Nina sighed and put the cloth back in the water.
“My dad had a friend once who liked to go hunting—Uncle Jerry we called him. Dad went with him on a trip to Alaska to do some photography. I was little at the time, only eight, but I still remember when my father came home he hugged me so hard it hurt…and he cried. My dad never cries, but that one time he did.”
“Because…?” Reddix nodded for her to go on.
“Basically because during the trip, he thought he was never going to see me again.”
“What happened?”
“Dad and Uncle Jerry were attacked by a Kodiak bear up there—a kind of really big grizzly. They can get over nine feet tall on their hind legs, and they’re massive.” She shivered again. “I heard my dad telling my mom about it later. He got up into a tree in time, but his friend wasn’t fast enough and neither one of them had their rifles. Dad saw the whole thing. I can still remember him saying, ‘It ripped his fucking head off, baby. I sat up there in that tree while it gnawed on Jerry like a dog with a chew toy, and I couldn’t do a Goddamn thing to stop it.’” Nina shook her head. “I was just a kid, and I really liked Uncle Jerry. I used to have these nightmares about what happened to him, and later I had dreams about a talking bear. Maybe that’s why Mehoo-Jimmy says the bear is my spirit animal.”
She wiped her face with her free hand, and Reddix realized she was crying a little. Normally he hated to be around anyone having emotional trauma—sorrow and grief pierced him like knives and made his stomach feel like it was filled with sharp, pointy rocks. His first reaction when someone started crying was to get away. But sitting here with Nina, still unable to feel her emotions, he was able to have emotions of his own other than just the need to make a quick escape. He felt…sympathy for her. Empathy, even.
“It’s hard to lose someone you love violently,” he offered in a low voice. “One of my favorite uncles died in a duel when I was eleven cycles old. It was…difficult to say goodbye to him.”
“Yeah, well…” Nina sniffed. “Sorry, it’s crazy to get all emotional about it now. I think it’s just all the stress I’ve been through today.”
“You mean all the stress from being kidnapped and flown through a wormhole and crashed on an alien world?” Reddix said dryly.
“Well…yeah.” She gave a short, surprised laugh. “You know, now that you’re not being all dark and mysterious and scary and grumpy, you’re actually pretty easy to talk to.”
“Now that you’ve got me where you want me, you mean.” Reddix raised an eyebrow at her and rattled the restraints against the metal bar. “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.” Nina sounded completely unrepentant as she finished cleaning his face and dropped the cloth back into the bowl of water. “And that’s where you’re going to stay.” She rose, holding the bowl of water. “I’m going to dump this and then come back and make some supper—providing we have anything to make.”
“The ship is fully stocked,” Reddix assured her. “I made certain of that before I stole it.”
Her eyes widened, and then she nodded as though nothing he did would surprise her.
“All right then. I’ll come back and make us some supper. Maybe with a full stomach, you’ll stop being such a bear.”
“Maybe,” Reddix said noncommittally. “But I wouldn’t count on it, Nina. We have a saying on my home planet of Tarsia—a vishneer can’t change its colorations.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Considering I have no idea what a vishneer is, that still makes a lot of sense.”
“It’s the Tarsian version of a bear, and it’s just as deadly as your Kodiak,” Reddix told her quietly. “Think about that, Nina. Think carefully before you decide I’m friendly and ‘easy to talk to.’ I took you from Earth for my own selfish purposes, and I have no intention of letting you go until I get what I need.”
He didn’t know why he felt the need to warn her—maybe because she was getting too close, getting under his skin. But he couldn’t let her believe he was harmless—not when he still desperately needed what only her sacrifice could get him. No matter how lovely or compassionate she was, he still had every intention of taking her to the swamp witch to get his cure. It wouldn’t be honorable or right to let her think otherwise.
Nina turned pale for a moment but then simply nodded.
“I won’t forget,” she said and walked away, carrying the bowl of water carefully.