Page 14 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

A fter one of the worst nights of my life, floating in a sea of Oro with no release in sight—I awoke to an even greater injustice. Trabajo. They’d sent me to… work. Deep in the bowels of this endless mountain, I was standing in yet another dark, dank cave.

“Watch it!” A massive horned alien—female, green, with masses of muscles, who clearly hadn’t had her morning cup of coffee—screamed at me. “Bump into me again, and I will kill you.”

“I get that a lot,” I muttered. Too depressed about my current predicament to respond further, but promising to cut that bitch as soon as I had the chance, I stared down at the dark stew simmering in the pot in front of me.

I held a large utensil that looked half fork, half spatula.

Every once in a while, I sniffed the rancid concoction and then dropped it back in the pot.

Unbelievable. They had me cooking. If that was what this was called.

Apparently, the muck was a delicacy for the stupid Aavvee.

As if my skilled hands were meant to stir .

I should be kicking ass and taking names.

The only thing that soothed my soul was that Nieve and Querida looked even more miserable than me.

How bad can I mess this up so Sunny will never make me work again?

“Hey,” I asked a chipper alien humming softly beside me. “What is this stuff?” It only took a few seconds of listening to her prattle on before the Oro did its work, and I could speak and understand her. I didn’t even have to ask anymore. The ability to speak and understand felt baked into my DNA.

“Are you talking to me?” She was a few inches taller than me with a fluffy build.

She had light-purple skin, long eggplant-colored hair, and lovely violet eyes.

The poor thing looked kind, and that probably wouldn’t be a help on this planet.

“I thought I heard you say you would ‘remove my tongue’ if I didn’t stop speaking.

Those were your words, yes? If I didn’t stop ‘blathering on.’ But you wish to speak to me now? ”

“You must have misheard me.” I winked at her.

“I did not. You were very clear, and I did not want to upset you.” She stood next to me, multitasking between several stations. “But I’m glad you changed your mind.”

When I didn’t reach for my forkula in the bubbling stew, she added my pot to her stirring rotation. That went a long way in improving my tolerance.

“This is greeeooowwlll meat.”

“What?” An image of the baby pango in Freckle’s arms flashed before my eyes.

“That’s disgusting!” I’ll never eat again.

“How can you cook them? They’re so cute.

” I looked around our prison cell. A cave brightened with high-tech lights lining walls and ceilings.

Did some of the lights double as the monitoring devices Sunny had been talking about?

They had a familiar hum I attributed to most cameras.

Rows and rows of heating stations dotted the space, and close to fifty of us stirred massive pig-beast pots.

The whole place was an unusual combination of primitive and highly advanced.

Above us, I’d catch a glance of shadows winging over the walls. The impossibly high ceilings made them almost invisible, but I could hear the soft hooting of the pangos, and my heart broke a little. Stupid Freckles. He probably killed that poor baby.

“If you prefer, you can move to the blending station.” The tall purple alien pointed toward the back of the room.

“Blending of what ?”

“ Rugaas are a delicacy. They are long golden insects with many tiny legs. The Aavvee prefer them liquified.”

“Are you insane? I don’t prefer to do any of it.” I sighed and quickly returned to my pot when I saw Nime, the bossy, mountain-sized alien with the cranberry eyes. I stirred until he strolled past. “What’s your name?” I whispered to my chipper stir-mate.

“Nheenya.”

“I’m thinking you and I should become a team.” Always important to gather minions, er… friends, as quickly as possible.

“Oh, yes. Team. I would like that very much.” Nheenya stirred and smiled, exposing impressive canines. She looked at me expectantly. “What is team?”

Dios mío. It wasn’t even worth manipulating her, although I’d do what I had to, but this one was too sweet, too soft to abuse.

Once Nime disappeared down one of the longer rows, I rushed over to the door.

Grunts and high-pitched screams floated in from outside.

The familiar sound told me a competition was going on, and I wanted in on it.

We were losing precious time. Soon, we’d be competing in the race of our lives, and the supreme wanted us to stir food.

