My Alien King (Paranormal Romance Aliens) (4 page)

There was a woman in his apartment.

With the exception of Madison, who Asher somehow instinctively knew wasn't into men, there had never been a woman in his apartment. Women were sort of a mystery to him, human ones especially.

He'd never dated or even really tried to get close to any women, even though his Uncle had always said that it would be fine if he wanted to make some connections here.

It wasn't that he was afraid to get close to someone and then have to leave them, it was more that he had no idea how to get close to someone.

And now there was a woman, a very, very pretty woman in his apartment.

Which wasn't the point at all, because he was supposed to be trying to keep her safe. But now she was asleep in his bed, and Asher was leaning against the wall of his room, watching her sleep.

Part of him wanted to text Madison and ask if it was creepy to watch a woman sleep, but it was very late, and Maddie didn't take kindly to being woken up when she was sleeping.

He was willing to bet that Amelia didn't take kindly to it, either.

She was different from any woman he could remember meeting before, but similar at the same time.

She didn't remind him of his mother.

Her hair was dark and her eyes were green, and she wasn't soft spoken or overly kind the way his mother had been. But Asher felt comfortable with her in the same way he had in his mother's arms all those years ago.

That was probably weird.

To avoid thinking weird thoughts (because he wasn't quite ready to leave the room yet) he checked his tracker. The red lights the symbolized the crafts of the Shaddoc had held steady for much longer than he'd been expecting, but finally they had moved away.

Apparently they wanted Amelia badly, then.

Surely she couldn't be the only one who had been close to his Uncle. Asher couldn't really remember. He remembered her now, of course. The little girl who had come in with her hair all shiny and her school uniform all pressed, to talk to his Uncle about books and her school work.

Abon had always looked forward to her visits, Asher remembered. He called her 'the little miss' because he had been so proper and well put together. For the most part Amelia had done the talking, but there had to be something.

There had to be a reason why the Shaddoc wanted her more than anyone else. Something they found in her memories, maybe. Something that would lead them to Abon.

But why would his uncle have told her about plans and not Asher? That didn't make any sense.

None of it really made sense, and not for the first time, Asher felt woefully ill equipped to be doing this on his own. He was a prince, and he was supposed to know how to handle himself, but for the life of him, he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

Amelia had asked him why the Shaddoc wanted them dead, and he hadn't had an answer for her. All he knew was that they had been at war since he was a baby, but no one had ever explained why before.

The Shaddoc were violent and mean, so maybe they were just bent on taking out all the other clans on the planet. Others had fallen to their might before, and Asher didn't know the reason for that, either.

He'd been so young then, but now he was an adult, and being in the dark about this was just a hindrance.

Find her. And then find me.

We will go home when the time is right.

Those words repeated themselves over and over in his head as he watched Amelia sleep. Was she the 'her' he was supposed to be finding. Was that phase one completed, then? It stood to reason that maybe she was, especially if the Shaddoc had such an interest.

"What do you know?" he whispered and then sighed.

His head was aching and he was very, very tired.

Finally, he let himself leave the room, heading for the living room and the couch. Asher missed living with his Uncle. Abon had been full of stories about his mother and them as children, and it never seemed lonely with Abon around. But now he had this little one bedroom apartment that he'd gotten when the Shaddoc activity had led him to this city.

It was small, and it was lonely, and Asher was tired of being alone.

He glanced back at the open bedroom door where Amelia was sleeping in his bed. It would probably smell like her by morning.

That was probably a weird and bordering on creepy thought to have.

He needed to sleep.

When he woke up, it was to look directly into a pair of green eyes that were staring at him intently. He swore and sat up, rubbing at his hair and blushing hard. "What are you doing?"

Amelia shrugged. "I just woke up, and I was confused about where I was. So I came in here to make sure you weren't some kidnapper. Or secretly one of those Shaddoc things."

Asher shuddered and fixed her with a look. "That's an insult, you know."

She shrugged again, not looking like she cared too much. "You came and took me out of my house. I needed to make sure. But you're still you, so I guess you're the real deal." Amelia paused. "What are your kind called, anyway?"

