by Alex Hayes
I step toward Shri, this time. The adult Shri, as she’s obviously the girl drawing at the table, too, only she’s watching from a different point of view.
“Hey.” I wave a hand in front of her face.
Her eyes snap up, and she stares at me.
I smile. “Déjà vu, huh?”
“What are you doing here?” She sounds irritated.
“Looking for you.”
“Hmm.” The furrow in her brow deepens. “You’re invading my privacy.”
I rub my chin. “Well, technically, you let me in.”
Her arms cross in front of her. “Seriously?”
“This, um, scene kind of reminds me of the chili incident at the Jacobsens’ barbecue.”
Shri sighs and drops back against the wall. “Yeah. Guess that’s what brought this memory back.”
I nod slowly. “So, what’s, um, this all about?”
Her lips pucker. “The reason my mother left.”
She’s got to be kidding. “Why? Because, as a little kid, you knocked a pan off the stove?”
Haven’t most kids done something just as annoying? Or in my case, probably a lot worse.
“My mom left the next day.” The pan crashes to the floor. Shri’s eyes tug away from me. “She never came back.”
“And you blame yourself?”
She looks thoughtful.
The memory resets, and I’m standing by the door again. With a huff, I return to her side.
“I did for a long time.” Her eyes grow misty. “Then I guess I forgot. She killed herself not long after she left.” Shri rubs the back of her neck as if trying to remove an annoying ache. Maybe one locked in her heart.
“Dean thinks I should have tried to…” she swallows, “to save her.” Shri struggles on her next breath. “But I didn’t even know she’d died till I was ten. My auntie told me when I kept asking if I’d ever see my mom again.”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
She shrugs. “Better to know. But I guess, deep down, I blame myself.” Her lips thin into a straight line. “Was knocking that pan off the stove the final straw? Would my mom have stuck around a little longer if I hadn’t been so clumsy?”
“Some mysteries will never be solved, but you can’t blame a little kid for an accident like that.”
Curiosity rolls through me while we watch the next loop. When Shri’s mom starts scooping the food, I point at her. “Look at your mom’s expression.”
Shri frowns, then leans in to study her mother.
“And her arms?” I add.
“What about them?”
I draw Shri to the center of the room. “See? She doesn’t look angry. And those marks on her arms.”
Shri drops to her knees to study her mother. “Scars.” Her eyes turn sad. “Self-harm. She must’ve been hurting herself for a while.”
I’ve heard of kids cutting themselves. “Don’t really know what that’s all about.”
Shri sniffs. “It’s a way of dealing with problems, with emotional pain. She must’ve been very unhappy.”
“And that definitely wasn’t your fault. Not when you were six. And not now, either.”
Her eyes meet mine. “I wish I’d had the chance to know her.”
“I’m with you there.” I let out a sigh. “I had about fifteen minutes with my dad, and then he was gone.”
She rubs a hand across her brow. “Isn’t Brandon Williams your dad?”
I pull a half smirk. “He’s my adoptive dad. The biological one was from another planet.”
Shri’s eyebrows hit the ceiling.
“Guess you didn’t see much of the fight,” I say.
“Enough. But I’m not sure what I saw, to be honest.” She looks confused. “Except for Dean in a tense conversation with a four-armed muscle monster. Couldn’t quite believe my eyes.”
“Yeah, Dean saved the day. He was quite the hero.” I pat her arm. “We’ll talk. And Cadi’s got some explaining to do. Maybe we should have a group therapy session or something.”
“With Dean too?”
I grin, imagining how colorful that’s going to be. “Sure, why not?”
She bites her lip, and I pick up that there’s something else going on.
“So, you and Dean…”
Her chin lifts. “What about him and me?”
“You like him?” I shake my head at her eye roll. “I mean, you know, like-like him.” Why does this remind me of a past conversation with Cadi?
“Yeah, actually,” she says.
I nod, and smile. “Good.”
