“You don’t need to pay me.” Kaelar smiled. “Of course, I’ll come.”
Chloe laughed lightly. “You don’t need to keep making up for knocking me over. I forgive you.”
Kaelar had almost forgotten his excuse for being here. He still found it strange that humans charged money to come and bring joy to children. He’d been here a long time, but sometimes, humans still mystified him. If you asked him, happiness should be shared.
“I told you, I work for a charity during the holidays. We don’t charge for our visits. I’ll be back tomorrow with more—with more stories,” he amended before he let his true purpose slip.
Chloe smiled and Kaelar saw the air around her brighten up with a beautiful red as joy came off her in waves.
“I’d like that,” she said.
Chapter 10
Chloe
Chloe waved as Kaelar walked into the gently falling snow. She was surprised to find that she was sad to see him go. He had been wonderful with the children and Chloe was glad she’d been able to join them during her break too.
Her sadness didn’t last long though. A warmth filled her heart as she thought of his promise to visit again.
She returned to work with a smile on her lips—and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone seemed in better spirits today, but most especially the children. Brad wasn’t even crying, despite the fact that his mom hadn’t returned from her shopping break yet. He lay in bed watching TV, occasionally laughing at something he saw.
“He’s gone? The reindeer guy?” Sadie looked around hopefully as she put down a pile of charts at the nurses’ station.
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
Sadie swore quietly under her breath and Chloe’s eyes widened. One of the nurses nearby giggled.
“Sadie, there are children here!”
“Sorry, Chloe.” Sadie laughed. “I’d tie that guy to a chair here if I could. He’s so good with the children. I’ve never seen them so happy. Brad has to go in for some more tests and you know how he hates those? But now, it’s like he completely forgot about them.”
Chloe knew very well how he hated them and she too had been surprised at how well Brad was doing right now. She worried for whoever had the night shift, though. She hoped to be wrong, but she guessed they were in for a rough night.
“I’m going to go check on Hannah,” Sadie said. “I’ll see you later.”
Chloe nodded. It was time for her to return to work too. She went back to the ER, but there was a temporary lull in activity that gave her time to think.
The way the children had perked up around Kaelar reminded her of the other night—that strange night when she’d found the reindeer in Brad’s bedroom. This wasn’t the first time she’d thought of the two of them in the same context, but now, more than ever, she wondered if the reindeer and Kaelar were somehow connected.
As much as she went over it in her head, Chloe couldn’t put specifics to her vague suspicions—at least not ones that weren’t likely to get her a one-way ticket to the psychiatric ward. In her gut, she just felt that the reindeer hadn’t been an ordinary reindeer. What made her think that? She didn’t know. It was more like a feeling than any actual knowledge.
Chloe sighed. Or maybe she was just getting tired around the holidays.
It was probably just Kaelar’s reindeer costume that reminded her of the reindeer visitor. Kids loved animals, even if it was only people dressed up as animals. That was all it was—plus the fact that Kaelar was obviously good with children.
She shook her head, forcing herself to focus as an ambulance pulled up to the bay.
Maybe her mom was right and she was working too much. Some of her confused thoughts about reindeer and Kaelar were just crazy. Perhaps she did need a break.
She pushed the reindeer—and Kaelar—from her thoughts and got back to work, setting the broken leg of a young boy who’d been brought in. She quickly found a rhythm in the ER and the rest of her shift went quickly.
At the end of the day, Chloe found herself at the nurses’ station with Sadie, who was also leaving for the day.
“So, what about Kaelar, hm?” Sadie asked with a wink.
Chloe huffed out a laugh. “He said he’ll be back tomorrow, but I don’t think he’ll appreciate it if you try to tie him to a chair.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. The guy couldn’t keep his eyes off you and you weren’t much better. You looked like you wanted to eat him.”
Chloe felt her face heat up. So, Kaelar was cute, so what? The fact that he was kind and thoughtful and sweet with children only increased his attractiveness in her eyes, but that didn’t mean she was into him. Or that he was into her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered.
Sadie shook her head in disapproval. “Don’t give me that. I’m not your mom. I’m not about to start planning the wedding. You like him, though, don’t you?”
“I do,” Chloe admitted with a sigh. “I’m not sure if he feels the same, though.”
“Trust me, he does. You didn’t see the way he was looking at you. I was right there. I tell you: he’s into you.”
Chloe felt her blush deepen. She ended the day at work with a smile plastered all over her face. She was done with her Christmas shopping, so she headed straight home. She made dinner, but her mind was still on Kaelar. She realized too late that she had used milk instead of cream, and butter instead of eggs. The result was hardly edible.
No one delivered out to the woods and Chloe wasn’t in the mood to cook again. Settling for a sandwich, she lay down on the couch to watch some TV, her favorite way to unwind.
She hoped Kaelar did come again tomorrow. Maybe she could ask him on a date. Isn’t that what people did?
Chloe realized it had been a long time since she’d been interested in a guy, and just as long since she’d been out on a date. Not since her college years.
