Page 52 of Alien Assassin's Heir

CHAPTER 13

LUNA

Something’s different in him. I can feel it in the way he moves around me, quieter than usual, like there’s a storm brewing behind those molten eyes. He holds himself tighter, his jaw flexing when he thinks I’m not looking, his voice softer, almost cautious. I try to tell myself it’s just scars resurfacing. War doesn’t leave anyone clean. He’s fought longer than I can even comprehend—maybe silence is just what he clings to when the ghosts get too loud.

But unease gnaws at me.

By midday, my compad buzzes with a notification that makes my stomach drop: Helios Combine has dispatched a VIP to Wildwood for an inspection. Efficiency stats, supply throughput, traffic analysis. Nothing on the official note explainswhy. Wildwood isn’t important enough for anyone in a suit to waste time on.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Grinna mutters from her desk across the office, her grizzled gray hair pulled back in a messy braid. She’s chewing on a dried fruit stick, squinting at her own terminal. “Exec’s team came through yesterday, sniffing around.”

“What’d they want?” I ask, trying to keep my voice casual as I scroll through the manifest logs.

“Energy consumption patterns. Traffic spikes. Even asked about private courier pings.” Grinna snorts, tossing the fruit stick wrapper into the recycler. “Like anyone out here’s important enough to spy on.”

My pulse jumps. Couriers. My fingers tighten on the console edge. “Did you give them anything?”

“They’ve got clearance,” she says with a shrug. “Didn’t stop me from keeping copies, though.”

That makes two of us. By the time my shift ends, I’ve already started compiling my own set of reports on a private stick drive. My gut tells me something about this isn’t right. I learned the hard way not to ignore my gut.

When I get home, the sight that greets me both steadies me and unsettles me more.

Kraj’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, his massive frame hunched forward, his claws tapping the ground in rhythm. Solie sits across from him, giggling so hard her cheeks glow.

“Again! Again!” she squeals.

He grins, his voice shifting into a perfect mimic of hers: “Again! Again!” The sound is uncanny, her exact cadence but pitched lower, rolling out of his throat in a growl that makes the hairs on my arms stand up.

Solie gasps, delighted. She scrunches her nose and, for just a flicker, her skin shimmers—light rippling across her arms like sunlight on scales. For a heartbeat, her complexion deepens into bronze with faint glints of red. Then it’s gone, replaced by her usual pale glow.

But it was there. Longer. Smoother. More controlled than ever before.

My heart stutters.

“Solie,” I say sharply.

She freezes, wide-eyed, her little hands clasped tight in her lap. “Sorry, Mama.”

I crouch in front of her, smoothing back her hair. My voice softens, but it still shakes. “Sweetheart, we talked about this. No tricks where people can see, remember?”

“Yes, Mama,” she whispers. Her golden eyes flick to Kraj, uncertain.

I force a smile and kiss her forehead. “Go wash up for dinner.”

She scampers off, humming again like nothing happened, her little footsteps echoing down the hall.

Silence settles heavy in the room.

When I straighten, Kraj’s staring at me. Not at me, exactly. At the space Solie left behind. At the air still charged with the echo of what just happened. His eyes are wide, his jaw taut, his claws flexing against his knees.

For a second, I think he’s going to say something. Demand an explanation. Accuse me of keeping secrets.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, his gaze lifts to mine, and something flickers there—recognition, maybe, or worry, or something deeper I can’t put a name to.

The silence between us is louder than any argument. My throat feels tight, my chest heavier with each breath. I don’t move. He doesn’t either.