"We are the Nalyi," Asher replied. "Amelia, may I ask you something?"

"You can call me Mia. And sure, go ahead."

"Do you still think I'm attractive?"

She spluttered a bit. "There is a race of big, mean aliens after me, and presumably you as well, and you want to know if I still think you're attractive?"

He nodded.

Mia sighed. "You're very strange." But she had a smile on her face as she looked him over. "Your hair's a mess, and you look like you need eight more hours of sleep. But yeah. I guess you're still pretty attractive. The eyes are really nice at least." She blushed and got to her feet. "Do you have any food in this place? Aliens
do
eat, don't they?"

"Oh yes," Asher said, getting up as well. "We love to eat. I love to cook. Would you like me to make you breakfast?"

And when was the last time he had someone to cook for? He loved cooking, but it was only so enjoyable to cook for yourself over and over again.

"That would be great."

She smiled at him when she said it, and Asher found himself unable to look away. He had gotten used to seeing her look upset over the short time they had been together so far, but when she smiled, her whole face lit up, green eyes sparkling with good humor. Asher stared for a moment and then shook himself. "You can um. You can borrow some of my clothes if you want. It should be safe to go back and get your things later today."

"Yeah, okay," Mia replied, tugging at the hem of her tiny shorts. "So, I have to stay with you, then?"

"You... You don't have to, but I think. I think maybe you should. My Uncle always said that I was supposed to 'find her' and then find him. I think you're the 'her' he was talking about. Did he ever tell you any secrets or anything?"

Mia frowned and seemed to think about it. "Not that I can remember. And definitely nothing about aliens or secret plans. I'd remember that. I think, I..." She trailed off, frowning harder. "Wait. He gave me a book. I remember now. It was right before I changed schools to go to middle school. He said that we wouldn't really be seeing each other anymore and that it was for the best, but he wanted me to have something to remember him by. Because he thought I was a good kid."

Now they were getting somewhere. "Do you still have the book? What kind of book was it?"

"It was like a journal, I think. It looked handwritten, and it was all these symbols that I couldn't understand. I still have it. It's in a drawer back at my place."

Asher's heart raced at the prospect. They were getting somewhere.

The drive back to her house seemed to take forever, and Mia found herself marveling at the fact that she was actually excited about this. None of this had anything to do with her, aside from the fact that she had spent a good amount of time talking to someone who turned out to be an alien when she was a kid, and now she was wrapped up in some kind of plot to get him back.

It was actually a welcome break from all the other things going on in her life at the moment.

The big question was solved, it seemed. Now she knew why she had been having the episodes for most of her life, and she’d expected to feel bitter or something considering it was because of Asher’s uncle, but honestly, she felt nothing but relief. Relief at knowing that this wasn’t a failing on her part. She didn’t have some illness that was causing it; it was all external, and she was only being targeted because she knew someone they wanted.

Of course, it should have been scary, because Asher made it seem like the Shaddoc would go to any lengths to find Abon, but they hadn’t hurt her so far, right? Apparently just a little memory probing, which sounded harmless but made her wonder how they did it.

She’d seen enough science fiction and alien movies that she had images of herself laid out naked on a cold metal table while tall creatures with large eyes poked and prodded at her.

It explained her headaches when she woke up if they were rooting around in her brain for something, and she wanted to give them a piece of her mind for treating her like some kind of science fair experiment.

She grumbled about it under her breath, looking out the window as she drove and then jumped when Asher laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and when she glanced at him, his eyes were large and earnest. She was constantly finding herself fascinated by the color of his eyes. No one she had ever seen before had eyes that color, and Mia was lost in them for a moment before she remembered that he’d asked her something and she nodded.

“I’m okay. Just. Supremely annoyed that those Shaddoc things have been spending years playing with my head. Who knows what they’ve seen since they started?”

Asher shrugged. “Everything, I’d imagine. If they’re sifting through looking for stuff to do with my Uncle. But they wouldn’t be interested in most of it, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

His voice was so cheerful, and Mia shook her head. “Just because they aren’t interested in it, doesn’t mean I want them seeing everything. A girl’s gotta have some privacy, you know.”

