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Just like that, three men will have walked into my life, made me shudder, and then disappeared.

Those three Aurelians aren’t just men – huge, muscular, powerful men…

To me, they’re the outside world. They’re danger. Excitement. Adventure. They’re everything I’ve ever lacked in my life. They represent everything I’ve everwantedin my life.

So, I have to see them one last time. I stand on tiptoes to peer at a sharper angle out of the window, making myself as small as possible against the window frame.

The door slams shut below.

Three figures crunch across the gravel beneath me.

I peer down at the three Aurelians – and I feel almost disappointed when they don’t turn and look up at my bedroom window.

The leader of the Aurelians had eyes that were so piercing – slate grey and dull, yet filled with intensity at the same time.

So…Alien.

Yes, the leader of the Aurelians hadalieneyes – without any humanity behind them. Reading and learning about Aurelians had foolishly made me feel like I knew them; but I realize now I had no idea.

There was nothing human behind the leader’s eyes – and it made me realize that while this alien species might look like massive, marble-skinned men; they’re not justmen. They’re something different, with unfathomable motives and legendary desires motivating their magnificent bodies.

The three Aurelians don’t look back. The gates ahead of them open, and the three warriors step through, leaving my little world and taking part of me with them as they do so.

The stone gates finally slide shut behind them with a thud. The tension suddenly leaves my body. I practically melt in the windowsill. Seeing those three warriors reminds me how much I still want to experience the other side of those walls. How much I still want adventure and excitement.

I want all of those things – just not in my home.

Having those Aurelians here violated the one thing this estate provides me with – a sense of safety and security.

There was nothing safe and secure about those three.

I thought I’d known what to expect from an Aurelian – but when my father welcomed them through the gates, it was like witnessing three deities descending to the mortal world.

No human is that tall, that wide, or that muscular – not all at the same time, without an ounce of fat on their marble-skinned bodies.

I reluctantly pull myself from the window and clamber into my bed, shivering despite the warm summer air that wisps through my window.

The knock on the door makes me jump. “Yes?”

“Nat. Dinner time. The guests have gone.”

Dinner?

Food is the last thing on my mind right now.

I’m not hungry, but I still pull myself from my bed, splash water on my face in my bathroom, and finally join my father downstairs.

We eat a meal cooked by robots, served by robots, and guarded by robots.

My father might as well be a robot too, given the way he silently sits there and chews his food. There’s a new strain in my father’s eyes. His wrinkles look deeper than usual. He’stired.

I wish he’d just sell the damn Orb deposits and get this cursed chapter of our life over with.

As I take my seat at the table, I try to keep my voice light and even.

I spread a napkin across my lap and innocently ask: “Those were Aurelians, weren’t they, father?” I pick up my fork. “What did they want?”

My father picks at a piece of meat, then sets it down, forgetting to even put it in his mouth.