Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy

by Tracey Lee Campbell

  "Aric, don't do this!" I pleaded. "We're just... meant to be... together!" It sounded lame, like the lyrics from some corny song, but I knew it was true.

  Aric looked sadly at the city. It was set out in a loose grid across the valley. A river snaked from one ridge to the other, cutting the valley in half and disappearing through a gorge in the opposite wall of rock. You couldn't see the river from the house, but Jomi had been right - the view which included the river would seem even more spectacular - if I hadn't just been given news which made me feel as though I'd been slammed about in a giant tumble dryer.

  Aric turned back to me, and placed his hand back on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Lucy, I have to do this. It's for the best. We can't be together. Jomi will arrange..."

  I cut him off again, and stepped back. "I know, I know - I've been through this before. I'm very good at moving on, you know..." Tears were streaming down my face, but I didn't care.

  "Lucy, don't be..."

  Whirling around, I stomped across the sandstone ledge towards the house, my thoughts a jumbled mess. I stopped at the entrance to the path, unable to bring myself to leave. I was pathetic, I berated myself.

  I was too old for these tears and tantrums - I needed to grow up and take charge of my life; I wasn't a little kid any more. Caught up in Aric's strange reality, I'd had to rely on him totally since the day I'd met him, and somewhere along the way I'd lost the independence I'd cultivated to survive. I don't need him, I told myself sternly, taking a few faltering steps forward. I've survived on my own long enough. I stopped again and willed my legs to move. I don't need him.

  It wasn't true. We needed each other. If I walked away now, that would be it. I would be giving up the person I wanted - was meant - to be with forever. I turned to face him again. He was standing still, watching me, silhouetted against the blue sky, his blonde hair shining brightly in the afternoon sun. He seemed impossibly perfect, was designed to be perfect, and yet he was filled with the same misgivings and doubts as everyone else. This was his human side, I guess. I suspected nobody could really be perfect, even if you were supposed to be so by design.

  Nobody's perfect, I decided, but there are some people who are perfect for each other.

  "I... need you, Aric," I said, "And you need me." It was as simple as that.

  We looked at each other silently across the rocky outcrop. I don't know for how long. Finally, he took a deep breath, and moved towards me, his arms outstretched.

  "Come here," he said quietly, and I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck. He lifted me off the ground and held me tight.

  "My god, you're hard to give up," he mumbled into my hair.

  "Then don't."

  He lowered me to the ground, and wiped my tears from my cheeks. "I'm sorry," he said. He pulled me against him again, and I leaned against his chest, savoring the closeness I'd nearly lost forever.

  Stroking the back of my hair, he put his lips to my ear. "I don't know what to do. I'm... lost, Lucy," he whispered.

  Touched by his honest vulnerability, I placed my hand on his cheek. "That's why you need me," I replied, throwing him a watery smile.

  He lowered his head and his lips met mine in an exquisitely poignant kiss which sealed our decision to be together.

  Eventually, he broke away, and held my face in his hands. He kissed my forehead, and my nose, and I sniffed noisily, realizing my face was a mess from crying.

  "Oh, I'm hideous when I cry," I said, pulling away and wiping my eyes with my palms. He chuckled quietly, and took my hand, leading me back to where he'd been sitting when I'd first arrived.

  "You're beautiful, no matter what." He sat down again and patted the ground next to him. I sank down and leaned against him, and we looked out at the valley below. We could just make out the movement of the cars as they bustled along the city streets.

  "It's strange to think they're going about their business, oblivious to reality," Aric said. "I envy them."

  I thought of the bulging black eyed Innaki, and the bloodied fangs of the gargoyte, and nodded in agreement. "Ignorance is bliss."

  "You know, the first time I ever saw you... you were lying in your bed, asleep. Your mouth was open, and you were... kind of snoring."

  I shoved him playfully, "I don't snore!" I protested. He smiled.

  "I thought you were adorable."

  "Oh, no doubt I was! But I don't snore." He laughed quietly and took my hand in his.

