Page 27 of Veras
But what if I could?
“Impossible.
I turned away so he wouldn’t hear me. Because it seemed I had formed Plan D. There were so many now. Plan A: Go home.TBD.Plan B: Take over the world.In the works. Plan C: Make out with Veras and suck his tongue dry.Check. Plan D: Get enough Oro in my system so that I can ask the Guardians for help.I’m on it.
“I don’t need to hear your thoughts to decipher them. Even if you could find enough of the Oro, by a miracle, it would almost definitely kill you. The Oro judges you worthy. It also heals every cut, every bruise, every break your bones may have suffered. Instantly. But it is unforgiving, and your fragile Earther body could not handle the conversion.”
Now he was just pissing me off.Vamos a ver. We’ll see.
“I told you I would keep you safe. You have nothing to worry about.”
“If you don’t start explaininghowyou plan to keep me safe, I’m going to stop believing you.”
“Come with me. I’ll show you.” He pulled me up. “Which means covering your delicious body.” He swiped that giant spotted tongue over my nipple, and I almost came again.
I sighed, feeling refreshed. “Did you give me Oro?”
“In a manner.” He picked me up and walked me back to the pool. “The Oro is in me. When I released into you, your body absorbed it from me.”
Huh. That was why there wasn’t anything trailing down my leg after sex. No muss, no fuss.I gazed longingly at my soaps, unwilling to leave my few possessions behind.
Veras went back and retrieved them. Guess I shouted those feelings as well.
CHAPTER 12
It took tenminutes tops before we hopped on a levitating platform, moved beyond the forcefield, and floated out into the jungle.
“The outpost curves with the shape of the mountains. In a semicircle. Most predators stay low, like thearbeluc. It has wings but can only coast over the ground.” He hugged me tightly. “We are safe, high above the trees. It is easier to exit the facility and cut across. And faster.”
The view was exquisite up here, gazing down at the multi-colored vegetation. I wanted to reach out when I heard the soft whistles of neon teal, bird-like creatures with eight wings. They reminded me of the animals caged in the arena. It hurt my heart to think of the ones still imprisoned, and it made me determined to change Veras’ mind. There were so many creatures that needed our help.
“How can this place even exist? Where does the water come from? And wait, there’s no sunshine. Don’t your plants use photosynthesis?” I asked, leaning dangerously over the platform, trying to take everything in. Also, not completely convinced those viciousarbelucthingies couldn’t fly this high. “Where are we exactly?”
“We are deep below the mountains but nowhere near as deep as where my people resided. They lived in the core of the planet where the Oro comes from.” He tightened his arms around my waist. “This place uses groundwater from the surface that flows into intricate ravines and rivers. As for the sun, no, it does notshine here. It is too strong and would wither and kill most of the plant life. The Oro supplies what they need.”
“Did your people create this place?”
“The outpost, yes. The rest, no. It’s all part of the magic of Nozaroc. The Guardians allow us here because we respect this ecosystem. The Aavvee that populate the surface will soon learn their actions will not be tolerated.”
“But you can stop the Guardians?”
“Even if I wanted to go againsteverythingmy people stood for, the agreement we made with Nozaroc would only buy us time. The Guardians will not allow this raping of the land, the destruction of the precious Oro which is the lifeblood of this planet. The Aavvee will be eradicated eventually.”
My mind raced. But if we could take care of the Aavvee before the Guardians, then we could stay? Here. “How much time are we talking?’
“Not enough,” he snapped. Clearly, my emotional alien felt deeply annoyed by my questions. Or maybe the pain and loss were too much.
But I didn’t have time to coddle him. I went straight into boss mode, the same way I had planned to do on Earth as a future CEO. “Exactlyhow long would the Guardians give us to handle the problem?”
“Us? Handle it? What my people couldn’t achieve, you and I will accomplish?” He placed his hands on his waist, his thumbs tapping away in agitation. “We would only havesonasat most.”
“What is that in human years?”
He canted his head back and forth, to where his ears almost hit his shoulders. “Two hundred years only.”
“Two hundred? That’s amazing! And plenty of time.” My mind raced at the possibilities. Poisons, nuclear attacks, an Oro bomb? We could totally find a way to get rid of the Aavvee.
“That is a drop in my lifetime.”
