by Celia Kyle
The annoying secretary, the male whom the humans had put in charge of their Drokten negotiations, was storming toward Jenna, his face red with obvious anger.
Sevith fisted his claws and a growl rumbled in his chest. He would not tolerate aggression toward their Oso—not from a Drokten warrior and most certainly not from a human male.
Four
Jenna wasn’t accustomed to taking the spotlight.
Yet, here she was, the subject of an intense, furious glare from Secretary Wells.
She felt a strange desire to place her hand over her chest as if to hold her heart in place, afraid it would beat so hard it’d bust free of her ribs in a scarlet, bloody mess. On all sides she was surrounded by disgruntled-looking male faces, some from Secretary Wells and his cadre of loyal men who’d followed him across the room. The rest? Those belonged to the tall, powerful bodies blocking her into this little trap—the Drokten males with their blue skin, fierce eyes, and sharp features. Everywhere she looked, someone loomed over her, herding her into place. A forest of tall men.
One moment she’d been standing there, talking only to Hiren, and holding her own with this one famous Drokten. And then suddenly it all spiraled out of control.
A sharp pang of fear pierced her gut as it occurred to her that there was absolutely no easy way out of this, no matter which way she looked. Truly, Jenna wanted to dematerialize into thin air. Or melt into a puddle. A puddle sounded good. One that could sink into the carpet and then creep away, out of sight. She wanted some way to escape the awkward, scary situation she’d stumbled into, and being a puddle of water—not piss, because ew, even if she felt like she could piss herself at any second—sounded great.
Strangest of all was the sense of camaraderie and connection she experienced with the nearby Drokten. It made no sense to her muddled, panicked mind that she would feel more connected and comfortable with the Drokten than her own people. But when she glanced at Secretary Wells—or any of the militant, well-dressed men in his company—Jenna felt more fear than when she’d confronted the Drokten. She wondered if it was simply because she knew Wells had concocted some nefarious plan against the alien race, or if something else caused her to identify more with the Drokten than her own kind.
Then something… odd… happened in her mind.
Yes, the Drokten are now your own kind, a deep voice comforted.
She frowned slightly, confused with the comment, especially when it dawned on her that somehow, she recognized it as Commander Sevith’s voice in her head, despite the fact that he hadn’t spoken to her yet. She turned to glance over at the male she hadn’t even been introduced to.
He was standing so close, like they already knew each other. And he was staring at her with such intensity… How he’d managed to say the words aloud while also not moving his lips confused the hell out of her. And how did she know it was him talking?
He’d made it sound like she was one of them, but she most certainly—and obviously—was not. Why this Commander would consider her one of them was beyond her understanding.
And scared the bejeezus out of her, if she was honest. An alien had just spoken inside her head.
Alien. In her head. What the ever-loving hell? She was losing her mind. That was it. She’d lost her mind during her walk across the room and now she was officially cray-cray. Maybe if she kept her mouth shut no one would notice her craziness?
Meanwhile, Secretary Wells puffed out his chest and got all blustery—as men of his social position often did when confronted by larger and more powerful opponents. “Why are you here?” he barked at her. “You’re supposed to be serving food and drink to the guests, not bothering the Drokten.”
Her jaw clenched. Ass. Hole.
She opened her mouth to respond to his ridiculous remark, but he cut her off, turning to not only Hiren but now also Sevith, who were both standing right next to her.
“Please allow me to offer my sincerest apologies,” Secretary Wells pontificated. His face flushed a deep beet red as he tried to make a sloppy, pompous apology for Jenna’s actions. “I don’t know what possessed this girl to bother you during this evening’s celebrations. Whatever she has done to attract your attention, please be assured it will not go unpunished.”
This man was such a conniving, treasonous, ass.
“In fact, I should say that this woman will be severely punished. She has stepped far out of line and I do not tolerate rule-breakers in our midst. Let me handle this, friends.”
Okay, the mention of severely transformed Jenna’s anger into genuine fear. And why was he mad that she was talking to Hiren? In reality why would Secretary Wells care whether she was talking to a Drokten? For all he’d known, Hiren could have been asking her work-related questions.
Did he know what she’d said?
She swallowed hard, terror rising in her chest as she accidentally met the secretary’s mean gaze. A cold chill raced down her spine as she finally recognized how truly enraged the man was at her transgression. She wondered what sort of punishment he had in mind for her. How would it affect Noah and Bea? She winced, thinking about Ms. Carmine and how apoplectic the woman would be if Jenna’s actions resulted in her being late to return home.
Had someone in the crowd managed to overhear her warning the Drokten and told the secretary? Or was the secretary angry at her for another reason?
As she stood there, worrying and fretting over the cause of her punishment, she heard another voice. Somehow it seemed to be both in the air and inside her head at the same time. Though it startled her, she again immediately recognized Commander Sevith’s voice. He was secretly talking to her again.
Do not worry. We will not let any of these humans cause you harm.
Jenna froze, not daring to turn and make eye contact with the great alien warrior standing not far away. How could his voice be so clear and vivid? What was he doing? How could he be talking to her in her mind?
