We act normal or we ruin everything, according to Max. And Helion. And our mother. I sighed. “How much longer do we have to stay here?”
“Max said four hours.”
“Shit.” By my count it had beenmaybethree. And that was stretching it with wishful thinking and out-of-control optimism that I absolutely was not feeling.
Too many people. Too much talking. Too much noise and light and people laughing while I was worrying myself to death on the inside. Had they reached the hospital prison in time? Had they saved Kovo or was he dead? If they got him out, had they been caught on the way here? Or was he somewhere in this mansion right now waiting for me? As I’d heard from my mother countless nights when we’d been late for curfew, ‘You could have been dead in a ditch somewhere.’
Like most self-absorbed teenagers, I’d believed her to be hysterical and over-reacting. I never took into account the fact that she put dead bodies in the back of her ambulance on a regular basis, some of them kids like us.
Guess the joke was on me. I got it now. I really did.
I owed my mother an apology.
“Is your inner introvert about to die in agony?” Stefani asked. “Mine rolled over and went belly up about half an hour ago.”
“She is still upstairs hiding in the closet.”
Stefani reached for my hand and entwined our fingers. I squeezed, thankful for the grounding and comfort she offered. We were twins. We knew more about each other than we ought to, that was for sure. Having someone who so completely understood me was amazing far more often that it was a pain. I loved my sister to death. I loved my family, my mom and my grandmother—when she’d been alive. I was learning to love Max.
And then there was Kovo, who was burning a hole in my heart with a blowtorch.
Did I love him the way I loved Stef or my mom? No. This was totally different. This was obsession and lust. I seemed to be incapable of thinking about anything else ninety-nine percent of the time.
I would have entertained the idea that my single-mindedness might change in the future. Then I watched Mom with Max and knew I was kidding myself. This wasn’t like falling in love with a human man, getting married, possibly divorced. This was forever. Until death. With an alien race so devoted to their mates, so dependent on their females to keep them sane, they wore mating cuffs that literally caused them physical pain anytime they were forced to be separated from one another.
And theyliked it.
Was that love? My heart said yes. My head, however, thought my heart was a raging lunatic.
I sighed. “You should go dance, Stef. Maybe one of those hot warlords will catch your eye.”
“No. No way. If I can’t have Friday night hot wings at Richie’s, I don’t think I would survive.” Richie’s being her—well,our—favorite restaurant close to campus.
“Don’t forget the ranch dressing.”
“Blue cheese. What is wrong with you? You are a traitor to the true hot wing experience.”
I smiled, but the attempt was weak and half-hearted. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Trying to distract me.” I scanned the crowd once more. There were fewer than a hundred people—Atlans—here. We’d already met them all. Smiled. Made small talk for the required introductory period. Moved on. We were being watched, but we weren’t being pursued. “Come on. Let’s go to the kitchen and interrogate the event staff.”
“What?”
“They’re not Atlan. They’re not from Earth. I want to know where they are from.”
My sister sighed. “Can’t you stop trying to solve puzzles for one night?”
“No.” I was desperate for something, anything to distract me and Stefani knew it.
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
“Idle minds are the devil’s playground.”
“That one is hands.”
“Not for me. Not tonight.” I begged her with my eyes to help me escape.
