Alien's Beauty (Galactic Fairytales Book 1) by V. K. Ludwig

Author:V. K. Ludwig [Ludwig, V. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Smoke hung over the agridome, rancid and bitter from the hessa droppings they burned to warm water in cauldrons. Coldness bit at the tip of Ada’s nose, and mom’s necklace rested freezing against her chest.

“How about this one?” Vohri asked, holding a brown-speckled seed clasped between her fingers. “It might still germinate.”

Ada’s head shake came slow, almost paralyzed, and she dug her hands back into the dead plant. “Only the bright green ones, Vohri. There’s no point in wasting the rest of the water on something that might germinate.”

No matter how the thorns painted Ada’s arms in red scratches, she barely sensed the pain her numb body. Dulled down to the monotone movements of saving seeds. Pluck the hull. Crack it open. Pinch the seed. Carefully lower it into the bucket.

She would spend whatever time she had left on Aura Station helping the Aurani. The heiress to a multi-billion-dollar company harvested seeds, because she was too damn powerless to do anything beyond that. How ironic was that?

Thuran, Vohri’s father, kneeled beside her. “Heiress, the agridome is still too cold for you to be out here. Our Varac would not approve.”

“But your Varac isn’t here to disapprove, is he?” Kerien had kissed her goodbye yesterday, and not shown his face since.

She tugged on the pin holding the fur she wore at her sternum together. “This is keeping me warm enough. And it’s not like I’ve got things to pack before I leave, so I might just as well help while I still can.”

“We have to delay your departure for tomorrow,” he said. “There’s a storm forming inside the nebulae, but we will leave the moment it clears.”

“Will your Varac bring me to Xaleon personally?”

His brow flicked up, and a moment of hesitation passed. “I’m afraid not. Since they expect our transport ship, it would be too dangerous for him to go. He is the last surviving heir after all.”

“Hmm.” Her throat tightened as if the words collared her. She would have wanted him by her side when she had to face Gral and the shareholders. “Where is he? I haven’t seen him all morning.”

A thoughtful expression settled onto Thuran’s face. “He’s at the conservatory and asked not to be disturbed.”

“Guess what everyone’s saying is true then.” All morning, rumor had spread that the Varac was in a dark mood, and nobody dared to go near him.

“He is losing many things at once.” His eyes sought out hers, an unspoken understanding flicking between them.

Her chest grew warm and tender. Kerien had told her he didn’t want her to leave. Not that it was necessary. She’d seen it in his eyes, tasted it in his kiss. A kiss that had shaken her to the core, had turned her pliable in his strong arms.

He could have done whatever he wanted with her. But he’d refused, that prince without manners but a great deal of honor and respect. The memory dizzied her head and squeezed her heart. Was that what falling in love felt like?

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