The thought made her nervous, but at the same time, excitement curled in her belly.
Could she do it? Ask him out?
It seemed like the universe had dropped Kaelar in her lap and the last thing she wanted was to be ungrateful.
She could do this.
Chapter 11
Kaelar
Kaelar walked quietly through the snowy forest, content with the day’s work. After the hospital, he’d spread what joy he had left around the town. It wasn’t much, but it was at least something. He hadn’t seen any sign of the Zalfa today, but he could tell they were still at it.
While Kaelar had been playing with the kids at the hospital, the Zalfa had clearly been vacuuming joy in the town center. Kaelar had noticed the immediate lack of joy as soon as he’d reached the town square. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been anything he could’ve done about it, as the Zalfa were no longer around.
Tomorrow, he’d have to return to some of the outlying towns to gather more joy to fill up his town, but for now, it was time for him to get some rest at the cabin.
He tried to think of more positive things and his mind immediately turned to Chloe.
Kaelar would have visited the hospital tomorrow anyway, but he had to admit, he was looking forward to it way more than he ordinarily did, and she was the reason. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to get to know her better.
He wondered again about his reaction to her. If he was being honest, he’d be thrilled to find out she was his true mate, but at the same time, that was exactly what worried him.
What if he was just convincing himself he felt things he didn’t because she was so perfect for him?
Of course, he could be in a relationship with a human even if they weren’t his true mate, but Kaelar had always wanted to wait for a true mate.
He’d never expected to find her on Earth. His original plan had been to spend a few years here, then return to his home planet, where he was more likely to find his mate. The world and the people had captured his heart, though, and he’d never been able to convince himself to leave.
&nb
sp; How would Chloe feel if she knew what he was? Would she be okay with it or would she freak out and run away? After all, most humans had no idea that there were aliens out there, let alone ones living in secret on their planet.
Kaelar shook his head. First things first. He needed to find some way for her to touch his antlers. Then, he’d know for sure whether she was his true mate and he could go from there.
Walking through the forest to his cabin, Kaelar was so lost in his own thoughts that it took him a few minutes to notice the faint hum of electricity that echoed between the trees. He paused as he heard it, listening closer.
It didn’t make sense. There were no big structures out here in the middle of the forest that could make such a sound. Yet, it sounded like something large was emitting a low frequency to a wide area in the woods.
He changed direction, moving toward the noise, his heart rate quickening. If he was a criminal Zalfa set on stealing joy, he’d have his ship nearby, ready to make an escape when he was discovered, which was inevitable sooner or later.
What better place to hide a spaceship than deep in the woods where humans seldom went?
If Kaelar could find their ship, he could stop them. He knew it was probably smarter to wait for the galactic authorities to arrive, but the joy was being stolen now. The town was close to being miserable again. If there was anything he could do about it, he would do it in a heartbeat.
It didn’t take long to follow the sound to its source. As he’d expected, it was a spaceship.
The round, metallic ship was half-hidden by a large boulder and seemed to have some kind of a light-reflecting shield on, but Kaelar could still see it because he knew what he was looking for.
His first instinct was to rush inside the ship, find the joy vacuum, and destroy it, but he knew he had to be smarter about this. He was only one person and he wasn’t armed or trained in combat. The Zalfa would undoubtedly be both.
He fell back into the shadows to watch. There was no movement around the ship, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone inside. Even if there wasn’t though, the ship would undoubtedly have a security system in place. He couldn’t just march inside.
The sun was just about to disappear behind the horizon and it was late enough that most humans would have gone home for the day. That meant it wasn’t an optimal joy collecting or stealing time. The vacuum device they used would probably be inside the ship. If Kaelar destroyed it, it would stop them—at least temporarily until they got a new device. By that time, the galactic authorities would have caught up with them.
His heart pounded in his chest as he considered his options. Eventually, he decided that the Zalfa must be either out scoping their next target location, or asleep.
Slowly, and as quietly as he could, he started approaching the back of the ship. He’d need to disable the security system if he wanted to sneak inside and he knew the security panel was usually in the back of the ship. If he got there without being noticed, he could try to turn it off.
He spotted a hatch in the back that looked like it could be the security panel and took a step toward it. Before he could get within a human arm’s reach of the panel though, there was a loud bang and he found himself flying through the air.
Gasping for breath, Kaelar landed in a painful heap in the snow, his muscles contracting as if he’d been electrocuted. His head spun and he scrambled to his feet, feeling lightheaded.
Apparently, he’d underestimated the Zalfa.
He’d never encountered a shield like that before. Shields that extended beyond the ship’s walls were rare, and those that existed always stopped an intrusion, but never reacted aggressively toward anyone coming near. Clearly, this was something more than that.
The Zalfa hadn’t just been making illegal joy vacuums, they’d been engineering highly dangerous shields. Kaelar didn’t have time to think about that now, though. Shouts were coming from the ship. Apparently, the ship had not only kicked him off but alerted the aliens inside. If the Zalfa had been asleep before, they were certainly awake now.
It was no use.
