Page 43 of Loved By the Alien King
“But we won’t be on this crazy little planet that’s always trying to kill us.”
“Somehow I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” I strode a few paces ahead over a particularly steep part of the cliff and turned back to help Nera.
“Thank you for coming with me, Maxx. I don’t think I can tell you how much this means to me. It just helps to know that I’m not alone with all of these feelings and…” She sucked in a shaky breath and shook her head, letting her glossy, moonlit hair curtain around her face. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I swept her hair back from her face and gently tucked it behind her ear as an excuse to touch her, look at her. “Whatever you need, I’m here. Always.”
“You make everything so easy.” She gazed up at the beacon on top of the cliff, her features hardening. “Easier.”
“Good. That’s the way it should be.”
Still, closing in on the unexpectedness of Rain, what she knew about me, how she’d saved my life, slithered icy paths between my scales and strangled my nerves. One wrong word in front of Nera would blow my secret wide open.
The secret that I was painfully aware I hadn’t told Nera about yet. If I waited for the right time, that would never come. Goddess damn me.
But as we came upon the dilapidated stone building, now was definitely the wrong time.
The very air around Nera pulsed with tension and contempt. As she ducked beneath the fallen stone door, a shudder rolled across her tight shoulders, and she fisted her hands so hard that they shook.
Never one to stall to meet my fate, I took the heavy door and tossed it out of my way into the leafy jungle that had half swallowed the building.
And then there she was, standing before Nera with tears in her blue eyes. She flicked them to me, and rather than any shock, only pain and sorrow haunted her artificial face. She wore a simple green button-down dress with white detailing that looked more utilitarian than anything else.
“King Maxx.” She bowed her head, as was Xenoxx custom when meeting a royal. “A pleasure.”
“Rain.” It came out as a threat, at which she nodded once.
She knew. She had to know that me being here with Nera meant something that had nothing to do with Rain and everything she knew about me. My secret was safe.
For now.
I hoped.
Her full attention returned to Nera. “Are you ready?”
Nera looked away from her, her jaw twitching, her neck strained, and searched the stone walls. “You changed things in here.”
“I did,” Rain admitted. “I thought it might be easier for you.”
I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about since the space looked exactly like an abandoned building should. Dead jungle leaves littered the floor, and a broken slab of stone sat in the middle in a V shape. Though something odd did stand out.
A bubble machine sat in one corner blowing a flurry of little blue soapy bubbles that almost instantly popped. It reminded me of Rain’s strange emails and her obsession with Os. She’d put…o…all over the place, and sometimes, she’d *pop* them. Strange.
Nera seemed to ignore it as she swiped a stray tear from her cheek. “Nothing about any of this will ever be easy.”
I smoothed my hand down her back, and some of the tension riding her muscles loosened a fraction.
“No, of course not,” Rain said, dropping her watery gaze to the floor. “I suppose I should start with what happened on that mountain, but before I do, I thought you should know that it’s been 1,369 days since you’ve called your parents, Nera.”
“Rain?” she said through gritted teeth.
“Yes?”
“I’m not here to talk about how shitty of a daughter I am.”
“I know,” Rain said softly, “but just know that it’s not me who’s keeping track.”
Nera heaved a breath and sank down onto the broken stone slab. “Fuck me…”
