Page 13 of Fire Forged

“Why?Scared of little ol’ me?”she teased, unable to stop herself.“I can floor you again, Tarzan.”

Mm, yummy.He could be Tarzan if he freed that long braid she glimpsed, the tail end of it brushing his heels.Even though she had an overactive imagination, she couldn’t quite picture him in a loin cloth.Still, she’d spend nights trying to.

“Britta.”One word from her mom, and shame settled on Britt’s shoulders.

She hadn’t always been like this, just sometimes things got out of control.To say she was irritated at all hours was an understatement.Her last shrink had said her anger stemmed from the death of her father.She never wanted to think about that or unravel why.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Nerx harrumphed.“I will accept your apology when my vision is restored.”

Two men stomped in, both in military black with long braids to their heels like she’d seen in the digi-mags.Four Etterians in her lounge defied logic, and they dominated the space, almost sapping the air out of the room.Although, that might be all her.As she devoured the sheer beauty standing before her, gone was her steady heartbeat.

Matir and Sena studied her, curiosity in their open perusal and arched brows.Glances at Aldur snagged their focus more.They gasped and grumbled, tossing grins at each other, as if they communicated on another level she wasn’t party to.

“Guard, and watch out for the younger female.”With that, Nerx lifted his wrist to his mouth.“Edon, one to port.”

“His fault for spying,” she muttered, whipping their gazes back to her.

As Nerx phased out, her mom jumped back, squeaking.

Britt grinned.She’d seen illegal sci-fi movies, unlike her mother, so Nerx teleporting just looked believable.

“Mom?What the hell’s going on?”She gestured to Aldur whose gaze rested on her mother’s face with an unexpected warmth.

Mom splayed her fingers onto his firm pec.“Aldur was just about to explain.”

He shifted closer to her, almost reverently.Britt’s eyebrow shot up.She rolled her lips inward to smother a smile.

“I am on a mission for my queen...”

She snorted.Yup, sure, a noble quest for my liege.He didn’t glance Britta’s way and continued as if she hadn’t made a sound.She gathered her irritation, curled her fingers into fists, and bit her tongue.Ignoring someone was the height of rudeness.

“Lady Macera is the Dar Eth to King Xeus.She is a human female and is...pregnant, she calls it, with twins.”He ran his hand over his black hair slicked to his scalp.“She asked me to travel to Earth to find an OB-GYN, who had pediatric experience.My king wants this person to be a female.”

“I am no longer a doctor,” Mom whispered, her cheeks paling.

“This is acceptable, Lady Dahlia.You will not abandon your patients to travel to Etteria.It is just you and your daughter, I am correct?”

Mom frowned despite Aldur pulling her closer.“Yes, but I don’t practice anymore.”

“It is our first Etterian and human birthing.I would value your expertise, even if you do not assist.”

“What do you think, Britt?”Mom glanced at her.

Britt grinned.“I’d love to go.”At last, she’d get to see the stars, fly past planets she might have had a hand at exploring.Had things not gone wrong in her well-planned life.

Mom gaped.“You would?”

“I don’t like working at Stay Alive anyway, and you do need to find a purpose...”She’d tell her mother later that she probably didn’t have a job anymore anyway.

“Can we come back?”Mom peered at Aldur.

Britt gritted her teeth.Come back?Why would she want to?This world was horrible, having taken her father and her mother’s love for life.She couldn’t wait to leave.Anywhere else had to be better than here.

“If you wish, or you can choose to remain on Etteria,” Aldur said, running a hand from Mom’s wrist to her elbow.

Britt started for the stairs.

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