“Which is more impossible? The earth woman telling us a story she shouldn’t know, or that someone messed with the scientist ‘s drugs?” Dante asked.
“How could this created have gotten to that particular scientist’s drugs?” Aran asked. Looking for answers.
“He was sent on a mission to look specifically for us.” Dante replied, his voice lethal.
“It’s not you he’s after. He’s coming after my family.”
Dante stood and came to face Aran. “Listen, you simply drew the biggest straw. Make no mistake. When this created is finished with you, he’ll come after us.”
Aran nodded his head in agreement. The scientist in question wouldn’t relax until they were all dead.
“What about the others? We aren’t the only two groups that chose earth. Then there are the rest of our kind who were sure they had found our mother’s planet. They went there.” Nicolas spoke up. He’d been standing in the doorway, listening as Tina spoke.
“We came here because we took a vote as a family on where we wanted to go. That planet was in the pool of planets we had to choose from. Our brothers wanted to go home. That’s how they thought of the planet. We’re older. Our biological makeup demanded we find mates. We weren’t going to find any there. To delay our migration and subsequent assimilation into the earth ‘s population, would’ve been a dangerous risk.” Nicolas’s eyes flicked to Aran who was the oldest brother.
Sergey nodded, while Aran looked thoughtful.
“So where does that leave us?” Aran asked looking, at Sergey with concern.
“There’s a drug that the scientist who oversaw our creation liked to use. I believe it would’ve produced the effects Tina spoke of in a human.” Nicolas said.
“I think it does more than that Nicolas. I should’ve known if she was remembering. I picked nothing up from her. That concerns me.” Dante said.
“Do you think she has a trigger?” Aran asked, focusing on Dante.
“Yes. Whoever this created is, he was given the tricks of the scientist who created him. What triggered her is the question. Could it have been the simple act of remembering or was he able to put it on a system that allowed it to activate on its own?” Dante said.
“Dante it would’ve taken hours to implant a mental trigger in her. The method is complicated and advanced.” Niko said with a hard voice.
“Niko, is it more complicated than creating us?” Dante’s voice was soft and deadly.
“Outside. Take it to the street.” Aran gave the command. They followed him out the door. There was a reason their houses were huge and the rooms the brothers met in felt like outdoor arenas in their size.
Shoulders relaxed immediately as they took in large breaths of air.
“That’s better.”
“I agree.” Dante clapped Niko on his back and the two began shoving like brothers. The tension that had been ratcheting up began to dissipate.
“I can see the fissure in her mind. I’m already working on it. We won’t have to worry about her calling Vance again. I can also brew something up to counteract what happened in her body. It would help if Nicolas would share what he knows about the drug.”
Nicolas nodded and they walked off together.
Sergey leaned back against Aran’s jeep and looked at both of his brothers before speaking.
“The immediate problem has been answered. Tina called Vance, which set off this chain of dominoes. How did the military know she was here, unless they were watching Vance also? They must have his phone or his surroundings bugged. The bigger question is why would they care about him and the female he violated?”
“Is it possible that the created is in contact with them?” Aran asked.
“Aran, can you really imagine the military dealing with this created? ‘
“No, but I can imagine the men who we’re talking about dealing with him. Remember, the man who tried to take us out wasn’t sanctioned by his military or his government to create that drug. I’ve often wondered where they got that specific formula from. It would’ve wiped us out if Nicolas hadn’t identified a weakness in our genetics, insisting that each of us go through the treatment.”
“It was done on the ship here.” Niko spoke up. “Nicolas insisted on doing Dante and his brothers the minute we came into contact with them. There would be no way for the scientist responsible for our creation to know that we had plugged that genetic default.”
“Agreed. He must have been in touch with them, which means they have reached out to him again. What do they want is the question.”
Sergey looked at Aran. “Lorali.”
He strode off, avoiding the grass as he made a beeline for the house.
“Does everyone have everything they want to take with them?” Rena asked, as she walked around, checking drawers and cabinets.
Each head nodded, looking confused and feeling less than safe. Tina looked shell shocked, her things only half packed.
“What if I bring the wrong thing?” Tina asked as she looked over her shoulder to see one of the males standing in the doorway. She had to fight a flood of tears.
“He won’t hurt you. Believe me, I’d vouch for him any day.” Tina nodded at Lorali and began stuffing clothes in a bag. A snow globe fell out.
“What’s that?” Lorali asked.
“A snow globe. It has a pretty picture in it.”
“Do you collect them?”
“Nope, I hate them.”
“Then why did you bring one of them with you?”
“I didn’t, but I like this one so I’ll take it.”
Lorali held up her hand, signaling for everyone to stay silent. “Let’s get it packed then. We need to leave soon.”
Lorali picked the snow globe up and placed it roughly in a bag by itself. She went to Tina and looked through everything she was going to take. She took several things out and packed them in that same bag.
