“Oh, can’t I? He should have a better rein on his employees.” She raised an eyebrow then turned to walk back to her desk.
“Wait a minute. What employee? What are they doing wrong?”
Rita smacked her gum, obviously satisfied that she had the upper hand again. “He’s about to be in a legal dispute over a patent infringement. You know, he really should be more careful.”
Erin sank into her hard chair. Patent Infringement?
Oh shit, she had to go see Greg. She had to warn him. But why did she have the urge to see Drakor instead? Why was burying herself in his arms the first thing she wanted to do?
Either way she had to get out of here. She’d have to do her research later.
She grabbed her bag and keys and pushed away from her desk.
“Oh,” Rita called across the room. “I still mean what I said before about your guy not having an interest in you. Sleeping with you really doesn’t mean anything, you know.” She winked and blew a quick bubble. “Like I said at Mickey’s, a man like that is only using you. You can take my word on it.”
For once, Erin could actually laugh. She was using Drakor. What difference did his motives make?
But as she hurried to the elevator, Erin couldn’t help but wonder if Rita wasn’t right. What did Drakor see in her?
Despite her impulse to lose herself in Drakor’s arms, Erin rushed over to see Greg instead. He opened the door wearing a pair of old shorts and no shirt.
“Just watching a baseball game.” He waved her in. “Want a beer?”
If she liked it, it might make her feel better. Or at least calmer. She shook her head. “We need to talk.”
He went down the hall and back to his couch. “Didn’t we just do that this morning?”
“This is very important, Greg. You’ve got to listen and pay attention.”
“It’s not about Drakor or Ankra again, is it?” He propped his bare feet on his coffee table.
“No. It’s about Invasion Shield.”
“Huh?”
“Your company. Something illegal is going on and you need to do something about it.”
He still didn’t look at her and watched the game instead. “What are you talking about? I’m not doing anything illegal.”
“Not intentionally.”
“Oh, that was a strike if I ever saw one. Come on, Ump!”
Erin kicked the table. “Are you listening to me?”
“Sit down, will you? You’re making me nervous hovering about me like some mother hen.”
“You should be nervous.” She moved around to block him from seeing the TV screen.
“Get out of the way. You may be a pain, but you ain’t made of glass.”
“Ha. Ha. Very not funny.”
Greg scooted down the couch to see past her. “Don’t you have any other friends you can annoy? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Erin looked around for the remote but he held it on his lap. She stalked over to the set and pushed off the power button.
“Aw, Erin, come on. There was a man on third base and one out left.”
Men! She growled at him and went to stand before him, crossing her arms. “Now you listen to me. Rita is investigating you and Invasion Shield. She says someone in your company is doing something illegal.”
He gave her a helpless look. “That’s impossible. She’s just blowing smoke up your ass.”
“I think she’s telling the truth.”
“Why do you believe her of all people?”
“Because she’s so desperate to bring me down. I don’t think she even meant to tell me. She was just pissed off.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to go out with Drakor and I told her that he was with me.”
Greg lifted his eyebrows and drank some of his beer.
“She didn’t believe me at first and I said she could check with you that he was at my house last night. That got her all ruffled and then she went on about you and your illegal company.”
He shrugged. “She just had her pride stung and looked for a way to get you.”
Erin sat on the coffee table in front of him. “She was specific, Greg. She said something about patent infringement.”
“Patent infringement? I don’t get it.”
“She said you should keep a better rein on your employees.”
His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. “But who would do something like that? Is someone selling me out? A junior engineer passing on our documentation?”
Finally he was listening to her. She sighed. “I just wanted to warn you. Rita is planning a huge article on it to expose you.”
“She must really hate you.”
“Me?”
“I can’t imagine this story just popped into her head. She must have searched for something to get at you.” He reached for the remote. “If it’s even true.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe me?”
He pointed the remote around her and flipped the TV back on. The sounds of cheering echoed in the room. “It’s her I don’t believe. And you shouldn’t either.”
Erin got up from the table and moved slowly toward his front door. She had told Rita she didn’t believe her, but in all honesty, part of her did. Her comments about Greg’s legal troubles seemed too confident to ignore.
And her comment about Drakor using her? It didn’t really matter, not when she was using him.
But, still, some part of her ached to think he only slept with her for some ulterior motive, that he might not really find her attractive.
There was only one way to judge for certain. She’d have to go see him.
Chapter Fourteen
About halfway between the spot where the dirt road began and Drakor’s house, Erin saw a small figure walking toward her. She recognized the long dark hair and short gait. Sitora.
What was the girl doing all the way out here by herself?
Erin pulled the car off to the side as far as she could and got out. Sitora looked up and her face brightened instantly.
“What are you doing?” Erin rushed over to her. “Is everything okay?”
Sitora shrugged and tugged at her hair with one hand. In the other, she held a cloth doll. “Father is sick and Ankra and Mother are crying.”
Erin squatted before her, sinking her knees into the hot, powdery dirt. “Drakor told me your dad was ill. I’m very sorry he is sick, I know that can be scary.”
