“Coming,” Ven called back.
“Go search the other rooms.” They nodded and left Cade alone.
Two other rooms held hostages. In total, they found eight people, two of them were fifty or older. One of them was around ten.
“They have no shame.” Ava was furious when she looked into the child’s eyes and then into the eyes of the two older women. There was no way they could have defended themselves.
“None of them had a chance, Ava. Humans aren’t equipped to deal with this new threat.”
“Why do you keep saying, humans?” The room got silent, she looked around before turning her attention back to Locke.
“Can we talk about it after we get them help?”
“Yes. Are we calling the paramedics?”
“We are, but we need to make sure we are gone first.”
“Why?”
“The Shadows have been trying to bring us to the attention of the government. I don’t trust them to understand that we are the good guys.”
She laughed feeling like she was in an old spy movie. “Then we should clear out so we can call.”
They left the victims lying on the floor as they made sure they took the Shadow traps they found with them. Once they were stored in the cars, the others left while Locke called the scene in. They waited until the paramedics arrived. When neighbors came out to see what was happening, they stood among them until all eight of the victims were brought out and placed in the back of several ambulances.
Ava looked up to meet a pair of eyes that were black. She pulled at Locke when he turned around the guy was gone.
“There was someone standing there, his eyes.” They weren’t just black, there was a shine to them that wasn’t natural.
“Time to go.” He took her hand and led her back to the car.
“Where are we going?”
“That’s up to you. I can take you home and leave as you requested on your profile or you can go home with me.”
His home? That’s where they kept things like the Shadow boxes, and they called people like her human as if they were something else. Come to think of it he talked about the Shadows like they weren’t human either.
Ava in her ivory tower. She gave a soundless laugh. That’s how she thought of her home. She’d been waiting for someone to tell her to let down her long hair, then climb up to free her. Instead, he had come in through the door making her feel beautiful like she was and didn’t care how much money she accumulated in life to keep herself safe. He took her on an adventure. Yes, there were heart-stopping moments, and fear for her life. She was breathing freely for the first time in forever, her heart worked better than she thought to survive what she had seen today. Her blood was singing through her veins and she felt useful.
Shouldn’t this be enough to live the rest of her life on? She met his eyes as she stood by the car. The door was open waiting for her to get in. Locke stood by the driver’s side patiently waiting for her to make up her mind.
How many princes were in the world? Not enough for her to risk losing this one. “Let’s go to your house.”
The smile he gave her convinced her she made the right choice. The trip was longer than she liked, but she loved the seclusion and the trees.
“Why do all of you live way out here? Maybe I should be asking why all of you live together.”
“We wanted land that would allow us to have some privacy. We also need to have space. That’s hard to find in the middle of the city. The further out we went the more options we had. When we found this place, it felt like home. It carries secrets that we haven’t had time to discover.”
“Are you all family? Ex-military?” They all looked alike. Not so much that she would get them confused, except for Key he was almost a carbon copy of Locke. They were all big, with beautiful green eyes. Although she was sure that Locke’s shined more. They each had dark hair although the shades of the darkness varied. Then there was the skin it was a touch gray. Not enough to really call attention to them unless someone was looking closely.
She knew that most people couldn’t describe who was on their right or left. In today’s society, people tended to mind their own business. It was safer that way.
These were the thoughts she hated. They took her beloved land and made it feel more like a third world country. With an effort she turned away from what she thought might be wrong with the world to focus on Locke as he pulled to a stop in front of the house, they had dinner in last night.
He turned the engine off and turned to look at her.
If there was ever a person whose thought’s she wanted to hear it was his.
“I wish I could hear your thoughts.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is it that easy?”
“Yes.”
“I want to know who you are. Why a handsome man like you needed to fill out a profile for a dating site? How did you get involved with tracking the Shadows? Where did you grow up? Are your parents still alive? I want to know it all.”
“Does that mean you want to spend time with me?”
She let the question roll around her head. Did she want to spend time with him? Time where she didn’t need to run away from the thoughts of others. There was no need to shield herself in a penthouse. Time where she could not only get to know him but become better acquainted with herself.
“Yes, I want to spend time with you.” He got out and opened her door, leading her to the house.
Chapter Nine
They were sitting in the living room where everyone seemed to be congregating. The males were talking over each other, but she was focused on the main question of who Locke was. The thought that he wasn’t human was sinking into her skin like a dull knife. It hurt. If he wasn’t human, then what was he? An alien come to take over her planet?
Earth had its issues alien invaders weren’t going to make them any better.
“Ava?” Locke walked over to her.
“Are you going to kill me or take over the earth? Are you collecting women to use them to breed your alien spawn? Will you eat us for nutrition or just make us work until we die of tiredness?” She could go on. It’s not like she hadn’t seen her fair share of sci-fi horror movies. It was that she wanted him to be different. After last night, she almost let herself dream. Stupid.
