Page 32 of Heart’s Prisoner

Lana carefully set her ISpad back on the table. She crept back to the window, listening.

"We do like dark, warm places. The hotter the better. We have a high tolerance for heat. We use shooters only if we can't get close. Otherwise, we usescyths,weapons made from the spikes and tails of our dead. Given freely..."

Lana knew she should be writing this down but she was too transfixed to move.

"We use our claws and tails as well. The so-called pores along my neck are to absorb oxygen when there is very little, allowing us to move through airless environments or within the water." Xerus straightened and took a step back. "And we do not come from planet 421."

Speechless, Lana opened her mouth but before she could make a sound, her ISpad beeped and Cole's voice filled the room.

"That's five minutes, Lana."

Lana didn't move right away. She looked to Xerus for a long moment and he stared back at her. Eventually, she tore her gaze away and sat down in the chair. She picked up her ISpad and turned the recorder back on. She sat for a moment in silence and Xerus waited.

He just gave her several weeks-worth of information. And with all the answers came a hundred different questions. But what really brought her around was that he was trusting her.

Lana clutched her tablet tightly and dared to let her eyes wander over him, taking in the alien before her. She never thought much to reallylookat him, her gaze only ever falling on his form for brief moments unless they locked eyes. Maybe because she had always been afraid of his menacing physique. But now she really looked at him, saw him.

"I'm turning on the lights," Lana finally said.

Xerus' nostrils flared and he tilted his head slightly. Before she would think to stop herself, Lana brought up the controls for the lights and changed them from the dull orange they had been to the bright white.

Xerus winced and his outer and inner lids blinked several times. He shook his head and kept his eyes narrowed. When the light washed over him completely, Lana had to stifle a gasp.

My god, he was...beautiful. No, enthralling. That was the first thought that popped into her head. The dark red and orange light had shown the demonic shades of him, but the brilliant white light showed his true colors. He was still a deep red, but with shades of purple and violet shimmering along his scales. He was still terrifying, there was no doubt about that, and in the light, she could really see the sharp edges of him. But the way the light caught his scales, how the colors melded, and the way his eyes glowed, was like looking at a creature made from a fiery nebula.

Lana was speechless once again. She nearly dropped her tablet on the ground.

"Still just as horrifying no doubt." Xerus' mouth twitched. He raised a hand over his eyes to block out some of the light.

Lana laughed softly."Yes, a little." She shook her head, letting her eyes drink him in. "But...no. Xerus, you are bea–"

The ISpad beeped. "Lana, the lights are supposed to be off as per protocol. Please turn them back." Cole's demeaning voice snapped.

Heat rose in her neck and face and Lana pursed her lips. She didn't want to turn them back, she wanted to spend the whole time just watching Xerus, watch his lithe body move, watch the light catching in his skin.

The heat rose higher and Lana forced herself to look away from him. She cleared her throat and reluctantly turned the lights back to their dull orange.

Xerus observed her and Lana found she couldn't meet his eyes yet again. She smiled at him and brushed a lock of brown hair from her face.

"I want to thank you for...what you've given me today," Lana said.

Xerus seemed to understand. He bowed his head. "So you no longer want to strike my hide?"

Lana arched a brow. "What?"

"A saying from my kind." His mouth widened, showing the tips of his fangs. "You aren't upset?"

Lana let out a short laugh. "No. You are forgiven."

Chapter Ten

It was the first time Lana lied in her report and she was happy to feel no sense of guilt. She valued Xerus' trust now more than she did giving away his secrets to those who would see him imprisoned forever or dead.

She was still weary about his need to fulfill his mission and the chances of him hurting others. But Lana was adamant that they were not his enemy. Something or someone was, but not the human race as a whole. At least that's what she forced herself to believe. She'd come to accept that his chances of integrating into human society were slim, but she still believed he could be persuaded to leave peacefully upon release. It was all she could hope for now and, though it wasn't her original goal, she wanted to help Xerus be free either way.

After the incident with the Scibot, Lana knew she was going to have to do some serious damage control. She called Jacob on video chat as soon as she was able and begged him to allow her to still have a chance to show Xerus could be trusted.

"I'll give him this one shot, Lana. But it's going to take some serious convincing," Jacob had said. "Because you are my friend and I trust your judgment. But this is his last chance."

---