Sohut's Protection: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 2) A.G. Wilde (best way to read an ebook TXT) 📖

her foot, not daring to move her leg should her captors notice what she was hiding. It’s not like the simple brown dress she was wearing had any pockets she could hide the weapon in.

It was almost the length of her foot, but thin. She didn’t know how she was going to use it yet, but having it was better than having nothing.

As the conversation of the two aliens kept droning on in the background of her mind, she focused on the mermaid in front of her once more.

She hadn’t realized it before, but the scales of the creature looked considerably lighter in color than they’d done earlier.

It was almost as if the blue within the scales was fading. What’s worse, the thing still hadn’t moved.

It was dead.

She was sure of it.

A spike of sadness for the creature turned into iron that strengthened her resolve.

Right.

She wasn’t going to let that happen to her.

She was going to get out of this…somehow…one way or the other.

A little whimper to her right had her glancing at the Chihuahua-monkey and it blinked at her with sad eyes as if it was having the same thoughts.

“I know little guy,” she whispered as the animal’s big brown eyes locked on hers. “Be strong.”

She’d been right about them heading toward lots of vegetation.

First, it was just a few small orange shrubs and one and two trees, but now, on both sides, there was a fully fledged jungle filled with yellow-orange flora.

It looked like she’d been dropped into a strange magical world, and if she wasn’t in her current situation, she might have stopped to appreciate the strangeness of the view.

Instead, there was only one thing on her mind—getting off the damned cart.

The road only seemed to get bumpier the deeper into the jungle they went, and they’d been traveling for so long, she could tell the sun was starting to go down.

Cleo grabbed the bars of her cage, pressing her lips together as she did.

She’d probably have one chance to do this and only one.

From the dusty road to where they were now, her cage had drifted increasingly closer to the edge of the cart. If she put her weight on it, with the next big jolt, it would topple and she’d go tumbling into the jungle beyond.

At least, that’s what she was hoping would happen.

She wasn’t exactly Stephen Hawking.

Her gaze moved to the dead mermaid before her, and she swallowed hard.

The alien’s scales were now almost completely white—a sickly white—and the more she looked at it, the more her resolve hardened.

She needed to get off the cart.

If she did manage to get out, she’d make a run for it and hope no alien jaguars were waiting for her in the bushes beyond.

It was her only hope.

Her father had been a man of the wild, able to survive anywhere and in the harshest of situations.

To her, he’d been like The Crocodile Hunter.

Fearless.

Everything Thomas Barlow knew, he’d taught her.

And now, as she stared into the yellow-orange jungle before her, she knew this might be the time all those skills he’d taught her came into play.

As her cage jerked again, tipping dangerously close to the edge, Cleo’s heart caught in her throat.

It was almost time.

Gripping the cage tight, her pulse beat in her throat as things her father taught her replayed in her head.

If your surroundings are harsh and dangerous, you’ll have three hours to survive without shelter, Cleo.

Three hours.

Maybe a little more with this metal weapon under her foot.

Why? Because she was going to use it to stab anyone or anything that stood in her way.

If she managed to survive the fall from the cart and reach the cover of the jungle, she’d have three days to live without water.

That’s three days to find water if the aliens didn’t come after her.

Staring at the orcs’ backs now, she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

They were huge and looked unfit.

She could outrun them.

She was sure of it.

Her father’s voice came into her head once more and she swallowed hard.

If you find water, Cleo, you’ll have three weeks to survive without food.

Fuck.

What she planned to do was hard enough if she’d been lost in the wilderness on Earth.

Only an insane person would contemplate executing this stupid, stupid plan.

The aliens operating the cart obviously didn’t think she was insane enough to throw herself off a moving cart. Otherwise, they would have restrained her better.

Well, they didn’t know Cleo Barlow.

Another jolt of the cart pushed her cage a little closer to the edge.

It was now or never.

Eyes on the green backs of the orcs at the head of the cart, Cleo took the piece of sharp metal from underneath her foot.

She’d have to hold it in her hand and hope it didn’t cut into her palm during the fall.

Bracing all her weight on the side of the cage that faced the road, she waited.

With her weight and the help of gravity, the next jolt would no doubt tip her over the edge.

Beside her, the little Chihuahua-monkey stared at her with interest, as if it knew what she was going to do.

She eyed the thing. It looked cute in a weird way, but she didn’t trust it.

She didn’t trust any of these aliens.

She could only hope the little creature didn’t raise an alarm and cause the big green aliens to look behind them.

Just one more jolt.

Just one more jol—.

She’d been waiting for it, but it was still unexpected.

—The sudden feeling of being off-kilter.

—The cage tilting past its center of gravity.

A yelp lodged in her throat as the cage tumbled from the cart and crashed into the ground below.

The pain was immediate as she landed on her shoulder, and she grit her teeth to stop from screaming.

Luck must have been on her side because the cage was rolling. Where she’d fallen off the cart was sloped ground and the metal contraption tumbled into the bushes.

She was vaguely aware of being thrown all around and not knowing which side was up or