Page 13 of Tempted By the Alien Warrior

The slashes of hair above her eyes—eyebrows,I think the humans call them—lift in question, but she doesn’t question me as we slip through the village toward a squat stone hut near the training arena.

This time, before I can say anything, she stops at the entrance. “Let me guess. Stay here.”

“You learn quickly.” I step past her to the door of the hut.

She huffs, but she doesn’t argue as she crosses her arms and leans against the hut’s outer wall.

Inside, the scent of oiled steel and leather fills the space, and my gaze locks onto the racks of weapons lining the walls.

I move swiftly, picking a large, well-balanced sword. It’s not the same as my own sword. The one I’ve had ever since I was made a warrior in the tribe, but it will serve its purpose. Moving down the racks, I strap a dizzying array of knives to my body with practiced precision.

A long dagger against my thigh. A smaller curved blade at my hip. Smaller knives lined along my chest and hidden in my boots. By the time I step back outside, I’m fully armed, and the weight of the weapons is familiar and comforting.

When I exit the weapons hut, the human’s eyes widen slightly as she takes me in.

“Isn’t that overkill?” she murmurs.

I frown, my mind catching on the unfamiliar word.KillI understand, butover? The translator chip embedded behind my ear that allows me to understand the humanish language offers no useful explanation, leaving me to puzzle over whether she’s questioning my weapons or making some strange joke only a human would understand.

I tilt my head at her. “Not if we want to survive the jungle.”

Whatever she meant, my answer must satisfy her because she doesn’t argue. Instead, she exhales sharply and nods. “Let’s go.”

We move quickly toward the eponirs’ corral, the last hurdle before we can disappear into the jungle. As we weave through the village, a dangerous thought takes root in my mind.

I could leave her.

She’s freed me, and now I’m armed. I have everything I need to escape. I could disappear into the jungle before anyone even realizes I’m gone.

It’s the smart choice. The safe choice. It’s what my father would do.

But then I glance at her, at the way her fingers still clutch the eating knife in her hand. She’s small and fragile. And human. And yet, she’s willing to throw herself into the unknown for the slim chance of saving her cousin.

I know, without a doubt, that she’ll go into the jungle with or without me. And she will die. The jungle, and the beasts within it, will swallow her whole.

I don’t want to carry the guilt of her death.

Gritting my fangs, I shove the thought aside as we reach the corral.

I stop and turn to her. “You’re sure about this?” I ask, my voice low. “Once we leave, there will be no turning back.”

Her eyes meet mine. “I don’t have a choice,” she says softly. “Lily doesn’t have time for me to second-guess this.”

I nod once. For a brief moment, I consider the absurdity of the situation—me, Vrok, following a human on a rescue mission that is almost certainly doomed to fail. But then she lifts her chin with stubborn determination, and I push the thought aside.

“Stay here,” I say as I quietly climb the fence and hop down into the corral.

It only takes me a heartbeat to find my eponir, Dania, and saddle her quickly.

Dania snorts softly as I lead her out of the enclosure, her dark, glossy coat blending with the shadows of the night. The eponir’s sharp ears twitch, alert to the faintest sounds. I place a calming hand on her flank, murmuring under my breath to keep her calm.

The little female steps forward, her eyes widening as she takes in my mount. “She’s huge,” she whispers. “A lot bigger than a horse.”

Ahorse? The translator chip gives me the meaning, but the image that forms in my mind doesn’t do Dania justice.

“She’s fast,” I reply, keeping my voice low. “And she’ll carry us far before anyone notices we’re gone.”

I swing into the saddle with ease, then extend a hand down to her. She stares at it. Her jaw is tight as if she’s bracing herself for something far worse than mounting an eponir.

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