CHAPTER ONE

Lenora leaned into Tryyg, letting him support her whole weight as she grew dizzy from his kisses. The fact that they were keeping their relationship secret was probably adding to the excitement, but she was certain that kissing him would have still been enjoyable even without the intrigue. Maybe it was the fact that she was making out with an alien who was virtually a walking battery, but she felt as if a jolt of electricity was running through her body. She couldn’t seem to get enough.

She ran her hands through his hair, congratulating herself on the fact that she’d convinced him not to bleach it. He’d insisted that they needed to disguise themselves in order to stay hidden. She’d also refused to make any changes to her own appearance. Perhaps it was vanity, but Lenora couldn’t handle one more thing in her life changing. She also doubted that something as simple as cutting her hair would keep her safe from an advanced race of snake-like aliens bent on exterminating them.

Sometimes she wished that she’d never gotten involved in the big intergalactic mess. At the same time, she felt that not knowing about the evil aliens would be worse. She didn’t regret drinking the elixir that allowed her to see the aliens hiding in plain sight, not that she’d ever really been given a choice in the first place. Her parents had dosed her breakfast smoothie without telling her.

Lenora, Tryyg, and her parents had been moving from town to town dosing public water sources. It was the best way they’d come up with to equip large groups of people so that they could see what they were up against. Personally, she thought they weren’t thinking big enough, especially given how little of the elixir they had left.

But no one seemed to care about her opinions. Lenora was starting to realize that no one had any intention of treating her like an adult, even though she was eighteen. They weren’t allowing her to help with any of the cool stuff. While her parents and Tryyg went on dangerous missions, she was trapped in one rundown house after the next. She was going stir crazy.

She’d decided that if they didn’t let her out in public soon, she was going to do something drastic. The only entertainment she’d been able to drum up for herself was sneaking in hurried kisses when her parents weren’t looking.

She and Tryyg had been dating secretly now for weeks. It was fun and all, but she still wasn’t sure if she saw a future for them. She wasn’t ready to get married and buy a house with a white picket fence and a dog. She most definitely wasn’t ready to be a mom. Of course, her lack of readiness didn’t change the fact that there was an alien baby growing in her belly. Each day that passed was another day closer to her world shutting down forever.

She flipped a mental switch, shutting off that particular line of thought. She didn’t really want to think about the future. In that particular moment, she simply wanted to enjoy herself. She was already knocked up, so what was the harm in fooling around a little?

Would passion like this endure, or would it fade in time? If it faded, what would they have left, other than a child together? They hadn’t spent enough time alone to establish if they had anything in common. They’d yet to even take a real date.

Tryyg was doing something amazing to the back of her neck and she moaned a little as tension was released. Lenora felt her mouth opening further and then his tongue was sliding past her lips. She slid her tongue across his perfectly straight teeth. He tasted amazing and she couldn’t believe how much she wanted to touch him.

She dipped her hands under the fabric of his shirt and explored the firm expanse of his muscled back. His skin was so smooth and warm that she couldn’t get enough. She tugged at his buttons, but he laid a hand on top of hers to stop her before guiding her hands back to his waist.

She felt like she wanted to go further, but she didn’t exactly know how to proceed. He was raining little kisses across her neck and she was having a hard time thinking clearly. All she knew was that she wanted more, more of everything. She felt herself sliding back until she met the cold, hard resistance of the kitchen counter.

“Lenora!” her mother’s voice called from the next room.

Tryyg and Lenora jerked apart and she felt the heat of a blush stain her cheeks. Her euphoria was instantly replaced with embarrassment. Tryyg fidgeted with his shirt and Lenora went to sit at the table while they both tried to act natural. Mary Gates walked into the room, her arms weighed down by several full grocery bags. Tryyg rushed to help her, grateful for something to do.

He set the plastic bags down carefully on the countertop. Lenora stood and went over to help put away the groceries. There wasn’t much of an organizational system because they’d yet to stay anywhere long enough for it to feel like home.

They’d been on the move since they’d laced her hometown’s water supply with the elixir. Their plan had worked, and everyone in town who had so much as brushed their teeth was now able to see the Terrazonians for who they were. But it was too small of a scale, and the elixir dissipated too quickly. A good percentage of the town’s populace still couldn’t see that the Terrazonians weren’t human. Only those who’d been inoculated could see that they were actually grotesque, snake-like alien creatures.

The thought of accidentally kissing one crossed her mind and she shuddered. Fortunately, the alien she was currently dating was actually hot. So far, the only physical difference she’d been able to detect was that a good chunk of his torso was covered with blue tattoos. He also had a host of other-worldly powers that she was only beginning to understand.

