Fire in the Woods (29 page)

“Yes. That’s why I’m taking Jess.” David grasped my hands. “You need to meet them publicly. Once they see you, they’ll stop this insanity.”

Dad leaned in closer. “Are you sure?”

David didn’t acknowledge my father. His lips pressed together. His hands shook. “Jess, we need to go. Now.”

My stomach twisted and dropped to my toes. David wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if he’d be able to convince his people to let us live.

Dread coated my heart. Leaving was wrong. I needed to be here with my people. With my dad. “I’m not going with you.”

David tensed his jaw. “What? You have to.”

“No, I don’t.” I waved my fingers toward the aliens surrounding us. “All these guys saw what happened. They know we’re not a bunch of stupid animals. Bring them. Let them tell what they saw.”

“Jess, I need you to come with me. I want to show you to them. I need to make sure you’re safe.”

“Why? In case you lose? In case they wipe out humanity anyway?”

David closed his eyes. His muscles tightened. “I need you with me.”

I backed away. “No, David. You’re not sure you can stop it, and that’s why you want me to come with you.” The terror in his eyes confirmed my fears. The only way I could make sure he fought for my life, was for my life to actually be at stake. “I’m staying here. Where I belong.”

“But—”

“No but. You promised you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I’m trusting you to keep that promise.”

His eyes reddened. “Don’t do this. Come with me.”

“No, David. If I’m here, I know you’ll work your hardest to keep me safe.”

“You’ll be safe with me up in the ship.” Tears dripped from his lashes.

His jaw quivered as I took his face in my hands and kissed him. His lips gently stroked mine. Salty tears fell from his eyes, invading our moment of tenderness with the reality of separation. I held him close, burying myself inside his touch. I’d never wanted anything as much as I wanted him. I relaxed, secure in his embrace. Content.

“Come with me,” he whispered.

I glanced up at the black waterfall. It would be so easy to leave. David would make sure I was safe, no matter what. I needed to be with him. I wanted to be with him.

David smiled, took my hand, and backed toward the ship.

His eyes consumed me. Love flowed freely through his touch, warming me, making everything in the world okay. He looked like Jared Linden, but his eyes were what truly attracted me. They were his most striking feature, and they were real. I walked with him toward the ship and held him tightly as we approached the amber glow emanating from the waterfall. I reached out and ran my fingers through the liquid metal. A cool tingle met my skin, as if washing my hands under a cold running faucet.

“Are you ready?” David asked.

I smiled. He returned the gesture, leaning toward me. His mouth covered mine, sending a beautiful tingle through my nervous system. I parted my lips, drinking him in as his arms slipped around me. My body trembled in his embrace, longing for more of his warmth…for the protection and love I knew he offered.

A swirl of affection coated me—a sensation so deep, so real, my body seemed to split in two before reveling in the wonder of coming together again. David echoed through me in a shimmer of omniscient glory—taking, but giving at the same time. Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.

Deep in the recesses of a world swirling with ecstasy, I sensed my body moving closer to the ship, closer to the light and permanent, unending bliss. The glow of amber filled my eyes, but I blocked it out. All that mattered was being lost inside him, to feel his power within me. Forever.

But such bliss wasn’t meant for only one. The debt was far too great.

My bones shook. Anguish crushed me as I fought for control. Cold overcame, thrashing me with the shock of a freak winter storm as I severed my thoughts from David’s.

The instant we lost touch, pounding need drove me back to his mind’s intoxicating embrace. Nothing could keep me from him. My unconscious beckoned to return, to be bathed in his undeniable encompassing delight once more, but deep within, a snap jolted me back.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I pushed him away. “Save my planet, David. Keep me safe.”

Shock touched his expression. “Jess, no.”

I wiped dampness from my cheeks and stumbled back to the arms of my father. The cells in my body revolted, twisting inside me, yearning to return to the arms of the boy who’d coated me in a stupor of unadulterated ecstasy. I dared to raise my gaze, and shook when our eyes met. The only thing that mattered was returning to his arms, returning to the envelope of perfection that he’d created for me, returning to that dreamlike state of pure joy. But I couldn’t. What David offered wasn’t enough. I needed my father. I needed my planet.

