Chapter 9
NINE
Samantha kept her chin down and held her purchases—clothing and food, all wrapped in different colored packages—against her chest as she strode along the street toward her apartment building. Her legs felt leaden, and her feet were sore. She was exhausted for a good reason. Sarai had given her a few hours of work today and had seemed tempted to allow Sam to keep working even after the borian woman’s unreliable brother finally showed up. The labor had been satisfying, and it had kept Samantha’s mind occupied.
Now, with little to focus on but the people milling around her on the street, she found herself reminiscing.
Two days had passed since she’d had last seen Alkorin. Despite her urges to call him, they hadn’t spoken in that time. She felt miserable; confused and scared, too, but above all miserable.
She missed him.
By day, the sedhi had lurked in the forefront of her mind, and by night, he haunted her dreams, leaving her to awake a hot, sweaty mess with her sheets tangled around her. She kept thinking about the feel of his tall, strong body against hers, of his hands in her hair and on her backside, of his kiss.
Oh God, his kiss .
She’d never known that a kiss could steal her breath, that it could claim her mind, body, and soul all at once. He’d made her forget everything—her past, her pain, her loss, her doubt, and her trepidation. His lips had left room inside her for only desire and need. Alkorin had wound her up so tight that a single stroke would snap her.
Her time with him had been wonderful, like floating through a waking dream. He was playful, charming, protective, and kind. Though he treated her with thoughtfulness, he didn’t act like she’d break at his slightest touch. He knew when to push and when to retreat. Though each time he pulled away, Samantha yearned to reach for him and bring him closer. He made her long for things she’d never experienced, made her long for things she never thought she could have.
She wanted him. More than anything in this universe, she wanted the sedhi who set her blood on fire.
She just didn’t know how to overcome her uncertainty, her past experiences…
Didn’t know how to overcome herself.
Worthless. Weak.
Samantha gritted her teeth.
Her father had died when she was eighteen years old. The loss had left her utterly alone and directionless. She’d drifted aimlessly for a few months, bombarded by an endless stream of bills and calls from collection agencies seeking payment on her father’s debt, which had amassed because of her grandmother’s illness and eventual death a couple years earlier.
And just as she’d realized she was at rock bottom—she’d been too na?ve then to understand what rock bottom actually meant—her savior had swooped in .
But instead of the arms of a hero, she’d fallen into the clutches of a monster who’d taken almost everything from her—her trust, her worth, her freedom, her very self—before she escaped.
Samantha wasn’t sure who she was anymore. She felt like a phantom, a fading echo of who she’d been, the ghost of a girl who’d once laughed and loved despite how little she’d had. And even though she was half a universe away from James, she still felt the tatters of her soul slipping through her fingers like sand; she was losing a little more of herself every day.
If it continued, there’d be nothing left of her at all before long.
Worthless. Weak.
James had hurled those words at her so many times over the years she’d spent with him that she’d come to believe them.
He’d shown her kindness at first. He’d been charming, he’d been dedicated. But once they’d begun building a life together—once she’d moved in with him and he knew she had nowhere else to go—he showed his true face. The mask had come off to reveal the monster who’d lurked beneath.
The hope he’d instilled in her had been a lie.
And now there was Alkorin—Alkorin, who many people on Earth would’ve considered monstrous in appearance. Alkorin, who’d been kind and devoted in the short time they’d spent together. She wanted so badly to trust him. Wanted so badly to believe he was the opposite of James. Alkorin gave her hope that everything would turn out fine. That she’d find a place here.
That she’d find herself .
But how could she know? How could she know the hope Alkorin provided was real, that he was real? How could she know that she wasn’t following the same path from which she’d fled? She’d only known him a few days; that wasn’t nearly long enough to see what truly dwelled in a person’s heart.
Someone bumped into her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts as one of her packages slipped out of her arms. She stopped, but something caught her eye before she could apologize to the person she’d walked into. There were two large hovercars—though tanks might’ve been a more accurate term—parked in front of her apartment complex, their gold and teal bodies matching the armor of the Eternal Guard peacekeepers standing nearby.
The building’s entry doors swung open. Two peacekeepers walked out, dragging Rakkob between them.
