Jace Strickland’s POV

  The meeting room inside the facility was dimly lit, the hum of fluorescent lights overhead blending with the quiet rustle of papers and the occasional scrape of a chair. The tension in the room was palpable, thick like the Florida humidity that awaited us outside. Commander Hail stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, his expression carved from stone.

  “We need to approach this carefully,” Hail began, his sharp gaze sweeping across those gathered. Beside me, Henry leaned forward, his fingers interlaced as he listened. Across from us, a handful of government officials sat rigid in their seats, their skepticism clear in the tight set of their jaws.

  “So, we just let these aliens take us on a tour of their mysterious island?” one of the officials, a man from Homeland Security, scoffed. “Do I need to remind everyone that they appeared out of nowhere, and we still don’t know what they want?”

  “Which is exactly why we need to see the island for ourselves,” I countered. “We’ve interrogated them, observed them, but we’re still in the dark. If they wanted to attack, they would have done it already.”

  Hail nodded. “Strickland’s right. We’re going in to assess the situation firsthand. That means minimal personnel—myself, Strickland, and Meyer. We keep it controlled. No unnecessary risks.”

  “And if it turns out to be a trap?” another official pressed. “You’re walking right into the heart of their stronghold.”

  “That’s why we’ll have a backup team on the boat just off the coast,” Hail replied evenly. “Armed and ready to storm in at the first sign of trouble. If we go dark, they move in.”

  There was a beat of silence before someone exhaled sharply. “This is insane,” the Homeland Security rep muttered, rubbing his temple. “But fine. We need answers.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Hail said. “We leave in one hour. Strickland, Meyer, gear up. We don’t know what we’re walking into.”

  The engine hummed beneath my feet, vibrating through the deck as the boat cut through the waves. The ocean stretched out around us, endless and unbroken, the deep blue darkened beneath the thickening clouds overhead. The scent of salt filled the air, mingling with the damp wood of the deck. The rhythmic rise and fall of the boat beneath me was steady but unpredictable, like the situation we were stepping into.

  Hail stood near the bow, his hands gripping the railing as he stared out toward the horizon. Beside him, Henry adjusted the strap of his sidearm, his gaze flicking between the approaching island and the armed men on the deck behind us.

  “How are you feeling about this?” I asked him, shifting my stance as the boat rocked slightly.

  “Like we’re walking into the unknown,” Henry admitted. “I don’t like that we still have no idea what their true capabilities are.”

  I nodded, understanding the unease. “Yeah. But something tells me they’re not the ones we should be afraid of.”

  Henry shot me a questioning look, but before he could respond, Hail spoke. “Land in sight.”

  I turned my attention forward, and there it was—Saliscana Island.

  It looked almost normal. A strip of golden beach met the rolling tide, lush greenery stretching beyond it into dense forest. But as we drew closer, the normalcy faltered. The architecture rising beyond the trees was unlike anything I had seen before—sleek structures with seamless designs, glowing veins of energy running through their surfaces like bioluminescent roots. It was both alien and impossibly elegant.

  Henry let out a low whistle. “Well, they weren’t lying about building fast.”

  “Stay sharp,” Hail murmured. “We don’t know what we’ll find beyond that shoreline.”

  The boat slowed as we approached the dock, and from the trees, figures emerged. Eova. Dressed in their respective colors, they stood with the same eerie stillness I had seen back at the facility. Watching. Waiting.

  Thriexa’s POV

  The ocean sparkled under the sun, its surface shifting with the motion of the boat. The scent of salt lingered in the air, a crisp reminder of the world I was stepping into. I stood near the railing, my fingers resting lightly on the cool metal, feeling the vibration of the engine beneath me.

  I could sense Jace’s presence before he spoke. He was near, watching, though I wasn’t sure if he realized it yet.

  For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence was surprisingly comfortable.

  I turned my head slightly, catching a glimpse of him in my peripheral vision. He was focused on the island ahead, but his eyes flicked toward me, just for a second. The wind tugged at my hair, and I tucked a stray strand behind my ear. He noticed.

