Watered Down (Shattered Stars #24)

Running a food stall on an alien world is Cloudy's new normal. Things are going great until a group of guardians comes for lunch, and one wants to stay for more.

Cloudy and her entire village came through the end of the world with minimal fatalities. They were assigned as a group to a world run by the descendant of a Hmrain named Vecchin. Five hundred people were slowly trying to settle on their new world, and things were going fairly well.

Cloudy opted to change her pigment to make her look more like the locals. The gills she had installed were just for peace of mind, as her food stall was on a dock, and behind her was endless ocean.

Working with her business partner is profitable, and things have a reliable rhythm until the day the guardians arrive, and one of them begins to ask questions—a lot of questions.

Hazor is the grandson of the Hmrain who owns the world she lives on, and his uncle has recently had a very successful union with one of her people. Hazor is interested in seeing if lightning can strike twice, and he has chosen her as his target.