Some days she wished she could just go back to being a normal high school student again, complaining about essays and having to dress for P.E. Everything would be so much easier if she’d never gotten on the snake-aliens' radar. But there was no changing the fact that they were on a hit list. In fact, hunting down Tryyg, Lenora, and her parents seemed to be the Terrazonians’ number one objective at this point. This was because stopping the Gates family would stop the spread of the elixir.

However, if Earth was to stand a chance, they couldn’t let that happen. This was too big of a fight for only four people. They needed an army. Too bad none of them knew how to get one. So, for the time being, they were laying low and trying to figure out what town to drop the elixir in next.

There had been a lot of news coverage in her hometown about “aliens living among us” and such. Sadly, though, the rest of the world refused to believe what they couldn’t see for themselves. Lenora couldn’t blame them. She hardly believed it herself. Some days she felt like she was living out some weird story from a tabloid. The problem was that she couldn’t just laugh it off. In her world, aliens were real.

They needed to spread the word on a larger scale. Her parents were working hard to find someone in a position of power that they could trust. This person also needed to be capable of believing some pretty far-fetched truths.

They could dose a lot more people with the elixir if they didn’t have to spend all their time sneaking around like fugitives. Personally, Lenora would have appreciated being able to hand the whole problem off to someone else and go back to being a normal eighteen-year-old. She should be planning for college, but here she was protecting Earth from an alien invasion.

Except they weren’t letting her do anything, so really, she was only living with the people who were trying to protect Earth. Everyone was treating her like a child, like her birthday had never happened. It was like they had selective amnesia, and were choosing to forget that she’d been kidnapped by aliens multiple times and survived.

Her parents were the ones acting like criminals, but it was Lenora who was stuck in prison. Her mother wouldn’t even allow her to go on a simple trip to the grocery store. She was sick of being told to stay safe and to keep out of sight. This was the fifth “safe house” she’d been in since the night she’d almost had her head detonated right off of her shoulders. She wanted everything to go back to normal.

“Not that I was ever normal,” she muttered under her breath, causing her mother to raise an eyebrow at her in question.

Lenora enjoyed a highly sarcastic inner monologue, but every once in a while things slipped out. This had made it hard for Lenora to sustain friendships over the years. She wasn’t able to hide all of her opinions, no matter how hard she tried.

A few weeks prior, right before her eighteenth birthday, her parents had faked their own deaths. She was supposed to have been with them, but they’d backed her into a corner. She’d been forced to choose between disobeying her parents and abandoning her only friend.

Lenora had chosen to stand by her friend, Rachel, who had just found out she was pregnant. By ignoring her parents’ orders, she had inadvertently messed up all of their carefully crafted plans.

Just when Lenora didn’t think things could possibly have gotten any worse, she’d been attacked by nasty reptilian aliens who had shot her in her own home. She probably would have died right then and there, or worse, been taken prisoner, if the sexy stranger with the blue eyes hadn’t shown up.

Tryyg may have managed to save the day, but when she’d woken up to see a stranger operating on her she’d gone berserk and stabbed him with a syringe. The sedative had worked just fine on her, but it had a disastrous effect on Tryyg. His alien DNA was vastly different from that of a human.

The sedative didn’t put Tryyg to sleep or even make him tired. What it did was so much worse. The effects of the drug put him in an altered mental state. He was trapped in an elaborate and cruel hallucination. While in his mind he was happily reliving his honeymoon with his deceased wife, in reality, he was forcing himself on Lenora.

  When the effects of the drug finally wore off, Tryyg was horrified by his actions. For a while, it was hard to say whether he or Lenora was the biggest Tryyg hater. Lenora had since come to forgive him. Forgiveness or no, she was still upset that he’d not only taken her innocence but impregnated her. The fact that her baby would be half alien just made everything scarier.

Tryyg hadn’t raped her on purpose, but that didn’t change how the path of her life had been irrevocably altered. She was going to be a mother, and she was not even remotely prepared for such a huge responsibility. On one hand, she couldn’t help being attracted to him, but on the other, she wasn’t ready to promise the rest of her life to anyone. How were you supposed to know if you’d found “the one”? Was it possible to find one’s soul mate so early in life? Most people she knew hadn’t settled down until their thirties or even later.

Part of her was terrified that if she made any sort of lasting commitment to Tryyg, she’d miss out on something better later down the road. She was so young and she’d never dated anyone else. She wanted true love, and if there was such a thing as soulmates, she wanted to find hers.

 No one gets married this young! she thought to herself. She was supposed to be sneaking alcohol at dorm parties and making out behind the stacks of the university library. She couldn’t help but remember how judgmental she’d been of her friend Rachel for getting knocked up at such a young age. She shook her head ruefully. Oh, how she wished she could apologize to her friend.

