The Price of Discovery

by Leslie Dicken

  Erin smiled gently. “It’s okay. Let’s just get it cleaned up.”

  Once most of it was swept up and thrown out, Sitora pointed to the now melted ice cream. “What’s that?”

  “Ice cream. It’s a dessert. Most kids love it.”

  Sitora climbed up on the chair in front of it. “Can I try it?”

  “Sure. It’s kind of melted now. Would you like me to get a fresh scoop?”

  But it was too late, the girl had already spooned a dripping mound into her mouth. “This is better than the cookie,” she declared, and slurped up more.

  Erin sighed and sat in one of the other chairs. She gathered the notes she was supposed to be sorting through into one pile. Far away from the messy five-year-old.

  She watched Sitora eat. What was it like for her at home? What did she do for fun? Did she go to school? Did she have friends? What would she do now that her parents were gone? What would happen to her if Erin published a story on their existence?

  Erin’s stomach pitched, throat tightened. She just couldn’t let herself get involved with their lives. She couldn’t let herself care about them. War correspondents and photojournalists had to remove themselves emotionally from the story they were after. How else could they do their jobs properly?

  Sitora continued to slurp the ice cream like a kitten. If she wasn’t going to let herself feel sorry for the girl, the least Erin could do was use her for information.

  “Sitora, how did you and Drakor get to my apartment?”

  “Drakor told me I can’t tell you,” she replied without looking up from the bowl.

  Erin clenched her teeth. He either said that because they used some alien technology to get them here or was he just trying to be spiteful.

  “But he’s a meanie.” Sitora held out the dish. “Can I have some more?”

  Erin gave her more ice cream. “Does that mean you’ll tell me anyway?”

  The girl swallowed a large chunk. “Oh, that’s cold!”

  “That’s why it’s called ‘ice cream’ because it’s cold like ice.” She tried to hold onto her patience. “Did you come here in a machine of some sort? Did you walk?”

  “What is that thing called that you have?”

  “What? My car?”

  Sitora nodded. “We came here in one of those.”

  Erin’s mouth dropped open. But who would have taken them here but Greg? And if it were him, certainly Drakor would have just told her that.

  “Why doesn’t Drakor want me to know?”

  “I don’t know. He just said not to tell you.”

  So much for getting some information on a new technology.

  “But the lady wanted me to tell you.”

  Erin’s head snapped up and she stared at the messy-faced girl. “What lady?”

  “The one driving the car. Her smell hurt my nose and she gave Drakor weird looks.”

  Hair rose on Erin’s neck in anticipation of something she didn’t want to know. Like waiting for a test score in Physics when she barely answered a question. “What–what else? Do you know her name?”

  Sitora shrugged. “She said mean things about you. She’s even meaner than Drakor.”

  It couldn’t be, could it? Erin felt her throat closing in. She could barely breathe. “What did she look like? What color was the car?”

  “The car was the color of Earth’s night. The lady’s hair was yellow like Earth’s sun. Her lips were bright red.”

  “Rita.”

  “Yes, that’s her name.” Sitora finally looked up from the soupy mess in her bowl. “But don’t tell Drakor I told you. Please!”

  Erin collapsed on the table, her head buried in her arms. No, not again. She would not let Rita take away this story—or her man. Not only that, Drakor knew Rita was writing a story about Greg. His acceptance of that bitch’s help was more than a slap in the face. It was clear betrayal.

  They hadn’t found Brundor and Drakor couldn’t get Rita to leave him alone. The strong perfume scent from Rita increased the pounding inside his skull to such a level that he felt physically ill.

  They sat in the parking lot of a small restaurant, where Rita insisted many young humans hung out. Whatever that meant.

  “Drop me off at Erin’s.” Drakor leaned his head back against the headrest and his eyes closed.

  “Damn,” she trailed a long fingernail along his arm, “what muscles. Is the rest of you this…big?”

