How to Marry an Alien (20 page)

I shrugged, leaning back against my bedpost
and flipping my sandals onto the ground. "Yeah, it was pretty late,
so I just stayed the night at Ace's."

"Does he live around here?"

I almost choked on my own spit. I wasn't
prepared for that question. Since Ace and I were out in the open
with our relationship I was briefed by Circe multiple times on what
our relationship story was. I could practically recite it by heart,
but not when I was caught off guard.

"Uh, he's stationed at that military base not
far from here," I said with as much conviction as I could
muster.

"Really?" She tilted her head. "He didn't
seem like the military type to me."

"Yeah, Air Force. It's how we met since I did
an internship there with my dad last summer."

Riley paused the game show she was watching
and swung her feet over the side of the bed. "And what does your
dad think about you marrying a military guy?"

I could feel the sweat gathering under my
arms. I'd given this story so many times to people that knew
nothing of my internship, but Riley actually knew about it. She was
there, memory loss be damned.

"At first he was a little worried about it,
you know, with the whole age thing and someone in the military
dating a civilian, but he seems to be okay with it now."

Not a total lie and it was usually way easier
to spit it out to people, but for some reason it was hard to lie to
Riley. I all of a sudden wanted her approval. I accepted her
relationship with Lucy and even though she had been completely
against me and Ace dating a year ago, for some reason, I felt like
maybe she would change her mind this time. Now only if I could tell
her the truth without screwing everything up.

"Yeah, when I finally came out and told my
parents I was dating Lucy, they weren't exactly thrilled about it.
They already thought I was crazy after I had a car accident last
summer and was in the hospital for a few months recovering."

So that was the excuse Circe put in her and
her family's heads.

"Yeah, I don't even remember half of it, like
it was all a big blur. I was supposed to be doing an internship at
an Air Force base near here as well and I guess it was an
on-the-job accident. They gave my parents a big settlement."

She took a swig of something form a pink cup
near the bed and then set it back down. "My dad said I was in a
coma for a while and they didn't even know it. They blame that on
the fact that I now prefer girls. Some scientists they are." She
rolled her eyes.

"That must have been scary," I said.

Riley shrugged. "I honestly don't remember
much of it. My parents wanted me to stay in Philly after grad
school, but like I said before, something drew me back to the
desert and I'm glad to be back."

I smiled at Riley. In a strange way I was
glad to have her back as well.

"Sometimes I still look at my Facebook or
other things that I am supposed to remember from that summer and I
don't have any recollection," she said, looking down at the bed.
Then she snapped her head up. "Hey, if you did an internship at an
Air Force base, do you think we would have been in the same area?
Maybe we would have actually worked together?"

I couldn't look at her. I tried to find a
spot on the floor to focus on. "Uh, maybe, there are a lot of bases
around here and we were probably in different units with you doing
science stuff and me doing communication." There actually weren't
many bases around the area, but I prayed she didn't know that.

I looked back up to see her staring back out
the window. "Yeah, you are probably right. I'm sure we would have
remembered each other, or at least you remember me."

I nodded. "Yeah, probably would have."

"There are some days that I’m angry for what
happened, but then I realized that it was beyond my control, what
happened, and you can't focus on the past. You just have to move
forward and look to the future."

I smiled for the first time since our
conversation began. "You are absolutely right."

And she was. I couldn't focus on the Riley
from the past and would just have to focus on the Riley of the
present. The one I actually liked.

I was out the door and headed to class early
for the first time in what seemed like forever. This time I was
actually ready to give my speech. I wobbled on my heels, but at
least, I had my note cards in hand and a printed outline in my
messenger bag. It was going to be a good day.

"Looking good, Princess!"

No, it couldn't be. That slight accent,
calling me princess. Only one kind of species called me princess. I
turned toward the voice and saw Monte leaning up against his red
sports car.

"Thanks, Monte, I'm sure you are here on
business, but I have a speech to get to." I took a few steps toward
him, not wanting him to say something too loud that was not meant
for human ears, but still keeping my distance.

Monte crossed his arms over his chest. He
wore a long sleeve thermal shirt and dark wash jeans that conformed
to his body like a second skin;
stupid Caltian men always
looking attractive
. Too bad Monte's personality overshadowed
his good looks.

"As much as I would love to go up and take
your roommate for a spin, I'm here to take you to Circe," he said
with a smug smile on his face.

My mouth gaped open and I quickly shut it.
"Uh, I have a speech today. Is it really that serious?"

Monte pushed himself off the car and opened
the passenger side door. "Serious enough that your father and Ace
are already in the meeting. I texted your professor and briefed her
on the issue."

I swallowed, even though my mouth was
completely dry. Then, in autopilot mode, I got into Monte's car and
stared out the front window while he got in. We didn't say another
word on the drive to Circe. Even though I was glad not to hear
Monte's mindless chatter, it meant I had to deal with my own fears
of what the meeting could be about.

The first time I went to a meeting with the
council at Circe was when I barged in on it and shot a hole through
the door. The second time was when I promised the queen I would be
Ace’s mate, and now I had absolutely no idea what was behind the
giant steel doors that lead to the meeting room.

Monte wasn’t allowed to attend the meeting or
even to ride the elevator up with me to the thirteenth floor. It
was the first time I wished I would have actually had someone with
me instead of staring at the doors, guarded by the same guy whose
gun I stole to shoot through the doors.

“Good to see you again, Miss Bianchi.” He
nodded, curtly.

“Dalton,” I said with the same formality.

The other guard, stationed on the other side
of the door, cleared his throat. I looked over at him and noticed
that his gun was strapped across his chest, just like Dalton’s. It
looked as if I made another impact on the Circe residents.

