Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 by Victoria Aveline (books to read for teens TXT) 📕

Lily scanned the room around her, unseeing. “What?” she yelled.

“I’d better start at the beginning. There is a law on this planet,” Verakko began.

She tried to listen past the ringing in her ears.

“I didn’t mention the law when we met because I didn’t want to alarm you,” he added quickly, leading her through the gently curving room to a lone door identical to the one they’d emerged from. “The city that comes across a Class 4 being is the one obligated to take care of them and integrate them into society as they see fit. Many cities have decided they’ll force their new human citizens to marry, the same way they do with their Clecanian citizens.”

Lily tried and failed to form words until she finally latched on to something he’d said in the desert. “You told me Tremanta was giving more rights to humans than other cities. Is this what you meant?”

He nodded.

“But you were leading me here long before that. You knew this would happen? That I’d be forced to get married?”

Verakko urged her forward again, darting nervous glances over his shoulder. “I didn’t know for sure that that would be my mother’s decision, but I suspected.”

Lily shrugged off his hand. “So you decided that instead of explaining things to me, you’d take the chance of me possibly being forced into a marriage by your people?”

“Well…” The guilty look on Verakko’s face told her everything she needed to know.

“This is my life. How dare you decide something like that for me!”

Verakko’s hand shot out to grip her wrist. “But it doesn’t matter anymore because you’re my mate.”

“Let me go,” Lily grated.

When he only stared at her, she lifted her palm to her face, twisting his wrist, then snatched his wrist with her free hand and wrenched it away. Verakko stepped back and circled his wrist, breathing deeply. Lily stomped toward the closed door and waited with crossed arms.

Verakko followed, removing the small square from his pocket again and planting it on the metal doors.

“You only just learned I’m your mate! You were leading me to this city before your eyes changed. You were going to bring me here, knowing I’d likely be forced into marriage. Even after I told you specifically that I didn’t want to get married on this planet.” Her nostrils flared at the heady scent of cedar wafting from him. “And on top of all that, you were engaged! So you brought me here, thinking I’d be forced into marriage and knowing it would be to some other man! How could you keep that from me?”

“If I had told you, you would’ve never come with me. I tried to get you to go back to Tremanta that first day, and you refused.”

“You tried,” she scoffed. “Did you try by telling me that if I went to any other city but Tremanta, my freedom would be taken away and I’d be forced to marry some stranger? Or did you try by simply demanding we go to Tremanta? A city that was an unknown distance away in the opposite direction from Alex?” She placed her hands on her hips and studied his bunched shoulders.

“Would you have gone the other way and abandoned Alex if I had explained it all to you?” he shot back.

Lily ground her jaw, knowing he was right. She would’ve continued down that river either way.

Verakko leaned down until they were at eye level. “Exactly my point.” He returned to his screen and started typing into it again. “What was I supposed to do? Allow you to live in the forest until you eventually died? How much longer do you think you could’ve survived out there?”

Lily reared back. “That’s not the point. You took away my choices. If you had explained this right from the beginning, I might’ve decided to return to Tremanta with you. Or maybe I would’ve stayed in the forest. It doesn’t matter. Even if every option presented to me was shitty, I had the right to make my own shitty decisions!”

The door whizzed open, and another platform stood waiting. Lily stepped onto it, too focused on Verakko’s tight expression to worry about the sudden jolt of upward motion.

“You’re right. I should’ve told you about everything. At the time, my reasoning all made sense. I was just trying to keep you safe.”

Lily’s argument died in her throat as emotion swelled. She’d trusted Verakko more than she’d ever trusted anyone. She understood why he’d lied about the laws of his city. Even if she didn’t agree, she understood that he’d been attempting to keep her safe. Frustrated tears blurred her vision, but she continued to blink them away. She didn’t feel safe. She felt exposed and vulnerable and powerless. And the person she thought she could count on to navigate this terrifying new world had kept so much from her. Was her life even her own anymore? Or would these aliens decide everything for her?

The platform stopped again, but the doors didn’t immediately open like before. Verakko peered down at his screen, which was displaying an opulently decorated hallway occupied by a thin, bright-blue man and child. They walked slowly, chatting about something she couldn’t hear.

When they’d disappeared from view, Verakko covered his lips, miming for her to remain silent. He opened the doors and guided her out. The hallway, like the odd warehouse level, was curved, and circled an incredible sight. A tower of water pouring through the center of the building, just as Verakko had described, visible through a wall of glass.

They reached one of the few doors on their left, and Verakko released her, planting his hand on the surface. Whirring and buzzing sounded, and the door swung open.

As they entered the dark space, small floating balls of light