Page 29 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

“C ome, Hera. All of you.” Nheenya took my arm and guided me toward the massive mountain wall. We stood face to face with a rope ladder and slats, leading stories above us.

More stairs.

As soon as Nheenya’s hands hit the first rung, aliens appeared out of nowhere.

They streamed in like cockroaches when the lights went out.

Thousands of them, much more than we’d seen in the arena.

Winged creatures, snake-chicks, Aavvee, but only a handful of Greenie’s people.

I had a sneaking suspicion the few flashes of green skin were probably our competitors from the prequals.

“Um… We need to leave. Now ,” Nieve whispered. “These aliens are looking a little too curious. Are they all female competitors?”

When a group of zombie-looking minors started to circle, Nheenya puffed out her chest and said, “The earthers are protected by the First and his warriors. You saw him and his Second escort us here.”

When they all ignored her, she got up into one of the Aavvee’s faces, and screamed, “Go away!” They eventually lumbered off.

I looked over at Nieve and Querida, understanding passing between us. Nheenya’s warning wouldn’t last long. We’d have to take matters into our own hands soon. Bust some heads until we earned their respect.

Once again: different planet, same problems.

Nheenya dusted off her hands, back to business, calm, as if she hadn’t just screamed out a lung.

“Yes, Nieve. These are all of the female competitors and workers. But don’t be surprised if you run into a few males.

They always have a way of sneaking in.” She pointed to the right with her head, and it looked like a mini portal, spinning against the wall.

“Is that a portal? A way out of here?” I asked.

“No. Well, maybe? No one has ever returned to say. Never go in there. It is dangerous. Very, very dangerous. There are creatures that are indescribable.” Nheenya shuddered.

The words “no” and “never’ didn’t sit well with me. In fact, they made me want to fling myself through the golden spiral, but I was swaying on my feet with exhaustion. Problem for another day.

“Let’s go. And how the hell do we get this thing to follow us?” Nieve pointed at the floating trunk.

“There is a button. Here. Follow me.” Nheenya guided us. We were all a little shell-shocked as we made our way to the highest level of the honeycomb-shaped space. A good ten stories high. Each cave had a small landing in front that connected the openings in that row.

I made it to the last rung and still couldn’t believe Sunny had left me here.

I was a survivor, but at the moment, all I wanted was to return to his grotto.

I even missed the face-eating plants. And of course, the ‘best orgasms.’ Now I was stuck with a million aliens in yet another stupid cave.

Until I realized… “Nheenya, are there any other humans here?”

“Humans? I don’t understand.”

“Earthers. Anyone else who looks like us?”

Nheenya blinked slowly, and her lilac eyes peered through my soul. “You have lost someone. I feel the hurt.” She placed her hand on my cheek. “I am sorry. But no. You are the first earthers I have ever met. But I will ask around for any new arrivals. This, I promise.”

The tiny spark of hope winked out, and I was once again devastated and happy about the news.

Nheenya waited until we all joined her on the ledge. “Not many know of my treasure. Through here.” Nheenya crouched down and crawled through a hole a little larger than the width of her shoulders.

“She wants us to crawl? In there? No way. I’m allergic to small places. I would die if I went in there.” Nieve dusted the dirt off her palms.

I shrugged. A loss I’m willing to take, princesa.

It was a well-known fact that Nieve was a hypochondriac.

On demand. Whenever she had to do something uncomfortable, she’d instantly become ‘allergic” to it.

“Fine. Stay out here. All alone. With these crazy, scary aliens.” Shrieks and moans from below punctuated my statements.

I pushed Querida in front of me and motioned to the hole. She didn’t hesitate, which meant even Nieve’s bestie wasn’t willing to wait out here.

Luckily, Nheenya was larger than us, so we had no trouble following her through the opening. The problem was the tunnel was pitch black.

“Are you at the end?” Nieve called through. “Tell me if you’re not dead, and I’ll come in.” A boom, probably from one of those Guardians, shook the mountain, and I heard a yelp. “I’m coming. Wait for me!”

Typical.

“Just a little farther now,” Nheenya called back to us.

Grit surrounded me. Black dust was everywhere, under my nails, in my nose… This planet is the worst!

A trickle of sound, like a dripping faucet, caught my attention as we made it through the narrow tunnel and came into a cozy room.

It looked magical with twinkling golden lights.

The illumination came from jungle vines coating the walls.

The veins of the large pink leaves were lined in gold, emitting a faint glow, and giving the area a feel of perpetual twilight.

In the back of the cave, the world’s smallest waterfall, nothing more than a few streams of water, dripped into a small puddle. “Do you see how lucky we are? It is a water source that feeds the plants. So, we have a constant light source.”

Nheenya was a neat, organized plant-person. She had plotted flowers and a sophisticated system of tunnels for her wall plants. She also had shelving, with various bottles of lotions and potions.

