by Jaymin Eve
His lips twitched. Minutely. So minutely I wondered if I’d imagined it. He took a step closer and I swallowed the sudden nerves filling my throat. I wasn’t used to people towering over me the way he did. Our bodies were almost touching; the heat coming from him was like an inferno. Was the heat an alien thing? Or a Xander thing?
“I don’t need any complications in my life…, human.” He deliberately dragged the human part out this time. “The rest of the secret keepers and overlords might have found their soulmate and perfect match in each other. But you and me, we are never going to be anything.”
I laughed. In his face. I couldn’t help it. Who did this arrogant piece of shit think he was?
Again he looked astonished, like I was just shocking him all over the place. The second my laughter cut off, I tilted my head back so that our eyes met. “If you were the last human on earth, I would not touch you.” I enunciated each word with care. “And considering you’re not even human, alien man, then I guess we have nothing to worry about. I’d prefer my kids don’t come out as little green mutants.”
Then, with one final eyebrow raise in his direction, I spun on my foot and hightailed it back to the house. My face was flaming. I was so angry that I wasn’t sure I could contain it. I had this insane urge to punch a wall or something, which was totally not my usual way of handling things. People who lived by the ocean and surfed, especially Hawaiians, tended to just go with the flow. I always thought that was my personality type as well … but I could have stabbed Xander to death and not lost a minute of sleep over it.
Not one minute.
By the time I stomped to the house, my anger had only increased. It might have set in permanently at this stage. Of course, when I got up there, I couldn’t remember the code I had been given last night, so I had to wait for the dumbshit to open the door. Xander breezed by like he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I was trying to decide which part of his body looked the easiest to stick the knife in.
Probably the throat. I could just slam it right in and he’d be dead.
Holy shit. I was losing my mind.
No dude was worth going to prison over, even an alien dude. So I would just have to suck this anger down and deal with him until the crisis was over. Back in the main section of the safe house, I could hear the others moving around. I quickly gathered up my borrowed pants again and hurried toward the bathroom. Emma popped out of her room just before I shut the door.
She was dressed in jeans and a white shirt, Converse on her feet. She blinked at the wet state of me; a small smile lifted her cheeks. “Do you need some clothes?” she asked.
I let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t pressed me on where I’d been. No doubt she could put the clues together and figure it out.
“That would be great, if you have something that might fit me?”
“Callie should have something,” Emma said. “You can start your shower. I’ll drop them at the door.”
Just as I shifted back to shut the door, she added, “There is a new toothbrush and some makeup and other bits and pieces for you in the top drawer. They have these safe houses stocked up.”
Gratitude hit me hard. “Thank you,” I murmured. “I’m really happy to have met you and the other girls.”
Her eyes lit up. “Same. I feel complete now,” she said with a breathtaking grin. “Our family is complete.”
With a wink, she spun and hurried off in the direction of Callie’s room. I took the quickest shower in history, and when I stepped out I wrapped the towel around me and brushed my teeth first. I never used makeup; no point when I was in the ocean so much. Luckily my skin was tanned, my eyelashes and brows really dark, and no one really cared what you looked like when you had sparkly gray hair.
So this was as good as I was getting.
Emma was true to her word, leaving a small pile of clothes on the other side of the door. There was new underwear—with tags—along with black leggings and a white shirt. I shrugged them on, and while the pants and shirt were a little short, baring my ankles and stomach, they fit well enough. I didn’t have shoes, and there was no time for me to grab my Converse, left at the lifeguard station in my bag, so I’d just have to go barefoot.
Going barefoot didn’t bother me. Shoes were useless for someone who was mostly in the ocean. But I did find it amusing that the only pair of shoes I had ever owned were Chucks, and that they also appeared to be the shoe of choice for the secret keepers.
Everyone was in the surveillance room again. Xander, Daniel, Chase, and Lexen appeared to be in the middle of a serious conversation.
“They’re figuring out the best way to get the helicopter out to take us to the airport,” Maya whispered to me when I sidled closer. “It’s noisy, and if Laous is monitoring the airways for traffic, then it’s going to be very obvious.”
She had a point. “He’s probably staking out the airports as well,” I suggested, thinking that’s exactly what I would have done. Why bother hunting us down; eventually we’d come to him.
“We’re not using the same airport as last time,” Daniel said, turning from where he was speed-typing into one of the computers. “We’re taking the boat out first, then a helicopter, then the private plane. We’re going to do everything we can to confuse the trail.”
“He’s going to know we’re heading for Overworld, though, isn’t he?” Callie asked, leaning back against a nearby wall. I hadn’t had a chance to see her this morning until now, and she was very pale. Her lips were almost colorless.
She looked ill, like a bad case of the flu had hit her. Before I could say anything though, Daniel rose from his spot at the table and in two long strides moved to her side. His arms were around her in a flash and Callie sagged against him. She dropped her head onto his chest, and as she closed her eyes some pink came back into her face.
