by Erin Raegan
“You don’t know what he is, Theodora,” Noah said low. “We have no idea what they really want. Why they’re really here.”
No, we didn’t. It was naïve to believe the aliens that were helping us were without their own objectives. Why come all this way to help a human race if you had no vested interest in their survival? Simple. You didn’t. So I knew they had their own reasons for helping us. But we couldn’t afford to turn them away. Our extinction was hanging in the balance.
The door opened and two tall figures walked in from the rain. They were as tall as Lahn and Kayd, but their similarities stopped there. The one on the left was wiry and standing on limbs that faced the opposite direction of ours. Its knees pushed out from the back, and its skin was green and brown. Scaly and rough. It had two eyes with red slits in the center. Its mouth was wide and a long thin tongue slithered out to wave in the air.
Noah shuddered beside me.
My eyes fell on the second being. Looking at him, my heart hurt. Both aliens were Kilbus, but only that one looked like Killian. He had the same tall build. The same oily black skin.
My memory of seeing Killian for what he truly was for the first and only time was vague. Killian messing with my memories and perception had almost completely taken the memory from me. But this alien had the same golden eyes. He wore gold on his neck and wrists like Killian but nowhere near as heavily. And though this alien’s hair was a brighter shade than Killian’s black, he was so similar to him, it took my breath away.
If I hadn’t known Killian. If I hadn’t nearly given my heart completely away. After only seeing Killian’s true form only once, I would have mistaken this alien for him.
But I had known Killian. Or the version of himself that he gave me. And I knew he wasn’t standing there. Still, I had to look away. It was too hard to see this Killian lookalike. Too painful.
The room was silent as the two of them shook the ice and rain from their shoulders.
May gaped at them, her entire body trembling in fear. Bets wasn’t much better. Even Sal looked pretty shaken. It was obvious we didn’t get many visitors this close to camp.
“Thirsty?” Bets, shaking off her shock and fear, ever the hospitable mother figure, offered them a drink.
The two of them stared at her through cold alien eyes then looked to Lahn. He said something alien to them and they both nodded, bowing their heads to Bets. She smiled shakily and ran off.
“So you crashed?” Tibert asked tightly.
Lahn, translating, said, “They were caught in the storm’s winds.”
“Were you hurt?” Iris asked, less wary than the rest of us. She walked to them at the table and sat down. The girl was nineteen and fearless.
The insectoid looking alien leaned slightly forward and slithered his tongue at her. Her eyes went wide, and she quirked a smile at him.
The Kilbus said something to her.
“He says no injuries,” Kayd spoke. “Just tired. The walk was long before they arrived here.”
She nodded and winced. “You walked in that?”
The insectoid slithered a strange sound from his mouth. Stranger sounding than even the Dahk’s language.
“He wishes to know your name,” Kayd said to Iris, then turned to him. “She is Iyrees.”
Kayd and Lahn may have spoken our language, but they bungled it most of the time, particularly our names.
The insectoid bowed his head to Iris and said something long and slithery.
Kayd nodded. “He is called Careem and bids you good greetings.”
“Careem?” She smiled brightly. “It’s cool to meet you too.”
The insectoid watched her closely—a little too closely.
She looked at the Kilbus. “Your friend?”
“Jareth.” The Kilbus, Jareth, nodded to her then the rest of us. His voice was deep and startlingly clear.
I involuntarily stepped forward. It sounded so much like Oren and Killian’s tone.
Jareth’s eyes shot to me with force and narrowed on me. Without looking away from me, he spoke.
Lahn and Kayd looked at me with surprise.
“What?” Noah barked, his hand tightening on his gun. “What did he say?”
Lahn looked from me to Jareth. “He says you think of Oren.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Sal and Jeremy both stepped closer to me.
“I-I didn’t,” I stuttered.
Lahn narrowed his eyes on me.
Jareth said something sharp and impatient.
“He says he heard your mind,” Lahn said.
