Page 6 of Her Alien Matchmaker

“We have been stranded on Earth for thousands of years. Our mother ship lost its ability to return home. Voldera is many, many light years away. My ancestor’s primary mission was to save our race.

A mutation in our DNA occurred which cannot be repaired without human DNA.

Still, we searched the planet for eons, looking for the one rogue gene that could save our people, knowing once we found that savior, a new, better ship could take us home.

Finally, we found her seven months ago.”

We passed a convenience store sitting in the bright afternoon sun. Kids of various ages played in the front yards of several adobe-style homes.

“And what did you do to her after extracting what you needed?” This is the part where he’ll admit to performing the same experiments on my people. Maybe I was looking for justification for my actions, but I needed to know.

“One of our commanders married her.”

“ What?” I almost slammed on my brakes. “Was it against her will?” Anger boiled in my veins.

He laughed, the sound throaty and deep. “I do not think anyone could force Lilly to do anything against her will.” Jet shook his head.

“If you knew Voren, you would understand he is the one taken against his will.” He let out another chuckle.

“But no. We do not abscond with humans, torture them, then kill them.” His eyes flashed at me, and I tried to ignore the underlying subtext.

“We have saved many of your people from XVU’s experiments.

We even recently awakened many of those your government experimented on and had been keeping in cryogenics. ”

“Th-that’s impossible. We don’t do that to our people.” Although there had been unfortunate accidents, those soldiers and civilians had signed up for it and the families paid handsomely for their silence.

He shrugged, turning his attention to the houses as we passed.

“I would be happy to take you to Atlantis so you can meet them, hear it from their mouths. There are several groups from every decade of the 20 th century. We have even recruited a professor and former XVU soldier to help with their reintegration.”

A headache began to form in my temples. His words sounded truthful, yet I had to be wary. If he had an ulterior motive to turning me to his side, I couldn’t figure it out.

Right now, I need to get Aaron and figure out our next move. If he’s trying to weasel his way my mind, I won’t let him.

Arriving at a thrift store named New Beginnings , I stopped the car and looked around.

No military or unmarked vehicles lurked nearby I could see.

Pointing at the shop, I used my other hand and dug around in the console, grabbing a twenty-dollar bill I kept inside for emergencies.

“This should be enough to get whatever you need.” I glanced at his forehead.

“Not sure how you’re going to explain your horns and lack of a shirt. ”

He tapped the lifecord, and his horns disappeared. A smile formed on his mouth as I continued to stare. His sharp teeth now appeared blunt, like most human teeth. “It is a disguise we use when we are on the planet.”

“Why didn’t you use it as soon as you got the lifecord back?”

“The power supply is limited by the damage. Teleporting us out of the facility drained a huge amount, hence not activating the disguise until I absolutely must. De-cloaking, which you could think of as un-creating , requires a full charge, which is why I need what is in that shop. ”

“Got it.” I made myself look away. Seeing him without any of the things that made him different stirred a deep sense of guilt in my heart.

“I need to get Aaron, but I’ll be over on the next block at that house.

” I nodded my chin toward the small brown home.

“Hurry. I don’t know how long we have until XVU decides to show up on Myra’s doorstep. ”

He opened the door, stepped out, and slammed it shut. Turning toward me, he leaned down to look through the window.

I pulled away before he could say anything. The important thing to focus on is my kid. Whatever happens afterwards, at least I’ll have Aaron with me.

Standing on the concrete step, I pushed the doorbell and smiled at the camera. I threw a quick glance behind me, fighting the sensation of eyes on my back. It’s anxiety from being in danger if XVU knows I’m no longer a hostage.

The heavy wooden door opened, and Myra unlocked the outer glass door and cracked it open. “Hey there. You’re early. Is everything okay? Nelly said there’s some type of lockdown where you work?”

“Mommy!” Aaron, holding his favorite stuffed animal—a green crocodile with a saddle on its back—hopped to my leg and hugged my thigh.

I ruffled his hair and gave Myra a forced smile. “Nothing too major. Just security training or something. I was already on the way out for lunch and decided this would be a great time to take the rest of the day off with Aaron. Lockdowns sometimes last for hours.”

Myra handed over Aaron’s backpack. “Well, no worries. He’s already had lunch, and we were already laying down for a nap when Nelly called.”

