Turbulence
Authors: Elaina John
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Urban, #Paranormal & Urban
Turbulence
By Elaina John
Copyright © 2014
Elaina John
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means
including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in
writing from the author.
This is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or
locales is entirely coincidental.
Discover more by
Elaina John
States Trilogy
State of Restraint
State of Assertion
State of Finality
Jhetan Chronicles
Rising Flame
Turbulence
Short Stories
Salvage
Salvage 2
The dusty yellow school bus came to a halt before the road
leading to the colony, expelling children swinging empty lunch boxes and
carrying heavy backpacks.
To the casual observer it might look strange for a man who
had no children to be waiting at a bus stop, but Greyson Kane didn’t care how
it looked. He made sure each youth under his authority made it onto the bus
each morning and came home each afternoon.
Because the Jhetans—an alien race who migrated to Earth
after their planet was destroyed—lived in a rural area of Forest Hills,
Nebraska and there were no other neighbors for miles, all the children ranging
from elementary to high school age rode the same bus. It made it easier on
Greyson to keep track of them all.
He counted the children, though he knew them all by name and
face. When the last one exited the bus, the one he was most anxious to see,
Greyson pulled a rolled up piece of paper from his back pants pocket.
“Good afternoon, sir.”
Greyson whacked Raleigh over the head with the paper. “Good
afternoon my ass. Do you know what this is, boy?”
Raleigh’s yellow-green eyes looked everywhere but Greyson’s stern
face. “I’m guessing not a love letter.”
So he thought this was funny? “It’s your report card.”
Raleigh blanched. To which Greyson responded, “That’s right. And it ain’t
pretty. You got one A. In P.E! That’s ridiculous, Raleigh.”
Jhetans were more intellectually advanced than humans were,
allowing them to process information faster. Their brains were like sponges to
knowledge. This meant Raleigh had no excuse as to why his grades were subpar.
“The classes are so boring, sir,” the teen offered by way of
explanation.
“Your teachers commented that they see potential, but you
are often off task and distracted. You barely turn in homework.”
“I’m not the only person—”
“I don’t care about those other people! This is your last
and only year in human school unless you go to college. If you screw up one
more time and don’t get your grades up, you won’t be considered for sentry
candidacy.”
Raleigh paled even further. The boy made no secret of his
desire to be a sentry—a Jhetan guard/soldier. His desire actually seemed to
have grown stronger since the raid on the old Jhetan colony in Nevada roughly a
year ago.
Raleigh nodded and hefted his backpack higher on his
shoulder. “I’ll shape up, Greyson sir. I promise.”
“I know you will. Now get to your homework.”
The boy dashed off. Coddling wasn’t conducive or productive
for anyone, not even youth. Good thing Greyson wasn’t the coddling type.
Gentle
wasn’t even in his vocabulary. He was a firm leader. Mediocrity was
unacceptable. As his father once told him, “Give everything your best or don’t
waste time doing it at all.”
Following the same path the kids took to go to their
respective houses, Greyson marveled at what had become home. It was Dex’s, his
second in command, idea—one of his rare good ones—to move to Nebraska and build
cabins on his mate’s land.
The cabins were built and situated to resemble a small
community. There was a recreation center where the Jhetans often held
gatherings and converged for a weekly dinner. The sentries even had their own
building now with a training center, meeting area, a data and command center,
and an artillery room.
Greyson couldn’t have been more pleased with how everything
turned out. Originally, he had his doubts about the move. However, the Jhetans
were thriving. The children were flourishing in schools. Many of the adults
were obtaining jobs. Some even felt stable enough to move out on their own in
the world.
He jogged up the steps to the main house. Lily, Dex’s mate,
had succeeded in getting the entire thing remodeled and added upon. It looked
nothing like the farmhouse Lily and her family shared once upon a time. It was
a grand house. Greyson even had a suite of rooms to himself.
When he entered, Lily was sitting on the beige living room
couch sorting mail into piles on the coffee table. Beside her was his brother,
his head thrown back as he laughed at something Lily said. As far as Greyson
knew, Ross should have been on duty helping to protect the colony. Not in their
living room laughing and chatting it up with Lily.
