Khol (Rescued by the Alien)

4. Khol

Chapter 4

Khol

N ancy’s tiny youngling sat onto the ground and, tipping her head back, started shrieking.

“Oh, now . . .” I shot a glance Nancy’s way. “Is she injured?” Why else would her eyes leak water? I wanted to enfold both her and Nancy in my arms and hold them. Tell them they were safe now, that I, Khol, would give my life to protect them.

I didn’t dare. The water spirit was playing tricks on me, tempting me with a mate when I should live alone with my shame for the rest of my days.

“She’s having a meltdown because her skin isn’t blue,” Nancy said with a wry twist of her mouth.

Melting . . . down? I peered around, but nothing was melting, though the sun was hot today.

I had almost no experience with younglings, but I understood fretful creatures. I’d rescued more than I could count since I built my house on this island .

Everyone understood kindness.

I sat beside Flora on the sand and pointed to the water. “Look,” I said softly, watching to see what she’d do.

Flora’s head lifted, and she stared at the white-capped lavender waves gliding up the shore before retreating into the sea.

“I wanna be blue,” she said sadly. “Why can’t I be blue?”

“Pink is lovely,” I said, touching the skin on her arm. So soft and fragile, and the same skin color as Nancy.

“My daughter loves pink.” Nancy said, tugging her long, very pale hair that rivaled the sunlight away from her neck, squeezing out the water. Her soil-brown eyes met mine before shooting to her youngling. “Everything pink.”

“Could we have more pink?” I called out to the water spirit.

A wave rushed up the shore and when it retreated, it left a small pile of pink shells behind.

“Look at this,” I told Flora, lifting one and holding it out to her. “Small creatures call this their home.”

Flora blinked up at me, and I took in her pale blue eyes unlike the teal common in Zuldruxians, though mine were darker. Her brown hair hung in a lank band down her back, dripping water onto her pink gown unlike anything I’d seen before. An entire night sky of stars appeared to live in the tunic.

Such a sweet youngling. At least she’d stopped crying .

“Thank you. She needed a good distraction.” Nancy peered around. “Where are we?”

While Flora examined the shell I’d laid on her lap, I rose, keeping my gaze trained on the water. “This is Zuldrux.”

What was I supposed to do with a human female, let alone a human youngling? I never thought the gods would gift a mate to me, but here she was.

I couldn’t claim her.

“Nice tattoo,” she said, studying the mark on my arm. When she traced her fingertip across the five-point pattern with dots near each point, it flared before fading to black lines once more. Gasping, she yanked her arm back and cupped her hand against her chest. “Touching it burned me.”

“Look,” I said, pointing at the hand she clung to.

She extended her arm, and her eyes widened. “Where did that come from? I don’t have tattoos. I don’t have any tattoos!” For a moment, I thought she’d flop on the sand and cry out like Flora just did. If so, should I give her a shell?

Instead, she raced into the water to her knees and dipped her hand in, scrubbing it. “What did you do to me?”

“A wave splashed over me right after you arrived,” I said, joining her in the water, watching over her with a blade in my hand.

“Rogue waves aren’t uncommon.”

“Here, they are.”

“Do you have earthquakes and tsunamis on Zuldrux? ”

I shook my head, though I wasn’t sure what either of those things were. “This is the first rogue wave I’ve seen. The marks mean . . .”

Pausing in her washing, she frowned up at me. “What?”

“See . . . the spirit . . .”

Her frown deepened. She stopped trying to wash it off, which was good because it would remain for the rest of her life. Straightening, she rubbed her lower back, her frown remaining. “Spirit?”

“My clan spirit is one of water. I refuse to call them gods.”

She blinked a few times. “Okay.”

“We begged . . . Alright, I personally didn’t beg. I never would. But the other traedors did. My clan spirit hadn’t been worshiped in a very long time, so they’re . . . unruly.”

Water splashed hard against my thighs, the spirit telling me they didn’t like my comment.

“Let’s leave the water, and I’ll try to explain,” I added.

Nancy scowled at the sea before she turned and walked beside me up the shore. We stopped beside Flora, who kept scooping up sand in the shell I’d given her before dumping it out to form a pile.

“Is it safe to remain here?” Nancy asked, her intent gaze scanning the jungle.

“So far.”

Her skin quivered. “So far?” Her hand jutted toward Flora. “Come on, sweetie. We need to find a place to hide. ”

“Oh, I’ll protect you.” I showed her my coral blade while pressing my fist against my chest. “I swear.”

“You and your water spirit, I assume.”

Did I hear sarcasm in her voice? No, it couldn’t be. Unless she was like many Zuldruxians who’d forsaken the gods, abandoning them long, long ago.

A hoarse bellow rang out in the jungle.

A jolt shot through Nancy. She scooped up her youngling and bolted along the shore.

I took off after her.