He looks at his son before smiling affectionately at me. “I’ve always known who you are, Tori. This is no surprise to me.”
Jensen almost falls off his chair, and my eyes are bugging out of my head. “How?” I splutter.
“I’m such a fool.” Mom presses her palm into her forehead, muttering under her breath as she shakes her head. “It was as obvious as the nose on my face, and I didn’t think of it for a second. I’m sorry, Victoria.”
I’ve no idea what she’s on about, but before I can question her, Jensen’s dad responds.
“I was there the night you arrived. I saw you crash land, and I went out to investigate. I swore to keep it a secret. Maeve doesn’t even know,” he says, referring to his wife.
“Dad.” Jensen tugs on his father’s elbow, his eyes sparking with expectation. “Does that mean you know where the capsule is buried?”
“Of course,” he confirms, glancing between me and his son. “Does that have some significance?” He arches a brow.
I jump up, darting to his side. “Could you help us find it? My birth parents hid something inside that I need.”
“Of course.” He bobs his head, ruffling my hair. “You know I’d do anything for you, kiddo.”
“Why?” I ask again, emotion clogging my throat. “Why would you want me hanging out with your son? Why weren’t you telling him to keep his distance?”
“Honey.” He pulls me into his arms, and I go willingly. “You’ve always been the sweetest girl, with the purest heart, and that was all that mattered. Of course, I had concerns when you and Jensen first started dating, but you loved each other so much I knew you’d face any obstacles in your path.”
My eyes meet Jensen’s for a few seconds, and I see the hurt still lingering there. It hurts me too. Jensen has been such a huge part of my life, and I owe him a lot. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us,” I say, looking up at his dad. “But I’ll always care about your son and cherish my youth growing up here with him on this farm. And thank you for not being judgmental.”
“If everyone was like you, our current situation would be a non-issue,” Aunt May says.
“About that,” Coop says, cutting in, his ears pricking up.
I shuck out of Mr. Butler’s arms, straining my hearing, and several tangled voices tickle my eardrums. I whip my head around to Dane. “How far away are they?”
“They’re at the gate.”
“Who are?” Mom asks, worry lines deepening in her brow.
“An angry mob from the town is on their way here,” Coop confirms. “And they want answers.”
“We need to get you out of here,” Dane says, reaching for me.
“No.” I step back, shaking my head. “I’m not leaving Mom to face this alone, and I’m not running scared.”
A familiar voice speaks in my ear, loud and clear, as if she was standing right here next to me. I head toward the door before anyone can stop me. “If I can’t convince these people—people who have known me my entire life—then what chance do I stand of convincing anyone else?”
CHAPTER 15
“Alinthia, wait.” Maddox grabs my hand before I open the front door. “We do this together.” He waits for his brothers to join us and then we exit the house.
“I have orders to evacuate you immediately,” Denzil says, blocking our path. The other two guards are standing on high alert behind him, narrowing their eyes as the approaching mob comes into view.
“Tell Glennev we’ll handle this and return to base in due course,” I say.
“Please, Chosen One. Just do as I say. If anything happens to you—”
“Nothing will happen to her.” Maddox shoves him out of the way. “And we take orders from no one but Alinthia.”
“Dane will telepathically explain to Glennev,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at him. He nods, and I’ve no doubt he was already on it.
I step around Denzil, moving down the path to put some distance between us and the house, just in case things turn south. “Mom,” I holler, spinning around and talking to her as I walk backward. “You and Aunt May stay right there with Denzil and the guards. Do not follow me.” I shoot her a stern warning, but it’s already too late. She gives Denzil the slip, stalking toward me with a fierce expression on her face.
“Now, I see where you get it from,” Dane murmurs with a half-smirk.
“I’ll take that as a huge compliment. Thanks.” I poke my tongue out at him, and his lips fight a smile.
“Oh, boy. This should be interesting,” Coop says, gesturing forward with his head.
I turn around and slam to a halt, my eyes widening as I see Kenzie, Hunter, Zara, and her boyfriend, Ethan, leading the charge.
