Wexxon the Great Alien Warrior - Juno Wells Page 0,57

we ate. That was all.”

I then raised my shoulders before taking a bite of my meal. “Sure. An idle thought. But…if it happened again, if we did get another person from Earth on Xelxar…we should form our own investigative community.”

“Just you and me?” Palqeet smirked.

“Just you and me.” I smirked right back. “Besides, if my time on Earth taught me nothing else, I learned a long time ago that women go a lot faster when they’re traveling together.”

“And what about friends?” Palqeet asked. “How far would you say they go?”

“Friends go even faster than that.” I flashed Palqeet a bright smile, something warming in my chest, something besides the soup that still sent wisps of smoke into the air between us.

“…Rachel?”

Wexxon.

He said my name.

He was saying my name as he sat up in bed, his arm wrapped around his waist. I’d been fast asleep when I’d heard his voice, carrying over to me so softly I’d been certain it was part of a dream. But when I finally opened my eyes, my gaze soon meeting his own, I couldn’t help the way I’d jumped right into his arms, my head burying into the crook of his neck.

“It’s okay, my little warrior,” he murmured, trying his best to comfort me as he ran his hand through my hair. “I’m here. I’ve survived yet another battle—”

“Don’t,” I cut him off as I looked up at him. “You could’ve died, Wexxon. You have no idea how close you were to—”

“No. I know how close I was.” Wexxon smiled. “But it was a calculated risk, my love. If I hadn’t done it, Reddin would’ve killed me on the spot.”

“It felt like he was killing me, too,” I whispered. “When I saw the way you fell in the arena…Wexxon, the crowd was cheering for you to die.”

“Of course they were,” he replied. “In the world my brother created, he was their hero. It’d be the same if a warrior tried to slay me in the arena, too.”

“…What’s going to happen to all those twisted people?” I asked, nuzzling even further into Wexxon’s side. “Are they going to live out in the woods forever? Are you going to force them to come back into the city?”

“Nothing’s going to happen to them.” Wexxon shrugged. “As long as they keep to themselves, as long as they leave us out of their…festivities. I’m not interested in trying to rehabilitate those uninterested in being rehabilitated. Even worse when they subscribe to a version of the truth that is at odds with what we believe in the main city.”

Wexxon then sighed before he went on. “Did they…do you know what they did with my brother’s body?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I didn’t stick around long enough to see. After Aldvirion came to take you back to the castle…I don’t remember much after that.”

“He should be buried alongside our parents,” Wexxon murmured. “If it’s even possible.”

“…You still care for him?”

“I’ll always care for him, my love,” Wexxon answered. “It cannot be helped. Even in the end, even when he wanted me dead…he was still my blood. He’ll always be a part of me.”

Wexxon then paused for a moment, his next words coming out slow. “I was…wondering.”

“Wondering?”

“Do you think it would be too biased for me to introduce a new rule for the arena?”

“What kind of new rule?”

“A rule where siblings are not allowed to face each other, ever,” he continued. “As there is no spouses, no siblings. No one should have to spill the blood of someone they love, not for the entertainment of the crowd. Not for the pride of Xelxar.”

“…I think that’s a perfect new rule, Wexxon.” I smiled up at him as I replied. “No one should ever have to go through what you went through with Reddin—”

“And no one should ever have to endure Reddin’s shame.” Wexxon nodded as he spoke.

“Long live Wexxon the Great.” I smiled even wider before I pressed a soft kiss against his cheek.

And I felt Wexxon pull me even closer to his chest, both his arms firmly wrapped around my frame.

Chapter Seventeen

Wexxon

After I’d woken up, it’d taken me a few more weeks to fully heal.

It’d also taken me a few weeks to convince Aldvirion that my new rule about siblings in the arena should be implemented. He’d spent hours trying to convince me that my decision would’ve been seen as emotional, and I eventually convinced him that I truly didn’t care how it was seen.

All I could think about was Reddin’s face when