Playing Cards With Aliens

by Erin Raegan

  I wanted to yell at Killian now. What if they’d been in a car accident? None of them carried cell phones that I’d ever seen.

  I ran into the office and out into the yard, but they were nowhere to be found. My chest was tight and my feet fidgety. I wanted to run, but I didn’t know where to. I wandered the salvage yard for nearly an hour before I decided to call the house to check if they’d come back.

  But to add to my mounting dread, there was no answer. And that worried me. Sal, Bets, and the boys were there. Why weren’t they answering? I couldn’t explain the feeling growing inside me, but it was like intuition. Like an out-of-body experience.

  Something was happening.

  Something bad.

  But I didn’t know what. Or where. Or how to stop it.

  I ran to the office’s front door to see if I could see any vehicles up at the house, and what I saw there rooted me to the floor.

  Vehicle after vehicle lined the road to the house. They were all black SUVs. Dozens of men in military uniforms, rifles slung over their shoulders, were in the lawn. I ducked when I noticed several of them looking my way.

  Why I would duck from my own military, I couldn’t explain, but instinct had me doing it anyway. I put my back to the wall and clutched my knees tightly. Panic nearly overwhelmed me.

  I didn’t know what to do. Why were all those men there?

  Oh, but you do know, Theo, don’t you? a dark voice whispered in my mind.

  They weren’t there for Sal and his back taxes. The worst thing Bets had done in her life was jaywalk. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I supposed the boys could’ve, but to warrant that kind of attention? It didn’t make sense.

  So that left only three others.

  I didn’t want to think it.

  I wanted to push the thought far away and run from it.

  But they were the only plausible explanation. I couldn’t run from that. We barely knew them. I felt as though I knew Killian better than I knew myself, but the longer I sat there, I couldn’t come up with any real reasons for that feeling. He was too secretive. And if I was honest, too different. The oddities among the three of them were hard to ignore.

  Killian, Leo, and Oren. Three men. Three enigmas. Three plausible explanations for the military invading my home on a Sunday afternoon.

  Three ominous thoughts lurking in the back of my mind in the shadows. But there was a sliver of light trying to shine through. And all signs pointed to Killian.

  But where were they?

  I watched the sun go down as the men on the lawn spread out. Some of them crouched on the ground in sniper positions, others guarding the house.

  They were waiting for something.

  Or someone.

  When I saw a dark figure walk out of the house and into the evening sun, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  It was Noah.

  I wanted to believe this was one completely ridiculous overreaction to get to me to go to college, but that was me reaching for any kind of excuse. I knew that would be stupid.

  Sal and Bets were in there, and it didn’t look like they were anything but hostages. Otherwise they would have answered the phone. Sal would have come looking for me by now.

  Then I ran out of time.

  The men split apart and walked down the hill.

  Toward me.

  When I heard the low whirring of a helicopter, I realized I’d wasted enough time hiding.

  I ran into the salvage yard toward the back road. I ran until I was out of breath, praying this day would be the one day someone decided to drive down it.

  I got all the way to the tree line before I collapsed, out of breath. My chest was so tight from the run and my panic, I dropped to all fours and punched at the dirt in frustration.

  I cursed this entire day.

  I cursed Killian for leaving this morning.

  My brother for bringing all those men to my house, because I knew it was his doing. The reason was on the tip of my tongue like a forgotten lyric, but I couldn’t grasp it. Every time I tried, my mind nearly split wide open from a piercing headache. It was a weight now. So heavy I could barely keep it on my shoulders. The pain sending dark little dots across my vision.

  A branch snapped and I looked up in terror, expecting a man with smeared black face paint camouflaging his face and a laser scope. And it was.

  He didn’t ask me my name. Not what I was doing sprinting through the woods.

  His arms just came around me and took me to the ground. Hard.

  I yelped, thrashing against his hold and the butt of a gun snapped against my chin.

  I froze and gaped up at the man as he crouched above me.

  I had been right to hide. Right to run.

  The man glared at me coldly, his gun bruising my chin.

  “Theodora Silvan?”

  I blinked at him. Too afraid of the deadly weapon to open my mouth.

  He grunted and flipped me to my stomach. My arms were roughly pulled back and sharp plastic wrapped around my wrists. The sharp sound of the ties tightening just as they cut off my circulation.

  Not handcuffs. No Miranda rights. I was not under arrest. This was something else. This was not a police officer. He was something else.

  And I was in deep shit.

  “I got her,” he crackled into a radio. “Bringing her in now.”

  “Bringing me in where?” I managed to croak past my fear.

  “Quiet,” he hissed menacingly, dragging me back toward the salvage yard by a tight grip on my arm. My feet tripped under me but he didn’t slow. His hand only tightened more as he jerked me behind him.

  “Who are you?”

  He was wearing cargo pants and an all-black shirt. Not a single logo indicating anything about him. Not a badge. Just a gun in his left fist and several more strapped all around his body.

