Page 30 of Xefe
Her gaze brightened until she watched in horror as I tipped the pot over, andpig-beastsoup splashed all over her.
The room exploded, and Nime thundered over.
Nheenya wailed at the top of her lungs in genuine distress. It was the perfect distraction. The twin guards immediately abandoned their post and made their way toward the ruckus.
While the room devolved into chaos, Nieve, Querida, and I were able to slip out of the door.
Gracias, Nheenya.
We ran until we hit the railing bracketing the ledge that jutted from the mountain. Too high to catch a glimpse, we ran to the right until we found a large break in the stone wall. Way below us was an exercise area. The soup kitchen sat above the champions’ training field and we had a clear view.
Perfecto! Let’s see how badass they really are.
All the aliens looked the same. And it quickly became apparent why. Mean, green, and muscled, just like thependejainside who’d threatened me. I smirked. If she was stirring pango soup, she must not be good enough to compete. Or maybe she was trying to make her bones like us.
The field was massive with the large arena centered in the middle of all the activity,insidethe mountain. The show-offs obviously wanted the world to watch them practice. Well, today, I would oblige them.
“This is incredible,” Nieve whispered. “And those bitches are big.”
“I know, right?” A few were throwing boulder-sized balls back and forth. It was weird.
“What else are you planning?”
I glanced over at Nieve, her riot of curls bouncing like a halo around her perfectly round head. Even in a dirty sack, she looked gorgeous. Biting back a lie—Sunny was getting to me—I nodded toward the portals. “I’m trying to figure those out.”
Shoomp. Shoomp. Shoomp.I couldn’t ignore them, and Sunny’s warning intensified my worry.
“That’s how all the rich aliens got here, right?”
“Exactly. That’s how we got here, too.”
Nieve gasped and grabbed Querida’s hand. “Why don’t we remember any of that?”
Be grateful you don’t.I didn’t have time for explanations. “Does it look like the aliens made it, or do you think it’s natural? Like part of this planet?”
“Why—” Nieve started to ask and then gasped. “Hera! Your hair has golden highlights too. What is happening to you?”
I shook my head. “That’s alongstory. We don’t have much time before we’re discovered out here, but remind me to tell you about the Oro. Right now, we have more important things to concentrate on.” I canted my head toward the portals.
“Oro? It better explain the highlights, which actually look half-decent on you—andhow you ran so fast.” Nieve gripped the stone railing along the long hallway that circled the fields below. “I know what you’re trying to do. Bust out of here. You have so many bad qualities,reallybad, but I never thought you were that dumb.”
I narrowed my gaze and searched the terrifying portals. Power thrummed off of them.
“What are you going to do, steal a spaceship and pilot us home?”
“Us? You mean pilotmehome.”
“Why would you want to go back? We’d be trading one shithole for another.”
“Her sister,” Querida answered before I could blast Nieve.
My shoulders dropped at her softly spoken words, and I nodded.
“I want to go home, too.” Querida’s dead eyes watched the aliens. The Aavvee entered and exited the powerful oval-shaped doorways. It was eerie how they materialized out of what looked like thin air. The possibilities were endless to where they may lead.
“Well, I don’t.” Nieve cleared her throat. “Plus, I don’t think it’s realistic to waste time on that dream. Those portals could lead anywhere. It might drop us off into the middle of a volcano. Or to another part of this planet. Aworsepart. We need to secure ourselves here. If we win over the supreme…”
I looked over at Querida. We both knew what she would do to ‘win him over.’ But even I wasn’t that big of a bitch to bring it up.
