Somewhere in the Middle (19 page)

The hall was suddenly alive with shadows that became men as they
walked into the circle of Teo's lantern light. Weirdly tall and obviously
strong, they all appeared to be older than him and, to the one, eyed us
without emotion. Since what I could make out of their features were
similar to Teo's, I assumed they were all the same race, which definitely
wasn't Roone's. "I still don't get what's going on."

"I'll give you the short version. My father has discovered the
existence of another plane he's now dying to explore. Roone's currently
the only psychic with enough power to predict wormholes and keep them
open long enough for us to invade any habitable planets."

"Say again."

"You're boyfriend's an alien, beautiful, and so am I."

The dark began closing in. And though I tried to fight it off, my
traitorous knees buckled beneath me.

* * * *

"Everly!"

Stinging slaps to both cheeks yanked me back to life. Dragging my
eyelids up, I found Teo's face right over mine. It took a second to
orient, but the sound of Eli's whimper did the trick. I sat straight up,
my heart jack hammering against my ribs and saw him standing a few feet
away. One of the guys stood beside him, a heavy hand on Eli's
shoulder.

Teo rolled his eyes. "Chicks. What are they good for, men?"

"Banging," said one of the three standing around me. I did not like
his leer.

"Breeding," said another.

"Bait," said the third.

Teo nodded. "Yeah. The three Bs."

At that, I hopped up. My head swam, but I didn't let on. "Eli, come
here."

"Don't worry about your bro," said Teo, smirking. "Isas loves little
boys. Don't you Is?"

Isas touched Eli's sweet head in a way that made my skin crawl.

I swallowed a scream.
Keep your cool, Everly. Eli is scared enough.
"Did you just say 'bro?'"

Teo grinned. "You seem surprised by our slang."

"It's very American, and how can you speak English, anyway, if you're
really from another world?"

He grinned. "Mindboggling, isn't it? But we've long kept an eye on
Earth, courtesy of my Uncle Os. And I've also been living on this shitty
excuse of a planet almost as long as Roone has."

At that moment, Eli lunged toward me, a move Isas stopped by lifting
him right off his feet and setting him back where he'd been. My stomach
lurched. I swallowed hard. If that creep touched my brother again...

I slowly exhaled. "You've been here four months?" Roone had mentioned
that number to his brother.

"Give or take. I knew our guy was in this vicinity. I just didn't have
any recent pictures of him. That meant I had to sit tight and monitor
everything in hopes he'd blow his cover. As soon as I read the local
color piece about a dance and rogue chandelier that miraculously didn't
kill anyone, I dropped by McAlister, Alabama, for a closer look. And who
did I find? The big-hearted fool of a psychic I was looking for."

"He did it to save me." I blurted my thoughts before I could filter
them.

Teo nodded. "And the bus thing, too, I guess. That totally cinched it,
by the way. I knew for sure that I'd found him then."

Feeling decidedly shaky, I sagged against the table. When I caught
Eli's eye, I forced a smile, my silent promise everything was going to be
okay. But was it? My gaze flicked all around in search of anything I
could use as a weapon. I saw nothing past our circle of light, which
threw creepy shadows on the faces of Teo and his horrible men.

Horrible men? Try
space
men.

Aliens.

E-freakin'-T.

And Roone was one, too. I suddenly remembered all the terrifying
sci-fi movies I'd watched through the years. Oh God. "Is this how you really
look?"

Teo chortled. "Are you asking if your boyfriend's a giant bug in
disguise?"

I waited, but that was all the answer I got. So I tried a new tack.
"If your father needs a psychic to predict the
kobling
and then
keep it open, how'd you get here?"

"Uncle Os does more than spy on Earth. He's the most powerful psychic
ever. Unfortunately, he's very sick. But before I came here, he assured
me he had the strength to send me a posse once I found the psychic we
sought. Of course he had to wait until the next brush, which was last
night. He's now keeping the
kobling
--we actually call it
güür
- open until we round up Roone and take him back with us."

Keep him talking.
"So you originally came alone."