  “Am I under arrest?” I asked again. Trying to get anything from this man. He gave me nothing.

  My knees were weak with fear, my hands numb. My eyes stung and I bit my lip to stop it from trembling.

  What was happening? What was going to happen? Where were Killian and the others?

  “Please,” I asked him weakly. “What’s happening?”

  A black van rumbled over the field and past the trees, skidding to a stop a few feet from us. The man dragged me to the back and two more men piled out with guns, aiming them at me.

  My breath sawed out of me. My chest so tight it was making it harder to breathe. This was bad. Really bed. These guys were not law enforcement. Whatever Noah was wrapped up in was really, really bad. And he’d pulled me and my family into it.

  When he went to shove me into the back of the van both my fight and flight instincts kicked in. I could not let them put me into that van. It would be very bad if they did. I knew it.

  I thrashed in his arms, causing the other two to grab hold of my legs.

  My sneakers slapped against their chests and shoulders, my head swinging wildly against the man behind me. I screamed as loud as I could, my throat burning from the effort.

  “Just knock her out,” one of them grunted.

  I screamed again, bucking in their hold.

  “Hold her still,” another grunted back.

  “Drop her down,” another barked. My back hit the ground sharply and I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me.

  I scrambled to my belly, kicking my legs up and under me.

  Hands grabbed me again and threw me to my back, trapping my tied arms under me.

  “Get the sedative,” the man that had held me at gunpoint bellowed.

  I screamed in rage, kicking at his chest and hands.

  A blur of black flew over his head and hands covered in gold rings grabbed the man, throwing him from me.

  A grunt and slap of skin and I rolled over, gaping at Killian as he beat the ever-loving crap out of all three men at once.

  I kicked away, scrambling into sitting and kept scooting, trying to escape the fight. It was only seconds. Just seconds fo
r him to have all three men on their backs, broken and bleeding. Unconscious or dead. I wasn’t sure.

  I gaped at him as he rushed to my side. Trembling as he gently rolled me over and painlessly and effortlessly snapped the plastic from my wrists.

  I looked up into his face.

  It was a face I knew all too well. And he was wearing one fucking whopper of a guilty expression.

  “What did you do?” I snapped as Killian dragged me into the woods.

  “A few more minutes,” he said far too calmly. He had silently inspected me from head to toe for injuries. And even when he realized I was relatively unharmed he had looked back at the three prone men with a murderous look in his eyes.

  I ripped my arm from his hand and marched ahead of him. I saw Jeremy’s truck then, idling on the road. Oren was standing beside it, his arms folded across his chest.

  Leo was sitting on the tail gate, his normally cool expression soft and apologetic. That scared me more than anything. Leo rarely looked anything but hostile and only when Bets was feeding him.

  “Are they here for you? Who are you really? Criminals?”

  Killian scoffed. “Don not speculate. You’d be wrong. I’ll tell you once we’re far from here.”

  “I’m not leaving, you ass. My family is back there.”

  Oren shook his head in frustration at Killian and walked to the other side of the truck.

  Killian pointed at the cab of the truck, but I stopped. I shook my head, blinking away tears. “Just tell me.” My voice was small and broken. Tired. “No more secrets, Killian.”

  “We stole something,” he said coolly.

  “What did you steal?”

  His jaw ticked and he looked away from me. “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “Hell, yes, it does. Just give it back to them!”

  “It’s not about what was stolen,” he said. “It’s about what we showed them when we stole it.”

  “Explain.”

  “Not until you get into the truck.”

  I crossed my arms and stiffened. “I’m. Not. Leaving.”

  Oren gave me a pitying look and climbed into the truck. Leo walked over to me and dropped his hand onto my shoulder before following Oren.

  “I’m sorry,” Killian said stiffly. “I just wanted more time.”

  “Time for what?”

  “Just more time,” was all he said.

  Then he walked forward, his eyes intent on my face. One second he was a foot away from me, the next everything went dark.

  Regrets

  Kil

  I carried her into the field and laid her on a patch of soft grass. She’d slept the entire drive and would be waking soon. Oren hid the truck in the tree line before catching up.

  “I told you this would happen,” he said in our language.

  I knew he did not relish his prediction. Still, it did not keep me from snarling at him.

  He shook his head and walked to the small freighter ship. There, he knocked against the freighter’s door, waking Dereth, who would not have been expecting us back so soon. Oren or I took the trip out here once a day. The drive was too long to make more than once without causing suspicion. We’d only come earlier to warn the others of our imminent departure before the humans could make their way here.

  But we’d been too late.

  The freighter door opened and Dereth walked down the ramp, watching me and the human female beside me with caution. He knew better than to inquire and instead waved Oren inside.

  “My lord,” Leo called softly from beside me. He looked with pity and sorrow at my Theo’s beautiful face. “We are not leaving without releasing Bets and Sal.”