Cursing his luck, Kaelar turned tail and ran as fast as he could away from the ship. He shifted to his reindeer form, his hooves handling the snow better than his feet. He could hear the Zalfa starting to chase him, but at least the aliens were cautious enough not to try to fly their ship in pursuit of him. That would have resulted in chaos among the humans.
Kaelar ran as fast as he could, his body moving nearly flying-speed across the snowy ground. He considered taking flight himself, but in case there were people out in the woods, he decided to try to lose the Zalfa on his feet first.
At the sound of more voices coming from the opposite direction though, he stumbled to a halt. Could the Zalfa have split up and outrun him already? No, they didn’t have any special speed abilities and he was faster than them in his reindeer form.
As the shouts got closer, Kaelar recognized some of the voices.
Great, just what he needed. The hunters from the other night.
Santa really needed to pick the locations for his cabins better. Of course, it was possible that the hunters had moved in long after Santa had purchased a cabin in this area, but Kaelar wasn’t in the mood to be generous right now.
Right on cue, gunshots started. Kaelar bolted to the right, hopefully heading away from both the Zalfa and the hunters. His reindeer form allowed him to get around the forest quickly and easily, but it also made him more vulnerable to humans. For the most part, humans didn’t hunt other humans. Reindeer though, yeah.
In another situation, it may have been smarter to switch back to his humanoid form and show himself to the hunters. That would get them to stop shooting at him. It wasn’t an ideal solution, as too many stories of people chasing reindeer and suddenly coming across humans with antlers could affect reilendeer secrecy.
Still, it was preferable to being shot. But this time, it wasn’t a good option for another reason. The humans may stop hunting him if he switched forms, but the Zalfa certainly wouldn’t.
Their weapons were more powerful, too. He could survive a bullet wound, but it was unlikely Kaelar would survive a direct hit from one of the Zalfa’s powerful weapons.
No, there was only one choice…
Kaelar leaped into the sky, hoping to outdistance the weapons of both the humans and the Zalfa. The Zalfa wouldn’t risk flying their ship after him and though he risked being seen by humans as he made his way into the clouds, that was a risk he’d have to take. Santa would understand.
He flew fast, feeling the wind surround him. But just before he could fly high enough to be safe, a shot sounded down below and Kaelar felt a sharp pain in his right hindleg. For a while, he teetered in the air, then faltered and fell a few feet down. Blood poured from the wound and the pain made it impossible to concentrate well enough to stay in the air.
The ground rushed up to meet him. Kaelar’s legs buckled as he hit hard, crashing down onto the snowy ground. His bones ached from the fall and the wound in his hindleg burned. He knew he had to move, but his head spun and his legs shook beneath him.
Unable to hold onto his reindeer form in his injured state, he felt his body reverting to human. Kaelar grimaced in pain. It wasn’t good to shift forms with a bullet inside him, but he couldn’t help it.
The hunters and their dogs were still coming for him. Kaelar couldn’t hear anything of the Zalfa. Perhaps they were worried their identity would be revealed if they mixed with human hunters. Or maybe they saw him get shot and assumed he was dead, or soon would be.
At least they were one less thing to worry about, for now.
Kaelar tried to stagger to his feet. He couldn’t stay here. If the hunters found him now, injured as he was, they’d take him to a human hospital. There, it was only a matter of time before the doctors figured out he wasn’t, in fact, human.
Cold fear washed through him. Kaelar knew what would happen then. It was why they kept their presence on Earth a secret from humans. T
he government would be called in. He’d be imprisoned, interrogate and studied. There would likely come a time when the rights of aliens were established on Earth and he would be released, but that may be years and years into the future.
If it happened in his lifetime.
No, if aliens were going to reveal themselves to the humans, they had to do it on their own terms, not in a way that got any of their kind captured and taken to some secret lab, never to be seen again.
His leg wouldn’t support his weight and Kaelar straggled. He clung to a tree, blinking, trying to get everything into focus. He set his sights on a tree a few feet in front of him, then lunged at it, pushing off as hard as he could with his uninjured left leg.
The tree bark scraped against his cheek as he clung to the trunk, trying to right himself. This wasn’t working. The dogs were barking and gaining quickly on him. Their owners couldn’t be far behind. Kaelar desperately tried to crawl, but there was no strength in his limbs. Blackness was swirling in his vision as he tried to cling to consciousness.
It was a losing battle.
Kaelar hoped that Santa would be able to get him out of the human hospital before too many unanswerable questions were asked.
That was his last thought before he passed out.
Chapter 12
Chloe
After a long day, the last thing Chloe wanted to hear were gunshots in the woods around her house. She disliked the practice of hunting, but she knew her neighbors were well within their rights to hunt on their own land.
On their own land.
This time, the shot had sounded way too close to be on their land. Chloe’s cabin was centered right in the middle of her property. For at least two miles all around, the land was hers, and no one was allowed to hunt here.
She snatched up her phone and dialed Henry’s number.
There was no response.
Of course not, he was too busy hunting illegally on her land.
The Alien Reindeer's Joy Page 6