Page 83 of Alien From Nowhere

And I’m . . . home.

I look around my old room. It seems untouched. My bed is neatly made. All my abandoned belongings remain here—a training stinger for young boys, a collection of random objects I found around the creepier corners ofThe Rightful Heir, my mother’s hairbrush, and hair needle.

Again, I wonder if I am dead.

A basket sits by the bed. It’s Lalo’s, full of chain links.

Then I realize I am not looking from a shadow in the corner; I am physically there. I look down and find my body submerged in a regen bath.

I flex my toes. They move. I wiggle my legs. They move.

“Rut it all; I’m alive,” I mutter.

And if I am here, then where is my mate?

I climb out of the regen bath. The thing starts beeping angrily. As soon as I pull my limbs out of the healing goo, everything starts to ache. All I’m wearing is a loose pair of shorts that stick to me, soaked in goo. I drip on the tiles and curse. Lalo will not be pleased.

My hormones are too short-circuited for me to care. I decide I need to find Raina. I need to see her and prove to myself that she’s real, that she’s safe. I smell her here, but it’s not enough.

I stumble out of my room, ignoring the pains shooting through my body.

Nothing has changed. It’s painfully quiet in these halls that were once bursting with energy. Because no one rutting lives here anymore. Or there’s still a chance this is a vivid dream brought on by my impending death.

Finally, I come upon someone, and they look at me like I’m a ghost.

“N-Niko?” the young female stutters. It is one of Lalo’s nieces.

“Where is my female? Is she here?”

The girl nods.

“Should I call the doctor?”

“Absolutely not. Where is she?”

“In the private quarters of theKa’lakka.”

A growl bubbles up from my chest and the poor girl jumps. I leave without another word, my throat producing more low growls despite my best efforts to calm down.

Rutting Mak.Is he the reason for this? Did he bring her and me here? Is he finally going to use his kingly powers to get what he wants from me? I’ve told him time and time again that—

I turn into the royal quarters and listen for a clue as to where they’ve gone. Someone has prepared the rooms for his highness. It is spotless, and I am leaving wet, gooey footprints everywhere.

I hear voices toward the receiving areas that buffet his private rooms.

“—the kind of female that should be a soldier, not a farmer.”

“Is there a question there?” Raina’s voice, flat with suspicion, makes my blood jump within me.

“We have been fighting a war since we left our home planet. I keep this sanctuary free of it, but it is more important than ever—”

“If this conversation is going where I think it is, it’s best I stop you there.” Raina has no qualms about cutting Mak off mid-sentence. Nothing could bring me more joy than that. “I won’t make deals with you while Niko is unconscious.”

I throw open the door I’ve been lurking behind.

“My mate, always so considerate of my feelings,” I say, directing a growl at Mak. His warriors freeze.

Raina is quaking at the sight of me, and I can’t take my eyes off her. Was her hair so grown out when we landed on Station City? She seems to glow with even more beauty, her skin shining. And she’s dressed in Kar’Kali garb—a cropped little embroidered vest and a skirt of patchwork silk that leaves a swathe of her midriff on display.

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