Silently she motioned everyone to head for the door. She picked the bag up and tossed it over one of the marks on the yard as she exited.
She spoke when she got into the jeep. “They made contact with Tina. She doesn’t remember. They gave her a possession to take that would allow them to follow her.”
Dante walked over. “Tina, is there anything in your bag you desperately want?”
She shook her head no. He took her bag out of her cold fingers and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.
“I promise everything will be alright.” He caught her when she passed out.
“What did you do to her?”
“I sent her into a deep sleep, Lorali. I don’t want to risk compromising their new location. Mick, one of my brothers, will meet us there with the antidote.”
“You’re always coming to the rescue.”
“Why Lorali, I think you have me confused with one of your angels.”
Laughter, both male and female, could be heard flowing on the wind.
Chapter Twenty
“I thought we were going to do this another day?” Lorali looked around and her eyes sparkled. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in an amusement park.
They had spent the day relocating and making sure all the women were safe. The day had been better than she’d anticipated. All of the brothers had come out, and despite the urgency of the situation, they had made it a fun, light hearted day. The women, who should have been terrified, laughed and joined in.
In the end, she’d been impressed by who they were. Maybe, more correctly she thought, she’d been impressed by what they weren’t. They hadn’t been standoffish or too proud to learn something they didn’t understand or even to ask questions. She didn’t know about the rest of the galaxy, but she’d pick the created any day.
Kennywood. Pittsburgh’s amusement park. She liked it. Couples walked around holding hands. Children ran from ride to ride. Parent’s shook their heads and grinned like idiots when they caught sight of their child.
The lights were ablaze in the darkness. She
could smell the different foods competing with each other.
Sergey reached out and took her hand. “This way to the Jack Rabbit.”
“Jack Rabbit?”
“One of the popular rollercoasters here. I think we’ll start off with a beginner one.”
“My big strong male, scared of an itty bitty rollercoaster.”
He nodded his head and tried to make those brown eyes look soft and scared. She laughed. She couldn’t help herself.
“Will you protect me?”
“Always.” She choked on the word and looped her arm around him.
The line was long despite the fact that darkness had fallen some time ago. “I want ice cream after this, and potato patch fries.”
“How do you know they have those things here?” He asked.
“I looked up the park earlier when I thought we were coming.” They were standing in line, holding hands. “I like this. We look like we’re on our first date.”
“What makes you say that?”
She lifted theirs hands showing off her light one in his darker one. “This. The holding of hands. The coming to the amusement park. It’s all first date material.”
“What about what I plan to do to you later? Is that first date material?”
“No, the way you do it, makes it stay with me forever material.”
“Nice to know I’m doing it right.”
They moved up in the line. Lorali listened to others’ conversations. She listened to a couple of teens who were excited about their last year in high school. Had she ever been that young?
There were ninth graders who were getting into a heavy debate over high school lunches and which days they should bring a lunch. Had she ever been that carefree?
All around her were excited conversations from teens and twenty-somethings and on up. All excited about the life they had in front of them to live.
She dropped her eyes one more time to their linked hands. Turns out, she was excited too.
She climbed on the ride, looking forward to it. She was left little room as she sat next to his big frame.
“So here are the rules. When you reach the top of the hill, you have to put your hands up and holler for all you’re worth as it goes plunging down.”
“Are you sure this ride is safe.” He asked looking around.
“I’ll protect you, remember?” She grinned at him.
“Yes. I’ll protect you too, always.”
The voice of the employee operating the ride had stopped and they were creeping out of the loading bay.
She reached over to give him a little shake, letting her joy be seen. “This is going to be so much fun.”
She could feel the roll of her stomach as they approached the first hill, slowly moving up it. The excited voices around her increased her enjoyment. They crested the first hill and began to roar down the other side. Her hands went up high and the loudest laugh scream came out.
Lorali’s pure joy encouraged Sergey to raise his hands and scream out loud. Well, he moderated his voice. No sense scaring the humans. The next hill had his other side looking out for a peek. Together they enjoyed the antics of riding a rollercoaster.
They rolled into the dislodging bay. “Did you enjoy it?”
With a shake of his head he caught her up and kissed her. “I did.”
There were cat whistles and children yelling ‘eww, old people kissing.’ They laughed and walked off.
“What do you want to do next?”
“I always wanted one of those.” She pointed to the biggest stuffed animal he’d ever seen.
“Then let’s buy it.”
“You can’t. You have to win it.”
“Why?”
“It’s a game and you pay money to play. If you win you get a toy. If you win again, you can trade the smaller toy in for a bigger one until you get the biggest.”
“So in the end you do buy it.”
“Kind of. Most people don’t do a good job at winning.”
“Aww this game tests the male prowess and how well he can care for you.”
“Not really. It’s just a game.”