And why was this somehow comforting, rather than terrifying?
“I assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again,” Secretary Wells declared, shaking a finger at Jenna. “We have protocols in place to prevent such transgressions and we screen all of our help thoroughly, but sometimes one rotten apple manages to slip in.”
Jenna had no doubt she was the rotten apple he described.
But before the secretary could continue ranting about how terrible she was and how grave her punishment would be, Hiren calmly raised a hand to silence the man. The secretary’s words strangled and fell silent in his throat as he visibly paled before the large Drokten warrior.
In a clear, placid voice, Hiren suggested, “Why don’t we take this discussion somewhere more… private? There is no need for us to interrupt the party with this grievance.” He gestured broadly around the room at the many, many guests, but his steady, unrelenting, utterly intense gaze remained locked on Jenna.
Her cheeks burned and her belly pleasantly swooped.
What the hell?
Why were these two Drokten so interested in her? Because she’d shared pertinent information with them? That didn’t seem enough reason to garner such intense scrutiny.
And…both Hiren and Sevith were both standing so close now and acting as if…as if they “liked” her. Like they wanted to invite her up to their room or something.
It made complete sense that she was a fangirl mess around these two sex-on-a-stick males, but why would they care about her? Like Wells had said, she wasn’t a guest. She was simply an employee. She was nobody. And they had so many other choices in this room. Literally some of the most beautiful and accomplished women on the planet seemed to be in attendance tonight.
Secretary Wells heaved a sigh and slowly nodded his agreement as he relented. “Fine, right. We shall discuss this at greater length and in private if that is what you prefer.”
“It is,” Sevith practically growled his support.
Secretary Wells snapped his fingers, and not even a second later, a big, burly
guard stepped up. Wells nodded toward Jenna then issued his command. “Guide our little troublemaker to a secure room while we decide her outcome.”
The guard grunted and stepped forward, grasping one of Jenna’s arms in a punishing grip. Panic rushed through her body. She tried to jerk away from the guard, but his grip was too tight.
Sevith let out a deep growl.
Hiren gestured and a huge, imposing Drokten guard moved out of the crowd to gently take Jenna by her other arm. There was less outright malice in his demeanor and more confusion, as though he didn’t understand why he’d been tasked with guarding a human female. “We will have our own guard as well.”
“Very well.” Secretary Wells pulled his lips back into a snarling smile. “This is acceptable. Let’s be off, then.”
They formed a procession. Secretary Wells and the two powerful Drokten at the front followed by Jenna, flanked by a human and Drokten guard in the back. It was all so weird. This was not at all how she’d planned for this evening to go.
They marched out of the ballroom, thankfully only catching a few wandering eyes along the way. The party was in full swing and people seemed far more interested in their own tangled-up schmoozing, dancing and business-dealing than in whatever the officials were involved with.
After they left the party, the hallways split off and the men all went to the right. The guards took Jenna into a small, dimly lit room. Immediately a rush of claustrophobic panic rose in her chest and she looked desperately back at the doorway where the Drokten commanders and Secretary Wells stood watching her.
Either he could read her mind or he recognized her expression because Sevith spoke out loud to her, “Do not be afraid, female, you are safe. No harm will come to you here. We will return shortly.”
Secretary Wells stared up at Sevith with indignant disgust. “Of course, she won’t be harmed!” But Jenna had a feeling that if it wasn’t for the Drokten guard at her side, she might well have been hurt. “We humans are not as primitive as you think,” the secretary continued.
“We do not doubt that your intentions are clear,” Hiren assured Wells calmly.
“Good, good,” the secretary grumbled. Wells added to Jenna, “We’ll just clear up this mess and then you may go on back home. No trouble.”
Liar. Of course she didn’t call him a liar to his face, but she didn’t have a single shred of doubt that Wells was lying. Asshole, piece of shit, conniving bastard.
She couldn’t be sure as to why or how she knew, but she knew he was lying to her. And that left her feeling terrified as the door shut her into the small room while the two Drokten went off to discuss her fate with the human secretary.
As soon as the door was closed, with the two guards positioned outside, Jenna’s heartbeat picked up and breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her whole body tingled with worry as she darted from wall to wall, feeling around for any escape, any weakness, any hint of a hollow wall. She was horrified at the turn her evening had taken and simply wanted out. Now she wasn’t only afraid she wouldn’t make it home by midnight as she promised, but that she would never make it home at all.
Ever.
Still, through the cloud of panic that flooded her mind, she managed to hear deep voices coming from the other side of one of the far walls. She rushed over and pressed her ear to the smooth surface, holding her breath to better hear the voices on the other side. To her relief, the voices were familiar—Secretary Wells, Hiren and Sevith carrying on their conversation.
Jenna realized the walls were less sturdy and permanent than she first assumed. She was actually held within a makeshift room, surrounded by moveable and collapsible walls meant to partition off separate parts of an event hall as needed. She discovered that the fake walls were not especially soundproof, and therefore she could eavesdrop easily on the conversation taking place just next door.
