Read Desired By The Alien for Free Online

transport reached the city that Vivienne began to worry about where she was going. While it was impossible to judge the city’s size from a distance, when she was riding along the streets of it and watching buildings and people pass by, it looked enormous.
     
    Towering skyscrapers made of metal and crystal and spikes, and squat little one-story buildings made of stone, and everything in between. They passed by in a blur, mixed with men of every shape and size.
     
    At last, the transport slowed to a stop, and Vivienne hopped off of the back and ran before she could be spotted.
     
    She was away from Que. That was good. Less good was that she didn’t know her way around the city, she didn’t know how to get out of the city if things took a turn for the worst, she had no money or whatever the inari happened to use as currency, she had no food, she had no water, and as she slunk down the sidewalk with her arms folded defensively over her chest she was being eyed like a trespasser or a meal in shifts.
     
    Vivienne was in over her head. No matter where she went, she was in over her head.
     
    She kept her head low and kept to the shadows as much as she could, trying to stay invisible. If she could just keep to herself and make her way out of the city eventually, she would have to be able to find a stream or a lake or something, and no matter how weird the animals were, she imagined they would still die if she stabbed them hard enough with a sharp stick or if she hit them hard enough over the head with a rock.
     
    She could do that. She could fend for herself. If she was going to be stuck here, maybe she could at least manage to do it on her own terms.
     
    “Hey!”
     
    The unfamiliar voice jerked Vivienne out of her thoughts, and her head whipped up to stare at the man.
     
    Like every one of the inari seemed to be, he was strong, well-muscled, and attractive, though he was much paler than Que, he was a redhead rather than a blond, and he had more of a boyish look to his face.
     
    He watched Vivienne expectantly and asked, “You need any help?”
     
    Slowly, cautiously, Vivienne shook her head.
     
    His brows rose and he held his hands up, as if to demonstrate that he was unarmed. Not that it meant much, considering he still looked like he could punch his way through a cement wall without much effort.
     
    “I come in peace,” he said.
     
    “You sure you don’t need anything?”
     
    Vivienne paused and hugged her arms closer to herself. “Water?” she asked.
     
    “If you have any.”
     
    “I don’t,” he replied, his hands still raised in a silent ‘I won’t touch you.’
     
    “But I can get you some if you come with me.” He let his hands drop and gestured for her to follow him.
     
    “I’m Hel. There’s a shop just down this way.” He nodded towards Vivienne’s left. He took a step back, away from her, turned, and started walking.
     
    Vivienne paused for a few seconds, and then followed him. If he was willing to offer her help, she would take it.
     
    “What are you even doing here?” Hel asked, as he handed Vivienne a flask of water.
     
    “You’re supposed to be at Fort Mallimae.”
     
    Vivienne drank slowly from the bottle for a few moments before she replied. Rather than answer his question, she asked, “You know who I am?”
     
    He snorted.
     
    “Uh, yeah? Everyone on Treinire knows who you are. Your arrival was sort of a big deal.”
     
    Vivienne groaned and hid her face behind one hand. “Just perfect.”
     
    Peering at him from between her fingers, she said, “Look, I’m grateful for the water and I don’t want to trouble you, but could you get me out of the city? If I can just disappear into the woods, I can take care of myself.”
     
    Hel thought it over for a moment before he nodded.
     
    “Alright. Follow me.”
     
    They walked in silence for almost a full half hour before Vivienne finally asked, “So why are you helping me?”
     
    Hel shrugged and answered,