  "When you woke up and saw the Innaki," he went on, "you were so terrified. I just wanted to grab you and run, get you away from them."

  He rubbed his thumb gently over my hand. "I want to keep you safe."

  I said nothing. I wanted both of us to be safe.

  "I've been wondering why it's taken me so long to... to quit the whispering. There are so many terrified people, you know... I can still see their faces in my mind. I kept asking the Innaki if there was a better way. I consoled myself with the thought that at least the abductees wouldn't remember. It took meeting you to make the break."

  I just listened, and he continued to talk, a cathartic outlet I hoped would help him work out the demons in his head.

  "I keep thinking, if only I'd met you sooner... it might have saved some of those people I helped the Innaki with."

  "You don't know that Aric - once they've got someone up there, there's nowhere to go anyway."

  "Yeah, but I helped them move people from their homes, cars, workplaces... the ones who could overcome the paralysis, they could have gotten away."

  "Maybe, but you thought it was to help people in the long run."

  He leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I still did it though. Bred to do it. What does that make me now? I don't even know what or who I'm supposed to be."

  I laid down on the rock beside him, and shielded my face from the sun. The warmth of the rock below me radiated through my clothes, warming my body and making me sleepy. "You are whoever and whatever you want yourself to be."

  Aric stretched out next to me, and we lay side by side, soaking up the sunshine.

  "We don't get put on earth, labeled, given a task set in stone, and then sent along our way," I continued. "We choose our path ourselves, and there's nothing stopping you from choosing either, now you know the truth."

  He turned, raising himself on his elbow. "You know, you're sounding wise beyond your years, Lucy Doyle," he noted with a smile.

  I grinned, "Yeah, that's me, the wise old sage of the mountain." I waved my hand around, indicating the rocky ridge and the valley around us, and he laughed. I turned over to face him.

  "Aric, I know, whatever I say, you're going to feel responsible, and I can only hope that with time you'll realize, there are some things that are just... out of your control." He sighed and laid back again.

  "Those people are still up there Lucy. The doctor who helped you could be one of them." My blood felt chilled despite the sunshine.

  "You can't do this all by yourself, Aric. Isn't there any other way?"

  "There are other hybrids... they've been placed in positions which the Innaki feel are useful, throughout the world - in business, finance, political spheres. The word is getting around about what the Innaki are really like. Saul, Ellen and Jomi were talking about getting together and working out a plan of action, but we have to be careful - the Council can't find out."

  I felt a little better. If there were others to free the people, perhaps I could convince Aric, eventually, to stay right out of it. I knew it was selfish and cowardly of me, but I wanted him safe, and I wanted him to stay with me.

  "Okay, so can we make a deal?" I suggested.

  Aric lifted his arm off his face, squinting against the sun. "A deal?"

  "Yeah. You don't go off, half-cocked by yourself, trying to break the people out. You wait until everyone's agreed on a plan, and then, well, then we talk about it again when it's time."

  He was thoughtful for a moment, and I held my breath as I waited for his answer. Fin
ally, he turned over, and leaned over me, blocking the sun from my face so I didn't have to squint any more.

  "If it will make you happy," he said.

  I placed my hand on his cheek. "It would make me happy."

  "Then it's a deal." He kissed me again, and for a while, we forgot all about monsters, councils, mind reading, and everything else, and just focused on each other.

  * * * * *

  "You'll need more sweaters, and a decent coat. It's freezing up there." Jomi added a teaspoon of sugar to her mug, and stirred it into the coffee. Jomi, Ellen and I were sitting in a cafe after a hectic morning of shopping in preparation for our new life up north. Aric had declined the invitation to come along, declaring I was a 'nightmare' to shop with, and I had spent a few hours replenishing my wardrobe which I had left behind in Newtown.

  As Aric was carless once again (he'd left his new truck in Newtown) Olaf had arranged to deliver some goods over the border so we could get a lift with him to our new location.

  Ellen swallowed a mouthful of apple pie, and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "You don't need to buy too much - just the basics. You can decide what else you'll need when you get there."

