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 made contact. 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."
Morgan smiled again—that faint, controlled curve of her mouth. "You're still here."
"I am."
"Asking questions."
Serafina didn't want to admit it. She nodded grudgingly.
Something in Morgan's expression softened—a small crack shown at the right time, deliberate or genuine, Serafina couldn't tell.
"I was taken against my will," Morgan said quietly.
"Not by his people, but by someone else.
Someone more powerful." She glanced toward the glass, toward the armored figure who stood motionless behind it.
"They are... more powerful than people on Earth could ever imagine.
What we have here—our militaries, our weapons, our technology—we couldn't defend against them if they chose to act. "
Serafina felt a shudder run through her. It was more than fear. It was a feeling like awe, like the universe was vast and ancient and utterly indifferent, and she was standing at the edge of something that could swallow her whole.
"This..." She gestured vaguely at the room, at Morgan, at the aliens behind the glass. "This is all part of what?"
And then it dawned on her.
A sinking feeling entered her chest, cold and heavy.
"You want me to be a part of this," she said slowly. "They're looking for humans. Like you." Her voice hardened. "To take."
This is crazy, she thought. I'm out. Fuck this.
But she wasn't moving.
Her feet stayed planted on the expensive carpet. Her hand stayed on her bag, the weight of ten thousand dollars pressing against her hip. Her eyes stayed fixed on Morgan's face, searching for the lie, the trap, the angle she was missing.
Morgan smiled again—that faint, controlled curve. "Now that you're in on the big secret," she said, "I'll lay out the full proposal to you. What we expect you to do. What you'll be paid. Facts, specifics, expectations."
She leaned back slightly in her chair, her posture open, unthreatening.
"I'll be completely upfront with you. There's no obligation. You can still walk out of here anytime."
Serafina felt like she was in a dream. Or a nightmare. The edges of the room seemed soft, unreal, as if reality itself had gone slightly out of focus.
Still, she couldn't bring herself to leave.
Her heart was hammering. Her palms were clammy. And strangely, beneath the fear and the disbelief, it was like... she felt high. Euphoric. Alive in a way she hadn't felt in years—maybe ever. Every nerve in her body was firing, every sense sharpened to a knife's edge.
The alien—that Vykan—was still there behind the glass, watching her. She could feel his gaze even through the frosted surface, a weight pressing against her awareness.
Morgan noticed the direction of her attention and chuckled softly. She reached over and pressed the rectangle again. The glass frosted over, the massive armored figure reduced to a dark, indistinct shape.
"Don't mind him," Morgan said. "He's just protective. A little too distracting, I agree."
Serafina stared at her in shock. Was this woman mad? How could she be so nonchalant about any of this?
"You say you were taken against your will," Serafina said slowly, "but you don't seem..."
"Like a prisoner?" Morgan finished. "I'm not. I'm with him by choice—now. And I don't have a single regret."
With him.
The words rang in Serafina's head.
Him.
A cold understanding began to creep through her, settling into her bones like ice water.
"Please don't tell me," she said, her voice flat, "that this involves a male alien.”
Morgan inclined her head. "There's a reason you're a detective."
The back room had been hidden again, but Serafina could still feel the weight of that intimidating alien behind the glass. How terrifying. She couldn't imagine what he was capable of, but she got the feeling her 9mm would be nothing against him and his formidable armor.
And she was supposed to do whatever it was they were planning... with those things around?
"So," she said, "what do you want me to do?"
Things were starting to come together now. Those questions about her relationship status, about her preferences. The fact there hadn't been any security when she'd walked in.
"I'm not going to let myself get abducted by an alien," Serafina said, "if that's what you're after. No way."
"It's not that." Morgan's voice remained calm, measured. "Why don't you hear me out. Just hear me out, and you can choose if it's worth it or not."
Serafina crossed her arms. "Fine. Let's talk payment first. At least I should know what it's all worth."
"How about this," Morgan said. "If you get through the training, your sister's medical fees will be paid for. All of them."
Serafina went still.
"If you complete the next stage," Morgan continued, "we'll fund her tuition, and give you enough to buy a house in Eagle Rock outright. We'll also establish a retirement fund for Angelo Rossi—half a million dollars, managed and protected."
The numbers hit her like physical blows. One after another.
"And if you reach the final stage," Morgan said, "you won't even have to worry about money. Ever again."
Final stage.
The words sank into Serafina's bones.
"This is fucking crazy." Serafina threw her hands up. "I'm out."
But she didn't get up. Didn't walk out. She just sat there, breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating, the numbers swirling around in her head.
All her problems. Her family's problems. The burned apartment, Aria's tuition, her pathway to becoming a licensed pharmacist, Angelo's medications eating away at what little he had left...
They were all just within reach.
If she did this one thing.
Why did this feel like she was about to sell her soul?
"Do you need a moment?" Morgan asked. "Something to drink? A coffee? Cigarette?"
Serafina laughed—a short, sharp sound that surprised even her. She'd given up smoking ten years ago. "No. I'm good. Just give it to me."
"Okay." Morgan folded her hands in her lap.
"Here's the thing. You were right—in some respects.
It is a male alien that we're dealing with.
But he isn't going to abduct you or take you away to some distant planet.
He just needs a person with a very specific temperament and set of skills.
A woman—you—to guide him through a ritual. "
"Ritual?" Serafina rocked back in her chair, her heels burning against the floor, her body and legs telling her—get up.
But still, she didn't.
Damned if she didn't want to know more.
"What kind of ritual?"
"It's called a Hunt," Morgan said. "It's a ritual—traditional among a species called the Hyrakki. Part custom, part biology."
"Biology," Serafina repeated flatly.
"Their warriors need it." Morgan's tone remained clinical, matter-of-fact. "They're wired differently than humans. For bonding to occur, they need to be... aroused by a certain level of violence first. A chase. Resistance. And then brought into acceptance."
Serafina stared at her. "You're telling me this alien needs me to fight him so he can get turned on."
"In simplified terms, yes."
"That's insane."
"It's how they're built," Morgan said. "I'm not asking you to understand it. I'm asking you to hear me out."
Serafina's hands were gripping the armrests of her chair. She forced herself to loosen them. "Fine. Keep talking."
"The Hunt would take place here on Earth," Morgan continued. "A remote location—a rainforest, an island. Somewhere isolated, away from civilians. We wouldn't take you off-planet. Given your situation with your family, we thought it best to keep you close."
That, at least, was something. A small concession in a sea of madness.
"You'd be trained beforehand," Morgan said. "You have no knowledge of the Hyrakki, their tactics, their capabilities. We'd give you everything you need—weapons, bio-armor designed specifically for your body, a base camp with supplies and provisions."
"And then what?" Serafina asked. "I just wait for him to come after me?"
"No." Morgan leaned forward slightly. "You go after him."
Serafina blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You seek him out. You attack him at every opportunity. You fire on him, engage him, do everything in your power to take him down."
"And he just... lets me?"