Chapter Eight
Lian felt sick to her stomach after hearing Nuar’s story. She could absolutely understand why he hated Sadirians. Kral probably hated them even more. But then why were they here on Earth?
She also understood why the Coalition wanted to be allies with Earthlings. They needed resources and new homes for their people when their battles didn’t go well—which seemed to be happening a disturbing amount of the time.
From what Lian had learned, Earth had nothing to offer the Cygnians in terms of resources they might need. There had to be something drawing them to her planet, though. She grew uneasy wondering what it might be.
“How are you guys doing over here?” Olivia appeared around one of the shelves a few seconds after speaking. She probably thought Lian and Nuar were making out again and wanted to warn them that she was coming.
“Well enough,” Nuar said, his smile somewhat strained.
Lian kept her response to a muted, “Fine.”
“That’s great,” Olivia said, stopping close to them. “I still have a lot of reshelving to do, and I’m sure you both have work in the greenhouse. You can leave the dogs with me.”
“Dogs?” Nuar’s face lit up. He looked all around him, almost as excited as he’d been when Lian mentioned kids.
Warmth blossomed in her chest as she remembered his expression. She needed to get this infatuation or whatever it was out of her system. If only she knew how.
“I don’t see any dogs.” The disappointment on Nuar’s face would have been heart-wrenching if he hadn’t been looking in the direction of Ed and Zorro.
“They’re right there,” Lian said, gesturing to the dogs.
“What, Ed and Zorro?” Nuar laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Those aren’t dogs.”
“Oh my god, could you be any more condescending?” Lian said.
“I didn’t mean to be,” he said.
“Well then, you must be a natural,” Lian snapped.
Olivia pulled her lips between her teeth and pinched them there. She let out a little snorting laugh through her nose, though.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Lian said.
At that, Olivia did burst out laughing. She leaned in and hugged Lian, earning a growl.
“Are you sure it’s safe to approach her at the moment?” Nuar asked.
“Of course it is,” Olivia said. “Lian only bites with her words.”
Lian glared at Olivia.
“And her glare.” Olivia stepped away from Lian and grasped Nuar’s elbow. “Come on, I have some books that might help.”
Why did she have to touch him to show him the books? She could just point.
Olivia looked back at Lian over her shoulder, one eyebrow arched.
Dammit, she was doing it to bait Lian. Well, the joke was on Olivia, because Lian wasn’t falling for it. She crossed her arms and followed them deeper into the kid’s section.
“Let’s see, I think this one will do.” Olivia pulled out a big picture book that had a motley group of dogs on the cover. She opened the book and started pointing at pictures. “These are all different types of dogs.”
“That’s impossible,” Nuar said. “They have so many different shapes and sizes and— Pickles!”
Lian did a double-take. What kind of a dog had pickles?
Nuar pointed at a picture of a Pomeranian and said, “This is Pickles! My Earth-friend Buddy has one of these. This is a dog.”
“So are all of these other breeds,” Olivia said.
“How did you create such diversity in their appearances?” he asked. “The level of genetic manipulation required is well beyond Earth’s technology.”
“We did it the old fashioned way,” Lian said. When he looked at her quizzically, she added, “Selective breeding over thousands and thousands of years.”
He looked from the book back to Ed and Zorro, who were splayed out on the cool floor, dissipating heat. Summer was not their best season.
“Incredible.” He gestured toward the book and said, “May I?”
“Sure.” Olivia handed it over.
“What is this?” he asked.
Lian scooted closer so she could see whatever was on the page. It was still the same picture of a Pomeranian.
“That breed is called a Pomeranian,” Lian said.
“But what is…” He lifted the book and looked underneath it, then lowered it and carefully angled it from side to side.
“What, you mean the book?” Lian asked.
“Book,” he repeated. “My translation session describes a book as a static source of data.”
“I suppose you could say that,” Olivia said. “I like to think of them as infinite possibilities.”
Nuar stared at her blankly.
“Here, let me show you.” She took the book from him and put it back on the shelf, then led him to a different section of the library.
Lian followed along. Because she was curious. Not because she felt some kind of weird pull toward Nuar, almost like they were connected somehow and—
Ugh, just stop.
“We have books for all ages and skill levels here.” Olivia took a book from the shelf and handed it to Nuar. “Just be careful not to tear the pages.”
