The Arrival: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Paranormal Romance by Ashley West Page A

Sorrin had seen plenty of fights end because one party was better at intimidating the other with the sheer amount of confident bravado they exuded. Some of it was warranted, and, as always, some of it was not. Sorrin was hoping that his confidence would be enough to keep his human companion from getting too concerned about their safety. Now that he had agreed to get her out, he meant to do just that.
    Speaking of, he couldn’t continue to think of her as ‘that human woman’ because it was inconvenient, mostly. If they were going to escape together, and Sorrin was going to let her help, then they were going to have to be on a first name basis. Or at least a name basis.
    “What are you called?” he asked her as he opened the door to the room they had been held prisoner in and peered out. No guards. Curious.
    “Abigail,” she replied softly. “Abby.”
    “Abby,” Sorrin repeated. Odd name. “I am Sorrin.”
    “Sorrin. It’s nice to meet you.”
    “Mm.” They didn’t really have time for more pleasantries than that, and so they kept moving. It was curious and a bit concerning that there were no guards down the hall they were walking through. Nor were there any at the stairwell that led them to the lower floor of the building they were in.
    In fact, they made it all the way outside without running into a single guard, and Sorrin found that perplexing.
    His instincts told him that something wasn’t right. It was never this easy to break out of a place, and it should never have been this easy to get past the Camadors.
    More than likely there was going to be some kind of trap waiting for them, the same way there had been a contingent of Camador guards waiting for him when he climbed the ladder up.
    Going back down the ladder wasn't an option, so they were just going to have to try to get as low as they could and then jump for it. He decided to wait until it was clear that there was no other option before he mentioned it to Abby.
    In the end, there was no trap. There was jumping, but Sorrin wrapped Abby up in his arms and managed to get them on top of a relatively flat roofed building just under the floating city. He was a bit bruised from the landing, hitting his shoulder hard, but Abby seemed to be fine, and more importantly, they were free.
    It was easy work to make their way down and out of the building, and Abby looked somewhat overwhelmed to be standing on the ground again. She looked around her with wide eyes, taking in the sights, and Sorrin wondered how long it had been since she'd been captured.
    Something to ask her later, perhaps. For now, they needed to move before the Camadors snapped out of whatever strange complacency they were in and decided to come after them.
    "Is there somewhere we can go?" Sorrin asked. They could head back to his ship, he supposed, but that would be the first place anyone would look for them. It was better to try and blend in. To be as inconspicuous as possible until they had a plan.
    Abby nodded. "Yeah. At least...I think so. I have an apartment, but it's been a while, so..." She shrugged, but there was real sadness in her face.
    Sorrin understood.
    "Can you take me there?" he asked.
    Abby nodded again. "Follow me."
    They made their way through the streets, and Sorrin noticed it was less crowded here than it had been where he'd landed. People were scarce, and he supposed that made sense, considering. If he'd been human, the last thing he'd want to do is continue to live under the floating city.
    Buildings were abandoned, the people they did see looked frightened and jumpy, and Abby moved through it all with wide eyes, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
    "Is it very different?" Sorrin asked her when they had been walking for a while.
    She nodded again, apparently determined that they were leaving it at that.
    He wasn't going to press her to talk about it more if she didn't want to, and it seemed like she didn't want to. After being locked away for however long it had