Page 37 of Victoria's Discovery

“All better. Man, what I wouldn’t have given for this thing after the rock-climbing incident when I broke my leg. Or the white-water rafting incident when I cracked three ribs. Ooh, or that time in high school when Shelly Martin broke three of my fingers after I called her a mean cow for bullying my friend, Nadia.”

The giants were staring at her in confusion when she glanced up at them, but Vi’kail looked a little horrified.

She eyed him uncertainly.Okay, either he can understand me or that’s his confused face and I’m just reading it wrong.

I’m gettin’ a sneaky suspicion it’s the former.

Before she could decide, tall, yellow-skinned beings with big, black eyes and antennae coming out of their heads began working through the crowd, touching foreheads, effectively distracting her.

Oddly, whenever they touched someone, that person relaxed. Some nodded, some made gestures she didn’t understand, and some mumbled things in strange languages, but they all looked pacified.

When one approached their little circle, hand raised, Thorn growled warningly, but Thegan considered them for a moment then rested a hand on Thorn’s shoulder. Stepping forward, he seemed to brace himself then gave the yellow person a nod.

He, too, relaxed when they withdrew their hand a couple of seconds later. Thegan turned to give the rest of them a small, reassuring smile then gestured for Thorn to go next. After Vi’kail, it was her turn to be touched.

Still trying to decide if this person was doing some kind of mind control or if it was like telepathy, she tensed, going cross-eyed as she tried to watch the hand descend on her head. The moment it made contact, a soft, androgynous voice spoke in her mind.

“Be at ease. We mean you no harm. A translator will be provided to you momentarily. Please allow its implantation.”

Victoria watched the being move off to the next person, feeling both awed and heartened that her impression Queen Bee was there to help had been correct.

“That was so cool!” she grinned, laughing lightly as the anxiety left her in a rush, leaving her feeling drained but intensely relieved.

Another yellow person came by not long after with a silver stick-looking thing she assumed was the promised translator. Thorn and Thegan went first. Since she hadn’t noticed anyone suffering any ill-effects after having it pressed to their heads, she wasn’t scared for them and felt safe enough to brush her hair aside when it was her turn.

A quick pinch and a wave of dizziness had her squeezing her eyes closed. Thankfully, it passed quickly, and bit by bit, the unintelligible murmurs of the crowd became words, understandable words.

Since the yellow person was moving away, she assumed Vi’kail had taken his turn while her eyes were closed. Wanting to test it out, she spun to face him.

“Can you understand me?”

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he answered, “Yes, little flower.”

Gasping—partly out of excitement and partly because his voice was even sexier now that he was ‘speaking’ English—she grinned and twisted around to look at the giants. “How about y’all? Can you understand me?”

Thegan returned her grin, chuckling happily, “Aye, sweetmate, I hear your words. You hear mine?”

“Perfectly! This is awesome! Thorn, is yours working?”

He was gazing at her with an intensity that had her heart skipping a beat before he seemed to realize she was waiting on an answer. Blinking, he smiled, just a little, and responded with a simple nod.

Another whistle broke the oddly charged moment. Facing forward, the entire crowd listened as Queen Bee spoke.

“Hello! My name is Aria Taylor. I assume you can all understand me now, yes?”

“Yes,” Victoria called back, adding her voice to the murmurs of the crowd.

“I’m a former special agent for the FBI and, up until recently, was an enslaved gladiator at this arena.”

“Iknewshe was a badass!”

“This is one of my mates, Tirox.”

Victoria went up on tiptoe in an entirely unsuccessful effort to see over the crowd. “Damnit, I can’t see anything.”

Thegan chuckled. “That is because you are tiny.”

Before she could finish giving him a droll look, he grinned and turned around, so his back was to her. Crouching down, he glanced over his shoulder and raised his brows in invitation.

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