He blinked, eyes darting from the road to her face as he drove. “So it bothers you that they’ve seen your memories, even if they weren’t really paying attention to them?”

“Of
course
it bothers me,” Mia replied, looking at him like he was insane. “Do you know how much embarrassing stuff is in my head? And that’s where it’s supposed to stay. There aren’t supposed to be people or aliens or whatever poking around in there looking at all the times I’ve tripped over stuff or spilled stuff or fought with my parents.” And just then it was occurring to her that they would have seen other stuff, too. Like her first fumbling kisses and the times when she’d been intimate with other people, as few and far between as they were. “Ugh.” She dropped her head into her hands, not even wanting to think about that anymore.

Luckily, Asher was pulling the car up to her house a moment later. From the outside, there was no way to tell that a bunch of aliens had essentially broken in and tried to grab her the night before, and she could only hope that the inside would tell the same story.

Her hands shook a bit as she unlocked the door and let them in, and she sighed with relief with the worst of the damage seemed to be that the Shaddoc had opened all the doors in the place and rifled through a few things. Nothing was missing from what she could tell, and nothing was broken.

“I’m going to get dressed and hunt down the book,” Mia said to Asher who was looking around her place with open interest. “You stay down here and don’t start going through my stuff. One group of aliens invading my privacy is enough, thanks very much.”

He nodded solemnly and raised a hand in something that could have been a salute. Mia snorted and went to her bedroom to put on clothes that weren’t her pajamas. Asher was attractive, but he was something like a massive puppy. Either way, she’d seen him eying her legs in her small shorts, and she would feel much better and more in control once she had some clothes on.

Not that she particularly
minded
him looking, but.

But it was best not to go there.

They had come here for a reason, after all.

Once she had changed into jeans and a t-shirt, she opened her closet door and stood on tiptoe to reach the top shelf. There was a box up there that she had kept there since she’d moved in. In it were most of the happy memories from her childhood. Things like concert tickets and the first piece of art she’d ever gotten a positive critique on, a few photos, and the book that she’d gotten from Abon.

It had been years since she’d looked at it, and once she’d found it in the box, Mia opened it. The words made no more sense now than they had when she was a child, the letters twisting and turning over the pages in a pattern that made no sense to her at all.

Presumably, Asher would be able to read it, so she tucked the small, leather bound book under her arm and headed back down the stairs to where she’d left him.

Asher had moved from examining the trinkets on her mantel to sitting on the couch, tapping his fingers against his knees while he flipped through the channels of her television.

He looked up as soon as she walked in, eyes bright. “Did you find it?”

“I did. It still makes no sense to me, but here.” Mia handed it over and sat down next to him, watching as he stroked fingers over the warm leather with an almost reverent look on his face.

It was funny how it had been so long since she’d gotten the book that she’d almost forgotten about it altogether, but now that it was back out and she was watching Asher touch it, she could remember exactly how it’d happened.

It was summer, right before the new school year was about to start. Her parents were off at some kind of fundraiser or charity event, and Mia had walked the distance from her house to the library, a tote bag bulging with books at her side. She’d had a week to go before school started up again, and she wanted to get in as much pleasure reading as she could before then.

She had a vivid mental image of walking into the library and painstakingly taking each book out of her bag, arranging them in a stack according to size on the counter before she’d pushed them all to the librarian to check back in.

The woman had smiled at her warmly and told her to take her time choosing new ones.

Mia remembered that she hadn’t looked for Abon right away. She’d gone over to the young adult section to browse what new books they had, adding five or six to her bag right away. By the time Mia made it over to the section where Abon worked, her bag had been loaded down, and he’d immediately taken it from her and placed it on the table so she wouldn’t strain herself.

She could remember how warmly he’d smiled at her. His eyes a bit darker that Asher’s, more a warm honey color than brilliant gold.

“You’ll be off to a different school this year, won’t you?” he’d asked.

Mia had nodded. “Yes. It’s on the other side of town. My father says it’s the best school in the city.” No one had asked her opinion on this school, of course, she’d just been informed that was where she would be going when the new school year rolled around.

