Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) (15 page)

I know something worse, and there’s nothing you can do about this, either. Not even wait it out.

Her mother cocked her head to one side and did a visual assessment of Amy. Then Diane hooked arms with her. “Come inside.” She sighed. “And then you can tell me what happened with Jason.”

Just the thought of him broke Amy’s resolve, and she sobbed. The newly-erected dam burst, and the tears started flowing again.

And Sakkra isn’t here this time.

That made her cry harder. Amy stumbled along blindly beside her mother, sinking to the couch gratefully when they reached it.

Diane disappeared, then returned with a box of tissues and a glass of juice. “Nothing in the world is worse than a child who is hurting,” she grumbled.

I will probably never know.
Amy hiccupped and let loose a strained laugh.

Diane sank into the other end of the couch. “Tell me. What has that hotheaded boy done this time?”

Amy wanted to deny that it was Jason’s fault, but there was no other way to present it.
I was willing to try. He wasn’t.

Her mother sighed again. “I swear. Men always lose their minds close to the wedding.”

“There isn’t going to be a wedding.”

She wrapped her arm around Amy’s shoulders and hugged her. “Oh, Amy. Most of these things are nothing more than cold feet.”

Amy shook her head, then blew her nose.

The pause was long enough that it could be nothing but an evaluation. “He didn’t cheat on you? Did he?”

Not that I know of.

Now I’m just being snippy.
“No. Nothing like that.”

“Then whatever he’s done—”

“He left me. Jason took his grandmother’s ring back, and he left me. He’s not coming back, and good riddance to him!” But the truth still hurt.
A lot.
“There won’t be a wedding.”

“I don’t understand this.” Her mother’s exasperation was impossible to miss. “What is he thinking?”

Amy forced a calming breath, took a sip of the juice, and composed herself. “You know I went to the Sakk consulate with Lucy the other day.”

Diane nodded solemnly. “I’ll assume she isn’t Sakk.”

How well you know Lucy.
“No. Of course she’s not. I was trying to calm her down, and Lucy pushed me. Not hard. She was horsing around, but she pushed me onto the testing pad.”

Her mother paled, and Amy hurried on.

“I’m Sakk. We are, I mean. I can only test positive if you and Dad do as well.”

There was a moment of potent silence. “They’re sure?”

“No false positives or negatives.”

“This is no reason to call things off with Jason,” she decided.

“
I
didn’t. He did. I wanted to have testing done. I wanted to ask questions of the Sakk. I wanted to find out if we’re compatible or not.”

She winced. “Jason doesn’t?”

“Not only doesn’t he want to be tested, he can’t stand the thought of me being Sakk-descended. He’s a bigot, Mom.”

“Oh... Oh my!” She hesitated. “What are you going to do now?”

“Cancel everything. Get as many deposits back as I can. Find a new job. Go on with my life...somehow.”

“Find a new job? What happened to your job?”

“Lucy?” Amy felt certain she didn’t need to say more.

“Oh. I take it you’ll need a new best friend, as well as a new fiancé.”

“I don’t
need
either of them,” she groused.

Her mother wisely changed the subject. “What about the Sakk?”

Memories of Sakkra holding her while she wept shook her with their intensity.

“Amy?”

“They aren’t asking for anything. Their prince apologized for the trouble they’ve caused me.”

“But what
about
them?” Diane asked softly.

“I’m not leaving Earth.”

“There’s no way for one of them to stay here?”

“I don’t know.”
Is there a way?
Mating with one of the Sakk warriors wouldn’t be a hardship if she didn’t have to leave Earth for him.

I don’t want another man. Certainly not yet.
“I’m not ready to think about that yet.”

She sighed. “I suppose we should let your cousins know.”

Amy groaned. “Not today, please. I’m not ready to answer their questions.”
And I seem to come up with more questions to ask every time I talk about this situation.
“Give me a few days to get back on my feet. Okay?”

“Is this weekend long enough?”

I don’t think it will ever be long enough.
“Sure. That would be fine.”