“What is going on here?” Greyson demanded, shutting the door
behind him.
Ross sobered immediately and jumped to his feet. “Nothing
you need to worry about, sir.”
“Then get out of here. If you’re not interested in being
head of the sentries, I can always find a replacement.”
“I apologize.” Ross turned to Lily. “I’ll see you later.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Okay. Thanks for helping
me file all that paperwork.”
“No problem.” He swept out of the house.
Lily went back to sorting through the mail. “You could be
nicer to him, you know.”
“Ross doesn’t need nice.”
“How would you know? You barely talk to him without ordering
him around or yelling at him.”
Lily couldn’t and wouldn’t understand his and Ross’s
relationship. Ross was too soft for his own good. He needed Greyson to lead
him. His brother didn’t have the best judgment. Case in point: it wasn’t a
secret that he lusted after Lily even with her blood bond to Dex.
She was cute and all with her light brown hair, earnest gray
eyes, and tight cheerleader body, but nothing he could understand Ross being
stuck on. If his faulty judgment led him to crush on Lily under the guise of
friendship, there was no telling what else Ross made bad calls on.
“Are you Ross’s keeper?” he asked with a smirk.
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m his friend. And you need to stop
being mean to him.”
Greyson laughed. Leave it to a woman to make things sound so
elementary. “I’ll stop being mean when you start doing a better job cleaning up
around here.”
He wondered whether Dex knew Lily wasn’t much of the
domestic type before he bonded to her. In the large white kitchen, a pile of
dishes sat unwashed in the sink. A basket of unfolded clothes rested on the
floor beside the loveseat in the living room. And just this morning Greyson had
to go hunting for a towel to dry off with after his shower. Walking around the
house wet and naked wasn’t as fun as it sounded.
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll have you to know that because
you and Dex are both using me as your secretary, I haven’t been able to get to
the household duties like I want to. Plus, I have other things that I have to
do that don’t involve the both of you.”
“Lily, it’s okay to take responsibility for your own
actions. Well, inactions in your case.”
“This is not the nineteenth century. You are more than
capable of washing dishes, vacuuming, and everything else. As a matter of
fact…” She walked over, grabbed the basket of clothes, and shoved it into his
arms. “Fold the laundry. Dex likes his underwear ironed.”
“Oh, hell no.” He pushed it back at her. “Household chores
are not in my job description.”
“They’re not in mine either.”
“It’s your house.”
“So what?” she retorted.
“You are a woman.”
“And you’re a jerk.”
Greyson laughed again. Dex’s mate always found a way to
crack him up. She was a quick one.
Lily took the basket away, placing it on the couch. “I’ll
get to it later when I finish what I’m doing. Your mail is over there.” She
gestured to the corner of the coffee table.
Greyson flipped through the mail. A bunch of junk: credit
card applications, advertising circulars and coupons. Where were the women’s
lingerie catalogs when a guy needed one?
The front door opened. Dex strolled in, a small suitcase
dragging along behind him. Lily ran over to him, catching him by surprise when
she jumped into his arms and planted a kiss on his lips. It didn’t take long
for Dex to catch up. He kissed her back deeply and longer than Greyson would
have liked to witness before setting her on the floor. The lovey-dovey crap was
enough to make Greyson swallow back his vomit.
“That was quite the welcome home, beautiful.” Dex tucked a brown
strand of hair behind Lily’s ear. “You missed me?”
“Of course I did. You know I hate it when you have to go on
those trips.”
By
those trips
, Lily meant taking care of the census.
Greyson, Dex, and the sentries went to different areas of the United States to
acquire various Jhetans’ personal information and offer assistance. Greyson
made it a point to update the Jhetan Identification Database every couple of
months, whenever new Jhetans came to the colony or were brought to his
attention.
The human government hadn’t approved them for international
travel yet, but when they did, Greyson planned to find his people all over the
world as well.
Homeland Security had shelled out a boatload of cash last
year to bribe them into keeping their identities a secret from the citizens of
the world. They also kept a tight leash on the Jhetans. At least they thought
they did with the impromptu visits from agents, approval of their activities,
and other crap.