A flash of white. The memory resets and I’m back at the door. Irritating, to say the least. “You ready to get out of here?”
Shri’s arms drop to her sides. “Yeah. Definitely.”
42
Dean
Idris pulls in a breath and his hands slip from Shri’s.
Cadi squats beside him. “You okay?” she whispers.
He blinks and rubs a palm over his dark head. “Yeah.”
A soft groan tugs my eyes from the lovebirds to Shri. Her face puckers as she grips her forehead, then her eyes open.
“Shri?” Her name slips from my mouth. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” Her eyes meet mine and she smiles. “You came back.”
“Couldn’t miss the party.” Though to be honest, I wish I’d dragged Ty and Shri away from here before the madness started.
Her lips twist into that signature smirk I know so well. “I’m glad to see you,” she says.
My eyes lock on hers, uncertainty hitching my breath. “Are you?”
She looks away without answering and takes in the circle of faces above her. “Why are you all staring at me?”
“Because we were worried about you,” I answer, though scared to death of losing you more accurately defines my feelings.
Idris rises from the side of the couch. “Shri probably needs to lie down for a bit. That was quite a bump on the head.”
She gives him a long look. “I am lying down.”
He cocks his head. “Yeah, but it’d be better if you had some peace and quiet, as in… privacy.”
“Yeah… okay.” She seems to understand whatever he’s getting at.
Idris slips his hands into his pockets. “Dean… uh, why don’t you carry her up?”
I hesitate, wishing I understood the silent communication that just passed between them.
“Unless, you want me to,” he adds.
Hell no. “Put your arm around my neck,” I say, suddenly all business. “I’ll take you.”
Shri obliges, which surprises me. She’s not one to accept help without question. I scoop her into my arms and stride up the stairs to her room.
I’m about to set her on the bed, when her grip tightens around my neck.
“You can put me down now. I mean, it’s not like I can’t walk or anything.”
Eyes narrowing, I loosen my grip on her legs and they drop to the floor. “Then why’d you let me carry you?”
The sides of her mouth edge up. “Because I didn’t want to mess up Idris’s attempt to get us alone together.”
My lips part, while the words I need to say tangle in my brain. Then I realize her arms are still circling my neck and mine have slid to her waist.
I take a breath. “I’m sorry… about what I said. I can’t believe that crap came out of my own mouth.”
Her eyes turn glossy, making her blink and shift her gaze away.
“God, Shri. I know I don’t deserve it, but I’ll do anything to make things right between us because…” I swallow hard. “I’m not sure I can survive what’s ahead without you.”
She sniffs and presses her lips together. “I forgive you.”
I shake my head. “How can you after what I said?”
“Because I understand.” Her head tilts as she looks up at me. “That wasn’t the real Dean Whittier talking. It was some guy who’d had a ton of shit dropped on him and had reached his breaking point.”
She smiles at me.
At me. The biggest loser of all time. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“I think you do. You saved our lives today… Did you know that?” The intensity of her look holds me captive. “Ty’s, Pepper’s and mine.”
My head starts to shake. If I’d acted faster, I might have spared her from that whack on the head.
She lifts her hand and jangles the heavy bracelet on her wrist, her graduation gift from me. “Without this, I’d never have got the root cellar door open. We would’ve been crushed.”
That they might not have made it to safety chills my heart and my grip on her tightens.
“Idris told me you killed that monster,” Shri adds.
“You saw the thing?”
She nods. “Through the barn window. It could have killed you.”
“I was stupid taking him on.”
A smile stretches across her face. “I thought you were very heroic, actually.” Her arms slide a little higher around my neck, and before I quite know what’s happening, her face is close enough to be kissed.
I search her eyes, discover something misty and beautiful in them, then meet the softness of her lips. Her arms pull me closer as her mouth presses into mine. Slow and sensual. A side of Shri I’d never have dared imagine. A side of her I want so badly to know.
Our lips separate too soon, but hers offer a parting gift. “I think I might be falling for you, Dean Whittier.”
