The Anuan Legacy: Book 1 of The Anuan Legacy Series

by Traci Ison Schafer

  “You should rest, too,” he said, eyes still closed.

  “Oh. I know. I should. I am. I mean, I will.” I fluffed my pillows and stacked them.

  He opened his eyes and sat up, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.

  I pounded the top pillow and knocked it aside, giving up on my sham of an activity. I uncrossed my legs and let them hang over the edge of the bed, a mirror image of my roommate, only a much smaller version. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you looked so serene, like you didn’t have a worry in the world.”

  “There’s no reason to worry. Everything will be fine.”

  Maybe serene hadn’t been the correct interpretation. Sitting face-to-face with him now, I could see his eyes looked tired, a little heavy in the lids. Who knew when he’d last had any decent sleep? Probably not in the cage they’d kept him in.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your rest.”

  “You didn’t. I think I need some food first, anyway.” He stood and stretched. “You hungry?”

  My stomach rumbled as if on cue. “Yes, actually, I am getting hungry.”

  “Well, coming through town, it looked like we have the choice of pizza or nothing, so I’m going to get us a pizza.” He picked up my car key off the table, where he’d tossed it when we arrived. “You can stay here and rest. I know you have to be tired after all that’s happened today.”

  “But—”

  “Pick-up window,” he interrupted with a grin. “As dark as it is outside, with the dash lights turned down, no Earth clothes will be necessary.”

  I laughed. “Good. Yes, pizza will be great.”

  “You’ll be fine here. Our ship’s surveillance team is watching.” He reached for the doorknob, but stopped and turned back to me. “So don’t be running around naked.” He winked.

  “Funny.” I tossed one of the pillows at him.

  He raised an arm to deflect it, then scooped it off the floor and dropped it on my bed. “Seriously, though. They’ll be watching the lab and this area. If anything happens or anybody who shouldn’t be comes within miles of this place, they’ll let me know and I’ll be back here. I will not let anything happen to you.”

  His humor had flipped to dead serious, and I had no doubt he meant what he said. Gaige wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt me.

  After he left, a void filled the room. Or me. I wasn’t sure which, exactly, but I seemed to miss him.

  What was I letting happen? I paced the room, trying to reason with myself. Alien. Ridiculously long-distance relationship. Stop being stupid!

  I could talk it through all I wanted. Still, my heart ached for him to return. How would it feel when he was gone from my planet for good? My eyes watered and I didn’t want to think about that scenario anymore.

  I stopped and pulled out from beneath my sweater the chain that hung around my neck. I gazed at the two gold wedding bands hanging from it and read the inscriptions inside: May peace and love surround us, always.

  Had my mother not been having their wedding rings inscribed for their anniversary, they’d have been lost the night my parents were robbed and killed. I stared at the rings until they pulled me into their memories and my thoughts drifted back in time. Zoned out on the two thin bands, I saw picnics in a park, kickball in a yard, birthday cake and balloons, and my real parents’ faces in every wonderful scene. Then, I saw Gaige’s face with his soothing smile, and the same comforting warmth I’d known as a child filled me again. My imagination envisioned us together, happy and in love like my parents had been. I shook my head to scatter the thoughts. What was the point of them? Once this fiasco was all straightened out, he would go back to his planet and I would be stuck here on mine. No good would come from imagining anything different.

  I dropped the rings back beneath my sweater and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Gaige to return. I fought the urge to lie back and rest, even for a minute, worried that if I drifted off, I’d wake to find everything had been a dream.

  CHAPTER 28 -

  BRIAN

  Summoned by the general, I sat in my office stalling, moving technical reports around on my desk. Whether military or civilian, you never keep a general waiting. But I needed a minute to prepare for the unsurpassed fury I knew General Ash would unleash. His prized spacecraft and ticket to unequalled power lay in a thick black puddle on the floor of our lab and the thing, as he called him, had walked out of our building unchallenged. This meeting wasn’t going to be pretty. Shit rolled down hill and I figured I was standing in the valley for this one.

  I straightened a stack of deliverable sheets, tapping the edges until they lined up perfectly, then I looked at my watch. Fifteen minutes had passed since the general’s call. I rose and took a deep breath. I had to face him and the longer I kept him waiting, the worse it would be.

  When I reached the general’s office, I stopped in front of his door, stalling for one more second, then I entered. The general sat at his desk holding a framed picture of his daughter. He pointed to the chair across from him. “Sit down.” His eyes didn’t move from the picture. “My daughter, McKenzie.” He brushed a finger lightly across the glass that separated him from her photographed face. “She graduates high school this year. I’m looking forward to seeing her in cap and gown. And getting her settled into college. Walking her down the aisle at her wedding. She’s very much a daddy’s girl.” Looking off in the distance now, his eyes had gone glassy. “She’d be lost without me.”

  A queasiness settled in my stomach. As thrilling as it had been to meet a real live alien, I began to wish Gaige had never crashed his spaceship into my life.

  The general clenched his teeth and looked at the blank screen on the opposite wall. “I want you to see something.” Still grasping the picture in one hand, he picked up the remote sitting on the desk in front of him with the other. He hit a button and an image appeared on the screen.