  I sipped my coffee slowly - it was piping hot. "You are going to come and visit us, right?" I asked, looking from one woman to the other.

  Jomi smiled. "Of course we will, if you like, when you're all settled in."

  "We'll be keeping in contact, but we still need to watch what we say on the phone, or the internet. Particularly if we're going to be mustering the others and getting a plan into place, we need to be extra careful." She looked around, checking to see her words weren't being overheard, but the cafe was nearly empty.

  I stared glumly into my coffee. The thought of Aric in danger made my stomach queasy, and the coffee's rich aroma didn't seem so appetizing any more. All I wanted was the quiet life, devoid of aliens and vampiric critters.

  "Is there something wrong Lucy?" Jomi leaned forward, a look of concern creasing her brow.

  "Nothing..." I forced my lips into the semblance of a smile, but it didn't last long. Ellen didn't have to be a mind-reader to work out what was troubling me.

  "She doesn't want Aric put in any more danger. " She turned from Jomi to me. "You don't want Aric included in the plans, do you?"

  My head snapped up. "I didn't say that!" I looked uncomfortably from one woman to the other. "Well, of course I don't want him to be put in any kind of danger, but..." I shrugged. What else could I do? Aric was determined to see those people freed, and there was nothing I could do to persuade him otherwise.

  "To be honest, I don't want Aric in this either," said Ellen. "Not just because I don't want him hurt, but, well, I think he's too emotionally wrapped up in it. His emotional involvement may turn out to be a liability and cause him to make decisions and mistakes which could end up putting others in danger."

  I couldn't decide whether Ellen's misgivings about Aric's involvement in the plan was a good thing. On the one hand, it meant that she too was worried about his safety, as I was, and his ability to succeed in an assignment which was very close to a suicide mission. I'd already been afraid about the very real dangers involved with dealing with the Innaki, but Ellen had underlined an issue I hadn't even thought of. Aric himself had told me he found it hard to concentrate with me around - would his emotional involvement prove a handicap, as Ellen feared? On the other hand, Ellen's doubts about Aric meant I had an ally - perhaps we could persuade him to sit this operation out.

  Jomi sipped her coffee thoughtfully, then placed the cup gently on its saucer. "I think we need to give Aric more credit than that. He's been dealing with the Innaki closely for nearly nine hundred years. I would think he'd have enough sense to do the right thing."

  Ellen shook her head. "You should know yourself, Jomi, when love and passion are involved, all sense goes out the window."

  Jomi's perfect, alabaster cheeks grew pink. Her eyes went to her lap, but she composed herself quickly, picking up her teaspoon and busying herself by stirring the frothy milk, her mind deep in thought.

  "Aric doesn't have to be involved in the whole campaign," Ellen continued. "Obviously, we can't keep him from doing anything, but we can try and involve him only when he absolutely needs to be included."

  My heart leapt with hope and I could have hugged her. Although there was still some risk to Aric, Ellen was trying to minimize it.

  Jomi was still unsure. "We need Aric's information. He's been on their craft, and he knows how the Innaki operate. I doubt he'll be satisfied with giving us the logistics. He'll want to be in the thick of things, and, quite frankly, I think he has a right to be there."

  Ellen sighed. "Perhaps you're right, but... there's no harm in aiming for keeping him out of things for the time being. Let Lucy and Aric have some time to themselves. We can start getting the plans together. If anything, giving Aric some time may allow him to get his thoughts together and he may not be so... volatile about it when the time comes to act.

  I was nodding like a bobble-headed dog. Every word Ellen uttered felt like a lifeline to me. I was desperate for a normal, alien-free life. I knew, deep down, I was burying my head in the sand, that the Innaki problem wouldn't go away just because we were going to move to a safe place, but I just wanted to be normal for a while.

  Jomi seemed to make up her mind. She nodded, tossed her spoon next to its saucer, then sat back in her seat. "Okay, we'll do it your way for now. We'll keep Aric 'out of the loop' so to speak, unless it's really necessary. Although, I'm still not sure if it's the right thing to do..."

