My Alien King (Paranormal Romance Aliens) (3 page)

"I'm sure you are." She yanked the door open and marched through it, letting it slam behind her. Clearly people having fits in this building wasn't uncommon because the receptionist didn't even look up from her computer as Mia stormed by and out of the doors.

Her anger and embarrassment carried her across the parking lot and into her car, and she was pulling out onto the highway before she calmed down enough to relax. Her posture was rigid and her fingers were clenched hard on the steering wheel.

Looking back, she was a little ashamed of how she had reacted (honestly, when had bringing her father up in a conversation ever helped
anything
?), but she thought most of it was justified. For a minute there, she'd actually thought that she was going to get some answers. She'd actually thought that maybe some relief was in sight. That other people knew what she was going through and that things would be okay.

After what had just happened, she was feeling more lost and alone than she had before. Going home to her empty town house didn't sound appealing at all, so she just drove for a while, hoping that whatever was wrong with her wouldn't swoop down and get her when she was behind the wheel of her car.

"It could have gone better," Madison said, looking across the wood of her desk at Asher. "In fact, I don't think it could have gone worse." It was some hours later, and her office was closed for the evening. Her receptionist had gone home, but Madison had stayed, knowing that Asher would be back later to see how things had gone. Seeing him twice in one day was rare, but the number of cases that related to him and his kind were getting rarer and rarer as time went on.

She'd half been hoping that maybe this whole thing was coming to an end, but that was definitely just wishful thinking, it seemed.

Asher shrugged. "She could have thrown something at you. Like the fountain thing," he said cheerfully, eyes on the toy in his hands that he was fiddling with, brow furrowed in concentration.

The woman scowled at him. "How can you be so nonchalant about this? Do you know what this makes me look like? I am trying to run a legitimate mental health care practice here, and every time I have to tell someone that
aliens
are taking them, it hurts my credibility."

"But aliens are taking them," Asher replied. "You're not lying."

"
They
don't know that," she insisted. "They think I'm mocking them, which is one of the worst things you can do to someone who is already fragile. I'm telling you, there has to be a better way."

The red haired young man sighed and put down the Rubik's Cube he'd been playing with, turning his golden gaze to the doctor. "I know," he said. "But there's no
time.
All of those people are in danger, and we have to do
something
to warn them. The Shaddoc aren't going to stop until they've found my uncle."

"That's what I don't understand, Asher. They've been doing this since before your uncle went missing from this planet. Why?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I was too young to understand it, then. Looking for weaknesses, maybe. People he was close to that they could hurt? I don't even know how they found him here. All I know is that we are running out of time."

"Time for what?"

"I... don't know."

Madison sat back in her chair and sighed, rubbing at her temples. "You don't know an awful lot about this. Are you sure you're a prince?"

Asher made a face at her. "
Yes
, I'm sure. I just..." He sighed and leaned back in his own chair. "Maybe if I were to talk to them? Do you think that would help?"

"I don't see how it would. They'd just think that you were working for me or something. They have no reason to believe you, Asher. That's the problem."

"
You
believed me," he pointed out.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I have always been more open minded than most. And the things you've shown me have been incredible. There's no way all of that could have come from this planet. But I'm not a scared patient who's just looking for answers."

"Okay, Okay. You're right. We're going to have to come up with a better way, then. Because they have to be warned, Madison. They're completely helpless when the Shaddoc have them, and-" he broke off when something trilled in his pocket.

"Cell phone?" Madison asked. "Didn't think you had one of those."

"Don't be silly, of course I do. I grew up here. But that's not what this is." He fished the device out of his pocket and flipped the top up, sliding two fingers across the screen. A series of red dots were getting closer to a fixed, shining point on the screen and Asher swore under his breath. "Do any of the people you've talked to live close to here?" he asked.

"I can't give away confidential information, Asher. That's asking for too much."

He huffed and showed her the screen. "It's really important, Maddie, okay? These aren't the ordinary crafts that they use to take the humans and mess with them. These are the holding vessels. For carting prisoners across the galaxy."

"They're planning to
keep
them now?" Madison demanded. "For what purpose?"

"I don't
know
. But there are three of them, and they are locked onto this location, and I need to know who it is."

"Alright, alright," she said, pulling out her tablet to flip through her files. "That's the other side of the Biltmore. Amelia Hatcher is the only one who lives over there." Madison frowned. "She's the one who was in here today. Do you think... Do you think they know?"

Asher's face went pale, and he was out of his chair in less than a second. "I don't know, but I have to go warn her."

"Do you think that's wise?" Madison asked, alarm written all over her face. "She's not likely to take it well."

"I think it's better than letting her get taken for real," Asher shot back.

Madison sighed and watched him rush through the same door that Amelia had gone through hours earlier. She didn't know how her world had gotten so complicated, but she was really starting to miss the peace and quiet she'd had before she'd realized that one of her friends was an alien and that he and his nephew were royalty on another planet.

Things had been much simpler then.