Does she have product? Maybe something I could use on the rat’s nest on top of my head.

That would be amazing, but I was uncomfortably numb at this point, reliving the memory of Sunny walking away from me. I slid down the side of the rocky wall, resting my forehead against my bent knees. Exhaustion made my limbs heavy—the adrenaline rush from the prequals long gone.

The girls settled around me as Nheenya popped open our floating supply trunk. She oohed and aahed as she pulled out rations, water cubes, rolled-up mats, and a palm-sized triangular device. It gleamed in the faint light, reminding me of Sunny’s staff.

“I… I can’t believe it… It’s…” Nheenya spluttered as she held the contraption in the air.

“What is it?” Nieve asked and jumped up. Querida soon followed, but I didn’t have the energy.

“It’s a mini-force field. For our cave entrance.

” When we immediately didn’t fall at her feet at the news, Nheenya’s sweet face beamed at us.

“It means safety . Sleeping the whole night through. Something I haven’t done since I’ve been here.

There is always someone bigger and stronger who tries to take what little I have.

” Her smile disappeared as she gripped the device in her hands.

Her words held weight, something we understood too well. On Earth, we’d all been prey for schemers, liars, narcissists—usually men—who wanted to take from us: our hearts, our possessions, our bodies. Querida and Nieve immediately sat next to her and hugged her.

I rubbed her leg. “We understand.”

“Thank you.” It took about three seconds before Ms. Glass-Half-Full reemerged. In seconds, Nheenya disentangled herself from Querida and Nieve’s arms and passed out rations.

Nieve popped a water-cube in her mouth and said, “Spill, Hera. Now. How many ‘best orgasms’ are we talking about and…how is that even possible?”

Well, that didn’t take long. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Which was a lie. I wanted to shout from the rooftops about what a pedazo de mierda Sunny was—but I still didn’t completely trust these two.

“Too bad. It’s a matter of life and death.” Nieve elbowed Querida, who nodded in support.

“What can I say? Men suck. Even alien ones.” I sighed.

Nheenya came over and patted my hand. “Suck what?”

Oh man. She got me. A rumble started deep within my chest, and soon I was laughing out loud. Two seconds later, Nieve and Querida were right with me. We were lying on the ground, laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. It was exactly what I needed.

Nheenya joined in, clearly not understanding but happy to participate.

“Thank you, Nheenya. You’re the best.” I wiped tears from my eyes.

“Okay, okay. Information is power, so buckle up. I have a story to tell.” I launched into a tale for the ages: About getting lost in the tunnels, falling through the portal, finding the lab and the warriors…

about the pangos and the adorable Baby, who’d fallen madly in love with me and made me his mamacita —all of it.

Nieve and Querida shared a look over that one but didn’t interrupt.

I finished with a bang, talking about Pinky and how he was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. Their eyes went wide when I went into vivid detail about how he grew and shrank before my eyes. I finished with the showstopper, “I think his dick is psychic.”

“It can read minds?” Querida’s mouth dropped.

“Exactly. I swear to God it’s my favorite thing about Sunny. The sweetest, happiest part of him. If it weren’t for Pinky, I’d have dumped that spiked-headed warrior a while ago.”

“No, you wouldn’t. You love him… You want to marry him…” Nieve’s voice rang out in a singsong.

“Shut up. No, I don’t.” Untruth. Sunny’s voice boomed in my head.

“Did you guys do the dirty deed? The horizontal lambada, or what?” Nieve asked.

“No, I gave him the handy of his life and then he left me high and dry.”

“He did not!” Nieve gasped.

“He did. He shackled me and left me in his room.” A yawn split my face. “But, of course, he returned a few minutes later because he couldn’t live without me. He fingered me like a champ and ran away.” I sighed. “The story of my life.”

“I don’t know what most of this means, but it sounds disturbing. Why would he abuse you with his fingers?” Nheenya looked to Querida for confirmation. “He has so many strong muscles. Maybe he was going easy on you. What damage can fingers do?”

Querida smirked and whispered, “I’ll explain later.”

“So, I’ve decided I never want to see him again.”

“ Que carajo? Wrong. You’re going to be seeing him a lot .

Every minute of the day. It’s one of the few advantages we have.

We’re going to have to use Loxo,” Nieve glared at Querida, “and Sunny. It’s the only way to make sure we’re safe here.

Which brings me to my next question. Tell us about the Oro and why you couldn’t use it today. In the race?”

“I don’t know.”

Hoots and screeches sounded high above them. We looked up as the sound grew.

“What the hell is that?” Nieve spun her head around like an owl.

“Hope you don’t mind donating some blood,” I smirked. Normally, I would have loved her terror, but I was too tired. Of everything.