Page 90 of I Punched an Alien and Now We’re in Couples Therapy

I took her wrist and kissed her palm. “Could you truly be at peace knowing your enemies still lived?”

“Of course I wouldn’t,” she said, slapping my chest. She pushed away from me and headed back to her hovercraft. “Let’s go, darling, we have things to do.”

Chapter 34

Blair

It was incredible how easy life on a strange alien planet got once you had access to a hovercraft. The legroom was nothing to write home about, but the level of Big Dick Energy it gives you?

Orgasmic.

The Biwban were never getting this craft back. It only took us an hour to reach Osid’s city. The battered walls looked even more trashed than they were before. Angry stampeding dinosaurs spanned the area around it as far as the eye could see. Each lookout point along the wall was manned to the teeth with exhausted warriors shooting fire down below, keeping as many dinosaurs as they could from smashing against the gate.

King Iltith’s banners hung where Osid’s used to be.

That bastard Jivorn had been so sure we’d lose.

I set the ship down hard in the courtyard, the thrusters kicking up dust. Before the door even finished opening, the ship was swarmed with warriors, weapons raised. When Osid stood in the back seat, recognition caused them to stumble back, shocked.

The man I’d recognized as Kuzuu stepped forward, face pale. “Your Majesty?” His face furrowed as he blinked, like Osid was a figment of his imagination. “He said you were dead.”

Whispers erupted like wildfire. Most of them still hadn’t gotten the translator kiss yet, and I was left in the dark as to what they were saying. Osid’s gaze swept over the battered faces of his people as he listened intently. Some looked relieved. Others—too still. Too quiet.

The plan was simple; kill Jivorn and announce the alliance with King Lokbaatar before moving Dulba out of this migration infested hellscape for good. But I had no idea what kind of environment we were walking into. Anxiety bloomed when I wondered who else could have been working with the traitor, but no one stepped forward to run us through as Osid climbed out of the craft.

He turned back and offered his hand with a smile. I took it and let him lift me out of the tight seat.

We’re fine. He’s got this—at least he thinks he does.

Still, my fingers itched for the pistol I’d lost. I didn’t doubt Osid knew what he was doing, but to go through all that we did just to lose him in a fight now had my stomach in knots.

One of the older warriors broke from the ranks, falling to his knees. “Your Majesty, Lord Jivorn has been locking up dissenters. He said you were murdered by the Biwban after you were captured, that the crown fell to him by right.”

Osid’s jaw tightened. “Where is he now?”

“The main hall.”

With a nod, Osid moved past him. “Release everyone from the prison at once. When you’re done, rally every able-bodied man and begin packing up the fort.”

Confusion passed through the crowd. Kuzuu’s eyes flashed. “Did you find Blair’s people?”

Osid smirked, slinging an arm over my shoulders. “We did. Now move. It’s rude to keep women waiting.”

We walked up to the double doors, and Osid strode through them like the king he was. As soon as the doors pushed open, there was a yell.

“I swear, I did exactly as you ordered!”

A man’s voice rang out as Osid and I stepped into the hall. Something akin to a trial played out in front of us: a man bowed, broken and beaten, in front of Osid’s throne, where Jivorn sat with a goblet in his hand. A long-haired female Sankado sobbed over the man on the ground. Shock had me staring at her in awe. I had thought all the female Sankado had died off. I’d been dragged through hell and high water all over this planet, yet I’d never seen any women who weren’t human.

The usurper had two stone-faced guards standing next to him, who watched the plight of the couple with cold indifference. She squeezed her lover tighter, and Jivorn’s knuckles went white around the cup.

“This man is on trial for defying a direct order. Release him, Nokitali.”

“I won’t!” she screamed. “I will not let you send him back out there on another one of these suicide missions. You’ll kill him!”

“I imagine that’s the point,” Osid said, making his presence known. All eyes flew to us, and the woman scrambled to throw herself at Osid’s mercy. “Your Majesty,” she sobbed. “Thank the gods you’re alive, Constable Jivorn told us you were dead. Please, please, tell him my Zhali is a loyal Dulba.”

Jivorn had risen, his face a master class in masks. He set his goblet down with a practiced clink. “King Osid! By the stars, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Thornward has been in such chaos since your…absence.” He bobbed a bow, not low enough to show subservience, but just sufficient to telegraph his own safety. “How fortunate, your return at this exact moment. We have struggled to maintain order—especially in the midst of the Rumbling.”