  I turned my chair to have a better angle. The footage was from the building surveillance cameras. Too nervous to relax, I watched on the edge of my seat as Tori entered the lab and the general and I left. I watched as she found Gaige, ran away from his cage, and then ran back again. I watched as Gaige broke free and, hand-in-hand, the two fled the lab. I watched a weak display of aggression on Gaige’s part. And I watched as the two exited the building. I’d watched it with my own eyes, but couldn’t believe it. What had she gotten herself into?

  The general paused the video on a frame of the empty hall. “The girl who left the building with that thing—you know her?”

  I hesitated, but odds were he already knew the answer, so lying about it probably wouldn’t go over well. “Yes, her name is Tori. She’s an intern.”

  He tossed the remote onto his desk where it landed with a hard thud. “And you’re friends, yes?”

  I looked at the frozen video frame, wondering if he thought I’d had something to do with what I’d just seen. “I’m more of a mentor, really.”

  “It looks to us like the girl was trying to help that thing. She at least didn’t try to stop it. We want that thing and this friend of yours back. And we want you to help make that happen.”

  “How can I help? I have no idea where they are.” And wouldn’t turn them over to you if I did.

  “We already know where they are,” he said, making eye contact for the first time. “We need you to talk her back.”

  “What makes you think she’ll listen to me?”

  He leaned forward over his desk. And me. “You’ll make her listen.”

  I knew I had no real choice. And I didn’t want anything to happen to Tori, or Gaige either, for that matter. If there was a chance I could be a buffer, I had to at least try.

  “All right. I’ll do whatever I can.”

  CHAPTER 29 -

  VICTORIA

  The door of our motel room opened and realized I’d fallen asleep. Gaige stood in the doorway with a large pizza box and a six pack of root beer, my favorite.

  “Di
d I startle you?” he asked, kicking the door closed.

  I pushed myself off the bed, thrilled it hadn’t all been a dream. “No, you just woke me. I guess I drifted off.”

  “Sorry about that.” He set the pizza and the drinks on the table.

  I flipped the box open and inhaled the aroma of warm yeast and tomato sauce. I hadn’t realized how famished I was until I smelled the pizza. We ate until we thought we might burst, then lay on our beds to rest while we waited. But rest escaped me. Instead, I stared at the ceiling with my thoughts spinning, wondering exactly whom, or what, I was holed up in a remote motel with.

  “Gaige?”

  “Yes.” He turned his head toward me.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.” He rolled onto his side, facing me, and propped himself up on his elbow. “Whatever you’d like.”

  I got up from my bed and knelt on the floor beside him. Taking hold of his hand, I compared it to my own. It looked the same, except manly, of course. Bigger, stronger. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of his hand in mine. Kind. Compassionate. A good soul. He was a good soul. My energy-level dropped.

  “What are you doing? You shouldn’t . . . we probably shouldn’t . . .” He pulled his hand back.

  I opened my eyes and studied his face. It had all the right parts to be human, but he clearly was not from Earth. “What are you, Gaige?”

  He grinned at me. I loved his grin. It wasn’t a full-blown smile that included the dimples, but was just as nice. It always seemed to be accompanied by a sparkle in his aqua-blue eyes. “What do I look like?”

  I took hold of his hand again and held it next to mine. Sleep that had evaded me earlier pulled at me with unrelenting force. I fought it. Our conversation was too important. “You look like me. Human. I suppose you’d have to, though, since you’re here. So you’ll blend in. But I want to know, what do you look like, normally?” My eyelids fluttered closed, but I opened them wide. I wasn’t going to fall asleep until I had my answer.

  He laughed. “You watch too much television. I’m not some shape-shifter or something. This is what I look like. Normally.”

  I blinked hard, forcing my eyelids to stay open, and stared at his very non-human eye color. “But your eyes. Humans don’t have eyes that color.”

  “It’s a mutation on my planet, just like blue eyes here on Earth.”

  My head bobbed. I jerked it upright, struggling to stay awake. Gaige stood and lifted me into his arms where my head rested easy on his chest. I felt safe and warm clutched against his body and yearned to stay there. But he laid me on my bed instead.

  “I don’t know why I’m so freaking tired,” I said, without opening my eyes.

  “It’s because of me,” he whispered.

  I didn’t hear anything he said after that.

  CHAPTER 30 -

  GAIGE

  I sat on the edge of Victoria’s bed, watching her. Her chest rose and fell in a choppy pattern—one or two long breaths, then a short, quick gasp—and her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t move a muscle beyond that. Her subconscious was trying hard to connect with me on deeper and deeper levels. That was taking a lot out of her. Attempts to filter my energies hadn’t been successful. Not successful enough, anyway. She’d read me easily with a touch to my hand. Her abilities were more incredible than I’d expected.

  “Conner to Gaige.” My communication device resonated in my ear.

  “Go ahead, Conner.”

  “I’ve spoken with Pags. According to the communications his surveillance team is picking up, the Air Force appears to be as interested in finding Victoria as they are you. Another thing. They think they know where you are.”

