Page 30 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

A black cloud of tiny wings and six-fingered hands erupted from an opening high in the ceiling.

The pangos crested like a giant wave, descending on us.

Their little wings didn’t support their weight, but they gave them an extra boost as they raced over rocky walls.

I felt the smallest smile spread across my face.

These guys always seemed to show up when I needed them most.

“Blood? They’re going to eat us?” Nieve shrieked and hid behind Querida.

What a drama queen.

Querida squared her shoulders and gripped her shards, while Nheenya continued to putter around her space, checking on her plants. Not a care in the world.

The hoots increased, and I heard things like, Mama. No-Wing. Blood.

“Can you hear them? They’re calling to us.” I waved to the crew.

“I don’t hear anything except screeches and screams.” Nieve covered her head with her arms. “Can you understand those baboons on steroids?”

“Don’t call them that! They’re called pangos.”

An army of long-eared beauties surrounded us.

By the looks of it, it wasn’t the whole bunch.

Many remained above, but a good thirty circled around the cave.

They had a blast jumping and bopping around a screeching Nieve.

None of them seemed to want to touch the floor, so some stood on each other’s shoulders.

Or braced themselves on Nheenya’s shelves.

“ Hi, everybody ,” I hooted softly.

A roly-poly female waddled over and patted my hand. She looked adorable with a garland of flowers atop her head. “ No-wing? You hurt? No mad? ”

I responded, not exactly sure what language I used. “No. I’m not mad.”

The matriarch grunted to the others. “ She good. No mad. ” She must have been part of the official welcoming committee because they came over, one by one, and patted my hand. No boys. Just the girlies.

“Uh, Hera? What is happening? Why are they swarming us?” Nieve lowered her arms but was still hesitant.

Querida had lost the death-glare and reached toward a smaller pango.

“Just go with it. They won’t hurt you.”

The female hooted and pointed at the two fighters. “ Blood. Blood. ” She jumped up and down on her short legs. “ Blood. Blood, ” The whole crowd chanted, and the repetition was pretty creepy.

Nheenya laughed as one of the females jumped on her shoulders. “They make me happy. Their hearts are so pure.”

“What the hell are they doing?” Nieve’s eyes were as large as saucers.

“They’re introducing you to the crowd. They really are nice, but you may have to make a donation.” I wondered where King Pango went.

Nieve grabbed onto Querida’s legs and peeked past her knees. “What is it doing?”

The female, whose flowers hung off her long ears, held out the tiniest, two-thumbed paw.

“She wants to say hello.” I bit my lip to stop the grin from creeping across my face.

“Oh, okay. Here pangito . Good pangito . I’m a friend,” Nieve crooned.

The female darted forward, snatched up her hand, and bit down.

“ Hijo de le gran puta! What the hell ?” Nieve snatched her hand back. One fat drop of blood fell to the ground. “She bit me.” She turned toward me with fire blazing in her whiskey-brown eyes. “You lied to me.”

“I told you about the donation. Besides, they did the same thing to me and now we’re besties.”

The female pango spat and wiped at her mouth, having some sort of conniption fit. “ Yuck. Not good. Bad blood. You Yuck. ” She stomped off.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think they’ll ever bite you again.” I laughed aloud, completely tickled that Nieve tasted so bad.

A similar response occurred when another female bit Querida. The metal-wielder didn’t flinch as the little pango’s teeth sank in. The female pango screeched, “ This bad blood. Sick. Sick blood. You Sick. ”

“What did they say?” Nieve frowned.

“They named you. You’re Yuck,” I said to Nieve. “And you’re Sick.” I pointed at Querida. “And I’m No-Wing.” I heard a few more hoots and told Nheenya, “Your name is…Nice.” That was the rough translation.

“You are such a liar.” Nieve stomped her foot. “I’m delicious.”

“You taste like mierda … A big ole poop burger. What can I say?”

“That is so rude! Tell them I think they’re poop burgers too.” She rolled her eyes and faced the wall.

“Really? Why do you always have to be such a bitch?”

“Because,” she spun back around, and pushed her curls out of her face. “I want the pangos to stop calling me Eek. And… to like me best.”

Like her best? As if. “Your name isn’t Eek. It’s Yuck! Don’t you pay attention?” I had no patience for her need for attention. I blocked out the princesa as she pitched a fit and lightly touched the female pango. “ Where? Baby? ”

An older female wearing a beautiful flower tucked between her wings walked forward. Maybe she was an abuelita because her dark fur was tinged in grey, and she had a slow gait. The grandma opened her arms and exposed my little pangito .

“Baby?” I whispered. I recognized him immediately. Same mink fur. Same golden stripe down his back. He looked impossibly small when he wasn’t moving, his delicate wings too pretty to be real.

