“What’s going on?” Celine panted, trying to catch her breath after the sprint. “What’s happening?”
I turned to her and, in English, explained. “The Novai sent in a scouter, a small ship with fast speed and the ability to fit in narrow spaces. A General and some Novain warriors are in the palace with a couple of Elders.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. Are they…not attacking?”
I looked at Khrel for the answer. In harsh syllables, he told her, “Thus far, there has been no bloodshed, but it is too early to be certain what their intentions are.”
“So, what, we sit around and wait to see if they start firing?” she demanded. I could see her fear rising to the surface again, but it was tempered by impatience. For once, I understood how she felt and why waiting was so difficult. The unknown was significantly more unnerving than imminent danger.
Again, I let Khrel address the question. He was staring at the palace as if waiting to see beams of bullets shooting through the windows, but he responded. “We wait for orders from our Elders.” Then, speaking once more in A’li-uud, he said to me, “Go, take her to the bunker. I will wait.”
“She stays with me,” I told him in a hiss.
He looked at me as if I had sprouted a second head. “She is a liability.”
“I will not leave her to wonder if I am coming back,” I insisted furiously. “She will come with us.”
Khrel glanced critically at Celine, who stared back at him with the defiance I had grown to recognize, before shaking his head and starting toward the palace. I squeezed her hand reassuringly and whispered, “Do not leave my side.”
“Where are we going?” she queried anxiously.
I raised my gaze to the palace. “To meet the Novai.”
30
Celine
They were horrifying to look at, even more so than the grotesque images my mind had cooked up while spending all those days in the underground bunker. The Novai General stood a few inches taller than the A’li-uud and sported the same well-muscled build, but his skin was sickly white, and his face looked as if it had been squashed to a pulp and thrown into a blender. Deep, angry lines creased downward from his hairline in thick ridges, curving upward at the cheeks before descending along the jawbone. Where there should have been eyes, there appeared only to be blank skin of the same translucent white as the rest of his face, and his nose was disproportionately flat. The only thing that appeared normal on the mangled visage was his mouth. The warriors behind him, of which there were four, were identical to him in general features but had variations in their ridges and nose shapes. They were equally as tall and equally as muscular as their leader.
Dane and the Pentaban Elder stood across the room from them, and Dane was making a horrible screeching sound with his mouth wide open that sounded identical to the noises that had awoken me. I tightened my hold on Lokos’ hand, searching unknowingly for comfort, and he squeezed my fingers back with as much reassurance as he could offer without words. He was tense beside me, every muscle flexed, and his eyes fixed on the Novai, but he leaned down slightly to whisper in my ear.
“Dane is ordering them to call off their troops,” he intoned.
I gaped at him and whispered back, “You can understand that?”
“Yes. He is speaking Novain.” When I continued to stare at him open-mouthed, he added, “A’li-uud speak whatever language is spoken to them.”
“I know that, but…” I looked back at the exchange. “I guess it’s more impressive when it’s a language other than English.”
We were standing in a tucked-away corner of the grand foyer. Upon our entrance, Dane had said something to Lokos in A’li-uud, and Lokos had inclined his head before pulling me into the corner. When I asked, he told me softly that they were attempting to negotiate a deal in which no blood would be spilled and they wanted to appear as unthreatening as they could so Dane asked that Lokos and Khrel remain back. It sounded ridiculous to me; after all, even if they struck some sort of truce, what was stopping the Novai from double-crossing them?
The Novain General emitted a godawful screech in response to Dane, who squawked back almost immediately. There was suddenly a rapid-fire exchange between the two that made my ears hurt from the high-pitched frequencies darting back and forth across the room.
“The General does not want to order his troops to stand down,” Lokos continued quietly. “Dane told him we were prepared for a fight, and the General said they are too. Dane reminded him our numbers are exponentially greater than theirs and told him they made a mistake by sending a threat ahead of their ships because it gave us time to prepare for their arrival.”
I was still worried about the possibility of a battle breaking out, but I was quickly being overtaken by fascination. It was a lot like watching a foreign film with a translator rather than subtitles, and, so far, there were no signs of active aggression on either side.
“The General admits the threat was an attempt to intimidate us into vacating the planet without the use of force,” Lokos went on. “They have been scouting Albaterra for almost a year and have determined it is nearly a twin to their home planet. The Novain leaders hoped a threat to the safety of our race would stimulate our evacuation, but, as it has not, they—”
His voice stopped abruptly, and the word hung in mid-air without legs. I heard the syllable fall, unfinished, and looked at him expectantly for more information, but he was staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the exchange before us. The screeching between the General and Dane continued, and I itched to know what they were saying.
“What?” I whispered urgently, prodding his arm. “What’s happening?”
“They want to colonize here,” he breathed.
