Page 34 of Victoria's Discovery

“Let’s hope it was supposed to keep stuff in instead of out,” she muttered. TheJurassic Parktheme song played ominously through her mind. “On second thought, let’s hope it’s just there for aesthetics.”

Gazing beyond the tear in the wall, she startled a little to find aliens standing on the other side, staring in at them. They looked tiny next to the wall, which was probably why she hadn’t noticed them before that moment. They also looked kind of impoverished.

She’d expected aliens to be dressed like the fishes, in futuristic bodysuits, and have super advanced technology. Gazing at the city beyond them, she took in the towering skyscrapers. Those looked high-tech, but surrounding their bases were crowded buildings stacked perilously on top of each other. It looked like they were made out of whatever materials people could get their hands on and were in varying states of disrepair. It reminded her of pictures she’d seen of the slums in Mexico City.

Gazing back at the planet’s inhabitants, she saw almost all of them were dressed in ragged, brown, robe-like garments, and there was something distinctly… hungry about them.

That was more than a little unnerving.

Glancing at the giants again, she was relieved to find they’d recovered from the teleportation and were eyeing the natives alertly. In unison, they stepped closer to her, for which she was very thankful since it saved her from going back on her resolution to be brave and badass like Spar and the woman in the aisle.

Movement from the corner of her eye had her turning in time to see Vi’kail approach them. Meeting his gaze, she smiled and waved, happy to see him free. Thegan and Thorn apparently weren’t feeling quite as happy because they both gave low, menacing growls.

Gazing up at them in surprise, she automatically reached out to stroke a hand down each of their arms. “It’s okay, guys. He’s friendly.”

As soon as she said the words, she wondered if they were true. Sure, he’d been nice when he was in his cage and she was in hers, but would that hold true now that they’d been freed?

Victoria looked back at Vi’kail, trying to read his body language and expression, but nothing about his demeanor struck her as menacing or unfriendly. In fact, he seemed relieved more than anything else. The watchful tension he’d had in the cage, like he was constantly on guard and searching for a way out, was gone. Well, mostly gone. On every other step, he looked away from her to scan his surroundings and carried himself with an alert readiness.

“I think he’s a soldier,” she mused. When a little peep of agreement sounded in her ear, she raised a hand to her shoulder. Smiling when she felt the critter touch her finger, she asked, “You sure you’re okay? No bad side effects from being teleported? You’re right-side out?”

A cheerful chirp answered her which she took to mean it was okay. Relieved, she gave it a scritch on its… head? Maybe that was actually its back. Being that it was still invisible, she couldn’t tell.

Facing forward at the scuff of footsteps, Victoria looked up and blinked, lips parting slightly when she found Vi’kail standing less than a foot away, staring down at her with a small smile tipping one side of his dark green lips.

He was taller than she’d expected, close to a foot and a half taller than her, putting her at eye level with his impressive pecs.

“Victoria,” he murmured, his voice deep and smoky.

She’d never heard her name said quite like that, like he was caressing every syllable with his tongue. He made it sound exotic and sultry, two words nobody had ever used to describe her name, or her for that matter.

“Damn. He’s got a sex voice, too. That’s just unfair,” she lamented under her breath.

His white brows arched, and his smile widened in what looked a lot like startled amusement.

Eyes widening, she gasped, “Oh shit, you can’t understand me, can you?”

He cocked his head a little in apparent confusion. “Ashe vox, shê’sinala.”

There was a sparkle in his pale purple eyes that made her a bit suspicious, but he sounded suitably confused, so she dismissed it as paranoia. Before she could come up with a reply, a call from ahead got their attention. Bracing a hand on Thegan’s hip, she leaned to the side to see around Vi’kail.

There was a red demon-man waving them forward, gesturing for them to follow the line of people filing into one of the huge, sleek, metal vehicles.

Victoria glanced around one more time at the alien planet before letting Thorn guide her forward.

As though they’d come to some kind of unspoken agreement, all three guys positioned themselves so she was surrounded as they walked up the ramp.

Once her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, she saw there were no seats inside the vehicle. People of all shapes, sizes, and colors were crammed in, standing shoulder to shoulder, looking nervous and on edge.

Victoria’s stomach clenched when she realized she was the smallest person in there. Visions of being accidentally trampled danced through her head, slowing her steps.

“Uhh, guys… ”

The ramp closed behind them with a metallic clank, making her jump and sending her heart into her throat. Thorn stroked a calming hand over her curls and made a soft thrumming noise before steering her to the only open section of wall available. Thankfully, it was a little outside the crush of bodies, so her fear of being stepped on lessened.

As soon as she leaned back against the wall, Thegan and Vi’kail closed in on either side, almost squishing her between their big bodies, while Thorn planted himself in front of her, his hands braced on the wall above her head, standing so close his defined abs were only a couple of inches from her nose.

Victoria craned her head back, intending to thank them, only to find all three staring down at her. The words died on her lips and her pulse spiked for a second time, though for an entirely different reason.

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