Ridículo.

A pair of guards, each as tall and gorgeous as Xefe, but smelling nowhere near as good, blocked me from exiting.

They directed me back to my stirring station.

I pondered how to best utilize my new “team” member when Nieve and Querida slunk over.

Ugh. I couldn’t get away from them. And because we were the only humans around here, I was connected to them in a way I’d never have imagined.

“You look like you’re scheming. We want in.” Nieve grabbed Querida and smooshed in between Nheenya and me.

Huh. The idea of working together put a bad taste in my mouth, but I could always ditch them after they’d served their purpose. Deciding on the direct approach, I said, “I want to see what’s going on outside. I think there are racers out there, or whatever the hell these aliens call them.”

Nieve tapped her cheek in contemplation and looked around the cave. The coast was clear. “We need a distraction.”

“Distraction, eh? Get ready.” I looked at Nheenya, and a giant knot formed in my stomach. Please don’t hate me. But instead of saying that out loud, I muttered, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Her gaze brightened until she watched in horror as I tipped the pot over, and pig-beast soup splashed all over her.

The room exploded, and Nime thundered over.

Nheenya wailed at the top of her lungs in genuine distress. It was the perfect distraction. The twin guards immediately abandoned their post and made their way toward the ruckus.

While the room devolved into chaos, Nieve, Querida, and I were able to slip out of the door.

Gracias, Nheenya.

We ran until we hit the railing bracketing the ledge that jutted from the mountain. Too high to catch a glimpse, we ran to the right until we found a large break in the stone wall. Way below us was an exercise area. The soup kitchen sat above the champions’ training field and we had a clear view.

Perfecto! Let’s see how badass they really are.

All the aliens looked the same. And it quickly became apparent why. Mean, green, and muscled, just like the pendeja inside who’d threatened me. I smirked. If she was stirring pango soup, she must not be good enough to compete. Or maybe she was trying to make her bones like us.

The field was massive with the large arena centered in the middle of all the activity, inside the mountain. The show-offs obviously wanted the world to watch them practice. Well, today, I would oblige them.

“This is incredible,” Nieve whispered. “And those bitches are big.”

“I know, right?” A few were throwing boulder-sized balls back and forth. It was weird.

“What else are you planning?”

I glanced over at Nieve, her riot of curls bouncing like a halo around her perfectly round head. Even in a dirty sack, she looked gorgeous. Biting back a lie—Sunny was getting to me—I nodded toward the portals. “I’m trying to figure those out.”

Shoomp. Shoomp. Shoomp. I couldn’t ignore them, and Sunny’s warning intensified my worry.

“That’s how all the rich aliens got here, right?”

“Exactly. That’s how we got here, too.”

Nieve gasped and grabbed Querida’s hand. “Why don’t we remember any of that?”

Be grateful you don’t. I didn’t have time for explanations. “Does it look like the aliens made it, or do you think it’s natural? Like part of this planet?”

“Why—” Nieve started to ask and then gasped. “Hera! Your hair has golden highlights too. What is happening to you?”

I shook my head. “That’s a long story. We don’t have much time before we’re discovered out here, but remind me to tell you about the Oro. Right now, we have more important things to concentrate on.” I canted my head toward the portals.

“Oro? It better explain the highlights, which actually look half-decent on you— and how you ran so fast.” Nieve gripped the stone railing along the long hallway that circled the fields below.

“I know what you’re trying to do. Bust out of here.

You have so many bad qualities, really bad, but I never thought you were that dumb. ”

I narrowed my gaze and searched the terrifying portals. Power thrummed off of them.

“What are you going to do, steal a spaceship and pilot us home?”

“Us? You mean pilot me home.”

“Why would you want to go back? We’d be trading one shithole for another.”

“Her sister,” Querida answered before I could blast Nieve.

My shoulders dropped at her softly spoken words, and I nodded.

“I want to go home, too.” Querida’s dead eyes watched the aliens. The Aavvee entered and exited the powerful oval-shaped doorways. It was eerie how they materialized out of what looked like thin air. The possibilities were endless to where they may lead.

