Page 2 of Veras (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #2)

T he supreme shuffled out of the room and handed me off to one of his guards. The head Aavvee kept a tight hold around my collar, his long talons scraping my neck as I lurched alongside him.

We walked through familiar tunnels. My home these past years.

The inside of the mountains consisted of flaky black rock lined with phosphorescent gold.

The Oro thrived in every mineral, plant, and living being on this planet.

Yet the Aavvee put it through a lengthy process to make it much more potent.

My thighs shook as I shuffled down the path.

I was tempted to stand up straight and fuck the pretense.

Just blow my cover, punch the guard in the mouth—the alien equivalent of a kick to the balls—and make a break for it.

Except I’d worked so hard for the tiniest bit of control in this hellhole.

Plus, I’d die. Almost immediately. There was nowhere to escape.

Calm down, boba. You can do this. Yes, the supreme may eviscerate me on a whim, but I hadn’t survived this long by giving up.

I needed to do what I did best. Plan my way out of this.

These Aavvee didn’t know it, but the timid little human, the one they laughed at and described as weak, soft, and stupid , had a plan. In fact, I had two.

The first was to find a way home. If they brought me here, they could bring me back.

The second plan—and to be honest, I hadn’t made even the smallest dent in achieving the first one—was to take over the planet.

Total world domination. I was smart and capable, and so underestimated it was laughable.

Most of the aliens assumed I couldn’t even speak, let alone plan, or plot, or own their asses.

It didn’t matter how long I fought. I was determined to succeed or die trying.

The group came up to massive outer doors made of an eerie silver metal that had the consistency of butter but was somehow impenetrable. The last barrier to a giant arena turned auction block, housing every exotic creature the universe could conceive.

The guard paused and tapped his five-foot staff on the ground. All the guards carried them. The long metal canes operated simple technology like locks and food dispensers. But they were also deadly weapons. This planet was an odd mix of sophisticated and basic.

As predicted, the guard couldn’t maneuver the complicated staff. Most of them were hopeless with advanced technology. It was a puzzle I’d flipped over in my mind, day in and out, and the only thing I could come up with…this wasn’t the Aavvee’s home planet either.

I didn’t belong here. But neither do they.

Unlike the Aavvee, I couldn’t afford to skate by. It had taken me six months to figure out how to operate the blender, where I liquified all of the aliens’ food. However, only three months after that, I’d mastered the staff and door locks.

Not that I’d let any of them know that.

Inkonexo stomped over and grabbed the staff out of the guard’s hand.

He kicked the alien’s knee out and ran his fingers down the device so quickly and smoothly, I almost couldn’t track the movement with my eyes.

This alien… he wasn’t like the other girls .

He was a special snowflake I hadn’t figured out.

The massive doors melted open. My jaw dropped.

The foreign sounds and smells were so intense, I couldn’t process them.

The background chirps and trills, and the roars all blended together.

The paltry amount of Oro in my system only processed individual conversations, so in a crowd this size, I was lost.

Caged animals screamed and pawed, butting their heads against invisible walls.

They ranged in size from house cat to elephant.

A hooting bunch of monkey-sized creatures with silky, black fur lined in gold—the exact pattern of the surrounding mountains—hooted and fluttered wings far too small for their roly-poly bodies.

I fell in love. Instantly.

Another yank on my collar kept me looking ahead.

Shoomp. Shoomp. Shoomp . The sound rattled my eardrums.

“Look- look . Our people arrive. To- to watch my triumph.” The supreme clapped and tip-toed toward the stage.

As we got closer, the shoomps increased in volume, and I saw spiraling holes suspended in air. No, not holes, neatly lined up ovals floating in the sky, like twisted looking glasses. Aavvee, dressed in multicolored capes, popped through in rows of tens.

These bird-brain aliens traveled through portals! Travelling inside the planet to serve the supreme, I’d encountered a few portals. But until today, I’d never been let outside, never been given the opportunity to see how the Aavvee arrived on the planet. Never realized they reached off planet.

Before I could jam that piece of information into my loosely formed master plan, we came to a giant stage and were hustled onto floating platforms that carried us to the top of the massive dais.

The guards shoved me to the side, and the supreme paced the large space.

He lifted his hands, and his personal harem of Aavvee surrounded him.

About twenty of them. There was no real way to know if they were male or female unless they opened their mouths, and even then, I wasn’t quite sure about the anatomy.

The harem fawned over the supreme, running their rubbery tongues over his arms and stomach.

It was a show of power. The Aavvee streaming through the portals paused to watch the show, while others examined the caged beasts.

In a matter of minutes, thousands chirped and trilled, surrounding the stage.

My heart slammed in my chest. I couldn’t take a full breath.

On earth, I’d fashioned my life around order and control.

I was an administrative assistant by day and an MBA student by night.

I loved organization. I’d tried to create some structure in this world, anything , but it was virtually impossible.

For years, I’d lived inside dusty tunnels, scraping and begging for every opportunity.

And now, being outside could be a real chance to learn something new , but I was too overwhelmed to do anything.

Too confused to think. Should I hover near the supreme in case he needed me?

Should I stay away? Was this my chance to escape?

But how? The stone stage was several stories high, and I had no way to operate the floating platforms without a staff.

The all too familiar stench of the Aavvee’s dick-mouths, along with the sheer number of aliens, overwhelmed me. I couldn’t breathe. No matter how much air I sucked in—it wouldn’t pass through my closed throat. My lungs felt like they’d burst.

I’m going to die.

I’M GOING TO DIE!

Right before I collapsed, a soft breeze tickled my cheek. I bit back a sob. With the supreme busy with his harem, no one noticed me crawling to a corner of the stage. I held up a hand and let my only friend on this filthy planet caress my fingers.