****

Amy tossed her heels on top of the box from her office and dragged it out of the car after her. She hip-bumped the door shut and let herself into the building through the security door. It was a three story climb to her apartment, and Amy was sure the soles of her feet would be black from going barefoot up the stairs, but it was better than carrying the box in her heels.

The key slid into the lock easily enough, but it stuck when Amy tried to turn it.
Damn it!
How many times had she mentioned the problem to the manager?

Jiggling the key didn’t work. Removing it and trying again didn’t, either.

“Not today,” she moaned. Did everything have to go wrong at once?

Amy shifted the box, trying to trap it between her waist and the door. With two hands free, maybe she could find the sweet—

The box overbalanced and toppled to the floor. Pens and papers skittered and shuffled around her feet. The coffee cup Lucy had given her for her last birthday shattered on the polished wood.

For a long moment, Amy stared at the destruction. Laughter bubbled up from inside her, and tears pooled in her eyes.

“Let me help you with that,” a familiar voice rumbled out.

Amy wiped her eyes on the cuff of her dress shirt and looked around at the new arrival. It was the man the Sakk had hired to protect her.

His expression pleaded with her.

Maybe he’s not such a scumbag.
“He won’t just send you away. Will he?”

“Sakkra? No, he won’t do that, Ms. Davidson.”

This is a good thing. Besides my family, it’s all I have going for me right now.
“Thank you. I would appreciate it.”

****

Rietin took a calming breath. He’d been afraid she’d attack him at the admission that he wouldn’t be leaving.

She’s allowing me to help.
That was nothing short of a miracle in the making.

He glanced at her bare feet and winced. “Stay where you are.” Any move had the likelihood of her stepping on ceramic and cutting herself. “Hand me your keys.”

“Okay.” She offered them readily.

Getting the door open was the obvious first step. Rietin played the key back and forth, moving the heavy door this way and that. Finally, the lock snapped open.

That will have to be repaired.
He made a mental note to have a team from the consulate do the job the next time she left the apartment.

Rietin considered lifting her inside, then rejected the idea. It would be too familiar, and Amy would surely take offense. “Step inside carefully. Do you have a broom and dust pan?”

She stepped gingerly into her apartment. “Yes. I’ll get it.”

He crouched down and started collecting her belongings into the box. Though it was unseemly to pry, he noted photographs of Amy with friends and family. Two of them had Lucy Ferguson in them. He moved on, collecting pens and knick knacks, cards, and—

Realization made his heart stutter.
She cleaned out her desk at work.
He’d seen her walk out with the box, but he hadn’t attached significance to it.
That means she no longer has a job. But why?

Her footsteps approached, and Rietin hurried to put the last of the items in the box. He topped it with her shoes and reached up for the whisk and dust pan Amy offered.

She reached for the box and nearly overbalanced onto the shattered ceramic. Rietin dropped the tools and steadied her. He pulled his hands back slowly.

Amy didn’t comment on the move, though she moved from foot to foot for a moment in what appeared to be an attack of nerves. Rietin went back to sweeping up the ceramic.

“I’ll get a waste basket for the shards.” She rushed away.

I’m making her nervous.
If he didn’t put her at ease, he would never be able to do his job effectively. Rietin could protect a person who didn’t like him or didn’t notice him, but it was much more difficult when the person didn’t trust him.

Amy was back a few minutes later, offering a round plastic trash can.

Most likely from her bathroom.
Rietin tipped his head and took it, dumping the debris into it. He performed a second sweep, hoping he hadn’t missed any shards that might injure her.

At his second deposit in the can, she reached down for it. “Here. Let me take that. Why don’t you grab the box?”

The request surprised him, but he complied. Stepping into her apartment without a squad of warriors felt wrong to him, but Rietin did so at her request.

“Where would you like this?” he asked.

“The coffee table would be fine. Would you like a drink?”

He paused, the box millimeters above the surface of the table she’d indicated. “Beg your pardon?”

“I should know what your plan is to protect me. Shouldn’t I?” The door clicked shut, and she turned the problematic lock.