I guess the joke’s on me now, she thought to herself as she ran a hand over her stomach. Her belly was still flat. When would she start to show? Did alien babies take a full nine months to grow, or could it happen even sooner?

She’d been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t been paying any attention to what her mom was doing. Lenora heard a cracking sound just before the sizzling egg yolk hit the skillet. She slapped a hand over her nose and made a beeline for the door.

She had terrible morning sickness, and the smell of cooking food was the worst. At least she’d managed to bolt before someone started up the coffee pot. She hated the smell of coffee even more than the smell of eggs in her pregnant condition.

Lenora hoped that her mother hadn’t noticed her hasty exit. The last thing she wanted was to have a conversation with her parents about how she got knocked up by an alien, especially since said alien was actually one of their closest friends.

Mary had been the one to rescue Tryyg several years ago when he’d crash landed on Earth. They’d been good friends ever since and had worked together to create the elixir. Tryyg still looked basically human, although his entire upper body was covered in gorgeous blue tattoos. They looked like Celtic runes and were really more like birthmarks because they hadn’t been inked onto his body.

Sadly, thinking about Tryyg’s ripped chest wasn’t enough to help her body overcome the overwhelming nausea. Pregnancy really, really sucked. She kicked the door shut to her bedroom and grabbed a small trash can just in case she failed to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged.

She sprawled across the bed in exhausted relief. Funny, before getting pregnant she used to love eggs. As if the constant nausea wasn’t bad enough, she seemed to be tired all the time now. It was as if the baby was sucking the life right out of her.

“You’re aging me, do you hear me?” she asked the baby, poking her stomach gently.  Fortunately, sleeping in late, taking naps, and going to bed early all helped kill time. No one wanted to let her do anything anyway.

She reached in her backpack for the only book she had at the moment, Jane Eyre. It was one of the few things she’d managed to save before the Terrazonians had burned down her childhood home. She still hadn’t gotten to read the thing even though she felt like she’d been carting it around forever.

A few weeks ago she’d been all comfy on the couch preparing to read it. No sooner had she cracked open the book than her mom had entered the room and declared that she needed it. Lenora had stared at her incredulously as she’d walked out of the room taking Lenora’s only book with her. Lenora was an avid reader and she was still upset about the fact that she didn’t have anything else to read.

Over the past few weeks she had seen her mother making notes in her copy of Jane Eyre multiple times. Granted, the book had originally belonged to Mary, but Lenora was still annoyed. When she’d thought her parents were dead, she’d treasured that book as the last thing she had to remember her mother by.

Now that she knew her mother was alive she was just peeved that she was writing in what she considered “her” book. Lenora hated it when people wrote in books. It was so distracting.

“That’s why God invented Post-it notes,” she grumbled under her breath.

Her mother had finally returned the book to her late last night, but she’d been too tired to read it then. Before the pregnancy, Lenora would have stayed up all night and she’d have finished the whole novel already. She was constantly playing hooky from school because she’d stayed up all night reading and was too tired to attend classes.

This was the first moment she’d had alone to try to read. There was a rap at the door, and Lenora groaned softly before responding.

 “What?” she asked irritably. No one valued her privacy.

“Breakfast is ready. Your mother wanted me to inform you.” Tryyg lingered awkwardly outside the door.

“You can come in.”

Tryyg entered and shut the door behind him. There was something terribly intimate about him being in her bedroom and knowing that her parents were home. She smiled at him, getting ready to take up where they’d left off. A real-life Tryyg was way more exciting than a fictional Mr. Rochester. 

But then Tryyg spoke, and his words instantly derailed all of her steamy fantasies.

“We have to tell your parents.”

“No! As in ‘no way.’”

“I cannot continue deceiving them. Lying to my only friends—”

“We aren’t lying. We’re merely omitting the truth like they did to me for years with all their top secret experiments and knowledge of aliens living among us.”

  “That was different.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It was different, because it was way more serious and more important than what we’re doing. Whatever our relationship is, it only affects two people, you and me.”

“I feel as though I am betraying them.”

“If you tell them, you’ll definitely be betraying me. Ugh. I’m so sick of talking about this.”

“If we keep taking risks like earlier they are going to find out all on their own. Do you realize how close your mother came to discovering us?”

“So they catch us kissing, big deal. It’s not like we’re doing anything else.” There were not-so-subtle undertones of resentment in her voice, but Lenora didn’t know who she was really mad at, Tryyg or herself.

Lately, she was beginning to question whether or not he was really attracted to her. Each time she tried to push things further than kissing, he broke away. She didn’t understand why.  The only time she’d ever had sex she’d been unconscious. As far as she was concerned, that wasn’t fair.