El viento, or Nito, as I liked to call him, was softer than a breath, the silkiest whisp of wind, who always found me at my weakest moments.

I knew with every fiber of my being that Nito was alive, sentient, and devoted to me.

I silently gulped in air, feeling my knotted muscles relax second by second.

The wisp of wind flew up my arm and burrowed in my hair at the nape of my neck.

Hi, Nito .

Three soft gusts blasted my ear, right where it tickled me most, and my dark thoughts eased. His way of saying hello reduced my panic. Touch, from a soft breeze, centered me.

What would I do without you? I blew him a kiss. I never spoke aloud because bringing attention to my mouth only brought trouble, but Nito loved the feel of my breath, and I couldn’t resist.

He went into overdrive, zipping around my body, under and over the dirty sack that clothed me. Carajo, I would shank my best friend for a shower.

Eventually, my heart rate slowed, allowing me to readjust my thinking. An opportunity had fallen into my lap. I’d been allowed outside of these endless mountains for the very first time since my abduction. I was too smart to let the chance go.

Wake up and pay attention.

“Welcome- come .” The supreme spread his arms wide and waited for a response from the crowd.

The only problem? The Aavvee couldn’t hear him.

The guards had messed up again and hadn’t activated his microphone.

The supreme dismissed his harem and waved a three-fingered hand to the guard who fumbled with the staff.

“Fix- fix this,” he hissed at pretty much everyone on the stage.

I hesitated a fraction of a second, reluctant to reveal my knowledge about the mechanics of this place.

But when I saw the leader’s feathers frill, I crawled over to the guard and showed him where to press, gliding my hand over the buttons on the side of the staff.

The alien technology thrummed with power.

I’d spent countless nights dreaming about what I could do if I ever got my hands on one of those powerful devices. I scooted away and caught Inkonexo watching me. Far too closely. My heart slammed against my ribcage.

An electric hum signaled success, and the supreme spoke to his tribe of thousands, filling almost every inch of the massive stadium. They’d cleared the grounds, and the spectators crammed themselves in the floating seats surrounding the stage.

“I have promised you much. Today- day is the day we discover the mysteries of this planet.”

A crackling rumble broke through the massive arena, causing the Aavvee to twitter and flutter their feathers.

A seam grew above our heads, spreading into a giant crack in the forcefield above.

Heat blasted us. The giant blue sun, appearing close enough to touch, peeked out from behind fuchsia clouds caught in fierce winds.

Besides the imposing black mountains, desolation stretched as far as the eye could see.

No animals, no plant life—nothing but ebony sand.

The violent beauty of this planet made me tremble.

“Watch- watch !” The supreme pointed up to the heavens.

A craft grew from a dot in the sky to the size of a small freighter. Gleaming silver blinded me for a second, reflecting the intense glare of the sun. The ship sped above the rose-colored clouds, rocking back and forth from the force of the squalls.

A roaring boom made my ears ache. Thousands of Aavvee in the stands screeched and snapped their feathers, chirping in distress.

Nito rushed inside my sack dress, and before I could blink, eight golden tornadoes as tall as the endless black mountain range barreled toward the craft. The largest twister whirled forward and decimated the spaceship. It disintegrated.

The other tornadoes sped forward and then reversed, circling the largest of the bunch. They spun around as if searching for more to destroy, eventually slowing and floating in front of the arena. Back and forth. Do they sense we’re inside? Menace radiated off them.

It all made sense now. Why the Aavvee traveled by portal, why I’d never heard any mention of spaceships, and why all of the inhabitants lived inside the mountains rather than on the surface of the planet.

“These- these abominations are protecting something. They- they keep us from claiming the prize jewel deep within the center of the planet. Where- where the Glrtsstlllloroggg is rich and flows freely,” the supreme boomed.

The crowd watched in silent horror as the tornadoes circled. No one responded to the supreme or even paid attention to him, completely fixated on the glittering windstorms. Destructive yet so beautiful, each wisp of wind glittered like diamonds in the sun.

“Attention- tion !” he screeched. The crowd only recovered when the tornadoes eventually moved away. Reluctantly, the Aavvee settled and returned their attention to the supreme.

He tapped his beak together in alien glee. “Today- day , we have a remedy for this problem. Bring- bring out the brutoo .”

Inkonexo sidled up to the squat leader and pulled him to the side. “This is not wise.”

“It- it is not for you to decide.” The supreme snapped his head feathers. “We- we will use the beast to our advantage.”

“I want more time to study him. He may be the key.”

“He- he is the key. I have decreed it! Did- did you not hear me?”

“Let me get closer. Study him.”

The supreme spun on Inkonexo. They two Aavvee stood eye to eye, which was surprising because Inkonexo seemed so imposing and so much larger. “You- you challenge my decision?”

The two postured, clearly in an alien version of, whose dick-tongue is biggest.

“No challenge.” Inkonexo released his arm, backing down. “I only seek to protect you.”

Mollified, the supreme allowed his harem to slobber all over him for a few minutes, this time opening his mouth wide. The hugest, thickest tongue fell out and slapped the top of his chest. Disgusting. To aliens, he was hung like a horse. Another explanation as to why he was the man in charge.

Gracias a Dios, he’d always thought of me as his pet.

When the supreme finished with…whatever he’d been doing with his harem, he sucked his pito -tongue back in and clacked his beak together—emitting a high-pitched trill.

The entire stadium, housing thousands of aliens, echoed back.

It sent a chill down my spine, a shocking reminder that I was the lone human on this entire planet.

All the pep talks and all the planning couldn’t negate the hard, cold facts.

I’m royally fucked.

“You- you came for a show. I give you victory. Behold- hold the most fearsome beast on this planet.”