My heart melts and I tug her against me. “I don’t deserve you.”
Softly, she laughs into my neck. “I’m sure, with a little effort, you’ll get there.”
I smile and pull away, just far enough to see her face. “It shouldn’t have taken this long to realize how much you mean to me.”
Her dark eyes glow like stars in the night sky. “You were distracted. And now you’re not.” Her mouth meets mine, and the world and all its annoying complications disappear.
“So what made you come back?” Shri murmurs, a long time later, head resting against my shoulder. “Really?”
Reality worms its way back into my consciousness.
I press my face into her hair. “I didn’t want to hear it, but everything you said was true.”
Her fingers stroke the back of my neck, sending a tingle racing down my spine.
I close my eyes. “I was hoping for an easy way out. Thinking if I could get Mom to change, then Ty would be safe without me around. But that’s never gonna happen. She’s no better than Dad. You were right. I can’t take Ty back home.”
“Then why don’t you guys stay here?”
I pull away, brow pinched. “How’d you mean?”
“Ty loves this place. He’s already calling the Jacobsens Mama and Papa. And they clearly love him.”
“They do?”
Shri laughs. “God, Dean, of course they do. They fostered Cadi, and I’ll bet, if you asked them, they’d be willing to do the same for Ty. For both of you.”
“They would?” I shake my head. “No way. I can’t give Ty up to someone else. Not even the Jacobsens. He’s my brother.”
“I’m not suggesting you give Ty up. But once you’ve settled the legal side of things, he could stay with the Jacobsens while you’re at school. Just ask them. See what they say.”
Her suggestion sounds perfect. Even so, I’m having difficulty coming to terms with it. “I couldn’t put that kind of burden on them.”
“Why not? Cadi’s eighteen and working. Not so much a burden, anymore, and she’ll be around too. And so will you, whenever you’re not in school. Just talk to them, Dean. You’ll never know unless you ask.”
Resistance sets in. “Even if they agreed, I still need to win custody of Ty.”
“Brandon Williams gave you the name of a lawyer, didn’t he?”
I blink. “Yeah.”
“It’s just a phone call, right?”
I nod.
43
Cadi
Dean disappears upstairs with Shri, leaving everyone else standing around the living room looking bemused.
“Hi, I’m Ty.” Dean’s brother waves at Rowan, who’s human again.
She breaks out of a stunned silence and holds out her hand. “Rowan.”
Ty studies her skin as he shakes hands. “So you were, um, kinda green before we headed inside.”
Rowan smiles, though her eyes seem tired, if not haunted. Not surprising considering she was almost assimilated today.
“Yeah,” she says, “I’m Livran. A shape-shifter. I’ve spent most of my life being human though.”
Ty frowns. “So, when you’re human, are you like… really human?”
She tilts her head. “Pretty much.”
He nods. “Cool.” He’s so accepting, I almost laugh. “Same with you?” he asks me.
I nod. “Yup. And Idris too.”
Idris straightens and rubs his head. “Hey, any idea what happened to Mr. Scrim’s phone?”
“Um,” Rowan murmurs. “I iced it. To crack the SIM, so the Evatenon couldn’t track us anymore.”
His mouth drops open and Idris lets out a deep moan. “Oh, please. Tell me you didn’t.”
She sighs. “Sorry, but I’m afraid I did. Does it matter?”
“Well, shiii…” His swear peters out as he glances at the Jacobsens. “I didn’t get the location of the other Livran kids from Mr. Scrim’s memories. There wasn’t time. According to the memories I did receive, he’d left the information on his phone.” Idris shakes his head. “How the hell are we going to track them down now?”
Rowan’s face pales. “Cloud storage?”
Idris slumps. “Nope. Only two copies. In his head and on his phone. He didn’t keep a backup beyond that. The risk, you know?” He takes a breath and forces a shrug. “Well, we’ll figure it out. “ He looks at Rowan again. “What’s your story?”
