Under Sunless Skies (Starlight Saga Book 2) Page 6

  “Hang on, it’s not that simple.” Hayden quietly studies the murky ocean, with a brooding expression marring his handsome face.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel bad or guilty for breaking it off.”

  “It was never my intention to hurt you,” he says tenderly and the soft tone is almost enough to push me over the edge. “But this doesn’t really change things.”

  A blistering flush sweeps over my skin like I’ve been sucker punched. My vision blurs with tears. Guess telling him my big news hasn’t changed anything—a total epic fail—and I was stupid for thinking our breakup was only on a short hiatus.

  Now I have two choices: quietly slink away and lick my wounds, or fight for this relationship. Bruised ego and all, I decide it’s worth it. Hayden is worth it. And he’s going to deep-fry my nerves if he doesn’t stop with the protective act he likes to portray.

  “It does! Don’t you get it?” I grab his hands and squeeze, as if forcing him to understand. “I’m not entirely human. I might not have any special abilities yet, but…I-I thought we could be together now.”

  He doesn’t answer. His moody stare fixes on the horizon, and he blinks rapidly. My body slumps and all my hopes drain into an endless pit, doing a death spiral. Hayden needs to toss me a lifeline before I hit bottom.

  I swipe at my tears with the back of my sleeve. “Obviously, I was wrong. You know what hurts more than losing you?” I stand, the tears coming faster now. “It’s knowing you’re not even fighting to keep me.”

  Just as I turn to go, Hayden grasps my hand and tugs me back onto the bench. “The choice was for your safety, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy decision to make. I felt it on so many different levels of pain that I wasn’t sure which ones to process first.” He stares deeply into my eyes, his steady gaze full of regret, heartache, and pain. “Breaking up with someone you love is terrible. It’s scary as hell, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do because it felt like stabbing my best friend in the back. Every time I heard a song on the radio that we listened to, or I drove past the beach, or glanced at the table where we ate lunch together, this pit in my stomach would grow bigger and bigger. I’m sorry if I hurt you. All I did was cause us both pain….but you must know, I have always loved you.”

  “I don’t understand.” My heart thumps a jagged, disjointed rhythm. “Y-you still love me?”

  “Of course I do, but our relationship is still a risk. Did you forget Sector Thirteen sent Agent Dixon to capture that rogue Meleah for breaking the law? Now it turns out to be your father.”

  “David left the island to talk with the GB. Maybe when my dad gets back, he can talk to Dixon and get this mess sorted out. So I don’t need protecting now.”

  “Dixon helped us out with Tama and Darion, but that doesn’t make him an ally.” He releases his hold, and his expression is so sad and forlorn as if he’s cursed to be alone, untouchable forever. His jaw tenses and he takes a deep breath, blowing it out through his nose. “Look, the day I know you’re safe, I won’t let anything keep us apart.”

  My teeth clench, and the thin thread of control I maintained shatters. “You’re just making excuses!”

  “You want to be angry with me? Fine,” he snaps, his voice tight.

  “Why shouldn’t I be?” I throw up my hands. “All you ever do is push me away and act like I don’t exist, so, really, it’s not a big deal.”

  Hayden grunts low in his throat. “Do you think that’s what I want? Do you think it doesn’t kill me every time I have to walk away from you? See the hurt in your eyes?”

  “Then why?” I ask in a shaky voice.

  Staring at the ground, his tone sounds ragged and torn. “I told you…I have been telling you.” He lifts his head, his eyes misty. “It’s to keep you safe. That’s the only reason—”

  “And I told you, I don’t need protecting.” I bunch my hands into fists, my fingernails biting into my palm to keep from grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a hard shake. “Not anymore.”

  “Yes, you do.” Hayden blows out a breath. “There are Sector Thirteen soldiers out there that might kill you if they have the chance. Every day I’m struggling to make sure that never happens. I don’t know how long it will take, but I can’t ask you to wait for a day that might never come.” He reaches out tentatively as if to touch my face, then jerks his hand back. “Please understand, I will give you everything…just not now. I’m still here for you—”

  “I appreciate that.” My heart pounds painfully. “But if you weren’t so damn stubborn, you’d realize we’re stronger together than apart.”

  “We’re from two different worlds, Sloane. Mine is much more complicated than yours, and we can’t keep pretending like that doesn’t matter.”

  I inwardly groan. The analytical Hayden is back.