  “You’re quiet,” he finally said.

  I smiled slightly, the corner of my lips curving before I fully formed my response. “There is nothing to say. The moment speaks for itself.”

  He huffed a small breath, maybe amused. “You always this cryptic?”

  I tilted my head, considering. “Only when the situation calls for it.”

  He chuckled, low and brief, and something about the sound settled in my chest in a way I hadn’t expected. It was easy. Natural. For a moment, the tension of our circumstances faded, replaced by the rhythm of the waves and the quiet understanding between us.

  After a few moments, he shifted his stance, and I sensed the question forming in his mind before he even spoke it.

  “Why me?” he finally asked.

  I turned to him fully now, intrigued. “Why you?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “You had plenty of interrogators before me,” he said, his voice measured. “None of them got a word out of you. But the moment I walked in, you decided to talk. Why?”

  I studied him for a moment. “Because you weren’t like them.”

  He raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “And how exactly am I different?”

  I looked back toward the horizon, considering my words. “The others only wanted to break me down. They wanted confessions, facts, leverage. You…” I turned back to him, meeting his gaze. “You wanted to understand.”

  Something flickered behind his blue eyes—interest, maybe. A realization that he couldn’t quite place yet.

  “You think you can read me that easily?” he asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  “I don’t think,” I replied, my voice unwavering. “I know.”

  His smirk faded just slightly, enough for me to recognize the moment he realized I was serious. He exhaled, running a hand through his hair before shaking his head slightly.

  “You’re something else, Thriexa.”

  I smiled, tilting my head toward the sun as the island grew closer. “I’ve been told.”

  Jace Strickland POV

  The boat rocked slightly as I shifted my weight, my eyes still on the island. But my focus kept drifting.

  Thriexa stood beside me, her gaze fixed ahead, her expression unreadable. The wind caught strands of her violet hair, lifting them before settling them back against her face. There was something effortlessly composed about her, something I hadn’t encountered before.

  I’d interrogated trained spies, master manipulators, people who played mind games with every word they spoke. But she? She didn’t play games. There was a quiet control in the way she carried herself, a certainty that was neither arrogant nor forced.

  And I found myself admiring it.

  She turned slightly, her violet eyes meeting mine, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw something else—something lighter, something unspoken.

  But what unsettled me the most was how certain she was when she said she could read me. Like she knew things even I hadn’t fully put into words yet. I had spent years studying people, uncovering truths they wanted to hide. Now, for the first time, I felt like I was the one being read.

  And despite everything, I wasn’t sure if that unnerved me or reassured me.

  I still didn’t know if I could trust the Eova. But as my boots hit the dock and her eyes locked onto mine again, I realized something else. I could trust her.

  “Welcome to Saliscana,” she said.

  And just like that, the real negotiations began.

  The moment my boots hit the dock, I felt the weight of a hundred unseen eyes on us. The Eova stood waiting, their presence both welcoming and distant, their postures poised in a way that suggested quiet authority. The structures behind them, woven seamlessly into the landscape, looked less like buildings and more like the trees themselves had shaped into elegant, towering designs. It was unlike anything I’d seen before—alive, organic, and strangely harmonious with the jungle around it.

  From the group of Eova standing in formation, a woman in a flowing blue dress stepped forward. Her cobalt hair shimmered in the dappled sunlight, her gaze piercing yet calm. There was something different about her—not just the way she carried herself, but in the way the others seemed to instinctively shift their attention toward her.

  Thriexa spoke before I could. “This is Vorak Sculki,” she introduced. “One of our elders and the representative of the Jaret nation.”

  Henry shifted beside me. “Vorak?” he asked, brow furrowed. “That’s a title? What does it mean?”

  Thriexa turned toward him, her expression as composed as ever. “It is an honorific given only to those born on Aizilaha, our original homeworld. The Vorak have been to every planet the Eova have traveled to. They carry our history with them.”

