Page 10 of You're Not My King!

The last detail, and arguably the most important, that grabbed my attention was the older woman sashaying through the parted ranks toward me, a bright, welcoming grin on her face. Her human face. There’s another human here! She came up to my chest, had long salt-and-pepper hair tied into a ponytail, and rounded glasses perched on the bridge of her pointy nose. She seemed friendly, or at least approachable, but also like she would stand for no shit—I drew that conclusion by the way she batted one of the seven-foot-tall aliens out of her way when they strayed into her path.

I almost laughed.

“Hello there, lovey,” she said with an accent I couldn’t quite place. British, maybe? “Sorry about the welcome brigade, they’re just excited to see you.”

Yeah, on closer inspection, most of them did seem curious or eager.

“I’m Fiona,” she carried on. “The clan’s healer.”

“Reuben,” I responded robotically, giving her a fake smile. “The newest abductee.”

Her expression turned sympathetic, and she stepped forward to squeeze my arms in a small gesture of comfort. “I know it’s difficult, dearie—being taken from your life, your family—and you have no reason to trust a word I say. But, in time, you will fit in here, and you’ll find a new rhythm, a new routine. It’ll become your home. I promise.”

I chewed my bottom lip, stifling what I actually wanted to say—that I had a home and needed to get back there if I wanted a shot at being happy again, like I used to be, once upon a time. There was no reason for me to spare her feelings, but she wasn’t the enemy. She’d been in the exact same boat. “I’m just relieved to see another human here,” I said, deflecting. “Not that I’d wish this fate on anyone, but when they said ‘no translators,’ I was even more unenthusiastic.”

She didn’t call me out, but she gave me a knowing look over her glasses and ushered me to follow her, waving off the escorts still lingering behind me. We wandered away from the group as they chattered among themselves like old housewives. I couldn’t spot my stranger alien from the road—not that I was looking for him.

“You must have quite a few questions,” Fiona said, stealing me from my thoughts.

“Just a few,” I admitted with a wry laugh, and she nodded for me to go ahead. “When were you, um…” Be empathetic. “Brought here?”

Her brows rose, surprised that my first question was about her—so was I, to be fair, but I just rolled with it. I needed to get my bearings before diving into the heavy stuff. “Eight years ago,” she said, staring ahead as if reminiscing. “I was a nurse back home, and though I was highly skilled at my profession, those picky critters in the sorting center were after brain surgeons and rocket scientists, so they dumped me here.” She tutted, shaking her head in mock offense. “Luckily, this lot were in need of a healer.”

“It must’ve been hard,” I responded, though I already believed this woman could make any situation her bitch. “Being the only human for so long.”

“Eh, I adjusted.” That didn’t shock me to hear. “The language took a bit of getting used to, but I got the hang of it eventually. Even managed to teach some English to the clans.”

My eyes widened a fraction. She was the reason Zaay-el and Knee-tar had been able to speak to me. “That’s impressive.”

“Though, I must admit, I am mighty glad you’re here.” She gave my back a friendly pat, and I honestly wished I could say the same. “I want for nothin’, and I’m over the moon with the relationships I’ve built, but it’s nice to be around one of your own, you know? They haven’t taken another human into this clan for as long as I’ve been here.”

I frowned. True enough, I hadn’t seen any others. We were still making our way through the camp, but everyone who’d stepped out of their huts so far to get a look at me had been alien—unless the humans were all locked away in cages.

I tried to hide my gulp. “How come?”

“This is where the Great Leader of U’suhk resides. Each clan has a chief, but this lad is… like the king,” she tacked on, rolling her eyes fondly, and I kinda wanted to know what she really thought of him, but she waved a dismissive hand. “Anyway, though he is grateful for the humans who are sent here, he prefers to spread their gifts to the other clans. As a gesture of goodwill.”

Hold up… So, not only had I been bought by an alien, but an alien king, no less. I’d be darned. Also, ‘Great Leader’ sounded like cult behavior if I’d ever heard it. I was going up in the world.

Look, Ma, I’m in a cult.

“Right,” I said, blandly. “After eight years, I’m the one they pick?” I snorted. “They must be desperate. I wasn’t even supposed to be taken, they were after my—” I cut myself off, sighing. “Doesn’t matter.”

I was only here because I’d tried to be the hero.

The night I was taken, I’d gone to meet my sister, Kat, at the diner we used to go to as kids—one of my fondest memories. It was surprising she’d even agreed, to be honest, after the colossal shitbag I’d been. Growing up, we were so close, did everything together, but I’d gone and ruined it all by making the dumb decision to mix with the wrong crowd and be a selfish bastard.

It was no excuse, but for so long I’d been hiding in the shadow of a man who’d treated me like shit. When we met, I thought Zack—the punch-happy dickwad—was God’s gift. I’d spent years believing his lies and defending him, and it was only after I’d successfully driven everyone I loved away that I had realized how blind I’d been. It’d taken a year for me to not only half-recover from all the damage he’d caused, both physical and emotional, but also to make changes and get things back on track, one wobbly baby step at a time. Get clean, find a job, stop stealing.

And do everything I could to be accepted by my family again.

Healing was a long-ass, complicated journey with a shit-ton of stages, so I couldn’t say I was the poster boy for therapy, but before reaching out to Kat, I had accomplished many of my goals, and despite normally running away from my problems, I had planned on tackling the step of healing broken relationships. I’d been struggling and desperate for the support of my family, and thought my sister was the easiest to start with. I had expected to sit with her at that diner, apologize until my teeth bled, then be on the path to setting things right—to living the rest of my life without those awful and debilitating feelings of regret and shame.

I’d just wanted that familiarity back, that comforting blanket I’d abandoned for the sake of my addiction. I’d tried something new, risked everything safe and good to follow the allure of the unknown, and it’d slammed right back into my face at a punishing speed. I’d just wanted to reverse it, to forget all about the shit and be as happy and trauma-free as I once had been.

But because the universe either hated me or had decided I didn’t deserve forgiveness, none of it had the chance to happen. An alley behind Tony’s was where three masked alien-dudes grabbed her, and I, dumbass extraordinaire, had stepped in, those old protective instincts flaring as I’d pried her free, ending up as collateral damage.

It would be the last time I acted all noble and shit, that was for sure.

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