Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Heart Complete Series (Books 1-4): A SciFi (Science Fiction) Alien Warrior Abduction Invasion Romance Box Set

by Patricia Moore

  “Marty, did you—” I start, but stop again. It’s such an awkward thing to bring up, what happened last night. Either Marty doesn’t know about the Arcturians and will think I’m crazy if I start asking, or he knows all about the Arcturians, and if that’s the case, he may have a pretty decent idea about the arrangement in which I find myself. Neither one of those possibilities seems like a good idea.

  “Yes?” he asks after a few silent moments.

  Then again, if I saw the light from inside my house, it’s probable that everyone in Lake Vespertine township saw it as well.

  “Did you see anything out of the ordinary last night?” I ask.

  He lowers his brow a little, scratching the back of his head. “Out of the ordinary?” he asks. “I don’t think so. What kind of thing do you mean?”

  “So you didn’t see the light over the lake?” I ask.

  “Over the lake?” he asks.

  “Over by the lake,” I amend quickly.

  “Saw some headlights,” he says. “Car parked facing my house for a few minutes, then pulled on down the street. I don’t know what kind of car it was ‘cause I couldn’t make it out through the window, but yeah, I saw the light coming from the front of it.”

  He doesn’t seem to know what I’m trying to tell him. On the positive side, though, he saw the light even if he didn’t know what it was. It’s good to know I didn't just imagine it, but I don’t understand how Marty could have lived here this long and not know what’s been happening.

  “Does that happen a lot: People coming up here and parking?” I ask.

  “Mostly teenagers, I’d bet,” he says. “Lotta people like how secluded we are up here. High school kids have been bringing their dates up here for a good roll in the backseat since I was a student, myself.”

  “When was the last time you’d say it happened? Have you ever gotten a better look at one of the cars?” I ask.

  “Not really,” Marty says. “It doesn't bother me all that much, and it ain’t my business to tell them to get outta here, so I usually just leave it alone.”

  “Usually?” I ask.

  Marty turns his head a bit to one side. Peering at me, he asks, “You all right? Ain’t had another one of them episodes, have ya?”

  My blood turns to ice. I’m trying to close my gaping mouth. However, it just hangs there a beat.

  “You know about that?” I ask in a tiny, scratchy voice.

  “Don’t ya remember?” he asks. “You came by the shop yesterday asking if I’d seen ya walking around the—”

  “Oh!” I interrupt, laughing. For a minute there, I was beginning to think I had lost my mind.

  Marty’s smiling nervously at me as he asks, “What’d ya think I was talking about?”

  “No,” I tell him. “I guess I’d just forgotten we talked about that. I was just a little surprised. That’s all.”

  Marty squints as he looks at the floor, and I can only assume he’s trying to make it all make sense. I’m not sure if he comes up with a solution or if he just gives up, but a few seconds later, he’s shaking his head, saying, “Well, I still say we should have the doctor come by and have a look at ya. I don’t know if it’s something in your cabin or if it’s just one of those things, but you don’t want to miss the doctor up here if you’re sick. That reminds me, I called him up last night just to see how his schedule was looking. He can’t make a special trip, but he said he’d stop on by here when he comes up for his scheduled visit.”

  “Hmm?” I ask. I’d lost interest in what Marty was saying once he let me off the hook.

  He starts again, “I was just saying the doctor—”

  “Oh right,” I say. “You know, I’m feeling a lot better today. I think I just had a bug or something, but it’s on its way out.”

  “You sure?” Marty asks. “Now, I don’t mean to sound like an old worry wart, but it’s a good idea to get that sort of thing checked up on, you know? Never know when that cold you’ve got is the plague or something.”

  “I think I'll be all right,” I tell Marty, smiling with one side of my mouth. “Oh hey, I was wondering if you kept any of those boxes you were unloading yesterday.”

  Marty leans to one side to look past me into the cabin. “Need some more to finish the job, huh?” he asks.

  “Looks that way,” I tell him. “I’d be happy to come and get them myself, though it might take me a couple of trips with the car being out of commission.”

  “Nah,” he says. “We can bring the truck and haul ‘em on over here. You know, unless you prefer the exercise. With as sick as ya been, I don’t think I’d suggest that, though.”

  “Whatever,” I say and walk through the doorway, past Marty.

  I don’t know what I came across last night, but I feel so drained. If we’re going to do this, we may as well get it over with already.

  “Ya left your door open!” Marty calls from the porch.

  “Leave it,” I reply. “We’re not going to be gone that long.”

  What’s the worst that could happen? Someone might steal something I’m trying to get rid of as it is? Maybe that’s what I need to do: Just give Gramma’s stuff to the people here in town. They had to be closer to her than I was.

