Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  “She’s one of them.” The scathing female voice came from my right. I didn’t even need to turn to know she was talking about me. I kept my focus on Lochie, refusing to look. The gaze in his eyes told me not to look away.

  “So Lola’s a bar singer,” he continued.

  “A restaurant singer,” I corrected. “She’s really good too. I’ve seen her a few times now and everyone loves her.”

  “Look at her, she’s got the tattoo. Ugh. And she’s talking to a human.” The same voice again. I wanted to hit her. Seriously.

  It was Lochie who broke our eye contact as he shot a determined look at the woman. “Excuse me, what exactly is your problem? Because my extraordinarily beautiful girlfriend and I are trying to have a meal here.”

  The woman was in her fifties, her mouth as big as her hair. She didn’t appreciate being called out. “What would you want with that piece of filth?”

  “She’s not-” Lochie stopped as he was racked by a new coughing fit. He covered his mouth, trying to get enough breath back into his lungs again.

  “Lochie, it’s okay,” I said when he was recovering from the exertion. “She’s not worth it.”

  “Don’t talk about me like that, you… thing,” the woman butted in, making every word drip with disgust. “How dare you.”

  Lochie put out a warning hand, intended for me and not the horrible woman. He was worried I was going to do something I would regret later on. I was kind of worried about that too.

  He spoke before I could. “Amery is not a thing. She is a person, a much better one than you, apparently. I love her very much so I would appreciate it if you let us eat in peace and mind your own business.”

  The woman opened her mouth to speak but Lochie held up a hand to stop her this time. She snapped her lips closed again and turned back to her own dinner. Her husband gave her a shrug.

  “Thank you,” I said. It always made my heart swell when Lochie defended me. Sometimes I suspected he might be too good to be true.

  “Anytime, Jones.”

  While I finished my meal, Lochie was still only halfway through his. We continued to talk, but the woman was still speaking loudly enough for us to hear. I tried to tune her out but she was too noisy. Which was probably the whole idea.

  “Listen to him, he’s wheezing like a wounded bull. And her, she’s fine. It’s that alien disease. She gave it to him.”

  Lochie’s fork clinked down on his plate. “Do you feel like a walk? I feel like a walk.” He pushed his plate away and stood. I was pretty sure his plan had two purposes, to get away from the woman, and not have to force his dinner down and admit he was sicker than he let on.

  I followed him out. “You don’t have to go for a walk, Lochie. We can just go home.”

  “I need to walk. Otherwise I might punch someone.” He threaded his hand with mine as we walked along the street. The lights were on but all the stores were closed. We had the sidewalk all to ourselves.

  “Krom assures me the illness isn’t anything to do with the aliens,” I said. He moved his arm around my waist, pulling me against his side.

  “I know.”

  “We’re just a freak of nature the way we don’t get sick,” I pointed out.

  “You’re just a freak of nature full stop.”

  I swatted at his chest. “Nice.”

  “A freak of nature the way you make me love you so much. Nobody is that perfect, Jones,” he tried to recover. It was actually a really good answer, I instantly forgave him. He kissed my hair and breathed deeply. “Maybe we should run away, like in your sex dream.”

  “It wasn’t a sex dream.”

  “Yeah, right,” he scoffed. “But seriously, maybe we should. There’s nothing stopping us. We can make a new home somewhere, a place nobody knows us. Or we could travel, just go wherever we want to.”

  I had to admit, it did sound nice. I could imagine us lying on a tropical beach, being kissed by the sun, nobody looking at us twice for being a human and an alien and still daring to be in love. It was almost so tempting I wanted to agree to it.

  But there was the matter of reality to consider. The minute I went somewhere, my parents, Krom, Rob, Lola, Senph, they would all hunt me down. I wouldn’t be on the run for long.

  “It’s a nice thought,” I finally replied.

  “So what’s stopping us?”

