“How do you peoplethinkin here?” I mutter, rubbing my temples.
Across the cavern, Kol’s golden eyes snap to me. He was already watching me—he’s basically always watching me—but the moment I speak, the intensity dials up to a thousand.
He pushes a deep, vibrating rumble straight across the mindspace into my core. The physical pressure of it hits my chest. It doesn’t stop the chatter, but the crushing focus of it shoves the rest of the noise to the edges of my skull.
“Focus on my voice,” his thought vibrates deep in my bones. “Let the rest fade.”
I take a shaky breath and focus on the dark, heated sensation of his projection.
“You look like you got hit by a bus,” Jacqui’s voice drops into my mind. Her mental tone is dry, wry, and deeply sisterly.
“I just heard Zan’s thoughts about breakfast,” I say aloud.
Several warriors sitting near the fire flinch, their long, pointed ears twitching back. I wince. Right. Still too loud for their sensitive hearing. I’m going to have to learn how to keep my out-loud voice down.
“And I want to unhear them immediately,” I whisper.
“You cannot unhear Zan,” Jacqui projects. “Welcome to the mindspace.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and take a long, slow breath. Right. Okay. I survived a spaceship crash and almost dying in the desert. I can absolutely figure out how to survive a telepathic connection with a clan of aliens. I just need a minute to adapt.
The morning routinecontinues as usual. Or what passes for usual in a cave full of recovering alien warriors who are barely holding back the urge to go sprinting into the desert and rip things apart with their razor-sharp claws.
I walk toward the back of the cavern to check on the women, and almost immediately, things get weird.
A warrior crouching near the fire pit sees me coming. His left arm is wrapped thick in a blood-soaked hide, and he’s sharpening a spear. The second I step within ten feet of him, he stops and inclines his head in acknowledgement.
It’s the exact same gesture they give Kol.
I stop and stare at him, my brow knitting. No warrior has ever done that to me before. I’ve only seen them do that to Kol. I watch as the Drakav before me holds the position for a solid second, then straightens up and goes right back to the spear as if he hadn’t just inclined his head to me.
I blink.
Okay. Weird.
I keep walking. Near the water basin, two warriors step out of my way before I even have to ask. Both of them incline their heads. One of them actually shifts his huge bone-axe to his other hand so the sharp edge isn’t pointed anywhere near me.
At the far wall, another warrior sees me approach, lowers his golden eyes, and inclines his head with a sharp jerk.
It takes four more identical gestures before my brain finally catches up.
Oh my God. I’m alien First Lady. No. Worse. I’m alienqueen. Nobody voted for this. I didn’t campaign. I don’t even have aspeech prepared. I let Kol rearrange my insides last night, and suddenly I have actual subjects.
When I fill my waterskin and head back into the main cavern, I catch Jacqui’s eye from across the cave. She takes one look at my face and her mouth twitches.
She definitely knows what I’m thinking.
I swallow hard, feeling slightly dizzy, and keep moving. I will absolutely panic about being an alien queen later. Right now, I have problems to solve.
Mira intercepts me near the sleeping alcoves. She’s practically vibrating with nervous energy. She grabs my wrist, her fingers pressing tight against my pulse.
“Erika,” she says, eyes wide. “How do you feel? Your color is back. Are you zero-level on nausea? What about the headaches?”
I frown. Funny how you don’t miss your health until something goes wrong. The headache and nausea had been plaguing me since I stepped foot on this planet and now they’re gone and I didn’t even realize.
“I feel...great,” I blink, frowning a little to focus on that spot just behind my eyes where the headache would target. But my head doesn’t throb. There’s no phantom dizziness when I move. I feel one-hundred-percent healthy. Better than healthy. I feel strong. Vibrant. Like I could run through the dust and not collapse within a second.
“No pain,” I confirm. “No nausea. I feel... amazing.” I look down at my hands, flexing my fingers. “I feel like I could punch through a wall.”