“Sorry, I will let them know you are here,”
the other guard said, his cheeks slightly flushed.

“No need.” I reached around Dalton and
pressed the button that I now knew opened the giant metal
doors.

The doors slid open, making a whooshing
sound. The room was bright, just like the rest of Circe: all white
floors, white walls, white ceilings, and fluorescent lights. In the
center of the room sat a giant round table where the members of the
council sat. There were various aliens and humans who I met the
first time I went in the room, and Nerses sat facing me with dad
and Ace flanking each of her sides.

To say that Nerses was attractive was an
understatement; the woman was fierce. If she were human I would say
she was Albanian, but she had the bluest eyes that no one could
ever mistake for human. She stood up from her end of the table, her
tall stature towering over everyone else as they followed suit.

“Hello, Alex, good to see you,” Nerses said
in a voice that boomed and commanded attention.

The other aliens didn’t say a word while I
walked around the table and took my seat next to Ace. They all just
stared at me, whether with pity or what, I didn’t know. I
remembered that some of them actually wanted me dead this time last
summer, and I hoped that wasn’t the case again.

Ace didn’t look at me when I approached, but
he took my hand and gently squeezed it. My palms were so sweaty he
had to get a handful of goo, and I wanted to apologize, but before
I could, Nerses raised her arms in the air.

“You may sit,” Nerses said and everyone took
their seats. Nerses put her arms down and looked around the table.
“As you know, Ace and Alex were recently in a car accident about
five hundred miles from Circe.”

Nerses’ sharp eyes landed on me and I
instantly gulped. “Alex, is it true that you believed a deer ran
out in front of you and caused you to swerve and hit the
guardrail?”

I nodded, trying to gain my voice. “That is
correct.”

Nerses turned her attention back to the
others at the table. “We do know that deer are notorious for
colliding with motor vehicles and have given that excuse many times
to humans that run into lone aliens running at night. But this, my
council members, was not a deer.”

There was a collective gasp from the room,
including my own. Did I hit an alien and now I was going to be
punished?

“We believe,” Nerses continued, “that this
was also no accident. There have been many reports of aliens
against the engagement of Ace and Alex. We have managed to catch a
few rogues who have physically tried to stop them, but we believe
this creature that Alex saw was one that we did not get to in
time.”

Say what? I knew there were aliens against me
and Ace, heck his mother didn’t approve of me, but I didn’t think
there were still more aliens out there trying to kill me.

“And what do you propose that we do about
this situation? Do you believe that we should expand our force to
protect them? Strain our resources even more than we already have?”
one of the aliens from across the circle piped up. I recognized him
as one of the fish-eyed guys that wanted me handed over to the
queen last time I saw him. Jerk.

My dad stood up, straightening his suit
jacket. He was one of the lucky ones that got to wear his military
uniform over his jumpsuit. Wish I would have gotten that right last
year. Curvy girls do not pull off jumpsuits very well.

“We do not plan on expanding our force any
more than we already have,” dad said, instantly making the alien
smile. “We just want to make you all aware that we do believe
someone is after Ace and Alex again.”

“So that’s it? This whole meeting was just
about some random rogue alien?” asked a human woman with blunt
bangs and too many wrinkles to count.

Nerses locked her eyes on the woman. “This is
a very serious matter. Someone purposely damaged a Circe vehicle
and tried to kill members of the royal Caltian family in the
process.”

The woman blinked, leaning back a bit as if
Nerses’ words had knocked the wind out of her. “Are you saying you
believe this isn’t the queen or another Caltian?”

Dad shook his head. “The queen signed the
contract, so she is not permitted to interfere in their
relationship and the duchess, Simone, was properly
reprimanded."

I collective ‘ah’ came from the group before
they started whispering among each other.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” I
leaned over toward Ace.

“I just found out about this myself.” He
gently squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. Circe has this under
control. Everything will be alright.”

Yeah, I thought the same thing last time I
went to a council meeting, and that ended with me stealing a
spaceship and saving everyone else. Hopefully, I would get a break
and that wouldn’t happen again. Hopefully.

"And just to make sure that the contract is
still being upheld, we invited another guest," dad said.

Just as he finished talking a glittering,
blue light spilled from the ceiling and on to the white floor. Once
the light disappeared, there stood Ace's mom, the queen, and her
right hand man, Marsilo.

The queen really did age gracefully with her
porcelain skin and inky black hair pulled into a tight bun that
made her high cheek bones and dark eyes stand out. Marsilo stood
behind her giant black gown. His face was not as graceful as hers
and looked more like a worn-out basketball. Last time I saw him,
his hair was pulled into a tight braid, but now it was cut short
and spiky, the style I'd seen on most of the other Caltian men.

The other aliens around the room bowed as
they entered, and Ace forced my head down, even though I just
wanted to stare at the last two people I ever wanted to see. I
wanted to show them that they didn't own me, but Ace kept my head
down to probably not cause any more problems. Once the queen and
Marsilo took their seats, Nerses finally spoke and the rest of us
were able to sit and put our heads up.

"Your highness, Marsilo, thank you for coming
on such short notice."

The queen smiled a smug smile, putting her
long, gloved hand to her chin. "I hope this is important. I do not
enjoy these earthly trips as much as my son seems to," she
said.

Ace squeezed my hand. I didn't know if it was
for his sake or if he was afraid that I'd say something.

Marsilo didn't say anything, just smiled his
wicked smile that looked as if it was drawn on cartoon villain.

Dad cleared his throat and then turned to the
queen. "Your highness, I believe Nerses has briefed you on the
situation. We believe that someone is after your son and Alex. I
don't know if this is a terrorist threat on the royal family or
if—"

The queen lifted her gloved hand up, cutting
my dad short.