Protected by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (books that read to you .txt) 📖

I move closer to the ship, Vrex shadowing my every move. When I attempt to stride up the stairs, he hauls me back before drawing his sword and stalking up the stairs in front of me.

I don’t stick my foot out and trip him for being an overprotective alpha male, but it’s a close call.

Vrex’s shoulders relax when he reaches the top of the stairs, but he keeps his sword in his hand. I follow him inside, and he steps out of the way, revealing the ravaged control center of the ship.

There may not be any bodies, but there’s still plenty of blood. It stains the floor, the walls, and the huge window, which must be near indestructible, since it seems to have bent with the force of the crash instead of breaking.

I wrench my gaze away from the rust-colored stains. Those assholes got what they deserved. I move down to where we were kept after we were loaded onto this ship.

Vrex is silent beside me while I stare at the cage.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” I murmur. “I know it happened. But sometimes I still need to pinch myself to convince myself that I’m not dreaming. That we were taken for no reason at all.” I glance at him. “What makes people think that they can treat others this way?”

His body is tense next to me, his eyes narrowed in fury as he stares at the cage. I think this is the most emotion I’ve ever seen from him, and it’s his rage that pulls me from my pity party.

“Come on,” I say. “I want to make sure I’ve seen everything.”

A few minutes later, I find it. Something that makes my mouth dry, makes my hands shake. Next to one of the broken monitors, a red light flashes every few seconds. For some reason, that red light raises every hair on the back of my neck, and I run my palms along my forearms in an attempt to get rid of the goose bumps.

“Hand me that sword, big guy.”

Vrex attempts to hand it to me, then grabs it back as I almost drop it.

“How the hell do you carry that thing around so easily? I’m pretty damn strong for a woman. Never mind. I need you to smash the shit out of that light.”

Vrex shrugs and slams the hilt of his sword into the control panel. He scowls as we both watch the light continue to flash red. He hits it again and again, denting the control panel and smashing the monitor, but the light itself doesn’t stop flickering.

“Shit.”

“What is it?” Vrex asks.

“I don’t know. It could be nothing, but if I were in charge of a bunch of spaceships like these, I’d make sure they had some kind of locating device in them. This entire ship is toast, but this one thing is still working. It freaks me out.”

Vrex nods, glowering at the light.

“Well,” I say finally, “there’s nothing we can do about it now. Maybe when I find the others, we can all come back and try to figure it out. Thanks for bringing me here today. It helps to see this.”

Vrex meets my gaze, his jaw tight. Finally, he nods again. “You’re welcome.”

Vrex

“Like this?”

I nod as Ivy sets the trap. She is a fast learner. When she insisted that I teach her how to set traps for protection and to catch food, I was surprised. But with her shoulders set in determination, she has adjusted one of my favorite traps so that it is now more easily hidden—and likely more lethal.

“Where did you learn to do this?”

Her voice is sad. “My dad was big into the outdoors. He wasn’t a prepper or anything, just liked to teach me what he knew.” She looks up with a small smile. “When you’re that young, your parents are still your heroes. I lost my dad when I was eight, so while I know in my head that he was just a man with flaws like any other, in my heart he’s still superhuman.”

I nod, and she looks up at me from where she’s crouched on the ground.

“Do you see your parents often?”

I tense. “No. We should go back to the trading post after we have seen Ilax. It is likely that there will be a message waiting for me.”

Her eyes search my face at the change of subject, but she nods, brushing the dirt off her hands as she stands.

“Listen,” she says. “I wanted to thank you again for everything you’ve done. It’s nice to know there are men on this planet who are willing to actually help us, you know?”

Guilt stabs through me like a knife. I open my mouth to tell her the truth—that I’m not her hero, I’m just another mercenary profiting off her and her friends. But her smile is so broad, her eyes sparkling as she peers up at me.

“You’re welcome,” I say, my voice thick.

I saddle my mishua while Ivy carefully watches my movements. She seems determined to learn as much as she can about this planet, and for some reason, this makes me rub at my chest.

We’re silent as we make our way to Ilax, and she grins at him as we find him sitting in his usual spot outside his tashiv.

My arm is much better, and I will soon be able to remove the sling. Ilax nods and hands me the tonic while we watch Ivy sneak the mishua a handful of food from her pocket.

“She is different, this human,” Ilax murmurs.

I nod, handing him back the cup. “She is.”

“And you? Will you keep her?”

My mouth drops open, and the old male laughs.

“Is it such a crazy question?”

“A female like this is not for me.”

Ilax sighs, his expression softening. “I do not understand why you insist on thinking this way.”

“You are just like your father. A useless waste of space. You will always be alone. Always.”

I attempt to push Hevi’s words aside, but