“I must tell Brees,” I said, looking at the open door where my friend had disappeared.
I made to rise on my feet, but a wave of dizziness struck me hard. It was odd considering all the rehydration I had just benefited from.
“Do not strain yourself,” Reaper said in a slightly reproving tone. “You are too weak. I will carry you. Who is Brees? The female that the others seem to follow?”
“Yes,” I said in a small voice, secretly pleased to remain in his embrace.
I was beyond starved for human contact and interaction, even though he didn't fully qualify as such. I allowed him to carry me out of the room, my companions gathering around us as we made our way through the hallway. Brees, Grol, and a few other adults were looking up at the shaft from whence a lot more natural light was pouring in. Stopping near the Creckels, Reaper addressed Brees before I could do so.
“Janelle is very sick,” Reaper said in a concerned tone to the female. “The opening is now wide enough for me to bring her up to our ship to get proper treatment from a professional doctor. But it is still too small for the hovering platform that will take out the rest of you; or more precisely the adult Creckels. If you wish, we can take out the young, but I suspect you would rather keep them with you.”
Brees’ negative reaction was instant. I might have laughed under different circumstances. But even that felt like too much effort. To my relief, my friend bombarded me with images that appeased my guilt at leaving them. She was very worried for my health and helpless to assist me in any way, while these strangers could. And they still had plenty of meat left in the cooler Reaper had brought. Despite the limited training my mother had managed to impart to me before her passing, my scientific and biological knowledge was sufficiently advanced to know I needed more help than just food and water. And Brees also understood it.
Despite her strong refusal to part with the young, the female’s trust towards Reaper left me confused. Once I was better, I'd have to ask her what had been the cause, beyond him providing food. She was fiercely protective of me and everyone else in the base. She wouldn't lightly let me go with strangers.
“I figured you would say that,” Reaper said to Brees with a smile in his voice. “We will do our best to free the rest of you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, one of my companions will bring you more food and water. Please do not be troubled by his appearance. He is a good man.”
That comment intrigued me. What would be so peculiar about his friend for him to feel the need to give them such a warning? Did he have even stronger Kryptid features than Reaper did?
Brees gave her assent with a small grunt. Her consciousness brushed against mine, and she gave me an affectionate psychic nudge, which I returned.
“The opening is very tight,” Reaper said apologetically. “I'm going to have to hold you very close to me in order for both of us to go through.”
I gave him a strange look, wondering why he felt the need to apologize about that. I wanted him to hold me. Not only had I been painfully craving physical contact with another person, but I especially liked being held by him. Granted, after all those years, I didn't really have any other points of reference. But I loved his scent, and being in his arms felt like home, felt safe.
The thought that he might be sorry to have to hold me so closely because I stank too much crossed my mind. However, I dismissed it, not that it didn't have merit. Reaper had been holding me ever since I’d first collapsed in the hallway and had shown no eagerness to put an end to it, even chastising me when I tried to get up on my own. Not knowing how to answer, I merely nodded. Frankly, I wouldn't have cared if he had attached me to a rope and pulled me up like a rag doll. Whatever it took, I just wanted to be outside.
Setting me down on my feet, Reaper turned me around to face him before pulling me back into his embrace. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, once more impressed by his great height and how incredibly broad and muscular he was. Brees projected in my mind the image of Reaper and me holding each other in this position. It was beautiful in its clarity instead of the blurriness that was the constant in my life. She then displayed a sun erupting from our chests and swirling around us in a spiral, binding us. That took me aback.
As Reaper took flight, I reflected on Brees’s suggestion. I hadn't considered the idea of a mate. That had never even been a remote possibility. But she was right. So far, Reaper seemed to possess all the qualities a female should seek in a potential mate. I once more inhaled his scent, my face all but buried in his neck. His arms tightened around me with a possessiveness that made me further melt against him. Yes, he had the potential of being a good mate.
However, such thoughts vanished from my mind as the light overhead became brighter, and fresh air soon overtook the stale and rank stench of the base below. My throat tightened as we reached the small opening in the debris. With a strong flap of his wings right before flattening them against his body, Reaper propelled us through. Brightness unlike anything I could recall wrapped around me as the rays of the sun caressed my skin.
I couldn't see anything but a glowing halo everywhere through which the ghostly silhouettes of Reaper’s companions moved about. They were all talking to me, to us, to each other, I couldn't tell. I didn't care. I was outside.
Reaper released me from his embrace long enough to pick me up and carry me in his arms. I stretched my arms wide to soak in as much sun as possible and feel the gentle breeze on my skin. It took me a moment to realize that I was laughing and crying at the same time. No tears ran down my cheeks—I was still too dehydrated for that—but I could have sworn they started welling in my eyes.
A persistent feminine voice eventually pierced through the fog of euphoria that had engulfed me. She was asking me questions I didn’t want to answer. She was blocking the sun, touching me with cold things I didn’t want.
“Leave me,” I grunted, feebly pushing her away.
“I’m trying to help you,” the female said in a pleading voice.
“Jessica, give her a moment,” Reaper said in a firm but gentle tone. “She has been trapped there for two decades. Let her savor her freedom for a minute.”
My Sun…
He understood me so well, almost like he’d always known me. I don't know how long we remained outside. It felt like half a second and yet an eternity. I could have stayed like this forever but weakness, thirst, and an uncontrollable urge to sleep were all seeping in again, reminding me of the reality of my body's poor state.
“Let's get you to the Infirmary,” Reaper said gently just as these thoughts were crossing my mind. Once more, he was proving how attuned he was to me. “As soon as you have been treated and are feeling better, I promise to take you outside as often as possible and as much as you want. But we will need sunscreen. Your skin is very pale and unused to the sun. We can't let you burn.”
I nodded and snuggled against him. He carried me inside, the female he had called Jessica walking ahead of us. For a second, I feared a wave of panic would take over me upon entering another confined space. However, this vessel was no dying base. I couldn't see the details, but the hallways were wide and luminous, the air was fresh and clean, with a slightly fragrant scent to it that was quite soothing and pleasant. Here, you didn’t have to push a reluctant door open as it whined and attempted to resist. They simply slid open with a discreet swish as soon as someone approached them.