by Kay, Theresa
He raises an eyebrow. “What exactly are you apologizing for? Attacking me or calling me names?” The situation is so ridiculous, I can’t help but laugh. It’s more of a nervous laughter, but it seems to release the tension and even Lir chuckles.
“My name’s Jax. And I’m sorry for attacking you… and calling you names I guess.” My shoulders relax and I take a deep breath. “Why are you even here?” I ask, hoping he’s willing to help me. “I mean, why did you even get off the ship?”
“We landed for repairs.” Lir shakes his head when I open my mouth to ask what was wrong. I guess that’s more information than he’s willing to give.
“Why--”
“That is all you need to know” Lir shoots back.
My faces heats and I look down at my hands. My next words are quieter. “Why did they take my brother?”
“I do not know.” He sounds truthful, but I jerk my head up to look at him. There’s nothing but openness in his face. I don’t think he’s lying.
“Are they going to come back for you…” I look into his eyes, biting my lower lip, “and bring Jace back?”
“I do not believe so.”
I look away, clenching my hands in my lap. “I have to get him back. I’m not just going to sit here and…I’m going to get him back.” I stand up before Lir can respond.
He thinks for a moment, watching me. “Look, I understand that you want him back. But have you got this idea in your head that you can just walk up to the city and demand his return? It does not work that way. As a rule, we do not like humans and they are not allowed into our city.”
I think for a moment. “But they’ll let you in right?” I lean closer. “I’ll get you to the city if you get me inside it.”
Lir gapes at me. “You cannot be serious. Why would I need you?”
I almost laugh at his arrogance. “How long have I been out?” When he doesn’t answer, I look up and study the angle of the sun. “Around an hour?” Lir nods. “If you thought you could have handled it, you would have just left me here. Why is it that you stuck around?”
His chest rises and falls while he studies my face. What is he looking for? His eyes dart away when he finally answers. “The pulse knocked out my kitu.”
“Pulse? Kitu?”
“The energy force that knocked you over. It is a weapon. The kitu…” Lir holds up his arm and points to the cuff on his wrist. “It is… important.”
“So, without your fancy bracelet you’re pretty helpless,” I say. “You have no supplies. You don’t know where you are and you’re in human territory. I don’t know what they tell you in that city of yours, but humans don’t much like you guys either. Without me you’ll be lost in the wilderness with no supplies and no weapons. If you manage to escape the predators and avoid starving to death or dying of thirst and stumble into someone else that could help you… they’d more than likely kill you. I’ll keep you alive.”
“You are human. What guarantee do I have that you will keep your word?”
I roll my eyes. “Simply because I want my brother back. I don’t care about anything else. Once you’ve gotten me into the city. You can just be on your way, or whatever.”
Lir tilts his head to one side and furrows his brow. “You do not expect me to assist you in getting your brother? Only in getting into the city?”
“Right.” I smile. “Once I’m in, I can take care of myself.”
Lir doesn’t look very sure. He simply shrugs. “Fine then. We have an agreement.” He lowers his chin in a nod and then gestures at the wound on his arm. “I need to do something about this. How far is your residence?”
“Not far. Follow me.”
* * * * * * *
We don’t speak as we walk; me, preferring to keep my terror filled thoughts of Jace’s absence to myself and Lir because… Because he’s an alien I guess. They don’t seem big on small talk. My mind is lost in the images of the latest horrible scenario of Jace’s fate that it has come up with when Lir finally speaks.
“Jax, does your residence have security of some sort?”
“Yeah.” I slow my steps and turn to face him, walking backwards. “We don’t have any sort of fancy force field thingy to keep aliens out though, so no worries.”
“Thingy? Tech that is more advanced than anything you humans came up with or probably even could come up with and you call it a thingy?” He shakes his head with his eyes upwards and smiles. “That is not why I was asking though.”
“And…”
With an amused sparkle in his eye, he looks at me and smirks. “Are all humans this petulant or just you?”