I shouldered his pack and took his small hand.

“Thanks so much. I’ll see you…” Would I see her again?

Probably not. Even if XVU decided my innocence, could I ever work for them again?

Leaving that place with Jet had terrified me, but it had also felt like a one-hundred-pound rock lifting from my shoulders.

Plus, I had to admit: the appeal of healing again sparked something I’d thought long dead in my heart.

To be someone Aaron can be proud of when he gets older means more than any amount of money. Besides, his safety concerned me more than anything. I wouldn’t let them take me away from him, even if it meant leaving everything I’d ever known to start fresh.

Myra continued staring at my face, as if waiting for me to say something.

“I’ll see you Monday.” I started down the steps, scanning every tree and bush, every person walking or jogging on the sidewalk.

“Bye! Enjoy your weekend.” The door clicked shut behind me.

“Okay, little guy. Let’s get you in your booster seat and take off.” I opened the door and lifted him inside.

“Did you know crocodiles have four thousand teeth, Mommy?”

The seat buckle clicked, and I kissed his cheek. “I did not know that. How do they all fit in their mouth?” I shut the door, returning to the driver’s seat.

“They don’t use them all at once. The teeth you can see sit on new teeth waiting to pop up if they lose or break the ones on top.”

“Sounds scary.”

Through the rearview mirror, I watched as he pulled out his latest copy of Kid Science! and flipped to a certain page. I pushed the ignition switch, and the car came to life. Since I had no way of contacting Jet, I’d have to drive back to the thrift store.

I could take off with Aaron and try to disappear.

The temptation, though strong, felt like a knee-jerk reaction, though. Aaron and I wouldn’t get very far without an untraceable cash flow.

Sighing, I made a U-turn and coasted to the thrift store, then parked in front. Through the window, I watched Jetarin checking out. To the cashier, he probably appeared as a very tall, handsome man.

She grinned at him, all teeth and googly eyes.

Jetarin returned the smile and took a bag from her.

My heart jumped. I’d never seen him smile before. Even though it wasn’t his real face, the gesture transformed him into something transcendent, breathtaking even. How can he stand to be near me, knowing the things I did to him, the blatant disregard for his health?

The woman held up a finger, then quickly wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

He nodded and stuffed it into a pocket of his fake jeans, then stomped to the car and opened it. When he saw me sitting in the car, the smile broadened.

My stomach flipped and a bout of dizziness spun my head around.

He opened the car door and slid inside, his humongous form bunched up so his legs would fit. “I found exactly what I needed, and a few other things.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s good, I guess?”

“It is excellent.”

“Hi. You speak funny. Are you from England?” Aaron’s little voice jerked my attention to the back seat.

“You must be Aaron,” Jet said, twisting around to extend a hand to my son.

Aaron’s grin, devoid of one front tooth, met Jetarin’s. “I am. Are you one of Mommy’s friends?”

Jet shook Aaron’s hand and turned to me. “I think I am her friend, if she wants me as a friend.”

Swallowing, I fixed my attention on the parking lot. We were the only car at the store, so the fewer people who saw us, the better. “Where do we go now?”

Jetarin’s attention riveted to my mouth for two seconds, then he dragged his stare to the navigation system. “Back to the arroyo.”

“What?” I said, my voice louder than usual. “Seriously? You want us to head back toward the base? That place is less than a mile from the facility. They’ll catch us for sure.”

“Trust me.” He opened the plastic bag and dug around, pulling out a laptop that looked at least twenty years old.

“ That’s what you needed to fix your lifecord? An ancient computer?” I shook my head, leaving the parking lot and backtracking our way out of town, toward the desert.

“It is what it has in it that counts.” He started prying at the edges of the laptop. “Between this and the old speaker, I will have enough magnetite to get us away before they figure out we doubled back.”

Hoping he knew what he was doing, the rest of the ride consisted of Aaron asking a hundred questions and Jetarin answering every one of them while he worked, never seeming to lose his patience or becoming annoyed.

The tiny part of anxiety coursing through my veins relaxed. Maybe everything will be okay. and this is my second chance. I’ve been wrong about everything…about him.

Maybe I could go back to my roots and remember who I used to be, what I stood for.