Page 121 of Exiles on Earth

“I guess my friends could cope after all.”

He nuzzles my hair. “Because you led them well. Same as my crew; they knew what to do even in my absence.”

I can tell that heals something deep inside him, a warm glow in my chest to match his happiness.

“Ready to reinvigorate this farm?” I ask him quietly.

“More than ready to tackle this adventure with you,” he says, eyes shining with devotion.

And damn if that doesn’t go straight to my head. I’mprobably giving him a goofy smile as I slide my hand into his, and I melt when he gives my fingers a reassuring squeeze with his strong ones.

We really can face anything together.

He squeezes his arms around me, then raises one hand to touch his forehead. “It’s Nevare. Something’s amiss.”

Of course. “Let’s get down there, now.”

The craft hovers over the farmhouse and touches down in the garden, next to the remains of the orange spaceship which brought so much calamity—and my mate—to my land. The purple aliens run into the garden, staring up at us and moving in lockstep toward the door as the ship touches down, and next to them is?—

“Laura.” I grin, but it quickly fades. My friend’s blonde, salon-styled hair is damp, scraggly wisps framing her face. She looks… mussed.

Laura is never mussed.

Once the ship lands, the door shivers, cubes rattling as they reform into a ramp, and I run down it and straight into Laura. We collide, laughing and crying, my stomach somersaulting. I’d missed my besties. I guess Arabella’s in the house, and I expect her to come barrelling out of the door any second now.

Except she doesn’t.

Ilia follows at a more sensible pace, the starhounds behind him. He smiles at me in Laura’s crushing embrace.

“Nice to see you again,” Laura tells him over my shoulder, then gapes at the starhounds. “Is that Floss?”

“Yep!” I fondle her ears. ‘Welcome home,’ I tell her mentally.

‘It’s good to be home, but… there’s worry here.’

Laura holds me out at arm’s length, all business. “Right, I’d love to catch up, but Arabella is out there, somewhere in the rain.”

Shit.