Invaded

by Melissa Landers

  Cara leaned down and parted Aelyx’s lips to force breath into his lungs. Grunting aloud, she resumed pumping his chest. Some deep, dark place inside warned that it was over, but she couldn’t make herself stop.

  The stomping of heavy boots drew Cara’s gaze upward. Troy had returned, clutching a small yellow case beneath his arm. He dropped to his knees and placed the device on the floor, then pressed the on button and untangled a set of electrodes and wires.

  “Oh my God,” Cara whispered.

  It was an external defibrillator. All major centers—even shopping malls—stocked them near the fire extinguishers, but she’d forgotten all about them. With new hope, her hands flew into action, lifting Aelyx’s shirt so Troy could affix the adhesive patches over his ribs and collarbone.

  An automated female voice from the machine’s speaker advised, “Stand clear. Do not touch the patient.” They obeyed, and after a brief pause, she intoned, “Shock advised. Charging. Stand clear.”

  Troy pressed the red shock button, and they watched Aelyx’s rib cage lift and fall. When the machine ordered another round of CPR, Cara delivered thirty quick compressions followed by two breaths. The female’s voice talked her through several more rounds as it counted down two minutes. Each second was torture. Cara felt Aelyx slipping further from her reach.

  “Stop CPR,” the voice ordered. “Analyzing heart rhythm. Do not touch the patient.” Another pause. “Shock advised. Charging. Stand clear.”

  “Please,” Cara begged Aelyx, God in heaven, the Blessed Virgin, the Sacred Mother, and whoever else might be listening as she punched the flashing red shock button and drew back.

  Please work. Please!

  His rib cage lurched, and again, the woman’s voice advised a round of CPR. But as Cara placed her fist over his heart, she felt a stirring of motion, a nearly undetectable hum of life beneath her trembling fingers. Moving to his throat, she closed her eyes and felt a pulse growing strong and steady. Aelyx moaned and shifted in discomfort, and Cara released a sob of pure joy while tears plunked onto his chest. He blinked up at her and rubbed a hand over his ribs, clearly sore, but very much alive.

  Cara turned to her brother and threw her arms around his neck. “You’re a genius!”

  The machine droned, “No shock advised. You may touch the patient,” so Cara took the woman’s suggestion and dusted kisses over Aelyx’s forehead and cheeks.

  Grinning, Troy peeled an electrode from Aelyx’s chest. “I can’t take credit for the idea. I saw Aisly using one on Jaxen about ten minutes ago.”

  Cara froze. “Did it work?”

  “Yeah.” Troy’s beatified expression showed how well Aisly had brain-bleached him. He had no idea that Jaxen’s revival was bad news. “But before I could call an ambulance, they took off for the elevator. Seemed like they were in a hurry.”

  Aelyx and Cara shared a worried glance. On a normal day, disappearing in Manhattan was effortless, but this afternoon, with thousands of bodies, umbrellas, and tents lining the streets, finding the pair would be like a living edition of Where’s Waldo?

  “Did you reach Alona?” Aelyx croaked.

  Cara nodded. “They’re all safe.”

  He didn’t speak again, at least not verbally. But she felt his gratitude mingled with love and the words inside her head, Then it’s okay. We did it.

  The rest of the afternoon was calm by comparison—odd when Cara considered the magnitude of signing her name beside the president of the United States and all of Earth’s major leaders. As hard as she’d fought for this alliance, Cara expected to feel a thrill of accomplishment when the ceremony ended, but honestly, she was glad to put it behind her. She’d had enough excitement, and now she wanted to go home.

  Skipping the celebratory gala and the glitzy after-parties, she and Aelyx snuck to the penthouse to rest, where they spent a quiet evening cuddled up in bed. While crowds cheered and fireworks erupted above the Manhattan skyline, Cara rested her hand over Aelyx’s heart, letting its steady beat lull her into the first peaceful sleep she’d enjoyed in weeks.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  SATURDAY, MAY 1

  Sweet Sorrow

  Well, fellow humans, I bid you adieu. In a few moments, I’ll board the shuttle to my transport home. I’ve said good-bye to everyone I love—my friends and family who have chosen to remain on Earth, and my brother, who can’t join me until his enlistment is up. It’s a bittersweet day…for more reasons than you think.

  It’s not only people I’m leaving behind. It’s a way of life. In choosing to settle on another planet, I’m letting go of one dream to embrace another. You won’t see me roaming the Dartmouth campus in the fall. Heck, you won’t even see me at my high school graduation. Mine will be the ultimate hands-on education as I shape the laws and policies of a fledgling government. That’s right. Me—a politician. Who’d have guessed it? If you’ve applied to join the colony, essentially putting your future in my hands, thank you for your trust. I won’t let you down.

  As for the rest of you, I suppose this isn’t really good-bye. You can still find me here on the blog as I recount my adventures for your amusement. Take care of each other while I’m away, and eat a Reese’s Cup for me.

  I’ve lost my taste for them.

