestic emerald wings sparkled. His skin glittered in the sun. He softly landed on the boat.
“Me? What the hell are you doing? I waited and waited for you. You left me there,” I said angrily.
“I went on a scout to find the cyborg encampment. I did not leave you. I was coming back,” he said.
“I ran into some trouble. I found the encampment, and I got shot. I got shot in my wing and could not fly,” he said.
“What? You were hurt! Oh my God!” I said suddenly feeling guilty about my behavior. I did not want him to be hurt.
“I was. I couldn't fly for some time, but my wing began to heal,” he said.
“No. We do not have that ability. It must be from mating with you,” he said.
“What? What do you mean from mating with me? That does not make sense,” I said.
He looked down and then looked up at me. He folded his wings behind him and sat down on the board across the boat. “I have not been completely honest with you. Having sex with a human female gives a Veruka some of her DNA. Through this DNA, we become immune to a certain illness that the Veruka deal with. It is called the blackness. If a weredragon becomes ill with this sickness, all he has to do is have sex with a human female, and he will be cured. I wanted to mate with a human female in order to become immune before the blackness could get to me. But I think a side effect has been that I am able to heal myself,” he said.
“What? You used me? You are a pig. I knew that I should not trust you. You were using me the whole time,” I said, feeling so angry with him, and feeling stupid for thinking otherwise.
“You are using me as well. You only want me for my strength to help find your sister. Do not pretend that you are innocent in this agreement,” he said.
“That is different. You are a soldier. Rescuing others is what you do anyway. You came to us letting us know that you wanted to help the humans fight the cyborgs; that is exactly what I ask of you,” I said standing up in anger. The boat rocked a little.
“No, it is not what you asked. We merely mean to help defend human colonies, not go off on individual missions to help one human,” he said angrily.
“You are a brute and a pig. I never want to see you again. I will find my sister by myself!” I said.
He starred up. “You want me to leave you out here in the middle of nowhere on this small boat? Fine,” he said. He spread his emerald wings wide and flew into the air.
I realized that it didn't matter if he was using me or if I was using him. The only thing that mattered was getting Hannah. He did not abandon me; he was here now, and I needed him to find her. “No! Wait!” I shouted.
I watched him gracefully turn and pivot in the sky and come toward me. He scooped me up into his arms and pulled me off the boat. He flew low along the water. Being this close to him again, I could smell his manly scent and feel his hard body against mine. A flash of everything he did to me overnight came to my mind.
He looked down at me with his gorgeous sparkling eyes. “Why do you have to be so stubborn, human female?” he said.
“Why do you have to be my only hope in finding my sister,” I said back to him.
“because I am a soldier and that is what a soldier does,” he said.
“This doesn't mean that I forgive you. You lied to me about why you wanted to have sex with me. I don't forgive you for that. But for now, I need to find Hannah, and that’s all that matters,” I said.
“I didn't lie to you; I just didn't give you all the information. I didn't have to. I didn't owe that to you. We had an agreement, and it doesn't matter if you knew the details of why I wanted my part of the agreement.”
“It is still shady as fuck,” I shouted at him even though my face was only inches from him as he carried me flying over the water back towards the ship.
“And yet I am still here even though you gave me your end of the agreement last night!” he shouted back.
I was silent. I didn't have anything to say to that. He landed on the grass outside the ship and put me on my feet. He stomped away from me and inside the ship. He was pissed. I was pissed. But it didn't matter. I needed to get back on track to finding Hannah.