She handed him a bottle of water.
“You’ve been out for three days. I was getting concerned, but Uncle Nicolas kept saying you were ok, nothing to worry about. Neither of your parents seemed upset so I just waited.”
“Three days? What happened to twenty-four hours?”
She shrugged, “Darned if I know.”
He pushed himself up in bed. “I remember seeing Dante while I was out.”
“Really? How could that happen?”
He gave her a teasing smile and shrugged his shoulders, “Darned if I know.”
“I see you’re feeling better.”
“I could be feeling a lot better.” He flashed her a little boy smile.
She sighed loving this playful side of him. Her heart clutched with the years of longing she suffered through, dreaming of a day like this when he would playfully let her know how much he wanted her. Stupid heart, she chided herself as the beat of it picked up and her cheeks flushed. She was aware that a possible one-night stand was different than forever.
“You need to get up and let your family know you’re ok.”
He groaned. “I need to get up and face my father instead of trying to hide in this room forever. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Something like that.”
“I need a shower first and the change of clothes I see over there on the dresser then I’ll be down. Will you let them know I’m awake?”
“Sure thing. Glad you’re back with us, Alexei.”
She stood and went to the door where she stopped to lean on it. Her mind whirled around in confusion. She opened and closed her mouth cutting off the words that threatened to tumble out. Heaving a huge sigh, she opened the door and disappeared.
“How’s Alexei?”
She stopped to stare into Alexander’s beautiful eyes; they were grey like his mother’s but so much more. He was tall, not quite six foot yet but everyone said he wasn’t done growing. They called him a late bloomer. He was still gangly, she mentioned it once and was told his Created side was extremely dominant and when he filled out everyone should watch out.
“He’s awake. Last I saw he was getting up to take a shower then coming downstairs.”
“Glad to hear it. I was beginning to worry about him.” Alexanders deep said his deep voice betraying his concern.
Amber reassured him with a smile. “What’s going on downstairs?”
“The whole family is over for breakfast,” Alexander told her.
“I haven’t been to a family breakfast in a while.”
“That’s what happens when you move out, and get a place on your own,” his voice sounded a little envious.
“It’s not always as good as it sounds; there are times you miss home more than you want to admit. Let’s go get some good food. Who’s cooking? Sergey?” Amber asked moving in front of him.
“Or Uncle Dante, you never know when he will show up.”
They moved off to the kitchen. Dante and his brothers were indeed there as was everyone else. Was this a breakfast, she wondered, or an intervention about the new threat?
She glanced into the dining room before wandering in saying hello to her aunts who were already sitting. The males were taking care of breakfast.
“Dad, did you see this?” Alexei called from the living room.
Rena stood up and everyone followed her into the living with the males leaving the kitchen and following behind them.
Alexei was staring at the large screen where the news was playing. There was a huge picture of an oblong object hanging over downtown. The scene cut to other places in the US where more objects hovered over them.
“Is that what I think it is?” Amber took a step closer to Alexei and the image in front of her.
“It’s a ship carrying part of the invading army,” Aran replied.
The newscaster appeared, his image in front of the ship. “The government has tried several methods to open communications between us and the aliens. So far nothing has worked; they have simply parked their ships overhead. Extreme caution is being advised until we know what they want. If you do not have to go into town stay away.”
The news flipped to a panel of people speculating on what it all meant. They ranged from doomsayers who believed the Earth was about to be ravaged from war to those who thought the aliens may have come to share their technology and way of life with us.
Amber wanted to call up and confirm that the doomsayers had gotten it right for once.
“Who’s hungry?” Dante leaned against the entryway to the living room.
“Let’s go eat.” Rena moved into the dining room
“There’s a ship sitting over downtown, how are we supposed to eat?” Alexander’s voice sounded incredulous.
“We eat,” Nicolas replied, “because in times of war you eat when you can. You have no idea when your next meal will be or what you will be called on to do between those meals. You keep yourself in as good of shape as possible and eating is one ways you do it.”
Silently they filed into the dining room. Amber sat next to Alexei; she let his presence lift her up after all they had gone through. The sight of that ship over town warred with the memory of the Vayhr and the two young females they intended to devour alive.
She excused herself from the table. Dante caught her wrist.
“You’re not the exception, Amber. Sit and eat. Whatever is making you want to leave, put it out if your mind. If you’re not in shape to fight, Ash will lock you in a room, for your own good of course.”
She sat down again heavily. Her adopted dad would definitely lock her up if he felt it was the only way to make sure she was safe. If she flaked out now, he would never believe she was capable of taking care of herself or others.
“What’s our next step?” Alexei asked, his voice quiet.
The males were quiet as they filled their plates and began to eat. The Created stocked up on the protein. Cooking more and eating before they sat back and were ready to answer questions.