  He clenched his jaw, refusing to answer. If only it were Erin next to him, seducing him. Like the first night, when her mouth licked its way down his stomach and over his—

  “You and Erin, you don’t have a thing together, do you?” Her fingers moved from his arm down his chest. He sucked in his stomach and held his breath. “You shouldn’t waste your time on her,” she continued. “Erin is nothing. Whatever she’s done for you will pale beside what I could do.”

  A prick of adrenaline spurted into his veins. The unpreventable urge to protect Erin began its climb toward his heart. But he knew to defend Erin would only make matters worse.

  “I–I need to get my sister and go back home.” He opened his eyes but stared straight ahead. “Please drop me off at Erin’s.”

  He could see Rita shrug from the corner of his eye. “Suit yourself. But come find me when you’re bored with her.”

  Rita brought him back to Erin’s home and drove off with a squeal of her tires. He sighed and then knocked on Erin’s door. He hoped she’d be willing to take them back home. If not, he would be forced to Transfer both Sitora and himself. He’d hate to frighten his sister that way.

  The door opened to Erin’s cold stare. She glanced beside him. “Where’s your brother?”

  Drakor breathed in her essence. Just being near to Erin soothed the incessant throbbing in his head. “I didn’t find him.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “He could be getting you into some real trouble.” Her voice had changed, become more monotone and hard.

  “I know. I hope he has returned home. I need to get myself and Sitora back there.”

  “Is that Drakor?” came his sister’s voice from another room.

  “We must go back,” he called to her.

  Sitora whined in response.

  Drakor smiled at Erin. “She was good while I was gone?”

  She took a step back from him and he saw her swallow. “She was an angel. I’ll get her cleaned up and then you two can go.”

  He reached out and touched her arm, the contact spreading heat to his loins. “I would like for you to drive us back in your vehicle.”

  Erin stiffened and yanked her arm away. “Why don’t you ask Rita to drive you back?”

  Drakor sucked in a deep breath, his shoulders tensing. Great Sun, he should have known Sitora couldn’t keep her mouth shut, especially considering how much she loved Erin.

  He chose his words carefully. “I would prefer for you to do it.”

  She scowled and put her hands on her hips. Hips that he caressed only last night. Hips that tormented him in the most intimate of ways. Sliding up, sliding down, sliding up…

  “Oh, is that so? Is that because you fear what she would do if she saw your house? And you’re worried about me when Rita would have you guys as front page news without a second thought!”

  Drakor grinned. He closed the distance between them, ran his fingers through her silky, short hair. “And so the difference is that you do have a second thought.”

  Erin’s mouth dropped open, but as he lowered his face to hers, no sound came from her lips. He didn’t care that Sitora was in the other room. He didn’t care about anything but holding on to Erin’s good graces. And holding her in his arms.

  Drakor pressed his lips to hers and she yielded to him, ushering a small gasp. He tasted the shiny gloss on her lips and a sweet flavor on her tongue. Kissing her was like savoring treats without having to assault his unsuspecting stomach.

  But it was too hard to have this small part of her and not have the rest. Too hard to no
t take advantage of every moment he had with her. His erection throbbed, begging for her warmth.

  “Erin…” he said against her mouth. “Come back with me. We can lock the door…”

  She sighed but then suddenly pushed herself away from him. “Rita wasn’t enough to satisfy you?”

  He cocked his head. “Rita? What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t tell me she wasn’t all over you. I know her. I know she’d jump your bones at the first chance she got.”

  “Jump my bones?”

  Erin rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her tempting breasts. “She wants you, Drakor, and I know she must have tried while you were alone. And now you expect me to be a sloppy second. No, thank you.”

  Sloppy second? “Erin, I did not touch her.”

  “I know how much she wants you.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t want her, I want you.”

  Something flickered in her sky-colored eyes and her face softened, but then the hard façade was back. “Get your sister and go.”

  Heat still swirled under his skin but he pushed the desire aside. He worried about her anger more. “Erin, I did not touch her.”

