Page 7 of Charmed By the Alien Warrior

I push open the door, and Maddie follows, nearly stepping on my heels in her rush to keep up. She plops down onto one of the small beds lined up in the center of the room.

“You know exactly what I mean,” she presses. “You can’t be serious about traipsing around out in the jungle. You’re joking, right?” Maddie looks over at me.

I busy myself sorting through my meager belongings. Without looking at my sister, I glance toward the far corner, where one bed sits apart from the others, its occupant hidden under a fur blanket despite the heat.

“Shh,” I whisper. “You’ll wake Emily.”

Maddie follows my gaze, her eyes softening as she takes in the still form beneath the covers.

She sheepishly whispers, “Sorry.”

But Emily doesn’t stir. She’s done little more than sleep ever since we got here. It’s like she’s retreated into herself, barely speaking, into some place where none of us can reach her. After the crash, she suffered the worst injuries of all of us, and she lost so much blood that I didn’t think she’d make it.

I can still remember the sight of her pale face streaked with dirt, her skin waxy and blue-ish as Warrix, the tribe’s medic, worked over her with his strange alien devices. Somehow, he succeeded.

Warrix told us yesterday that Emily’s body has healed enough for her to return to normal activity. The words were meant to comfort us, but they didn’t. Because healing the body doesn’t mean much when the mind is still hurting.

Maddie mutters under her breath. “I don’t get it. She should be up by now, right? Warrix said she’s fine.”

“She’s not fine,” I say quietly, moving to sit beside my sister. “She’s alive, yes, but that doesn’t mean she’s okay. You know what she’s been through. What we’ve all been through. People don’t just bounce back from things like that.”

Maddie leans her head against my shoulder, just like she always did when she was a kid. “Yeah, I know. I just hate seeing her like this.”

I nod my head and sigh.

Emily’s body survived the crash, but the rest of her? It’s like she’s in a really dark place, right now, and I’m terrified she might never come back.

I turn back to my sister, keeping my voice even. “She just needs time. We all do.”

But even as I say it, I’m scared that time won’t be enough. Not to heal what’s going on with Emily. Or the rest of us.

I shake my head at my thoughts and change the subject, making sure to keep my voice low. “The Anuriix have been generous. They’ve clothed us, fed us, given us shelter and safety. But it’s not enough to just survive.”

Maddie narrows her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not serious about this.” The concern in her voice is impossible to miss, and it makes my chest clench with regret. Regret that I’m worrying my sister. But I only nod at her words.

“Of course I’m serious.”

Maddie’s mouth drops open in shock and she bolts upright, staring at me like I’ve sprouted an extra head. Or maybe elf ears.

I release a deep sigh. “Listen, there might be more women out there. Women like us. You saw the blueprints for the spaceship just like I did. You know I’m right.”

I don’t mention to her the other reason why I’m so set on going on this mission, at least not yet.

That I want to see for myself that there aren’t any ships that could take us off this planet and back to Earth. Surely, there have to be.

One of the Laediriians—Vrenner, the tribe’s tech—worked with Isabella to download files from the crashed ship. They found a blueprint of the mothership, and that blueprint shows there was a second cargo hold with the same layout as the one we were in. It makes sense to me that the Zyfeliks would have made sure to fill it just like they did ours.

I continue, “If the cargo hold was dumped on this planet like ours was, they might not be as lucky as we’ve been.”

Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t trust the Laediriians, but things could have been so much worse if they hadn’t saved us.

I lean back, letting out a breath before deciding to tell her the truth. “Besides, I want to see more of this place. Ineedto. If there’s even the slightest chance of finding a way off this planet and back to Earth, I have to take it. I know the Laediriians claim they don’t have a working ship anymore. That their ancestors’ vessel ran out of fuel generations ago. But I want to see for myself.”

Maddie stares at me for a long moment, her expression caught somewhere between frustration and reluctant understanding. I’m going to go on this mission regardless, but I want my sister to support me in this. I don’t want to leave with her upset with me.

“And I just... I feel like I have to do this. Iwantto do this. Imagine how scared those women will be if a bunch of teal Arnold Schwarzenegger’s show up carrying swords.” Maddie snorts at my words, her mouth quirking up at the corners. “They’re going to be terrified. I can help calm things down.”

“I get it. I just don’t want to lose you, too,” she says finally, her voice barely above a whisper.

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