Noah moved in front of me, Mike right beside him. Both of them blocked me from Jareth.
“I thought you said they couldn’t read minds,” Noah barked at Lahn.
“No,” he said carefully. “Not all can control minds. Receiving thoughts is a more shared ability in the species.”
“He can hear our thoughts?” Tibert asked, clearly shocked.
I wasn’t at all surprised. I knew Killian could and had suspected that meant Oren and Leo could too but never knew for sure. I didn’t even know what Oren and Leo truly looked like. But I did know the tutu’s and sparkly flip-flops had been an illusion. Killian’s doing based on how affronted Oren had been every time we commented on his choice of outfit for the day.
Lahn nodded as Jareth spoke again.
Kayd narrowed his eyes on Jareth and walked closer to me. “He seems very distressed with you, Theeoh. What do you know of this Oren?”
I shook my head, my mouth opening and closing. Noah barked my name, shifting just enough that I could see Jareth, his face hard and aimed at me.
“What’s the big deal?” Mike asked with deceptive calm. “Why does he need to know?”
Jareth spat something, his dark face twisting into something menacing.
“He says Oren is a Kilbus as well,” Lahn said slowly, cautiously.
Oh shit. I looked at Noah’s back. His gun was still at his side but his knuckles bleached white from how tight he was holding it.
If Jareth knew Oren and could read my mind, then he must know that I knew Kil—
Jareth hissed a word that sounded like a curse and everyone moved fast.
Noah roared my name and tried to barrel into Jareth. Mike turned and grabbed me, pushing me to the back door as Tibert, Jeremy, and Holden all shouted.
There was a shot, then Mike was shoving me out and into the icy rainstorm.
“Fucking run!” Todd shouted beside us.
Bets screamed from somewhere behind me.
I sucked in a shocked breath from the wet and cold biting into me from every direction.
“What the fuck is going on?” Wes shouted behind us. He ran to catch up as Mike dragged me into the woods.
“Why are we running?” I cried.
“Yeah, what the fuck?” Wes panted beside me.
Iris came up beside us, her red hair soaked and sticking to her face. “I think everyone’s overreacting.”
“No shit,” Wes shouted. But yet they ran beside us anyway.
“Mike, stop,” I shouted, stumbling over ice and dirt, trying to pull my arm from his grip.
“He knows,” Mike growled, pulling me into a faster run.
“Come on, man,” Todd shouted, shifting nervously back into a run beside us.
“So what?” I screamed.
“I got her,” Noah shouted from behind me.
Mike tossed me into my brother’s chest and pulled his gun, spinning around and aiming it behind us.
“Don’t let them follow us!” Noah threw me farther into the woods.
I dug my feet into the dirt and he cursed, stopping and throwing me over his shoulder. “Dammit, Noah! Put me down!”
“Shut up!” He slid on the ground and almost dropped me. His hands were punishing as he held me to him.
“Put her down, dude!” Wes shouted.
Iris grabbed my arm and tried to pull me down. Noah slapped her hand away and ran again.
“You’re being an ass
hole!” I shouted to him.
“If he knows, he can tell that asshole where you are!” Noah shouted back.
I sucked in a glacial breath and stilled on his shoulder. “Killian?”
Noah snorted. “Fuck yes, Killian. I won’t let him find you.”
“How do you know he’s even looking for me?” I was freezing now, soaked, my fingers aching and my teeth chattering.
“He’s been looking for you,” Noah growled.
What? “Put me down! Put me down right now.”
Something crashed into the trees and I looked up to see Iris and Wes chasing us. A dark shadow stalking them. Tall and fast. So fast, he was on them and passing them in seconds.
Jareth.
“Put me down!” I screamed. “Put me down now, Noah!”
Black claws gleamed and reached for me. Enraged golden eyes glared at me. Jareth plucked me right off Noah’s shoulder as though I weighed nothing.