“Well, I don’t.” Nieve cleared her throat.

“Plus, I don’t think it’s realistic to waste time on that dream.

Those portals could lead anywhere. It might drop us off into the middle of a volcano.

Or to another part of this planet. A worse part.

We need to secure ourselves here. If we win over the supreme… ”

I looked over at Querida. We both knew what she would do to ‘win him over.’ But even I wasn’t that big of a bitch to bring it up.

“I see that look, Hera.” Nieve blinked wide, honey-brown eyes, and said in the carefully manicured voice she used on the field, “I’ll do anything to survive.

I’ll blow his brains out. Fuck him till he’s dumb.

Anything.” She crossed her arms, her full lips turned down in a frown. “And so would you. Both of you.”

Damn. Nieve spoke the truth. All of us were survivors, and we’d had to fight for any piece of happiness. “Well, you might want to reevaluate the plan.” I shuddered, remembering my lonely night.

“Why?” She eyed me suspiciously.

I spun around, unable to hold onto the secret for one more second. “I have something so juicy to tell you.”

“Wait.” Querida pulled out a few nutrition cubes they’d given us when we first started working in the soup room. She handed them out and then delicately bit into the squishy green block. We were told it had the perfect combination of water and nutrition. “I’ve had worse. Go on.”

I didn’t bother with the food. After my infusion of Oro, I felt satiated. “Are you ready for this? The Aavvee have dick-tongues that are rancid! The feathered aliens, like the supreme. And the warriors… they’re without cock . No dick a saurus. Nada! ”

“ What? ”

“Hello, earthers. I am Loxo. Do you remember me? From the day past?”

We screamed and spun around. Busted. Mr. Annoying stood before us, his long arms crossed, his lips tilted in a toothless grin. He had removed the spiked part of his uniform, and his dark hair was uncovered. The messy fall reached past his hips. He was absolutely cover-model gorgeous in a goofy way.

“No, sorry.” I recovered first, annoyed he’d stolen my thunder. Right when I was about to spill some serious tea to the girls. “Never seen you before in my life.”

We ignored him and turned back to watch the racers move to another piece of equipment. They ran along a narrow beam, fighting for purchase because of their bony feet. And when I squinted, I realized their knees bent backward like a bird. Eww.

“You do not? How is this possible? Even you, little one? Do you not remember me?” Loxo looked at Querida, and I swore I saw little hearts flying around his head. “What a shame. I had hoped to speak with you before I returned you to Nime. He is quite…upset.”

Return us? I spun back around and nudged Querida. With a big smile plastered on my face, I said, “ Dios mío , Loxo? Is that you? Of course , we remember you. Especially Querida, right?”

“You do? That makes my nethers warm in appreciation.” His purple eye swirled as he watched Querida, who refused to make eye contact.

Made his what… what ?”

“You should not be out here.”

“We’re watching the other racers compete.

There’s no harm in us sizing up the competition, right?

” I continued to nudge Querida. She stood like a stubborn mule with her arms crossed, refusing to interact.

“I mean, we could get hurt during the race if we don’t know what to expect.

Especially Querida because she’s so small and weak. ”

Querida rolled her eyes.

“I would never want that. Perhaps I can answer some of your questions. But hurry, Nime will be furious.” He looked so hopeful and sweet.

“ Perfecto , papi chulo , er… alien chulo . Which of these machines will we be using tomorrow?” Nieve sidled over to Loxo and rubbed his arm. He smiled brightly but continued to peek at Querida.

“The Floating Stones. Look there, to the right.” He pointed at a rope ladder leading to the long beam we’d seen earlier.

Just beyond it, white stones floated in midair, a few feet apart, some higher, others lower, but always further and further apart.

“It is the simplest of the challenges. You climb the rope, run across the plank, and continue over the floating stones as quickly as possible. The first four teams will move on to the Great Race.”

“Earthers! Return. Now. ” Nime stormed through the entrance, surprisingly fast for such a massive being.