Dane and Coop stand on either side of me with Beck and Maddox on either side of them. Jensen steps forward, walking toward our friends, and I hold out my arm to stall Coop as he makes to go after him. “Let him approach them first.”
Mom and Aunt May stand off to one side with Jensen’s dad and the three of Glennev’s guards.
“Guys, what’s going on?” Jensen asks his friends, folding his arms and leveling them with his stern face.
“We could ask you the same thing,” Kenzie retorts, pointing her finger in the air in my direction. “Did you know she wasn’t human?”
“Not until recently,” he coolly replies.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Hunter, his best buddy, asks.
“Because it wasn’t my secret to tell.”
I step forward with my guys in tow. We close the small gap between us until I’m standing face to face with my former friends and schoolmates. A sizable crowd hovers at their rear, pinning me with angry, suspicious looks. Several of the men blatantly point rifles and handguns at me, and Mom gasps from behind. I project my invisible shield, pushing it out until it’s behind my friends’ backs, in case anyone gets trigger happy. “Don’t worry, Mom,” I call out. “We’re protected.” I wrap the shield in a circle around all of us until we’re enclosed in an invisible blanket no bullet can penetrate.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I admit, my gaze bouncing between all of them before fixing permanently on one of my best friends. “Especially you, Zara. I wanted to come clean, but it wasn’t safe for you to know. You probably won’t believe me, but I was protecting you.”
“I knew shit went down with Kenzie’s car and that freaky guy that day at the mall. I knew you were hiding something, but in a million years, I’d never have guessed this.” She eyes me warily, and it hurts my heart. “Was anything ever real, or has it all been a lie?” she snaps, as Ethan places a cautionary hand on her lower back.
“I only found out who I really was a few months ago. Before then, I believed I was human. It was that day at the mall that set everything in motion. When that guy touched me, he activated my alien DNA, and I sent an invisible calling card to the guys.” I jerk my head at my protectors.
“Now, it’s all making sense.” Zara taps a finger off her chin.
“None of it makes sense, girl,” a man waving a rifle around shouts from behind her. “And you’re coming with us.” He points his rifle at me. “You need to go with that freak on the TV before he kills all of us.”
“He is going to try that anyway,” I reply. “He wants you to hand me over so you’re left with little protection. This is about revenge, pure and simple.”
“The truth is, you need Tori to keep you safe,” Dane says, stepping forward and talking over our heads. “You’ve seen what she is capable of doing. She is the only one who can protect you. We’re amassing an army, and we’re hoping it won’t come to a battle, but if it does, we’ll fight to defend the Earth.”
“Why should we believe you? You’re one of those freaks too. I don’t care if you look human, none of you are,” a small man with a bulging beer gut says, swinging his gun around on Dane.
“I don’t expect you to believe me,” Dane coolly replies. “But you should believe Tori. She’s grown up here. You know he
r.”
Loud murmurings rip through the crowd. “It’s clear we never knew her,” a woman I recognize shouts out.
“Did I ever give you any trouble in class, Miss Hart?” I shout out. “Did I ever give any of you any reason to mistrust me?”
“It doesn’t matter what’s come before. That was all an act.”
I rub a tense spot between my brows, frustrated as all hell. “It wasn’t an act,” I protest. “I didn’t know I wasn’t human. And now that I do, I haven’t switched allegiances. Earth has been my home for over seventeen years. Eaton Lake is my home. My mother lives here. My friends live here.”
I decide to lay it all on the line even if it’s risky. “The government has always known I was here,” I say, just as Daniel and Kylie come running up the road. “They’ve had people watching over me, and we’re working with the authorities now to protect Earth. Trust me, the last thing I want is anything happening to the people I care about. Earth gave me refuge when my birth parents had to send me away to keep me safe, and I won’t ever forget it.”
“If Tori didn’t care,” Coop says, addressing the wavering crowd. “She would’ve left here months ago when she discovered who she was, but she refused to leave her mom. Refused to leave Earth unprotected when she knew other aliens were coming here trying to find her. She has done everything in her power to protect all of you from this.”
