Captured By her Alien Mate by Ava York

Riley

Iwoke up from my nap right as the sun was about to fall below the horizon. The light of the sunset filtered through the window by the bed, turning everything orange.

Perfect timing—I hadn’t lost my knack of fitting in a quick snooze wherever I could. Useful, when I had the night shift back home, and my only chance to sleep was when everyone else was awake.

Right then, though, I wanted to be awake when most people weren’t. I was counting on the night, and the darkness it brought.

I was planning to escape.

I yawned and stretched. However, as I swung my feet onto the floor, the door rattled. I hoped it wasn’t Kator again. I was NOT in the mood to try to figure him out right now. I considered blocking the main door, but what was the point? Nothing in here would have kept out anyone determined to come in. Better to play along till I could get myself out of this joint. Something told me “interrogator” wasn’t the full story there, and I couldn’t afford to find out what the full story was.

I curled back up like I was still sleeping. Squeezing my eyes nearly shut, I watched as the door opened. Through the thin line of vision underneath my eyelashes, I saw one of my guards place a tray of food on the floor.

Although whatever it was didn’t look particularly appetizing, a meal would be helpful. Nothing like trying to run away from the bad guys on an empty stomach.

I heard the Aetamian lock me back in, and I sprang into action. Jumping out of bed, I tore the sheets from the mattress. I snatched the tray from the floor near the door and quickly stuffed my face on the way back to the bed. Laying the tray on the mattress, I began to tie the sheets together, consuming the food as quickly as I could between knots.

The knot tying dredged up the memory of learning an extremely secure knot from an old boyfriend obsessed with camping. That guy may have turned out to be a real ass, but those knots sure came in handy.

Once I had the sheets linked, I laid them out on the floor to get a sense of just how long a rope I had. Longer than the length of the room, but not by much.

I ran to the bed and knelt on it, sticking my head out the window. The breeze felt good on my warm cheeks, flushed from exertion and nerves. Purple evening was descending across the city fast, but I could still see.

Bad news, my room was about four stories off the ground. There was no way the sheets were going to make it to the packed dirt below.

Worse news, not only was there a wall around the building, a giant wall separated the capitol of Aetam from the outside world.

Separating me from my friends.

I shook off fear and doubt. I would return to my friends, come hell or high water. There was sure to be a back gate, or something. If I was lucky, maybe even a crumbling hole in one of these medieval looking fortifications.

Plus, there was one bit of good news provided by my aerial examination. All the little whitewashed Aetamian houses were quite close together. There were shadows everywhere. Most of the streets were narrow enough to look more like alleys than thoroughfares. Useful, if you wanted to stay unseen.

Taking one last gulp of fresh air, I ducked back in and headed for the bathroom. The two towels in there would get me a little farther than just the sheets, but what else could I use?

Scanning the room, I absently picked up the dry bread from my food tray and ate it. My eyes fell on a trio of tapestries gracing the wall, and I smacked my forehead.

Of course, why hadn’t I remembered those before?

The hangings were long and narrow, and their depictions of death and atrocity were ugly anyway. Turning them into a rope would definitely improve the décor, at the very least. Had I a knife, I could have cut them into strips, too.

I knew the Aetamians couldn’t be murderous and warmongering all the time, or there wouldn’t be any of them left. Still, I couldn’t square it away in my mind. Aetamian hands wove all those tiny threads together to create yet more death. Had they no joy at all? No bucolic, smiling faces and soft, afternoon light?

Maybe the Aetamians weren’t all bad. In fact, now that I thought about it, I’d heard the D’Tali say that many of them hated King Mofat. He was the bloodthirsty one, not the regular people, but I supposed it was those in power who paid for these works of art in the first place.

An image of Kator’s face came into my mind. The way he peered at me so earnestly as he said, “I am on your side.” I reacted badly because I wanted so much to believe him in that moment.

What if he was one of these Aetamians the D’Tali spoke of who hated the king? If that were true, should I trust him? I couldn’t deny that part of me wanted to. I didn’t know why, but something about him called to me.

I hesitated in front of the tapestries. He could’ve been telling me the truth. If he was, did that mean I shouldn’t try to escape? One ally was better than none, after all.