They spoke low enough that she couldn’t catch every word, but she managed to clock a few here and there. However, she soon realized the discussion made little sense. Instead of talking about her punishment, she heard one of the Drokten describe her using an unfamiliar term—Oso. Jenna knew little about the society of the Drokten aliens, and this word was as foreign to her as anything else.
Then she heard them mention other, more straightforward phrases.
Hiren declared, “…the female is special to us. Chosen by fate.”
“She belongs to us now,” Sevith added.
Jenna’s heart raced, her pulse going wild as she processed their words. What the hell were they talking about? She didn’t belong to anyone but herself.
The secretary muttered something in response that Jenna couldn’t quite hear and then Sevith went on to say, “…she will be transported to the Avash immediately.”
“What?” Jenna murmured breathlessly. “No. No way.”
Secretary Wells raised his voice and whined, “But that girl is worthless. A nobody.”
Gee, thanks, asshole.
“Why would you choose her?”
“It is fate,” Hiren replied flatly.
Secretary Wells sighed. “But wouldn’t you prefer one of the other ladies we provided this evening? We spent a lot of time finding the finest unmated females on the planet to present to you.”
“No, we have no choice in what fate decides. When an Oso is recognized, there is no turning back,” Sevith explained. “The female named Jenna Perry will come with us tonight to the ship and will not return.”
What were they talking about? They thought she was some kind of “Oso.” What did that even mean? Maybe she should’ve spent more time learning about Drokten physiology and customs.
“But there are so many other—” Wells tried again.
“She is no longer a concern of the humans,” Hiren interrupted Wells firmly.
Jenna stumbled back from the wall, stunned by what she’d heard and consumed by fear. This couldn’t be really happening. Right? The Drokten sounded utterly serious, but that was insane. The aliens couldn’t just kidnap whoever they wanted Right? Right?
Adrenaline rushed through her body. Oh hell no. She had to get the hell out of here. Now. These males were nice, and she was happy to have had a chance to warn them of the secretary’s plans and to meet them in person, but she had a brother and sister counting on her to return tonight, and nothing was going to get in the way of her being at that apartment by midnight. Nothing.
Her work here was done. Time to go home.
The tiny room she’d been left in was the sort she’s seen many times as a server. She’d navigated event spaces like this countless times in the past. She felt along the edge of the wall…There was always a secondary exit that led to a hallway that ran along to the kitchen quarters. From there, she knew she could duck through one of the many passageways that led to freedom.
She finagled with the moveable walls and managed to slip through the side, staying silent as a mouse. She made her way through a maze of small utility rooms and out a side door. Jenna crept down a quiet hallway, adjacent from the guards still stationed in front of her little “cell.” At this time of night this entire section was empty. She stuck close to the walls, and as soon as she was far enough away, she sprinted for the service elevator.
She was breaking more rules than she could count, but she’d be damned if she let a pair of startlingly good-looking, powerful warriors strip her of her life. She had duties. Responsibilities. A brother and sister who depended on her and who loved and needed her around.
She had to get out of Drokten Main and put distance between herself and that cursed party. Maybe, if she kept her head down and stayed out of trouble, she could put this gigantic disaster behind her. After all, Secretary Wells was right. She was just a boring, working-class human girl. Surely, two powerful, famous, well-known alien leaders wouldn’t care enough to chase after one insignificant human woman. Right?
At least, she hoped so…
Five
“Mommy, Mommy… what is that thing?�
�� a child’s warbling voice broke through the sounds of passing cars and pedestrians, fear in the young one’s words.
“Oh my god, I don’t know. Hurry get out of its way.” The mother’s equally fearful tone grated on Hiren’s nerves.
Hiren shook his head and managed to ignore the pounding feet and the screams of terror from the beings he strode past on the busy street. It never ceased to amaze him how many of these humans were still unused to the Drokten. Or any species other than their own, considering they’d been nearly conquered by the Zignills almost two planetary cycles ago.
Ridiculous.
Normally he had infinite patience for these human idiosyncrasies, and the fact that they’d been rudely forced into inter-species interaction through a near apocalypse. He usually did his best to understand and soothe the human’s fears, but today he was focused on one objective—finding his Oso. Wayward, terror-filled humans were an unwelcome distraction.
His Azi, Sevith, stormed out of the third diner they’d checked that morning and Hiren glanced over at him expectantly.
Sevith sighed and shook his head. “Jenna Perry is not an employee there either.”
A low growl rumbled in Hiren’s chest, which he knew was uncharacteristic for a Bahn, but these unusual circumstances were bringing out his long-dormant possessive instincts. “What took you so long?” he asked out loud, not bothering with their link and caring less if the humans overheard them. “We need to move quickly.”
Sevith threw him a grim smile. “I was busy interrogating the being in charge of the establishment.”
Heh. “But you tipped the server, right?” Hiren replied as they started down the street to the next location on their list. “It is customary on this part of the planet to leave hard currency on the table for whoever serves food and drink, based on a percentage of the total bill.”
“No, and why would I do that?” Sevith snorted. “This is the third place we’ve been to this morning, and we haven’t eaten any of the terrible human food.”