Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

He took a few more steps forward.

“I dare you. I fucking dare you.” She stared into the dark eyes and the alien hesitated for just a moment before continuing to take open the lower section of his cloak.

“I swear on my father, Mark Wilson’s name, that if you put your hands on me, I will kill you. I fucking swear it.” Nia gripped the pebble, happy that her voice didn’t shake with the fear crawling up her spine.

One of the aliens moved to one side of the cage and the other went to the next side.

She glanced between them both, terror flooding through her veins.

What were they going to do?

She could hear her breath in her own ears and to make matters worse, the room suddenly went dark.

“Herza is starting the launch sequence,” one said.

“Seems so,” the other replied almost absentmindedly.

Fuck.

FUCK!

Nia raced to the front of the cage.

Without the pebble in her shoe, she could move much more quickly, and she gripped the bars.

The only thing she could see was the lights of the buttons by the door, but the natural hum of the ship seemed to grow even louder.

The ship’s engine.

Shit.

She stared at the illuminated buttons, forgetting the aliens around her for a moment as she rubbed the pebble between her fingers.

It was smooth, about the size of a marble, but heavy enough that she could feel the weight in her hand.

She had an idea.

A stupid, highly risky idea, but an idea nonetheless.

She just had to hope it would work.

* * *

Ka’Cit dropped down from the hatch, his feet landing on the floor of the upper deck almost silently.

His tail shot out behind him, aiding his balance as he stood to his full height.

He’d timed his entry, there shouldn’t be anyone in the corridor now that the launch checks were being done, but as soon as he took a step forward, a Niftrill turned the corner.

Phek.

Ka’Cit let out a breath as he saw when the Niftrill spotted him.

He hadn’t deployed the smoke canister yet.

The Niftrill hesitated for a second, and Ka’Cit could see the moment the Niftrill decided he needed to raise an alarm.

“Oh no you don’t.”