  “When we get back,” I say as Marty, and I start walking toward the store, “you’re more than welcome to look through Ambra’s stuff, see if there’s anything you or the wife could use.”

  Marty looks at the ground. “I don’t think the missus would like that very much,” he says. “She’s the proud type, won’t take nothing from nobody. Know what I mean?”

  I can talk to Ryker, but I don’t want to be here anymore. If the Arcturians can beam me up to the mothership, I don’t have to be at the lake.

  Last night, I could swear Mrs. Blaylock was chasing after me, but even after my eyes adjusted to the darkness again, she was never there when I turned around. I don’t know what that woman’s problem is with me, but I’m sick of the crazy crap.

  “Kate?” Marty says.

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  “We’re here,” he says. “Are you all right? You look kinda pale.”

  “I’m fine,” I tell him, shaking my head as if that will accomplish anything. “I’m just tired. Where did you have those boxes?”

  “They’re in the back of the truck,” he says. “I didn’t know if you were gonna need ‘em, or if I was gonna have to put them in the compactor. Either way figured they’d be better up there than in the dirt.”

  I nod my approval and walk around to the passenger’s side of the truck, moving a box of allergy medication out of the way so I can sit down.

  “Oh, that’s for you,” he says. “You mentioned ya got some allergies and stuff, and if you’re already not feeling up to par allergies are gonna just make everything worse, ya know? I thought that might help ya.”

  “How much?” I ask.

  “Oh, it ain’t a thing,” he says. “I’m overstocked with those as it is. If you don’t use them, all that medication’s just going to expire on the shelf like the wine that dies on the vine. You like that?” he asks and gets in the truck. “I heard a fella from out of town say that a while back, and I guess it just stuck—”

  “I can still pay you for it,” I tell him.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he says.

  “Marty,” I say, sighing, “come on. I want to pay you for them. How much are they?”

  I don’t even want the allergy pills, but I’m not willing to lose the argument.

  “Really,” he says, “you’d be doing me a favor.”

  “Marty, you need to stop doing things like that for me,” I snap. “It’s weird, and it’s creepy, and it’s not right. You’re married and I’m not interested, so will you just let it go already?”

  Marty doesn’t say anything. I was yelling at him, and now he won’t even glance in my direction. The good news is that it’s a very short drive to anywhere in town, and we’re already pulling up to the cabin.

  “
No more favors, huh?” he asks, his tone surprisingly calm. “All right then,” he says, putting the truck in park. “I’ll just unload those boxes for ya.”

  He’s out of the truck before I can get more than the word “Marty” out of my mouth.

  I don’t know why I just did that. Sure, it’s probably for the best and everything, but I didn’t have to be so mean about it.

  There’s nothing else to do, though, so I get out of the truck and grab some boxes.

  I pass Marty on his way from the cabin to pick up the next load. Although my mouth opens, no words come out. I have no idea what to say.

  Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long to unload the back of the truck.

  Marty leaves without saying anything, though I can hardly blame him and I don’t waste another moment. I grab a box, fold the flaps, tape the bottom and start packing.

  By the time I run out of boxes, I’ve nearly got the whole place packed. Everything will have to be out of here before I have someone come up and show the place, but I can always call a charity to come and get it. Realistically, there’s not another option now that I’ve let Marty know just how creepy I think he is.

  He’s the only one up here with a truck.

  By the time I get to the kitchen and start cooking dinner, the sky is already filling up with stars. Over the last couple of weeks, this has been my favorite time of the day. It’s usually around this hour that I find myself in some far off place with Ryker. Tonight feels different.

  Even though it’s silly, I check to make sure the cabin is locked and begin a thorough search of the house. The longer I’m looking, the more I’m starting to realize what’s scaring me. Yeah, Mrs. Blaylock freaks me out, but the fear I felt last night wasn’t even about her; a least not at first.

  I get to Gramma’s room after checking every space, even the hidden ones, throughout the rest of the cabin. I’m starting to smile at myself for being paranoid about the wrong thing. Still, I check under the bed, and I check the hidden space behind the dresser, but they’re clear. I open the door to the closet, but there are no scary old ladies in there either.

  I’m about to close the door when I notice something on the floor of the closet. There had always been clothes and shoes there, but even when I was cleaning it out, I didn’t even notice it.

  At the far corner of the closet is a board, only it doesn’t have any screws in it, only holes where the screws should be. It must be another one of Gramma’s hiding places.

  Bending down, I reach over and pick at the edges of the board, moving it just far enough to one side that I can get my fingers through the gap on the other end to grab it. I lift the board easily out of its place and set it on the floor next to the hole.