  I beamed at her. "I think it is the right thing to do. Thank you!"

  She threw me an uneasy smile, still unconvinced. "Anyway," she added, "it will be quite a while before we are ready to do anything. The situation is very... delicate. We have to be extra careful. As much as I'd like to help those people right now, any plans we make are going to have to be arranged and fine-tuned until we're absolutely certain they'll work. We need to figure out who we can trust, and make contact. That will take time. We can't risk the Council finding out, and, well, I dare say putting a stop to the Innaki's activities all together is going to be nearly impossible without the Council finding out. You don't need to worry about the planning stage. You should try and put it out of your mind and just... enjoy your time together, until then."

  It made me feel slightly better. As much as I was going to love spending every day with Aric, we would always have the knowledge that he could be called to help, hanging over us. I swallowed hard, staring blindly at the congealing bubbles around the rim of the coffee cup. I'd have to take Jomi's advice and live in the moment.

  "Don't get me wrong - we shouldn't get our hopes up too much," Ellen went on, "there's no denying Aric is incredibly useful - he knows their layout, their habits, the way they think. If it comes down to an actual battle, he's also very good with wyk, although, I'm told, you far surpass any of us when it comes to using wyk in self-defense."

  "Really? I mean... I do?"

  "Oh, yes. Saul and Marcus couldn't stop raving about how you wiped the Innaki out in the gym. Any wonder the Innaki are so interested in you."

  "But, what could they do with me anyway? It's not like, I'd work for them or anything."

  Ellen threw me a sympathetic glance as she raised her coffee cup to her lips and took a sip. She plonked the cup down in its saucer with a rattle. "I don't like to frighten you, Lucy, but, well, if they got their hands on you, they'd keep you and, possibly want to look into why you're different..."

  I finally caught on to what she was saying. "You mean - like, dissect me or something?"

  "Possibly. That's why Aric wants you well away from them."

  I gaped at her in dismay. "I'd presumed they'd want to keep me for my wyk, kind of like a prized milking cow."

  "I guess you could see it that way - they're in the business of developing 'livestock' which will be more productive for them, like farms with their animals. They'd want to
find out what makes you tick - what makes you such a great... repository of wyk."

  Jomi shivered. "Horrid creatures. Come on, let's talk about something else - we're freaking Lucy out."

  "Wait," I said, "If you do end up involving Aric, I want to be involved too." There was no way I was going to sit at home wondering what was happening while Aric was putting himself in danger, particularly if, as they said, I was a better fighter with wyk than any of them.

  Ellen and Jomi's protests were simultaneous. "Oh, no, Lucy," said Ellen, "Aric would never agree to that."

  I sniffed. Why did she think he'd have the last say? "This is the twenty first century," I reminded her. "Equal rights and all. We may be together but he's not my master."

  Even as I said it I doubted Aric was the chauvinist type. His old-fashioned manners and maybe even his protectiveness were remnants of a by-gone era, but he seemed to be a pretty liberal and modern guy.

  "She didn't mean it like that," Jomi said. "He's serious about protecting you. He's the one who really holds all the cards, Lucy, so if he wants you out of the loop we'll have to respect that."

  "Well, I think you're wrong. He's wrong. You said it's his right to decide whether or not he gets involved in this, shouldn't I have the right to decide for myself?"

  They looked at each other uncertainly.

  "You said I could fight well... with wyk," I went on, "Wouldn't that come in useful?"

  Jomi spoke first. "You may have more wyk than others, Lucy, but you are... unpracticed. One's reserve of wyk isn't limitless. It takes time to... how do I say it? Recharge? You need to know how to conserve it and use it in just the right way. It takes great self control."

  "I can learn," I offered. "You could come and visit, and teach me, and I can practice."

  She leaned back in her seat. "I can't imagine Aric allowing you to do this."

  My jaw clenched. It wasn't up to him. When the time came I'd be fighting alongside him whether he wanted me there or not. "He doesn't have to know just now," I suggested.

  Jomi sighed. "All these secrets. I don't like it. Secrets are capricious weights upon one's shoulders."