They were horrifying to look at, even more so than the grotesque images my mind had cooked up while spending all those days in the underground bunker. The Novai General stood a few inches taller than the A’li-uud and sported the same well-muscled build, but his skin was sickly white, and his face looked as if it had been squashed to a pulp and thrown into a blender. Deep, angry lines creased downward from his hairline in thick ridges, curving upward at the cheeks before descending along the jawbone. Where there should have been eyes, there appeared only to be blank skin of the same translucent white as the rest of his face, and his nose was disproportionately flat. The only thing that appeared normal on the mangled visage was his mouth. The warriors behind him, of which there were four, were identical to him in general features but had variations in their ridges and nose shapes. They were equally as tall and equally as muscular as their leader.

Dane and the Pentaban Elder stood across the room from them, and Dane was making a horrible screeching sound with his mouth wide open that sounded identical to the noises that had awoken me. I tightened my hold on Lokos’ hand, searching unknowingly for comfort, and he squeezed my fingers back with as much reassurance as he could offer without words. He was tense beside me, every muscle flexed, and his eyes fixed on the Novai, but he leaned down slightly to whisper in my ear.

“Dane is ordering them to call off their troops,” he intoned.

I gaped at him and whispered back, “You can understand that?”

“Yes. He is speaking Novain.” When I continued to stare at him open-mouthed, he added, “A’li-uud speak whatever language is spoken to them.”

“I know that, but…” I looked back at the exchange. “I guess it’s more impressive when it’s a language other than English.”

We were standing in a tucked-away corner of the grand foyer. Upon our entrance, Dane had said something to Lokos in A’li-uud, and Lokos had inclined his head before pulling me into the corner. When I asked, he told me softly that they were attempting to negotiate a deal in which no blood would be spilled and they wanted to appear as unthreatening as they could so Dane asked that Lokos and Khrel remain back. It sounded ridiculous to me; after all, even if they struck some sort of truce, what was stopping the Novai from double-crossing them?

The Novain General emitted a godawful screech in response to Dane, who squawked back almost immediately. There was suddenly a rapid-fire exchange between the two that made my ears hurt from the high-pitched frequencies darting back and forth across the room.

“The General does not want to order his troops to stand down,” Lokos continued quietly. “Dane told him we were prepared for a fight, and the General said they are too. Dane reminded him our numbers are exponentially greater than theirs and told him they made a mistake by sending a threat ahead of their ships because it gave us time to prepare for their arrival.”

I was still worried about the possibility of a battle breaking out, but I was quickly being overtaken by fascination. It was a lot like watching a foreign film with a translator rather than subtitles, and, so far, there were no signs of active aggression on either side.

“The General admits the threat was an attempt to intimidate us into vacating the planet without the use of force,” Lokos went on. “They have been scouting Albaterra for almost a year and have determined it is nearly a twin to their home planet. The Novain leaders hoped a threat to the safety of our race would stimulate our evacuation, but, as it has not, they—”

His voice stopped abruptly, and the word hung in mid-air without legs. I heard the syllable fall, unfinished, and looked at him expectantly for more information, but he was staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the exchange before us. The screeching between the General and Dane continued, and I itched to know what they were saying.

“What?” I whispered urgently, prodding his arm. “What’s happening?”

“They want to colonize here,” he breathed.

If a breeze had blown through the elegant foyer at that very moment, I would have fallen over. “What?” I hissed, stunned.

“They are willing to work with us to live alongside us as the humans do.” He was translating automatically now, his voice monotone and his eyes glazed over as his mind focused on the news that also had me speechless. “Their only wish is to call Albaterra home.”

* * *

I stared at the mountain scape surrounding me and breathed in. The harsh, crisp air prickled my nose and burned my throat, but I loved it. Spreading my arms out, I spun around in a circle as fast as I could just to feel the sear of the icy wind on my face.

“What are you doing?” Donna yelled with a laugh, whipping a hunk of snow at me. It bounced off my hip and fell to the ground in crumbles.

“I’m vowing never to leave Montemba again!” I called back to her. I dropped to my knees, ignoring the immediate wetness that seeped through my jeans, and dug my hands into the snowbank like shovels.

Suddenly, I was thrown forward. My face burrowed into the snowbank, instantly tightening my skin with freeze, and my breath snapped in my chest. When I sat up, sputtering, I saw an angular jaw and telling white eyes above me.

“Never let your guard down,” Lokos said with his characteristic shadow of a grin on his lips.

I squealed and launched myself at him. My shoulder connected with his abdomen, which was so hard that it actually hurt, and he let me topple him over until he fell on his back into a cushion of snow, pulling me down on top of him. Our mouths met, and the heat of his lips against my frozen ones sent a shiver down my spine.

“I’m so glad to be back,” I said giddily when we broke apart.

He bounced me slightly with his legs. “Oh? I would have thought you were more of a cabin floor kind of woman.”

I made a face at him and laughed. “I’m an anywhere kind of woman, if you’re the man who’s with me,” I said, tapping his nose with mine.

He purred and kissed me briefly again.

“When can I get out of the dorm?” I asked, glancing at the familiar building behind me.

“Today, if you would like,” Lokos replied. He nuzzled my neck and nibbled my lower lip. “I certainly would like for you to be in my bed tonight.”

“What about the Novai? Don’t I have to stay there until the Elders decide they can be trusted?”

He looked at me seriously, then. “Celine, first and foremost, you will be no better protected than when you are living with me.” The intense rasp in his voice made me shudder with lust, and the protectiveness emanating from him made my heart swoon. “Second, the Elders have already made their decision. The Novai are permitted to send one ship, and one ship only, of colonists on a trial basis. I thought I told you this.”

“You did, but I thought that meant that the Elders still didn’t trust them,” I said uncertainly.

“The Elders do not trust the Novai,” he affirmed. “But the Council feels the A’li-uud made grievous errors in judgment last year, as well as failed to uphold the moral standards of our race. They wish to right their wrongs. Allying with humans has been a step in that direction, but they feel they must be open to all outsiders if they are to truly embrace the values of the A’li-uud.”

“That sounds a little like wishful thinking to me,” I told him musingly.

Lokos chuckled. “Perhaps, but our history as a race has always been one of acceptance and good intentions. The Council is trying to get that back.”

A smile spread across my lips, and I wriggled on top of him as I exclaimed, “So I get to move in with you today!”

“Yes, you do.” He returned my smile with a dangerous one of his own, and I felt heat flash in my nether region. “And I will have you all to myself.” His hot, hungry lips found mine once more, and he whispered, “You belong to me, little human.”