Page 36 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

T rue to his promise, Veras returned me to home quarters. The trip wasn’t comfortable; the dramatic alien shoved me out of the rapidly shrinking death trap portal, but I made it safe and sound. Back on solid ground.

Never thought I’d be happy to be here.

The place was milling with aliens, and I was overflowing with information.

I’d been given the green light to share my epic tale but not talk about the facility.

Fine with me. For the first time, the death grip on my heart lessened the tiniest bit.

Veras was going to look for my sister and let me know one way or the other whether Valentina was here.

We had a whole day of soup kitchen and practice before the Great Race, so I prayed it was enough time for him to get the information I needed.

I have so much to do.

Nheenya’s cave was clear across the massive space, and I weaved through the milling aliens, some talking, others sparring.

Surprisingly, I’d grown accustomed to the scales and horns, snorts and chirps.

It would never be home, but I was starting to get the hang of things, bartering for goods and products.

I still hadn’t found the perfect hair gel, but I had snagged some cool soaps for bathing.

“Hera!” Nieve stood on the ledge next to our cave, waving both her hands in the air. “Watch out!”

A Mack truck slammed into me. Or what felt like one.

“ Jes —!” I stumbled back and looked up into furious green eyes. Double diablos! Greenie. She did not look happy. “You poor thing. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“I— What? ”

My question had caught her off guard, as intended. I needed time to escape. Usually, I would step up to a crazy bitch like her, but she was hella strong, and I had a murder to plot.

“Because you look like shit,” I called over my shoulder as I took off at a run. I only made it a few steps before her three green, and even uglier, teammates surrounded me, blocking the way.

Carajo , this is bad . Really, really bad. I had just enough time to look up at Nieve, Querida, and Nheenya, who were all scrambling down the rickety ladder. They’d never make it in time. And I was at a serious disadvantage.

I had two objectives: protect the Oro and don’t get killed.

I didn’t have a bra or even chonies to shove the vial into.

Did this uniform have pockets? If it did, I couldn’t find them.

So, I did the only thing I could. I fought.

One hand, two feet. I landed a few swings, kicked with all of my might, but when they latched onto my arms, I went into protective mode.

I curled into a ball and tucked my head in tight, anything to make sure the vial wasn’t destroyed.

“I will kill you; you bitch.” Greenie kicked me in the ribs over and over until I heard a crack. My new uniform offered some protection but not enough.

“We cannot kill her, but we can injure her enough that she’ll never fight again.” One of the others grunted. “If we take her eyes, she will be damaged permanently.”

My eyes?

Agony swept through me, but I didn’t budge. No matter how they tried, they couldn’t uncurl me. They pulled my hair, battered my arms, but they weren’t going to touch my eyes. Or my beautiful face!

I heard a slow murmur build, which told me the milling aliens surrounded us, like sharks smelling blood.

Boos and shrieks, high-pitched chirps swept over the aliens, and I peeked through my arm for a second.

The green team was reveling in their jeers and taunts.

Raising their arms as if they’d won the Great Race.

Idiotas. Everybody hates you. I wheezed as I sucked in air, and searched.

My girls were being held back, and they couldn’t fight them anyway.

Pound for pound, they had us beat. They were even bigger than Nheenya.

Where can I go?

Greenie swung back around as if she heard me. There was death in her eyes. She wouldn’t stop. No matter what her teammate said. She was going to end me. I had to get out of here. When she stepped closer, I saw the swirling portal, the one Nheenya had warned me never to go through.

What choice do I have?

Greenie stood in front of me, with quite the superior smirk on her face. When her sisters, or whatever they were, circled, she held them off. “She’s mine.”

Now or never. I scrambled out from under her and bit her ankle, remembering it was one of the few vulnerable places on the green team’s bodies. I sank my teeth as hard as I could and tore out her Achilles.

Greenie roared and toppled over me. Before the rest of the crew recovered, I lunged toward the small portal tucked into the side of the mountain. Instantly, I knew it was a mistake. The portal surrounded me in violent swaths of yellow and orange.

The voices inside it tugged at my hair and screamed my name.