He moved sluggishly and cried softly until I took him in my arms. Without fail, he bit my thumb and went to town, sucking down blood from his tiny, sharp teeth. As Baby fed, I watched his skinny body fill out. As soon as he was finished, he swiped his warm tongue over my thumb.

Without my notice, Querida and Nieve had come up beside me, one on each side. Querida reached forward and stroked his tiny palm. “He has two thumbs on each hand, like the warriors.”

She might be smarter than I thought.

Now that he was full, Baby hopped from pango to pango, tapping and nuzzling each one. We all watched him for a while, relaxing and enjoying his innocence.

Nieve finally felt comfortable enough to interact with the pangos.

Occasionally, one of the elders would take her or Querida’s hand and murmur their names.

Nieve’s sounded like Pfft , and Querida’s like Blaaah !

It made me laugh each time the pangos called them Yuck and Sick.

But it seemed that they felt very sorry that the two tasted so terribly.

Baby hopped over and tapped my cheek. When he had my full attention, he licked me straight down the center of my face.

“ Dios mio , that is disgusting. Never mind. The pangos are all yours.” Nieve scrunched up her nose.

“Thanks.” Baby hopped on my shoulders and sifted through my hair, his baby burbles alerting the group.

“They enjoy Hera’s taste because of the Glrtsstlllloroggg . That is why her hair and skin are such a beautiful color.” Nheenya pointed at the scars on my legs and arms. They’d all been transformed into works of art, painted over in shimmering gold.

“How did you get so much Oro?” Querida’s dark eyes ran over every inch of exposed skin. “What happened?”

I sighed, not ready for this convo, but diving in anyway.

“Freckles, that stupid Aavvee scientist, tried to poke me in the eye with Oro.” I removed Baby from my shoulder and cuddled him in my arms. I needed the little guy while I shared this story.

“It worked with you two. They took a syringe and administered a drop of the magical golden stuff from this planet. But I was awake, and I smashed a whole vial. It flooded my system, and I almost died, like, a hundred times.” Maybe a thousand.

It felt endless. “But I eventually made it and was rewarded with some cool superpowers that…” I hated to admit this, “I apparently have no idea how to control or access.”

All three women looked dumbstruck, even Nheenya. She paused to sit down next to me and rubbed my arm.

“ Snack. Eat snack? ” The matriarch came over and sifted her hands through my hair. I instantly relaxed. “ Eat? Snack? ” The remaining lice eggs coated her hands.

“ Yes! Please, yes! Snack. More. Eat all. Eat Yuck and Sick too. ”

“What now?” Nieve backed away.

“They want a snack, and it’s the answer to prayer.

” Soon, all three of us were in absolute bliss as two pangos at a time took turns plucking and eating every louse egg they could get their grubby hands on.

After that, we had a pango party. At least it seemed like it because they all started dancing and hooting.

A few teenagers came down and tried to braid our hair.

That was a total disaster. We spent a few blissful hours of fun.

Right as my eyes began drooping, the matriarch screeched, and the pangos spun around the room like whirling dervishes.

Maybe they needed to build momentum to make it up the mountainside.

I kissed a sleepy Baby goodbye and handed him back to abuelita pango.

I knew he had to go, but the whole thing made me want to cry.

I crawled over to my cot and lay out on my back.

“Are we ever going to get home?” Querida’s soft voice floated through the cave.

For once, I didn’t try to pretend I didn’t know exactly what she was talking about.

“The first thing we have to do is gather info, and you’re the closest to Sunny. Keep talking to his psychic dick. There has to be a way to manipulate them,” Nieve said.

“Loxo is the one who knows everyone around here.” I looked at Querida. “And guess who’s going to be the one to talk to him?”

Querida quirked a brow as if to say, Make me.

“Please, pretty please, hermana . He loves you so, so hard,” Nieve snickered.

I paused, swamped by pain. Nieve had called Querida her sister. It reminded me of Valentina. My heart ached at the idea that she might be in this alien world without me. It was killing me.

“Here’s the plan,” I laid it out for them.

“Querida, you work Loxo for answers on the dick and mouth situation. I’m going to continue to look for a way home.

So far, it looks hopeless, but there has to be a way out of this mountain.

We got here somehow; we should be able to reverse that. Oh, and I’m going to kill Freckles.”

“That might put us in danger. What the hell did he do to you on that ship?” Nieve fluffed her hair, enjoying the luxury of bug-free curls.

My lungs no longer took in air. My chest tightened as image after image of Freckles violating me, using me, all while I was paralyzed and fighting for my life with the Oro. When I looked up, Querida was next to me, rubbing my back. “I won’t ever talk about it.”

Nieve’s hands dropped from her hair. She nodded and looked down.

“We never will,” Querida whispered, her dark eyes alive with pain as she gripped my hand. “Never. I promise.”

I closed my eyes, and I fell asleep to the soft sounds of Nheenya’s voice, singing us to sleep.