Enticed by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

handing me a plate of food. I almost refuse it, but the concern on her face makes me sigh and take a few bites.

“How’s he doing?”

I shrug. “The healers say your cousin may have saved his life. If he hadn’t eaten the cava berries when he did, he likely would have lost too much blood while the healers tried to get to him.”

Vivian’s face is pale, and I know she’s worried about Sarissa.

“My guards will find your cousin.”

She glances over her shoulder and then lowers her voice. “But what if they’re the same guards who are allowing these attacks to happen?”

I take a deep breath, barely refraining from pointing out that she and her cousin are in league with those same guards.

We both look up at a knock on the door, and I take her wrist, dragging her behind me. No matter what this beautiful, conniving female does, it seems I’m unable to allow her to be in any danger.

“Your Majesty?”

It’s Rachiz, and Bevix stands by his side, a grin on his face.

They part, and Vivian lets out a choked sob as they reveal Sarissa, her face pale, blood spattered across her dress.

“Oh my God. Are you—ewww!” Vivian gags, and I can’t help but grin as Sarissa raises her hand, her long, delicate fingers wrapped around a Zinta’s head.

Korzyn lets out a low laugh from behind me.

“Vicious female,” he says, but his voice is appreciative.

Sarissa’s face is hard. “He wouldn’t tell me much. Said a guard named Inox passed on the message ordering the hit.”

Bevix turns pale, while Rachiz curses. Behind me, I can practically hear Korzyn grinding his teeth. Inox is one of the few guards who have been with me since my father died.

No one can be trusted.

Vivian

I wander through the town, my shoes clicking on the cobblestones beneath my feet. The breeze smells of fresh flowers and baked bread, and the sun is shining, but my heart feels about as lively as a deflated balloon—and just as cheerful.

I mostly ignore the fact Cauri tied my dress too tight and it’s cutting into my skin. Again.

I deserve all the pain in the world.

It’s been three days since Korzyn was attacked, and he’s already back on his feet. I’m guessing the cava berries were responsible for his quick recovery, but no one has ever told us anything about the berries or where they grow.

Which is probably for the best.

“Vivian!”

I glance over my shoulder, finding Sarissa striding toward me, ignoring the appreciative looks she’s getting from men on both sides of the street. She’s wearing a navy dress, her hair in a casual messy bun and her face determined. She looks like what she is—beautiful and dangerous.

“Hi,” I mutter.

I can barely look at her, the chasm so deep between us that I don’t know how to cross it.

She shifts on her feet. “I need to talk to you.”

I shrug. “I’m listening.”

“Not here.”

I follow her to a small restaurant we’ve eaten in before. The smell of cooking meat is heavy in the air as we walk through the restaurant toward a corner where we won’t be overheard. Two Zintas glare at her, thick eyebrows lowering as she passes by, and she sneers at them, her hand dancing over the hilt of the huge knife now hanging openly on her waist.

After what she did to the last Zinta that pissed her off, it’s a good thing she’s now making it clear she’s armed.

A few Braxian women are seated next to a huge flower arrangement, and they wave to Sarissa, who nods back, a careless grin appearing on her face.

She waits until we’re seated before that fake grin drops.

“I’m going to come right out and say it,” she murmurs, glancing across the restaurant to where our guards have gotten their own table, several of them studying us carefully. “You were right, V, and I was wrong.”

My mouth drops open. “Say that again.”

The corner of her lips twitches before she lowers her voice even further, placing her elbows on the table as she leans close. The service here is notoriously terrible, with no menus to be found. Eventually, the owner will come around and dump a couple of bowls of stew on our table, ordering us to eat quickly so someone else can have our seats.

“At the market when Korzyn was attacked, it all became clear. When I saw him lying there…no matter how much I hate him, I don’t want him dead. We’re in over our heads here. I overcompensated, I know I did. I always do.”

Tears drip down my face at the despair in her voice. Sarissa feels like she has to save everyone because she thinks she failed to save Kelly. I can tell her it wasn’t her fault until I’m blue in the face, but she’ll never believe me. My cousin did everything she could that night—she has the scars to prove it.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I thought I could betray these people, who’ve never done anything to hurt us. But I can’t. You were right, you know. I’m broken. But I’m not a monster.”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I was upset because I couldn’t face the thought of betraying Arix. You’re right, it’s more than just a fling. For me, anyway.”

Sarissa sighs. “Well, I couldn’t face the thought of telling the other women we don’t have any way to get off Agron.”

My stomach swims, Clara’s words running through my head.

“We all have our stories. None of them are good. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting off this planet. Maybe we’ll be able to find a way to contact Earth. At the very least, we might be able to give our families some hope.”

I push away the image of Clara’s sad face for now. “They’ll understand once we explain what happened. This isn’t the end. We’ll figure out a way to get that ship off Agron. I promise.”

Sarissa nods, but I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

“Do you want me to be the one to tell