Chapter 35
He carried me out of the palace so quickly that I barely had time to register what was happening. It was odd, the freaking Emperor carrying me, but at the same time, the Emperor of an entire alien species was acting as my own personal beast of burden.
Dozens of guards fell in behind us, surrounding us on either side like a box made of alien cat elf warriors.
We went outside and walked up to a large vehicle that was parked close to the palace on the lawn, the size of four full-size buses stuck together in a large clump.
There were several other vehicles nearby.
They looked more like spaceships than cars, with rounded, sleek edges.
Wait a minute – what if they really were spaceships?
It would make sense that the Emperor would be able to park his ride right next to the palace. I wasn’t ready to leave. I hadn’t said goodbye yet.
I hadn’t said goodbye to Zale.
There was a crushing feeling in my chest as I thought about him. I had meant to not feel anything. He was supposed to be an easy way to scratch an inch and work through my needs, but he turned into something more. The thought of not saying goodbye hurt more than I thought it would.
He had made it clear that I meant something to him.
Then he made it clear I meant nothing at all.
He freaking gave me up to another alien like I was a present.
But I was getting a spaceship.
The cutthroat in me was pleased, but the romantic, stupid side of me that didn’t want to let go of the man who gifted me with severed heads as a present hurt more than I knew how to process. But that was okay.
The romantic side of me never got me anything but trouble anyway.
Severed heads were a serious red-flag gift anyway.
My reaction to them was even more so.
I had to put myself first.
Especially given the circumstances.
Even so, I should at least tell him rather than let him know secondhand that it was well and truly over.
He probably already knew, but I wanted to see his face.
I wanted to know for certain that he felt nothing for me, that when he was trying to talk to me on the horned alien’s ship, it was to tell me that we couldn’t be a thing because the Emperor had the hots for my dance video.
I squirmed in the Emperor’s grasp, but he didn’t put me down. I couldn’t work with the translator. It was wedged underneath me.
He carried me right up the ramp onto one of the bus ships.
Inside, I saw long rows of bench seating surrounding the full edge of the vessel, and I relaxed. There was no way we could leave an atmosphere with that kind of seating - the gravitational forces would not work. Anyone who had ever been on a real roller coaster would know that.
He carried me past the seating through a door that led to what I was guessed was the cockpit.
Then he set me down.
I whipped out the translator.
“I need to say goodbye to someone,” I said.