  I flinched and started to jump into flight mode. Victoria mumbled something in her sleep. I couldn’t understand what, but knew I had to take a moment to clear away my panic. Victoria didn’t need to pick up on any negative energy, and from what I’d seen of her abilities, she would.

  Gently, I rose from the bed and went to the other side of the room to put some distance between us, hoping the space might help. “I’ve got to get her out of here—”

  “Wait, Gaige. You have some time,” Conner said. “They’re still at the Air Force base pulling a team together. They want to keep any alien connection contained, so they’re not reaching out to their counterparts in other communities for help. You still have several hours on them. And their information on your location could be wrong. We don’t know yet. It’s coming from somewhere outside the building. Surveillance is having an unusually difficult time picking up their communications, but they’ll keep trying.”

  Victoria stirred, still mumbling, and reached her hand to the edge of the bed where I’d been sitting. I thought I could make out my name amongst her mumbles. With a calmer energy now, I moved closer and knelt down next to the bed, so she’d know she wasn’t alone. She drew her hand back and curled her arms against her chest. Her mumbling quieted, then stopped. She knew I was close.

  “Okay. In light of the new information, I’d still feel better getting Victoria away from here. No sense taking any chances waiting to find out for sure if they know where we are. Have Pags find another location, somewhere we can have the shuttles cloaked nearby. I want to be able to quickly have Victoria on the other side of the world if we need to.”

  “Got it, Gaige.”

  “Can you come up with a car, to pick us up? If they’re looking for Victoria, they’ll be looking for her car, too, so it’s best we distance ourselves from it.” I realized I’d been absently running a hand over Victoria’s hair as I spoke to Conner and pulled it back. Her lingering essence continued to tingle my fingertips even after I’d removed my hand. I gripped my fingers into a fist, trying to hold on to the feeling as long as I could.

  “Yes, we should be able to obtain a car. Pags already had some backup locations identified. I think one about an hour from you will work well for the shuttles. We’ll take the shuttles there now, and then I’ll come pick you up.”

  “Thank you. And, Conner, don’t bring any of the team. For Victoria’s sake.”

  “I hear you. I’ll come alone.”

  Though Victoria would have some time to rest before being introduced to another of us, I wanted to give her every advantage I could to manage our energies. I leaned over her, placing my hands above her—not touching, but close—and willed calm, restful energy into her body. “Sleep well,” I whispered, focusing hard on that thought as I moved my hands above her from the top of her head down to her feet and back. Over and over I willed relaxing energy into her until I had no energy left for myself.

  That should help, I thought. I lay down on my bed and drifted off.

  CHAPTER 31 -

  VICTORIA

  I opened my eyes to a dim light that shone from the small bedside lamp. It was still dark outside, so I knew I hadn’t had a full night’s sleep. But I felt well-rested. Energized.

  Gaige lay in his bed sound asleep. I barely remembered talking to him, but knew I had. I’d asked what he was. Had he answered? Maybe. No shape-shifter. He looked like what he looked like. Was that an answer? Not really. I wanted to know more and I knew exactly where to start. I ran to the window and threw open the drapes. “Gaige!”

  He bolted from his bed and was at my side quicker than my eyes could follow him. “What’s wrong!”

  “Damn. You’re fast.”

  “What’s wrong?” he said again, scanning me, then the room, then me again.

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  He let out a sigh. “If nothing’s wrong, why did you yell my name?”

  Looking out the window, I craned my neck this way and that, searching for a good clearing among the mix of thick evergreens and bare maple trees. “Turn off the light and I’ll tell you.” I waved a hand toward the lamp without taking my eyes off the night sky. “Sorry. I mean, Please turn off the light.”

  “O-kay,” he said, flipping the lamp off. “I take it you feel better?”

  “
Yes, I feel great. Not tired at all now.”

  “What are we doing in the dark?” His footsteps came back in my direction. “You’re not trying to take advantage of me, are you?”

  If I couldn’t see his alien smile in the dark, I could sure hear it in his tone.

  “You wish. Come over here.”

  He moved up behind me, so close I could feel his breath on my neck. I closed my eyes, pretending for a moment this was what it would be like to live with him, to sleep in the same bed with him, to feel him breathing in the night, so close we’d be breathing the same air. He didn’t say anything, just waited on me to speak. But speech wasn’t coming easily with him so close.

  “Um. Your planet . . .”

  “Yes, my planet.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear out my irrational, hormonal thoughts and focus on our conversation. “Your planet. Where is it?”

  “Let me get my bearings.” He stayed silent for a moment. “No, we won’t be able to see it from the window.”

  I flipped the lamp back on and grabbed my coat. “Then let’s go outside!”

  “All right, let’s.” He laughed. “You must be feeling better. It’s cold out there.”

  I realized then he had on nothing but his flight suit. “Wait. You don’t have a coat.”

  “The suit’s temperature-controlled. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.” He opened the door and stood to the side for me to go through.

  Outside, Gaige turned to look back over the top of the motel. He studied the sky for a moment, and then pointed. “There. You can’t actually see the planet, but our star, our sun, is right above that thick clump of trees.”