Chapter 228: Live Bait
The dark screen in front of me slowly rose like blinds on a window. The blinding sunlight was so much brighter than any light could ever hope to be.
I closed my eyes, unable to look directly at the screen reflecting the outside.
"Well," I said, turning around so that my back was to the light source. "Might as well turn off the lights."
Slowly opening my eyes, I blinked at Midnight’s confused look. "It’s an Earth thing. We have to pay for electricity, so I hate having lights on during the day," I explained. I thought it was a funny comment. But clearly not if I have to explain things.
"You said to get as close to the sun as possible," muttered Jun Li over the bridge comms, clearly taking my attempt at a joke as a complaint.
Sheesh, clearly, no one here had a sense of humor.
"I know, Jun Li," I said with a sigh. "Thank you for doing such a good job. Is it possible to open all the hatches so that the sun will shine through the halls?"
There was a swishing sound as the hatch in front of me opened.
"Done."
"You’re the best," I said, looking out into the hallway. "And you might as well keep the lights on. It’s not like I am paying for them anyway."
-----
Pumpkin looked down into the glowing hole, trying to see the female, but there was no one there. The light had become brighter, but it was becoming nothing more than an irritant, something that stood in the way of letting him see down the whole.
Twitching his nose, he followed the scent of the female. There was a driving need to protect, and there was nothing that was going to stop him from doing that.
----
The lowest level of the ship was just as creepy the second time as it was the first. The fog was still about calf deep as the lift doors opened, allowing it to flow into the confines of the small box. Even with the light streaming through the opened hatches, the atmosphere was still dark and dreary. I half expected to hear the bellowing of an alligator or the croaking of a frog in the quietness.
But nothing moved.
Da’kea stepped out first, the mist swirling around his legs with every step he took. His plasma cannon was out on his shoulder, a red beam of light the only thing you could see. He had a third collapsible spear on his back within easy reach, with yet another one in his left hand. On his right, his wrist blades shone.
The bright blue light coming from his helmet’s eyes narrowed as he turned around to look at me. "Death is easy," he said, his voice nothing more than a low growl.
I nodded my head in agreement. If he wanted a challenge, then he would damn well better come back to me.
Ye’tab was quick to follow, his red eyes holding my own for a second before rushing off to watch Da’kea’s back.
The third to step off the lift was Tha’juen, the newest member of our merry band. According to GA, he was well-versed in combat, especially the stuff I would describe as guerrilla warfare. He blended in with his environment so well that not even other Saalistaja knew that he was there, let alone the prey.
Nodding his head at me, he quickly vanished from eyesight, not even the fog betraying his movements. I let out a short huff of laughter, happy that he was on our side. There was no way I was going to be able to beat that male in a fight. In fact, there was a 99.9% chance that I would never have known what killed me if I had.
Midnight and GA got the dubious honor of protecting me since I was the most vulnerable one. I honestly didn’t know if they would have preferred going with the others to hunt the Istar, and frankly, I wasn’t about to ask.
It was my turn to get off the lift, my males on each side of me. Taking in a deep breath, I started walking down the hallway, internally banging my head against the wall. Why I had come up with this plan, I had no idea. Clearly, I had watched way too much Scooby-Doo growing up.
Would I be caught in an overly complicated booby trap of my own design?
Nope. In this case, I was Shaggy.
Live bait.
"Oh, Easter Bunny," I called out as I continued to walk down the halls, the fog reaching up to my knees every now and then. "Oh, Easter Bunny." I tried to think of any Easter songs, but I couldn’t think of anything. However, given the circumstances, I did find one song to hum under my breath.
"Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? I need some help from you now..." I hummed. This was the first time that I ever had the dumb idea of being bait, and I was really not liking it.
"What are you singing?" asked GA from behind my right shoulder. He looked as intimidating as always in his armor, but this was really not the time to appreciate it. Sometimes, when the world stopped fucking up, I would. But not now.
"A theme song," I replied, going back to paying attention in front of me. "It seemed appropriate at the time. I’ll see if we have any of the movies downloaded when we get back to Jun Li, and you’ll see what I mean."
However, I should have been paying more attention to the ceiling than I was in front of me.
Once again, a queen dropped down on me from on top, driving me to the ground, her razor-sharp teeth inches from my throat. Her hind legs were firmly planted on my breasts, the sharp claws attached to each toe digging into my catsuit, but luckily, not into my flesh.
Her hands were gripping my shoulders, the claws once again trying their best to dig into my flesh, only to be met with resistance. The stench of decay reached my nose as its face leaned in closer to mine, saliva dripping from her teeth. I turned my head to the side to get away from the smell, but in my haste, I forgot that I was now baring my throat to a predator that would be more than happy to rip it out.
