Page 76 of Xefe
“If you kill Tontoh, I swear to you, I will get you back to your home planet.”
I gulped in air. The jumble of memories, of Veras, the ship, along with the reminder of Freckles—it was too much. For a moment, I was convinced all of the air had been sucked out of the room. “Having a hard time…” I stopped for a moment and caught my breath.
“Human, I am sorry. Are you having a ‘freak out?’ That is what it’s called, yes? A freak out?” He patted my back.
“I’m fine. Give me a minute.”
“I would if I could. Several. But we have no time. I must return you, and he must be destroyed.”
“If you want him dead so much, why don’t you do it yourself?” I straightened slowly.
Veras snorted. “I would giveanythingto take him apart with my own hands. The situation is… complicated.” He sighed.
It always is.“Why should I believe you? Something’s fishy. You need me, a weak human, to take care of Freckles? There are a million other ways to go about this. I have no reason to believe a word you say.”
“It is not an easy thing I ask. To take another life. But it has to happen. He has become obsessed with humans, and I fear he will take more. Do unthinkable experiments.”
I sucked in a breath, immediately thinking of Valentina. Veras looked as furious as I was. “Why would you care whether humans die? You were there with us. In that lab. You let him hurt us.” My voice hitched.
“The abduction took me by surprise. I was not consulted, which makes me think the Aavvee might be on to me. I was there to protect whoever was strong enough to survive. Forgive me for not doing more.”
He said human. Not earther. How did he know the correct vocabulary? And come to think of it, why did he refer to the Aavvee as if they were somehow different than him? “Who are you?”
“A chameleon. A savior. And a really cool guy.” His eyes swirled. I hadn’t realized how similar they were to Sunny’s. “But believe me when I say that I have to stay close to the Aavvee. To the supreme. There is so much happening you can’t imagine.”
Killing Freckles had always been part of the plan, but I had to be careful. I had Valentia to worry about. “I need something from you, too.”
“Something more than passage home?”
“I can’t leave until I make sure someone I…”love with all of my heart, “know isn’t here. I don’t know if she was kidnapped as well.”
“I can find this person. Who is it? A lover?”
Carajo.What to share? I’d been so careful. I hadn’t breathed a word to Sunny. I didn’t even talk about her much with the girls. But Veras might be my only chance. “My sister. I can’t leave without her.”
“You share DNA with her?”
“We share a mother, yes.”
“It won’t be easy, but I should have enough time to track her through the database, although she could be in a number of facilities on the planet. The Aavvee captured many humans.”
The elevator stopped. “I still don’t get it. Why me?”
He nodded. “You are about to find out.” He swept a hand toward an opening in the caves. “Things are not as they seem here.”
I knew it.“In what way?
“Take a look for yourself.
CHAPTER 33
Awave ofglittering gold wafted toward me. It was so dense, I couldn’t see in front of me. It didn’t seem like a force field, but it was heavy with power. Something inside of me responded to it. The Oro. This source was pure. I stepped forward.
“Don’t!” Veras’ voice came through as if in a long tunnel.
In seconds, the swarm abated, and I was in the singularly most alien room I’d ever experienced. I felt farther from Earth than ever before. The technology was mind-blowing.
Veras followed close behind. “You made it through! That is… unheard of. You must have a staggering amount of Oro in your system. The security protocol thinks you belong here. As if you are a being who made this place.”