  Posted by Cara Sweeney

  Cara shut down her laptop and stowed it safely inside her luggage between a stack of uniforms and the Star Wars Snuggie her parents had given her as a going-away present. Ordinarily, she’d keep the computer by her side, but she decided to take a vacation from blogging during the voyage home. She’d already received her antinausea medication, so once the shuttle delivered her to the main transport, she intended to spend the next week suction-cupped to Aelyx’s side.

  “Miss Sweeney?” said the L’eihr attendant from the other side of the luggage cart. When she glanced up, he asked, Are you sure you won’t shuttle up with The Way?

  I’m sure, she told him. After what happened yesterday, I’m not letting Aelyx out of my sight.

  The man smiled in understanding and signaled the first shuttle to depart without her. Once we load your cargo, we’ll board the second shuttle. He nodded toward the other end of the hangar to the steel cryogenic box holding David’s body.

  Cara’s stomach sank an inch. Her first official act as a member of The Way had been approving Syrine’s request to bury her l’ihan on the colony. Until now, they hadn’t planned for a cemetery—L’eihrs preserved a genetic sample, then cremated their dead—but Cara couldn’t say no, not when she knew how it felt to lose her whole heart. The few minutes when she thought she’d lost Aelyx had left her with a permanent mark on her soul.

  She peered around the dim hangar until she found him talking with Syrine near the coffee station. His hair had grown long enough for a stumpy ponytail, but one lock slipped from its clasp, then another and another until everything spilled free in a honey-brown riot. Exasperated, he shoved his hair behind both ears. It made Cara smile. Hitching her bag over one shoulder, she strode to join him.

  “How’re you holding up?” she asked Syrine, offering a gentle shoulder squeeze. She’d noticed Syrine had refused to engage in Silent Speech, which made sense. If their roles were reversed, Cara would want to keep her grief private, too. “Anything I can do?”

  Syrine shook her head and blew into her Styrofoam cup, peeking over the rim with unnaturally wide black pupils.

  Good. She was still sedated.

  “I have something for you,” Aelyx said to his friend. After checking to ensure no one was watching, he reached into his pocket and pressed an object into Syrine’s hand. “Hide it well, or they’ll take it from you at the checkpoint.”

  Forehead wrinkled in curiosity, Syrine uncurled her fingers, revealing a tiny brown speck resting in the center of her palm. “What is it?”

  Aelyx closed her hand and covered it with his own. “A pear seed.”

  Cara didn’t understand, but Syrine smiled and brought that hand to her chest as if the seed wer
e more precious than plutonium. Tears streamed down her face, but they looked like the happy kind. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll guard it with my life.”

  An hour later, Cara palmed her transport chamber’s security panel, retracting the door with a hiss. Aelyx followed her inside the closet-size bedroom, and they took a few moments to simply stand there in the darkness. Shell-shocked, maybe. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours that it seemed surreal. So much loss—but triumph, too. Cara tried to shake off the shadow of heartache and focus on the future.

  It was all any of them could do.

  Aelyx took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Can you believe this is actually happening?”

  “No. We’re starting over from scratch. I can’t wrap my mind around it.”

  Aelyx took her cheeks between his palms and gave her a warm smile. His molten silver eyes reflected the dim lighting from the port window, so beautiful it made her breath catch. Just when she thought the sight of him couldn’t stir her any more deeply, he proved her wrong. She braided her fingers in his hair and marveled at the contrast of her pale skin against his bronze cheek. He was exquisite, inside and out. And all hers.

  “True,” he said. “But that’s not what I was referring to.”

  “Then—” she began before he silenced her with his lips.

  He gripped her waist with powerful fingers, his touch both gentle and possessive as he explored her mouth with the tip of his soft tongue. Her pulse jump-started and rushed to some pretty interesting places. Before Cara knew what had happened, her back was to the bedroom wall.

  He didn’t stop, eventually forcing her to break for air. While she tried to catch her breath, he liberated both their shirts and bit the magical spot at the top of her shoulder, the one that made her knees go weak. Holding her against the wall with his body, he pressed his fingers to her throat and counted the frenzied beats of her heart. A moment later, he murmured against her lips, “One fifteen,” then gave her a downright scandalous kiss—the kind that made it clear what he wanted.

  Cara rested a hand on his chest and gently pushed him away, afraid of exciting him too soon after his trip into the white light. “Whoa, there. Let’s give your ticker a break, okay?”

  His eyes practically glowed while one corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. “I don’t want a break. I want you.”

  “But you just died.”

  “That was ages ago.”

  More like twelve hours. She gave him a firm shake of her head. “Not happening. I just brought you back from the great beyond. I’m not going to risk losing you again.”

  “I’m fine, really,” he insisted. “And if anything goes wrong, the transport medic can restart my pulse.”

  “No way,” Cara said with a laugh. “I’m not going to the infirmary and telling them I sexed you to death!”

  Smiling, Aelyx peered at the ceiling as if picturing it. “I can think of worse ways to die.”

