Page 70 of Fated to the Dragon Alien

“We haven’t found Nena yet,” Turi said, her voice hushed.

Cerani felt something cold settle behind her heart. “Do we know if…?”

“We don’t know anything,” Turi said. “We had a clue as to where you were. Someone saw an Axis manifest that listed a Terian on route to the DeLink Mine system. That’s how we managed to show up. Ellion thought we’d be looking at a full-scale attack on the mine to get to you.”

She swallowed. Hurt stung through her chest like it had been hiding behind her ribs, waiting to burn through. “Your timing was perfect, but we have to find Nena.”

“We will.” Sevas crossed her arms. She was still tall and strong, but rather than the dark, matted hair she’d had on the settlement to hide her true maturity and, thus, delay being forced to take a bondmate, Sevas stood tall and let her hair be its natural bright gold. “We won’t give up.”

“There’s one more brother out there, too.” Lilas pushed back her jaw-length purple hair. “He’s proving hard to find, too.”

“If we find one, we’ll find the other,” Fivra predicted, tapping her lips with a fingertip. “I bet they’re together, just like we are with our Zaruxians.”

Cerani breathed through it. Of all her friends, Fivra was the last one she expected to see end up with a charming brothel director. To his credit, Cyprian was utterly smitten with her. It was impossible to miss the love in his eyes when he looked at her.

Cerani turned toward Turi, who still clung to her hand like she wasn’t ready to let go. “When I saw him,” she said, her voice lower now, “the overseer—I’m sorry—Ellion, standing there on the viewing screen?” What a mind-shock that had been. “I thought it was over. I thought, no way do we walk out of this alive. Stavian and I had brought forty-eight people straight into Axis hands again.” She squeezed Turi’s hand. “Whatever you did to change him, thank you.”

Lilas snorted. “It wasn’t just you. We had that reaction, too. It was…jarring, at first, to be face-to-face with him.” She glanced at Turi. “No offense. He’s great. But for a long time, he was scary.”

“No offense taken,” Turi said. “I thought he was scary, too. I mean, he flew me off to his fortress and told me I’d never leave.” She blew out a hard breath. “It wasn’t the smoothest start to a relationship. But the thing is, I didn’t change him. Not really. It was all there inside of him.”

Cerani’s fear at the initial sight of him, framed beside the other Zaruxians in that command center, had strangled her. But stepping aboard their ship and seeing what they stood for—the fire that flared behind their rebellion, how they no longer served the Axis—had melted that fear away.

Ellion had not only broken away, he’d freed the settlements where Cerani and her friends had lived. He’d started their part of the rebellion by walking out of a penal colony and leveling the Axis forces on his way out.

He’d looked her in the eye when they finally came face-to-face and said, “The minute I stopped pretending the Axis were worth my loyalty was the minute I became free.”

That’s when she’d started to trust him. Really trust him. Not just as a protector of her people—but as someone who understood exactly why they had to burn the system down.

“You walk through life thinking you’ll always be under someone’s boot,” Cerani said softly, holding Turi’s hand. “Then one day, someone like him—like all the Zaruxian males we fell in love with—says no. Just no. And all you can do is look up and realize you’re not meant to survive in a cage. You’re meant to take the whole thing apart.”

Sevas nodded, her voice thick. “That’s basically what Takkian said he felt when we were planning to break out of the arena. Something in him broke, but not in the way the Axis wanted.”

Lilas nodded. “Razion had always been fighting the Axis, but having his brothers changed things. Made it more real. Just like us finding each other again.” It was rare for Lilas to talk like this—real, without a cutting joke. She smiled and lifted her glass. “Who knew a bunch of female farmers would cause so much amazing trouble?”

Cerani smiled and they all raised their glasses. Something about hearing that made it real all over again. Not just the reunion, but the stakes that came with it. For once in her life, someone wasn’t trying to control the Terians. They were powerful. Seen. Loved.

Sevas crossed her arms and tilted her head. “So,” she drawled, “what went down in that mine? Because you’re glowing like someone dipped you in stardust.”

“Nothing exciting.” Cerani made a face. “I worked thirty-four cycles before the mine collapsed. I practically lived there.”

“And yet,” Lilas said, narrowing her eyes, “you have the skin of someone who soaked in monha oil every morning and has never missed a meal.”

Sevas jerked her chin toward her. “Your hair too. It’s—smoother? Brighter?”

“Your irises are clearer,” Fivra added, not blinking. “Like…like they’ve gone more amber than gold. Did they change?”

“No,” Cerani said, then hesitated. “Maybe. I don’t know. The lower levels of the mine had psiak radiation. It made all the other miners sick, but not me. Didn’t even make me tired. Just the opposite, actually. I was the only one who got healthier down there.”

“Ah, so that’s it.” Lilas looked at the others. “Remember what Bruil said about Teria?”

Cerani tilted her head, confusion flickering. “What about Teria?”

All four of them exchanged glances as Sevas leaned in. “Bruil told us about the radiation on Teria,” she said, low and steady. “It sounds similar. Atmospheric exposure—psiak-based. That same energy that breaks down most species? It did the opposite to our ancestors.”

“It…strengthened them,” Lilas added. “He said Terians used to live the same long lifespans as the Zaruxians. Stronger bodies, faster healing, and a much slower aging process.”

Cerani blinked. Her pulse kicked behind her ribs.

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