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And the colony—Ethan—didn’t want us to leave at all. He wasn’t even happy with us living outside the damn place. He’d be a problem. All the Elders were focused on was the younger generation hooking up and producing more Luxen babies, born and raised on Earth, and yeah, that wasn’t in my game plan.
“Hell,” I muttered, dropping my hand and lifting my head.
In the quiet moments, I also thought about Dawson, and those thoughts always cycled back to how he could have felt so strongly for a human, had fallen in love with one, knowing what it risked. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. So many countless, sleepless nights I’d tried to figure it out. In the end, Dawson had given two shits about the danger he posed to his family, but if he truly loved the girl—Bethany—wouldn’t he have stayed away from her? The Luxen Elders or the government did not tolerate mixing of our two kinds, and then there was the Arum aspect.
Had love made him that damn selfish? Didn’t he realize I’d be lost if anything happened to him?
The stars I stared at held no answers, and as I slowly lowered my gaze, I found myself staring at the bedroom window of the house next door, my new problem. There was a part of me that had accepted there was nothing I was going to be able to do to stop Dee and her from getting closer, but I couldn’t just let it go.
I had done exactly that when Dawson had asked me to.
Yeah, these were two different scenarios, but the likelihood of ending the same was high, so I couldn’t just walk away from this. I would be keeping an eye on that girl, a very close one.
Monday morning, I woke up before Dee and made her breakfast of W.E.B.—waffles, eggs, and bacon. Even though she was pissed at me, I didn’t like the idea of her leaving for a week on those kinds of terms.
And no one, not even my sister, could resist my breakfast skills.
It worked.
At first, I think she was suspicious of my intent, eyeing me warily, but when I didn’t mention the girl next door, she was all smiles and hugs from that point on. I followed her outside, carrying her luggage even though she could carry the thing with a pinkie. I popped it in the back of her Volkswagen. The colony could be accessed from the woods, but she would drive the handful of miles and enter through one of the nearly invisible roads leading in. The local humans thought the little village was just full of nature nuts who preferred to live off the grid.
Humans saw what they wanted to see, never what was really right in front of them.
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?” I asked.
Smiling, she shook her head as she walked around the car. “That’s the fifth time you’ve asked.”
“The third.”
“Whatever.” She laughed. “You know if one of the Elders or Ethan saw you, you won’t be getting out of there in the foreseeable future. I’ll be okay.”
I didn’t like the idea of it, but I nodded. “Text me when you get there.”
“They’d better not try to take my cell phone like they did last time. I’ll cut them.” Dee turned to me and smiled before climbing in behind the wheel. “Can you do me a favor while I’m gone?”
“Hmm?”
Her expression turned serious. “Try to talk to Katy if you see her.”
I arched a brow.
“Actually, how about you make a point to see her, without being a jerk to her so you don’t ruin my chances of having one normal friend who is not obligated to like me because we’re both freaking aliens. I really like her and it would be great if my friend didn’t hate my brother,” she continued, and I wasn’t sure how to feel over the fact that the girl hated me.
Granted, that was the whole point of my being such a dick to her.
“Can you do that for me?” She opened the driver’s door. “Make nice with her. Please?”
Her gaze was so earnest that I found myself nodding.
“Really?” she persisted.
I sighed and looked away as I agreed. “Yeah. Sure.”
A smile broke out across her face, the kind of smile that had every guy at school tripping all over themselves, and here I was, her brother, most likely lying to her.
But lies…they worked.
I watched her leave and then headed in, going upstairs to take a shower. Afterward, I changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt that hadn’t been burned and then puttered around the house, actually picking up after myself. That was a miracle right there.
Make nice with her.
I shook my head as I walked over to my trusty stalker window and pulled back the curtain, wondering if— “What in the hell?”
Squinting, I watched the girl next door jump up and down, trying to reach the roof of her car with a sponge with absolutely no success. A slow smile pulled at my lips.
She looked absolutely ridiculous as the minutes ticked by.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I pivoted around and went out the back door, slipping quietly between the houses. I reached the front of the house just in time to see her bend over to pick up the sponge she’d dropped.
I stopped mid-walk, totally admiring the view offered to me. Alien…human… We’re all universally predictable it seems.
She straightened as I wandered closer. I thought I heard her curse as she plucked at the sponge before tossing it in the bucket.
“You look as if you could use some help,” I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
Jumping, she whipped around with wide, startled gray eyes. There was no mistaking the look of surprise as she eyed me, and it was clear as we stood there staring at each other, she had no idea why I was out there.