Her house was quiet, but for some reason she couldn't sleep. It occurred to her that this was one of the longest stretches she'd gone without waking up somewhere completely ridiculous, and considering it had only been a couple of days, that wasn't saying much.

Either way, she couldn't sleep.

Her bed was comfortable and warm, and her window was open to catch more of the breezes that had been drifting by, heavy with the scent of the coming fall, but she was still wide awake.

Half of her blamed paranoia. As if she expected someone to come through the window and take her.

The other half blamed Dr. Prince for making her think she was going to be taken in the first place.

It was stupid, and she should have put it out of her mind as soon as she'd left that office. Aliens, indeed. Honestly, she should have called someone and lodged a formal complaint.

But as she laid there in bed, her eyes kept straying to the window, and her mind started to wander off on the thought that there had to be plenty of things she couldn't explain in the world and that maybe this was one of them, or something.

"You're being an idiot," Mia scolded herself.

"For leaving your window open?" a voice asked from right outside said window. "That's not being an idiot, but it's not the safest thing in the world."

Mia screamed as a head poked into her window, scrambling to sit up and grope for the light on her nightstand. Once light flooded the room, she could see the figure had fiery red hair.

"
You
," she gasped, pressing a hand over her galloping heart. "What are you doing here? What is this?" He'd said that he was friends with someone who worked at the office... Outrage was quickly winning out against the fear, and Mia was on her feet in seconds. "Are you
kidding
me? It wasn't bad enough that your shrink friend had to mess with me there, but she sends you here to try and... what. Make me think you're an alien here to abduct me?"

"Um. Part of that is true, but most of it isn't. If I could just-"

"This is illegal!" Mia shouted. "You can't just break into my home and do this."

"Technically I'm still outside, and I-"

"I'm calling the police."

"No!" he shouted back. "Please listen to me. Please. I know what this looks like, and I know you didn't believe Madison when she tried to tell you before, but you're in danger right now, and we need to go. Please."

His voice was clearly pleading, and his eyes were large and beseeching in the light. She was struck all over again by the strange gold color and found herself staring for a bit before she shook herself and glared. "Get out of here."

"Not without you, Amelia. Trust me, you don't want to stay here. It's not safe."

"How do you know my name?" That was probably the least important of the questions that wanted to spill out of her, but she was seriously starting to worry that the world was imploding around her.

Was this what came from opening her mouth and talking about her episodes? Her parents had always made it seem like it would be the end of the world if someone found out, and this was definitely making a case for them being right.

"I'll explain everything to you later. I
promise,
" the man said. "But we have to move, and we have to move
now.
They're
coming.
"

Distress was clear in his tone, and Amelia narrowed her eyes. "Who's coming?"

"The Shaddoc."

She supposed she'd expected not to feel anything when he spoke that word, but her stomach churned with anxiety. She didn't even know what that
meant,
and for some reason, it terrified her all the same. "W-who are they?" Mia asked. "Do they want to hurt me?"

"Probably," he said. "I'm not sure. But this is different from anything you've already experienced, and I need to keep you safe.
Please
come with me."

His eyes were compelling and he stretched out a hand to her. She could see that he was mostly in the tree that climbed the side of her house, and she made a face at the thought of shimmying down it in just her shorts and tank top in the middle of the night. And why was she considering this anyway? This man was probably just some raving lunatic.

Only... only she couldn't look away from him and that hand, and she found herself moving closer.

"I need... I need to take some things with me. Where are we even going?"

He made an impatient noise. "We'll come back for your stuff, I promise. They won't bother it. It's you they want."

"But
why
?" And furthermore, why was she entertaining this? Her heart was still pounding, and she felt like she
needed
to run, even though she didn't understand why.

"Because of what you've seen. Or who you've seen. I swear I'll explain. I have a safe place, and I really need you to come."

He sounded like he was going to cry or something, and Mia let that make the decision for her, however stupid that was. She grabbed up her cell phone from the nightstand at least, and then took his hand. He drew her through the window and into his arms, and she was surprised at the strength she could feel in him.

His body was warm against hers, and her cheeks flushed darkly at the thought that she was being held by an attractive man while she was barely wearing anything at all.

He didn't seem to be bothered by it, or even really like he noticed it. His arm was wrapped around her waist, and his other hand fished into his pocket. She couldn't see what he was looking at, but he said something in a language she'd never heard before that sounded like a swear and then they were moving.

And in this case, moving meant falling. He dropped out of the tree with her in his arms, and she barely had time to scream before they were landing.

Somehow unhurt.

"What was
that
?" she hissed at him, and he shushed her and led her down through the neighbor's back yard to where a car was parked. "You can't just..."

Mia spluttered. What was
with
this guy? He was climbing and jumping out of trees, parking his car in other people's backyards. Clearly whoever was after them was bad enough that he could break every rule of basic societal decency.

They didn't speak again until they were in the car.

"You know," she said. "You look familiar."

