Page 33 of Bound to the Alien King
I wanted to go help them, but I meant what I said to Roxxanne—I wouldn’t leave her.
“Nera!”a voice shouted among the throng.
It was Pete.I almost didn’t recognize him because he was wearing a shirt and appeared much less buttery.He bobbed and weaved between the aliens who towered two feet above him.As he drew closer, his grin broadened despite the growing fire turning the sky a dark orange.
“Bleach leader,” he said proudly as he stopped in front of us.
“What?”I asked, blinking hard at him.
“Miekil.That’s what he called me a few seconds ago.”He leaned in closer.“Between you and me, he sounded like he’s on a bad acid trip.”
“Miekil?”
“Yeah, I guess something’s wrong?”He shrugged casually at the burning forest.“He didn’t say.Or couldn’t say.He called me on Maxx’s communicator.I’m tracking his GPS location on my phone now.Want to come?”
“So…Maxx is with him?”
“All he said when he called me was ‘bleach leader.’I don’t think he was referring to Maxx.”He handed me his phone.“Here.You try talking to him.He left the line open.”
“Miekil?”I practically shouted.“Where’s Maxx?Did you go on the cloaked spaceship?”
“Left…or…right,” Miekil said softly.
“Miekil?Never mind.We’re on our way.”I shoved Pete’s phone back at him and tightened my grip around Roxxanne’s shoulders.“We’re coming with you.Are you all right with that, Roxxanne?”
I’d promised to keep her safe, after all, the very opposite of walking directly into a forest fire.
“I’m coming with you.”She turned to Pete resolutely, her tears still streaking her scaled cheeks.“Lead the way.”
Pete shrugged.“Just don’t get hurt.Your dad will kill me by default if anything happens to you.”
If he was still alive, that is.
“We can go this way,” Roxxanne said, pointing in the other direction of the exploded ship.“There’s a path that cuts around through the part of the forest that isn’t burning yet.”
We followed Roxxanne, who walked at a brisk pace, and I realized another reason why she’d wanted to go this way—there was no one around to try to stop her.To protect the only full-blooded Xenoxx female left.
I was sure being treated like fragile glass would get old after a while, whether she had the power of suggestion or not.
Smoke hung lacy curtains between the trees, stinging my eyes as I searched both the ground and Pete’s phone for any sign of Maxx and Miekil.The farther we went, the thicker the smoke became, and the more orange flames sparked along the tree branches and the forest floor.The pockets of crackling fire made it hard to hear much of anything else.
“Dad!”Roxxanne shouted.
According to Pete’s phone, we were nearly on top of Maxx’s communicator signal.So where was he?I hoped the answer was not scattered among the remnants of the destroyed ship.
I squinted through the smoke, searching, praying, clasping Roxxanne’s hand so hard she winced.
Then, from a little way ahead, an exhale reached my ears followed by a single word: “No.”
I would know that fierce, raspy growl anywhere.“Maxx!”
I rushed forward, my speed parting the smoke some, and then there he was.He lay on his back next to Miekil, their pants and shirts singed so much there was barely anything left.
“No,” he pushed out again as Roxxanne and I knelt at his side.
Relief loosened my lungs, and I exhaled a sob.It broke me seeing him like this, my big, strong alien king, but he was alive.Still whole and beautiful.
“Miekil?”Pete nudged the Killian in the side.“You dead?Even if you are, the bleach leader is here to save you.”
