Renegade Runner Nicole Conway (christmas read aloud txt) 📖

all but their eyes and noses. I got hassled by a few stumpy, scaly-skinned alien kids who wanted money or food. Rout had already explained to me how I could use my citizenship card to make purchases, so I paused long enough to buy them a few sticks of something that looked like roasted meat from one of the street-vendors. They laughed and gathered around, poking curiously at my skin and running their thin, claw-tipped fingers through my hair as though mystified by it. A guy who looked like a towering humanoid fox, complete with bushy tail, chatted me up and asked if I would be interested in going to dinner with him. So weird. And it made me wonder if he recognized who I was.

I hadn’t wandered for long before I knew I should go back. No need to push my luck. As I made my way back, I only paused at a couple of the junk-dealer stalls to look at a few things I recognized amidst buckets of tangled hardware and metal gadgets. My heartbeat skipped at the sight. They were … human things.

Not important things, mind you. But still. An old Walkman CD player covered in Lisa Frank stickers. Old cell phones and even some jewelry. I spotted a few pairs of shoes, backpacks, purses, and some watches with cracked faces. Seeing all that stuff put knots in the pit of my stomach, wondering whom they’d belonged to and how they had wound up all the way out here. Had they belonged to other abductees like me who’d been stolen from their homes? Where was all my stuff? Had it wound up in a junk pile like this, too?

So much of my memory had returned—basically all of it—except for one crucial event. I still wasn’t clear on how I’d actually been abducted. Of course, I knew it had something to do with coming home and finding Mom’s car in the street and those bulbous-headed creatures in our house. But after that? Nothing. There wasn’t even the promise of a hazy memory. Just darkness.

That fact haunted me all the way back to the Nautilus. Would I ever remember? Or had something been done to my mind so I couldn’t ever identify my kidnappers?

Finally sitting on my bed and staring back at the port that disappeared slowly against the backdrop of stars, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Were there a lot of other humans here? If so, where were they? Would I ever meet any of them? Or was Sienne the only human I’d get to talk to until I found some way back home?

I startled, shooting to my feet as a loud BAM BAM BAM pounded on my door. Sudden sounds like that, namely crashes or pounding noises, still sent my brain into a panicked spiral. It took a few seconds to breathe through it, calm down, and get up to answer the door like a normal person. God, how long was this going to last?

Phox stood in the hall, towering before my door like a wall of masculine frustration. He stared down at me, his fierce brow puckered in that classic scowl, and his arms behind his back. Seeing him dressed in more everyday attire put a weird, annoying flutter in my chest. I’d only ever seen him in surface survival suits and that fancy suit at the awards ceremony. Now he looked so … casual. Less like an alien monster and more like a regular, albeit incredibly tall, guy.

Er, well, a guy with bluish gray skin, leopard spots, long pointed ears, and eyes that seemed a little too big. But regular enough.

“Did you need something?” I asked when he just stood there, chewing on the inside of his cheek and staring me down.

“I, uh, er, yes. I mean, no,” he stammered, his mouth suddenly scrunching up as though he’d tasted something bitter.

I gazed back at him, trying to figure out what exactly his problem was. That was one of the great mysteries of the universe, apparently.

At last, he let out a loud, growling sigh that made his shoulders slump. “Look, we need to talk, okay? Can I come in?”

Great. Well, this was sure to be fun.

Bobbing my head, I stood aside to let him in before closing the door. I took in a steadying breath and prepared myself for what would most likely be a heated argument before I turned to face him. “I really don’t think there’s much left to be said about—”

I almost crashed right into him.

Standing unnervingly close, Phox loomed over me with a hand out, presenting me with a small box. “I, uh, I got this for you.”

I frowned. “You got me something? Why?”

“It’s a present. As an apology.”

“That’s … That’s really not necessary.” I shook my head and took an evasive step back.

“It is, Brinna. I … I realized you were right. I made it seem like I was about to just throw up my hands and leave you with the Alzumarian creep. And now things are just weird between us. It’s bad enough to be stuck here with Rout, but it’s way worse if you’re pissed off and avoiding me.”

“You were going to leave me,” I reminded him, folding my arms around my middle. “You were on your way out the door after you told him you wouldn’t race.”

“No, I-I … You have to understand … ” He struggled, his brows drawing up as his eyes searched mine desperately. “I mouthed off. I got angry and said something stupid that I didn’t mean. But I … I’m not used to this.” He gestured to the empty space between us. “I’m not used to having someone watching my back. Talking to me nonstop. Actually wanting me around.” He raked the fingers of his free hand through his shaggy black and silver hair, pushing some of it behind one of his ears. “I’m not good with people, either, you know. Not the nice kind, anyway. But I meant it when I