She’d lost her virginity but never gained the experience, and she wanted to know what it felt like. According to Tryyg, they were already married, at least by the customs of his people. She hadn’t really “been there” for the ceremony, yet she was still being punished for it.

The way she saw it, she was already pregnant, so what was the worst that could happen? She had this nagging suspicion that he wanted her to show some sign of commitment first, like a human marriage. She really hoped she was wrong because the concept seemed ludicrous.

It seemed so long ago that she’d smugly told her friend Rachel that she was saving herself for marriage. She’d protected her innocence for years only to have it taken from her in an instant. And now that it was gone, the man who’d taken it from her was refusing to sleep with her again. It was enough to drive a person mad.

“I can’t bear the smell of eggs. You should know that,” Lenora huffed nastily, changing the subject.

Tryyg knew all about her nausea and not just because he was observant. She could feel his pain, and he could feel hers. Lenora knew it wasn’t entirely his fault as she’d been the one to drug him, but when he’d thought he was reliving his honeymoon he’d performed a mating ceremony that had linked them in a way she still didn’t fully understand.

Sometimes it could be helpful, like when Tryyg had used it to help track her down when a vicious tree on his home planet had been choking the life out of her. Other times it was downright embarrassing, like when someone not only knew but could feel that you needed to throw up all the time. Why wasn’t there an off switch to the whole “mate bond” thing?

“Do you want me to bring you some toast?” he asked, his eyes pleading silently for her to let him help in some small way.

“Sure.”

He left the room, closing the door behind him. She sighed, shoving the book down in her backpack. She didn’t feel like reading anymore. She took a moment to really study her room, and it did nothing but depress her. The walls had been painted frequently and without proper prep work. Bumps and drips marred the surface, and the trim was grimy and yellowed with age. She’d actually tried dusting the top, but there was a gap between the wall and the trim that collected a thick fur that was impossible to remove.

There was nothing personal to the room, except for her meager pile of belongings in the corner. All of her life’s possessions fit inside a backpack and a plastic grocery bag. She’d stopped trying to unpack because they never stayed anywhere long enough to bother.

She felt like she was a prisoner, except prisoners at least got to go outside for a few minutes every day for yard time. Prisoners also had access to library books, not to mention social interaction with other human beings. Why was she being kept in solitary confinement when she’d done nothing wrong? Something inside of her snapped.

Suddenly Lenora couldn’t take another second in the gross, rundown house. She didn’t even care if they punished her for her disobedience. She tried to force an unnatural calm over her emotions. It wouldn’t do to let Tryyg in on her plan, because he’d only stop her. She changed into a cute little white summer dress.

It was one of the items she’d purchased on her shopping trip with Tryyg the night she’d been kidnapped by the Terrazonians. It was the simplicity of the dress that made it beautiful. Narrow spaghetti straps led down to a simple little sweetheart neckline. The fabric reached the top of her knees, which was just long enough to keep her from feeling self-conscious.

Fortunately, she’d left her bags behind with Tryyg when she’d fled the restaurant, or she’d have had no other choice but to borrow her mother’s clothes. She slipped on her shoes and ran a brush through her hair before climbing up on the bed and pulling the blanket up practically to her neck. She focused on calm breathing like she’d seen people doing yoga do.

There was another knock as Tryyg returned with toast. He eyed her weirdly, asking her with his eyes if she was okay. She thanked him for the toast and then requested that he leave, explaining that she needed some time alone, and pleading fatigue. The moment he was gone, she ripped back the comforter and took a bite of the toast. She checked to make sure that her purse was still in her backpack.

She swung her backpack up over her shoulders and crept over to the window. There was no way she could make it out the front door without someone noticing. Her dad often kept guard over the entrance, ready to pounce on anything that moved.

She didn’t want to leave the toast behind so she gripped it between her lips and held her breath as she pinched on the little levers and removed the screen, praying that the old metal wouldn’t make a sound. The house they were in was super old, and it still had the original windows from the thirties. Lenora was beginning to wonder if she’d be able to open the window at all when the screen finally slid up. 

She leaned it deftly against the bed and then worked up the glass of the outer storm window. She became conscious of the fact that the backpack made her twice as big when it caught on something and she found herself wedged half in half out of the window.

She understood that if she was discovered, she’d lose her one precious day of freedom. She didn’t know if she’d get another chance like this again. It was hard to say who kept a closer eye on her . . . Tryyg or her parents.

She wiggled a little and let out an inaudible sigh when she felt something give loose. She had to throw out her arms to stop herself as momentum threw her forward and she almost landed flat on her face on the ground. She crouched to her knees, reaching behind her to make sure that her backpack was still intact and glancing furtively from side to side before she scurried onto the street.