“Fuck you!” The borian thrashed in their hold, his eyes wild. “It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it! It wasn’t mine! You’re fucking framing me!”
One of the peacekeepers beside the vehicles hurried forward and jabbed Rakkob in the chest with a staff-like weapon.
Rakkob convulsed, his body seizing for a couple seconds before he went limp. The peacekeepers didn’t miss a step; they hauled him to the back of one of the vehicles and tossed him inside.
A light tap on her shoulder nearly wrenched a scream from Samantha’s throat. She leapt forward and spun to face the alien who’d touched her, squeezing her purchases against her chest.
A male cren stared down at her, his yellow irises bright against his black sclerae. He had to be at least two meters tall—possibly a few centimeters taller than Alkorin, if she didn’t count the sedhi’s horns. The cren’s nose was sharp and hawk-like, complementing equally sharp features that led down to a strong but narrow chin. A curving tusk jutted from either side of his wide mouth, and his thick eyebrows were angled down over the bridge of his nose, lending extra menace to his already intimidating appearance. His ears were long and pointed, adorned with numerous piercings. The sides of his head were shaved, and the long hair on its top—its navy-blue hue several shades darker than his blue-gray skin—was pulled back in a tight ponytail.
Samantha’s brows lowered. For a moment, she could have sworn that she’d seen him before.
I did! He was one of the customers at Sarai’s booth today.
But Sarai’s booth was a twenty-minute walk from Samantha’s apartment. What was this cren doing here now? Why had he approached her?
She swallowed and prayed the sound hadn’t been loud enough for him to hear. “Yes?”
He lifted his hand; Samantha flinched back reflexively until she realized what he was holding—a blue wrapped package containing one of the shirts she’d purchased earlier.
“You dropped this,” he said.
“Oh!” Adjusting the bundles in her arms, she reached out for it and met his eyes. “Thank you.”
The cren nodded and smiled—or at least she thought it was a smile; his tusks made it difficult to tell. Either way, she chose to interpret it as a friendly expression.
“Be safe,” the cren said before strolling away.
Sam watched him until he disappeared around a corner before turning back to her apartment building. The last of the peacekeepers climbed into his vehicle; within a few seconds, both hovertanks lifted off and sped away. The small crowd that had gathered outside, some of whom she recognized as other tenants of her building, dispersed slowly.
Samantha entered the complex and made her way to her apartment. She had no idea what Rakkob had done, but she couldn’t deny her relief; he was gone. It felt good to traverse the corridors without fear of confrontation .
Carefully balancing her packages, she lifted her arm to the scanner beside the door and slipped through once it was open. She had made it several steps beyond the threshold before she realized she wasn’t alone.
There was someone seated at her table.
The door closed behind her.
Samantha dropped her packages and whirled around to find another stranger beside the door—a goat-like groalthuun. Her eyes widened with sudden recognition; he was the same groalthuun who’d been taking pictures of her at the Ventrillian Mall. Her heart pounded, its beats echoing like thunder in her chest.
“W-What do you want? Why are you here?” she asked.
How did they get in?
“Have a seat,” said the groalthuun, his dark eyes locked on her.
Samantha stared at him a second longer before she turned to look at the stranger seated at the table. “I…I would rather—”
“He wasn’t asking,” said the other alien. He was huge, with dull orange skin, long white hair, and four thickly muscled arms. It seemed impossible that the comparatively tiny chair was holding his weight.
Samantha was unfamiliar with his species, but she didn’t need to know what he was to understand how dangerous he was. He looked like he could tear her apart with his pinky fingers.
The orange alien lifted a hand, gesturing to the chair across from him. “Sit.”
Trembling, she walked to the table and stiffly lowered herself onto the chair. “Who are you?”
Goat sat on the couch, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his thighs. “ You are going to answer our questions, terran. Not the other way around. ”
“Who is the sedhi you were with two days ago?” Orange asked.
Samantha’s blood chilled.
Were they after Alkorin? Her mind raced; she couldn’t lie and say she didn’t know who they were talking about because Goat had seen her with Alk, had been taking pictures of them.
“He’s a friend,” she said.
Orange shifted a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in a very frustrated-parent fashion. “Do you just not understand the situation? Your kind are new here, but I assume your people wouldn’t have been invited to Arthos if you were dumb. Give me a name. Give me an address. We’re here for tangible information, not for you to mull over the nature of your relationship.”
