Page 22 of I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy

But if they had already found females and a way to reproduce on this planet…

“Fuck.”

Jivorn nodded solemnly. “It would appear King Lokbaatar has made some powerful allies.”

It all made sense. If either Lok or the leader of the Bloodcry clan had found Blair’s people and secured mates of their own, he’d be able to return to his people and offer them a real future, and with the promise of females, he’d be welcomed back with open arms.

The only thing standing in his way was me.

And I fell for the first trap that batted her big brown eyes at me. The cold realization felt like a needle slowly pushing its way through my chest and sowed hate in its wake. Parts of me wanted to rage, to tear this fortress apart stone by fucking stone until I found Blair and demanded answers. But another part…a sick, weak part wanted to drop to my knees in front of her and beg her to tell me it wasn’t true.

“What do you want to do, my lord?” Jivorn asked.

I straightened, burying down the ache until only fury was left. “We can’t have a spy of the general’s on the loose. I’ll lead a search party to find her, and we’ll bring her in for more questions.” I turned to clap him on the shoulder. “I leave you in charge while I’m gone. Ensure they finish reinforcing the south wall before the day is out. After that, all available warriors should be allocated to escort duty. We need to finish harvesting before the herds reach us.”

Jivorn grabbed my horn and pressed our foreheads together. “You honor me with this burden. I give you my word that I’ll see it done.”

“Thank you, old friend.”

“Take Biesabu and Ko with you.”

I shook my head. “The boy’s half dead on his hooves. He’ll need to rest from his billjaw attack.”

“That boy is the best tracker I’ve trained in years. Biesabu will find your spy, and Ko will keep you both alive while doing it.”

“Or he’ll cause her to die of fright as soon as she sees him,” I said. Ko the Widowmaker was another holdover from my father’s reign. His arms and face were a patchwork of old campaigns—jagged scars, crooked nose, and only one remaining eye. His hair, once thick and ink black by others’ accounts, now hung in matted gray ropes down past his shoulders. Both his horns had been ripped off and replaced by ivory tusks from a gildabeast. Though the story of how he lost his horns varies by who you ask. Some say he lost them in the fight with King Ullrow Ghozi in the battle of Goldpoint. Others say he tore them off himself after he returned from the battle only to find his wife slain.

No one was brave enough to ask him which story was true.

“If I am to remain here, then we need to ensure your safety. As your constable, I advise—”

“Fine, fine,” I conceded, raising my arms in a placating manner. “If you’re that dead set on it, then tell them to meet me at the gate.” Jivorn bowed and took his leave. I retreated to the stables, where I found the beast keeper already in the process of fixing Comet for his saddle. Waving him off, I finished setting up the straps of his saddle and fetched a gongon fruit from the storage. He snapped up his favorite treat in the blink of an eye and watched in anticipation as I dropped more of the tasty morsels into the satchel around my waist. “You want more of this?”

Comet let out a low rumble and stamped his feet.

“Good, we’re going on a hunt, old friend, and I need you at your best.” I had barely got my hooves in the stirrups before Comet took off. “Whatever’s going on, Blair,” I muttered, “you better have one damn good explanation when I find you.”

Chapter 11

Blair

By the time the sun was high in the sky, I had already put enough distance between the town and me that I finally felt comfortable enough to slow down. Unfortunately, the pretty pink forest that surrounded his town had bled into a marshy ravine. And I didn’t exactly have access to a grappling hook or an elevator to get over it.

The ravine was like a deep, winding gash cut through the earth, the stone walls eroded smooth from centuries of water. From the patchwork of shallow pools and thick black mud that covered the banks, this place probably flooded pretty often. It had rained pretty hard last night, and judging from dark ominous clouds in the sky, the rain wasn’t done.

I shuddered, remembering my last stint with a flash flood back when I lived in Utah. Porsha and I had decided to go biking in Canyonlands and chose the wrong place to stop for a rest. It was like the scene from The Lion King where Simba ran from that stampede. Except instead of wildebeests and a man refusing to accept the fact that he was just mid, it was Porsha and me hauling our Black asses up the side of a riverbed. Never did find where the water carried my bike.

I’d had quite enough swimming for my life on this little sabbatical already. The last thing I needed was to get caught up in a marsh during high tide. It would’ve been different if I had been smart enough to steal that damn map before I left. Then I could at the very least judge how far into the ravine I’d have to go. Or if I was even headed in the direction of a place I wanted to go. When I snuck out of the fort, the road came to a fork. We came from the left yesterday, and I did not want to go back to that battlefield with all them severed heads just lying around being nasty. So I went right.

Adventurer extraordinaire I was not.

Sun dappled through the trees and cast rays of light onto a moss-covered boulder. Butterflies flitted through the sunlight; when they dipped lower to flit among the flowers, their wings stirred the gentle mist around them.

My feet ached something fierce, and I took a moment to climb the rock to sit and rest.

As soon as my ass hit moss, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Raw, primal fear, the kind that allowed no reason or logic, clawed at my insides until I felt like I’d vomit.

I swallowed hard and turned my head.