Page 11 of Avery

"Sloane's family didn't treat her this way," Essa says, her spoon digging into her nasty-looking gloop with a fervor that might break the bowl if the goo weren't thick enough to stopa blaster shot. "She had a loving mother. Wait!" Essa realizes something as soon as she plops her food into her mouth. She chews it quickly, making me want to gag because I can hear the squishiness of it swishing in her mouth with exaggerated bites. She swallows and gives me a smirk like she was doing the nasty chewing on purpose just to get my feathers to rise. I frown at her. "Sloane said her father was a deadbeat. Maybe it is something that all humans have in common."

"I doubt that," Jovi says, rubbing the back of his neck and turning to face me. "Do you know anything about human fathers?"

"Why would I know?" I ask, my brows raising. "I want to kill one, so now I should know about them all?"

"Okay, enough," Alik says, focusing us back on the topic at hand. "Our contact in the Intergalactic Alliance told me that the trial date is set for almost two months from now. They'll want Avery on earth, in a secure location, as soon as she appears again. They don't want to risk her father realizing she's not gone forever and retaliating."

"Will Avery have to go through her heat on Earth?" I ask, not liking that she might be in pain that we won't be able to stop.

"Most likely." Alik's lips thin into a flat line. "She knows when the trial is and when we need to leave. She'll go through her next heat, and we'll leave soon after. She's planning on working with a Rytharian male to get her accustomed to being intimate with someone. So, we'll extend the offer to him to come with us if it will help her. Maybe they'll make enough progress by the time we leave that her heat won't be as torturous on her."

The three of them keep talking about plans, but all I can hear is a soft roaring in my ears. No, it's not even soft. It's an all consuming, raging noise that threatens to engulf me if I'm not careful.

I reach out for the island countertop, not realizing that the world has started spinning, until Essa grabs me by the arm, hoists me back upward, and wraps her tail around my ankle like she does to Sloane. I tell her thank you, or at least, I think I do. I'm still reeling from the fact that Avery's going to use a Rytharian male to practice being intimate with.

Why wouldn't she choose someone she trusts? Like maybe a friend. Her friend Phial who's been with her through everything.

"When?" I ask, not caring that I'm interrupting their conversation. I don't even know what they're all talking about. They look amused, and Jovi is in the middle of opening his mouth, so it must have been something entertaining.

"When what?" Jovi changes course and asks me.

"When is she working with the male?" I try to sound calm and rational.

I'm just a friend interested in his other friend. Don't mind the fact that my feathers are standing on end, my claws are fully extended, and I'm almost positive my scales are shimmering between different colors like I'm in danger.

"I think later today," Alik says, hitting Jovi with the back of his hand in the center of his chest when he tries to say something.

Jovi shoots the other male an annoyed glare, but when he turns his eyes on me, they're filled with amusement again. He obviously has something he wants to say, but he and Alik are tied together in a way I'll never really understand. If Alik says 'no,' then Jovi doesn't do it.

"After they looked at bassinets for K'Vella's babe, they were going to find something for Avery to wear. I think Sloane said she wants to feel sexy yet modest," Alik continues.

"She should just get naked," Essa says, shrugging her shoulders. "Name one male on this planet who wouldn't be interested in her if she did. She looks just like one of their females."

I hiss low in my chest and try very hard to cover it before anyone notices. They don't say anything, so maybe I'm successful. My fingers move through my feathers, trying to smooth them down. I was making good progress on it, too, until Essa reminded me just how much better off Avery would be with a male from this planet. She was altered to be like them, so it makes sense she'd want to explore her limits with one.

No, nope, not a chance. I shake my head, not caring about the feathers anymore. Avery doesn't need some male she doesn't trust being the one she's opening up to like this.

What if it causes her more harm than good if she has a bad experience with the male? I don't think Kithi or any other sisters would allow her to be hurt, but what if that trust is broken even a little bit? Then she'll have opened herself up to more hurt, more heartbreak, and more reasons not to trust males.

"Where are you going?" Essa calls to my back when I step out of the kitchen. I didn't even realize I was moving until she broke through the fog of my thoughts.

"I need to check on something," I say noncommittally over my shoulder. There's a snort of laughter from one of the Varon males, probably Jovi. I don't think Alik knows how to laugh.

"Is the mother prompting you to do something?" Essa calls out, the humor in her voice turning the question more singsongy. I roll my eyes at her suggestion. Maybe I use my deity to get away with things that sometimes I shouldn't be able to get away with.

"Not this time," I say as the door slides shut. My claws make soft clicking sounds as I jog off the ship. "This time, it's all me."

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I don't know exactly what my plan is when I step up to the sanctuary, but I'm not prepared for Jia to be standing outside with a smile on her face like she expects me. I turn around,spinning in a small circle to make sure there's not some male coming up behind me that she's wishing to give her smiles to.

The last time we saw one another, she offered me a mate room to wait in while Avery went through her heat. When I reminded her that I was not Avery's mate, she gave me a look that made it clear she would kill me at the first opportunity. That's what makes her smile so off-putting right now.

"What are you doing?" Jia asks, her jovial expression slipping for a moment and her tone a bit too harsh. Ah, so she does remember that I am a male she'd like to kill. Good. It's good to be consistent.

"You were smiling, and I was almost positive it couldn't be a smile for me."

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