Page 55 of Victoria's Discovery

By the time he finished making first meal, Victoria had successfully wrangled Snitch into a hideous yellow sweater, much to Vi’kail’s and the giant’s amusement.

Chuckling under his breath as he deposited the food on the table, he shook his head. Poor little fírlark was clearly just as smitten as the rest of them, because he grumbled mightily but soaked up her cooed compliments about how adorable he looked greedily and didn’t rip that sweater to shreds.

As they ate, he and the giants took turns asking Victoria about her life and world, but she asked more questions than she answered. She peppered the giants with questions about their world, culture, and families. Vi’kail paused mid-bite when Thorn said something about his being dead.

It wasn’t the news, but the haunted shadows that flitted through the giant’s eyes that told Vi’kail they’d died violently and that the male had likely witnessed it. He could recognize the look easily, having experienced that particular pain himself.

They both shut down any further questions about their clan and families after that and steered her toward safer questions about the flora and fauna on their planet.

Listening to them speak of their world, Vi’kail judged them to be somewhere between what was commonly referred to as the Smelt Age of a people’s evolution and the Age of Empires.

After they regaled her with tales of their world’s beasts and monsters, some of which sounded truly unbelievable even to him, and he’d been to more worlds than he could count, she turned her questioning gaze on him.

His stomach clenched before she even opened her mouth. He felt his expression shut down harder than an emergency blast door but couldn’t stop it.

Perceptive little beauty that she was, she saw it immediately and closed her mouth without uttering a word.

As much as he wished otherwise in that moment, he wasn’t blind. He watched the rejection smother the sparkle in her big, expressive eyes, watched her smile die and her shoulders roll forward.

He felt like he’d been punched in the gut at that look on her face and, yet, he didn’t take it back and encourage her to ask her questions. He couldn’t. There were precious few things about his past that weren’t horrific, heartbreaking, or crikking pitiful.

It made him the lowest kind of bastard, but he’d rather hurt her feelings and keep her at arm’s length than let her close, only to see the inevitable disgust on her features when she learned who he really was.

Accepting the narrow-eyed looks of anger the giants sent his way at upsetting her, Vi’kail pushed up from the chair and silently returned the empty dishes to the galley. Depositing them in the cleansing bin with a clatter, he strode to the door.

“We’re going to be late for intake debriefing,” he announced quietly and waited by the door.

He half expected them to tell him to go crik himself or for Victoria to coldly tell him to leave her room, that she’d go down without his sorry ass.

When her light footsteps came to a stop at his side, he was foolishly, selfishly thankful. But then again, he’d known, hadn’t he? He’d known she was too kind-hearted to give him the dismissal he deserved. Which was just further proof that he was a bastard.

At least he was an honest bastard. With himself, anyway.

Chapter 29

Victoria was back to feeling self-conscious and awkward as they made their way to the lobby and joined the huge crowd of beings already gathered.

Snitch, obviously bothered by either her silence or how thoroughly she was chewing on her bottom lip, nudged her cheek and burbled softly, using her nose as a handle to turn her face towards his. Forcing a smile, she reached up to give him a soft, reassuring pat but remained silent.

Aside from the embarrassing wake-up, the morning had gone really well… right up until it hadn’t. She’d been excited to get to know the guys, and they seemed curious about her as well, but they’d shut down any personal questions, sticking to descriptions of animals and the landscape, and Vi’kail just shut down period.

She was left feeling like they didn’t trust her which… stung.

Which also left her feeling like an idiot because they were still basically strangers, even ifshedidn’t think of them as strangers, so of course they didn’t trust her with super personal stuff.

Stop being so damn sensitive, and just be patient. And thankful that three mouthwateringly hot alien guys wanna hang out with you and be your friend.

Halting at the edge of the crowd, Victoria forced herself to stop obsessing and pay attention when she spotted Aria standing at the front of the room with her mates, Rellik, and one of the yellow Gaelli people lined up behind her.

“Alright, everybody, I believe all the diurnal people are here, so let’s get started,” Aria announced with a clap of her hands. “Fair warning, it’s going to be a long day. I’ll try to keep it from crossing the line into overwhelming, but no promises. We’ve got a lot to get through. First, Kix—” She waved to a handsome, grey-skinned male standing next to her. “—Rellik, and Lilac will be conducting intake interviews to find out where you’re from, any skills or expertise you might have, and ensure that none of you are surprise people-eaters.”

Victoria hummed knowingly under her breath at that. “So that’s a pretty common thing on this planet, huh? Good to know,” she murmured, sweeping the crowd, couches, and walls with a suspicious look.

“If youarecannibalistic, you’re going to have to refrain from that during your stay here. There is no people-eating allowed,” Aria stressed firmly, cutting her gaze to Thrasin who was propped up against the far wall.

That pointed glance was both confusing and a little alarming seeing as Victoria had been in the same room as him the night before.

A thought seemed to occur to Aria. “Unless it’s a life or death situation,” she amended. “We’ll deal with those on a case-by-case basis. After the interviews, you’ll be taken on a tour of the complex then assigned jobs. You do have a say in what jobs you do, and I wish I could give you more time to adjust to your situations, but, unfortunately, that’s not a luxury we have. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve taken over this arena. So far, I don’t think anyone out there knows about this little coup. It needs to stay that way.”

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