"We met at Madison's office earlier today," he replied, looking at her like she might be a bit slow.

Mia rolled her eyes. "I
know
that. I mean... from before. Have you ever been to Maryland?"

His gaze sharpened, and he looked away from the road as he was pulling away from the neighbor's house to glance at her. "I grew up there."

"So did I," Mia said.

"Do you... Did you know someone named Abon when you lived there?"

She frowned and thought back. She'd met a lot of people because of her father's job, but such a name did stand out in her mind. It took her a moment, but then she recalled the nice man who'd lived down the street from her school and worked at the library. She'd often talked with him about books that she'd read, and he always had a smile ready for her when she came in.

"Yes," she murmured. "He worked at the library and we used to talk when I was a kid." She snapped her fingers. "That's how I know you. There was a little boy with bright red hair and golden eyes who used to interrupt and ask for ice cream. That was you."

He grinned and nodded. "That was me. What a small planet." His grin faded after a second, though. "It explains why they're after you, though. You knew my uncle, and they want him very badly."

"The Shaddoc?" Even saying the name made her shudder.

He nodded. "Yes. My name is Asher, by the way. And my uncle was Abon.
Is.
He is Abon. But I don't know where he is, and neither do the Shaddoc, which is why they're after you. Why they take you."

Mia was starting to believe a bit more now. All of this couldn't be some massive conspiracy made up to make her think she was crazy, not if it was about people she hadn't seen since her childhood. "Is this about politics?" she asked, looking up at him.

Asher's lips curled in a smile. "Something like that. Though not politics like on Earth." He snorted. "Well. Maybe exactly like politics like on Earth."

"As opposed to?"

"As opposed to on other planets. Like the one I was born on."

And there they were. Back on this whole alien thing again. "Why should I believe anything you say about this? You could just be some attractive weirdo sent here to kidnap me or something. Or a crazy person."

Asher looked at her, eyes wide. "You think I'm attractive?"

"Will you focus on the part that matters, please?" Mia demanded, cheeks burning.

"Right. Okay. Just, hold on." He swerved, and the car did a one eighty at speeds that made Mia want to lean out the window and throw up. Instead of heading away from her house they were heading back towards it, and she wondered if Asher was giving up the game and taking her home.

Of course, instead of that he was pulling up behind one of the other houses and pointing at hers. "Look there."

She had to crane her neck to see out of the windshield at that angle, but what she saw made her jaw drop open. Right above her house was some kind of light. It was a pale, pale blue, eerie and unsettling. But the worst part were creatures. There was no other word for them. They weren't people.

Their skin was a sickly white color, made worse by the light that they were traveling through. From this distance they didn't look like the aliens she'd seen on TV. They were too bulky and too large for that, even though she couldn't see all of their features from where she was sitting. And somehow, they managed to fade right through her roof and into her house.

"How did they do that?" she asked, turning to look at Asher.

"It's the light. It lets them pass through whatever it shines on. It's old technology according to my Uncle, but they aren't as advanced as we are."

Mia blinked, rubbing at her eyes as if she was hoping that this would all be a dream. "Okay, so let's say I believe that you're an alien. Why do you look normal while those things look like something out of a low budget horror movie?"

Asher laughed. "I'm royalty," he said, as if that explained everything. And maybe in his mind, it did, since he didn't seem to be offering up any other explanation.

"Royalty."

"Yes."

"And so what, when you get a crown, you also get a set of human looking features?"

He laughed again and shook his head. "No, no. It's to do with bloodlines. The higher your class the more human you look. I don't know why, really. I think maybe somewhere down the line there's human in our blood, but that's how it is. Unless you're a member of the Shaddoc clan. They all look like that."

Mia shuddered. "Poor them. So that's what they've been doing? Beaming down into my apartment and taking me?"

"I think so, yes."

"How do they avoid being seen?"

"It's the light," Asher told her. "It's not on a wavelength that humans can see. Well. Usually. Obviously, you can see it, and that might have something to do with the fact that you've been taken by them before. I don't know. My uncle could explain it."

"So we're going to see him, then?" Mia asked. Maybe he could shed some light on this situation that didn't make her feel like her head was going to explode.

"No," Asher replied, shaking his head. "He's... I don't know where my uncle is right now. But neither do the Shaddoc, and that's what matters."

He got them moving again, at a speed that was definitely well over the speed limit, but Mia was pleased to be heading back away from her house. Those things were in there, hunting for her, and it made her sick to think that they'd been taking her for her whole life just about. Dropping into her room and carrying her up into their ship or whatever. Probing her mind.

"So wait. Dr. Prince said that a lot of people from the area I grew up in had been taken like I was. What's the deal with that?"

Asher glanced at her and then back to the road. "It's my Uncle. They've been taking anyone who ever really spoke to him for any good length of time and probing their memories. I can only guess they're looking for hints. Clues as to where he may have gone and why."

"And why do they want him in the first place."

"Because he can bring our clan back. And they want all of us dead."