CHAPTER TWO

Lenora didn’t know where anything was in the backwoods town they’d landed in, but she was about to find out. She felt giddy with the thrill of her escape. She was actually outside. Now she needed to figure out where she wanted to go.

She hadn’t been paying attention when they’d arrived, so she didn’t know the lay of the land. She took a wild guess, hoping she was right about which direction civilization was in. It was a small town, so it was probably too much to hope that they would have a bookstore. Maybe the grocery store would have a small stack of romance novels. By this point, she’d have settled for a magazine.

There were visible differences that let her know she was leaving the run-down part of town and entering the nicer section. There were little signs like the fact that these people actually cared enough to mow their lawns. And then there were more obvious clues like the lack of litter blowing about. When she reached Main Street, she soaked up the cute little mom-and-pop stores. The town may have been small, but it seemed to be experiencing a revival in the small business sector.

When she read the sign to “Meemah’s Books,” she had to hold back a squeal. It wasn’t a recognizable chain, but it was a legit bookstore. The door chimed when she walked in and she felt instantly at home.

The building was an old house that had been converted into a business. The rooms were filled to the brim with shelves of books. Most of their merchandise appeared to be high quality leather-bound hardbacks, but they also had a token display of contemporary paperbacks by the checkout counter.

There were posters everywhere about the resident ghost, and Lenora couldn’t help but be enchanted by the quaint atmosphere. She would have loved to have taken one of the guided tours, but there wasn’t one scheduled for weeks. She doubted they’d still be here then.

Lenora cruised right past the contemporary section and moved deeper into the store. She wasn’t interested in any of the modern displays. She loved classics. She moved as if in a daze from one room to the next until she found the section she was looking for. She looked for Pride and Prejudice out of habit and hugged it close to her heart like a long lost friend.

“I hope you’re not trying to steal that,” a voice called out behind her, and she involuntarily jumped.

“No,” she answered defensively.

“Then you must just really love Jane Austin.”

Lenora nodded in response and turned to see a petite, elderly woman. Her long white hair was done up in a thick bun at the back of her head. Something about her size and the way she carried herself reminded Lenora of a prima ballerina, and she smiled when she realized there was nothing threatening about the owner of the store. Was this the Meemah of “Meemah’s Books”?

“It’s one of my favorites,” Lenora admitted sheepishly, gesturing to the book.

“Don’t see a lot of kids your age interested in books, especially not classics.”

“What can I say, I’m old at heart.” Lenora winced after she spoke, wondering if the elderly woman would find that remark offensive. She was relieved when the woman smiled back at her.

“Anything in particular I can help you find?”

“I think I just want to browse a while, but thank you.”

The woman nodded and disappeared, almost instantly hidden by the towering shelves of books. Lenora took her time selecting a large pile of classics. She couldn’t help but remember how Tryyg had purchased a similar stack for her as a birthday gift. Of course, all of those books had been destroyed in his exploding mansion or left behind on an alien planet . . . but it was a nice memory all the same.

She decided that she’d better stock up because after this stunt she didn’t know when she’d manage to escape again. She resolved to buy as many books as she could carry. Lenora piled the books on the checkout counter, not bothering to defend herself when the old woman raised an eyebrow at her in question.

She doubted she was the first person to go a little overboard on a shopping spree. She pulled out her credit card and was grateful when the woman double-bagged her purchases. She smiled the first genuine smile in a long time.

 

***

 

“Lord Raylor, we just got a hit on the girl’s card.”

Raylor leaped up from where he’d been lounging on his throne and his snake-like lips split open in a sinister grin. They’d finally slipped up. He’d known that they would eventually, but he’d never expected it to take quite this long. Patience had never been a strong suit of his.

He waved a hand and one of his servants raced to bring him a drink. He turned to face a large communicator screen one of the servants was holding up for him. Raylor’s orders were succinct. He expected absolute obedience from his people. Those who failed to fall in line tended to disappear if they weren’t publicly executed.

Raylor’s grin morphed into a grimace. He still regretted the missed opportunity of punishing his underling, Danning. The inept fool had gotten himself killed before he could eliminate him. Of course, the man he’d promoted to replace him was bound to mess up eventually.

By the time the screen faded to black, Raylor was smiling again, his forked tongue slithering back and forth excitedly. Everything he wanted was in reach. He glanced over at where a servant was busily scrubbing the floor. The poor slob had missed a spot.

Raylor relished every opportunity to discipline one of his underlings. He reached for his sword. Perhaps he’d leave the sheath on the blade this time because he was in such a good mood.

