Page 41 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

The tallest one looked over at the others. “I think she means it. Do you think the earthers are brain-damaged? Should we disregard her words?”

“I’m not brain-damaged! I want to kill that Aavvee. Get out of the way.”

None of them moved. “If we have no home, no place to go, where will we find our almax ?”

The other chimed in, same mannerisms, same voice. “You said we can have an almax . Where is she?”

I was taken aback. Typical men, alien or not. Of course, they only cared about getting their dicks wet. “Anyone. Any alien.”

“The earthers? We are compatible with them?”

“Yes!” I tried to race around them, but they constantly kept in front of me, driving me crazy. There was no way I could beat them. They were even faster than me.

“Prove it.”

I slowed and watched as Freckles crawled away. Carajo! “Sunny…er, Xefe. The First. He’s my almax . My mate.”

“How is that possible?” They asked simultaneously.

“I got his rod to move, and the markings on his arms have spread all over his body.”

“She speaks truth. I saw the markings on the First!” The three of them, as one, looked down at the golden tattoos on their right arms.

“Markings like this?” One asked.

“Yes!”

“Get away from my woman,” Sunny’s voice boomed behind me. I spun around and saw Sunny, who had the supreme in a chokehold. Had he beaten the triad, or had they abandoned their leader? Had the promise of an almax affected them that much?

“Your woman?”

“You claim her?”

“We can mate with the earthers?”

They all spoke, one after the other, as if they were one person.

“She speaks true.” Sunny hauled the leader in front of him.

“Hold!” Sunny bellowed to the warriors fighting and advancing on us in the field.

“Everything my almax said is true. You now have a choice. Fight with me, to protect the earthers and reclaim our home, or go with the supreme. I give him to you for safe passage. But we will take Tontoh, the Aavvee scientist. My earther must avenge her sister. The rest may go. Decide!”

I searched the platform for Nieve, Querida, and Nheenya, to see if they’d grabbed Valentina. They stood over her and protected her with their bodies. Thank you, Dios .

“We no longer serve this leader. We serve no one. We are free!” The triad abandoned the supreme, and Sunny tossed him on the floor.

The warriors were divided, some standing beside Sunny, others across from him.

The supreme righted himself and stepped back quickly.

“How- how dare you? You- you are nothing. I give you the chance to compete on my stage, and this is how you repay me- me ? And you- you !” he spoke to Sunny.

“You- you abandoned me. Take- take the word of this earther over me. Bend- bend before me.”

Shoomp, shoomp, shoomp. Aavvee guards, armed with staffs, hundreds of them, streamed through the portals.

“Uh, Sunny, we better get out of here,” I said as I looked over at Freckles. Unfortunately, he was still moving. But I couldn’t get to him because he’d crawled behind a wall of warriors.

“I will never bend to you. I renounce you!” Sunny shouted at the stands. “Nozaroc First.”

Loxo, Nime, and a handful of other warriors backed us up. “Nozaroc first!”

The crowd exploded in sound. Hisses and boos. We might have the entire planet against us. Now that I could think beyond panic for Valentina, I saw how bad our odds were. Guards blocked the portals, and the Aavvee in the stands started to descend onto the field, ready to spill blood.

The Aavvee soldiers closed in.

“Get the earthers!!” Sunny screamed and held his staff in the air, his fingers dancing along the side of it. “We will make it. I will never lose you!” A screeching boom rocked the stadium. The domed force field, over our heads, was opening.

Sunny deactivated the shield. The one that kept the scary Guardians at bay.

As the force field opened, Aavvee screamed in unison, so loud I covered my ears from the sound of shattering glass. It was maddening.

In a panic, I ran toward Valentina. I needed her in my arms, needed to protect her from the mayhem. Sunny scooped me up and fought the wind. In a few more minutes, the Guardians would break in. “My sister!” I pointed toward the stage.

Loxo outpaced us and grabbed Querida.

Nime did the same and grabbed Nheenya. A whirl of teal and gold whizzed by at startling speeds and headed straight for Nieve and my sister. The triad.

“No!” I tapped my vid-phone, and Nieve picked up. “Grab my sister. Get out of there!”

Nieve looked up and saw the supreme’s personal guard headed her way. She lifted her hand and spoke into her vid-phone. “I’ll protect her, nena . With my life.” In two seconds, the three warriors hoisted them in their arms and vanished through the nearest portal.

“ No ,” I whispered this time. It felt like a physical blow. “Sunny, go after them,” I sobbed.

A spiral of wind, the size of a refrigerator, snuck through the opening above us. It created havoc, tossing aside the Aavvee guards who crossed its path. Once it landed, I could have sworn I heard laughter and saw a flash of dark hair.

“What the hell?” My hand vibrated, and I tapped my palm.

“Follow the baby Guardian. He is with me. We’re besties,” Veras faint voice was hard to hear over the roar of the tornadoes.

“You and this Guardian are besties ?” I scrambled to look over Sunny’s shoulder and sobbed. “I don’t want to go. I have to follow my sister.”

“You cannot!” Veras shouted. “Come back to the compound, and we will find her. I promise.”

“You trust him?” Sunny asked as he and the warriors slashed through the Aavvee, dodging gunfire and ray guns.

I nodded and sobbed. We only had seconds before the Guardians would destroy the place.

Aavvee clogged the portals, but the smaller mini tornado took us toward the exit, out into the sands.

I was shocked at the sheer force of wind.

We plodded along, fighting the squalls, completely ignored by the massive Guardians.

I had never been so close to utter destruction.

They attacked with the force of an atom bomb, disintegrating the arena now that they had full access.

We cut away from the Guardians, and the little whirlwind led us to a portal, along the side of the mountain.

At this point, I was numb, watching from afar. All I could think about was Valentina and Nieve.