“Cooper is right,” Daniel says, panting and red in the face. “Tori is no threat to anyone in Eaton Lake or any place else for that matter.”
“It’s no secret you’re one of those alien conspiracy theorists. It’s no wonder you’re defending her. You’re probably on a permanent boner since you discovered aliens were among us,” one of my ex-classmates shouts.
“You’re an idiot, Fields,” Daniel replies. “And if I remember correctly, you were crushing hard on Tori in eighth grade.”
“Don’t fucking remind me,” he barks, as Jensen snarls at him.
“This is a fucking waste of our time,” Dane projects to all of us. “We need to shut this down, get back to base, and reach out to the director.”
“Stop this nonsense!” Mom says, walking to my side. She slings her arm around my waist, facing the angry mob with a threatening look. “Victoria is my daughter. The same girl you have always known. Just because you’ve discovered her DNA is not of this world doesn’t mean she’s changed. She is the same person.”
She smiles at me. “Albeit with a few more skills in her back pocket, but that can only be a good thing in this situation.” She eyeballs the crowd. “Victoria will defend us and keep us safe, and if you don’t believe that, then you deserve any fate coming your way.” She jabs her finger in the air. “Put that weapon down, Ben Cummings. My husband would turn in his grave if he saw you pointing that thing at his daughter.”
Ben lowers his weapon, looking sheepish. “Sorry, Mrs. King. But you can’t blame us for being worried.”
“I don’t blame you for that. It’s a natural reaction, but you all seem to have forgotten half your braincells. You know Victoria. You know she wouldn’t hurt a fly unless she had to. What that nasty general showed on the TV was a deliberate manipulation to make you think she was dangerous to you. She was rescuing her friends who had been kidnapped and acting in self-defense. And she doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt which is why she’s been trying to make this go away behind the scenes before anyone panicked. That… that… douche canoe spilled his guts on TV to provoke a riot. To distract everyone so that he could sneak in and destroy our planet.”
A giggle escapes my mouth, as Coop and Maddox quietly chuckle. Mom’s never used the D-word before, and it’s so funny hearing it leave her lips. I can’t help wondering if she’s been reading some of my books while I’ve been gone, because I’ve never heard anyone say that in real life, and I wasn’t aware she knew of the word.
She plants her hands on her hips. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to let that happen. I’m trusting in my daughter and her friends and putting my full faith in their ability to keep us safe. If you have any braincells left in those stupid heads of yours, you’ll see the same.” She waves her hands in the air. “Now, shoo. Go home, and I might be able to forget you made giant asses of yourself.”
The crowd disperse, some still shooting ominous glances in my direction, but they leave and the threat leaves with them. I retract my shields as I pull Mom into a hug. “You’re like my secret weapon,” I say. “Thank you, Mom. You’ve still got my back.”
“I’ve always got your back, Victoria. As long as there’s oxygen in these old lungs.”
“You’re my new hero, Mrs. K,” Cooper says, taking his own hug once I let Mom go.
“Now, who’s a suck-up,” Maddox teases, yanking him away from Mom and enveloping her in his giant arms.
“Suck that up,” Coop retorts, flipping him the bird.
“You’re just jealous because I’m her favorite. Isn’t that right, Mrs. King?”
“You’re all my favorites,” she admits, sounding and looking flustered as Maddox releases her.
“Why are you still here?” Dane snarls, and I spin around, seeing Kenzie, Zara, Ethan, Hunter, Kylie, and Daniel still here.
“Because Tori’s my best friend,” Zara spits, prodding Dane in the chest. “And I don’t take orders from assholes like you.” She shoves him a little harder, and the look of abject horror on Ethan’s face is so funny I crack up laughing.
“Dude,” I say, clutching my stomach as I eyeball Ethan. “You should see the look on your face.”
I loop my arm in Zara’s, delighted when she doesn’t push me away. “I’m guessing you have questions.”
“Tons!”
“Alinthia.” Dane’s voice holds warning.
