“What’s with the other man who came with them?” he asked.
“Harlem?” Cosmos pursed his lips and sighed. “Let’s just say I’m still trying to figure him out. Just be glad he is onour side.”
Movement on the far edge of the porch caught his attention.
Angel stepped out onto the porch, Harlem shadowing him like a silent wraith.
The tall Black man looked every inch the soldier—imposing, deliberate, his gaze absorbing every detail. Nikos had seen dangerous men before. Harlem was something else. Like a blade honed beyond perfection if that were possible. His stillness made him think of a viper, waiting to strike.
"A sensor on the road detected a car coming down the driveway," Angel announced with a grim expression and narrowed eyes as he moved forward.
Nikos frowned and rose fluidly to his feet, his pulse slowing and his eyes scanning for Kiki.
“Only one?” he asked.
“Yeah. Two heat signatures inside,” Angel added.
“Are you expecting anyone else?” Cosmos asked.
“No.”
Angel’s single response caused Nikos’s stomach to tighten. A frown darkened his features when he noticed Kiki was no longer standing on the dock. His eyes swept the shoreline.
She’d been standing near the water a minute ago—her hair catching the sunlight, her face tilted toward the breeze.
Now, the spot was empty. His throat tightened at the thought of her being out of his sight.
Lucas and Cole exited the cabin, both armed and alert. Lucas was adjusting his sidearm while Cole scanned the tree line with a frown.
“Where’d the aliens go?” Cole asked, frowning as he scanned the driveway. “They were just here?—”
“What the hell—” he started, his gaze still scanning for Kiki.
“Don’t worry about Teriff and Mak. They can take care of themselves,” Cosmos cut in, his voice tinged with dryness.
Relief crashed over him in a single, violent wave as Kiki stepped out from the shadows near the steps of the dock. She turned troubled eyes to him.
She had slipped the hood of her hoodie back over her hair. She looked young, radiant… and fragile.
“I’ll get Kiki,” he said. “I want her in the safe room, out of reach of those bastards.”
Angel nodded tightly. “I’ll cover the front. If anyone comes in from the lake, I want to take them out before they reach the shore. Cole, can you cover the back? Lucas cover the east. Harlem, if you can help your alien friends on the western front, that should cover us.”
“Cosmos, you and RITA are on comms. Keep us posted on any movements and protect Kiki at all costs,” he added.
Cosmos checked the pistol in his hand and nodded.
“I’ll greet whoever’s coming,” Markos said.
“Let me. You cover my back,” Nikos countered.
“You boys may what to get into position,” RITA’s voice rang out through the speakers. “ETA of baddie in less than three minutes.”
“Let’s move it,” Angel called out.
Nikos took the mic that Angel held out and slid it around his ear before he jogged down the porch steps. His boots thudded lightly across the dirt as he cut across the clearing toward Kiki. The distant whisper of the wind through the pines couldn’t mask the low hum of dread rising in his blood.
He scanned the trees, searching for blind spots, studying the way the shadows shifted.
