Page 16 of Veras (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #2)

M y eyes popped open on a scream. Energy thrummed through me, desperate to get free. To destroy. To kill.

To cleanse.

A war brewed in my mind, my thoughts strangled by the Oro, overtaken by the fury of the Guardians. They whispered to me—and then roared. Their planet was dying, overrun by careless, abusive, and dangerous intruders—they needed to be taken care of.

They need to die .

I sat up, struggling to think, to use my brain and remind myself why I didn’t want this. Why I thought there was another way. Why the Guardians didn’t need to obliterate everyone. But the energy felt so good. I had control, and the Aavvee didn’t even know it.

Where am I? The heat of a giant blue sun baked me. I was alone, outside the arena, black sand as far as the eye could see with massive ebony mountains surrounding me.

All alone.

My body shook with power… and terror. I thought I was so smart. I didn’t know anything. Didn’t understand the power of the Oro. My small body was minuscule against this sheer size of the planet. Except, it’d granted me the ultimate gift. Power.

For a short time, I have the Aavvee’s destiny in the palm of my hand.

Inkonexo, the supreme, hundreds of guards, and, of course, the supreme’s harem, all watched from inside the U-shaped arena.

Behind the force field. I was outside with no protection.

They thought they were safe. But I knew, once the countdown clock came to an end, no force on this planet could stop the Guardians.

I felt a deep rumble under my feet, signaling the Guardians’ arrival. Eight beautiful golden spirals of wind and destruction barreled toward us. They’d grown in power since I’d last seen them—preparing for the destruction of the Aavvee.

I watched the group cowering in the arena.

You’re all dead. I breathed the words into their minds, perfectly translating the phrase so they heard the truth. I would watch them get obliterated by the winds.

The harem, most of the guards, and the supreme screamed and ran for their lives. They understood. They felt my power. But Inkonexo and a few other fools remained in place.

“Easy, Pet. You might want to control that temper.”

Why is that?

“Because I have something you want. Something you can’t live without. And unless you stop the Guardians, Veras will be as dead as the rest of us. I feel your power, but even you aren’t fast enough to stop me from frying him on the spot.”

Inkonexo held a staff to Veras’ neck. It could electrocute him before I took my first step. My alien had been beaten to within an inch of his life—eyes swollen shut, skin a mottled fuchsia against his golden hue.

Inkonexo doesn’t understand my strength.

I raised my hands, allowing the gale-force winds to surround me.

I harnessed their power in my palms and released a massive gust, knocking Inkonexo away from Veras.

I cushioned my alien’s unconscious body with a puff of wind to make sure he didn’t smash into the sand.

Before Inkonexo could stand, I swept my hands around and scooped him up, the air lifting him high.

He sped toward me, dangling in front of me. “Don’t threaten me. I don’t like it.”

“Let me down!” He struggled against my hold.

I finally saw Inkonexo for who he really was. How small he looked. How petty. “The Oro doesn’t love you anymore.”

“W-what?”

“That’s what this is all about.” I watched as the massive Guardians sped closer.

Inkonexo seared me with his gaze. We both knew I was right. It was the whole reason he killed his people and raped his planet. He’d been obsessed with the Oro, and it had abandoned him a long time before.

It sensed his madness.

It no longer flowed through him. That was why his marking had faded.

He never appreciated what he had, the gift he’d been granted.

The Oro had stripped him of any added abilities.

That was why he could only read minds through touch.

Why he hadn’t shifted into his natural form.

He’d been trapped in his Aavvee body when the Oro discovered his betrayal.

Now he was all alone.

“I will get it back! As soon as I return to the core. I’ll have it then!”

“No. You won’t. I won’t let you.” I flicked my hand, and he flew into the arena wall.

Inkonexo groaned as his body crumpled to the ground. He blinked open his eyes and then pointed behind me. “They’re here!” He stumbled to his feet, making it through the forcefield right before the Guardians arrived.

I spun around, awed by their power. The glittering tornadoes looked… ethereal. I needed them to see me and understand why they should help me. I held up my hand. “Stop!”