I choked back a sob. “I’ll be here waiting for you…Tomorrow night. I’ll bring the blankets, okay?”

The tremor in his jaw and the panic in his eyes told me he wasn’t sure there would be a tomorrow night. My hands shook as terror overcame me. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t leave everyone else behind. This is the way it had to be. It was the only way.

“Save me, David,” I whispered.

Agony welled in his eyes as I let my father guide me away from the ship. David held his hands out to me, his eyes begging me to return. I fought the incessant urge to give in to him, and gulped down my tears.

David’s lips parted, and he closed his eyes. Another Erescopian placed its four-fingered hand on David’s arm, and led him into the ebony waterfall. The blazing amber engulfed them, distorting my view for a moment. The alien wiped his hand across David’s chest and neck and followed across his face. David’s human skin disintegrated, falling into the blazing light, leaving striking violet magnificence behind. My mother’s necklace hovered before him and slipped from his neck. He seized the glimmering charm, and gripped it to his chest. He blinked twice, his arresting turquoise eyes now free of the unnatural human covering. Sparkling, majestic, knowing, and oh, so vulnerable.

He looked at me—a tentative, frightened crease in his pearly lavender brow. No longer Jared Linden, but so unbelievably right. David. Just David.

My lips perked up in a smile, and relief fell over his beautiful violet features. He ran his fingers in a circular motion around his cheek. It warmed me, the Erescopian version of blowing a kiss.
I made the same gesture with my own fingertips. David smiled, raised his hand, backed into the light, and disappeared.

The commander’s gaze fell on me. His large blue eyes discerning, questioning. He shook his head, and strode toward the ship.

Leaving my side, my father jogged after him. He grabbed the commander’s arm, stopping the alien’s retreat.

I inched up slowly. The tension between the two of them boiled in the air as they stared at each other.

Dad cleared his throat. “Your son. You should be very proud of him.”

The commander tilted his head to the side.

“Dad, he doesn’t understand English.”

My father pointed toward the waterfall David had disappeared into. “You son, David.”

“Tirran Coud Sabbotaruo,” the commander said.

“Okay, Tirran.” He pointed toward the commander’s chest. “You.” He placed his hand on his own chest, and lifted his head high. “Proud.” He pointed at the waterfall. “David—err, Tirran.”

A smile touched the commander’s lips. He nodded “Tirran Coud. Prooud.” He placed his hand on his chest, mimicking my father.

Dad put his arm around my shoulder. The commander turned from us and continued toward the waterfall. Before stepping through, he spun and returned.

He pointed at my father’s chest. “Yoou.” He placed his hand on his own chest. “Prooud.” He pointed at me. “Jesss.”

Dad’s lips quaked. His face burned crimson before tears cast glistening trails down his cheeks. “
I am
proud of her. I always have been.”

I threw my arms around Dad. My own tears dampened his jacket. “I love you, Daddy.”

His grip tightened around me. “I love you too,
pequeña
.”

My father’s warmth filled me. For the first time, he saying
I love you
meant something. I felt his adoration, and I savored it.

The commander bowed his head and backed away. The light engulfed him, shimmering until he disappeared behind the liquid metallic stream. The ebony waterfall shifted, and began to flow upwards, retreating into the craft until the shiny oval consumed the extraneous molten mass completely without any sign of the gateway ever existing.

The ship spun, its smooth, glassy surface shining. I clutched Dad’s chest, afraid if I let go, our unexpected tenderness would end.

Around us, the last of the Erescopians disappeared into the lighted gateways, and the remaining dark vessels rose to meet the ship David and his father had entered. Their surfaces flexed, changed, and puddled across the night sky. Their fluid essence combined, becoming one massive floating pool of liquid ebony.

“Amazing,” Dad whispered, his eyes reflecting the glassy surface above us.

The puddle drew itself in, forming one huge black orb in the sky. It twisted and settled into an enormous gelatinous oval.

A jeep appeared from behind a floodlight. It circled around the remains of a tank before stopping beside us. Maggie’s father stepped out and adjusted the rim of his hat.

