Alienated (17 page)

“‘
O
h, the weather outside is frightful,’” Mom’s soft voice sang slightly off-key, accompanied by the sizzle and pop of hot oil, “‘but the fire is so delightful.’”

Cara smiled and glanced at Aelyx, leaning in to whisper, “Mom lives for Christmas carols. She won’t stop until February. Enjoy.” With the exception of classical instrumentals, Aelyx despised human music.

He pressed his lips close to her ear and made her shiver. “If that wretched noise makes Eileen happy, I’ll find a way to tolerate it.”

“‘And since we’ve no place to go,’” Mom crooned while flipping a chicken thigh in the frying pan, “‘let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.’”

Cara held a slippery, wet carrot in one hand and a peeler in the other. While she carved away the dirty orange exterior, she thought about Christmas, specifically what to buy for Aelyx.

She wanted to give him a special reminder of Earth to take back to L’eihr in the spring, a small memento to keep in his room at the Aegis. Her chest ached when she imagined life without him. Sure, things would go back to normal within the community, maybe they’d be able to grocery shop in Midtown instead of driving an hour away and coming home with melted ice cream, but she’d miss him.
Terribly.

She continued peeling the carrot, but her thoughts were still with Aelyx. Given how much he hated Earth, he’d probably never come back to visit, and she couldn’t travel beyond the stratosphere until next fall. With a sigh, she turned to watch him.

Aelyx stood at the other end of the kitchen counter dicing a potato with the skill and ease of a master chef. Unbelievable. She studied the misshapen chunks of vegetables on her cutting board.

“I’m starting to feel inadequate,” she said. “You slaughter me at chess—”

“But it took eighteen moves last time. That’s an improvement.” His knife never slowed as he spoke.

“You finished your physics project in ten minutes,” she continued. “You just beat my high score in Total Zombie Massacre, and you even outperform me in my own kitchen.” A one-armed monkey could outperform her in the kitchen, but that was beside the point. She washed another carrot and then returned to her spot at the counter. “One of these days, I’ll find your kryptonite and win at something besides Puppy Love.”

“Actually, I beat your high score last night. Canine number fifteen enjoyed having his ears scratched, so the game awarded bonus points for that. But don’t sell yourself short,” he said with a smile in his voice. “You throw a mean right hook.”

Cara laughed and the peeler slipped in her wet grasp, slicing the side of her index finger. She sucked a loud gasp.

In a flash, Aelyx was there. He pulled her to the sink, turned on the faucet, and held her hand beneath a stream of cool water. The sight of blood and the throb of her finger should have bothered her, but she was far too distracted by the warmth of Aelyx’s body pressed against her from behind. His hot breath tickled the skin on the side of her neck, and she unconsciously closed her eyes. The urge to lean into him and rest the back of her head on his shoulder, to mold her whole body to his, was almost uncontrollable.

Mom’s voice broke the spell, jerking Cara out of her haze. “You okay?” She inspected the cut. “It’s not deep.” She wadded a clean paper towel against the wound. “Here, hold this over it for a minute, and you two find something to do until dinner’s ready.”

“Come on.” Aelyx took her arm, leading her out the back door. “I wanted to show you something anyway.”

It was a perfect late-autumn evening, with the low sun glowing gently behind the dormant trees, softening the angles of their naked branches. A light chill brushed Cara’s cheeks, refreshing but not too frigid, and the sweet scent of wood smoke drifted on the breeze. Aelyx scanned the surrounding acreage using some kind of gadget that detected warm-blooded life-forms. Aside from a few squirrels, nothing was lurking out there, so he took her injured hand while towing her into the woods.

“Let’s see.” Gingerly, he lifted the paper towel. “No more bleeding. I think you’ll live.” He tucked the makeshift bandage in his pocket but kept her hand. “Maybe you should pay attention when you’re wielding sharp objects.”

“Hey, it’s your fault. You made me laugh.”

Turning her palm upward, he began tracing the lines with his thumb as they walked. His liquid-silver eyes blazed beneath dark lashes. “How can I make it up to you?”

Cara’s heart fluttered. She cleared her throat and said, “Teach me your chess strategy.” But that wasn’t the first thought that came to mind. Not even close.

“I don’t know.” He stroked her palm in circles. “It might take twenty moves to defeat you then.”

The heat radiating from Aelyx’s touch was making her dizzy, so she reclaimed her hand and turned her gaze to the forest floor. “So, uh, are you getting tired of all my blog questions yet?”

“I think I can stand a few more.”

“Good, because people want to know how L’eihrs evolved. I guess it’s a preview of where humans are heading, right?”