  There was a moment of silence as we absorbed the weight of her words.

  “Every planet?” Henry repeated, his skepticism clear. “As in, all twenty-two of them?”

  “Yes,” Thriexa answered simply.

  I glanced toward Sculki, who met my gaze with unwavering certainty. There was no arrogance, no attempt to impress us—just a simple fact stated with the confidence of someone who had seen more than we could begin to imagine.

  Hail opened his mouth to ask another question, but Sculki lifted a single hand in a subtle yet unmistakable dismissal. “We can discuss the past later. For now, there are more pressing matters to attend to.”

  Her voice was firm, yet not unkind. Still, it was enough to make the agent clamp his mouth shut.

  I shifted my attention for a moment, glancing back toward the water. Just beyond the dock, the boat filled with armed humans remained in position, their presence a stark reminder that this was not a meeting built entirely on trust. Their weapons might have been lowered, but their purpose was clear—if anything went wrong, they were ready to storm the island in an instant.

  Xilta, who had remained a quiet observer up until now, took a step forward. “I must take my leave,” she said. “There is much to prepare. Vorak Sculki and my daughter will show you what you need to see.”

  I exchanged a brief glance with Thriexa as her mother turned away, her departure as effortless as her arrival. There was no uncertainty in her steps—only purpose.

  Thriexa exhaled softly and then turned to us. “We will begin with the home of the Aizih. The banquet will be held there tonight.”

  “Banquet?” Hail asked, arms crossed.

  “Yes,” Thriexa replied. “It is a tradition upon our arrival to a new world. A way of welcoming those who will be part of our future.”

  I caught the way her eyes flicked toward me at the last sentence, something unspoken in her gaze.

  “It is also where we will meet the Aizihs,” Sculki added. “Until then, let us continue.”

  I took one last glance at the shimmering structures rising ahead of us before following them forward, feeling the weight of something larger than any of us settling into place.

  As we moved deeper into the settlement, the true vibrancy of Eova life unfolded before us. The pathways weren’t paved like in human cities but instead appeared to be woven from the roots of the trees themselves, forming smooth, natural trails that pulsed faintly with energy. Clusters of homes and market stalls stood seamlessly integrated with the environment, their walls looking more like living extensions of the landscape than separate structures.

  The Eova we passed acknowledged Thriexa with soft nods, spoken greetings in their native tongue, and occasional smiles of quiet reverence. Some merely paused their work to watch her, their expressions filled with something I could only describe as relief.

  It didn’t take long for Henry to notice. “They’re treating her like… like she’s royalty,” he muttered under his breath.

  “She is,” I responded, keeping my voice low. “Or at least, something close to it. We knew she was important, but this? This is more than just diplomacy.”

  Thriexa remained unaffected by the attention, her expression unreadable as she greeted those who acknowledged her. She carried herself with a quiet grace, neither haughty nor dismissive, as though this was simply the way things had always been.

  Nearby, Eova moved through their daily routines. Vendors lined a small marketplace, offering unfamiliar fruits and luminescent crystals that pulsed softly with energy. A group of children—at least, I assumed they were children—darted between the trees, their laughter like soft echoes of wind chimes.

  “This place is incredible,” I murmured, taking in the effortless blend of technology and nature. “It’s like the trees themselves decided to shape a civilization.”

  “We do not force our world to conform to us,” Sculki said beside me, her voice calm. “We grow with it. It is a lesson learned over many lifetimes.”

  I was still trying to wrap my head around that when the largest structure in the settlement came into view. It towered above the others, its walls seamlessly blending with the massive ancient tree that stood at its core. Energy pulsed faintly from the trunk, illuminating the veins of the structure like the lifeblood of the settlement itself.

  “The home of the Aizihs,” Thriexa announced. “This is where we will hold the banquet, and where the decisions for our future will be made.”

  I exchanged a look with Henry, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.

  Thriexa wasn’t just an important figure among the Eova. She was at the heart of it all.