“I need to speak to them.” I pin him with a look that conveys my meaning. “Could you talk to Glennev and make an approach to the director on my behalf? Maybe take Beck with you,” I add, glancing at my sweet boy over my shoulder. “We need to figure out how Arantu tapped into our communication system and shut it down. We don’t want him interfering any more than he has.”
“I’m on it,” Beck says, nodding.
I walk away from Zara to Beck’s side. “Stay safe, babe.” I kiss him hard on the lips, uncaring what anyone thinks. Arantu has outed me, and I’m done hiding who I am and who the guys are to me.
He kisses me back, and I love the confidence I feel surging through the connection. “You too. See you later.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, and then he disappears.
Kenzie shrieks, and I spot the devious glint in Dane’s eyes before he pushes his face right up into hers, shouts, “Boo,” and then teleports away. Kenzie screams so loud it’s a wonder they haven’t heard her in the next state.
“As you can see,” Zara deadpans, looping her arm in mine again. “Someone is still a drama queen.”
“To be fair,” I say as we walk toward the farmhouse, “that kind of warranted it.”
“Girl, you’ve been majorly holding out on me,” Zara says, waggling her brows. “And I want to know it all. Every last delicious, deviant detail!”
I throw back my head, laughing, and it feels good even if it’s only fleeting.
CHAPTER 16
“I can’t believe Jack’s really dead,” Kenzie says, sobbing as Hunter drapes his arm around her shoulders, attempting to console her. Mom drops a tray with a fresh pot of coffee and cups on the table and walks back out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“I’m sorry, Kenzie.”
“So you should be,” she snaps in between sniffling. “This is all your fault.”
“You do know Tori can firebomb your ass, just like that,” Coop says, clicking his fingers. “So, I’d be a lot nicer if I were you.”
“Coop!” I hiss. “Stop it.” I face a shell-shocked Kenzie. “I’m not going to firebomb your ass.” A mischievous grin spreads over my lips. “Not unless you really piss me off.”
“Yeah, Kenz,” Zara
says with a devilish wink. “Like, oh, I don’t know, hitting on Jensen repeatedly when those two had only just broken up.”
“Eh, how about we don’t go there,” I suggest, because, honestly, remembering that time does make me want to firebomb her ass.
“And Jack’s death isn’t Tori’s fault,” Maddox butts in. “He was already curse-infected before Tori even knew who she really was.”
“But that’s the point,” Kenzie says, her tears all dried up. “He was only chosen because of who she is, so it’s her fault by default.”
“What is it you want me to say, Kenzie?” I throw my hands into the air. “I already feel bad enough about that, and the fact I’ve a bunch of hostile aliens gunning for my ass, the president probably wants to hand me over to my chief enemy, leaving Earth exposed which will be on my head too. And I could go on, but I think you get the gist.” I slump back on the couch, sighing as I stare up at the ceiling.
Coop wraps his arms around me from the left side, while Maddox laces his hand in mine from the right.
“And what is with all the touchy-feely stuff?” Kenzie asks.
I grin as I stare at her. “They’re all my boyfriends.”
She titters. “Very funny.”
“Oh, I’m not joking.” I turn to Coop and kiss him full on the mouth. Then I turn the other way around and kiss Maddox on the lips. I’d really go to town but for the fact Jensen is in the room, and I don’t want to make this more uncomfortable for him.
Kenzie’s jaw trails the ground. “Holy fuck. You mean you’re sleeping with all of them?”
“I’m not getting into the details. You asked. I’ve told you. End of discussion.”
Zara smirks, shaking her head. “Damn. Why couldn’t I have been a hidden alien and four hot guys show up to protect me and worship me?”
Ethan elbows her in the ribs. “Thanks, babe. That’s just what I wanted to hear.”
“Tor,” Kylie says, shuffling awkwardly on her feet. She hasn’t said a word during the whole conversation. She’s been standing back against the wall, near the door, with her brother, silently listening as I explained everything to our friends. “Could we talk in private before you go?”
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