  Leo, who normally spoke only when necessary, and never around the humans, was not asking me. I did not reprimand him. He was feeling for the humans we had watched over during our short time on this planet. He had grown attached.

  As had I.

  And this was my fault.

  I had done this to her.

  “No,” I replied. “We’ll redirect the human militia before we leave. But we must go.”

  Leo nodded and walked off, leaving me alone with my heart.

  I wanted nothing more than to carry her onto the ship and never look back. But she would never forgive me. She loved Sal and Bets. They were her most treasured pieces of her. The two young males were as dear to her. I could not leave them to their fate.

  That, and I was no longer sure she wanted to join me in the stars.

  I was no longer sure of my place in her heart.

  I was no longer sure of anything. Not a state I was accustomed to. Not after what I knew must be revealed to her. She would hate me, as she had said last eve. She would not forgive me easily, and with so much attention on us, I could not take the time to earn her forgiveness.

  And what life would I be giving her?

  A pirate lord’s unwilling bride? Coasting from star to star? No home to speak of, danger and uncertainty were all I had to offer her. That was no life for my Theo. She deserved happiness, and I had lost that right the moment I broke the trust she felt in me. How was I to get that back when I must reveal all that I was to her when she awoke?

  It would not go as it had last eve. Her mind had been blurred from imbibing while I deliberately eased her and her loved ones doubts and reservations. If she were to look upon my true form now, she would run from me.

  I feared this was the last time I would see her face unburdened with sleep, that contentment and serenity softening her berry red lips. But I had promised her honesty. As she’d warned me, what could we build together with a field of lies between us?

  Her lashes fluttered and I prepared myself for the loss of her.

  She tensed when she saw me sitting beside her.

  “I’m going to show you now, sweets, but you have to try your best not to scream,” I warned her. There were eyes and ears far too close.

  She nodded, some part of her mind already preparing for the wall of lies I’d built to come crumbling down. I bent over her, inhaling her sweet scent one last time, savoring her.

  Before her, I would have taken without question, not once considering the wants or needs of any other but my own and that of my crew. But she had changed me.

  And because of that change, I was now to break her heart, even as I broke my own.

  There were beings all across the stars that thought of me without one.

  How very wrong they all were.

  I was staring at it.

  And after fucking up so spectacularly and endangering her. I had no choice but to accept that I may have truly lost her. Forever.

  Their End

  Theo

  Killian set the spaceship down beside the lake. Spaceship. Cue the shock and awe.

  My stomach rolled and rocked as I held onto the seat under me with a grip so tight, I barely had any feeling left in my fingers.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at anything around me.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

  All the lies. All the secrets.

  What he’d done to us—

  It was so overwhelming that when he let go of my mind, I had gotten sick all over the grass. So many suppressed memories had flooded my mind, I’d had a hard time catching my breath.

  He wasn’t even sure if he could free everything after messing inside my own head for so long.

  There could be permanent damage.

  But I remembered that I’d nearly begged him last night not to tell me.

  I felt betrayed by my own mind. Even now I couldn’t trust it. How could I ever be sure he was completely out of it? I hadn’t even known he’d been there to begin with.

  The entire process was so traumatizing, I’d passed out. Again.

  When I woke, we were in this spaceship. Killian said the militia on my front lawn would be gone by the time we landed.

  He’d taken the ship to the lake while I was asleep. Then he left me with Leo while he and Oren snuck back through the salvage yard, a
nd one by one, they’d invaded the mind of every soldier and government official that my own brother had brought to my front door.

  They knew about the aliens. My brother did. For weeks they’d known Killian was here, but not here here. Just that a big spaceship was parked outside of our moon. And they had kept it from the public.

  They never would have even known Killian was on the planet if he hadn’t had to find some weird mineral to repair his ship. They would have suspected sure, but they wouldn’t have known.

  Oren had taken a trip to some secret facility that night of the Halloween festival and revealed himself on their security cameras. Scaring the crap out of our government no doubt.

  By doing that, he was able to rile up our government and send them on a wild goose chase. He led them away in Jeremy’s truck—of all the stupid, asinine things. I bit my lip so hard I drew blood.

  It would have worked too. If Oren hadn’t been too arrogant and Killian hadn’t been distracted by me to realize a mere description of a truck could be found and tracked. The top geniuses of the world very easily put two and two together and put out a worldwide alert on that truck with a very specific dent on the fender and even more specific scrape all down the left side. The covered license plate wasn’t enough.

  My brother, as a member of one of the many agencies in a panic over the alien visitors, had studied that alert. And out of sheer dumb luck, he’d felt some kind of obligation to save me from an alien invasion and happened to be in the right place at the right time to see that truck pull directly into my driveway. With a perfect matching description.

  It was so ridiculous, the course of events that took place in perfect order, it could only be explained away by fate.

  Divine intervention.

  How did I know all of this? How did Killian know everything that had happened without having witnessed it? He could read minds. Control them.

  I couldn’t wrap my head around it.