"More than one of us might've caused unwanted attention, and I didn't
know how long it would take to find the psychic. Plus the natives on
Början are getting restless, so Father needs his best men to keep
them in their places." Teo turned to one of his companions. "We're
supposed to rendezvous with the others in an hour, Jun. We should go now
and contact Roone from the landing site."

"Yes,
noyan
." Jun wore his black hair in a military buzz. He
looked about thirty or so and had on leather as Teo did, but in a style
that screamed military.

"Isas, you go out first and take the kid," said Teo. "Can't have
Everly making a run for it." With a nod, Isas opened the front door and
stepped onto the porch, Eli in tow.

As the glass storm door shut behind him, my fear for my brother kicked
up several notches.

Teo glanced at my empty hands. "Where's your bag? Girls here always
have bags."

"In my car. I'll get it."

"No. Sheng?"

The guy he'd spoken to slipped past me and out the door. I saw he had
a buzz, too, and wore military-type clothing identical to Isas and
Jun.

"Give me your phone." Teo held out his hand.

"It's in my bag."

"I don't believe you. That's another thing girls here can't seem to
live without."

I stubbornly shook my head.

"I'd love to pat you down." He lifted his hands and cupped them,
wiggling his fingers.

Ew. I dug my phone from my hoodie pocket and slapped it into Teo's
palm, much to his amusement.

He set it with the three already lying on the foyer table. "Okay.
Let's go."

I burst outside and found Isas and Eli standing there. Eli looked
okay, but my heart still twisted with fear for him. Jun and Teo brought
up the rear. As Teo pulled the door shut behind us, Sheng signaled that
my bag really was in my car, where it was apparently going to stay.

"Wish I had my goddamn flyer." Teo nudged me toward the steps. "The
transportation on this planet totally sucks. I still haven't gotten the
hang of that clunky piece of shit I'm driving."

No wonder Roone drove so cautiously. Wheels were new to him. Knowing
what I now knew, I thought of all the other hints he'd given me that
Earth wasn't his home. Though I'd wondered at the time, it was seldom
more than briefly. And his really being from another planet in another
world, well, that had never crossed my mind.

The moment, Isis got a little ahead of us, I snatched my brother away
and lifted him into a hug. As I settled Eli on my hip like some two year
old, I realized I'd gladly die defending precious him.

But my death would equate to abandonment. I had to stay alive. I had
to play it smart.

Sandwiched between Juno and Sheng, we silently walked in the dark to
another street where two SUVs were parked a couple of houses apart and on
opposite sides of the pavement.

After a quick glance around, Teo took my arm and led me to the nearest
one. He opened the door. I looked for a way out, but quickly realized
there wasn't one. So I set Eli on the seat. Teo pretty much shoved me in
next to him. I banged my knee in the process.

My mind went nuts as he and Isas got into the front seat, Isis behind
the wheel. While I understood that I was supposed to lure Roone into
capture, I didn't quite get how. None of us had a clue where he was, and
he couldn't read my mind...at least as far as I knew. As for that
long-distance chat he'd had with his brother, I believed that was a
shared-blood connection that wouldn't work with me. But just in case it would, I
decided not to say or even think his name.

To keep myself distracted, I whispered to Eli that everything was
going to be okay. I saw that he was clutching his plastic Mjölnir as
if it were a real weapon and his shield as if it could actually protect
him. I hoped they gave him courage. I was pretty sure we were going to
need it.

I thought about my parents, who'd probably be home for a while before
they began wondering. How long would that take? I'd told Cory that Eli
and I were going to check on Roone, but hadn't given him an address or
anything. Once they knew there was something to worry about, Dad the
deputy would have to use official resources to find the house, which
would take even more time, something I felt sure I was running out
of.

"Tell me about Början." Desperate to appear unafraid, I hoped
normal conversation would also keep me from thinking of Roone and Isas
from thinking of Eli.

