I nod. “They are. If they conquer Agron, they could take as many women as they like.”
Khax angles his head at that, and Rakiz steps forward.
“We have much to discuss.”
Khax flashes his teeth. “I almost forgot. Since you brought a gift for my tribe, I brought one for yours.” He turns to one of his warriors, who is standing guard by the door. He nods at him, and the warrior turns, returning moments later.
Rakiz growls, thrusting Nevada behind him as Khax’s warrior drags one of the purple aliens forward.
I’m instantly shaking, barely tamping down the urge to bolt. One glance at Nevada’s face tells me she’s feeling the same way. But Khax’s warrior has a steady grip on the alien, and he’s unarmed.
“Their people are called the Dokhalls,” Khax says. “We have not yet asked him for more information. We thought you would like to be present for that pleasure.”
Rakiz nods, his eyes hard. Then he turns to Nevada.
“You don’t need to be here for this,” he murmurs.
She’s pale, but her chin sticks out slightly as she glowers at the Dokhall. “I’ll stay.”
Rakiz glances at me, and I shake my head. “I’m peacing out.” I turn to Khax. “Thank you for coming.”
He nods, and I head for the door. From the fear on the Dokhall’s pale-purple face, he knows exactly what’s about to happen to him.
Torture.
The most savage part of me is glad. That Charlie wants to sit and watch as the Dokhall screams.
But I have enough nightmares without adding to them. I’ve done my part for today.
Instead, I wander through the camp until I find Alexis.
“Those new arrivals are getting straight to work,” she says as soon as she sees me. “Want to come see?”
I’m more than a little curious, and I nod, trailing after her as she leaves the camp. Three of Dexar’s guards are following us, but Alexis doesn’t appear to notice as we walk through the grassy meadow until we reach the edge of the forest.
“Where are we?”
Alexis points straight ahead. “If we traveled for a few hours, we’d be in the Seinex Forest. This is a much smaller forest in comparison, but according to our scouts, those purple aliens have made themselves at home in the Seinex.”
I nod. “They’re called Dokhalls, by the way. Rakiz is currently torturing one of them for information.”
Alexis nods. “Awesome.”
I stare at her, and she rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, Charlie. They bought us like we were pigs in a market. Look what they did to Zoey! I’m not going to feel bad about making them pay for that.”
“I get it,” I say. “It’s just…torture freaks me out. We’re meant to be better than them.”
“I know. But think about what they’d do to us. If they find out what the Dokhalls are planning, it could save lives. Our lives.”
“Yeah. I just wish we didn’t have to do it, you know. I wish they would just fuck off.”
“On that we can agree,” Alexis says. We turn a corner, and I gape at the ten or fifteen shirtless Braxian warriors currently working together to dig a huge hole. A hole so long and wide that I can’t quite understand what it could be for.
Ivy and Vrex are watching the Braxians, both of them looking pleased.
“Yum,” Alexis murmurs, her eyes on the warriors. I give her a look. “What? I’m mated, not dead.”
I grin, and we stroll up to the warriors. One of them glances at us, and I raise my eyebrow.
“What’s that going to be?”
“Trap.”
I eye the Braxian who seems to be the leader of this little gang, and he flashes his white teeth at me as he grins.
He explains how the trap will work, and I study the surrounding area, impressed.
“But how will you get them here?”
“Bait.”
“And one of us will need to play bait.”
He nods, and the warrior next to him laughs. “Fast bait. Real fast.”
I think about the other women. Most of them have mates, and from what I’ve seen so far, they’re likely to forbid them from this kind of thing. Zoey still gets winded if she walks too fast, so she’s out. Vivian…I misjudged Vivian when I first got here, but I can’t imagine her hauling ass through the forest with a bunch of aliens on her heels.
“I’ll do it.”
Ivy steps up behind us, examining the trap. “It’s going to be dangerous as hell,” she says. “Are you sure?”
“I’m fast and sneaky. I’m our best shot. But I’m going to have to practice.”
She shivers beside me, and Alexis moves closer, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.
“I wish none of us had to do any of this stuff,” she murmurs. “I wish they’d just leave us alone.”
I sigh. “Me too.”
Chapter Seventeen
Dragix
I fly over the Seinex Forest, looking for the purple invaders. Each time I find one, I swoop down, killing it with flame. However, after several days of this, they have gotten wiser to the threat I present. Now they have hidden themselves, likely in a cave or underground.
I have not been able to locate their ship.
I turn and fly toward my mountain. I am…lost without my little two-leg. Is this to be my life? Long days of boredom, of fighting not to go to Charlie, of wondering if she is safe?
Is this what eternity feels like?
Charlie will die. Her life span is the blink of an eye compared to mine. And I will go on, and on, and on without her.
The thought makes me roar, and the animals below me scatter.
All I can see is Charlie’s beautiful smile. Her curly hair, smooth pale skin, and blue eyes. All I can hear is her laugh. The sexy gasp she would make when I entered her.
What good is eternity if I spend it alone? If Charlie lives without me?
I have been wrong.
My family wouldn’t want me to spend my life alone, a shadow of myself. In my mind, I can see my mother, dancing