I narrow my eyes. “Are all aliens this arrogant or just you?” Lir laughs. I don’t. “No, really, are they? Because your whole prim and proper ‘humans are vermin’ attitude is beginning to get on my nerves.”
“Look, we got off to a bad start— again.” He holds his hands up by his chest in surrender. “I only asked about the security, because I am not going to fit in and that might make it difficult for me to gain entrance.”
He’s right. Doesn’t mean I have to admit it though. “I’ll get you by the guards,” I say. I swing my pack off my shoulder and pull out my cloak. “Here. Put this on. Make sure you cover your hair.”
Lir catches the cloak before it hits him in the head. Okay, so maybe I was aiming a bit high. I don’t have to be nice to him just because I’m stuck with him. Shaking it out, he wraps it around his shoulders and pulls the hood up. “Better?”
The hood shades his face and with his oddly colored hair covered, Lir could almost be just another human. My eyes linger over his face, the brightness of his eyes standing out even under the hood. Those might be an issue, but as long as he keeps his head down and no one looks too closely, we shouldn’t have any problems. Flint did tell me to be sure I came back with an escort; this is just not the one anyone will expect.
Anyway, I’m not planning on hanging around Bridgelake long enough for anyone to take notice of my guest. Or is he my prisoner?
I lean forward and grab one corner of the cloak, pulling it closed in front of his chest. “Keep your head down and don’t talk,” I say. With a jerk, I pull my hand away, suddenly aware that I’d let it linger too long on his chest. What the hell is wrong with me?
Lir falls in behind me. He’s at least a few inches taller than Jace, but he slumps his shoulders and hunches down. Maybe I can pull this off. I stride ahead and walk through the gate, nodding at the guards. The one on my right, Steven, squints his eyes a bit and purses his lips. He knows I’m not supposed to be out there, but he’s not going to say anything either.
My breath flows out of my mouth in a slow stream once we’re past the gate. I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding it. It’s just a little farther to the house. We’re going to make it.
Then again, maybe not. Flint’s voice calls out behind us. “Hey guys, wait up.” He has got the worst timing today.
“Just keep walking, straight ahead, the house on the left with blue curtains,” I say under my breath. Lir’s steps speed up at my whispered instructions. I wait until he’s a few feet ahead of me before turning back to Flint.
“Hey Flint.” I smile, going for the innocent look. “Jace had a bad day today, not feeling well or something, so he’s headed in to lay down.”
Flint’s brow furrows and his eyes follow Lir’s retreating form. “He was just fine earlier. We were supposed to… meet up to go over some stuff.”
I shrug. “Maybe tomorrow? I’ll let him know you were looking for him.”
“Yeah sure,” Flint says. His gaze narrows and lands on my face. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing at all. Just have to get home. We’ll catch up with you later, or tomorrow, or something. Sound good?”
Flint nods slowly, his eyes not leaving mine. “You know you can come to me if something is wrong, right?”
I’m smiling so big my jaw is cramping. “Of course I know that.” I spin on my heel and practically run
to my door, calling out a strangled goodbye to Flint over my shoulder.
Lir’s waiting on the small porch when I reach the house. He starts to speak, but I wave him off and open the door.
Following me silently into the cabin, Lir settles into a chair and watches me pull down a first aid kit and wet a clean towel. I rustle through the cabinets for some food, loading up my arms with a loaf of bread and some cheese. Everything goes to the table with me and I push the medical supplies and some food across to Lir. His eyes follow each movement.
“What?” I ask.
“Uh, nothing,” says Lir, “I was just… Thank you. For the food. And the help…”
“I can’t very well have left you lying on the ground.”
“Well, you could have—”
“And never gotten my brother back? Nope. It was the only choice I had. Don’t think I’m doing any of this for you.” My eyes narrow as he picks at his food. “I expect you to pull your weight, so don’t think you can just sit back and let me serve you all the time.”
One eyebrow quirks up. “Is that what this was?” Lir motions to the food and first aid kit on the table. “You serving me?”
