Page 23 of Matched to the Alien King
“Yes, of course,” I lied, smooth as melted butter, “but I’ll need some time. Where are you stationed?”
“Down quite a ways to the east, location 12456. You’ll need shoes, Captain. Battle gear. It’snotsafe out there.”
“I’ll have it covered.” I waved a hand dismissively at my gorgeous dress. “This is just for blending in with the locals.”
She blinked at me. “I haven’t seen any locals. What do they look like?”
“Like they’re blending in too.” Uh, sure. Good answer, Nera. With my hands on her shoulders, I hurried her toward the door. “I’ll meet up with you later, Avery.”
“Sounds good.” Outside the door, she turned. “It’s great to see another familiar, trustworthy face.”
She wasn’t talking to my face though. Yep, she said that straight to my boobs.
“I’ll do that,” I said as I shut the door inherface.
Wait, what? I’d do what now? My brain had bailed on that conversation a long time ago, and I didn’t even know the words I was spewing anymore.
I did, however, know the exact words I wanted to spew at a certain alien king who’d seriously damaged my calm since the day I met him.
Fuming, I wrenched open the closet door. “The Xenoxx are supposed to behelpingthe humans in this war.”
He stepped out, uncoiling his towering height and stacks of muscles from the confines within. His narrowed purple eyes blazed a warning I didn’t plan on heeding. “Wearehelping you.”
“But you’renot. You tried to steal it from me, remember? Tell me why.”
He lifted his chin, a stubborn, scaled column of silence.
“Swear to god, Maxx,” I said through gritted teeth and jabbed a finger at his face, “if you don’t start talking, I’m leaving.”
I let the meaning of those words, the heavy weight behind them, swing like a pendulum between us. He knew what I meant. Obviously I couldn’t leave the planet or the show, but I could leave this bungalow. And him.
Poisoned barbs pierced my heart at the thought, exploding into a riot of pain, but secrecy and lies were my hard limits. And helping the Faid? Forget about it.
Thoughts and emotions warred across Maxx’s face, none of which I could read.
Finally, he said, “The Xenoxx…made another deal.”
“With the Faid?” I was shouting now, and I didn’t even care.
He knew. He knew my history with the Faid, how one of them had destroyed me in one single night.
Tears scorched the backs of my eyes until they burned down my cheeks. My lips trembled as he slowly moved toward me, his expression tortured.
“No.” He reached out and squeezed my shoulders gently. “No, not with the Faid, Nera. With the Bishops.”
“The giantbugaliens?” With tears coating my voice, my disgust with that species sounded amplified inside my own head.
“Yes, the...giant bug aliens.” Still squeezing my shoulder with one hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. “They manufacture and sell weapons. The humans need weapons to win their wars. Our deal with the Bishops was to prolong the Faid War as long as possible so that they would become richer. I have the contracts to prove it.” Seeming reluctant, he released me, a storm of emotions raging in those lavender hues. “I didn’t tell you, Nera, because the Xenoxx and the humans are supposed to be allies.”
“Then why make that deal in the first place?” I snapped. “What doyouget out of it?”
He turned away, but not so much that I couldn’t see the intense grief pinching the corners of his eyes, not so much that I couldn’t see his next words leaving his mouth. “The Bishops are the only ones with the technology advanced enough to help me. We’re helping them in exchange for them helping me investigate who murdered my wife.”
A great sigh heaved from my lungs, but it wasn’t relief. It was resistance to the tight, painful metal cage erected inside my chest.
Maxx had one too, made from grief and tears and memories, the exact same as mine.
I wanted to go to him, hug him, help him. Still, though…