 

***

 

Tryyg had taken his breakfast plate back to eat in his room, which meant Henry and Mary Gates had the kitchen table to themselves. Henry smiled at his wife, reaching out to hold her hand affectionately under the table. She giggled when he started tickling her leg and playfully slapped his hand away. Her face scrunched up for a moment and Henry perked up in anticipation. That was Mary’s thinking face, so he couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.

“I think there’s something going on between Tryyg and our daughter,” she said quietly, making sure her voice didn’t travel beyond the kitchen.

“What!” Henry bellowed before lowering his voice to a more appropriate level. “What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. It’s just one of my feelings.”

“He’s too old for her.”

“Lenora has always been very mature for her age.”

“He’s not even human.”

“Really?” Mary replied sarcastically, as if the fact had somehow escaped her notice all these years.

“Please tell me you haven’t shared any of your crazy theories with Tryyg.”

“Of course not,” she answered defensively.

“Because he’s done nothing but prove his loyalty to this family over and over again, and I don’t want you humiliating him.”

“I’m sure you’re right, dear,” Mary said agreeably. She wasn’t at all convinced he was right, but she could see she wasn’t getting anywhere with him so she let the subject drop.

 

***

 

Lenora was hungry, so after she checked out she made her way to the diner she’d seen on her quest for the bookstore. The plastic bags were heavy, but well worth the energy it was taking to lug them around. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about getting in enough steps.

It was too late for breakfast and too early for the lunch crowd, which meant Lenora practically had the place to herself. The diner looked rustic with lots of wood and leather accents. There was also a strange collection of old hats circling the entire room at the top of all the walls just below the ceiling. What was that about?

A tired looking waitress ambled over to take her order. She looked so weary that Lenora almost invited her to sit down and put her feet up. Instead, she gave her a friendly look and ordered an all-American lunch of cheeseburger, fries, a pickle, and a milkshake. On a whim, she added a piece of pie to her order as well.

Don’t judge me, she silently told the unborn child whose life was irrevocably entwined with her own.  

Feeling a little guilty about what she’d learned in health class regarding how important it was to eat healthy foods during pregnancy, she added a side salad to her order. If the waitress seemed surprised about her ordering half the menu she didn’t let on. She simply nodded and tucked the pencil back behind her ear. Then she disappeared behind a swinging door into the kitchen.  

Lenora thought she smelled pizza. Whatever it was smelled so delicious that she was considering calling the waitress back to add onto her order. That was when a shadow fell over her table. She glanced up, feeling more frustrated than guilty when she saw who it was.

Tryyg wasn’t smiling. He didn’t smile much to begin with, so that didn’t exactly help her decipher his mood. Not waiting for an invitation, Tryyg took a seat in the space across from her in the booth. Instantly, she regretted pausing for food. She should have kept walking until she found a clothing store. Knowing her short spell of freedom was over, she felt suddenly deflated.

“Your parents and I were worried.”

“And now for the lecture,” Lenora grumbled. Then she looked him straight in the eye and added, “For future reference, any sentence where you lump yourself in with my parents probably isn’t going to win you any brownie points.”

“I convinced them to let me look for you first.”

“What took you so long?” she asked sarcastically, given that she’d only been gone for two hours tops.

“It took us a while to realize you were missing. And then I assumed you would be at the bookstore.”

“I went there first,” Lenora said, holding up a book and motioning to her bags.

She didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed at how well Tryyg seemed to understand her. It would have been easier if he’d acted more like a concerned boyfriend and less like her babysitter. The waitress arrived with the full tray of food and she seemed to take it for granted that half of the food was for Tryyg.  

Without saying anything, the waitress placed the burger and fries in front of Tryyg and gave Lenora the salad. She placed everything else in the middle of the table. Lenora barely waited for her to turn around before she slid the salad to the side and jerked her plate abruptly away from its precarious spot in front of Tryyg.

He’d already stolen several of her fries and she wasn’t exactly in a sharing mood. She wasn’t sure when she’d be able to sneak out for real food again. Her mom had been too busy saving the world from alien invasions and whatnot to cook anything truly appetizing.

“Get your own,” she said tartly

“I do not understand why you are angry with me. I simply want you . . .” he paused and took a deep breath, “and the baby to be safe.”

“I can’t handle being locked up in jail anymore.”

“You are not a prisoner. You should know the difference.”

Lenora felt his words like a punch in the gut. The bite in her mouth suddenly tasted like ash as she remembered when she’d been kidnapped by the Terrazonians. It had been the most terrifying experience of her life. She took a deep gulp of her shake and the temporary brain freeze helped numb the panic she was feeling about dredging up the memories of how close she’d come to dying.