  “It only matters if we let it.” I reach out and lightly grip his forearm, the muscles relaxing under my soft touch. “I know why I can’t seem to stay away from you…”

  His stare meets mine and he sighs. “Please don’t make this anymore difficult.”

  “Because you do what’s right, even when it’s hard, and you put others before yourself, and I respect that. It’s one of things that I love most about you.”

  For a moment, it seems like the breeze blowing in off the Bay stops. The noises from the traffic on the road fall silent. Hayden gazes into my eyes as though he’s searching for answers. Maybe hoping to discover something we can both hang onto together, like a glimmer of hope.

  He groans, then gathers me in his arms and kisses my forehead. “I’ve missed you so much it hurts. Just give me some time to figure things out. Please?”

  I give myself a mental fist-pump because Hayden’s arms wrap around me tighter, and nothing has ever felt more right. It’s like finding the last piece of a particularly complex jigsaw puzzle and knowing we fit together perfectly.

  “This is so unfair.” A massive twinge hits my heart and I move out of his embrace. “There has to be a way to reason with whoever’s in charge of these stupid laws. My dad’s meeting with the GB overlords because he wants to start an integration program. That could change everything, right?”

  “It might, but from my own experience, Sector Thirteen can’t be reasoned with. They’re more purists, whereas most Meleah who’re tired of living in secret might be more willing to try it. Although, I highly doubt ST will be as receptive to the idea of amalgamating the species.” He tilts his head and narrows his eyes. “By the way, why were you acting out in trig? I thought Mrs. Brooks was going to have a mini-stroke.”

  “I don’t know. I’m going through so much stuff lately that I guess I just needed to vent.”

  Hayden nods, stroking my arm in a familiar rhythm that soothes me, and makes me relax a little. “She had no right to talk to you like that.”

  I kick a seashell. “It’s not like I’m waving a freak flag, so I don’t get why anyone cares if I wear lots of black.”

  I don’t add that darker fashion camouflages the plump body I’m stuck in, but don’t like—the extra curvy hips and flabby thighs, the huge breasts bursting out of department store bras and requiring those embarrassing jaunts into the Old Lady Brassiere section that stinks of sour peppermint and talcum powder.

  Hayden’s expression softens. “So you’re doing okay?”

  I glance at the horizon for a second before meeting his gaze. “I’m surviving.”

  “Me, too.” He wraps his arms around me again and this amazing rush of heat quickly follows, encompassing my body from my toes to the top of my head. “I realize being apart is hard, but we’re not dealing with reasonable people.”

  I swallow, trying to keep my emotions in check. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Thank you for understanding, despite everything I’ve put you through.” His voice is quiet and sincere.

  Being alone on the beach with Hayden makes it seem as if we’re the only two people in the entire world. Hayden presses me to his chest and
my body melts into his arms. Oh, this is where I’ve yearned to be. Incredible, sweet warmth fills my chest, as if someone’s baking a chocolate cake in there. I rest my head against his shoulder, and he tenderly kisses my temple. When his arms tighten around me, it’s so easy to fantasize that we never broke up. And I don’t want to consider that this is just a pity hug, a way to keep me calm, or because he feels guilty for breaking my heart. It doesn’t matter. I’m so much happier pretending he’s mine again. If only for these few precious moments…

  Hayden pulls back and his head snaps up.

  In the distance, a trail of dust billows behind a line of black SUVs with darkly tinted windows, followed by five military trucks rumbling past and traveling toward the Naval Base on the island.

  EIGHT

  Hayden sucks in a breath. “Sector Thirteen is here. They must be setting up shop at the abandoned Naval Base. I wonder what they’re up to now.”

  My stomach twists into painful knots. “Whatever it is, it can’t be for their yearly visitation, right?”

  “Right. They did one after Tama and Darion were arrested.” Hayden grimaces. “My parents said that some Meleah scientists want to shut down the project since they’ve lost contact with the Zetas. ST might be here to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

  He curses under his breath and twists in his seat at the crunch of tires on gravel.

  I turn around just as a burgundy Lexus parks beside our two vehicles in the beach’s parking lot. The car door opens and closes. A man in his early thirties with longish hair steps out, wearing a white button-up shirt and black slacks. He has pale skin, almost grayish, and thin lips that curl upward. It is Arcane, one of the Galactic Brotherhood leaders.

  No doubt here to ruin my alone time with Hayden.

  Arcane steps around the bench to face us, his steely gaze flickering from Hayden to me. “Well, well, if it isn’t Grimm Haven’s own Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.”