“None of the above and you’re right I’m not human. We’re not human, but Mira is. You have to admit she’s kind of kick ass. Do you think we are using her? Then there is you. You kick ass all on your own. Do you think I’m using you?”
She reached up discreetly and pulled a lock of hair. It was one of the things she did to help center her. This time there were no thoughts flying about that she could read. She was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.
When Lock came to her car, she was a mess. If he wanted to use her that was the time. Instead, he was more interested in spending time with her. Maybe he messed with her mind when she was sleeping last night, but she didn’t think so. Her mental shields were still in place. No one had breached them. She might know what the whole world was thinking, but no one knew what she was thinking.
“Why are you here?”
“There was a war, a battle. Something happened to the ship we were in. It threw us into this galaxy. We didn’t know how to get home and we didn’t want to get home. At home, it was about fighting and dying. Here we have a chance to make a different life for ourselves. One that won’t happen if we are hunting the natives or calling attention to ourselves.”
She nodded. She got it in a way. He was running from something, from the people in power who were oppressive. Their planet had been like that at one time. The people who were going through it may have run if given a chance. Then there were the people who were in third world countries. They were being starved, bombed, didn’t know if their children would make it through the night. She’d be willing to bet if they had a chance to run and start over in a place that promised safety, they would do it. Yeah, she got it.
“How do you look like us? You’re just a little on the gray side more of a tint than anything else.”
“We’re shapeshifters most of the universe that I’ve come into contact with is. Our normal form is bipedal; it wasn’t too hard to adopt this shape.”
She nodded again. If she kept it up, her head was going to fall off. Taking a deep breath, she decided to face the elephant in the room. Last night she let an alien (not from this planet) give her the best oral sex of her life. Oh, and she wanted to do it again, soon.
“Half of you is screaming I bleed red, white, and blue. While the other half is screaming do that again, ” Mira spoke from right behind her.
“How do you do that?”
“Empath. I’m no longer being barraged with everyone’s feelings. I now have a choice. I can control it. It has something to do with the relationship Tristan and I share.”
“Is it like you can turn it off and on?”
“Yes, except where the Shadows are concerned. It is always on. I think it’s a defense mechanism.”
“That makes sense.” Ava went to nod then stopped. Soon there would be a bobblehead of her. “What now?”
“We leave you alone.” Mira took Tristan’s hand and left the room. The others followed, leaving Ava and Locke alone.
“I think your family cares about you.”
“They do. Where’s your family?” He went over to the couch and took a seat.
She walked over and sat next to him. The feel of his leg pressing against her warm and alive made her feel safe.
“Mine might as well be dead. I never see them. My sister and I don’t get along. She was Ms. Popular. I was cramping her style. What’s worse is I could read her thoughts. Not good in a family relationship.”
“The thoughts of others bring you down?”
“You don’t care what others think do you?”
“No. I knew from the time I was created using Enzymes that no one could understand, that my mission in life was to fight and die. No one cared about me. I didn’t feel the need to care about them.”
“On earth it’s different. As babies, we expect love. Others expect our parents and relatives to love us. Imagine being twenty-five and hearing what everyone thought about you and themselves. But you’re twenty-five you should be able to shake that off. Now imagine being twenty in the same boat. Don’t stop there imagine being sixteen, then slide down to ten. Then finally stop at six. One day, your head explodes with the thoughts of the people around you. Teachers call you kiss up or stuck up. They judge you on how your clothes fit and whether they think your parents love you. Other kids make fun of you with their voices and their minds. You’re only six taking it all in. Your world has been shattered. Explain to a six-year-old how the people she thought were her friends aren’t and how her sister two years older resents her.” She fidgeted on the couch waiting.
“I can’t.” She nodded because this time one was needed.
“I’m probably better adjusted than most who would have gone through this. There are days though when every thought feels like it’s my own. I’m overwhelmed. Those are the days that scare me, that make me think I might do something stupid that I can’t wake up from.”
“How do you deal with those days?”
“I hide, I talk to my friend Keva and I use the money I have to help others in situations like me. I work behind the scenes to get them off the street and give them the mental health awareness they need to make an informed decision. I can’t exactly walk into a psychiatrist office and say I’m psychic and need help.”
“There was no help for Kur’iks like me on my planet either.”
“Kur’iks?”
“The name of our species.”
Ava gave him a tentative smile. She was sitting in the room with an alien and she felt safe. She couldn’t tell anyone about this not even Keva, but she was happy.
“Would you like to see the property?” He was standing in front of her with his hand stretched out.
“I’d like that.” She took his hand. There was a soft smile on her face. She didn’t know what she was expecting when Troy told her to fill out an app at a dating site, but it wasn’t this.
