I ignore him.

He can be angry but I will enjoy this moment, for this is possibly the only time I will get to rest.

Once the ship comes, everything changes.

What I haven’t told the hyu’mans is that we’ve been scanning the surface. We have intel and we have a plan.

And even though I would like to see just how similar our species are, Adee’ra is not a part of that plan.

Chapter Twenty

ADIRA

I don’t see it until far too late.

It’s as if it materializes out of thin air. A huge black bird, hovering over us and soaking the light of the morning sun.

I’ve never seen anything this big.

It’s bigger than any plane or ship I’ve ever seen.

Had it really been this big when I’d seen it that first day?

“Shit,” I breathe.

I managed to get some rest last night. But maybe I’m still so tired I’m hallucinating for an opening appears underneath the ship and something slips out.

It looks like a floating box and it comes directly at us.

“What the fuck is that?” The way Sam says it almost makes me chuckle nervously.

“Our lift.” Fer’ro steps forward as my eyebrows shoot up.

A lift?

I imagine us having to climb on top of the thing to get into the ship and the nervousness I’m feeling surges.

This is a sure case of ‘what could go wrong.’ I’m pretty sure I’d slide off the edge of the thing without even trying.

We’re going to go into an alien ship.

The dark square floats closer, swerving through the trees till it reaches us. Then it lowers itself till it is almost touching the ground.

Fer’ro reaches forward and touches it.

Suddenly, an opening appears within the square.

My eyes pop.

It is like a room inside and Fer’ro steps in, his gaze landing on me.

With bravery I don’t have, I walk forward, followed by Ga’Var and then the others.

It’s like a Doctor Who telephone box—it’s bigger on the inside, because, somehow, we all fit.

My nervous gaze meets Sam’s as the box seal begins to rise.

I stagger a little with the sudden movement, my hand grasping Fer’ro’s arm.

Dimly, I’m aware of his muscles tensing but I’m too busy getting the shock of my life as we rise higher.

The walls of the box are transparent from the inside giving the appearance we’re floating on thin air.

And the view…

Awe changes to sadness as my heart breaks at what I am seeing.

The lake is now dry and apart from the small forest we’d been hiding in, all around us, the world is brown.

I’m staring at it, reality sinking in when the view slowly disappears to be replaced by dim light.

We’re inside the ship.

The view below us is replaced by dark metal and the floating box comes to a stop.

Soon, the “door” opens once more and Fer’ro strides forward.

It takes me a minute to realize the box has disappeared from around us.

There are more Vullan here. Quite a few, and I wonder if they are the same ones who had worked on scavenging the dead Gryken’s machine.

They stand still, but there is growling as we pass.

Some of them pull their teeth back and sniff the air and I find myself moving closer to Fer’ro.

There’s a definite sense we are not welcome here.

Fer’ro clicks something sharp and some of the Vullan pull their teeth back, but that doesn’t take the utter ferocity in their gazes away.

“Fer’ro?”

I glance from one of them to the other and I can even feel Sam’s breath against my arm as she’s moved closer to my side.

“What’s happening?” she whispers.

Fer’ro glances at me before clicking again and behind us, Ga’Var clicks too.

His gaze falls on Mina who’s still in Santen’s arms.

“It’s the infested female,” San’ten almost growls. “They can smell her. They can smell it.”

My gaze falls to Mina and then to her belly.

“There’s no more time to waste,” Fer’ro’s voice reaches my ear. “We must remove it now.”

Mina looks even worse than she did the night before.

Her skin is so pale, it’s see-through.

I don’t think we have a choice. So I nod.

“This way,” Fer’ro says and then we are walking through the wide room, passing the still-snarling Vullan.

That’s when I realize their eyes aren’t on me or Sam.

They really are all completely focused on Mina.

Some even have their blades pointing outward.

I’m happy when we finally pass all of them and reach a corridor.

Fer’ro continues on and my gaze darts around the interior of what is something I didn’t ever think I’d be aboard—an alien ship.

The light is so dim in the ship though, that even when my eyes adjust, I can’t pick up much.

All I know is that the walls are covered in the same dark metal that is everywhere else.

Fer’ro walks with purpose, turning down corridor after corridor and I manage to keep up until he comes to a stop in front of a wall.

I glance around him confused.

That’s when a rectangle of green neon light forms within the wall.

It hisses and I realize it’s a door when it…disappears.

Fer’ro steps into the room that’s just been opened and clicks something.

A click is returned and when I glance around him I’m met with the coolest blue eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

The Vullan in front of us stares back at us from behind a table.

There are instruments there. Dark metal ones that look like strange torture devices from the middle ages.

“This is He’rox. Our medic,” Fer’ro says before resting his gaze on San’ten. “Bring the female forward.”

He’rox’s eyes are on me. They’re so…different from the others that I can’t help but stare.

And his ba’clan…his suit is white.

He stares. Not snarling. No blades rising, but his gaze makes me nervous.

But it’s not just his color that makes him different.

This He’rox has…tentacles. They are thin. Just one on each side of his mouth, hanging to just below his chin, and I watch them move as he stares at me.

He continues to watch me, those ice-cold eyes searching my soul, as San’ten approaches with Mina and rests her on the table.

As the lights brighten in the room, that’s when I realize the medic’s gaze has moved to my arm. The one where Fer’ro’s suit lies.

I glance at it too and my own eyes widen before I snatch my arm from my side and place it at my back.

The ba’clan look like thick oil over my skin.

I can’t even feel them there anymore and my hand, which had been pounding and swollen feels like it’s almost back to normal.

“It’s progressed quite quickly.” Fer’ro is speaking to the medic and finally, the male pulls his gaze away from me. “The former was killed. There is not much time.”

The medic looks down at Mina and then at her belly.

He stares at it for so long before looking back up at Fer’ro.

Fer’ro stiffens and I get the sense they are having some sort of conversation that I cannot hear.

“What’s happening?” Sam whispers. “Why is everyone just staring at each other?”

“I think they’re talking to each other,” I whisper back.

Fer’ro’s ears twitch at my words. I think I’m right.

“Do it,” he says and my gaze flies back to the blue-eyed one.

I watch as he glances at me and Sam and then back at Fer’ro and I don’t need a translator to guess what he’s saying.

“We want to stay. We’re not leaving her.”

The medic looks at me then and he clicks something at me.

“It is…dangerous, Adee’ra.” Fer’ro’s voice washes over me like a thick wave and I don’t realize I’m holding on to his arm until I feel his muscles flex. “For your safety and for Sa’am’s, you should wait outside. Ga’Var will take you to private quarters until the med bay is free again. You also need medical attention.”

I shake my head at him. Nothing’s been more dangerous than the past few days, weeks, months?