She pulled the little girl into her arms and held her. “Were you too sad to stay at home? Is that why you were leaving?”
Warm breath blew down her back. “I wanted to find you and you came.”
Erin smiled. At least she knew she made an impression on one person in this family. She backed away and stood up, holding out her hand to Sitora.
“How about I take you back to your house?”
“Can I ride in that?” She pointed excitedly to the car. “Please?”
“Well, I don’t have a booster seat for you, but how about you climb in the back?”
Sitora ran to the car and yanked the door open. She scrambled to the back seat. “Drakor says you can’t come with us. But I want you to.”
Erin reached behind the seat and pulled the seatbelt over Sitora’s shoulder. “Go with you where?”
“When we leave. He says you can’t come because you won’t belong. I think he’s being mean.”
Erin stopped, her stomach twisting in a slow knot. “Leave? When are you leaving?”
The girl shrugged and squeezed her doll against her chest. “I don’t know.”
Questions swirled in Erin’s brain. Where were they going? Why were they leaving? Was Drakor going to tell her? Did he know they were leaving all along?
Biting her lip, she turned to slide into the driver’s seat. But a sight up ahead made her breath catch in her throat. Drakor walked toward them with long, purposeful strides. His wide shoulders were emphasized by the white shirt he wore and his dark hair lifted with his brisk movement. On the
prowl. But the look on his face clearly stated he was after something other than the warmth between her legs.
“Oh!” whined Sitora from behind her. “He’s going to take me back. Don’t let him.”
Erin got out of the car and stood next to the open door.
Drakor came up before her and she suddenly noticed the unusual paleness of his skin. His eyes were both red and hard. The rest of his features, set in a scowl, looked nothing like the man who had lain in bed with her last night.
“I need to take Sitora home.” His voice was clipped, tense. The accent more noticeable than usual.
“I don’t want to go!” the girl yelled from the car.
Drakor took a step closer and his scent tickled Erin’s nose, reminding her of the taste of his neck. She tried to force it away but warmth still burned in her belly.
“Sitora.” He put one hand on the windshield and leaned over the car door. “Father and Mother…they…” He sighed and Erin could swear she heard his voice crack. “You need to come home right away.”
“No!”
Erin touched his arm. “Let me try.”
Drakor leapt as if she had just burned him. He looked down at the spot where her fingers grazed his skin and she could see his breathing quicken. He stepped back from the car.
Erin swallowed and turned to the stubborn five-year-old in her back seat. “It sounds like it’s very important that you go back. Perhaps your parents really want to see you.”
Sitora looked down at her lap. “Will you come with me? Can I still ride in here?”
“Sure, no problem.”
But when she turned to face the girl’s brother, his cold stare had returned. “No.”
“She feels comfortable with me.” Erin walked toward him, stopping just before his statue-like stance. “It will make it better for her.”
He bent low so Sitora could not hear. “Father has died. She needs to come with me.” He straightened and looked over her head.
His father died? The crushing pain from her parents’ death came barreling up until her heart felt as if it would tear again. She reached her arms around his back, as much to comfort herself as to comfort him. “I’m so sorry, Drakor. I know how painful it is to lose a parent.”
She felt him tense immediately but he did not return the embrace. In fact, he cleared his throat and stepped away from her. “Sitora needs to get out of the vehicle and come with me.”
“Drakor?” Erin’s chest and throat tightened.
“This doesn’t concern you, Erin.” He still wouldn’t look at her, his face remained impassive. “Go home.”
She understood grief. Anger typically followed disbelief. But wouldn’t he want her comfort?
“Sitora, out now!” He stormed over to the car. Erin wouldn’t look back but she heard the little girl crying and Drakor physically pulling her from the car. He walked past her with Sitora thrown over his shoulder, a muscular arm holding her in place. “Go, Erin.”
The girl wailed, fat teardrops falling to the dry dirt. She reached her arms out as if Erin could save her.
But Erin couldn’t do anything. Drakor ignored her, dismissed her, completely rejected her. And he was leaving.
A man like that is only using you. You can take my word on it.
Maybe Rita’s word was good after all.
Drakor didn’t realize how painful that would be. And he wasn’t referring to Sitora’s kicks in his stomach or howl in his ear. Seeing Erin gave his body a lurch he didn’t expect.
She looked as extraordinary as ever, with her hair back from her face in some sort of a clip, her face pink from the sun and heat, her skin fragrant and innocently tempting.
Erin’s touch on his arm made his body remember how she felt beneath him. It remembered how much he wanted her, how content he felt in her arms. Her presence soothed the pain in his head and the emptiness in his heart. And when she embraced him, it took every ounce of strength, everything he possessed to not capture her mouth with his lips.
But he couldn’t. Erin was dangerous. To this mission. To himself. And if she came any closer to the house, she’d have seen the spacecraft.
No. He had to make her go. He had to make her realize that she wasn’t welcome there. At least not today.