  “I’ve got responsibilities.” It always came down to responsibilities. Always. They never went away, no matter how hard I fought to be free of them.

  “Make me a responsibility and then put me at the top of the list,” Lochie said. If only he knew how far up the list he always was, no matter what else was going on.

  “You’d miss your mom and Jordan if we ran away,” I countered. I wasn’t the only one with things to look after. He had his fair share of responsibilities too.

  “I could come back and visit.” He made it sound so easy. “It wouldn’t be like we’d be gone forever. Just a while, until we got sick of it.”

  “Until we got sick of each other, you mean.”

  “Oh, that’s what you’re relying on to get rid of me?” I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smiling. “I hate to break this to you, Jones, but it’s never going to happen. You are stuck with me forever. Forever and a day, actually.”

  “Oh, plus a day? What, forever isn’t long enough?”

  “Not with you it isn’t.”

  “You promise?” I asked, holding my breath waiting for an answer.

  Lochie didn’t even hesitate. “I absolutely promise. How many times do I have to tell you I love you for it to sink into that thick skull of yours?”

  “I’m not sure, you’re going to have to keep saying it.”

  “Well, I love-” His words were cut off as he gasped for breath. We had walked too far, I knew we should have gone straight home. Lochie bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he fought to control his coughing.

  I rubbed his back, completely unable to really help him. When he could move, I guided him across to a low wall so he could perch against it. “Stay here and I’ll get the car.” He didn’t stop me reaching into his pocket and pulling out the keys.

  I ran along the streets, silently thanking all those hours I had spent jogging. I made it to the car in no time and pulled it around to where Lochie was still waiting.

  He was pale as I helped him into the car. The fact he didn’t argue when I jumped into the driver’s seat was testament to how bad he was feeling. He hated people driving his car. The vehicle wasn’t flashy or anything, quite the opposite, but he looked after it well and didn’t think anybody else would.

  As much I didn’t want to see Mrs. Mercury, I took him home anyway. He needed to be in his own bed, surrounded by the comforts of home.

  “You don’t have to…” He took a deep breath, wheezing with the effort. “Look after me. Take my car home.”

  “Just accept it as a fact that that isn’t going to happen, okay?” I didn’t wait for an argument, just got out and helped him out too. We walked slowly up the lawn, Lochie leaning on me for support. It was scary how fast he had deteriorated.

  I used Lochie’s keys to open the door and guided him over the threshold. Mrs. Mercury was sitting on the couch watching television. The minute she saw Lochie, she raced across to us. “What happened?”

  “He fell ill after dinner,” I explained.

  “I’m fine,” Lochie moaned. “Just take me upstairs, please.”

  “You should go to a hospital,” Mrs. Mercury scolded him. “I can take you now.” She gave me a scathing look, like that’s what I should have done already.

  “No, no hospital,” Lochie protested, dragging me toward the stairs. “I’ve been to doctors and they can’t do anything. I just want to go to bed.”

  Mrs. Mercury grumbled under her breath and took the other side of him. Together, we got him upstairs and to his bedroom. We eased Lochie onto the bed where he sat forlornly.

  “That’s better,” he sighed.
r />   Mrs. Mercury looked directly at me. “I can take it from here. Run along.”

  “I just want to help.” My voice had no conviction in it whatsoever. The woman scared me a little, especially after what she did last time I had seen her.

  “He’s my son. I think I can look after him,” she said sarcastically.

  I put my big girl pants on. “And he’s my boyfriend. I want to look after him just as much as you do.”

  She snorted. “I seriously doubt that. Now get out.”

  “Mom,” Lochie started, putting all his strength behind the warning. “Amery stays. She is a big part of my life, if not my entire life. If you don’t like it, then you’re going to have to deal with it. Please.”

  Anger crossed her face as they had a stare down. Lochie’s illness was making his eyes glazed again. He wasn’t going to be able to glare for much longer.

  She finally flicked her eyes to me, conveying nothing but hatred. “Stay out of my way, alien.”