“He will know, which is good because we don’t want him to attack Hawaii,” he said. “But we want to make sure we can get away without any bloodshed as well. This is the dilemma.” He dropped a kiss on Callie’s head, before turning to us. “We can’t waste any more time. Callie has been away from House of Imperial for too long. Her energy is fading.”
“Your energy is keeping her steady, right?” Emma asked with urgency. “Because the plane ride is at least six hours back.”
Daniel nodded, although the worry in his gaze did not lessen. “She will make it. I’m sharing energy with her right now, but … we don’t have time to waste.”
That really shook everyone into action. Lexen got off the phone, as did Xander, both of them declaring that everything was set up for all of our transports.
Then we were off.
I wasn’t sure it was a conscious thing or not, but the overlords kind of shuffled the four girls into the center, spreading out around us. Callie ended up between me and Emma. We both reached out to wrap an arm around her because she still looked wobbly. She leaned on me more than I expected she was comfortable with. As we moved Daniel kept shooting worried eyes at his mate, but she just waved him away when he tried to take her back into his arms.
“I’m fine, you do your overprotective thing keeping all of us safe. My girls have me.”
My chest hurt then, emotion so strong it was painful. This was what a family felt like. This was what it felt like to be relied on. Being relied on might not sound that brilliant, but it came with the stipulation that I could rely on others as well. Now that … that was my idea of amazing.
The boat was not where we left it yesterday; someone had moved it to a nearby marina. I helped Callie, practically carrying her, until she collapsed against Daniel’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and again this seemed to send some relief and energy through her.
Xander was the driver, comfortable behind the wheel of the marine craft. The engines seemed extra loud in the early morning silence, and in no time we were moving across the water.
Step one was complete. Hopefully the next two legs of the journey would go as smoothly.
8
The helicopter was not waiting in a nice, open, easy to access sort of area. Once we were off the boat, we had to cross about two miles through a pocket of forest. I worried about Callie, but she kept up without fuss. I wasn’t the only one shooting her concerned glances; she just wrinkled her nose at us.
“I’m fine,” she repeated more than once.
I was distracted when we reached the helicopter. I’d never been close to anything like it—it was like a large beast, sending plumes of leaves and dust flying as the blades rotated. I didn’t know who the pilot was, but clearly he worked for one of the overlords. Xander maybe, because he greeted him like an old friend.
“Tommy, thanks for getting this all set up so quickly for us,” I heard him say over the racket.
We were all given protective headwear and then buckled into seats. The pilot wasted no time getting us into the air, and I was enthralled by the sight of the land growing smaller below us—while also trying not to vomit since I wasn’t exactly used to flying.
I wasn’t sure how the headsets worked, so I didn’t try to talk. I just let the million thoughts in my head go free. A lot had happened in the last two days, starting with my rescue of Maya in the water. But for some unexplained reason none of it felt weird.
It felt right.
That in itself should have had me flipping out, but I just … went with the flow. Wherever this new path took me, something told me it would be better than the path I’d been on. Loneliness … displacement … isolation. Silent killers, slowly leeching away my will to live, turning the world dark and depressing.
The moment I’d seen Maya, my vision filled with so much … hope. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I did. These seven people—aliens—were what I’ve been searching for. Even if I didn’t know that’s what I was doing at the time.
The helicopter ride was uneventful—I’d been tense the entire time waiting for an ambush. When we landed at an airport, Lexen got out first, and after he had a quick look around, helped Emma, Callie, Maya, and me out.
No one slowed, rushing across a large open expanse of asphalt toward a very shiny white plane.
“Xander’s plane,” Emma explained to me in a low voice. “He had one of them moved to this small airport. Luckily it has a just-long enough runway for this size of aircraft.”
I’d probably be an arrogant bastard like Xander if I had a private plane as well. Wanna go shopping? Sure, let’s take my plane.
I must have been grinning to myself, because Emma chuckled. “I can guess what you’re thinking. All of them have private planes. It takes some getting used to.”
That hadn’t been what I was thinking, but now that she pointed it out, I had to ask, “How can they all have a private plane? I mean, how do aliens make money here on Earth?”
They were royalty, sure, and maybe the government gave them lots of money to integrate into our world. Still, private planes were not cheap, even for royalty.
“They’ve been coming to Earth for a long time,” Maya said, picking up the conversation, her shorter legs pumping hard as she tried to keep up with us. “They own tons of companies, have their fingers in all the major industries, and basically control a lot of the world’s wealth.”
Number two reason to be arrogant. Still, Xander was a being of the water, like me. Money could not buy the true beauty in life. He should know better.
As if he’d heard that—or maybe it was the narrow-eyed glare I leveled on him—he tilted his head in my direction. “I own PlastoDestruction. Our company designed the machine that is stripping the oceans of plastics, pollutants, and other trash. I’m using my money to preserve this world for as long as possible.”
That placated me somewhat, so I gave him a nod and tucked my bitch face away. No doubt I’d have to bring it out again soon; Xander was very good at pushing my buttons. But I had heard of his company, and I’d long admired the work they did. The smallest of grins tilted up the corner of his lips as he reached the steps to his plane. He had a quick chat with the pilots who were standing there before they boarded the aircraft.
