Page 132 of Riv's Sanctuary

Lauren stiffened.

That didn’t sound like a meeting with friends.

It didn’t at all.

Peeking as far as she could without being seen, she could only make out a long reptilian tail and her heart stopped beating for a second.

It was one of those guards—the alligator-looking ones. It had to be.

The same ones that had helped abduct her. The same ones that had been on the alien ship.

The same ones she’d seen at the market.

THE ONES THAT HAD KILLED THE CHILD.

Plastering herself against the wall and out of sight, she dared not even breathe lest they hear her.

“I don’t know what the phek a human is,” Riv said, his voice cool.

“It is a female. Pale skinned. Light colored hair,” one of the guards said.

“If something like that was hiding among my animals, I think I’d see it.” Riv quipped.

Lauren bit her lip as she listened, her palms closing into nervous fists.

“Looks like your species,” another guard spat. “Not one of your useless animals.”

Riv released a mirthless laugh. “Do you see how lonely it is out here? If I had a female like that,” he stressed the next words, “I’d tell her to hide away and don’t come out.”

That was a message for her to stay out of sight.

She was sure of it.

Well, message received.

She wasn’t a fool who wanted to die.

She hadn’t been planning on making her presence known, anyway.

One of the guards piped up, “The merssi with no tail having a woman?” The guard guffawed. “Humorous.”

Lauren tensed.

These guards were real douchebags in every sense of the word.

However Riv had lost his tail, it must have been traumatic for him.

To be making fun of Riv because of something he had no control over, something he could never change…they were real dicks.

The other’s joined in the laughter and she wished she could see Riv’s face.

He didn’t reply to their jeering.

“Looks like we chose the wrong farm,” one of the guards said. “There’s another closeby, we should search it.”

“If we find you have somehow hidden the human from us, merssi, you will face the wrath of Ambassador Klupengi,” said another.

“If you come willingly with information, the Ambassador will be quite generous.”