Aran stood and began to pace. “We have a couple of options. First we could try to infiltrate the lead ship.”
“How do we know which ship is the lead?” Gaige asked having been silent until now.
“It’s the one over town, almost over our offices. They want the Created, specifically us, more specifically Dante and I.”
The other males nodded in agreement.
“Our other choice is to wait for them to attack.”
“The last viable option is to go to the government. We have been preparing them slowly for the possibility of an invasion. They are more prepared than they think.”
“Dad, which would you do?” Alexei asked.
“Which do I want to do or which makes the most sense? I want to infiltrate their ship and kill them all, but that would start a war we may not be able to win alone. What needs to be done is that we warn the governments of the Earth giving them necessary time to make sure they have all weapons stored in a place that is not mapped to keep the enemy from destroying their chances of fighting back.”
“That’s a sound plan, Aran. Anyone else?” Dante looked around the room. No one said anything. “Then let’s get started.”
Chapter Nine
They were in Nowhere, Nevada; at least that was how Amber thought of it. The place didn’t have a name; in fact it didn’t even show up on a map.
After breakfast Aran broke them all into teams, giving each group instructions on what needed to be done. Dominic and Gaige were partnered and she was partnered with Alexei, something she appreciated although questions of will the Earth still be here tomorrow dampened her enthusiasm. Her thoughts didn’t seem to put to death the romantic feelings that happened whenever he looked at her. Of course, part of her said jump him now in case there was no tomorrow.
They were standing in an ante-chamber that was solid rock carved into the side of a mountain that absolutely did not exist. Dante had given her a wicked smile and took credit for where they were going. ‘T
he government did me a favor, Baby girl so I returned it tenfold.’ That’s all he said before he sauntered out the room.
Each team was assigned a government body to talk to. Fortunately, they were staying in the USA.
“Alexei, stop pacing you’re going to wear a rut into the stone.” The more he paced the more she fidgeted.
“What’s taking them so long?”
“I guess our showing up surprised them. They were all like no one knows about this, except him. Now I figure they are contacting him to verify our identities.”
“Dante needs to hurry; we have better things to do than play with politicians all day long.”
“Even if those politicians are the world’s last hope?” The solid stone wall slid open easily letting a tall distinguished gray haired man enter.
“Mr. Vice President.” Alexei inclined his head respectfully and reached out to shake the hand that was offered to him.
“Surprised?” the man asked.
“I am,” Amber responded also shaking his hand. “I thought one of your advisors would come.”
The vice president shook his head ruefully. “It’s not every day an armada of alien craft covers the globe; extreme times call for extreme measures. I wanted to meet you myself. I have never had the pleasure of being in the same room with the Created before.”
“Thank you, I think,” Amber filled in the silence left by Alexei. “I take it we were vouched for by…”
“Yes, you were vouched for by him.” He took a step closer to her. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting this long. If you will follow me, I will show you to the room where the others are.”
Amber reached out to take the hand the vice president was extending only to find Alexei lifting her and placing her behind him.
She growled in his ear, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Saving your life, it’s becoming a thing between us.”
Save her from beefed up alien males. She knew he was talking about Ethan, but there was also another incident when she decided if the Created could slide down the most dangerous hill on their bellies, she could do it on a sled. Ash turned his back on her for a few seconds and that was all it took for her to be careening down the hill. The wind was in her face and laughter was coming from her in deep pants as the wind stole it before she could barely hear it. It was so much fun until the wall at the bottom came from nowhere.
She couldn’t stop. Acid poured into her stomach and her body shook. She was going so fast the wind had her plastered to the sled and no matter how hard she tried to roll off she couldn’t. That day she looked deep into the eyes of death. She also learned her limits that day.
The wall loomed in front of her just as she was sure death was a reality in her way too short life. Alexei managed to throw himself on top of her, upsetting the sled and pulling her off. They rolled down the remainder of the hill with his body smacking into the wall and hers smacking into the body of his beast. It was in that moment she knew, without one doubt, he was meant for her.
“You just got lucky,” she hissed back, standing taller behind him.
The vice president didn’t look happy to be staring into Alexei’s eyes instead of hers.
“If you will follow me.”
She frowned as they followed him into a hallway. The cave was huge and the walls were so perfectly cut. There was no way this used to be an old mine shaft, something or someone not human built this.
They wandered down several wide hallways that intersected screwing with her sense of direction until he stopped in front of a wide door and led them inside. There was a huge conference table with several flat screens lining the room.
“Please have a seat; the president will be here soon. You understand his need for caution.”
“I assure you Mr. Vice President, we understand both his need and your own,” Alexei spoke, his eyes moving around the room doing inventory. “I noticed your hallways were empty, that seems highly unusual. Where’s the staff you brought with you?”
