Page 5 of Veras (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #2)

T he alien used his claws to dig through the crumbly black rock of the mountain and slip into an opening above us. I hadn’t realized was there. He offered a hand, his twin thumbs twitching.

I grasped his forearm, and he tugged me up before I could take a breath.

Being this close to him made me self-conscious.

How did he see me? My long black hair was ragged and knotted, falling past my waist. I’d lost so much weight; I didn’t recognize the soft swell of my breasts.

I’d always had such killer boobs. Not anymore.

They weren’t more than a handful. Nowhere near as powerful as my perky double Ds used to be.

But he wouldn’t know anything about the old me. She didn’t exist anymore. This was the newer, sleeker, fiercer version of myself, forged from alien fires. Obviously, I was filthy. Could he even decipher my features under the crud covering my face and arms?

“Truth. I’m anxious to see beyond your filth, Earther.” He retained possession of my hand, running the tip of his clawed forefinger over my blunt nails. I’d bitten them to nubs.

“Stop reading my mind.” My voice, husky from disuse, sounded foreign. Almost like the torturous experience had changed me on a cellular level. Nothing remained the same, not even the way I spoke.

He tugged me into the darkness. The smell of damp soil invaded my nose, taking away the beautiful smell emanating from my… alien hero?

“Yes, hero. I like this.”

“Stop reading my mind!”

“Stop yelling your thoughts.”

“I’m not.” I huffed.

“You are. I might have to call you little General instead of Truuuu-yena.” He sighed. “I will tell you a secret since you seem to have so little trust for me. If…if you look away from me, the connection is severed. I cannot read your mind.”

I filed that huge piece of information for later use and whispered, “You can call me T-true.” I told myself the only reason I shared my nickname was because his odd pronunciation got on my nerves. But maybe I hoped he was trustworthy.

“True? What is this? Family name? Designation? Surname? You are called Truena True?”

“No,” I shook my head. “It’s what some people call me. When they have a hard time pronouncing my name.” Abuela called me Truena, and everyone else called me True. At this point, anything was better than Earther.

“I like both, especially the sound of it on my tongue. I like most things about you. Except your filth, of course.”

I sighed. This guy . So rude.

As we made our way down and around the long passageway, golden vines lit our path. I ate up the scenery and tried to remember where we turned as we twisted through the mountain, but I eventually abandoned the process. I had no idea where the hell we were.

Why would I want to get back to the ledge anyway?

“Because the ledge is near the portal you would use to return to the arena. If evading me is in your plans, that is where you would go. A poor plan, but a plan. Though it would be almost impossible to achieve because I will follow you to the ends of this world.” He retained possession of my hand, no matter how hard I tugged.

“That is the portal that leads to the surface and back to the Aavvee. The planet is filled with them.”

“Really? Have we passed any portals?” Now, this was valuable information. “You said if I spoke, you would stop reading my mind.”

“I’m trying, maybe not very hard, because you scream observations or questions, and I can’t avoid them. It would be endearing if it weren’t so loud,” he said with no hint of humor.

He accused me of shouting my thoughts, but it became increasingly clear this alien shared every thought in his head. Plus, I had the bonus of feeling his emotions as he spoke.

“My people communicate telepathically. There is no avoiding it.”

“You can hear everything they say?”

He paused. “No, if we have private thoughts, we—” He tapped his temple with his thumbs. “I’m trying to find the right word. Shade? Protect them? You… do not.”

I thought about how I made myself small, concentrating on retreating and removing myself as I would with the Aavvee. In order to survive, I’d shrunk both physically and mentally.

“What are you doing?” He grasped my elbows.

I retreated further into my mind, wanting to guard my thoughts and keep them private. All these years, my only refuge had been my mind. The Aavvee had stripped me of everything else. If this alien insisted on invading my privacy, I would guard myself. Like I always—

“No, True! No, please . Not that far,” he demanded.

“I exaggerated before. I’ve gotten used to the loud buzz of your thoughts and feelings.

I don’t want to be without them.” He crouched before me, brushing the dust off my face with both his thumbs.

“Whatever you are doing is distorting who you are. And I don’t like it! ” He slammed his hands on the ground.

It surprised me enough that I snapped out of it. I hadn’t realized I’d hunched over as I transformed back into a pet. I straightened forcefully, feeling the strain on thigh muscles that hadn’t been used properly in years.

He—Wait, I don’t even know his name.

“I am Veras.”

“How did you switch from a dragon to a man?” Why hadn’t I asked sooner? How the hell had he been a beast one minute and an alien the next? Interstellar travel had permanently suspended my disbelief.

“How do you make thoughts in your mind? How do you make your… heart beat? Is that what you call the organ responsible for fluid distribution? Interesting. You must explain this process to me later. I…” His words trailed off as he gazed out into the jungle, constantly monitoring for danger.

The alien sounds, exotic chirps and roars intensified when he stopped speaking.

I stopped, too, glancing around frantically. What had he heard?

“Why aren’t you walking? Did I not say we were in danger and must move quickly?” he asked as he tugged me behind him.

