Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 Victoria Aveline (story read aloud TXT) 📖

as well. Silently, Auzed stepped in front of her, eyes still trained ahead, and rested a hand on a thin weapon strapped to his broad chest.

Fear worked its way up Alice’s spine. Had one of Helas’ lackeys come back for her?

His shoulders relaxed, but his eyes remained hard.

“What’s out there?” Alice whispered.

Auzed stepped back, his gaze flashing between her and the trees. “It was likely just an animal.”

“An animal?” She didn’t know enough about this planet, or its wildlife, to know whether that made sense, but Auzed’s clenched jaw and angry eyes told her he didn’t believe what he’d just said.

“Don’t worry,” he said in a falsely reassuring tone. “No one can walk to The Pearl Temple without authorization. They’d fall into the lake and be stung repeatedly.”

Alice pursed her lips. “Don’t you mean, nothing can walk to The Pearl Temple without authorization?”

Auzed gave a sharp nod, avoiding her eyes. “We need to keep going. The Queen is waiting.”

He reached out to touch her shoulder in an attempt to guide her forward, but at the last moment his eyes shot to the trees once more. The hand he was hovering over her shoulder dropped. “Let’s go,” he repeated.

Slowing his pace, he walked ahead of her. Alice followed but kept glancing back to the trees. Something was still watching her, and Auzed knew more about it than he was letting on.

When they drew close to the rounded central building the humans had started calling The Dome, Alice’s suspicion was replaced with anxiety and apprehension. She absently smoothed her hair and clothing while running her gaze around the perimeter of the building, looking for Luka.

Where is he?

Auzed held open a door to the building and motioned for her to enter, remaining outside when she did. Before leaving him, she urged her voice to sound forceful and authoritative as she said, “Thanks, Auzed, but don’t think I didn’t notice how shifty you got back there. After this meeting is over, we’re going to have a discussion about what you saw in the woods.”

Auzed tilted his head, the corner of his mouth lifted in a curious smile. “You can call me Zed.”

The fact that her tone hadn’t had the effect she’d wanted was frustrating, but the friendly gifting of his nickname was flattering. Not knowing which reaction to focus on, she awkwardly said, “Fine. Zed,” and sped inside.

The meeting room looked almost the same as the room she’d been taken to her first night here, except in this room, one large round table dominated the space. Already seated at the table was Lucy, a sociable blonde human Alice had never really spoken to, a handsome blue-green-skinned man, and…a demon?

Alice stood frozen, staring at the terrifying giant. He was larger than any man she’d ever seen before and had razor-sharp purple horns extending from his temples and curling toward the back of his head. His skin was deeply tanned and tinted almost red. Upon first glance, his curling hair was black, but upon closer inspection, she saw it had a deep purple sheen to it.

He turned to glance at her, and Alice was startled to find his light gray eyes were warm when they caught her stare.

She couldn’t bring herself to look away from the horned man even as she inwardly cursed her brain to do so. Her heartbeat began to slow when she saw the demon shift in his seat. Alice must be crazy, but she could swear he looked self-conscious.

A woman’s annoyed, out-of-breath voice sounded from behind her. “I’m fine! Would you relax!”

The pretty redhead, who looked far too pregnant to be walking easily, was waddling into the room. A large, angry man with thick, black tattoos covering all of his exposed skin walked behind her. The open doorway from which they’d emerged revealed the interior of a cruiser. They must have guided the cruiser over the lake and directly here in order to keep her hidden from view.

His focus was firmly on the woman as she walked. Every so often, he’d reach out to grab her hand or arm, trying to help her, but she’d just shoo his hands and continue forward unassisted.

The woman’s eyes lit up when they landed on Alice. “Oh, hey! Alice, right?” As quickly as she could, which wasn’t very quick at all, the woman changed course and began making her way to Alice.

The man anxiously walking behind her glanced to the chairs, and then back to the woman. In a deep, rumbling voice, he said, “Jade, you need to go sit down.”

Jade continued toward Alice but rolled her eyes. “Once you have grown a person in your uterus, you are more than welcome to weigh in on what I need. Until then, I’ll be the judge.”

The man stopped and shot a furious glare at the back of her head. In a low growl, he said, “Jade, you will go and sit now, or I’ll carry you home.”

Jade stopped and inhaled deeply. She turned and batted her lashes at the man, who was now towering over her. If she were Jade, Alice would’ve been terrified. The tattooed man was very handsome but in a severe, dangerous way, and right now, he looked close to murder.

Jade reached up and grabbed his neck, tugging him down to whisper in his ear. Alice had no idea what she said to the guy to get him to relax, but she deserved a goddamned medal. Alice watched as the man’s tension and anger slowly faded until he stood with his cheek against her hair, smiling faintly.

Jade planted a swift kiss on his lips and resumed her trek toward Alice. The man followed, and although he looked annoyed, the ghost of a smile clung to his lips.

Alice quickly walked toward the pair. If she waited for Jade to get to her, it’d take all