  She waved her hand in the air, dismissing him. “It doesn’t matter. You and I…we aren’t. I mean, we don’t have a relationship or anything.”

  He followed her to the other side of the room. “I don’t want her, I want you.”

  Erin glanced in the kitchen and Drakor followed her gaze. Sitora sat at the table in the kitchen, scribbling on paper with a writing tool.

  He pulled her back to the front door, away from his sister’s ears. “You must believe me.”

  “Why did you go looking for Brundor with her instead of me?”

  “Would you rather have had her watch Sitora?”

  “No,” she answered immediately. “But we all could have gone together.”

  Drakor brushed a stray hair from her eyes, steeling himself against her enticing scent. “She was out near the house and saw us walking. When she offered, I thought I was being polite to accept.”

  Erin tensed. “She was near your house.”

  “Yes. It concerns me, as well.”

  “But how did she find it? How would she know?”

  “I do not know the answer, but come back with us. I am unsettled at not finding my brother.”

  Erin crossed her arms again and leaned against the front door. She seemed to have dropped her concern over his ride with Rita. “Things aren’t going too well for you here, are they?”

  Did she mean here in her home or on this miserable planet? He swallowed. The mission has been a disaster. But he would not tell her that.

  “Drakor?” She touched his arm.

  He smiled at the contact but when he looked into her eyes, his gut tightened. Something was wrong. “Tell me.”

  “You told me you were looking for a friend.”

  He nodded, not wanting to hear her next words.

  “I believe your friend is my John Doe. He was the one in the cottage before you got here.” She bit her lip and glanced away. “He’s dead, Drakor. That’s why I was at your house that day a few weeks ago. I was trying to figure out who he was—”

  He suddenly felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. “Why-why were you investigating him?” Great Sun, he’d hoped Alaziri was in hiding. But not only was he dead, the local government knew of him.

  “Well, for starters, no one knew his name or where he came from. But also…” she walked across the room and tapped her nails on that creature’s cage, “the coroner said he had an unknown malformation in his bone marrow.”

  Helta! Alaziri’s body was locked up somewhere, having been dissected by these humans. They were suspicious. He had to get his family off this planet as soon as possible.

  “Erin.” She looked back at him and he felt an odd tingle at the sadness reflecting in her gaze. “Where is he? I want to take the body back with me.”

  She stiffened. “You can’t take the body. It’s at the coroner’s office, locked up.”

  Heat flushed his face, burned his ears. “He deserved honor, to be buried among his own kind.”

  “I realize you want to bring him back to his family, but you can’t just go in there and take the body.”

  Frustration roared at his temples. Nothing had gone right on this planet. Nothing. His parents were dead. His sister couldn’t get pregnant. His brother was missing. And now his best friend was locked up in some room, unable to return to Elliac.

  No. He had to do something. “I’m going to get him back, Erin. He doesn’t belong on Earth. This is wrong.”

  The compassion in her eyes vanished under a cold glare. “Again, you are insulting me and my planet, as if we aren’t good enough.”

  “He deserves the honor of a proper burial.”

  “He’s an alien, Drakor! Once someone realizes that, they’ll never let him go.”

  Fury choked him, blinded him. Pain throbbed inside his skull. Disaster. Everything was spiraling into a disaster.

  “Take me to him, Erin.”

  Her lips twitched, lips that only moments ago he ached to press against his own. Now helplessness and agony superseded any tender emotions.

  “I-I can’t, Drakor. You’d have to fill out all kinds of information. Show identification. It would be a huge mistake to take you there. You’d find yourself in deeper trouble.”

  Deeper?

  Great Sun, he had to get out of here. Rage boiled up inside of him, threatening to destroy the tenuous relationship he had with Erin. If he blew up at her now, it could ruin everything. She could have the government at his door in the morning.

  “Sitora! Let’s go. Now.”

  His sister whined but came forward.

