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"Listen to me." I cup her face in my hands, memorizing every detail - the flecks of gold in her chestnut eyes, the small scar above her lip from a childhood accident she told me about on our third date. "I've been lying to you since the day we met."

She tries to pull away, but I hold her steady. Not roughly - never roughly with her.

"I'm not who you think I am. I'm not..." The words won’t form. How do you tell someone their entire understanding of reality is wrong? "I'm not from here. Not just Twin Oaks - I mean Earth."

Her pulse races under my fingers. I can feel it, see it in the way her throat moves as she swallows.

"Everything between us was real. Every moment, every touch, every word - that was all real. But my name isn't Jack Tanner. I'm not an anthropologist - well, I am, but not the kind you're thinking of."

"What are you talking about?" Her voice cracks. This is my worst fear - seeing that trust shatter in her eyes. The trust I worked so hard to earn.

I let my hands drop to my sides. "I'm Jorun. I'm part of a research team studying human culture. And I've broken every rule by falling in love with you."

I close my eyes, knowing this will change everything. The familiar tingle of transformation ripples across my skin as I let my human disguise fade. The pressure around my skull releases as my horns emerge, and my bones shift subtly beneath muscle that's now a deep crimson.

"Look at me, Vanessa."

She gasps, stumbling backward until she hits the brick wall. Her hand flies to her mouth, eyes wide with shock - but not screaming. Not running. Just... staring.

"This is who I really am." My voice is deeper now, more resonant without the human vocal constraints. "I'm Vakutan. We've been studying Earth cultures for decades, trying to understand how humans think, how they love."

Her chest rises and falls rapidly. I can hear her heartbeat from here - the enhanced senses are another thing I had to dull in human form.

"The coffee shop questions. The weird dates. All those things you said were different about me..." She presses her palms against the wall behind her, as if seeking something solid to hold onto.

"I was gathering data. At first." I take a step closer, relieved when she doesn't flinch away. "But you changed everything. You made me question my mission, my purpose. Made me feel things I never thought possible."

My black eyes meet hers, and I fight the urge to shift back to my human form, to give her something familiar to hold onto. But she needs to see the truth. All of it.

"Your eyes..." She reaches up, hand trembling, but stops short of touching my face. "They're like looking into space."

"They see more than human eyes. Different wavelengths, deeper colors." I catch her hovering hand in mine, letting her feel the different texture of my skin. "I can see how your aura changes when you're happy, when you're scared. Right now, it's... both."

Her face drains of color as she stares at me, and my hearts clench. I've seen that look before - in research footage, in documentation of first contact gone wrong. Pure, primal fear of the unknown.

"This can't be real." She shakes her head, pressing herself further against the wall. "I'm dreaming. Or having a breakdown. You're not... you can't be..."

"Everything I felt was real." I reach for her, but she jerks away. The movement hits me like a physical blow. "The questions about love, relationships - yes, that started as research. But you changed everything."

"Changed everything?" Her laugh is sharp, brittle. "I was your lab rat. Your... your human experiment."

"No." The word comes out more forcefully than I intend. "You were the variable I never accounted for. The one who made me question what I thought I knew about humans - about myself."

She wraps her arms around herself, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I trusted you. I was going to tell you I loved you."

The past tense cuts deep. "Vanessa, please. I love you. That's why I'm here, why I'm showing you this. They're coming for me - my superiors. I have to leave Earth, and I want you to come with me."

"Come with you?" She looks at me like I'm insane. Maybe I am. "To where? Space? Another planet?"

"To my home. To show them, to explain." I take a step closer, encouraged when she doesn't back away. "I know it's asking the impossible. I know it's crazy. But I can't leave you behind."

Her eyes search my face - my real face - as if trying to find traces of the man she knew. "How do I know this isn't another lie?"

"Because I'm risking everything to tell you the truth." I hold out my hand, letting her see the stark difference between us. "I'm breaking every protocol, violating every rule - because you matter more than my mission. More than anything."

CHAPTER19

VANESSA