Twelve Days of Xanthus

He closed his eyes and paused to test something she couldn’t see or hear. A moment later, his eyes popped open.

“This is a marked improvement.”

“If the bands are affected by the cold, do you think they could be rendered obsolete by it as well?”

“I would freeze to death in the snow before that happened.”

“I have something else in mind.” The tires ate up the distance between them and her brother Sean, the chef. He had just the thing to break those cuffs on Xan’s arms if her idea worked. Mother Mary please let it be correct; it’s a matter of life or death.

§ § §

Kala pulled the white fur-lined robe closer around her shoulders and scowled. It’d taken them longer than she anticipated to track Xanthus to this God forsaken country. He was always too smart, her slave. It was why she’d kept him so long. The thought of his magnificent cock made her want to rethink her decision to execute him. He was thick, long, and knew how to hold off his orgasm until she was well satisfied. Her nipples stiffened as images of their love making danced around in her mind. That had never been a problem between him. The emotions that had begun to develop were. She peered out the ship’s domed window into the night sky. The cloaking device was far superior to anything the Earthlings possessed and hid them from view as well as sonar.

The sky here was so different from theirs, bright blue and full of white clouds. On Zenton, the sky was a deep burnt orange. Two suns and two moons blazed red in the day and purple at night. How she missed the soothing heat her land had to offer. They had only been in Canada for the better part of a day and the chill had seeped through her layers of clothing and into her bones. It was rumored that her race had been born of the goddess of fire long ago. She was inclined to believe it now. She felt sluggish and awkward. Inept was not a word she used in context to herself. Frustration tore a snarl from her. Oh, he would suffer for this. She spun away from the window, having had her fill of the fairy tale setting outside. Her shiny black boots clicked on the floor as she made her way to the pilot’s chair.

“Have you gotten a lock on them, Shara?”

“No, my Queen. The cold makes his bands and our equipment malfunction. His signal is very week and our calculations constantly change.”

She nodded. Her crew was the best Zenton had to offer, they were doing everything in their power to find him, but it wasn’t enough.

“Continue to monitor him! He’ll come out of the cold at some point and I want to be there to greet him when he leaves.

“Of course, my Queen.”

She clasped her hands behind her back and stood over their shoulders as they returned to scanning for his signature signal.

§ § §

Their vehicle pulled off the highway and they drove into a city. He understood the reasoning, more people meant better cover, but it seemed like a coward’s way out. A true warrior faced his threat head on.

“What are you doing?”

“Executing my plan.”

He wrinkled his brow. “This is not a game, Violet.”

“Trust me, I know that. You said cold scrambles the signal. Well there’s nothing colder than liquid nitrogen. My brother Sean is a chef, and currently he’s experimenting with Asian fusion, which means he’s got canisters of nitrogen on hand. Normally it’s too dangerous to handle without gloves, but with your alien magic you should be able to transfer it directly onto your arm bands.”

He struggled to keep up as the chip inside is head fed him information. What she said seemed sound. It was a risk but a calculated one. Violet pulled into a parking spot in front of a building that had the words O’ Shea’s scrawled in elegant black lettering on the white sign.

“I’ll just be a second. I don’t want to put my family in harm’s way if I can avoid it.”

She opened her door and hurried inside leaving him alone. He tapped his fingers on the console and leaned forward. He didn’t like being apart from Violet right now or sitting out in the open like this. She returned promptly with a silver canister he prayed would be the key to his freedom. She placed the canister in the back seat, returned to the driver seat, and pulled off.

“What do we do now?” he asked.

“We go to an abandoned building I know of and see if this thing works. The temperature inside is cold and there’s no one around.”

“Good, because a manipulation of this magnitude will give off an energy signature that’ll be visible.”

She cast an interested glance in his direction. An eerie silence fell in the car and his heart began to accelerate. Soon this would all come to an end. He only hoped fortune would choose this one time to smile on him. A run down gray building with blown out windows loomed in the middle of a giant, empty, black topped parking lot. She parked close to the door and they exited. Driving with the windows down had taken its toll, regardless of the gloves and warm clothing. His muscles were stiff as they excited the vehicle and entered the building through the back entrance.

“Take care, Violet, I’ve never come into contact with this chemical so this is a bit of trial and error.”

She did as he asked and he closed his eyes. He sent his senses out, learning the compound, the capabilities, and the feel of the substance. When he had a good lock on it all, he stripped down to a bare chest. His teeth chattered and his breath curled out in front of him in a white puff. A brilliant blue hue fell over the open space as he opened the lid with his powers and brought just a few ounces out of the canister to set on the manacles that bound him. He grimaced as the manacle hardened and a cold so harsh it burned settled onto the flesh of his arms beneath. He continued to add more nitrogen until an ominous creak sounded and the band on his left arm shattered and fell to the floor followed close by the one on his right.

“We did it. Oh my God! We actually did it!”