He helped her over a patch of mud. “Yes and no. You have to remember most of our advances are due to selective breeding. For example, our brains grew larger over time, but because only those with extrasensory abilities were selected to reproduce, all L’eihrs can use Silent Speech.”

“That’s your name for telepathy?”

“Right.” He tapped an index finger against her temple. “Your brains will grow, but unless you stop procreating for love, your abilities won’t change.”

“What else?”

“We no longer have an appendix, but that’s also a result of organized breeding, not evolution. Let me think…” He paused for a moment. “Oh, if I focus, I can regulate my body temperature by several degrees.”

“No way!”

“Way,” he said with a grin. “Honestly, though, it’s easier to put on a sweater. There are a couple others that come to mind, like increased lung capacity and greater endurance.”

“This is so cool. I can’t believe I didn’t ask you sooner.” She slid a glance at him and bit her lip before adding, “I wouldn’t mind hearing about your weapons, either.” She’d wanted to broach the subject for weeks, but she didn’t know how. Nobody, not even the highest-ranking military officials, knew about them. She looked up and met his gaze. “Off the record?”

It took a lot to render Aelyx speechless, but this did the trick. He didn’t seem offended, more like contemplative, unsure of how much to reveal. They continued in silence, and when they reached a small stream, Aelyx pointed to a cluster of trees and ignored her question. “Look around. I want you to remember this place.”

“Why?” Glancing at the barren forest, she noted a few distinct markers: a boulder shaped like a kidney, an old deer blind nailed to the massive oak on her left, and a rotting fallen cedar damming the stream, pooling the water into an algae-coated, mucky pond.

He pointed to the charred remains of a tree, cleaved in half by lightning. “If anything happens and we get separated, I want you to meet me right there.”

“What do you mean if anything happens?”

He lowered his head to deliver a solemn look. “One of these days, things could get violent. Your military will probably protect us both, but I’ve picked this spot as a rendezvous point.”

“Okay, but why here?”

A smile curved his lips. “Because this is where the ambassador parked my getaway car.”

Before she had a chance to ask what he was talking about, Aelyx took her hand and led her to the split tree. He reached down, scooped a handful of dirt and debris into his fist, then pointed high above their heads with his other hand. “Watch this.” With a mighty heave, he threw the dirt into the air, where it did something scientifically impossible: struck an invisible barrier and bounced back, showering them in pebbles and dust.

She brushed off her sweater and face. “What was that?”

Aelyx pulled the key fob gadget from his back pocket, the same one he’d used to break into the boxing gym. Holding it above his head, he shouted, “
Elire
,” and two quick beeps pierced the air. Then, like something out of a science fiction flick, a sleek, silvery spacecraft morphed into view, suspended above them like a massive, solidified water droplet. “Cloaking device,” Aelyx explained. “Hides it from view.”

“Nice getaway car.” She grinned at him. “Let’s go for a ride!”

Aelyx shook his head, shouting Cara’s nickname again, and they watched the craft disappear. “My shuttle is like the credit card your father gave you last week. Only for life-threatening emergencies. Syrine and Eron have one, too. Just in case.”

“Seriously? You’re gonna show me that and not take me up for a spin?”

“Yes.” Chuckling, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “If you’d ever experienced a dozen lashes with the
iphet
, you’d understand.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Once again, she’d forgotten that L’eihrs didn’t hand out detention for breaking the rules. And since free speech as she knew it in America didn’t seem to exist on L’eihr, his leaders might’ve forbidden him from discussing weapons. L’eihrs didn’t screw around, and she didn’t want him whipped with that electric thing. “I didn’t think about that when I asked about your weapons.”

“Would you really like to know?” he asked hesitantly. “I’ll tell you if you promise to keep it off the blog.”

“You sure? I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”

“I trust you.”

“Okay, then.”

He took a deep breath and began. “Our weapons were once like yours—crude projectiles designed to damage the body. But over thousands of years, the weapons evolved as we did. They were designed to be more efficient and humane, and eventually one was created that killed without harming the body or the environment around the body.”

“How?”

“We call it
iphal
, which means ‘end.’ It delivers a concentrated pulse of energy that disrupts the heart’s rhythm. The victim dies instantly, without pain and with no destruction to the tissue. There are
iphals
used for individuals—during an execution, for example. And there are larger ones used to neutralize a more comprehensive force, like an opposing battalion.”

“Whoa,” she heard herself whisper. “You can take out whole squadrons with a burst of energy?” She hadn’t expected anything that frightening. No wonder the L’eihrs kept it a secret.

Aelyx seemed to sense her panic. “L’eihrs don’t attack without provocation. We really aren’t an aggressive people.”

