Her hand moved to her weapon without conscious thought.
"What—" Her voice cracked. She swallowed and tried again. "What are they?"
Morgan's mouth curved into a faint smile. "The big one is my mate. The others are his people—Saelori. They call him the Vykan."
Serafina couldn't look away from the red eyes. They hadn't blinked. They hadn't moved. They just watched, patient and absolute, as if they had been watching her long before she walked into this room.
"Why are you doing this?" The words came out harder than she intended, edged with something close to fear. "What do you want from me?"
Morgan didn't answer immediately. Instead, she opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a thick envelope. She set it on the surface between them—a stack of cash, crisp and banded.
"Ten thousand dollars," Morgan said. "Your fee. For the interview."
Serafina stared at the money, then back at the glass, then at Morgan.
"You can take it and walk out that door right now," Morgan said. "No questions asked. No strings attached. You came, you answered my questions, you've seen what you've seen. The money is yours either way."
Serafina's eyes flicked to the glass. "And if I talk?"
"To whom?" Morgan's tone was mild. "The world already knows contact is real. Anyone you told would assume you'd lost your mind—or they'd believe you and do nothing, because what could they do?" She shrugged. "We're not worried."
She paused, and something in her expression shifted—something that looked almost like understanding.
"Or," Morgan said, "if you're still interested, you can follow me."
The red eyes watched from behind the glass.
Serafina didn't move.
CHAPTER 10
Serafina stood frozen, her hand still resting on her weapon, her eyes locked on the figures behind the glass.
Fear coursed through her—sharp, instinctive, the kind that made her pulse hammer in her throat and her muscles tense for flight. But beneath it, tangled up in ways she couldn't separate, was something else. Curiosity. Excitement, even. A wave of disbelief washing through her body, followed by something that felt almost like wonder.
Discovery.
As if she had stumbled onto something nobody else on Earth knew. As if the universe had cracked open a door and she was the only one standing close enough to see through it.
The massive figure behind the glass hadn't moved. Those red eyes still watched her, patient and absolute.
Serafina forced herself to breathe. Forced herself to think.
"You're going to let me walk out of here alive," she said slowly, "having seen that, if I refuse?"
"Yes," Morgan said.
"You don't worry that I'll tell someone your secret?"
Morgan's expression didn't change. "What's there to worry about? Earth knows about extraterrestrial life. They've madecontact. There's nothing new for you to reveal, and most people you'd speak to would think you're crazy." She paused. "I wouldn't say a thing if you want to be taken seriously. That is... if you're leaving."
Serafina looked at the envelope on the desk. Ten thousand dollars. Enough to buy Angelo a few months of medication. Enough to chip away at the mountain of debt waiting for Aria when she woke up.
She picked it up and put it in her bag.
Morgan watched her, waiting.
"I haven't said I'm leaving," Serafina said. "You're going to have to explain a whole lot more."