Dad saluted. “General Baker, sir.”

Maggie’s dad returned the gesture. His gaze settled on the wounded soldier David had protected. A paramedic helped the private to his feet and led him from the field.

The general glanced at the sky casually, as if the massive ship above us was an everyday sight. “What’s your report, Tom.”

Dad relaxed his stance. “I’m not sure where to begin, sir. Apparently they weren’t friendly, but Jess did something to make them change their minds.”

The general turned to me. One hairy eyebrow arched up under the brim of his hat.

“They were gonna kill us,” I explained. “They need a planet. But they didn’t know we were people. It’s okay, though. David’s going to make them stop the countdown.”

“David?”

I tensed, uncomfortable under the sudden scrutiny. “Yeah. He’s my friend.”

The general’s nose flared. “You can make friends with a cobra, even call it your pet, but it could still turn around and bite you.”

I raised my chin. “David would never hurt me.”

A soldier approached, saluting the general. “Sir, we have set up a base for you. We can begin reporting at any time.”

He nodded. “Tom, get Jess out of here. This is going to be a long night.”

Dad’s grip tightened on my arm. “No. She stays. She’s had more contact with the aliens than anyone else, and I want her here.”

A dull hum emanated from the ship above. The general grimaced. “Just keep her out of the way.”

We walked across the landing strip, past the smoldering debris of the gas tank. The blacktop indented and smoked, sunken and melted from the explosion. The heat in the ground seeped through my sneakers.

As we neared what was left of the small airport’s control building, paramedics lifted two soldiers from the tarmac onto gurneys. A sheet covered one of the soldier’s bodies.

“Unnecessary losses,” the general grumbled.

My chest heated. “What do you mean? If you didn’t attack them, David would have gone home and everything would be fine.”

The general turned and pointed to me. “You seem to forget, missy, that there is still a ship carrying enough firepower to wipe out a planet hovering over us. We’ve seen what these things can do. I think you have too much faith in your little purple friend.”

Dad tugged my arm, keeping me back a few steps. “Just keep quiet, Jess. Stay out of the way.” He placed a gray sweat jacket around my shoulders. I hadn’t realized until it surrounded me how cold I’d become.

We followed General Baker beneath a large khaki canopy. Dad sat me beside one of the tent poles and joined Maggie’s father. I zipped my jacket and shoved my hands in my pockets to fight off the chill.

“Why haven’t they left the atmosphere?” Dad asked.

The general tossed a paper report on the table in the center of the tent. “Because there is still a shiny green planet here, ripe for the picking.” He turned to the man at his side. “Are our people at the ready?”

“They are in the air, sir.”

“You’re not going to attack them,” Dad said. “That’s suicide.”

“Suicide is sitting here and waiting.”

A slight radiance edged up behind the trees to my right, illuminating the sky with a hazy pink hue. The fallen control tower cast an eerie presence with the bright glow behind it.

Sunrise.

The soldier working the communication station lifted the headphone from his ear. “Sir, we are getting reports from Jacksonville, Florida. The ship above their city is moving.”

“Is it leaving?”

“Negative. It appears to be rolling, sir.”

I peeked out from beneath the canopy. David’s ship remained still.

“Reports from New York and South Carolina are the same, sir. The ships are rolling.”

“Are they taking the stance we saw in Zone One?”

“Negative, sir. They are just rolling.”

I pushed into the conversation. “What’s Zone One?”

The general darted me an angry glance.

Dad moved between us. “What happened in Zone One, Jack?”

Maggie’s father threw his hat on the table. “As far as we know, it’s not there anymore.”

Dad backed away. All signs of color drained from his face as he joined the others in staring at the liquid ship above. A twinge of doubt settled into my chest as Maggie’s father joined mine. The general nodded as Dad whispered something into his ear.

I rose from the chair and slipped my hands in my pockets. Just sitting there and waiting was driving me crazy. I strode a few feet from the canopy for a clearer view of the black, swirling lake hanging above us.

As I approached, a guy in a white lab-coat lowered some kind of laser-thingy he was pointing in the air and backed away from me, his expression grim. He blinked twice, and headed toward General Baker’s tent.