She could still see Janice’s head exploding right in front of her, could still feel the gore spraying onto her own skin. The beep, beep, beep, of the bomb that Danning had planted in her neck sounded loudly in her memory. If it hadn’t been for Tryyg’s fast actions, her own head would have been detonated right off of her shoulders.

Lenora tried to push the memories down to a place where they couldn’t affect her. Then she picked up her burger and began to attack it with a vengeance. She did her best to ignore Tryyg, giving her full attention to her food. Eating her emotions felt pretty darn good.

Tryyg’s expression was pained as he warred between two opposing desires. It seemed impossible to keep Lenora both safe and happy. He didn’t know what to do. Lately, he felt like every time he spoke he made her angry. He opted to keep his mouth shut and let her savor her meal.

He watched her in rapt fascination as she tucked away one bite after another. He couldn’t help wondering where she was putting all the food as she polished off her burger and fries, the giant pickle, and then worked her way through the salad.

He managed to sneak in a few drinks of milkshake when she wasn’t paying attention. He was ridiculously pleased when Lenora willingly gave him a few bites of her pie. There was something so intimate about the act of sharing food.

When the waitress handed her the check, Lenora opened her purse and gave the waitress her debit card so that she could run it. She became incensed when Tryyg practically ripped the plastic out of the waitress’s hand and gave her his card instead. She felt like everyone was looking at her and it was embarrassing. If it had been a busy mealtime, it would have been even worse.

“What is your problem?” she hissed.

“Please tell me you did not use that card at the bookstore.”

He was staring her down intently and Lenora felt herself squirming in her seat. She could see that he was upset but she didn’t understand what she’d done wrong. She was certain that there was money in the account. Her lawyer had set it all up for her and she hadn’t had a chance to use it much yet.

“It’s the only card I had,” she said defensively.

Tryyg picked up his cell phone and dialed Henry. That just riled Lenora up further. She hadn’t been deemed worthy of needing a burner phone, so everyone had one except her. Tryyg explained the situation in hushed tones.

He spoke abruptly, using clipped sentences. The conversation didn’t last long. Tryyg was nodding, so Lenora deduced that he was in agreement with whatever her father was saying.

“We will leave immediately.” Tryyg paused, and Lenora wished she could hear what her father was verbalizing on the other end of the line. “Yes, I will keep her safe.”

When the call was over, Tryyg slid the phone back in his pocket and turned his head, scanning the diner from one side to the other. The waitress returned with his card and Tryyg signed it. The woman’s eyeballs looked like they were ready to pop out of her head. Lenora could only assume that he’d left her a generous tip.

“What’s going on?”

“You have compromised our location.”

“What are you talking about? We’re in Hicksville. I’ve interacted with a maximum of three old people. Seriously, what’s the big deal?”

“This is my fault. I should have thought to confiscate this earlier.”

He was still holding onto her card. Lenora had a feeling that he didn’t plan on giving it back to her.

“Well, I have to have something! What if we get separated or something happens to you guys?”

She was trying to ignore the rising feelings of guilt, but she knew she’d screwed up big time. Why had she wasted her one bit of freedom shopping? She should have tried to contact Rachel first. She was afraid she wouldn’t get a chance to check in on her friend after this particular stunt. When he grabbed her purchases she dutifully slung her backpack over her shoulders and prepared to follow him.

“We need to leave, now.”

Lenora looked longingly towards the restroom as they exited the building. She hoped her poor pregnant bladder made it however long it had to. Peeing her pants would be humiliating. Tryyg opened the door for her and she climbed in and opened her arms expectantly. His stern expression slipped for a moment as he let loose an amused chuckle and carefully placed the heavy bags in her lap.

His short burst of humor didn’t last long. All too soon, he remembered that her behavior wasn’t amusing. It was destructive. However, she’d sacrificed too much and he wasn’t going to make her leave her new books behind.

He made sure she was buckled before peeling out of the parking lot. Lenora was confused when she realized that he was going in the opposite direction of the safe house. She’d thought she would be going straight back to house arrest.

It seemed that while Lenora had been busy sleeping, Tryyg and her parents had focused on battle plans and strategies for what to do if things like this happened. They couldn’t afford for all of them to be compromised or captured. They loved their daughter, but they took their responsibility to keep Earth safe very seriously.

They trusted Tryyg. He’d already proven that he’d die for their daughter several times over. It also helped that they didn’t know the dirty secret about what he’d done to her the night she’d been shot.

At some point in the drive, Lenora began to put two and two together. Tryyg had explained tersely that they weren’t meeting up with her parents for a week. That meant that she and Tryyg would be alone together for several days. No chaperone! she thought to herself. She was so excited that she practically squealed out loud.