Locke led her out the back door. They passed a beautiful porch with a swing and a large yard. She could imagine bar-b-cues out here. If it were filled with couples and children.
A shiver walked up her spine. She gave up thoughts of children long ago. Now she could almost see little boys and girls with Locke’s green eyes and her black hair.
They walked hand in hand leaving the house behind them. Good thing she was wearing walking shoes.
“Where are we going?” They were surrounded by trees.
“It’s not much further.” He pointed to a bluff up ahead. It was a climb, but not a bad one.
They walked in silence as she thought back over her life. Were her first six years like this? She couldn’t remember them. It was hard enough to remember when she first discovered her abilities. There were flashes of being laughed at. The ones where she was called witch or chased off the playground were the worst. She didn’t have a name for it then, she just knew she wasn’t like the other kids.
Her breath came faster as they reached the top of the bluff. Her mouth opened in a round ‘O’ when she was finally able to catch her breath.
“It’s beautiful up here.” This view allowed her to see for miles on every side. She could see the house on the other side was a lake. It rushed with water that seemed to lilt with joy. “I could sit here for hours.”
“This is my favorite place. It’s also a good look out.” He took her hand and led her to a place with comfortable seating.
“I love this pad,” she told him when she sat down.
“We were made to sleep on the ground no matter the conditions. No thought was ever given to our comfort. I can sit or sleep on the ground, but I made the choice when we came here to care about myself.”
“Sometimes that’s a choice I have to make on a daily basis,” she whispered. When she looked under her lashes, Locke’s head was turned to her to indicate he was listening. He wasn’t staring, the one thing that would have made her clam up.
“Nothing can make you feel like crap faster than watching television. On it are either women who have their act together or women in the midst of having their act together. All of that is gratifying unless you are struggling to get your act together. That’s me, but not every day. If you’re looking from the outside in, I look like I have everything. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to hit myself with a rock in hopes of waking up better.” She laid back and squinted up at the sky. The sun was in her eyes, but it gave her something to focus on.
“There are times I have that commitment three or four times a week. Others when I make it three or four times a day.” Why didn’t she keep stuff like this to herself? Did he really want to know that she struggled on some days, but was fine on others?
“What keeps you going?”
She took a minute to think about it. It wasn’t the days where breaking down and crying were her only form of release.
“Strength is relative. I’ve encountered people who think to be strong means going to the gym and honing your body to be a deadly weapon. True that’s a strength but only one kind. For me, strength is this resolve that sits in my chest like a tiny gem. Even on my worst day when I’m sitting huddled in the backseat of a car, I know that, that little seed of determination will peek its head out. Then I’ll be moving getting on with life before I think I’m able to. I guess in life you do what you have to.”
She squirmed, trying to make herself more comfortable. Her efforts left her sitting closer to Locke, that was nice. “I know it’s different for everyone. We all have different ways of coping with stress. I can’t vouch for others just myself.”
“I see you as being strong. I like your version of strength. I get looked at as being strong all the time based on my body. They are right, I am strong, but physical strength can be t
aken away in a blink of an eye. What makes me strong is all the times I didn’t try to kill those who created me. It is the patience I learned as I waited for my chance to be free. It is even the battles I won to stay alive.”
Ava turned over resting her head against his chest. “We are strong.”
There was no headache, simply peace. She was stronger with him, but either way, she’d always be strong.
Chapter Ten
Ava looked up into those amazing green eyes, then down to his slightly parted lips. This time she was sure the move was up to her. He had given her one night of passion like he promised. He would never touch her again unless she reached out first. Was this what she wanted? The obvious answer was yes, but she needed to be sure. There was no going back. Behind her lay a lifetime of loneliness, but it was safe. With Locke, she had no idea what would happen. A smile stretched her lips. That was how life was supposed to be.
She pushed herself up on her arms, allowing her lips to slowly descend on his. She blew her breath watching him as the warm air hit his lips before she took in a kiss. Her tongue pushed at his slightly open mouth he gave way inviting her in.
Once again, the taste of black licorice and pumpkin spice overwhelmed her. It reminded her of fall, but now it was his signature taste. Nothing would ever taste as good as his kisses. She let out a sound of contentment when his hand began to caress her back to be followed with a moan as his fingers worked their way under the hem of her shirt.
“I love being touched by you.” She moved from kissing his mouth to placing kisses along his jawline. It was strong and hard the way they made superheroes in the comics and movies.
His fingers moved up her spine, making her shiver. She buried her head in his neck breathing his scent as the desire she felt rose slowly.
“Locke?” His name was a question that asked so much while saying nothing. Did he want her? Was this a let’s try for something commitment or a spur of the moment and then it’s over thing? Did his heart pound the way hers did just being around him?
The Wolf & The Psychic: BBW Alien Paranormal Romance (Werewolves & Mates Book 2) Page 6