“Pick out the animal you want and I’ll win it for you.”
They looked around until she spotted a huge alien looking stuffed animal that was supposed to be scary. “I want him.”
He took one look at it and grinned. “Then you shall have him.” He walked over to the vendor with an arrogant walk. “What do I have to do to win him?” He pointed at the large space alien.
“My friend, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he’s unwinnable.”
“Then why is he here?”
“You misunderstand me.” The man smiled at Sergey, calculating how much he would get out of him. “No one has ever won him.”
He walked to the back and pulled out a perfect replica of the black and white alien hanging from his booth. This one was done in browns with deep brown eyes.
“I’d love to give away this alien. It keeps me up at night, but alas no one has the skill to win him. I’ll cut you a deal. For fifteen dollars, I’ll allow you to go three rounds. All you have to do is land the rings on the bottle necks. Here is the catch, they must all be on a bottle. One to each bottle and you have to do it every round. There are ten rings in a round.”
Sergey nodded his head and forked over a twenty. He was presented with thirty rings, ten in each group of three.
“Good luck.”
Sergey smiled while examining the rings and then the bottle necks. Moving up to the line he tossed the first ten, one after the other, landing them perfectly.
The people waiting in line gathered around him. The owner of the game gulped and smiled.
“That was excellent. Obviously a fluke, but you should be proud. I’ll refund your money and give your wife this nice parting gift.”
Sergey shook his head. He picked up the next ten rings and waited for the game master to reset the bottles, noting that he moved them just a little.
Sergey once again examined them and the rings before he threw. All ten ending up on the desired bottles.
“How are you doing that?” The game master demanded, not as friendly as before.
“Physics.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Please reset the game.”
The other man grudgingly reset the bottles, stacking them differently to make them harder to reach. He turned around with a smile and gestured to them with a grand movement.
Sergey did as before, taking the rings and examining them and then examining the bottles. He gave a soft sigh before throwing the rings. All ten hit perfectly.
“We’ll take that alien now.”
The crowd around him cheered. The game master balked at giving him the prize.
Sergey leaned in and whispered in his ear. “There is a reason no one wins here. Should I explain it to all those that have gathered?”
The giant alien was handed over. Sergey walked over to Lorali and handed her the alien.
Her face was flushed. “You won.”
“For you little one. Only for you. What is next on our agenda?”
“Potato patch fries.”
The walk to the concession stand was short. They split the fries that were dripping with cheese and laughed.
They walked around, dragging the huge stuffed animal behind them.
“One more ride before we leave.”
He looked around. “Which one do you want to go on?”
“The Whip.”
He looked at it. “It doesn’t do much.”
“It’s fun though and look, there is barely a line.”
They left their stuffed animal with the operator and climbed into one of the seats.
They sat in the ride as it went down the side at a nice pace. Then it whipped around the end, causing Lorali to slide into him.
“I take it back. This is a great ride.” The next time they whipped around a corner he kissed her.
“I agree.” She moaned. “This is a great
ride.”
They exited laughing. “Let’s get a funnel cake supreme and leave before the park closes and we’re caught in a traffic nightmare.”
“Funnel cake?”
“It is a yummy fried dough with powdered sugar on it, topped with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. You’re in for a culinary delight.”
Chapter Twenty-one
They grabbed a seat outside of the park to eat their culinary delight. Sergey insisted it was too messy to take into the jeep.
“Well?” she asked as he took his first bite, watching the play of emotions on his face.
“It’s good.” He said in a voice that was still considering the goodness of his first bite.
“Good! Aren’t you the male that subjected me to a cardboard breakfast sandwich not that long ago?”
“I didn’t believe my brothers, but it’s true.”
“What?”
“Females never forget anything.”
“That’s right. It will do you good to remember that.” Lorali picked up her fork and took a mouthful of her dessert. Mmm she moaned and closed her eyes.
He reached for another bite, dipping to the side when she tried to put ice cream on his face. He changed directions and put a dab on the tip of her nose.
She laughed. “No fair.”
She went to wipe it off, but his tongue found it first, licking it off then going in for a kiss.
The dessert was forgotten as the kiss deepened.
“Look mama. That man and woman are kissing.” She opened her eyes to find a little girl standing and staring.
Her mother came up, taking her hand and leading her away. “Ignore them, love. They probably can’t afford a room.” With one last dirty look, the mother led the little girl off.
“Eat fast.” Sergey said, tearing into half of the funnel cake. His eyes devoured her as his strong jaws chewed.
“Finished.” Her voice was husky. She stuck her tongue out to lick her lips, claiming the rest of the powdered sugar and ice cream.
Sergey groaned and took her hand. They walked quickly back to the jeep, laughing like children who were up to no good.
He dangled the keys out to her. She grabbed them and ran around the jeep to open it.
Sergey: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 10