A warning. When I finally broke through, I fell from great heights, as if I’d been thrown off a cliff.

I smashed and bounced off jagged rocks, the fall only exacerbating my broken ribs.

Luckily, Sunny’s suit protected me from being impaled; the uniform was impenetrable, but I could feel every stab and dig.

I landed on my back and looked up at the turbulent skies.

Fuchsia clouds whizzed by, all lit by the backdrop of a giant blue sun.

If I could have breathed, I would have laughed.

But my lung was definitely collapsed. This was surreal.

Or maybe my brain had been injured in the fall. I struggled to sit up.

Black rock and sand as far as the eye could see.

The only eyesore was one of the Aavvee training fields that stuck out like a sore thumb, several miles from me. As I contemplated the walk, I felt the ground rumble. The force field over the dome was being lowered, and it was like a beacon for… tornadoes.

Massive Guardians whirled across the tundra, zeroing in on the arena. One of them was so large, it must be the width of a city block and taller than the clouds. They slammed into the arena, surrounding it, almost gaining entrance.

Why would they lower the dome?

I was just glad the whirlwinds were nowhere near me.

But it ruined my plans to head across the vast tundra.

I couldn’t take the chance that a tornado would get me.

I’d have nowhere to hide out there. A new plan formed, and I decided to follow the mountainside away from the arena and hope I could find an entrance.

A golden glint caught my eye. The Oro! I still clutched the vial in my hand.

Unbroken. Gracias a Dios. I’d done one thing right.

Besides giving Sunny the blowie of his life to get these uniforms. I contemplated whether I should use the Oro.

I needed it to defeat Freckles. I needed it for Valentina if she were here.

But I didn’t think I could move without it.

Was I brave enough to stick this in my eye? Nope.

But I did load the injector and placed the needle at my neck. It was one of the few places I wasn’t covered by the uniform. I used one drop, just enough so I could breathe and not collapse out here.

In seconds, a flash of pain grew from the injection site. At this point, I knew what to expect and rode the wave. Minutes later, I could breathe a bit easier. It still hurt like a mother, but I’d be able to walk.

I staggered to my feet, keeping an eye on the Guardians.

They were awe-inspiring. So beautiful and terrifying, they hurt my eyes.

I leaned against the mountain, ready to start my trek, when a chill went down my spine.

Someone, or something , was watching. Slowly, I looked up to the ledge, and I saw it.

A creature even scarier than the Guardians.

Bigger than an elephant, it had deep purple scales and a cranberry plume. Eight legs, two sets of two in the back and front—each muscled limb tipped in razor-sharp claws. It looked like a dragon without wings, and it was staring down at me like I was its new favorite snack.

I hate my life.

It dove off the ledge, using the sides of the ravine to ping-pong from rock to rock. Before I made it a few steps, it was halfway down. I tried to run, but my body was broken. The Oro had repaired my lung, but it hadn’t been enough.

I searched around, desperate to find a portal, someplace to hide.

But I was too late. The alien-dragon landed behind me with a thump and took a swipe.

I felt the power, and weight, of its claws.

It didn’t penetrate the armor, but it lifted me off the ground and slammed me into the wall.

I landed hard and watched as it leaped. On instinct, I rolled, and it took me into a crevasse under the rock.

There was the smallest sliver of an opening, and I was able to ram myself into it.

The beast screamed and clawed; its talons grazed my arm. I couldn’t move one more inch to avoid it, but I was safe. For now. I shook from panic and watched it burrow into the dusty dirt. How long would it take before it dug a hole big enough to reach me?

I need Oro. But it was gone. The vial must have been knocked out of my hand when the beast slammed me into the rock. I couldn’t see anything, was trapped and alone, with my body unable to repair itself.

Valentina. I’m sorry. I’d come so close to finding her. Or finding out if she was safe. Helplessness washed over me. Tears streamed down my face as the beast roared at the top of its lungs.

I had almost died so many times on this planet. I never imagined this ending. Alone. With no one to help me out of this mess, I’d run out of options. I’d been fighting so long… maybe it was time to rest.