I did not understand this world. I did not want to settle here. I wanted to go home, to Atlan. Show Stefani the beauty of the central gardens. Our oceans were dangerous places filled with large predators, but our beaches were lovely. I knew she liked the water. She left one home near an ocean to another.
I wanted to take my mate home. Yet, I would live where Stefani desired. She was my home now.
“Here we go.” The driver stopped the vehicle in front of a large metal gate that blocked the tar road. He lowered his window. In the center of the area stood a small building. Two males in uniform watched our approach. One of them walked to the car window with some type of board in his hands.
“Name?”
“Look man, I’m just his ride.” My driver looked over his shoulder at me. “What’s your name?”
“Velik.”
“Velik what? That a first name or last name?” The guard leaned down so he could look me over.
“It is my only name.”
“A real comedian?” The guard shook his head. I inspected him in turn. He was large, for a human, but I could crush him easily enough. He was armed only with a short stick of some kind and a device I knew to be capable of shooting electric current through its victims.
First time I’d seen one, the other guards and I had purchased some of the weapons and spent an entire evening shooting one another while drinking Atlan wine. I had been stung by the ineffective devices many, many times.
“I am not a comedian.” A human occupation. Not mine.
My driver snorted, as if my words amused him. Perhaps I needed to clarify further.
“I do not play for the Lakers or compete in human football.”
The guard mumbled something to himself about drugs. “All right, wise guy, what’s the address?”
The driver told him. The guard flipped through some documents and looked at me. “Velik?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry bud, your name isn’t on the list.”
“Of course not. She does not know I am here.”
The guard chuckled but his expression seemed to imply that I lacked intelligence. My driver shrank, appearing to be shorter in his seat. “You need to turn around and go home. People around here don’t like unexpected guests.”
“Sorry about this.” The driver apologized to the guard, not to me.
A loud siren sound blared from multiple places. The car’s speakers. The comm device that my driver used to navigate to Stefani’s home. The guard also had a comm device in his pocket. He pulled it out, read something on the screen, and cursed.
It appeared to be some sort of human warning system.
The loud siren stopped. The voice on the car speakers changed.
This is a code red alert for residents of the greater Los Angeles area. A shelter in place order is in effect. Authorities are looking for a white male, seven-foot-three, three hundred pounds, dark hair, mid-thirties. The suspect is wearing a black t-shirt, pants and black boots. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Last seen at LAX. Reportedly heading toward Pacific Palisades. If you see the suspect, call 9-1-1 immediately. Do not engage. Repeat…
The voice repeated the exact same information.
I shrugged. Human criminals were not my concern. The male in question sounded to be large for a human but would pose no threat to me or my beast.
I opened the car door and exited the small vehicle, grateful to no longer be in such tight quarters. The moment I did so, the vehicle tires squealed as the car raced backward, leaving me behind. Which was fine. The driver had warned me I might need to walk from here.
The gate was no impediment when on foot. Fuck that, it was not even close to secure. I could bend it in half with my bare hands.
Ignoring the two human guards, I took three steps toward a grassy area that would bypass the gate.
“Hold it right there.”
