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

figure who is currently riding the dragon as if it is a mishua. The dragon turns toward its territory, and it’s obvious that neither of them have seen us as they get further and further away.

We’re all silent. I turn and find one of Rakiz’s guards staring at me.

“Was that—”

“The Great One,” I breathe. “Yes.”

Ivy is peering at the spot where the dragon just disappeared, while Nevada turns to us both.

“Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

We both look at her, and she throws up her hands.

“We may not have fancy technological weapons, but Charlie was just riding a motherfucking dragon. Riding it. As if she was out for a Sunday horseback ride.”

Ivy stares at her. “You think that dragon would help us?”

“I think if it’s letting her ride him, maybe it’d also be willing to blow some flames at any purple assholes who decided to land on this planet.”

She strokes a hand over the small bump of her stomach. “I’m not being taken from Rakiz. So if our best chance is a dragon? That’s what we need to use.”

Chapter Fourteen

Ivy

All of us are silent on our way back to camp. When we arrive, Vrex helps me off the mishua but doesn’t move to follow me into camp.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, searching his face. His expression is hard, but his eyes…there’s something in them that I don’t quite recognize.

“Nothing. I have something that I must do,” he tells me. “I will be back tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” My mouth drops open, and Nevada moves away, giving us privacy as I attempt to deal with this bombshell.

He nods, and I try to tamp down the panic that’s threatening to rise up and take over my mouth.

“Are you…leaving me?” He was happy in his cabin in the woods alone. Maybe he’s realized that he was happier there than with me and all this drama.

“No.” He takes my hand in his and pulls me close. “I will return. I promise.”

My eyes burn, and I swallow around the lump in my throat. When did I get so needy? It’s that thought that makes me pull my hand away with a smile.

“Okay,” I manage. “Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I don’t ask where he’s going. He would have told me if he wanted me to know. Instead, I step back.

“Ivy—”

“Travel safe.” I turn and walk back into camp, ignoring the sympathetic look that Nevada sends me.

The sun is setting, and I wander toward the kradi I shared with Vrex last night. I change direction at the thought of being alone, heading back toward the healers’ kradi.

“Ivy?”

I whirl. “Beth?”

She jumps toward me, laughing and pulling me into a hug. I blink.

“Wow,” I say, closing my eyes as she squeezes me tight. “It’s so good to see you.”

Beth pulls away, her eyes wet. “You too. I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you.” She moves back a few feet, and I note the slight limp of her gait.

“I’m just glad you got to safety. I heard you were hurt.”

She nods. “Yeah.” Her expression is sad for a moment, but then her delicate face lights up like the sun. “This is Zarix,” she says, and the huge warrior gives me a grin as he reaches us.

“Thank you for encouraging Beth to escape,” he says.

Beth snorts. “Encouraging? I believe the last words she said to me were ‘Buck up, champ. You’re on.’”

I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I’m all about that tough love.”

Beth glances behind me. “Alexis, come see Ivy.”

I didn’t remember which woman was called Alexis when Nevada mentioned her, but I definitely remember her gorgeous face, long blonde hair, and light-blue eyes. She looks like she should be tanning on a beach somewhere.

“I remember you,” Alexis says. “The firefighter.”

“That’s me. That feels like a lifetime ago though.”

“Girl, I hear you.”

“What are you guys doing here? Not that it’s not great to see you…”

Alexis gestures toward the healers’ kradi. “Ellie, Vivian, and Zoey are waiting for us. Zarix was planning to meet Dexar here for his meeting with Rakiz, so we figured we’d all join him and finally get to spend some time together.”

“That sounds amazing.” And a perfect way to distract myself from wondering where Vrex is going and what exactly it is that he’s doing.

We make our way to the healers’ kradi, where Nevada is also waiting for us. She raises her eyebrow at me as I enter, silently asking if I’m okay. I nod. Maybe I’ll pick her brain about Vrex later. After all, she seems to have an enviable relationship with her warrior.

Is that what you want? A relationship? On Agron?

I stare at the walls of the kradi while the other women greet each other.

I…do. With Vrex. The warrior who just took off to God knows where without any warning.

I force myself to focus on the conversation around me. While everyone is laughing and catching up, the subject continually turns to Charlie.

“Well,” Alexis says, “how are we going to get her back?”

Ellie chews on her lip. “From what Nevada just told me, it doesn’t sound like she’s being hurt, at least.”

Beth tilts her head. “What do you mean?”

I describe the sight of the small figure perched on the dragon’s back, her body tiny compared to the huge beast. Everyone is silent for a long moment.

Zoey coughs and blushes as we all glance at her. “Is it possible it could be a…friendly dragon?”

Alexis snorts. “It sure as hell wasn’t friendly when Dexar and I saw them. I thought it was going to turn us to ash at one point.”

Nevada frowns. “But you said it wasn’t hurting Charlie, right?”

“Right.”

I snort. “So all we know right now is that Charlie was taken by a dragon and now she’s somehow using it as her form of transportation.”

Vivian lets out a low whistle. “Why hasn’t she flown it toward us, then?”

We all contemplate this for a moment.

“I remember Dexar calling the dragon ‘possessive,’” Alexis murmurs. “Maybe it’s nice to Charlie and only Charlie.”

“Well,” I say, “that’s a problem. Because that dragon