“Oh, you’re up.” The imagined Timber set down her book and stood, stretching her back. “Good. I’ll go get Harrison. He’s been dying to see you again, but T’raat insisted we let you sleep until you woke naturally.”
“Dad?” What was going on? Why would Timber get Dad? “Dad’s back in Wisconsin. We’re halfway to Xalan by now, aren’t we?”
Timber groaned. “Oh, Christ, this is gonna be tough.” She handed me a pile of folded clothing. “Put these on. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and I’d rather do it over a hot cup of coffee.”
A sinking feeling hit as Timber left to let me get dressed. I’d been awake a few minutes, but my mind still had me on the farm. I didn’t understand what was going on.
Where was T’raat? Aunt Ann? Where was the ship, and how did I get home?
Since the only way to find out was to get dressed and go downstairs, that’s what I did.
I immediately regretted not insisting on the kind of implants that LoJacked us for each other. I didn’t like how cryptic Timber was being, or the fact thatshewas the one waiting for me to wake up and not my fiancé. Something felt really, really wrong, and my sinking feeling turned into a hard pit in the bottom of my stomach before I even got downstairs to the kitchen, where I found Timber, Dad, N’kal, and Marcus. No Aunt Ann. No X’nit. No H’rran.
No T’raat.
None of this made sense.
I tried to hide the tremor in my hands as I put them on my hips and took the most imposing stance I could muster. “Where’s T’raat?”
They all exchanged grim glances, but no one spoke. It was like they were mentally arguing over who was going to break the bad news to me, whatever that bad news might have been. The tremor spread throughout my body, and I struggled to maintain an outward appearance of calm anger.
Struggled and failed.
Tears fell. Snot ran. I sniffled and shook and sobbed. “Please. Where’s my fiancé? Where is he?”
From the look on Dad’s face, T’raat hadn’t spilled the beans when he dropped me off. Hell, from the looks on everyone’s faces I started to think he hadn’t told anyone yet. I knew we hadn’t come up with a game plan for the big reveal, but why would he leave me here without letting anyone know we had gotten engaged?
Dad recovered first. “Your fiancé?”
“Please, Dad. Please, tell me where he is …”
It was all too much. I fell to my knees, a blubbering pile of skin and bones and tears and worry. The only people here were too pregnant, too injured, or too human for a dangerous mission like the one Aunt Ann and T’raat had been discussing. Hell, Aunt Ann probably shouldn’t be wherever they were at, but I knew my aunt was too damn stubborn to let anyone else risk themselves if she wasn’t right in the thick of it herself.
I knew. Even though no one said anything else, I finally figured it out.
They’d gone to New York, to the intake center.
Dad and Timber knelt next to me, each resting a hand on one of my shoulders. I wanted to yell at them, to scream at them for letting T’raat dump me here instead of making him bring me along, but I couldn’t get much out past the wracking sobs and violent tremors. Nothing coherent, anyway. I screamed my frustrations, a primal sound ripped straight from my breaking heart. Timber pulled me into her arms and rocked me back and forth, right there on the kitchen floor.
“Shh. He’s alive, sweetie. He’s alive, okay? But it’s not safe for you there. We all thought this was best.”
I leaned into the smaller woman and dripped snot and tears all over her, well, my hoodie. Dad rubbed my back and mademore shushing sounds, but I didn’t want to shush. I wanted to keep screaming until mytyr’ilwas back at my side.
Finally, after maybe twenty minutes of my hysterics, my chest burned so much that I couldn’t scream anymore. I could barely breathe, and my swollen eyes had just about dried up. Even my sinus cavities were on E. As the hyperventilation slowed, I sat back up and wiped my face on my flannel overshirt. “I gotta go there,” I croaked. “I gotta get to him.”
“Leigh, honey, be reasonable.” Dad pointed at the small TV in the corner, which I saw was turned to a national news station. The image on the screen wobbled as the cameraman ran towards a chaotic intake center. Fires burned across the grounds, and screaming Xalanites ran for cover. I couldn’t make out T’raat or Aunt Ann in the throng of people darting back and forth, dodging bullets and bombs. Why couldn’t the cameraman just hold still for a second? “You can’t go there. What would you do if you did? It’s better to wait here until things settle.”
“He’s right, Leigh.” Timber tried to hold me again, but I jerked out of her grip and surged to my feet. “Leigh! We couldn’t even make it there in time to do any good.”
Her words came and went, but I ignored them. I stormed outside and ran for Dad’s private garage, where he kept his vintage sports cars.
Dad had never let me go in there. His cars were one thousand percent off-limits, and he swore if he ever caught me in there he’d disown me. This was a desperate moment, though, and I’d likely get disowned for getting engaged to an alien anyway, never mind what might happen now after T’raat and I had unprotected sex. None of that mattered, though. What mattered was my panicked brain seeking any and every way to get to New York, even if it meant stealing one of Dad’s restored vehicles.
I heard the thundering footsteps behind me, but I didn’t stop. They’d have to tie me down and sedate me if they wanted to keep me away.
Or an injured Xalanite could tackle and restrain me. That might work.
Renewed screams ripped from my raw throat as I fought against N’kal. As damaged as he was, though, he held me down with little effort.
