Page 10 of Silver Slayer

"Quin." He exhaled my name with a strange reverence, low and intimate, almost a caress. An unexpected warmth cascaded through me, pooling low in my belly. My skin prickled with sudden awareness.

Mara's breath tickled my ear. "That alien highlander is looking at you like he wants to eat you," she whispered, "and not the bad kind of eat. The world-shattering kind."

My face flushed hot enough to set the forest on fire. I ignored her.

His eyes stayed trained on me, tracking my every micro-movement like a predator marking prey. My fingers twitched toward the scanner resting in my lap. The urge to document him like I had every other species on this planet was instinctive. But Vennox was not some mindless predator lurking in the jungle shadows. He was dangerous in an entirely different way, and that made him far more unsettling.

His scales shifted in silver and blue patterns, like armor made of living metal, catching every ray of light filtering through the canopy. His pointed ears perked and twitched at sounds I couldn't hear. A scabbed-over gash cut across his temple, dark blue against the silver. It was the kind of wound left to close on its own. The sword in his grip gleamed with the same liquid silver as his gaze, its edge honed for battles I couldn't imagine. Standing there in nothing but that low-slung kilt, he was an alien enigma, and the scientist in me wanted to catalog every detail.

"You're human," he stated, as though he already knew the answer.

"Last time I checked," I replied. I was still settled on my knees, and I casually pressed my thighs together to help extinguish theunwelcome lick of heat blooming in my core as his silver gaze held mine.

Granted, the alien highlander was the most striking male I'd ever laid eyes on. Gorgeous face, covered in muscle. But my reaction to him was unnerving. I wasn't one to fawn over anyone, but no man I'd known on Earth had ever looked like him.

"Your companion," Truxxet interjected, gesturing toward Vala. "What is he?"

"Yulineon," I answered, my gaze flicking briefly to Truxxet, who wore nothing more than a breechcloth. "Do you know of him? He was on Valose for a time."

"I was in the Trisess Forest when the Yulineons attacked the city of Huren," Truxxet said, scales rippling a deep blue. "When Clan Trisess joined Clan Huren under the dome, I was told the Yulineons were there to kill all the humans."

"He told me the same, and about Universeval Rule," I said, letting my gaze flick between the two of them. Never fix on one threat when there are two. “But he was injured during that strike on your world, and a human named Layla saved his life. Now he fights on the side of the humans.”

Truxxet was quiet for a long moment. "I know Layla. And the story of the Yulineon she saved from the Nuttaki."

"Good." I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Look. Vala was taking us to Valose when we crashed here. We need help repairing our ship so we can leave."

"Your companion is in danger," Vennox said, his deep voice vibrating through me like a struck chord. "Our people won't know his intentions."

My expression hardened. "Then we need to stop this before it starts." I wiggled my wrist. "This is a communication device. I need to warn him."

Vennox gave a single nod.

"Vala," I said into the comm. "We have company. Two Valosians. Non-hostile, for now."

"You are not in danger from them," Vala replied, calm but firm. "Valosian males are driven to protect females. But if you keep those nutrone blasters raised, they will react."

"Our weapons are already on the ground. I'm not looking for a fight."

"Good," Vala breathed. "With any luck, the Nomadicans they traveled with know Mehr."

"Did he say Mehr?" Truxxet's pointed ears perked sharply as he tilted his head toward me.

"Yes," Brooke answered. "Mehr was held captive with us on the Xegnot ship along with his shoulsis, Elizabeth."

Truxxet visibly relaxed. "We traveled here with Ruze and Tyrk. Ruze has been searching the stars for them."

Vennox raised his own comm to his mouth. "Ruze?—"

"I know," came the reply, tight and clipped. "I have the Yulineon targeted."

"Do not kill him," Vennox said. "He travels with Mehr and his mate."

A long silence crackled over the comm. "What… What did you say?"

"The male you seek is here," Vennox said, then looked at me. "How far away is your ship?"

"About two miles—" I started to answer when the bio-analyzer in my lap buzzed violently. I lifted it and watched the calm screen flash to urgent. "We need to go. Now."