Noah tumbled to the ground and my legs swung out as two bulky arms enclosed me from behind. I screamed again as the forest floor rushed toward my face. Jareth rolled and took the brunt of the fall, but the wind was completely knocked out of me.
I heard another shot, then Jareth rolled me underneath him, covering me with his body. I looked up, only seeing his dark chin. He bared his fangs in a snarl, crouching above me.
“Let her go,” Noah called in warning.
Jareth hissed something in alien speak.
“Nohah,” Lahn called, panting, “lower your weapon. The Kilbus means her no harm.”
“Tell him to let her go or I’ll blow a hole in his brain.”
Lahn choked a weird laugh. “I do not think that is wise, human.”
Kayd called then, “Kilbus are formidable. If you make an attempt on his life, he will not allow you to live.”
“That’s my sister,” Noah snapped. “I don’t give a fuck.”
Jareth hissed again after Lahn translated.
Kayd and Lahn cursed and walked toward me. Lahn crouched beside me, eyeing the Kilbus with caution.
“Theeoh,” Lahn said low, warily, “I believe you’ve kept vital information from me.”
I winced from beneath Jareth. “Can you tell him to let me go?”
Jareth hissed more words and Lahn made a choked sound from his throat.
“What did he say?”
Lahn looked at me with wide dark eyes. “He says he will not let you go.”
Noah shouted again.
Lahn looked at him. “He says she is not yours, Nohah, she belongs to his lord.”
I watched Jareth with a sinking feeling in my gut. “His lord?”
Jareth nodded slowly his angry eyes burning into mine.
“He says his lord has been looking for you for a long time.”
I blinked the heavy rain from my eyes.
“Well,” Wes drawled, “looks like he found her.”
The Call
Theo
With a disapproving frown, Bets handed out towels to the group of us. I took one and wrung out frosty water from my hair. Several sets of eyes throughout the room watched my every move.
Well, not my every move. Only the alien hovering at my side did that. Jareth stood so close to me, there was barely an inch of space between us.
“He can take a step back,” Noah bit out.
I sighed, shooting him a dry look. This side of Noah was new to me. This protective brother side of him. Even though I wasn’t sure that was exactly what it was—it seemed it could be more about alleviating his guilt—I didn’t want to dismiss it. He may have been behind my time in a lab, but he was also my brother. I wanted to believe he was protecting me, his sister, not a lab experiment.
Jareth rumbled something.
“This is going to get old,” Wes muttered and his sister nodded. “Can’t we just get the language implant?”
“No,” Noah and Tibert barked simultaneously.
Wes sighed. Iris snickered. Her brother pinched her arm. She yelped and slapped him away.
Careem watched them both with wide, curious eyes.
“He will not release her to any but the Kilbus Lord himself.”
“Who the fuck is that?” Jeremy asked Lahn.
A laugh abruptly shot out of me. Breathy and shocked at first before gaining speed. I bent over to hold my stomach as I laughed maniacally.
“Something funny?” Noah drawled.
I nodded, laughing and wiping tears from my eyes. “Killian, he—” I shook my head, chuckling so hard my chest hurt. My laugh was painful for more reason than my tromp through the freezing storm. “He told me.”
“Told you what, dear?” Bets asked with a wry smile.
“A lord,” I gasped. “He told me he was a lord.”
The lord, if I remembered correctly. What an arrogant ass.
Jareth snorted, looking at me.
Right, mind reading.
I sobered quickly. “He’s really looking for me?”
So much like Killian, Jareth turned to Lahn with an arrogant wave to translate as Jareth spoke.
Lahn scowled but did so. “Yes.”
I nodded back. Not needing or wanting to know more. “What now?”
Noah said, “Now, he leaves and forgets ever having seen you.”
Jareth chuckled like a hen, loud and boisterous. With a menacing grin, he shook his head at Noah. Then he lifted a little black box from the pocket of his leather-like pants. I watched that box with wide eyes as he brought it to his mouth. I knew what that box was.