“I thought you sensed something,” I huffed, completely confused. “You cut off mid-sentence.”

“Did I? I must have slipped into speaking like my people. For some reason, you do not feel alien.” He speared me with his intense eyes, and everything inside me melted. “I have been alone a long time.”

I’ve been alone, too.

“Yes, you have.” He squeezed my hand and tugged me along beside him at an impossible pace. “Where did I leave off?”

“I don’t know. You were talking about my heart and shifting, not really giving a clear answer.”

“Truth. Maybe it’s a type of protection.

I am not allowed to reveal anything about my people.

We were… reclusive.” Before I could ask a follow-up about the use of past tense, he continued, “But I will share some with you. There is nothing you can do with the information anymore.” We rounded a bend and descended a long tunnel.

“We can take on any form. I had been trapped inside this animal form, the brutoo , for many sonas, so the transformation back was difficult. And long. That was why I placed you high on a ledge so you wouldn’t escape me. ”

Time or numbers never translated well, usually coming through as the original word, so I figured sonas must mean years. “And can you heal with your tongue?” I pressed my hand against my side and felt a twinge of pain.

“I heal with the Glrtsstlllloroggg. I believe you call it Oro. It lives in my system, so the fastest way to access it is through my bodily fluids. I healed you this way. Did I mention it was quite ferocious, the dirt—”

“I swear to God! Enough. I’ve been enslaved for years. I didn’t have access to a shower. It’s not my fault.” Heat crept up my neck and cheeks.

“Yes, little General. So, you’ve said. I don’t know how long a year is, but it must be quite long.”

“A year is how long it takes for our planet to fully orbit around the sun.”

“One sun? Much more common, yes?” His hands wrapped around my waist and lifted me over a boulder in our path.

His scent wafted over me, and my body responded without thought. I was wet, my thighs slick at the constant bombardment of his alien pheromones. Irresistible . The irony that he smelled like my every dirty fantasy, while I repulsed him, pretty much summed up my luck on this hellhole.

“You could never repulse me. I am fascinated by you, True.”

He said it in such a matter-of-fact tone, I didn’t know what to say except, “Thanks?”

“How do you measure time?” He took in a deep breath, the slits on the sides of his nose, fluttering.

I snapped my thighs shut when he set me on my feet again.

He has no equipment. He has no equipment .

I chanted to cool my throbbing clit. Although he did have that impressive tongue…

The idea only made me gag a little bit .

Tongues reminded me of the stinky Aavvee appendages.

Oh, God! Is that how bad I smelled to him? “365 days.”

“How long is a day?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

“How long is an hour?”

“Sixty minutes.” I held up my hand and said, “Before you ask. One minute is 60 seconds, and a second is this long.” I clapped and counted off, “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi…”

“I understand. Let me do the calculations in reverse so I get a sense of your years.” He canted his head back and forth until he jerked his chin up in an alien… nod? “By your calculations, I have been gone from my home for close to one hundred years.”

“What?” I gasped. “How old are you?”

“Young. Only one hundred and fifty of your years .”

“Damn.”

“And you?”

“I’m only twenty-four.”

“So young. So little time to enjoy the universe.” Veras paused when we came to the edge of the passageway and faced the jungle in front of us.

It was just as gorgeous but a little more intimidating from this view.

Everything was jumbo-sized. “You must take care here, Truena. There are many dangerous animals that live within this section of my planet.”

“What’s it called?”

“The planet? Nozaroc.” He tugged me closer, one hand still holding mine. “I don’t have any weaponry. That is all at the outpost. We must remain watchful and swift.”

“I’ll stay right by you.” We walked quickly, and I marveled at the pink and purple leaves. Trees that dwarfed the tallest pines from home. I also kept an eye out for any portals, although I had no idea what they looked like.

Time to think smart . I tried to make the thought small, but Veras’ head snapped toward mine.

“Smart?”

“Yes.” I sighed. I obviously won’t be able to keep anything from this guy.

“You will not.”

“Noted.” I tromped through the deeper brush. “You mentioned that the portals are everywhere. How would I see them?”

“Simple. The charted portals all have a symbol at the top right. Look, here comes one now.” We walked up on a shimmering oval.

Instead of a shoomp sound, I detected a faint buzz.

Maybe because no one was coming through it.

And to my amazement, a symbol floated above it.

“Most of them here will be well mapped. Farther into the jungle, you must listen and watch.”

I knew the sound the portals made all too well.

“They are hard to spot, but if you pay close enough attention, you will see a small ripple in the fabric of the rock it passes through.”

“How is it I can understand you so perfectly?”

“It is what you call the Oro. It has taught me your language.”

“You’re speaking English right now?’

“Of course, what else would I speak?”

“I don’t know. I assumed I understood yours, like with the Aavvee.”

“You had the barest amount of Oro in your system. Not enough to understand a language as complicated as mine. But for the Aavvee, yes, of course, you understand them. They are…not smart.” Pain radiated off him in soft waves, lapping against my temples.

A roar broke the silence. It sounded close.

Me cago en todo lo cagable. I hate this planet.