I roll my eyes and stuff another chunk of bread in my mouth. He laughs. He actually laughs at me, full out, mouth open, eyes twinkling laughing at me. I squash the answering smile trying to creep across my face and force myself to look away. It’s no good getting too friendly. He is the enemy after all.
A drop of green liquid traces its way down Lir’s forearm from underneath his makeshift bandage and drops to the table. Blood? I think I’d heard somewhere that the aliens bled green. The amount of information we actually have on Earth’s— invaders? Visitors? Settlers?— is pretty lacking, but I guess that little tidbit must have been correct.
“You’re bleeding on the table.”
Lir’s shoulders jerk. “Oh sorry.” He pulls the first aid kit closer. “I suppose I should go ahead and take care of this then.” He carefully unwinds his jacket from the wound, a hiss escaping his mouth when the cut is fully revealed.
The slice is a good eight inches long, nearly from wrist to elbow. Although sluggishly, it’s still bleeding too. Green blood. Interesting. Despite their near human appearance, how many other oddities do these creatures have that set them apart from us?
“It’s a clean cut,” I say. Lir’s head shoots up at my words and he sends me a dirty look. “You might need to sew it up though.”
The eyebrow goes up again. Damn eyebrow. “You are a helpful one aren’t you?” He smirks and scoots his chair closer to mine, pulling the white box along the table until he’s next to me. “I am left handed though, and it is not exactly in a convenient spot. Not to mention, you are the one that caused it. I think you might need to sew it up.”
“Me?” The word comes out in a croak.
“Well I cannot exactly wander around leaking blood now can I?” He tilts his head to the side. “Not if you want my help anyway.”
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and will my hands to be steady. I can do this. “Okay,” I say quietly.
Lir leans closer and sets his arm down across the table in front of me. It’s just an arm, nothing special. Warm skin with a dusting of pale gold hair. Nothing scary. It’s going to sit there and I’m going to sew it up. I’ve sewn up wounds for Jace before. No big deal.
Except I’ve never been as… aware… of Jace as I am of Lir. Jace is Jace, my brother, no one that could hurt me, but Lir is different. An unknown. He’s been pleasant enough, but that could change in an instant. I slide the med kit across the table and take out some gauze, suture thread and the small curved needle.
Lir shifts when my fingers brush against his arm and I flinch, jerking my hand back.
“I’m not going to bite you know,” he says.
He’s facing away from me— Is he queasy?— so he must not have seen my expression. His head turns and I bring my eyes back down to his arm. No good to have him thinking I’m scared.
I settle my left hand on his wrist and use my right to wipe at the cut with disinfectant soaked gauze. He inhales sharply and stiffens, and I almost snatch my hand away again, but he relaxes once I’ve finished cleaning his wound and so do I. Well, mostly. My breathing is pretty steady at least. This is a little harder than I thought it would be.
I fumble when I go to grab the needle. It slips from my fingers and slides off the table. Before it can hit the floor, Lir’s hand darts out to catch it and he holds it out to me, his fingertips brushing against my palm when I take it from him. A chill passes over me in a mist of unease, more from the intense expression on his face as he studies me than the touch. He tilts his head to the side and I quickly look away, concentrating instead on trying to get my shaky hands to thread the needle.
After my fourth or maybe fifth attempt, Lir shakes his head. “One would think you humans would be a little more advanced than a needle and thread.”
There’s just enough derision in his tone for my rising temper to push out my nervousness. “We are. I mean, I could parade you down to the med center. They’ve got stuff there that will fix you right up. I don’t know how keen they’d be on letting you out though.” He doesn’t respond so I continue, “I’m horribly sorry that you have to be stuck with these primitive medical techniques. Would you rather I leave it be?”
He holds his arm out and looks away. “Just get on with it.” His jaw tenses as he clenches his teeth and waits for me to start stitching.