  I don’t know if I had ever felt like an alien more than at that moment.

  But Lochie seemed satisfied, he lost his fighter’s stance. Mrs. Mercury moved closer to him. “At least make yourself useful and help me get him changed.” She tugged at his shirt and Lochie held his hands in the air. Together, we pulled it off and over his head.

  I went to Lochie’s dresser and pulled out a soft white shirt, helping to get it on him. It felt a little triumphant knowing that was what he always slept in. Score one for Amery.

  His pants were a little trickier but Lochie helped by standing up. We let him stay in his boxers. I would have been fine helping change those too but Mrs. Mercury would have had a heart attack.

  Finally, Lochie could curl up in his bed. He looked like a little boy all snuggled up under the covers.

  “You should probably sleep sitting up a little,” I said. “It puts less pressure on your lungs, helps you breathe better.”

  He managed a small smile for me. “Nurse Jones is in the house.”

  Mrs. Mercury rolled her eyes. “We should let you rest now. Call if you need anything, darling.”

  I didn’t want to leave Lochie. I was going to worry about him all night and probably get no sleep while I fretted. But there was no way I could stay, Mrs. Mercury would never allow it.

  I went to leave, giving Lochie a kiss on the forehead. Before I could move away, he grabbed my arm and muttered just one single word: “Stay.”

  One glance at his mom said otherwise. “I should go.”

  “Yeah, you should.” She said it under her breath but just loud enough to make sure I could hear.

  “Stay, please. I want you to stay, Ame.” His eyes pleaded with me a hundred times more intensely than his voice could muster. “Please?”

  Suddenly it didn’t matter what Mrs. Mercury wanted. All that counted was what Lochie needed. I nodded. “I’ll stay.”

  “You’re not-”

  “Mom, she’s staying. Please, just let this go.”

  She threw up her hands, shot me one more look that would burst me into flames if it could, and then left. She made sure the door stayed open, I noted. I went over and closed it when I was sure she was out of hearing range.

  I sat on the edge of the bed. “Can I get you anything? Some water maybe?”

  “Water would be good, thanks,” he croaked out.

  I went to his bathroom and poured a glass of water for him. At the same time I dampened a washcloth with cold water and wrung it out.

  He accepted the water gratefully and drank the entire thing. When he settled back down, I placed the washcloth over his forehead and smoothed it out. His fever was raging out of control.

  “Lochie,” I started gently. “Maybe you really should go to the hospital. You’re burning up.”

  “Are you saying I’m hot?” He still managed a cheeky smile, his cheeks dimpling.

  I wasn’t going to let him deflect my concerns, however. I knew him too well to let him get away with it. “Yes, you’re hot. Both in temperature and looks. But it’s the temperature way I’m concerned with.”

  “Lie down with me, that’s all I need.”

  I curled up at his side over the bed covers, it would have been way too hot to be under the blankets too. He shifted so he could move his arm around me. “That’s better.”

  “You’re not better,” I pointed out.

  “I’ll be fine,” he insisted. But he wasn’t fine. Anybody would be able to see that.

  “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you,” I blurted out quietly into his chest. The wheezes were rattling around his lungs again.

  “Now you know how I feel about you all the time. All. The. Time, Ame.”

  “I’m not the sick one.”

  He sighed, sending a new whistle through his chest. “Let’s just sleep. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

  “Tell me if you need anything, okay? Even if you have to wake me up.” I wouldn’t quit until he promised me he would. Only then, did I let him drift off to sleep.

  I had a horrible feeling creeping over me that everything wouldn’t be as fine as he said it would be. I didn’t dare sleep in case my worst fears came true.

  CHAPTER 10

  Mrs. Mercury kicked me out of the house in the morning. Her patience only lasted long enough to see me and Lochie cuddled up against each other.