Sure, but humans would go ballistic if they learned L’eihrs could end their lives with a simple heart-zapper. She couldn’t tell anyone, not even Mom or Dad.

Suddenly her mind shifted gears and she remembered Aelyx’s mysterious late-night trips into the woods. Everything clicked. “This is where you’ve been going—to check on your getaway car!”

His brows lowered in confusion at the abrupt change in their conversation.

“The times you snuck out of the house,” she explained. “You’ve been coming here.”

“Oh.” Slowly, understanding dawned across his face, followed by something that looked a lot like guilt. He hesitated long enough to tell her a lie would follow. “Yes, I had to make sure the cloaking device hadn’t…uh…disengaged.”

“You
weren’t
coming here?”

At that, his chin lifted. “I just told you I was.” Then he turned and stalked back the way they’d come.

Cara knew a guy on the defensive when she saw one. Eric used to do the same thing—deflect and get angry with her when he’d done something wrong. So what had Aelyx done wrong? And more importantly, how would his people punish him if they found out?

C
ara hugged herself and shivered against the cold. Pulling her fluffy bathrobe collar around her neck, she shuffled her bare feet along the rough ground of the forest, wincing when an acorn pricked her heel. She knew this place—the kidney-shaped boulder and the blackened tree, split in half by lightning. Aelyx’s meeting point. What on earth was she doing there? In her bathrobe?

A loud buzzing vibrated the air above, and she lifted her face to the treetops expecting to see a mutant-sized hornets’ nest. Instead, Aelyx’s chrome shuttle morphed into view, drifting slowly to the ground like a fallen leaf. She backed away, fearing the heat from its thrusters, but nothing touched her skin aside from a light breeze. The shuttle doors melted open, and Aelyx smiled from inside, strapped into the pilot’s seat.

“Come away with me.” He extended his hand like Peter Pan, ready to fly her to Neverland.

Forever?
The word didn’t leave her lips, but somehow Aelyx heard. Still grinning, he nodded and motioned for her to come closer.

But what about Mom and Dad?
Before Aelyx could reply, the crunch of footsteps sounded from behind, and she whirled around to find Eric and Tori regarding her. They were younger versions of themselves: Eric, the string-bean boy with bad skin and an easy smile, and Tori, the tiny seventh-grade firecracker wearing her goalie uniform, brushing her lips with the end of her long braid. They both had tears in their eyes.

“Are you really gonna leave us here to die?” Tori asked.

To die? Cara didn’t understand.

Someone grabbed her arm and she gasped, jerking awake.

“You okay?” Aelyx leaned over his desk, tilting his head in concern.

“Yeah.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes while darting a glance at her math teacher, who had his back to her. She’d never fallen asleep in class before, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed.

When the bell rang, Cara thought about the dream while following Officer Blake to her locker. It didn’t take a shrink to figure out the symbolism. If she were honest with herself—and she usually tried to be—she had to admit her feelings for Aelyx had moved beyond friendship. She didn’t want him to leave without her. The only part of the dream that didn’t make sense was Tori and Eric. Why would they care if she left? They had each other now, the backstabbing bastards.

“You look a little pale,” Blake said, studying Cara as she entered her combination. “Well, paler than usual, anyway.”

“I’m just tired. Couldn’t sleep last night.” When she turned to check the clock at the other end of the hall, she noticed Tori—the new and “improved” version—staring at her from the entrance to the girls’ bathroom.

Tori’s red-stained lips pressed into an unforgiving line, her once-laughing eyes narrowed into slits. If looks could kill, Cara would be sporting a toe tag right about now. Tori jerked a thumb toward the bathroom in a rude summons, but Cara shook her head. She had no desire to be alone with her former best friend.

All traces of Tori had vanished, both inside and out, and Cara wondered what she was capable of these days. Delivering a threat for her Patriot friends? Cara didn’t want to believe it, but then again, she’d never expected Tori to hook up with Eric, either. Cara’s golden-haired ex strolled to Tori’s side, taking her hand and towing her in the other direction. As she catwalked out of sight in her high-heeled boots, Tori glanced over her shoulder and burned one more death glare into Cara’s forehead.

Just like that, Cara forgot her locker combination. She was vaguely aware of Aelyx speaking, but couldn’t interpret his words over the throbbing pulse in her ears. What was Tori’s problem? It wasn’t enough that she’d destroyed their friendship—she had to declare some lame girlie-war, too?

Aelyx turned her face, meeting her eyes. “Elire, she wants to hurt you. Don’t give her what she wants.”

