by Ruby Ryan
He took what I handed him: a chain attached to a piece of plastic in the rectangular shape of Wyoming, with ELIJAH! inked along the bottom next to a star marking our location.
"It's just a silly key chain, but it's damn near the only thing in Andy's store with the town's name on it," I explained.
"Key chain?" The syllables sounded strange on his tongue.
"Well yeah. How else are you gunna spruce up the keys to your fancy spacecraft?" He didn't laugh at the joke, just like every other light-hearted comment I'd tried making in the last two weeks. "In all seriousness, it's for you to remember us by. A small memento of our little town."
I expected him to say something stupid, like I can remember you thanks to my alien photographic memory, or, non-essential objects will be vaporized when I travel at light speed, or, oil-based plastics are banned on my home planet. But Jerix cocked his head in a distinctly human expression and closed his fingers over the key chain with care.
"Thank you, Leslie."
We stood three feet apart, but I could feel the worlds between us.
"One more thing," I said to keep the moment from ending. "All the info you've been gathering. You're not gunna take it home and use it to enslave all of humanity, right?"
A smile crept onto Jerix's face, and in my slightly inebriated condition I wanted desperately to kiss him. "We'll see."
I gave a start. "What?"
And Jerix laughed, a sound that came from deep within his chest, and his smile spread like wildfire across his handsome face.
"Oh my God, you just made a joke," I said. "You waited until the last damn day to get a personality."
"Your human bodies and emotions are intoxicating," he said. "I feel more human with every passing day. Which is part of why I must leave." The smile slowly faded. "I promise the Karak will not enslave your race."
"That's all any girl wants to hear."
And I could tell he was about to shift back, so I crossed the worlds between us and wrapped him in a hug. He accepted it intuitively, squeezing me close, and his embrace made me feel warm and safe.
I broke the hug first, because if I didn't I might have done something I regretted. Something impulsive. But that wasn't who I was, deep down. I didn't take crazy chances.
So I nodded, said, "Safe travels," and turned away.
I felt Jerix's gaze as I trudged back to my cruiser, alien and human all at the same time.
THE FULL KARAK SHIFTER SERIES
Karak Contact
Karak Warrior (Coming Soon!)
Karak Invasion (Coming Soon!)
Ruby Ryan is a small town Texas girl with a big, steamy imagination. She grew up on hard Science Fiction and Fantasy, and loves writing her own with a particularly romantic bend. After all, everything is better with a little romance!
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