The Alien's Revenge - Ella Maven Page 0,64

Merr-anda were feeling,” Daz said.

“Good,” I answered. My voice was growing stronger each day. My words were coming back, and while I couldn’t talk long, my speech was less broken. “She needs sleep.”

We stopped to watch the training session. Sax and Gar faced off against one another. Daz watched, his brow furrowed, eyes stormy.

“I’m sorry about Rex,” I said.

A muscle in Daz’s jaw clenched. “Thank you. Nero has been studying some information we stole from the Uldani, but there is no record of warriors being sold during the Uprising.”

“Do you believe Crius?” I asked.

Daz sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I do. One of the Uldani commanders I killed recently mentioned Rex right before he died. I’d written it off but…” he shook his head. “I can only guess he was sold to Vixlicin. That was where the warriors were sent before the Uprising.”

I grunted, remembering tales of the hot, red-sanded planet ruled by the ruthless Plikens.

Sax swung at Gar, who dodged the blow and swiped Sax’s legs out from under him. Sax hit the ground with a thud and Gar growled, eyes black with bloodlust. He raised his machets and drew his arm back to slice into Sax.

“Hey!” Sax hollered before rolling, narrowly avoiding Gar’s machets.

Daz was already running, Ward at his heels, and I wasn’t far behind. Ward threw himself at Gar, and they both went to the ground, wrestling in a cloud of green dust. Daz hauled a shaken Sax to his feet.

“Calm down!” Ward hollered as Gar fought, spat, and cursed.

“Gar!” Daz roared, and finally the big warrior went still. His eyes cleared, remaining black but lost the turbulence. He blinked, took in Sax, and slumped. “Fleck,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was … somewhere else.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sax glared at him, his usual humor gone. “You nearly took my head off.”

“I’m sorry,” Gar said again. Ward stood up, wiping at a cut on his chest, made from his brother’s machets. Gar watched Ward miserably.

“I know you’re flecked up about what Crius said,” Ward sighed. “But you have to find a way to work through this. You can’t let it consume you.”

Sax reached out a hand to Gar, who took it with an unsteady hand. He patted the larger warrior on the shoulder. “I forgive you. But I’m not sparring with you again. For a long time.”

“Understood,” Gar muttered. “I just want … revenge.” He looked at me. “I bet it felt good to see Crius fall, right?”

“No,” I rasped, and Gar went still. The other warriors watched me. “I wanted revenge for so long, but that didn’t make me happy. Merr-anda did. Returning to this clavas did. Being a Night King again did.” Daz sucked in a breath, but I kept going. “You have to find a way to look forward, not back.”

Gar didn’t want to hear that, I could see it in his eyes. I understood that. I had to figure it out for myself too. He looked away. “I’m going to take a ride. Clear my head.”

“Stay within our boundaries,” Daz said.

Gar nodded, and then strode away, his shoulders weighed down with anger.

“I should check on Merr-anda,” I said.

Daz placed a hand on my shoulder. “Did you meant what you said? You’re ready to accept that you’re a Night King again?”

I nodded, and a piece of my cora settled into place. “You were right when we rode to rescue Merr-anda. I couldn’t have done that without you. This clavas. I was fighting it, but that proved to me that this is my home. I’m one of you.”

Sax whooped and Ward grinned. Daz’s eyes crinkled as a smile split his face. “I’ll get your tag. Welcome back, Drak.”

I grasped him around the back of his neck and touched our foreheads. “Glad to be home.”

Miranda

The sound of little feet slapping the floor alerted me about my visitor a second before a body flew at me. “Oomph,” I grunted as a giggle reached my ears and soft hair swept my cheek.

“Miranda’s back!” cried a little voice.

I peeked over the furs to see Bazel’s face inches from mine. “Hi Bazel.”

“I missed you!” she cried.

“I missed you too.”

“Bazel!” Anna cried from outside my room a second before she stepped through the door. She spotted her daughter on the bed and heaved a sigh. “Honey, I told you Miranda needed to sleep.”

“But I missed her!”

“It’s fine,” I said, reaching for a shirt and shorts and slipping them on under the covers before sitting up. “I slept long