"It's a planet smaller than Earth but at a similar place evolutionally
speaking. Amazing, isn't it, that two universes so unaware of each other
could produce life forms so physiologically similar. There the
resemblance ends, unfortunately. Börjans have a history of wise
decisions. Therefore their planet is far superior to this one in every
way. Unfortunately their respect for life actually hindered their ability
to defend themselves when my father invaded. We slaughtered them like
sheep." He smiled at the happy memory.

I shuddered. "Are there countries on Början?"

"Sectors. Our present stronghold is in a city called Farsund, which is
in Holmstrand Sector."

"Did Roone come to Earth to get away from your father?"

"Probably. We think Bo Thorsen, who'd been drafted into our ranks of
scientists, got wind that Os was ill. He must've feared that Father would
hear of Roone's powers and force him into service, too. At any rate, they
were long gone by the time we actually did learn what he could do. My
father began monitoring the movements of the brother who stayed behind in
hopes Roone would contact him. But that only just happened since Roone
apparently didn't know he could until he watched some film with you. What
was it?"

"
Thor
." My mind a daze of unanswered questions, I absently
pressed a swift kiss on the top of Eli's head.

"
Thor?
Really? That's freakin' hilarious. Very ironic."

I didn't get the joke. "So you're originally from another sector?" The
sketchy details and foreign names had begun to confuse me.

"I'm from another plane of existence. I believe Roone's father calls
it Andre, which means
second
in his language. He has the order
wrong, of course. We came first, which is why we call it
Ug
or
origin."

Whoa. I thought of Bo's paper. "There really are
three
of them
then?"

"Four that we know of. I just told you about the newest
discovery."

So he had, and I was struggling to get my head around it. "Are you
going to invade Earth?"

"Earth isn't worth the effort. Too much pollution and waste of natural
resources, too many mouths to feed, inferior educational systems."

"And this fourth plane...there's a planet with intelligent life on
it?"

"Maybe. So far Os hasn't picked up anything specific, but that could
be because he doesn't know where to look. We won't have a better idea
until Roone gets us there."

I peeked at my watch. I'd only been gone from my house for an hour and
a half. No one would be worried yet. I stole a glance out the rear
window. No headlights, nor were there any oncoming. Clueless as to where
we were, I'd never felt so helpless and alone.

Alone? I desperately wished I was. If anything happened to Eli... I
swallowed hard, unwilling to go there.

"What's your planet called?" asked Eli.

I looked down at him in wonder. Was this conversation really making
more sense to him than me?

Teo glanced back, clearly as surprised. "Govil. It's a desert area
that's smaller than Början, and currently overpopulated by warriors,
the reason we're expanding. Father isn't the first to do it, either. One
of our kind actually visited Earth thousands of years ago, which I
thought made him totally unique. Now, of course, I realize Earth has had
other visitors, too."

Clueless as to what he was talking about, I didn't comment.

"You might've heard of him, Everly...Temuujin?"

"Nope."

"He called himself Genghis Khan."

"Genghis Khan was an alien?" I remembered reading about him in world
history. A ruthless warrior, he founded the vast Mongol Empire, and was
known not only for his brutality and sexual conquests, but, oddly enough,
for his religious and racial tolerance.

Teo grinned at me over his shoulder. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Too hard," I said. If old Khan was an alien, the history of his birth
and upbringing had been highly exaggerated in textbooks. "Where are we
going?"

"It's not far now."

I tightened my grip on Eli's hand and stared out the window. Was I
scared? Hell yeah. So much that simply trying to make small talk had
completely exhausted me. I desperately hoped that psychic Roone had
already picked up on the fact that he was in danger and gone into hiding
with his family.

But if he had, why would they leave the house wide open and their
phones on the table? I could only think of one reason--they weren't
coming back.

For all I knew, the Thorsens had stayed on the move since their
arrival, which meant Roone had known he wouldn't be around for long. Was
that the real reason he'd told me he couldn't have a girlfriend? Because
he knew he'd exit my life as abruptly as he'd entered it? That matched
the facts and would even explain the "no matter what happens" wording
last night. I felt heartsick at the idea--heartsick and betrayed.