“We closed off several hallways; you understand we needed to take precautions.”
Alexei gave his best understanding smile as he moved around the room.
“My dear, would you like to sit? the vice president indicated a chair he was nearly hovering over.
She caught the small shake of Alexei’s head before answering. “Thank you, I am fine.”
“Can I offer either of you some refreshments?”
Amber felt a shiver try to roll through her body and she controlled it. The vice president was staring at her, the more he stared the more uncomfortable she became. Taking a huge breath, she casually moved behind Alexei.
She flicked a finger and watched a small speck of dust respond to her command. A sigh of relief hovered on her lips; at least her abilities seemed to work this far underground. She never had a chance to test her abilities out in different climates so she didn’t know if they held true everywhere.
The vice president touched a piece in his ear before turning to look at them with a smile. The number of teeth in his mouth seemed to exceed the normal thirty-two. She shook her head, the image of more teeth blurring into the normal smile of the second most powerful man in the US.
“The President is on his way.”
Alexei nodded. Amber noticed the stiffness to his shoulders only because she spent time studying him. To a casual observer he seemed relax and bored. The look of awe on his face from being in the presence of the vice president was a dead giveaway to her and she went on high alert. There was trouble; she just didn’t know what kind.
The door slid open to reveal the President of the United States. He turned back and addressed the personnel with him. “I don’t need a security detail in the room. I am perfectly safe. Stand at the door and wait for my signal to indicate we have concluded our meeting.”
The president slipped into the room. His dark hair defying his actual age. He was a tall slim man with a cordial smile and calculating eyes.
Amber never liked the president; he always looked like he was up to no good in her book. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she knew there was no alternative, they needed to work with those in charge.
“Mr. President,” Alexei stood straighter, “I am Alexei Dare and this is Amber Smith. We have come to give you some intel regarding the ships occupying our airspace.”
The president nodded and extended a hand which Alexei shook carefully.
“I am surprised, Mr. President, I expected to see General Liam with you or several members of the National Security Council. I was led to believe all of them were with you, of course the news does not always know what is actually happening. Many of their stories have been proved to be pure speculation.”
“They are here. I simply wanted to talk with you first before they are introduced to you. Maybe we could talk without your assistant present.”
Amber’s intake of breath at the insult could be heard plainly in the quiet room.
Alexei let out a small even laugh, one that crawled over her skin making her want him.
“Unfortunately my assistant will have to stay,” he said. She wasn’t amused. “I need her as back up; you understand Mr. President. Trust has become a virtue more valuable than the purest gold.”
The president nodded. “Take a seat. I fear we don’t have much time.”
Alexei maneuvered Amber to a seat far away from where the president and the vice president sat in front of the door. He took Amber’s chair away from the table and placed it behind his.
“A unique seating arrangement,” the vice president commented.
Alexei caressed her cheek before turning to sit down.
Amber frowned, shook her head, and shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what he was doing.
“Let’s get down to business,” the president stated before placing his hands on the table in front of them. “What information do you have about the invading force?”
“We don’t know much yet, Mr. President. I was hoping several of your an
alysts would have been able to make contact with the aliens despite what the news has been reporting.”
“They have kept a silence; nothing we have tried has been able to break through their defenses. We have considered attacking them, but our weapons experts believe that we don’t have anything capable of penetrating the hulls of their ships. Right now we are waiting for their first move.”
“Mr. President, I mean no disrespect, but don’t you think waiting will put us at a disadvantage?” Amber asked in a quiet voice. The thought of them waiting to make the first move when she knew what they were capable of amazed her.
“We believe that if we wait it will make it easier on the American people,” the vice president said casually.
“The enemy always seems to think American people are only interested in easy.” Alexei’s hand changed to show claws as he flicked them one at a time.
The door slid open; Amber casually raised a hand jerking it shut again. Pounding from the other side came followed by muffled shots to open the door.
“Now we won’t be disturbed,” Alexei gave the president and vice president a lazy smile. “Let’s talk business.”
Chapter Ten
“How’d you know?” the vice president asked softly.
Alexei gave another nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. “From what I understand, once you touch a Vayhr you will immediately know the others by touch. Combine that with the fact that the vice president spent a week at my parents’ house last summer and spent hours golfing with me. It was sort of obvious.”
“Human’s they never do what you expect them to,” the vice president stood allowing his body to shift. “Where did you come into contact with my brethren?”
“That would be the two we killed not too long ago on Sugar Hill. They thought bringing two innocent girls home for a late night snack was how we do things on Earth. I felt the need to show them the error of their ways.”
The vice president growled, dripping yellowish green slime from the cavity of his mouth.
“You’re sliming, Mr. Vice President, you may want to clean up after yourself,” Amber chided.
Alexei: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 6
