Page 6 of Loved By the Alien King
“Are trackers?”
“No, the static is me interfering with the trackers’ signals so that you can’t be found.”
“Found by who, Rain? Other Faid? Why thefuckwould you mess with my hearing?” I was shouting now, the anger in my voice echoing between the walls and bouncing back into me to fester.
“I did it to protect you,” she said softly. “I don’t want you to hurt anymore.”
“I willalwayshurt,” I hissed. “Always. There is nothing you can do to help me. Do you understand?”
She nodded once as her teary gaze dropped to her lap.
“I need to go. I’m done listening to you.” This time, I forced my body to behave and do what it was supposed to even under the crushing weight of grief.
Once I was standing, blood rushed to my legs and erupted pins and needles underneath my skin so that I walked toward the exit with a limp.
“Don’t forget your daggers, Nera,” she said from behind me. “Oh. These are Mike’s. Since when do you have Mike’s daggers?”
I turned to retrieve them before she could sink one into my back. “Since I stole them from him after he tried to lock me in an Earth Space Fleet office under the sand. He was being an ass, as is his usual.”
She gasped, which made me freeze my forward progress to the daggers, anticipation for an attack coiling tightly through me.
“Wait, you saw him? You saw himhere?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” I reached for the daggers in her hand, the pearly handles aimed toward me for safety’s sake, and snatched them away.
“You have to stay away from him, Nera.”
“Yeah, I haven’t made it a habit to buddy up with my ex. We just happen to be on the same planet.” I turned to leave again but then glanced back. My mind whirled on the reason I was here, on the part Rain must’ve played in that, but I kept spiraling back to my own doubts about Mike. “But for the sake of argument, why do you say that?”
“Because the trackers in your ears, Nera, and the bird poop one on your shoulder.” She firmed her lips as she seemed to search my face for something other than straight malice. “Those are from Mike.”
Chapter four
Maxx
Mikeswepthiscold,shrewd gaze over me. “Did your Faid AI tell you who I am, or does my reputation precede me?”
“Captain Nera Cotrobin’s ex-husband.” Just her name filled my hearts, while it drew a blank stare from Mike.
“You know my ex?”
“Intimately,” I admitted freely.
I was never one to purposely spark jealousy, but I was curious to see how he’d react.
He didn’t. At all. The man was an empty canvas.
“She’s certainly in for a rude awakening when she finds out you’re a Faid.” Hetsked like he was speaking to a child. “The Xenoxx king. You won’t find any royal red carpet or special treatment here, I’m afraid.”
“You are,” I said with a nod.
He cocked his head. “What?”
“Afraid.”
He deserved to be called out on it too, the arrogant dolt. He still stood by the closed door, unable or unwilling to step farther into the room without a quick escape at his back.
“Faid were modeled after humans, not Xenoxx, so how did you do it?” he asked. “Better yet,whydid you do it?”