  Lochie did seem a little better and I didn’t want him to have to fight on my behalf again. I left him with strict instructions to stay in bed and not get up for anything other than bathroom breaks. At least Mrs. Mercury and I were in agreement on that one issue.

  I went home exhausted, not just from the lack of sleep but from the worry too. I couldn’t shake the thought of the thousands of people that had already died from the widespread illness. It was a fatal condition. I couldn’t let Lochie succumb to the same fate.

  The minute I got home, I went upstairs. When I stepped out of the shower and returned to my room, my adoptive mother was waiting for me. She was pacing, nervous about something. That wasn’t a good sign. My instincts told me to run.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Amery, we need to talk.” Now, I was definitely feeling like I should run. Now, before it’s too late.

  I sat on the bed, she finally settled next to me but was still fidgety. “Mom, you’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”

  “You didn’t come home last night.”

  I relaxed a little. She was just concerned about my whereabouts. That I could deal with. “Yeah, sorry. I stayed at Lochie’s place. I forgot to let you know.”

  “That’s where I thought you were.” So she shouldn’t have been worried then. And it definitely shouldn’t be cause for the serious frown. “Honey, I think we need to have a difficult conversation.”

  I thought we already were. It sure felt like it. “What’s on your mind, Mom?”

  She wrung her fingers together, buying time. After the night I’d had, the anticipation was killing me. It was surprising to see my ex-Special Agent Mom lost for words. I couldn’t think of a time when it had happened before.

  “Mom, just say it.”

  “You’re growing up, you’re almost eighteen years old.”

  “Both true.” Where was she going with this? Perhaps if I wasn’t so tired, I might have been able to work it out.

  “And you are becoming very close with Lochie. Close as in the adult way.” Bam. And there it was. I really hoped we weren’t about to have the talk.

  “Mom, you don’t-” She held up a hand to stop me.

  “I know it’s difficult but we need to talk about this. There are so many… consequences that can happen when you… are intimate with someone. It’s important you protect yourself.”

  My face was burning with embarrassment, I was pretty certain hers was too. “Lochie was sick last night, that’s why I spent the night over at his house. I was looking after him because he asked me to stay with him.”

  Realization crossed her face. The realization that she
had come to the wrong conclusion and the entire conversation could have been avoided. “Oh. Is he okay?”

  “I think he’s got the illness that is going around.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too.” We sat in silence for a few moments as the minutes ticked by. Considering she had gone out of her way to have the talk with me, I figured I should probably make sure she never had to do it again. Ever. “But you don’t need to worry about that other thing either. Lochie and I have already… and we were careful. It was the first time for both of us and we’ve never been with anyone else, but we’re still taking precautions. I’m being smart about it.”

  That seemed to cheer her up a bit, she nodded. “Good. Just as long as you’re careful. I love you and I like Lochie, but you are both far too young to be parents.”

  “I completely agree.” Although, if Project Integrate was still going, I would have been expected to have a child in only a year’s time. I guess that was a responsibility I dodged.

  “Good, good.” She stood, heading toward the door. “You’ve grown up so quickly, I can barely keep up. If you have any questions or need anything, you know you can always talk to me, right?”

  “Of course.”

  Mom left me there to cool my cheeks. I guessed it could have been worse. She could have brought props.

  I curled up on my bed, dead tired from lack of sleep. Every movement Lochie made last night woke me up. I was too worried something would happen to him when I slept to really sleep.

  My cell phone rang, shattering my peace and quiet. I pulled it out of my pocket, it was Lola. “Hey.”

  “Amery, I’ve caught it.” My heart stopped at those few words. Lola sounded terrible. “I’m sick.”

  “Flu like symptoms?”

  “Yeah,” she groaned. The nasal congestion was causing her voice to be deeper than it normally was.

  “Lochie has it too. I’m so sorry, Lola. Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?” I wished I had a miracle cure for her. For them all.

  “No, I just… Have you heard anything about it? Are they working on a magic potion for it at the Department? I thought they might have said something.”