“You go eat.”
Her stomach growled—loudly—spoke in tongues like a demon.
From the smirk he tried to hide she had a feeling he heard it.
He pointed a thick finger. “Dat way.”
Traitor that he was, the baby seemed very content to stay with the alien man.
She really felt like she had no reason to argue even if she could’ve been sure he’d understand.
Shewashungry.
But she didn’t think she was ready to face the new reality.
Plus she really had to pee.
She was going on a very long trip with nothing but the clothes she was standing in, she realized abruptly, momentarily more dismayed by that than she had been by her other thoughts.
The yellow man almost seemed to sense her problem.
He strode across the room with the baby cradled in one arm and pressed a panel that slid open and revealed another room then gestured for Emma.
Hopeful, Emma responded by approaching him and discovered there was a bathroom.
Feeling her face redden, she thanked him and went in.
The facilities, thankfully, weren’t quite as alien as the aliens themselves. She was able to utilize them and even wash her face and hit at brushing her teeth with one finger. She had to finger comb her hair to put it into even a semblance of order, but thankfully it wasn’t beyond that effort.
Feeling a little better, she left the bathroom.
The yellow man had settled on her bunk with the baby.
Well, the bunk she’d used.
Nodding at him, she headed toward the door he’d entered through and went out into a very long corridor that didn’t look the least bit familiar.
She supposed she’d been in a state of shock the night before when Hauk had taken her to the cabin, but then again the hallway didn’t have a lot of distinguishing features. Shaking the thought, she headed down the corridor in the direction the yellow man had pointed and ‘followed her nose’ because she could smell food after going only a little way.
She knew she should’ve expected to find the other two—at least—if not more aliens considering the circumstances, but it still sent a jolt through her to walk in and find them settled at a table eating.
Discomfort wafted through her when they looked up at her.
In part because it hadn’t occurred to her until that very moment that she was an unexpected addition to the group and that meant supplies for her wouldn’t have been included when they’d prepared for the trip.
How critical was that?
Apparently not exactly critical, she supposed, because Hauk gestured for her to join them and slid a plate across the table to the end where he’d indicated a seat for her.
She settled uneasily and stared down at the unfamiliar food.
It smelled good, she told herself.
It tasted … exotic. Not bad, just unfamiliar.
It was a shame her stomach was always a little weak when she first woke.
She managed to eat enough to chase the nausea into abeyance—enough not to feel wasteful or look greedy.
“That was good. Thank you,” she said when she’d eaten what she could.
She discovered that both men were staring at her when she looked up.
Probably trying to figure out what she’d said.
“Hauk prepared the meal. I cannot say that he is especially gifted in the kitchen … but it was certainly filling.”
Hauk made an obscene gesture at him.
Emma felt herself gaping—at the familiar gesture and the completely understandable English the bronze man had spoken.
“I am Kadin,” he said when her gaze lit on him.
With a beautiful voice and an absolutely mesmerizing face. And a stunning physique.
“Hauk has already introduced himself,” he added dryly. “And I must suppose the Hirachi, Gaelen, also.”
“The … uh … one who’s watching the baby?” Emma said questioningly because she hadn’t heard the term Hirachi before and wondered if it was his name or maybe his race? Or country?
“Nye, our Runcle Pater.”
“Nye? The baby’s named Nye?” Surprise flickered through Emma—that he had a name and they knew it—which she supposed should have been something she would expect not be surprised at.
The one who’d introduced himself as Kadin shrugged two massive shoulders. “Yes.”
Weird name, but she thought she liked it. “Is … uh … the Pater his last name?”
“It is Hirachi,” Hauk answered.
An explanation that still left her all at sea. Word? Or name?
Kadin nodded. “It means High King.”
Emma blinked at him, feeling her jaw sag, wondering if she’d heard him correctly, although she dismissed the thought almost as soon as it crossed her mind as just being too farfetched. “So his name is Nye High King?”
Hauk snorted. The sound was more scoffing than amused she thought.
Kadin grinned at her. “We have crossed half of the universe to get him. He is the High King of the Hirachi people.”
“But ….” Shock and dismay rolled over her. “He’s just a baby.”
Their amusement vanished. “This is a hereditary title. He is High King because his father was killed.”
Emma sucked in a gasp of horror, covering her mouth. “Oh my god! How? When?” She thought about it for a moment and realized she knew those answers. “That’s how he ended up on Earth?”
His expression taut, Hauk got up and collected the dishes.
It flickered through her mind that she should volunteer to do cleanup, but she was totally unfamiliar with the ship. And still too shocked to hear about the poor baby to think straight. “That must be why he was so frightened last night,” she murmured. “They were attacked?”
Kadin studied her for a long moment. “So that was Earth?”
Emma blinked at the abrupt change of subject. She couldn’t decide whether she was more surprised he had no idea he’d been on Earth or that he had clearly heard of it. “Yes?” she responded uncertainly.
“You are not certain?”
Anger flickered through her. “I was just wondering if that was idle curiosity, or … other. Also how you would know anything about Earth when y’all are certainly not from anywhere close.”
“The rose has thorns,” Hauk muttered with a touch of amusement.
When Emma sent him a sharp glance, he lifted his eyebrows and then
