Page 11 of Revealed

She didn’t respond. Her eyes were wide and fixed on me.

"What are those?"

For a moment, I didn’t know what she meant. I twisted around, wondering what she might have seen behind me.

“On your back,” she said, her voice cracking. “I saw them when I walked in, and you were spinning.”

I froze. I'd forgotten about the line of raised bumps running along my spine that marked me as distinctly non-human. So much for keeping my identity a secret.

I ran my hands through my hair, droplets flicking off and into the water behind me. “They’re called nodes. All Drexians have them.”

She took a small step back. “Drexians? I thought you were one of those Men in Black who handles aliens on Earth.”

I fought back a smile. “I do wear black, but I do not know anything of these Men in Black. If they exist, the Drexians do not know of them. And, until today, we were the only aliens to visit your planet.”

“Aliens?” The word came out like a squeak.

I met her gaze steadily. “Yes. I’m not from Earth. I'm from a planet called Drex, many light-years from here, but it has been a long time since I’ve been to my home world. I have lived on our space station near Saturn for many years.”

For a moment, Allie simply stared at me, shaking her head slowly. “I know you don’t look quite human.” She waved one hand at me. “I mean, who actually looks like that in real life?”

I took a few more steps through the water. “You don’t need to fear us, Allie. We’re nothing like the aliens who have attacked Earth. We’ve been protecting your planet for decades.”

“You have?” Her gaze drifted down my body to beneath the water, her pupils flaring as she took another step back. “Holy sh—“

I could see it happening, but I couldn’t stop it. Allie’s last step backward was off the stone path and before she could finish speaking, she was falling back into the water. Dinah leapt into the air yowling as Allie’s arms flailed for balance. The cat landed on the stone, but the human splashed into the pool, taking the rope barrier with her.

Without hesitation, I leaped naked from one side of the pool and into the other.

Chapter

Eight

Allie

Iwas flying. Or was I floating? Everything was weightless, painless, peaceful. Then suddenly, cold. So cold it shocked my system, jolting me back to consciousness.

I blinked, my eyes stinging and my vision blurry. A face hovered above me, and I recognized the amber eyes. Maxxon.

His brow was wrinkled as he knelt beside me on the rock ledge beside the pool. I tried to sit up, but my clothes clung to me, sopping wet and heavy, and I shivered in the cool subterranean air.

"Allie?" Maxxon's voice sounded distant, muffled, as if I were still underwater.

Underwater. The memory rushed back—stepping back and feeling nothing but air beneath my foot. Then hitting the water.

"Are you all right? Please, say something." The urgency in Maxxon's tone cut through my mental fog.

I tried to speak, but only managed a weak cough. Water dribbled from my mouth, and I turned my head to the side, spitting and sputtering.

"I'm... okay," My throat was raw. “What... what happened?"

Relief washed over Maxxon's face. "You fell into the pool. I pulled you out but only after untangling you from all the rope you pulled into the water with you.”

I twisted my head to see the red, dripping rope barriers tangled next to me.

“It’s my fault you fell,” Maxxon said. “I didn't mean to startle you like that."

Startle me? Then it came back to me. I’d found Dinah and walked back into the cavern where he’d been rinsing off. I hadn’t realized he’d be doing it completely naked, but that hadn’t been what had startled me. Well, what had startled me the most. I’d seen the row of bumps running down his spine. They weren’t unusual birthmarks or growths. They were too symmetrical for that.

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