  “Let’s see if you’ve got anything good in here, Gramma,” I mutter to the open air, and I reach into the darkened space. I feel something against my hand, and I jerk back startled, but I’m chuckling a second later. It was just a spider web.

  I reach back into the gap and feel around until my hand comes against a hard corner. It’s a book. I pull it out of its hiding spot and dust it off.

  It’s an old, red leather diary. I almost put it back, worried about invading Gramma’s privacy, but I guess she’s probably not going to mind all that much anymore.

  The spine cracks a little as I open the cover of the diary, exposing its yellowed pages. I flip through, words covering every page from top to bottom. I guess if I want to know more about my grandmother, this is probably my last best shot.

  I feel a pinprick of heat in the center of my forehead. Ryker’s coming.

  The diary can wait. The truth is seeing even that vague form of the Arcturian last night forced me to stop denying, if only for a moment, just what fantasy I’ve been living. It’s easy enough to go along with the arrangement I have with them as long as the Ryker I know is quite literally the most attractive man I can imagine, but that’s not the truth.

  The truth is what’s so terrifying.

  Now everything’s growing dark in the room around me, and I stare up at the light as it slowly fades.

  In the next moment, I’m standing in a small room before seven Arcturians, all of whom are turned to face me.

  Chapter 11

  It takes a minute for the paralyzing fear to begin to subside. At first, this was a dream; then it was a fantasy. Now it’s probably the cold grip of reality that I feel as I stand here in silence. When I notice an Arcturian is standing next to me, facing the others, though, that fear comes back in a hurry.

  “Why are you here?” an olive-skinned Arcturian asks, though its mouth doesn’t move.

  “What do you mean?” I ask. “You brought me here.”

  “You are here before us due to the insistence of one that we consider judgment regarding emotional attachment, yet your energy differs from the last time you were in our presence. You feel great fear looking upon us now where you did not before,” the same Arcturian asks. I get the impression she’s speaking on behalf of the group.

  “I guess it didn’t seem real before now,” I answer.

  The Arcturian’s eyes flicker a moment before she responds, “You are not with child. If you choose, you may leave now.”

  I look over at the seven-foot-something Arcturian next to me, but he doesn’t look back. His skin’s a medium gray, though there’s a tinge of light purple to it. The more I look at him, the more sadness I feel.

  “You’re him, aren’t you?” I ask.

  He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t shift his gaze.

  “You’re Ryker,” I say.

  Finally, he turns his head, slowly.

  I reach out but withdraw my hand just as quickly.

  “You fear me,” he says, turning away once more.

  “No,” I say without thinking. “It’s just that this is the first time I’ve seen you. You know, the way you are.”

  I reach out once more and touch him on the arm. His skin feels like skin, only a bit smoother than mine. I almost make a joke about being jealous, but then I remember where I am, and I bring my hands back to my sides and face the Elders again. That’s what Ryker called them: The Elders.

  “You are very conflicted,” the olive-skinned Arcturian says. “Perhaps our ruling will help you make your choice.”

  “What’s your name?” I ask.

  “You may call me what you wish,” the Arcturian answers. A moment later, she’s already responding before I have a chance to answer, “You want to call me Olivia because of the color of my skin: This is acceptable.”

  I look back at Ryker. He should seem so intimidating standing so near to me, but if anything, I feel safer with him next to me. Pure confusion would be a vacation from this moment.

  “May I continue or have you already made your choice?” Olivia asks. “Given your conflict, we ask that you answer aloud.”

  “Continue,” I tell her, my voice catching a moment in my throat.

  “The matter initially brought before the Elders is regarding permission that would allow you to remain with Ryker,” Olivia says. “Should you decide to continue your aid, this permission must be denied.”

  “What?” I blurt but cover my mouth.

  The Arcturians don’t move, don’t react. Twenty minutes ago, I just wanted all this to be over; now I’m barking at them for not letting me spend more time with Ryker.

  “Shall I continue?” Olivia asks.

  “Yes,” I answer.

  “Over many years, our kind has made such arrangements with yours before,” Olivia says. “In the beginning, we encouraged the deeper feelings that resulted among many pairs. This leniency proved to be error beyond what your mind can comprehend. Should you choose to continue, you will be provided with a different male.”

  “No,” I answer immediately. “If I am to continue, I will not accept a different male.”

  Ryker’s looking at me now, but I keep my focus on Olive as I wait for the Elders’ reply.

  “This is not acceptable,” Olivia responds. “Do you choo
se to terminate the agreement?”

  “I don’t understand why you’re so willing to let me go,” I answer.

  “We know,” Olive says, “but it is the correct course. If you have become unwilling, you will be returned unharmed, and we will be to you once more like a dream.”