Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 by Victoria Aveline (readict books TXT) 📕

night. After Daisy and Rita drifted to sleep in a mountain of pillows and blankets, Alice took the opportunity to talk to Vanessa.

“What happened today? Do you want to talk about it?” Alice whispered.

Vanessa let out a sigh and turned toward her more fully, tucking her legs under her on the couch. “I just… I need to get back to her, Alice.” Her smile faded. “I’ve been talking to anybody who’ll listen, trying to get them to tell me how I can find a ship to take me home, but no one will do it. Today, I thought I had a good lead. Lucy said one of the guards knew someone, but it turned out the ship he had in mind had already left. It’s just not fair. Most of the non-human women that Jade helped rescue got to go home months ago! Just because some of our planets are Class 4 that means we can’t? It’s not right.”

“Are you and your sister really close?” The pain she saw in Vanessa’s eyes was heartbreaking.

She chuckled sadly. “No. We can’t stand each other. She’s so uptight, and she’s always complaining about how I can’t just settle and find a good job. We don’t even see each other that much, but…she’s my sister. She’s a part of me.” Her eyes grew watery. Alice reached out to squeeze her hand in silent support. “I said some really terrible things to her before we were taken. I can’t stop thinking about it. I know her—she’ll ruin her life trying to find out what happened to me, and I won’t be able to live with myself if I stopped trying to get back to her.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Alice said softly, not knowing how but knowing she’d do everything in her power to make it so.

“Anyway.” Vanessa sniffed. “After the guard told me the ship was gone, I lost it.” She smiled over at the two quietly snoring women. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.” She looked back at Alice. “Without all of you.”

Alice leaned forward, wrapping her in a tight hug. Eventually Vanessa relaxed, and before long, she drifted to sleep as well.

Trying her best not to wake the women, she placed glasses of water on the table in front of them, then tiptoed to the door and left. How could she help Vanessa? Every Clecanian she’d met so far had been adamant they weren’t allowed to return home. If they waited long enough, Alice reasoned, the Clecanians might decide to reveal themselves to Earth. Alice shook her head absently. Vanessa hadn’t gone into detail about what’d happened, but there seemed to be an unspoken urgency in her need to return home.

She meandered along the wooden platforms that connected the five houses in this section of the lake, lost in thought. As she turned onto the walkway that led to her house, she stopped short. Luka was sitting in front of her door, silently watching her.

It’d had been a long day full of emotional ups and downs, alcohol, and the sun. Alice was exhausted, and didn’t have the mental strength to deal with him right now. Not until she worked through her feelings some more.

She groaned. “What are you still doing here?”

Standing, he let his gaze roam over her before answering, “I left my pass inside.”

Ignoring the heat spreading through her at his hungry stare, she moved to open her door. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to give you space.” Rather than stepping out of the way to give her clear access, he hovered, crowding her with his large frame. Heat radiated off him, as did his intoxicating scent. Pine? No. Definitely earthy, though.

Well, he has been hiding out in the woods, Alice!

She kept her gaze trained on the door while unlocking it. Her skin tingled as if it could feel his eyes on her. The door finally swung open, and she reached in to retrieve the ball.

“Here,” she said, dropping it into his upturned hands unceremoniously.

Never taking his eyes off her, he murmured, “It’s been deactivated.”

“Of course it has,” she grumbled. Uncomfortable with how much she liked his warm gaze, Alice activated her hand clock, then scowled at the symbols.

“It’s twenty-four before humista,” he said, eyeing her with his hands behind his back. “May I come in and wait for a guard to come by? They should be making their rounds in about a half hour.”

No! Say no! her mind screamed.

“Fine.” Idiot.

He gave her a small smile and waited for her to enter before following. “I’d like to ask you for a favor,” he said, tucking the ball under his arm.

Making her way to the food synthesizer, she remained silent. What would he ask for now?

Weariness pulled at her. What won’t I give him?

A thump behind her made her jump. She wheeled around and saw the red pass he’d been holding was now on her small dining table, his hand resting atop it. She’d forgotten how fast he could move.

“What?”

He wet his full bottom lip with his tongue, then ran a hand through his messy hair.

Alice subdued the sigh that bubbled up in her. God, she wanted to kiss that lip again. “What favor?” Her words lacked the venom she was so desperately trying to inject them with.

As it turned out, not being a pushover was hard work, and Alice was tired. Tired of fighting against her instincts. Her mother had always told her she couldn’t stand people who “buried the hatchet.” Alice was one of those people. She didn’t like dwelling on arguments or holding grudges.

On the one hand, this had resulted in people treating her badly, knowing she’d forgive and forget by the next day. On the other, she found she was able to get back to “happy” much more quickly than other