If a breeze had blown through the elegant foyer at that very moment, I would have fallen over. “What?” I hissed, stunned.
“They are willing to work with us to live alongside us as the humans do.” He was translating automatically now, his voice monotone and his eyes glazed over as his mind focused on the news that also had me speechless. “Their only wish is to call Albaterra home.”
I stared at the mountain scape surrounding me and breathed in. The harsh, crisp air prickled my nose and burned my throat, but I loved it. Spreading my arms out, I spun around in a circle as fast as I could just to feel the sear of the icy wind on my face.
“What are you doing?” Donna yelled with a laugh, whipping a hunk of snow at me. It bounced off my hip and fell to the ground in crumbles.
“I’m vowing never to leave Montemba again!” I called back to her. I dropped to my knees, ignoring the immediate wetness that seeped through my jeans, and dug my hands into the snowbank like shovels.
Suddenly, I was thrown forward. My face burrowed into the snowbank, instantly tightening my skin with freeze, and my breath snapped in my chest. When I sat up, sputtering, I saw an angular jaw and telling white eyes above me.
“Never let your guard down,” Lokos said with his characteristic shadow of a grin on his lips.
I squealed and launched myself at him. My shoulder connected with his abdomen, which was so hard that it actually hurt, and he let me topple him over until he fell on his back into a cushion of snow, pulling me down on top of him. Our mouths met, and the heat of his lips against my frozen ones sent a shiver down my spine.
“I’m so glad to be back,” I said giddily when we broke apart.
He bounced me slightly with his legs. “Oh? I would have thought you were more of a cabin floor kind of woman.”
I made a face at him and laughed. “I’m an anywhere kind of woman, if you’re the man who’s with me,” I said, tapping his nose with mine.
He purred and kissed me briefly again.
“When can I get out of the dorm?” I asked, glancing at the familiar building behind me.
“Today, if you would like,” Lokos replied. He nuzzled my neck and nibbled my lower lip. “I certainly would like for you to be in my bed tonight.”
“What about the Novai? Don’t I have to stay there until the Elders decide they can be trusted?”
He looked at me seriously, then. “Celine, first and foremost, you will be no better protected than when you are living with me.” The intense rasp in his voice made me shudder with lust, and the protectiveness emanating from him made my heart swoon. “Second, the Elders have already made their decision. The Novai are permitted to send one ship, and one ship only, of colonists on a trial basis. I thought I told you this.”
“You did, but I thought that meant that the Elders still didn’t trust them,” I said uncertainly.
“The Elders do not trust the Novai,” he affirmed. “But the Council feels the A’li-uud made grievous errors in judgment last year, as well as failed to uphold the moral standards of our race. They wish to right their wrongs. Allying with humans has been a step in that direction, but they feel they must be open to all outsiders if they are to truly embrace the values of the A’li-uud.”
“That sounds a little like wishful thinking to me,” I told him musingly.
Lokos chuckled. “Perhaps, but our history as a race has always been one of acceptance and good intentions. The Council is trying to get that back.”
A smile spread across my lips, and I wriggled on top of him as I exclaimed, “So I get to move in with you today!”
“Yes, you do.” He returned my smile with a dangerous one of his own, and I felt heat flash in my nether region. “And I will have you all to myself.” His hot, hungry lips found mine once more, and he whispered, “You belong to me, little human.”
Badass Luke
Private Bonus Story
Thank you for taking this journey to Albaterra world with me. The connection we formed during this book is something powerful and intimate that I will cherish forever.
If you would like to connect with me on a deeper, more personal level, I have prepared a sexual flirtatious secret bonus story that is designed to be a fantasy between you any my badass alien, Luke!
The story is called Luke, and you can get it for free by sending me an email with a link or screenshot of your review for this book. Make the subject of your email Badass Luke.
My email is [email protected]. I read every message and I look forward to receiving yours.
With Love
Ashley L. Hunt
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Khrel
Bonus Sneak Peak
1
Khrel
I had always loved Pentaba most after the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky became strokes of star-speckled cobalt. The insects plaguing the bogs slowed their afternoon chirpings to gentle lullabies, and the reedy foliage swayed with the breath of the breeze to their tune. The weight of the marshy humidity ebbed into cool dampness, allowing my lungs to fill without hindrance. Even the skinny-trunked swamp trees tamed, their boughs relaxing and their leaves quieting in slumber. It was comfortable, peaceful.
Lately, however, nightfall brought little more than tension and anxiety to my beloved kingdom. The moment the sun’s final rays waned into nothingness, citizens stretching from the northernmost border to the southernmost blockaded their doors and closed their windows, preferring to forego the comfort of whispering winds on their cheeks for a sleep of sound mind. I did not blame them. I had not slept well in months, either.