His voice boomed painfully inside her head. “Why are you shouting? I’m right h—” Suddenly, it occurred to her that Aelyx wasn’t talking. She heard his voice, uncomfortably loud, but his lips remained sealed, just like in the dream. “What the hell
was
that?” She bolted back, slamming her head against the locker door.

“Whoa.” Blake’s jaw dropped. “What’s with you?”

“Uh…” Cara rubbed the back of her head and thought fast. “I saw a mouse.” She pointed across the hall and clarified, “Over there.”

As soon as Blake stalked forward, eyes fixed on the floor, Cara whispered to Aelyx, “I don’t know what you just did to me, but we’re gonna try it again!”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Good.” Aelyx rewarded Cara with a fist bump that didn’t quite connect. He sat facing Cara on the beige-carpeted floor of his room, which she’d decided was the best setting for their experiment. It’s empty and completely boring, she’d said, so we won’t get distracted. The house was quiet, with Bill working a forty-eight-hour shift at the fire station and Eileen volunteering at the library.

He touched his forehead to Cara’s, stared into her wide blue eyes, and thought of another number.

“One thousand, two hundred and nine,” she said. “But can you stop yelling?”

He sat back, wondering why Silent Speech seemed loud to her. Perhaps her human brain wasn’t equipped to handle it. That would explain why he wasn’t able to fully connect with her cognizant mind. “I’m not yelling. There’s no volume control for thoughts.”

“So it doesn’t seem loud when you talk to other L’eihrs?”

“No.”

“Oh.” She slouched against the bed frame and swirled her fingertips across the carpet. “What’s it like when you hear it?”

“I hear thoughts like they’re spoken. But I can feel emotions, too. It’s one of the ways we know if someone is telling the truth. And we can project images and sensations.” He didn’t realize until then how much he’d missed communicating silently with his own people. During these past few months on Earth, he’d been more vocal than in a lifetime on L’eihr.

“Can I try sending you a thought?” she asked.

“Sure, but don’t expect too much. Receiving information’s easier than projecting. It took thousands of years to refine it.”

Cara nodded, setting her long auburn hair in motion. She leaned forward and gazed into his eyes. Several moments ticked by, but he heard nothing.

He shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Can you send me a picture? I want to see something from L’eihr.”

“Sure.” Aelyx stretched out, considering which memory to use. A moment later, he’d found just the right one. “This’ll be harder than receiving words or numbers, so try to relax your mind.”

“Okay.”

Peering deep into her eyes, he recalled a memory from the Aegis—at the end-of-year games when his peers had cheered him on during the obstacle course competition—so Cara could see his home wasn’t as cold and inhospitable as she thought.

She sat still and focused. “Hey! I don’t see anything, but I feel you. You’re totally pumped! What’s so—” Suddenly, she grimaced and pulled away, holding her forehead between her hands.

“Are you okay?” Aelyx shot forward and steadied her shoulders.

“Yeah, just a headache. It’s not that bad.”

He sat back, inspecting her. “We’ve overworked your brain.”

“What?” Cara’s head snapped up while her brows lowered, forming a slash above her narrowed eyes. “We’ve overworked my feeble brain? Is that what you mean?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He pushed to his feet. “Put pressure on your temples. I’ll be right back.”

“Where’re you going?”

“To make some herbal tea for you,” he called while striding into the hall. “It might ease your headache.”

When he returned a few minutes later, she seemed more relaxed, indicating the headache had passed. Still, they should stop for the day. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“Our brains are physically different.” He handed her the tea. “I didn’t say yours was feeble. I think you have a beautiful mind, Elire.”

“Thanks.” She took the steaming mug. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right.” He sat beside her on the carpet and inhaled his tea’s fruity scent. A hint of orange in the brew reminded him of Cara’s shampoo.

“Hey.” She paused to blow into her cup. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have a girlfriend back home?”

“I’ve felt some attachments in the past, but no, I don’t have what you’d describe as a girlfriend.”

Cara cleared her throat and began chewing her thumbnail. “What about Syrine?”

“What about her?”

“Do you…um.” She stared down into her mug. “Have a special relationship with her?”

The bond he shared with Syrine had outlasted a dozen other friendships, something he’d qualify as special, but judging by Cara’s scarlet cheeks, she had another type of relationship in mind. “Define special relationship.”

“Well, have you ever kissed her?”

The mental image of putting his tongue into Syrine’s mouth made him laugh. “No. I’ve never kissed Syrine or anyone else, for that matter.”

“What?” She glanced up from her tea, her eyes like saucers. “You’ve never kissed a girl?”

He shrugged. “That’s not how we show affection.”

“Really?”