Rietin deposited the box and straightened, trying to organize his rioting mind. “If you wish, of course.” None of his charges had asked before. He reminded himself that she’d made an offer. “Nothing alcoholic. I am on duty.”

“And when you’re not? Coffee?”

“Coffee would be wonderful.” He couldn’t get enough of the human drink. “Not...what?”

“On duty.” She pulled a bag of coffee from the freezer and filled an electric grinder. The whir of the blades cut off his answer. She continued as soon as it stopped. “Who will be protecting me then?” Amy filled the metal mesh filter with ground coffee.

Rietin ambled toward her. “I never go off duty. Having more than one here would draw attention I am certain you would like to avoid.” He settled on a stool at the breakfast bar. That gave him an adequate vantage point to make plans for her protection. She would need an area shield protecting the outer walls and windows, monitoring...and the repairs to her lock.

Amy finished filling the coffee maker with a pot of water, drawing his attention to her again. She pressed the button to start the brewing cycle, then turned to him, her brow furrowed in seeming confusion.

“You work around the clock?”

He managed a weak smile. “I do sleep, if that’s what you’re asking. I simply...won’t sleep until you do.”

Her color dipped. “You’re not staying here.”

“In your apartment? Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it.” Sakkra would never approve such an unseemly arrangement.

She relaxed a notch, and her color seeped back.

But she should know what the actual plan is. She asked.
“I’m in apartment 2C. If you need me, I’ll be there whenever you’re here. I’ll also give you phone numbers to my cell and the direct line to the consulate comm center. You will always have a way to reach us.”

Amy turned back to the coffee maker, seemingly rattled.

Rietin ground his teeth in frustration. A floor below her and the opposite corner of the building had seemed distant enough for him. Perhaps he’d misjudged.

****

Amy forced a calming breath. “What does your ID say?”

“Pardon?”

She pulled down two mugs. “When I moved in, it took more than a week for the background and credit checks.” She turned toward Rietin.

His wallet was open on his palm, and he nodded toward it.

Her heart pounding, Amy crossed the distance between them and took it. One side was a standard Virginia driver’s license. The second proclaimed him an agent for the NSA.

She scanned her gaze down his clothes. “You dress to blend in.”

Rietin smiled. “Anywhere I have to, whether it’s black tie, California casual, or jeans and t-shirts. They spent a fortune outfitting me with everything I might possibly need.”

Amy passed the wallet back to him, and he pocketed it.

“And how did you get mixed up with the NSA, Joshua Rietin?”

His eyes narrowed. “Call me Josh, if you’re more comfortable with it, but my name is actually Rietin, and I am not a member of the NSA. I liaise with them, and they provide a cover story for me to allow me to move unimpeded.”

“Cover...” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Cover story?”

He nodded solemnly.

“Why do you
need
a cover story? And how did you end up working for the Sakk?”

“Working for the Sakk?”

“Everyone knows they typically only use their own people. I understand why they would want a human to blend in. How were you chosen to be that human?”

Rietin winced.

Amy stared at him, trying to understand his sudden attack of nerves. “Come on. You’ve given me this much information.”
Speaking of which... Why
is
he giving me all this information?

“The simplest way to put it is that the Sakk
do
only use our own. Since humans would stand in my way in the same situation they would clear the way for your own government, the NSA...arranged for me to appear to be—”

“Human. You’re Sakk?”
Of course. Not all Sakk have wings. I don’t.

“Yes. I am.”

Amy rounded the breakfast bar and climbed onto another of the stools, stunned by the revelation. “You look and...and sound so human.”

“Part of my cover. It took me more than a year of training with Representative Janice to learn enough idiom to pass muster, and that was after a year of learning basic American English on Sakk.”

“Were you born on a seed world? Is that why—” Her face flamed. “Oh, I’m being rude. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t mind. No. I wasn’t born on a seed world. I was born on Sakk. My two sisters are short flight. Uh...They have small, vestigial wings. With the breeding measures, not all young are born fully-winged.”