Maybe he would finally loosen up if her parents weren’t two feet away all the time. Lately he had seemed so distant. Even when he was kissing her it felt like he was holding back, like he was always keeping her from moving on to the next level.

She studied him out of the corner of her eyes. She didn’t know if she was experiencing a hot flash or if it was just all of her racing thoughts, but she was suddenly burning up. She reached forward to adjust the dial and cranked up the air conditioning as high as it would go. He made no comment. After a while, he simply reached into the back seat to grab his jacket.

After they’d been driving for hours, Tryyg pulled over to a gas station. Lenora barely waited for the car to stop before running inside. She was relieved that the restroom was unoccupied. Pregnancy bladder was no joke. As soon as she finished washing her hands she moved on to the next order of business: snacks.

She grabbed a bag of Funyuns for Tryyg, because she knew that they were his favorite. She planned on using them to butter him up later. It actually turned out to be one of the better gas stations they’d stopped at since starting her new life of being constantly on the run. There was a small sub shop built into the corner of the building, and there was even a barrel displaying fresh fruit by the register.

Lenora didn’t know how much farther they had to go in order to reach their destination or what she’d find when she got there. So, she decided to stock up on some essentials. She grabbed a two-pack of toothbrushes, a tube of toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and floss . . . basically, everything she’d left behind at the last place.

If she’d have known she wouldn’t be returning, she’d have taken it all with her. Then again, if she’d known that her actions would result in her not being able to return, she probably wouldn’t have left the house in the first place.

What’s that they say? she thought to herself as she continued to fill a small plastic basket. Hindsight’s 20/20?

She made sure to grab some bottled waters and Sprite. She was rarely without Sprite or 7 Up these days because they were one of the few things that helped with the incessant morning sickness. She also made sure to score a couple of boxes of saltines when she passed by the chip aisle.

“Oh, the joys of pregnancy,” she murmured softly.  

An old lady walking by with a box of cookies gave her a weird look when she saw Lenora talking to herself. Lenora didn’t feel that people buying junk food and nothing else should be judging people buying healthy things so she turned her head and ignored her. Then she quickly threw a few pieces of fruit into her basket so that she didn’t have to feel guilty about what she was feeding the baby.

Health firmly in mind, she told the teenage worker to put all of the veggies on her and Tryyg’s turkey subs. Take that, old woman, she thought. She was disappointed when she looked around only to realize that the old woman had already left. There was no one but the uninterested employee to witness her wholesome selections.

When Tryyg finished pumping the gas he came inside and paid for everything. Lenora didn’t complain when he carried the bags outside to the car for her. Chivalry was nice. She was glad she’d thought to grab dinner in advance because they were on the road for a long time.

He didn’t stop driving until it was dark outside. Then he pulled up to a run-down motel. Half of the lights in the sign had burned out, but the letters “v—a—cy” were enough for them to know they had rooms. Unless, of course, the “n—o” bulbs were also burned out.

The place was creepy in a way that had Lenora wishing she’d never watched Psycho. There was a definite Bates Motel vibe going on. She decided to do a thorough check for peepholes and be extra careful in the shower so she didn’t get stabbed to death.

Lenora waited in the car while Tryyg paid for the room. He got back in the car and drove around to the south side of the motel. He parked the car a few spots away from where their room was actually located. She wondered if he’d done so as an added measure of defense.

She doubted it would make any difference. What good would a couple minutes warning be if the Terrazonians managed to track them down? They’d no doubt murder them in their sleep before they even realized they were there.

It was an ugly room with two old queen-sized beds that creaked and dipped down the moment Lenora’s hind quarters met the mattress. Sadly, it wasn’t the worst place they’d stayed in so far. It was certainly cleaner than the cabin where they’d holed up on Tryyg’s home planet. The place had been filled with rubbish and long since taken over by creepy crawlers and nasty critters.

Thinking of the time they’d shared together at the cabin reminded Lenora of her plans for the evening. Smiling, she took her backpack and bags from the gas station into the bathroom with her to freshen up. If only she had some new clothes.

“Stupid morning sickness,” she muttered as she tried to fight down the nausea. Every time she brushed her teeth she almost gagged.

For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why anyone would ever choose to be pregnant intentionally. As far as she could tell, there was nothing positive about being knocked up. But then, those other women probably wanted to have babies in the first place.

She ran a brush through her hair and considered taking a shower. She was afraid that if she stood under a stream of warm water, she’d get too relaxed and sleepy. She didn’t want to lose her nerve, which meant she had to act fast.

She looked in the mirror and gave herself a silent pep talk. You look super hot, and you should totally go seduce the alien in the other room.