  “Well, keep dreaming.” She took his hand and led him to the bunk. Whether or not Aelyx realized it, he needed his rest. “Because all you’re getting is a cuddle.”

  He heaved a mighty sigh but didn’t hesitate to scoop her into his arms once they lowered to the mattress. She tucked her cheek against that perfectly molded spot where his shoulder met his chest, and they spent the next several minutes listening to the noises of the flight crew priming the thrusters for departure.

  Soon Cara felt the gentle pull of inertia as the transport picked up speed and jettisoned them toward a new galaxy. When the rumble of the boosters died down and another minute passed in silence, she traced imaginary patterns on Aelyx’s chest and wondered if he felt the same subtle tug of anxiety that she did.

  “Hey,” Cara said. The brush of her fingertips prickled Aelyx’s skin into goose bumps, but it was a good tickle. He loved her touch. “What are you thinking?”

  Aelyx buried his nose in her scarlet hair. Sacred Mother, she smelled delicious, of citrus and cloves, temptation and warmth. He couldn’t believe she’d agreed to come home with him.

  “Just how lucky I am,” he said.

  “No doubt.” She placed a kiss over his heart. “If Troy hadn’t been there, I never would have used a defibrillator on you. I was so hysterical that my brain kind of shut down.”

  “There’s that,” Aelyx agreed, “but I was thinking more about you.”

  “Me?”

  He nodded against his pillow. “That you’re willing to leave behind everything familiar and come with me to the colony. Sometimes I still can’t believe it.”

  Her fingertips halted their lazy skate across his chest, her mood seeming to shift.

  When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Having second thoughts already?”

  “It’s not that…” she said. “I’m nervous, I guess. We’re on our way to the colony, but we haven’t nailed down a charter. Everything was up in the air when I left. Now that I’m the human representative, I feel all this pressure. People are depending on me, and to be honest, I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Ah, yes, Cara’s appointment to The Way. Aelyx hated to admit it, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, he was proud of her, and she deserved a reward for her sacrifice. But her new position meant he had to obey her every command. That kind of power imbalance could lead to trouble.

  “Try not to worry,” he said, grateful they weren’t using Silent Speech. “Alona won’t give you more responsibility than you can handle. You have to trust her wisdom.” Aelyx supposed he should heed his own advice.

  “You’re probably right,” she conceded. “But then there’s the failed takeover. I’ll bet Jaxen had more backing than just the other eight hybrids. What if they’re out there somewhere, regrouping? I’d feel better if we knew where Jaxen is.”

  And what he’s up to, Aelyx thought, still irritated that the trail had gone cold. If he ever had another chance to kill the fasher, he’d make sure Jaxen stayed dead.

  “And the Aribol,” Cara added, shivering a moment in his arms. “We don’t know if they’re a threat or—”

  “Elire, stop.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “You’re forgetting about the alliance. Neither of us is alone now. With human numbers and L’eihr advancement, we’re stronger than any enemy I know. Whatever problems lie ahead, we’ll face them together.”

  She considered that for a while, then intertwined their fingers and repeated, “Together.”

  “Yes.” Squeezing their linked hands, he reminded her, “And remember, we prevented a coup and saved both our worlds yesterday. We might be superheroes.”

  Cara smiled against his chest. “It sounds impressive when you say it like that.”

  “It does, doesn’t it? I think we’re entitled to a break.”

  “Agreed,” she said with a nod.

  “No more worries, then,” he declared. “In a week, we’ll be in our new home—no roommates, no bunk beds, no classes. Just you and me and miles and miles of beach.”

  He sensed a thrill of energy pass through her. “I can almost smell the salt in the air,” she said.

  So could he. Their new life was so close that when he shut his eyes, the gentle rush of sea foam seemed to bubble over his feet. It couldn’t come quickly enough. The future was uncertain, but Aelyx knew one thing—it wouldn’t be dull with Cara by his side.

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to my editor, Laura Schreiber, for once again leading me through the revision process and taking this book to the next level. I value your guidance more than you know. Additional thanks to my agent, Nicole Resciniti, for the countless brainstorming sessions that contributed to this finished product. If the L’eihrs truly existed, they would clone you in an instant!

  Much love to my critique partners, authors Lorie Langdon and Carey Corp, for their support, and even more for their friendship. Additional hugs to the Lucky 13s, the Class of 2k14, and the NBC Writers for providing a shoulder to lean on…and cry on when necessary. I’m
so glad that we found each other.

  As always, I’m grateful to my family and friends, who never fail to amaze me with the depth of their support for my writing. I love you!

  And finally, I’d like to extend my gratitude to the readers, librarians, bloggers, YouTubers, and reviewers who have made this series so successful by simply talking about it. Believe it or not, getting a book published isn’t the hardest part. The real challenge is making that book stand out among a sea of other novels in the marketplace. Nothing is more powerful than word-of-mouth advertising, and your recommendations have made an enormous impact. Thank you!

  Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “sweetheart of Ohio.” For more information, or just to say hello, visit melissa-landers.com.