Page 65 of Aria's Ascension

Hugging Rellik had been impulsive and probably wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done. And Tirox made a good point. She’d lost some of her caution when it came to aliens and what unknown customs they might have after spending so much time around her men. Hell, she remembered thinking something as simple as a handshake could be a marriage proposal when she met them.

“I’ll be more careful. And I’ll try not to… flash my teeth or hug anybody else.”

“That is all I ask,” he purred happily.

* * *

They hadn’t goneanother fifty feet down the shaft before Aria spotted an honest-to-goodness booby trap. She caught something shimmering faintly from the corner of her eye and hurriedly pulled her men to a stop, then crouched to inspect it further.

It was a well-hidden and brilliantly made trap, considering what little resources were available down there. A line of what looked like spider webbing stretched from one wall to the other like a tripwire, then continued up to a precariously balanced pile of rocks. If they’d triggered the webbing, those rocks would’ve crushed them, probably to death.

“Rellik wasn’t kidding. This guy really doesn’t like company. Alright, step over. Carefully. And keep your eyes peeled for any other traps.”

“Moons above! What purpose could peeling my eyes possibly serve? I cannot imagine that would improve my already perfect vision,” Tirox scoffed as he stepped exaggeratedly over the line.

Aria snorted a laugh. “It’s just a saying. It means keep a lookout.”

“I am always looking out. Does no good to look in. I am not hiding snares in my stomach,” he muttered under his breath.

“You’re so damn literal sometimes,” she chuckled.

“And you speak in riddles,” he fired back, giving her a provoking grin.

Five more traps and a blockade later, they finally made it to an area of the tunnel that looked lived in. They hadn’t encountered any caves or hidey holes in this shaft, unlike the others they’d traveled. The steps this guy had taken to secure his dwelling made more sense now that she knew he was forced to sleep out in the open instead of in the natural security of a cave.

What had her feeling on edge was the spider webs lining the walls and ceiling.

“Hey Kix? You remember that giant, mutant spider in the arena? This guy doesn’t feel like that, does he?”

He shook his head, but his expression wasn’t nearly as reassuring as she’d hoped it would be.

“What’s wrong?”

He never got a chance to answer.

Chapter 35

Aria’s little passenger sent her a sharp zing a split second before a thud hit the ground behind her and hard arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. She was yanked backwards with such force, she folded in half.

Before she had time to react, she found herself fifteen feet away from her men, pinned to a hard chest, with claws wrapped threateningly around her throat.

A low, hissing voice snarled, “Leave, or I kill her.”

Staying very still, Aria peered at her men through the tangle of hair over her face and almost imperceptibly shook her head.

Calm mixed with adrenaline, slowing everything down to a crawl.

Letting her body relax against him, she forced him to take more of her weight and used the shift to hide the movement of her arm as she covertly unsheathed one of her knives. Then, quicker than a snake, she slipped the blade between his wrist and her neck, pushing it away and flaying his skin open at the same time.

The second his claws were gone from her neck, she dropped to a crouch and spun, sweeping his legs out from under him.

Mid-fall, she sprang.

Landing on his chest, she pinned his arms with her lower legs, forced his mouth shut with her left hand on his chin—in case he tried to bite or had the ability to spit venom like her firefly—then pressed her knife to his throat.

“Don’t struggle. We’re here to help,” she breathed, meeting his angry glare calmly before realization had her eyes widening. “Holy fuck! You’re human!”

Something passed through his dark, shimmering eyes, but he ignored her shock and spat back through gritted teeth, “I don’t need your help.”

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