This particular evening, as Pentabans across the nation were hunkering themselves in for the night, I strolled the outer border of a towering spiked fence. It was constructed with the bodies of seven-year-old swamp trees, each raw trunk sanded flat on either side to lie flush against its neighbors, and I was thus unable to see the small community within its walls. I did not need to see inside. I knew who resided there. I could recall their mangled ghostly faces as clearly as if one had appeared before me, and I knew without being told it was their presence in our land that kept my people disquieted. The screeches and groans that rose from the guarded camp were enough to unsettle even the bravest of A’li-uud.
A face emerged from the darkness, but it was not the twisted blanched face of my mind. It was richly teal and shimmering, the eyes milky and the chin pointed. Strands of luminous silver hair cascaded past the oblong shape to squared, muscled shoulders and drifted to their end just above a carved abdomen. I inclined my head in greeting.
“Good evening, Chief,” he said, returning my nod with one of his own. “It is a rare privilege to see you on patrol.”
He spoke in a series of rapid clacks, his tongue snapping and popping across his palate. If any of the creatures behind the fence were attempting to eavesdrop, they would have heard nothing intelligible, but I understood the language perfectly and responded in kind.
“Hello, Xam. I trust all is well.”
“They are quiet tonight.” He flicked his gaze to the fence beside us. “The humans are relieved, but many of the A’li-uud are unnerved. I personally find their silence ominous.”
“Have they made any requests?”
“Only an additional crate of luffa fruit,” he replied.
I frowned and looked at the fence. It was as still and sturdy as ever, but the reassurance it offered in nights prior had dissipated in the absence of the disconcerting sounds I had grown accustomed to hearing. I had been amongst the many who opposed the Council’s approval for the camp, and I feared now my doubts would be proven well-founded.
Xam, too, was staring at the barricade, but his eyes were wide and probing as if he intended to see through the solid logs to the activity within. “I do not trust them,” he admitted stonily. His hand flitted around the gaar’kon gun dangling from his hip.
“There are very few who do,” I said, instinctively tapping my own gaar’kon. “The Novai have spent centuries making enemies and neglecting alliances. Every planet they have visited has been reduced to shambles in their wake. I suspect we are the first to live side-by-side with them since they became space-bound.”
“Perhaps with good reason,” Xam muttered darkly.
“Perhaps,” I agreed. “The Elders feel we have lost our way as a race and are becoming the very things we scorn. They believe permitting the Novai to establish a colony on Albaterra is a step toward redemption.”
The skepticism on Xam’s face was evident even through the obscurity of eventide, but he maintained measured respect in his tone as he asked, “What do you believe, Chief?”
“I believe in the Elders,” I said at once. “As should you. Their sole dedication is to the preservation and fulfillment of the A’li-uud.”
He lowered his head in acquiescence, but his aura was still pungent with dubiety. I did not attempt to further persuade him. Compared to most Pentabans, Xam’s sentiments toward the Novai were mild, and I bore some of the same misgivings myself. The only reason I kept them subdued was because my role as War Chief required constant support for Sevani, Pentaba’s Elder, and by extension the Council as a whole. If I were to waver, the entire framework of Albaterra’s leadership could crumble apart at the destructive hands of panic and disorder.
As if to demonstrate the potential chaos, a great boom burst from the center of the camp. Smoke rolled in opaque billows toward the leafy canopies above and masked the pockets of visible sky. Screeches rattled the air in wild, raucous resonance, piercing the peace and searing my ears. A second boom closely followed the first before a sequence of cracks and claps erupted with unruly pandemonium, and the screeches doubled in number.
My gaar’kon was in my hand instantly. Despite the commotion behind the
wall, the only movement to be seen was the shivering of the swamp trees and the ripples on the murky water of the nearest bog. Xam spun on the spot with his weapon drawn, searching for any sign of threat, but there were none.
“Fetch Qula,” I ordered over the furor. “He is stationed at the Polder Quarter. Remain armed, and do not alarm the humans.”
“You do not intend to investigate alone?” Xam exclaimed, jerking his head toward the fence for emphasis.
“Only until you return with Qula. Go. Now.”
Xam stared at me for a breath, clearly unsure if he should obey my command or stubbornly remain at my aid. I narrowed my eyes dangerously. With a paltry grunt of discontent, he relented and whisked into the night-shadowed trees with his gun poised and ready.
I clutched the gaar’kon close to my body and hovered my finger over the trigger as I sidled along the camp’s curved boundary. The Novai inside were still shrieking, the explosive bangs still fracturing the tranquility of the late hour, but I was unwilling to wait for Xam and Qula to accompany me, especially given the violent nature of the sounds coming from within the walls. It was nearly impossible to see the ground beneath my feet, but the beaded lights on my gun indicated its full charge with flashes of vibrant aqua, and I focused on the tiny halos around them as I walked.
Lokos: A Scifi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 4 Page 13