The Alien's Equal (Drixonian Warrior #7) - Ella Maven Page 0,22

look in her eyes when she nodded. “I promise, Nero.”

I ruffled her hair. She was a good chit, and the future of her species. Just knowing a female with Drixonian blood lived was enough for me to do anything to ensure her survival. “Good.”

Bazel left shortly after, promising to return with our last meal of the day. I whispered to her to include a bottle of Xavy’s spirits and she shot me a grin before jogging out the door.

I joined Justine at the table and dug into my food. She was quiet for a while, and I knew by now when Justine was quiet, she was working on something in her mind. So, I let her think it through until she said softly, “You’re good with her.”

“Bazel?”

“You didn’t snap at her to get away from your controls. You treated her with respect, taught her a few things, and explained the importance of what you do.”

To stall, I placed my antella leg back on my plate and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Like Justine, I went quiet when I had to think hard about something too. “No, I didn’t snap at her.”

Justine’s eyes were on her plate. “She’ll remember that.”

“Justine.”

She lifted her gaze, and her eyes swam with tears. I cursed under my breath and reached for her, but she held her palm up to ward me off. With more self-control than I realized I had, I held off pulling her into my arms.

“She’ll remember how you treated her,” she swiped at her cheeks. “Because I know what it’s like not to be treated with that respect as a child. It sucks.”

I didn’t like how a few words from her about her past was enough to make my head hot with anger. I gritted my teeth. “If I had a way to travel to Earth, I’d go there now and pound every male who treated you with anything less than respect.”

Her laugh was short and humorless. “The list is short, but boy, did they manage to pack a punch.”

My hands curled into fists. “Who were these males?”

She inhaled sharply. “They don’t matter now. One is dead and the other is two galaxies away.”

“They don’t matter, but what they did to you does, because it still affects you today.”

Her head dropped between her shoulders, and she looked so defeated that I almost told her to forget it, that she could keep her secrets. But I was selfish, and I wanted her, all of her. So, I held my tongue until she lifted her head with a resigned sigh. “I’ll give you my tragic backstory just this once and then I won’t bring it up again. My mom died when I was young. I went to live with my aunt—her sister—and her husband. He was always creepy but when I… matured.” She held her hands out as if she were cupping her breasts. “He took it to another level.”

I sought to control the rush of fire flowing through my veins. “How?”

“Comments. Touching. The only reason he didn’t take it as far as he wanted was because I had a bedroom door that locked from the inside, and I was really, really good at sneaking around behind his back. I got my sister out of that house before he could pay attention to her.”

This was … unheard of to me. “You were family?”

“Well, we weren’t related by blood—”

“A male from your family touched you when you were a chit?” I was going to pop a blood vessel in my eye.

She cringed at my shout. “Um. Over the clothes stuff. Kissing. So … yes.”

I pounded the table with a closed fist. Plates rattled and a jug of qua toppled over. Justine caught it before it spilled and placed it upright with a shaky hand. “Nero—”

“I need a moment,” I said through clenched teeth. I imagined a Drixonian male leering at Bazel, and my vision blurred. I panted through my anger, only holding on by a thin hair because of the fear in Justine’s eyes at my reaction.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I had a lot of therapy to reach that conclusion though.”

“Tell me,” I swallowed. “Tell me what you mean about getting your sister out of the house. Tell me why you’re who you are now.”

Justine

That was a loaded question. My stomach was queasy from talking about this, and I hated how my voice trembled when I spoke. But in way, this purging felt good. The