He turned to us. “Everything is good to go. Final safety checks are complete.” He then stepped aside and let everyone board first. I ended up being at the back of the group, which meant Xander was eye level with my ass as he followed me up. I wanted to turn and see if he was staring, but part of me was worried he wouldn’t be, and that would upset me.
Because I was an idiot who stupidly cared if an alien found me attractive.
When I reached the landing, I stepped into the opulent entrance of his plane. There were large, plush chairs everywhere, and I chose one at random. Emma and Lexen were across from me. Maya and Chase to my right. Callie and Daniel were two seats back.
Xander chose to sit in a single seat near the front. I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or not that he was putting some distance between us. It was certainly easier to ignore someone when you couldn’t see their stupidly handsome face.
“Seat belt.”
My head snapped up at that command, and I realized it was the man himself. He had leaned out so that he could level that stoic glare on me. “What?” I asked him, my eyebrows slamming together.
“Put your damn seat belt on. We’re about to take off.”
I flipped him off. My finger rose without me even taking a second to think about it. I waved it at him like it was a friendly greeting.
He pressed his lips together and it kind of looked like his right eye was twitching.
“Please put your seats upright and seat belts on. We are about to depart.” The pilot’s voice echoed around the cabin.
This time I clicked my belt into place and focused on the floor. The nerves in my belly were kicking in hardcore. The helicopter ride had been okay, because I could see clearly out the windows. But the plane felt different.
Please don’t let me get airsick. That was my one hope. Nothing worse than barfing in front of four hot princes.
The plane taxied, slowly moving into position. It stopped for a few moments. I wasn’t sure why that was, but it did nothing except increase my panic. This was not normal. No one should fly like this. I was meant to be on land … in the ocean. I was leaving my ocean.
Squeezing my eyes tightly closed, I started taking long, slow breaths, in through my nose, out through my mouth. It didn’t seem to be doing anything. A hand gripped mine and I squinted one eye open to find Emma next to me.
“It’s okay,” she said quietly. “I’m not a huge fan of flying. None of us are.”
I swallowed, my chest heaving. “It’s too enclosed,” I managed to choke out. The helicopter hadn’t been the same. “I can’t see the sky. I can’t feel the breezes. I can’t breathe.”
A choking feeling was creeping up my throat, and I was about live out my worst nightmare by vomiting everywhere. Emma’s eyes grew really wide. I heard her shout something, but in that moment the plane cranked into gear and we were all shot back in our chairs as it took off along the runway.
A low whimper escaped me. I slammed my lips and eyes closed again. I was holding Emma’s hand like my life depended on it, and while part of me worried I was literally crushing her hand, I couldn’t seem to loosen my grip. There were voices around me, everyone talking, but it all sounded like static to me. My brain was locked in the throes of panic.
I lost my grip on Emma, but her hand was soon replaced with another; larger, more callused, and with a heat that Emma’s didn’t have.
Xander. Somehow that fact registered in my brain even when nothing else did. I wanted to throw his hand away, to move away from him, but I couldn’t. This literally felt like life or death to me, and I was holding on with everything I had.
“It’s okay, Avalon,” I heard him whisper. “All Royales react badly to flying. Something to do with our dependency on the water. But you’re going to be fine. You will make it through this. I promise.”
For the first time since I met him, there was no tone in his vo
ice. It was just soothing. Caring. For a second I pretended he did care, that he wasn’t just trying to prevent a situation where I freaked out at the start of a six-hour flight. More warmth wrapped around me and I sank into it, my head going fuzzy as the adrenaline started to wane and my body crashed. We were definitely in the air, the plane smoothly gliding skyward. My eyes were still tightly closed, but the static in my head was easing.
As my breathing evened out, I pressed my face closer to the softness of Xander’s shirt. He smelled of the ocean. That briny, fresh, perfect scent of home. Damn him for smelling like home.
The captain’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker again, advising everyone it was fine to remove seat belts and move about the cabin.
“Is she okay?” I heard Chase ask, his voice close by.
Xander shifted, pulling me closer to him. I was half sprawled across his body now, but I couldn’t seem to move away. I needed my ocean.
“She’s dealing,” Xander said bluntly. “She’s a lot more Royale than I expected. We’re prepared for this when we travel on aircraft for the first time, but I didn’t think Avalon would have the same issues.”
“Whatever you’re doing appears to be helping,” Callie said, sounding exhausted. “Thank you for helping her.”
I loved that there was so much concern in their voices. No judgement. Just worry for me. There went those warm fuzzy feelings again. Knowing I needed to stop relying on Xander, who was no doubt hating every second he had to “deal” with my situation, I wiggled my hands up to his hard chest, preparing to push myself away.
He didn’t let me go though, not even when I applied more pressure in an attempt to move back. I literally didn’t shift at all. “Give yourself a few more minutes.” His low voice sounded near my ear. “It’s a long flight, and I know you need my energy right now to deal. So … stop fighting me.”