“I’m sure it is in your father’s eyes,” Abon replied kindly. “I suppose I won’t be seeing too much of you then. Once you change schools.”

And that was one of the worst parts of it all. The library was one of her favorite places to go after school, within walking distance even, and she’d spent most of her time there when her parents were working. But now she’d be lucky if she even got to come on the weekends anymore. Her parents were going on about her taking more responsibilities and coming with them to functions so the people could see her and how much she’d grown.

Mia would much rather have spent her time there at the library, curled up in one of the squashy arm chairs with a book or her sketch pad, drawing or reading or sneaking in a nap.

“I guess not,” she’d replied, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Abon had smiled and ruffled her hair before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small, leather bound book. “I have something for you. This may not make much sense right now, but there will come a time when it will explain everything. There are some things that have happened and will likely keep happening, and they’re my fault, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I hope this will go some way towards making things right.”

At the time, she hadn’t known what he meant by that. She’d been confused over the indecipherable book and hadn’t spent much time thinking about the other parts of what he’d said.

But now that she had the benefit of distance and knowing what was going on, Mia understood what he’d meant. He must have known that she was being taken by the Shaddoc and why. And he must have known that it would continue long after they’d stopped speaking.

The fact that she couldn’t understand anything in the book probably made it so that the Shaddoc couldn’t get any of the information out of her.

Clever.

When she managed to pull herself out of her thoughts, she glanced at Asher who was studying the book intently. “Does it make sense to you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Hm? Oh, yes. It does. It’s written in our language, but your letters. See?” He turned the book to face her and held a finger at the top right corner of one page. “Right to left, and in a spiral across the page.” His finger traced a line through what was presumably a sentence.

Mia shook her head. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

Asher shrugged. “To you, maybe. But this was never really meant for you to read, I don’t think. It’s pretty much addressed to me.”

“Why would your uncle give me a book that’s meant for you?”

“So neither of us would have the whole story,” Asher explained. “In case I was ever caught by the Shaddoc, since they were already taking you. You had all the information, but you couldn’t read it, and I could read it, but I didn’t have it. So no matter which one of us they took, they couldn’t get anything.”

“And now?” Mia asked. “Now we’ve got all we need, right?”

Asher grinned at her. “Yes. But now we’ll know what to do. And they won’t catch us.”

“You sound sure of that.”

If anything, his grin got wider. “I am. Would you like to know what the book says?”

The abrupt change of pace was surprising and took a few seconds for her to catch up with, but she definitely did want to know. She’d spent a good portion of her younger years trying to figure out what the hidden message there was, and now she had someone there would could read it all for her.

She assumed that Asher wouldn't’ have offered if the words inside were private and meant only for him, so she nodded and settled in, looking at him expectantly.

Asher smiled, his eyes lingering on her for a moment before he dropped them back down to the book and began to read. “There will come a time when I won’t be here any longer. When the things that I’ve set into motion will mean that I have to leave this place. It will be a shame because I like it here very much. I like the quiet of the library, I like the children who come to see me. It’s a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of being a king. But I can’t forget that a king is what I am.”

Even though Asher was reading, Mia could hear Abon in every word. It was like being ten years old all over again and sitting in a chair listening to him tell her stories. Now that she was transported back there, it was hard to believe that she’d ever forgotten. All of her memories were so vivid now.

Maybe the Shaddoc had messed with her head enough that she’d repressed some things. Maybe they had clouded her memories of the tall, smiling man who had made her younger years just that bit better.

Asher’s voice was soothing as he read the words, and Mia was reminded once again that she was still tired. She’d slept the night before, but she’d had dreams for most of it, and it felt like she hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. Before long she was leaning into Asher, resting her head on his shoulder and smothering a yawn with her hand.

She liked him, Mia decided. He had that whole affably clueless thing going on, and for some reason it made her believe what he told her and trust him wholeheartedly.

There was a chance that trusting him was a bad idea, but she didn’t think it was going to come back to bite her. At least she hoped it wouldn’t.