  Erin tucked her hair behind her ear. “Drakor, you aren’t going to do anything stupid, are you?”

  He stared at her, jaw clenched, unable to speak.

  She reached her hand out to him then pulled it away. “I’ll see what I can do about getting the body released, okay? I’ll try.”

  He nodded. Right now, it would have to be enough.

  Chapter Twenty

  Drakor held Sitora tightly as the air swirled around them. He tried to find the most secluded spot he could before taking out his Transmitter and tapping in the code.

  Within seconds, they stumbled on the ground next to the house. Its brightly colored paint mocked his distress. His family’s demise seemed to loom before him like the long shadows of the trees.

  “My tummy hurts,” Sitora said in their native language.

  He scooped her up in his arms and headed for the front door. It didn’t surprise him that the spinning upset his sister’s stomach. It took years to get used to. But it was a useful mechanism when needed.

  The low throbbing returned to torment the inside of his skull. Was it the Transfer or being away from Erin? He despised the thought that she was the only way to cure his pain. It meant choosing between suffering without her or drawing her in closer.

  The only thing that made sense to him right now was to get off this planet as soon as possible.

  Drakor pushed open his front door and set Sitora down. Immediately, she scampered upstairs to her room. No doubt she was mad it him for making her leave Erin’s side also.

  Wishing he had some illegal Rizitzi Root to blot out his headache and dull his senses, Drakor headed instead for the staircase. But a sudden shuffling sound of papers brought his attention to the parlor room.

  There, on the flowery couch, sat Brundor, casually flipping through a soft, paper book.

  Fury strangled Drakor, flaming the tips of his ears, tightening his lungs. He stormed into the room. “Where have you been?”

  Brundor shrugged and didn’t look up. “I couldn’t stand sitting in this house anymore. So I took a trip around town.”

  “You must have my permission, you know that.”

  “And what would you have said?”

  “You aren’t ready to be out there, not i
n your condition.”

  Brundor laughed and pushed his long, messy hair from his face. “Precisely my point. Besides, you’re too busy indulging yourself with Erin to pay attention to your family’s needs.”

  Drakor recoiled as if stung. He paid attention to their needs. Brundor could not handle his impulses around females right now. He knew that. He’d been there once himself.

  “Erin has nothing to do with this.”

  A sneer lifted Brundor’s eyes. “She has everything to do with this. You use her for your needs but deny me mine. You first risked the family’s honor by insisting on returning early and now you allow us languish here while you have your fill of her.”

  Drakor stood before the fireplace and crossed his arms. “All of you insisted on staying until the mission was complete. And so I took on the responsibility of my family and the duty, sacrificing my own future, to bring honor to us. We cannot go until Ankra is pregnant, did you know that?”

  Brundor’s shocked face said that he didn’t.

  “So they kept the secret from you, as well. She is to mate with a human and carry the offspring. That is our real assignment. We are forced to stay on Earth until Ankra is with child.” Drakor swallowed the bitter taste filling his mouth. “My time with Erin is only that—time. I am ready to leave her when the time comes.”

  Brundor returned his attentions to the text and pictures on his lap. “Once you realize she is your Mharai you won’t be so ready to go.”

  “She is not my Mharai.”

  His brother shrugged. “I still want to go that dance place, the one you went to before. You said I could find a willing female there.”

  “Brundor,” Drakor swallowed the trepidation creeping up his throat, “tell me you did not touch anyone…satisfy any of your…desires while you were gone?”

  “It wouldn’t matter if I did.”

  Drakor sucked in a deep breath. “What do you mean it wouldn’t matter? If you assaulted someone, it could mean our capture.”

  Brundor gave a cocky laugh. “I am not a fool. I managed to control myself to the best of my ability—”

  “Your ability!”

  “But you’ve no need to worry about it.”

  The pressure in Drakor’s head increased to such a point he felt nausea rising in his gut. He staggered slightly then caught himself against the mantel. “How…how could I not worry?”