* * * * * * *
I shoot to my feet as soon as the last stitch is in place. I’ve managed to hold my hands steady this long and now the only thing I want is to get out of this room and get a few real breaths.
“I think you’re capable of wrapping it up. I’m going to find you something to wear. Since you can’t wear that.” I motion to the now disheveled uniform. “Dead giveaway.”
Striding across the kitchen, I go into Jace’s room and shut the door behind me. It takes a moment before I feel comfortable enough to continue with my task. If I’m this thrown by sitting next to the alien for a few minutes, how am I ever going to survive traveling with him? It doesn’t matter. I have to make it work.
I open Jace’s dresser and pick through the clothes, searching for something that will fit alien boy. My heart lurches just a bit as I shuffle through the haphazard pile of shirts. Jace was always the messy one. Is. I mean, Jace is the messy one. I pull out a green t-shirt and drop it on the bed, then I find a pair of faded jeans with a hole in the knee— Jace won’t miss those— and put them on the bed with the shirt.
I manage not to jump out of my skin when Lir just walks into the room. Don’t aliens know how to knock?
“Change,” I say, sending him a dirty look, and then stride back through the doorway.
Flopping into the chair in the den, I begin making a mental list of supplies we’ll need for the trip. As I’m tallying the supplies I have on hand and what we may need to trade for, a loud thump draws my eye to Jace’s doorway where Lir is standing with his back to me— shirtless.
My hand shoots up to cover the sound of my gasp. I’d heard of the green blood, but I’d never heard of anything like this. Golden scales with green tips extend from the hairline on the back of his neck in a line along his spine and flare out over his hips, disappearing into the top of the dark gray uniform pants. The line of scales, the trail down his back only a few inches wide, is brilliantly colored, almost like jewels. I’ve never seen anything like it and I want to know what they feel like. Are they soft like a snake’s sun warmed skin or hard and jagged like the colored rocks they resemble?
I’m up and almost halfway across the room before I realize what I’m doing and stop in my tracks. Mentally cursing myself, I step back, jostling the table behind me when my hip hits it. Lir looks back at me over his shoulder and I can feel flames licking at my cheeks.
He raises his eyebrow and simply stares at me while I stammer out something about needing to get to the kitchen. “You know, for
supplies,” I say. “Food. To pack…”
I can almost see the truth hit him as he takes in my red face and almost incoherent phrases. He begins to smile. He knows I was watching him and I’m mortified. “I’ve just never… I didn’t know… the scales…” He only looks at me expectantly and my horrible mouth won’t shut up. “They’re beautiful.” If my face could get any redder, it just did.
“I think this is the first time I have seen you speechless,” says Lir with laughing eyes. “Had I only known, I would have removed my shirt sooner.”
His teasing tone is lost on me as my stomach drops and ice cold terror begins to seep up from my toes with every beat of my now pounding heart. I’m alone in the cabin with a half naked man. Someone I don’t know. Without Jace. Something must show on my face because Lir’s smile falters and another expression crosses his face. Concern? I scramble backwards for two steps before whirling around and heading out the front door.
I can’t run away like every one of my instincts is screaming at me to do. I can’t even really afford to be out here on the porch. What if someone sees? Then they’ll ask questions and… Breathe. I sit down on the steps and put my head between my knees. Deep breaths. In and out. In and out.
That’s where Lir finds me a few minutes later, eyes closed pulling deep noisy breaths in through my nose.
“Jax…” At his voice I startle and look up. He inches toward me with his hand out, but must change his mind about touching me when he drops it to his side. “Are you alright?”
“Peachy.” I hop to my feet. “Gotta go pack. I’d really like to get going as soon as possible and we’re wasting time. You need to get back in the house before someone sees you. So do I, so come on.” I spin around and head back toward the door.
He stops my retreat by grabbing my arm, but releases it just as quickly when my whole body tenses. He backs up with his hands raised. “Fine. You go pack.” I can feel his eyes on me when he follows me back into the cabin and I wonder if he’s still looking at me with that searching expression.
FOUR