Page 59 of Xefe
CHAPTER 26
Victory.It washard to believe, but I could embrace it now that the supreme and his cronies had exited the stage. It tasted so sweet, despite my failures during the race, the biggest being my inability to access the Oro. My one advantage on thisfakaktaplanet, and I couldn’t use it.
ThankDios, we’d still won. I’d done it all on my own, well… with a little help from Nheenya. And maybe the other two. Plus, I hadn’t gotten my assed kicked by Greenie and the green-team, so that was another win. But I’d have to keep an eye on her. No way, she’d be a mature adult and move forward. Get beyond her tragic accident when I’d accidentally pushed her off the beam, mid-race, in the hopes she wouldn’t be able to compete. Ever again.
“We did it. We did it!” Nieve grabbed Nheenya’s palm, raised it in the air, and gave her a high-five.
The purple alien startled until she saw Nieve slapping palms with Querida and me. But she quickly got with the program and high-fived her way through the crowd, almost taking a few aliens out with the power of her swing.
“Querida,mi amor. When did you steal those floating rock thingies? You’re a genius!” Nieve tackled Querida in a big hug, and the redhead actually blushed.
Genius was a little strong, but I kept my mouth shut for once. Instead, as they celebrated, I searched the crowd for Valentina. And Sunny. But all I got was his trusty sidekick.
“Earthers, it is I, Loxo.” The eager alien sprang up behind us.
Le sigh.Him again.
“Your performance was legendary. I have never seen anyone as inventive as all of you. Strength. Smarts. Ingenuity and bloodthirsty violence. I was quite impressed.” He flashed his sharp canines in a wide grin. “And most importantly, you caught the attention of my supreme… and the Aavvee spectators,” his voice dropped conspiratorially.
“I know.” His spot-on summary of our talents made me less annoyed with the mouthy alien. “It was awesome!”
He tipped his head up in a nod. “Spectacular.” He leaned over to sniff Querida’s hair. For once, she allowed it, but only for two seconds, and then the metal shards were back in her hands. Where the hell was that girl hiding all of her hardware?
“So Loxo, where is—”
“Earthers. You are due back in the competitor’s quarters.” Sunny’s impossibly deep voice boomed behind me.
“Jesus! Give a girl a little warning.” I spun around and ate him alive with my eyes. He wore the full-on, spiked uniform, which gave him another foot of height. Glittering particles surrounded him, and thecanelaodor, like spicy cinnamon, permeated the stage. He smelled glorious, and I wanted to bathe in his scent. I also wanted explanations. “Where have you been?”
“Protecting my supreme.” He crossed his arms and wouldn’t meet my eye.
“Hey, Sunny,” Nieve said, peeking below the belt for evidence of apito. Little did she know, Sunny’s little friend had popped out the night before. “What did you think of our performance?”
“My name is Xefe.” His sunset eyes didn’t swirl or glow, which told me he was back in robot-warrior mode.
I hated every minute of it. It made me feel… invisible. I lived my life with the sole purpose of attracting attention, good or bad. Love me. Hate me. Give mesomething.Anything.But whatever Sunny had going on wasn’t working for me. I folded my arms and asked, “Did you miss me?”
He peered at me with narrowed eyes, which I took for a win, until he swiped out his staff and pulled out the glowing metal rope.
“No. Don’t—” My hands were cuffed in front of me in seconds. “Damn it! You know how I feel about these.” I tugged with all my might. “You can’t do this.”
“I can do many things. Maybe you will think about that. After all, you think I am a prisoner, like you. Which I amnot.” He slammed his staff on the ground, and the force field surrounding the finish line shimmered and then disappeared in front of me.
Our little talks had been getting through to him. At least, he’d been listening. And I was right; he was as much a prisoner as I was… except for the cuffs. “Sunny.”
“Xefe! Why do you make me repeat this?” His eyes swirled for a moment as he tugged me along.
“Yes, earthers. We are here to escort you back to your new quarters. Now that you have proven yourselves as worthy competitors, you will be given a bit more freedom. Isn’t that wonderful?” Loxo moved faster than the blink of an eye, and he had Querida and Nieve manacled as well.
“What the hell? I thought you were on our side.” Nieve struggled and eyed Nheenya. “And why isn’t she cuffed?
“It pains me to the core to restrain you. It makes me feel as if my bones are being pulled from my body, one by one, at the idea of upsetting you.” Loxo gathered the girls in front of him. “But our Supreme decreed the earthers must be monitored and shackled at all times outside of your cells.” He pulled Querida and Nieve behind Sunny, who already had me on one of the alien hover-machines. A jumbo-sized version of the one I stole the day before. “As for Nheenya, she is a trusted worker. She did not have to compete today. She chose to race.”
“What?” Nieve craned her neck to look at the purple alien, her snow-white hands glowing against the restraints. “Why would you compete if you didn’t have to?”
Nheenya looked down. “I-I appreciated our camaraderie when we tended to the soup. What Hera said about me. How you all defended me. I have lost my family and… I didn’t want to leave you alone.”
My mouth dropped. “But what if I hadn’t chosen you? You could have died!”