Rowan’s shoulders slump. “Mr. Scrim picked me up after I, um… had a burn incident or two.” She bites her lip and looks down. “He said it was time I joined the others.” Her eyes bounce up again. “Meaning you guys, I guess.”
“Do you know where your bond mate is?” I ask.
“Scrim said LA. We were headed there when that Evatenon found us.”
Ty frowns. “What’s a bond mate?”
“Idris is mine,” I answer. “We were paired by our parents to be life partners when we were small.”
Idris pulls something out of his pocket.
“What’s that?” I approach him.
“A device the Evatenon had. I’m pretty sure this is what he used to locate the crystal tree.”
I study the palm-sized device. It has a button on the side, and at its center is a clear casing covering what looks like a Livran crystal, only the gem is transparent, like a hologram. “I can sense that crystal,” I murmur, “and it’s… familiar.”
“But not actually here,” Idris adds, angling the device to examine it sideways.
I shiver. “I recognize that signature.” His eyes meet mine. “It belonged to my dad.”
Idris flips the switch on the device’s edge and the holographic crystal disappears. “Well, it’s off now, so they can’t track us with it.”
Ty sidles up to his opposite side. “It looks like a compass.”
Idris nods. “A crystal compass, I’m guessing. Some kind of bridging device to extend the range of the real crystal, so the operator can use it to home in on us once they’re at close range.”
“That means any of the Evatenon could detect us if they came near enough with a similar device.” I shiver.
Idris pockets the device, circles my shoulders with an arm and gives me a gentle squeeze. “It’s off. We’re safe for now.”
Dean’s feet thud down the stairs.
“How’s Shri?” Mama asks from her seat in the nearest armchair.
“Resting.” Dean’s smile is wide and his eyes sparkle. “She’ll be down in a bit.”
“Feeling better, is she?” I tease.
&n
bsp; His eyes swing my way and the glow on his face diminishes. But only a notch. “Uh, yeah. Much.”
Ty waves his phone. “Hey, Idris, I recorded one of my songs yesterday. You wanna check it out?”
Idris picks up on the kid’s eagerness. “Sure, let’s go out on the porch and take a look.”
Ty grins and heads for the back door, followed by Pepper. The dog rushes through it as the door opens. Idris winks at me and follows.
Dean turns to Papa, who’s settled in the other armchair. “Hey, Tom. I’m really sorry about the barn. I think that Eva…” He glances at me. “What was that nasty guy called again?”
“An Evatenon.”
He nods. “Well, I’m pretty sure that Evatenon creature blasted the barn because of me.”
Papa chuckles. “Don’t worry about it, son. We had a decision to make about repurposing the barn. Guess it’s been made for us.”
Mama gets to her feet, glances at me, then to Rowan. “Well, everyone must be hungry. Rowan, would you be a dear and help me in the kitchen?”
Rowan nods and follows her as Papa eases to his feet.
He lets out a quiet sigh. “I’d better put those firearms away.”
And I find myself facing Dean. Alone.
He drops onto the couch. “So, you weren’t kidding about being an alien.”
I offer him a twisted smile. “Nope. Sorry.”
He follows the movement of his foot as he rocks it over the carpet. “So Idris…”
“I’d never have found him if I hadn’t come out here.” I give Dean a long look. “I mean, if the situation with Jake and all the repercussions that followed hadn’t… forced me to leave.”
Dean glances up. “You mentioned someone from your past.”
“Dre?”
His eyes meet mine. “Yeah. What about him?”
“Dre’s short for Dresandar.”
He drops his head against the chair cushion and a smile slips across his lips. “Idris is Dre. Yeah, makes sense.” He looks at me. “I’m glad you found him.”
I can’t resist a grin. “Me too.”
“Hey, Cadi… Dean.” Idris sticks his head through the back door, his brow dipped low.
Dean drops his hands to his knees as he leans forward. “What’s up?”