Greyson let them think they had them on the old ball and
chain. If his people wanted to takeover, they could. They were stronger,
faster, and smarter than humans were. But that wasn’t their goal. The Jhetans
simply wanted to live in peace. However, they weren’t afraid to fight if things
got too oppressive.
Lily continued to fawn over her mate. “Are you hungry? I’ll
make you a snack before dinner.”
Greyson snorted. “Good luck finding a clean plate for said
snack.”
“What are you talking about?” Dex pulled Lily against him,
put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m not hungry, beautiful.”
“Your mate hasn’t been performing her household duties in an
exemplary manner. Don’t pretend like you haven’t noticed.”
“Tread lightly when you’re talking about Lily. She might be
slacking but—”
She pulled away from him, her eyes wide in outrage. “You
agree with him?”
He shrugged. “The house has been messy lately. But I know
you haven’t been feeling well.”
“I feel fine. It’s you two,” she jabbed a finger at Dex then
at Greyson, “who are making more work for me. I’m already your secretary. I’m
not your maid too. And you wonder, Dex, why I’m so tired all the time. It’s
both of you guys’ fault that I’m so stressed. Do something, for Pete’s sake.”
Dex gave Greyson an irritated glare. “Look what you
started.”
He batted his messy blonde hair from out of his face. “Don’t
blame me because your mate has a short fuse.” Even shorter over the last month
or so.
“My fuse is not short!” She stomped her foot.
Greyson suspected her mood swings had more to do with her
sister’s absence than secretary work. No one had heard from or seen Lily’s twin
since last year. Now their parents were suspicious and putting the heat on Lily
for answers.
Dex ran a hand through his dark hair in thought. “Okay, how
about this? We hire someone to work around the house. We’re all busy. It’s not
fair to expect Lily to do everything.”
“You guys could simply help around the house,” she
suggested.
Greyson and Dex glanced at each other. “Nah,” they both
responded.
“Men.” Lily flicked her hand in dismissal. “I’m cool with
hiring someone until I’m able to catch up with everything.”
“Fine with me too.” As long as Greyson had clean towels when
he got out of the shower, he didn’t care who washed and folded them—provided
that it wasn’t him. “But you’re in charge of hiring the person. They must be
Jhetan.”
“She’ll get it done.” Dex took Lily by the hand while rolling
his suitcase away. “Come on, beautiful. I missed you while I was gone. Let me
show you how much.” She giggled.
Greyson couldn’t have been more relieved when those two left
the room. He couldn’t understand what prompted people to get bonded. All Greyson
needed was sex from a female. Nothing more and nothing less.
----
Avalon ran a comb through her waist-length black tresses for
about the twentieth time. If she kept it up, she wouldn’t have much hair left
to comb. She placed the comb on the edge of the sink in the bathroom, put her
hair in a single braid then wrapped it in a bun atop her head.
She couldn’t remember ever being this nervous, not even when
she left Jheta to come to Earth. Her stomach flipped and flopped like a fish
out of water, full of taut anxiety about the day before her.
Hired to be the main house’s housekeeper, Avalon wanted to
make a good impression. She came from a line of servants to the Jhetan
aristocracy. Her late parents served, as did her maternal and paternal
grandparents. It was what Avalon was bred to do. Hopefully she didn’t bring
shame upon her family.
Taking a deep breath, she exited the small bathroom in the
two bedroom cabin she shared with her grandmother, Veeva. They moved in a few
months ago after a year of scrapping from the bottom of the barrel to survive
in the human world.
As a member of the Jhetan lower class, Avalon only received
the most basic Earth training to help her acclimate to the new world she would
be going to while still living on their planet. It wasn’t nearly enough. When
she and her grandmother first arrived in a city called Chicago, even the sounds
of car horns made them almost jump out of their skin. As Avalon was naturally
withdrawn and nervous, the unknown was absolutely frightening.
But she and Veeva survived and learned the best they could
by watching humans go about their lives. They found a place to lay their heads
each night at various homeless shelters.
Eventually, Avalon was able to find little odd and end jobs
that paid in cash. So when they by chance came across a Jhetan man who told
them of a colony in Forest Hills, Nebraska, Avalon had enough money saved up to
buy her and her grandmother one way tickets to salvation.