“Truly.”

“Too bad,” she said over the top of her mug. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Not much, I imagine. I researched it, and it sounds bizarre to me.”

Cara smiled to herself. “Not if you’re doing it right. Nothing’s hotter than a good kiss.”

“Nothing except
sh’ellam
. It always leads to more.”

“So does an amazing kiss.”

The challenge in her eyes prompted him to say something he probably shouldn’t have. “Care to put it to a test?”

Her pink lips parted in shock.

Was she revolted by the idea? Disappointment knotted his chest. “Don’t worry. If you’re uneasy—”

“I’m not uneasy.” She huffed and set her cup of tea on the floor. “Bring it!”

“You sure?”

“It’s on. You go first.”

Aelyx hesitated a moment, then stood and carried their mugs to the dresser. He offered his hand to Cara and pulled her to her feet.

“Are you wearing a shirt underneath that sweater?” he asked.

She cleared her throat again, blushing. “Yeah, why?”

“This’ll work better if more of your skin’s exposed.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the sweater over her head, tossed it onto the bed, and stood before him in a cream-colored tank top. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing. Just stand still, close your eyes, and relax.”

She took a deep breath and nodded, then shut her eyes and let her arms hang loosely at her sides.

Aelyx’s palms had become clammy, and he wiped them on his jeans, grateful Cara couldn’t see how nervous she’d made him. A wave of doubt crested within him. What if she hated it? What if this confirmed that his attraction to her was one-sided?

“What’re you waiting for?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He stepped forward until their bodies barely touched.

Closing his eyes, he wrapped his hand around Cara’s fragile wrist, then smoothed it slowly up the length of her arm to her shoulder. He gulped a breath. Bleeding gods, no substance in his world or hers had ever felt so soft. He skimmed two fingers across her collarbone and rested them at the base of her throat, feeling the pulse of her heart beating through the delicate skin. He’d touched her there a dozen times in his dreams, but it didn’t compare to reality.

“Your heart rate is eighty beats per minute,” he said quietly, trying not to let his voice tremble.

“Why does that matt—”

“Shh. Don’t talk.”

With his other hand, he swept Cara’s silken hair out of the way, lightly brushing her neck with his fingertips. Her breathing hitched, and he paused for a moment, stunned by her reaction. Had she actually liked that? Was it possible she wanted him? There was only one way to find out.

He nestled his cheek against hers, indulging in the feel of her bare skin. Keeping one hand at her throat, he flattened the other against her back, where heat radiated from beneath the thin fabric of her top. He stroked the length of her spine from top to bottom, his fingertips massaging, teasing, and trailing lightly, leaving her skin covered in goose bumps.

He whispered into her ear, “By monitoring our partner’s heart rate, we know how they’re reacting to our touch. The body doesn’t lie. This is the truest test of physical attraction. For example,” he said, stroking the base of her throat with his thumb, “your pulse is ninety beats per minute and increasing very quickly.” She
did
want him. He couldn’t believe it. The soft curves of her body rose and fell against him as the pace of her breathing accelerated, his own pulse quickening in response.

Aelyx brushed his lips back and forth against her ear and whispered, “One-ten now.” But he hoped they could do better than that. He continued to caress her back, pulling her body even closer to his and brushing his lips down her neck to the top of her shoulder. A quiet murmur escaped the back of her throat and fire pulsed through his veins.

More. He wanted more. He traced his fingertips along the outline of her hip, continued across the top of her thigh, and then back up to her waist. Slipping his thumb underneath the bottom of her shirt, he stroked the warm skin of her lower back, then flattened his palm and pulled her hard against him. Her quick, erratic breaths tickled the side of his neck.

“One-thirty now,” he said in the faintest whisper.

It was too much. The most deliciously animalistic thoughts filled his head, and he knew he’d lose all control if this continued a second longer. He abruptly removed his hands and stepped back before he did something he’d regret later. He gazed at Cara—sunset hair framing her scarlet-flushed cheeks, lips parted, eyes closed, lost in the moment. By the gods, she was exquisite. His heart swelled inside his chest. This human had captivated him, and her body’s response gave him hope that she felt the same way.

“I’d better stop.” He tried to hide his elation, but his face probably glowed like a neutron star. “I don’t want to send you into cardiac arrest.”

Cara’s eyes shot open. Aelyx stood there wearing the smuggest expression she’d ever seen. Cardiac arrest? Was this some kind of challenge to prove he could master her body the way he mastered every game in her collection? Like an idiot, she’d thought he was really into her. Suffocating desire transformed into embarrassment. Then anger. But two could play this game. She’d show him a heart attack.