No, I decided, and ripped the first tapestry off the wall. I’d never been the type to sit around and wait for someone to rescue me. And I definitely didn’t need an Aetamian savior, even if Kator turned out to be one of the better ones.

It was the tiniest bit of a bummer that I’d never see him again, though.

I yanked the second and third hangings down, shoving the odd feeling aside. I’d forget about Kator as soon as I was back with the D’Tali. I had plenty to keep my mind occupied there, like wondering whether I’d ever get back to Earth and my old life.

Even if the chances of getting back were slim to none, I still missed the world I knew.

Tying the tapestries together was hard, but I managed it. With everything together, I had a rope which spanned the length of the room three times, plus a little more. It would have to do. I could jump the rest of the way, if necessary.

As it turned out, the rest of the way was maybe fifteen feet. I clung to the bottom of my ersatz rope, staring down at what looked like very solid dirt. No way the fall would kill me, but if I landed wrong, I could break something.

I didn’t mind heights but dangling at the end of a rope cobbled together from slippery sheets and scratchy woven hangings was not my favorite thing. I looked up, considering climbing back up. I could do it, but… I’d gotten this far.

I gritted my teeth and began to wiggle off the rope. If I could stretch out to my full height, then I’d only drop nine feet. I spared a moment to think about how surprised my old captain would be to see me right now. I’d hated the ropes course during training.

My feet slid off the rope. I swallowed a yelp and dug my hands into the fabric. It burned my palms, but I caught myself, just in time.

My shoulders and triceps burned, but at least I was where I’d wanted to be. Gazing down, I tried to relax. Nine feet really wasn’t that far, was it?

I let go. Clenching my jaw so I wouldn’t scream, I fell through the air and hit the dirt. First pain jolted my ankles, and next my ass as I fell back onto it. I bit the inside of my cheek, tasting the metallic tang of blood.

But—I was ok. I got to my feet, staying in a crouch. I scuttled back against the wall of the tower where the shadows would cover me. Breathing deep, I took stock of myself. I’d been rattled, but, overall, I was fine. I’d have to watch my right ankle, was all.

Heartened by my success, I scanned my surroundings. Overlapping shadows lay to my left. I’d start there. I began to move, pressing my back tight against the wall. I slipped across the narrowest part of the courtyard into darkness under the eaves of a new building.

Footsteps rang through the open air. I cursed under my breath as a squad of guards came around the corner. One of them immediately spotted the patchwork swaying from my window. He yelled, pointing at it.

The guards fanned out. It was past time for me to get the hell away from this place.

I melted from shadow to shadow, avoiding the soldiers. They were big and imposing, but not particularly thorough. I practically followed one all the way to the wall.

While I was glad to make it to the outer fortifications, the guards had clearly agreed to regroup at the wall. More of them filtered into the area. It was only a matter of time till one of them saw me if I stayed where I was.

I cast around for options. There. Some sort of supply shed, with bags and crates piled outside it. I could get over there and hide easily.

I made a calculated dash, diving behind a huge wooden box. Raising my eyes over the top, I breathed the tiniest sigh of relief. They hadn’t seen me. I sunk back down, leaning my shoulder against the slats of the box.

A strange noise began to fill the air. It was like clucking, but under laid by weird gravelly hisses. The soldiers reacted, tilting their heads to catch the sound. Then, I realized the box shielding me from view was shaking.

A steely purple beak crashed through the space between two pieces of wood. I yelped and fell backwards. The creature made a horrifying gurgling caw at me as I scrabbled away.

In an instant, the guards were upon me. Leering, one of them yanked me up by my collar and threw me down into the open. They circled me, pulling clubs from their belts. One kicked at my ribs. I managed to roll away in time, but just barely.

Staring up at their snarling faces, my heart quailed. Maybe I’d made a mistake by acting on impulse. There were so many moments I almost changed my mind, and now I really wished I had.

A guard raised his weapon. I tried to get up to be able to fight, but another guy kicked my leg out from under me. I sprawled in the dirt, defenseless.

Suddenly, I saw movement behind the circle. An ominous silhouette detached itself from the shadows, and a tall shrouded figure emerged into the light.

Hands drew back the hood, and I caught my breath.