But they sped faster, about a football field away and closing in fast.

I thrummed with power, but I couldn’t channel it. I closed my eyes. Think about what Veras said about them. Think about what you said the last time you saw them. They were awesome. Indescribable. Terrifying. “You’re so beautiful,” I breathed the words, whispering just the way Nito had liked.

Nito. The sorrow of his loss penetrated me.

The Guardians slowed but kept coming. A vast dust storm enveloped the arena, but I swirled my hand to keep it away from me.

I felt drunk on the power of the Oro and watched as golden glitter danced in the dust. Some of the smaller tornadoes spun around the larger ones in glee.

I could feel their innocence. Their joy.

Please, beautiful ones. I need you to slow down while we figure this out.

Together. I don’t have the answers, but I want to beg for the lives of the good aliens on this planet.

Please. They slowed and circled me, the weight of their vengeance pressing on me.

I’d slowed them, but I didn’t know what to do.

Veras, I breathed the words into his mind, so only he could hear. Wake up. Please.

He was battered and broken but alive. Lost in his thoughts, his sorrow bathed me.

I understood for the first time his utter desolation.

The loss of his people, the guilt, and the weight of this responsibility on his beautiful shoulders.

I need your help. With the strength of the Oro coursing through my veins, I was as powerful as a thousand atomic bombs.

I could tear his brain apart with a flick of my fingers.

Not that I ever would. He was my treasure, my savior. He’d treated me with kindness, compassion, and love when I was the most vulnerable—when I’d been nothing more than a convenient pet, used for the leisure of a stupid and bloated supreme.

The gift of Nozaroc. The Oro. The Aavvee had squandered it, killing a whole race of people for financial and personal gain.

Please don’t shut me out. I tried to bypass Veras’ tempest of pain. I couldn’t do much more than sigh his name, because I was concentrating on keeping the Guardians back while communicating with him. It would only be a matter of time before the tornadoes destroyed the world.

Veras’ distance beat at me, and I needed help.

Everything, every sentient and non-sentient being on this planet, was connected through the Oro, and I felt their pain, their sorrow at what the Aavvee had done to their land.

I learned that the process they used to synthesize the Oro killed most of it while intensifying other parts.

A living entity, the whole planet, felt this destruction.

The Guardians cried out for vengeance, and I wanted to give it to them.

Veras, please. I need you. The chorus of the Guardians joined my own. But there was a dangerous edge to their pain, ready to destroy the invaders, prepared to cleanse the planet and begin anew without interference.

I began to forget all the reasons why I wanted to stop them: the army of clones, the humans—all lost to emotion. I shared their need for retribution.

Wipe the slate clean.

I glanced at Veras one last time. Wake up!

He blinked open his beautiful eyes and looked at me for the first time since his capture. “Truena?”

See me. I breathed and ripped open my mind to him, sharing it all, every single memory, every hurt, pain, the fear, the terror, and…

the plans—so many plans, and the final one that just might save us all.

But most of all, I shared my feelings. The trust and my despair at never being his almax .

My deceit, even with myself, about why fate hadn’t deemed me good enough.

Never good enough.

Veras’ eyes widened, golden beams of light streaming from his eyes and mouth. He bowed his back and screamed his pain. Too much.

I’d shared too much, and he couldn’t handle it.

The Guardians broke free of my hold and rushed forward. I was losing control.

“Stop this! If you do not, we all die.” Inkonexo screamed into the powerful winds buffering all of us.

Veras collapsed onto the ground, the bright light fading from his eyes. Dios , por favor, ayúdalo . Help him. Please don’t let me have killed him.

I’ve lost everyone. No one left. Nothing to live for. All gone. I’d lost everyone from Earth. Lost Nito. Without Veras, I’d be all alone. All alone. Always alone. Sola.

“Run! She’s lost control. It’s the end!” someone screamed from the arena.

The Guardians rushed me, engulfing me, sucking me into their loving grasp.

This is where I belong. This is where I need to be . We will destroy this planet. Together.