Page 76 of Riv's Sanctuary

The entire way, she’d been repeating something to herself. Over and over she’d said it till her shoulders stiffened and her chin lifted a bit—a motivational talk of sorts, he assumed, for she refused to meet his gaze, only focusing on the way ahead as she repeated the line minute after minute.

To think that not long from now he wouldn’t be hearing her voice anymore and those large brown eyes would no longer turn on him.

A strange feeling settled in the pit of his belly, almost as if a part of him didn’t want her to leave.

Ludicrous.

The only being who would be missing her would probably be Grot—the traitorous tevsi. He’d never look at Grot the same again. Falling so easily for a female.

Glancing at the tevsi now, his eyes met Grot’s four. Grot had insisted on tagging along, as if he knew the female was leaving—as if he didn’t want to see her go.

Well…too bad.

Exiting the hover craft, they walked through the gates of the exchange and Riv paused to adjust to the cacophony inside.

Grot let out a low boom on the other side of the female.

He supposed the tevsi was suddenly remembering his hatred of beings.

Good.

As soon as the female left, that meant things would go right back to normal.

The marketplace was already bustling with beings and the situation immediately made an unpleasant taste develop in his mouth.

It reminded him of the exchange he'd been in as a chid.

This one was different, though.

Cleaner.

It was overseen by the Interplanetary Union so that meant most beings obeyed the laws when it came to buying and selling.

There wasn't any smuggling...at least, not out in the open.

It was the best chance for the human in terms of finding a new home.

Walking beside her, Riv couldn't keep his gaze from falling to her constantly.

Most of the aliens walking through the exchange were bigger than she was. She could easily get lost, separated from him in the throng, and the thought made him close a hand lightly around her arm.

He was surprised she didn't shake him off but it seemed she was more concerned with taking in the sights of the exchange instead.

There was a stiffness in her shoulders as her gaze moved over the many beings shopping in the exchange and the stalls upon stalls on either side of the paved street.

There were beings selling all sorts of things. Whatever was needed, it could probably be found at the exchange.

There were Treggonians selling their urine, which was known for its healing properties, Movadrians selling fashionable garments made from materials only found on their home planet, a Lothrian selling klo ears, several sellers of woogli smoke, a Huvrarian selling pulse drives, and many other stalls.

There wasn’t much space to walk except for weaving their way through the constant push-pull of the shoppers.

Grot took to walking directly behind them for easier passage.

As there were so many beings in the street, he reckoned there’d be even more at the central trading station. He shouldn’t have a problem finding the female a new place to stay. She'd have a choice of who to go with, of course; he was only there to make sure she didn't end up in the hands of some being that would harm her. Most of all, he was also there to ensure she didn't return to his Sanctuary.

That was the priority.

Glancing behind to check on Grot, Riv’s gaze landed on a merkannian not far behind them. The gold-skinned male had his gaze fixed on the human by his side and it caused Riv to frown a little behind his eye-shades. It was a focused gaze.