As they started up the steps, Sitora still wailing, Brundor burst out of the front door.
“Oh, there you are. We are ready. Ankra has already gotten the cloths.”
Drakor sighed and lowered his sister to his waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her up the stairs.
“Where’s Mother?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I want to see her.”
They entered the room where his parents lay side by side on the bed. He had to admit they looked peaceful, if not gray and sullen. But Mother had passed with a smile on her face and her hand clasped to her Mharai.
He put Sitora down on the floor but she refused to move from his legs. “What’s wrong with them?”
Ankra suddenly noticed their appearance and rushed over. She scooped Sitora up and held her close. “They have gone to the far side of the Sun to be with one another always.”
The little girl blinked, her large eyes glancing from one body to the other. Drakor watched her reaction. No tears over the deaths of her parents and yet she would not stop crying over being taken from Erin.
He pushed thoughts of Erin away. He had to shut that door and move onto another. One that could get them off of this planet as fast as possible. One that would keep them from harm.
“We had better move them into the shuttle,” he said to the others.
Ankra whispered something to Sitora and then they both carried the coverings over to the bed. Each taking a corner embroidered with a large sun, his sisters covered first their father in a royal blue cloth. Then they repeated the procedure with a red one for Mother.
Once that was complete, Drakor waved Brundor over. On Elliac, the death procession required four men to carry the bodies of loved ones to their resting place. Here there was only he and Brundor. It would look less ceremonial, but they could get the job done.
Drakor picked up his Father’s shoulders, careful to keep the cloth covering the body, and Brundor lifted his feet. Slowly they carried the heavy weight down the stairs, out the door, and to the backyard. Neither one spoke as they lowered the body to the ground in front of the shuttle ramp.
They returned to the house and repeated the process with Mother. Ankra and a still silent Sitora followed.
Once the bodies lay next to one another on the ground, Drakor reached his hands out to the others. “Grab hands.” But there weren’t enough of them and they couldn’t touch.
Drakor’s veins turned to ice. Another bad omen. First the rainbow and now they couldn’t join hands over their deceased loved ones. He glanced at his siblings’ alarmed faces.
“It will be fine. We’re on Earth, we can’t always do it the Elliacian way.”
Their faces relaxed, but only slightly. They all held their arms aloft, as if they could touch, even little Sitora. Drakor looked down at the covered bodies and then up at the sky.
This wasn’t Elliac’s powerful and relentless sun, but it would have to do.
“Oh, mighty Sun above us, please take our beloved parents into your fold. Welcome them with your heat and your glory. Allow them to remain forever together. They are Mharai. They are one.”
The four of them lowered their heads and Drakor struggled with the rage inside of them. Their deaths, this mission, his entanglement with Erin. None of it had to be.
Drakor motioned to Brundor and they carried the bodies into the shuttles, one by one. A narrow slot in the far back of the craft was just long enough to fit both of them in it. Drakor sealed the door and locked it with a code. They would be preserved until they had all reached home again.
The four of them started from the backyard around to the front. Ankra and Sitora went over by the swing and Brundor played with the crystal pad in his hand until the craft disappeared.
Drakor had nearly reached the house when he caught a scent on the breeze. Erin’s scent.
Immediately, his lungs ceased functioning. Cold dread enveloped his heart.
Then he located her. She stood mostly hidden by the trees but he could see her wide eyes and shocked expression. One hand pressed against her chest, just between her breasts. The other hand hung by her side, clutching something tightly within a fist.
Sitora’s doll.
Chapter Fifteen
Erin tried to tune out the loud voices around her and flipped the small, rectangular light over in her hands. At least, she and Greg assumed it was a light. A light from the spaceship she saw parked out in the rear yard of Drakor’s house two days ago.
A spaceship! Oh God. And she saw the four of them standing over two covered bodies in some strange ritual. Once the bodies were on the ship, Drakor’s brother made it disappear with some small PDA-looking thing. Most likely the same sort of thing she saw under the dresser.
She had to pinch herself three times as she stared at the scene to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. And then when Drakor saw her—she shivered at the look of alarm and rage on his face. It didn’t take her but a half of a second to bolt back to her car and tear out of there.
But it all made so much sense now. How little they all knew about typical aspects of human culture. The odd words they used and the simple words they didn’t understand.
Erin shifted in her chair and glanced around the office. Everyone was too busy to pay attention to her and yet she didn’t want some nosybody like Rita coming over to ask questions.
The light’s casing had smooth bumps on its surface but no seam in which to open it. In fact, no matter what she tried, it wouldn’t shatter or crack. Right after she realized that she had just slept with a man from outer space.
Would he be considered a man? He felt like a man. Oh God, this all either made her sick or ecstatic.
Real, living aliens were not just small town Virginia news or even national news. Hell, this discovery was global! She could go way beyond the front page of this paper, way beyond being a local somebody. The sight she saw behind that Victorian house could surpass all her dreams.
The Price of Discovery Page 13