Samantha placed her hands in her lap and clutched them together. “I-I don’t know much about him. I only just met him. His…his name is Kolthar. That’s all I know.”
“Contact information,” said Goat.
“I don’t have any.”
Orange pressed two of his hands atop the table and pushed himself up, leaning toward her; the table groaned beneath his weight. He bared his teeth and growled.
Samantha flinched back and threw her hands up, palms out. “I swear! We only just met! I don’t know anything about him other than his name.”
“You two seemed pretty damned close for having just met,” Goat said.
The orange alien’s fingers wrapped around the edges of the table, and the metal buckled in his grasp. “You’d better start giving us information, terran.”
Tears welled in Samantha’s eyes as terror clawed at her insides. She couldn’t give them anything. Wouldn’t give them anything. No matter what Alkorin might have done to these people, she refused to betray him. Not when he’d done so much for her.
“I don’t know anything,” she said shakily. “We only just met. H-He was fascinated with me being a human and flirted with me. We spent the day together and I haven’t seen him since. That’s all!”
Orange leaned closer to her. “How do you keep in touch with him?”
“I don’t! I don’t know how. He didn’t give me anything. He came to me.”
“When are you meeting him again?” Goat asked.
“I-I don’t know. I told you. He just came to me.”
The aliens exchanged a glance with one another.
“For your sake”—Orange reached across the table with surprising speed and grabbed her hair, dragging her out of the seat until her face was centimeters from his—“you’d better be telling us the truth. Our boss wouldn’t appreciate you lying about this.”
Sam cried out, her hands flying up to clutch at his fist as pain shot through her scalp.
Worthless. Weak.
The tears spilled from her eyes. “Please! Please, don’t!”
“We’ll be around.” Orange shoved her away.
She stumbled backward, tripped over the leg of her chair, and fell to the floor. She remained there, shaking, and watched through the curtain of her hair as they left her apartment. The door closing behind them was like the gunshot signaling the start of a race, startling her into motion. Shoving herself to her feet, she darted across the room, hit the lock button on the door’s control panel, and engaged the heavy deadbolt that slid into the floor.
She didn’t know who they were, how they got in—how easily they could get in again—but she would do what she could to prevent their reentry.
Pressing her back against the wall, Samantha slid to the floor. She sucked in one sharp breath after another. Panic threatened to overcome her; her heart raced, her throat felt tight, and chills shook her body. Black spots filled her vision.
No! I can’t pass out. I need to tell him.
Samantha forced herself to take deep, even breaths. The darkness slowly receded.
Crawling away from the door, she sat up against the side of her bed and lifted her wrist. With trembling fingers, she activated her holocom and swiped through the menu to bring up her contacts.
She paused.
Why hadn’t they made her show them her contact list?
Whatever their reasons, it didn’t matter now. She needed to tell Alkorin.
She started a visual call.
Within seconds, Alkorin’s hologram appeared on her display. He flashed his fangs in a grin. “ Samantha ,” he purred. “I was starting to worry that you wouldn’t—”
“I need you,” she said quickly.
His eyes narrowed and his brows fell low as he leaned closer, searching her face. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“There were people here looking for you. Th-they were asking me questions about you.”
“What people, Samantha? Who were they?”
“They didn’t tell me, but one of them was the groalthuun from the Ventrillian Mall. The one who was taking pictures.” She wiped the moisture from her cheek with the back of her hand. “I didn’t tell them anything. I swear. I even gave them a fake name for you. You have to believe—”
“Did they hurt you?” he asked, his third eye lingering on her while the other two focused on something below the hologram.
Sam shook her head. “No.”
“Stay in your apartment. I’ll be there as fast as possible.”
“They said they’ll be around, Alk. They probably want you to come.”
“They’re probably listening to this conversation right now.”
Her heart leapt and her eyes widened. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Why had she been so stupid? Of course they would bug her apartment! It was probably why they hadn’t demanded to look at her holocom contacts.
And she was giving them all the information they needed right now.
“It’s okay, my little terran,” he said, all his eyes now on her. “I’ll be there soon. Don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
“Okay,” she said, searching his face. “Please be careful.”