Enticed by the Alien Warrior by Hope Hart (spiritual books to read .TXT) 📕

won, of course. Who cares about the prize; think about your reputation.”

I roll my eyes. My cousin is the most competitive person I’ve ever met. No one would play board games with her when we were kids, and she still has the uncanny ability to turn almost anything into a competition.

Sarissa is practically vibrating beside me. “Look, I’d do it, but my aim is crap compared to yours. Besides,” she says, lowering her voice, “this is a good way to get to know the locals. Locals who may be able to help us in the future, you know what I mean?”

I sigh. Trust Sarissa to be thinking three steps ahead.

“Fine.”

The purple man misses the target completely, his cheeks darkening as the crowd jeers. He stomps off, not looking back, and I step into the line behind a blue guy with thick horns sticking up from his head.

He hits the very edge of the target, hands over some credits for another shot, and then misses.

My turn.

“Come on, cuz. Don’t let me down.”

I give her a look, but she’s already scanning the crowd. I have no idea what her endgame is. Perhaps it really is about us winning something in front of all these people.

“Tiny female.” A male snorts behind us. “No chance.”

I ignore him, but next to me, Sarissa glances over her shoulder.

“Opinions are like assholes,” she says. “Everyone has one, but they’re mostly full of shit.”

He frowns as he ponders that, and I heft the small bag into my hand. The other guy was right. It is weighted. I shrug, haul my arm back, and throw.

It hits a hair’s breadth from the target, and the crowd gasps. Sarissa shrugs. “A few first-time nerves,” she says, handing over more credits.

She slaps me on the shoulder. “Don’t let me down.”

I can’t help but laugh. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah. Hit the bull’s-eye or you’re walking home.”

I roll my eyes but pick up another bag. Now I’m feeling the thrill of competition myself. And I’m having…fun. How long has it been since I did something just for the fun of it?

I let the bag fly, and a grin spreads across my face before I can stop it, satisfaction burning deep in my belly as I hit the center of the target.

Sarissa whoops and throws her arms around me. “I’m so glad your superpower came through and I don’t have to disown you. Let’s see what we won.”

“We?”

“I’m your support system. Without a coach, a competitor is nothing.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Weirdly, Sarissa is right. People who had previously ignored us approach to congratulate me, and Sarissa jokes with them, compliments them, and makes contacts left and right.

I grin as she’s suddenly deep in conversation with a Braxian male.

“Oh, your sister is a metalsmith? We’ve got someone working on our thruster, but if it doesn’t work out, maybe she could help us.”

I keep quiet as the vendor hands me my prize, a smile on her face. “I will need to make this more difficult for you next time, hmm?”

I grin, glancing at Sarissa, who is currently elbowing a guy so large he’s practically a giant. She jokingly challenges him to a wrestling match, and he throws his head back, his laugh booming over the crowd.

It’s then I see the commander, standing on the outskirts of the crowd, staring at my cousin, his face blank. He turns his attention to me, and I give him a tiny wave.

Why is he following us?

The crowd begins to thin as Sarissa sidles up to me. “That guy said his sister is dating a Zinta,” she murmurs as we wander away from the kradi. “I wonder how much the Zinta talks about their plans.”

I raise one eyebrow. “And you say you’re not a spy.”

She simply smiles.

I nod toward the spot where the commander was standing. “Korzyn followed us. I saw him a few minutes ago, although he disappeared when you finished charming the crowd.”

Her smile drops. “That mothertrucker. He’s cruising for a bruising, he is.”

We head toward the woman who ordered the replacement part for our thruster. She shakes her head at us as we arrive, and I sigh. It was too much to expect that her contact could have arrived already. All we can do is keep checking in and hope he makes his way to this part of the galaxy soon.

After a night with such little sleep, I’m tired, so I persuade Sarissa to come back to the castle with me. She gives in surprisingly easily, and I eye her as we get back in the hydro.

“I would’ve thought you’d want to stay for longer.”

“I do, but not if that grim-faced commander is spying on us. Next time, we’ll lose him first.”

“Uh-huh.”

She tilts her head, gesturing behind us, where the guards Arix assigned us are in their own hydro. “Those guys are bad enough, and you know they’re reporting to Korzyn anyway. So that makes me wonder just why Korzyn is paranoid enough to want to follow us himself. And when I start wondering things like that, I have what some would call a desperate need to get answers. Let’s see how the commander feels when the shoe is on my foot.”

I sigh. “This is definitely going to bite us in the ass,” I mumble.

We settle in for the ride, and I watch the Braxians going about their day as we travel down the river. A flower vendor sells her wares on a corner, handing a small blue flower to an old man, who grins at her as he passes by. A noblewoman stalks down the street, dressed to the nines and flanked by guards. Three boys race each other through an alley, their mother calling after them.

I’m so entranced that Sarissa has to nudge me when we arrive, gesturing for me to get out of the hydro.

“I’m going to go explore,” she says.

“Have fun. I’m going to take a nap.”

But I don’t head straight up to my rooms. Instead, I make my way to the throne room and peek