I hated that box.
He clicked a button on the side. An identical button to the one mine had that day in my bedroom. The button I’d pressed to a pointless end.
Then he pressed another button. One mine didn’t have.
Noah took a sharp step forward. The insectoid slowly stood, a warning in his snarl. Noah glared at him.
I held my breath as the static on the box cleared and a low voice said something in alien. Jareth watched my face as he said something back.
There was silence. Long, telling silence.
More alien words, then Jareth said one sharp word. He dropped the box onto the table and sat down in a relaxed pose, pulling me into a chair beside his.
“What was that?” Iris asked.
The insectoid said something to Lahn.
Lahn shook his head, a wary look on his face. “He has sent for his lord.”
“Killian?” I asked, tracing the word as it left my mouth. So long, so long since I’d said that name out loud. But I’d said more today than I knew what to do with.
“I do not believe that to be his real name,” Lahn said gently. “He is simply the Kilbus Lord.”
Not to me he wasn’t. He was Killian at first. Then he was Kil. From Kilbus, I supposed. Yet another glaring sign. Kil was named after the damn species he ruled over.
“How do you know the Kilbus Lord?” Kayd asked me cautiously, eyeing Jareth.
“I—”
The box crackled to life. Alien speak, but I knew that voice. I knew it intimately.
I sat straight. My entire body straining toward that little black box.
I held my breath.
Jareth replied.
“You have found her?”
Lahn translated.
Then Jareth, “Yes.”
A growl.
“Where?”
Jareth answered.
Then Killian again, “Can she hear me?”
Jareth spoke, and Lahn translated, “She is beside me now.”
Silence again.
Then, so quiet, so full of longing, I felt my chest cramp up and my eyes squeezed tight, “Theo?”
I looked at the box as Jareth handed it to me. It trembled in my hand. “Killian?”
A soft breath crackled over the line.
“Is that really you?” I asked in a small voice.
“Theo,” he breathed again. Then in a hard voice, one I rarely had ever heard from him. “I’ve looked a very long time for you.�
��
A year. A year since I’d heard from him. Anger, hot and boiling, encompassed me. “You didn’t come, Killian.”
More silence. “I’m coming right now. And Theo?” A poignant pause. “Don’t you dare fucking run.”
Found
Theo
“You can’t go,” Bets said in a shrill voice. “You heard him. He said not to run.”
“He can go fuck himself,” Noah spat.
“Not wise,” Lahn mumbled from the doorway.
Mike shushed him and waved Lahn into the room, looking out into the hallway quickly.
I rolled my eyes from the foot of my bed. “You know he can hear our thoughts.”
Noah shot me a scathing glance. “Finish packing.”
Jareth hadn’t left me alone until Noah insisted Jareth couldn’t sleep in my room with me. Now, Noah was trying to take advantage of Jareth being in another room, but fear was feeding his actions. Blinding him to the truth.
Jareth would know before we set foot outside. He had to. Killian would have. The only reason he’d left me was because he believed Killian had cowed us.
Who would dare defy the Kilbus Lord himself? —Jareth’s words.
Apparently, Noah.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Mike said to them. “Their ships can travel a lot faster than we can.”
We had maybe an hour before Killian showed up here. Tops.
I didn’t want to stay. At least the logical part of me didn’t. I didn’t want to give Killian a reason to mess with my mind again. That, and I still was so damn angry after everything he’d done and lied about.
But there was another part of me. The shameful part. The part that beat at my insides, insisting I was stubborn and a liar. Saying that I missed him and wouldn’t admit it. I hated that part of me.
She was stupid.
I also didn’t want to leave for other reasons. Bets and Sal reasons. Jeremy and Holden reasons. And even Iris reasons. She was a bright light in the darkness. The girl who had befriended me after the most terrible year of my life. The girl that tried her best to soothe the gaping hole Abby left behind. She took no shit and was afraid of nothing. I needed her to rub off on me.
Especially now.