He looked at her expectantly and she showed him how to open the book and turn the page. He took over, quickly leafing through it.
“Do you need a book with more pictures?” Lian said.
Olivia glared at her. “Hey.”
Nuar didn’t seem to mind. Then again, he might not have picked up on the jab.
“This is full of inaccuracies,” he said.
“There’s no way you can read that fast,” Lian said.
“I can.” He lifted the book for her to see. “But there is no way that faster than light travel could happen this way.”
“These books are fiction,” Olivia said.
“Fiction,” he said. “My language doesn’t have a corollary.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Lian said. “You don’t have stories on your world?”
“Of course we have stories,” he said. “That’s how we preserve our history. We use reprogrammable data crystals instead of books, though.”
Olivia broke out her ‘patiently explaining’ voice. “We have stories like that, too. We call them nonfiction or histories. But on Earth, we also enjoy making up stories. Thinking about things that could be, but aren’t.”
“What’s the point of that?” he asked.
“Fiction helps us escape reality,” Olivia said. “Or learn to handle it better—sometimes at the same time. We can experience things through other people’s perspectives. It helps us learn empathy.”
“There is no escaping from reality,” he said. “That’s what makes it…reality.”
“Please.” Lian rolled her eyes. “What do you guys do for fun?”
Without hesitating he said, “We practice our fighting skills and challenge each other to feats of prowess.”
“That explains a lot,” she said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
“Hey guys,” Olivia called from…somewhere across the library. When had she left? “I just remembered that I have a…thing. An errand I really need to run right now. You don’t mind watching the library for me, right? We open in about an hour and the dogs are napping. I’ll be back in time to open, but not before. Thanks!”
Lian didn’t even have a chance to reply before she heard the door close. She looked back at Nuar, blithely reading his book, then past him at the shelves surrounding them. Her cheeks suddenly started burning.
They were in the Sci-fi Romance section.
“Oh, I’m going to get her for this,” Lian said.
Nuar let out a laugh at something in the text. “This is completely unbelievable. Not even a Scorpiian could assume the form of the Der’Eghon, and Scorpiians are the greatest shapeshifters in the galaxy.”
“Yeah, we’ve all seen the Department of Homeworld Security PSA videos warning us about Dean, the Scorpiian that was hanging around Harbor a few months back, but—” She noticed that the book he was reading had a picture of a giant dragon on the cover, as well as a spaceship and a couple embracing. “Wait, there are alien dragons out there? Dragons are real?”
“Dragons,” he repeated, with the same thoughtful expression as when he’d said the other words that were new to him. “I suppose that’s a good enough transliteration of their name.”
“Space dragons,” Lian said.
Nuar shrugged. “There are sentients in the Pollux system in the constellation you call Gemini who have forms similar to these, but they can’t shapeshift. The mass variations alone…” He shook his head. “They also can’t leave their planet. Or rather, they choose not to. Can you imagine the size of ship they would need to house even a single Der’Eghon, let alone a crew?”
She liked dragon shifter romances. Olivia and Nancy were the ones into blue aliens. Then again, checking out Nuar’s physique as he turned back to his book, Lian could definitely see the appeal.
When he wasn’t putting his big blue foot in his mouth.
He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The T-shirt he was wearing was tucked in, so she had a magnificent view of his equally magnificent ass.
The sleeves weren’t actually big enough to fit his huge biceps properly. The fabric was stretched taut over them. Actually, now that she was looking closer, the T-shirt was stretched tight just about everywhere. So were his jeans.
She remembered that impressive bulge pressing against her, and heat detonated in her core. Not a gentle warmth. Not an uncoiling or whatever. A full-on nuclear blast.
She licked her lips, her mouth going dry. What was it about this guy?
As she watched, something along his spine moved beneath his shirt. She froze, mesmerized.
Slowly, the fabric rose as a row of short spines stood up in a line down the center of his back. She could tell they weren’t sharp—otherwise they would have torn right through the material. They weren’t pointy either. The shape looked more like a stegosaurus’s than a Vegan’s, from the straining fabric of his shirt.
His arms lowered a bit, his eyes glowing so bright, the page was bathed in red light. She looked over to see what he was reading.
Oh shit.
It was one of those scenes.