  Without responding, I raise an eyebrow at his Star Wars doomed romance reference. Who knew Arcane was a geeky fan of science fiction?

  Hayden folds his arms over his chest, his biceps flexing. “To what do we owe the dishonor?”

  “I went by your house but no one was home. As I was driving past, I spotted your car,” Arcane replies. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t welcome.”

  Hayden’s body stiffens. “Maybe that’s because every time I see you, Arcane, you seem to be warning me of something.”

  He intently focuses on Arcane in some testosterone laden stare-down that lasts several seconds.

  Then Arcane breaks eye contact, and glances at me with his mouth twisting, then glares at Hayden. “Still fraternizing with the subspecies, huh? I thought you were breaking it off with her.”

  Holy hell, here we go again. The nasty remark pinches an already sore place in my heart. What is it with the Meleah being so anti-human?

  “Arcane, I wouldn’t go there if I were you.” Hayden’s tone is sharp, almost threatening. “We’re friends.”

  “I hope you’re telling the truth this time, because you two—it can’t happen.” Arcane’s chin lifts slightly. “Your parents will be so disappointed. Wasn’t that made clear to you, Hayden?”

  “Yeah, well, why don’t you try to make her understand it,” Hayden says, jerking his chin in my direction. “So far, I’m not having much luck.”

  “Hey!” I glare at him. “I’m not a stalker!”

  “Aren’t you?” A slight grin teases at Hayden’s mouth. “You must admit, you are very nosey.”

  “Well, I’m a reporter and it’s kinda my job to be inquisitive,” I counter.

  “Um, kids,” Arcane says, and we both glance at him. “Can we please—”

  “Besides, if you didn’t keep ignoring me, then I wouldn’t have to stalk you,” I say, ignoring Arcane.

  Hayden’s eyebrows raise a fraction. “Now we’re getting somewhere. So you fully admit to being a stalker?”

  “No way!” I lightly punch his arm. “I had good reasons for tracking you down.”

  “Kids!” Arcane bellows. “I came here to warn you—”

  “No need. I didn’t break my promise, Arcane,” I say. Well, except for telling, Viola, but that doesn’t count. “I haven’t told anyone about the Meleah, but there’s something else…”

  Hayden puts one hand on my arm and I go quiet. He’s protecting me, and the realization makes me bite my tongue. Maybe it’s not the best time to inform Arcane that my dad’s a Meleah, too.

  I get to my feet and move to my car. “I think I’ll let you guys chat.”

  “I’m thinking Arcane should go.” Hayden stares at him, his gaze never wavering. “Unless he has another purpose for being here, other than sticking his big nose in other people’s business.”

  “It becomes my business when it endangers the clan.” Arcane folds his hands behind his back. “She stinks, so I expect you to take care of that, Hayden. Pronto.”

  “Rude!” I scowl at the older Meleah. “I do not stink!”

  “Oh, yes, you do.” Arcane tilts his head, squinting at us. “And while I hate to be the bearer of bad news again, we’ve got company in Grimm Haven.”

  “I saw the ST caravan,” Hayden says. “What’s Sector Thirteen planning now?”

  “I’m not sure…I thought…” Arcane scratches his head before shooting Hayden with a sharp look. “They might only be here for the annual debriefing, but I’ll try to find out. In the meantime, be careful.” He stalks off, getting into his Lexus and driving away.

  Twilight arrives, and the sky turns a pretty indigo. The glimmering lights of the distant houses and buildings across the Bay twinkle like fireflies.

  Hayden stands. “Let’s take a walk. I think better when I’m moving.”

  We walk along the beach with only the sound of our feet plodding through the sand and the lulling whisper of the salty breeze stirring our hair. A tangle of seaweed knots in the sand, the tide playing a game of tug-of-war with the slimy strands. No one else nearby. Nobody spying on us, yet the sudden awareness of being watched persists. Sector Thirteen soldiers could be hiding anywhere. Or the blackmailer could be spying on us.

  “I think I know why Sector Thirteen’s planning a visit to the island.” I touch his arm. “Because of my dad, but why didn’t you want me to tell Arcane about my family?”

  “I’m not entirely sure who we can trust yet.” Hayden stuffs his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Sector Thirteen only hunts us if we commit a crime or hurt a human. Or if we don’t check-in with them once a year for a complete physical exam. Otherwise, they pretty much leave us alone. As long as we don’t break the rules, then they seem content to provide the Meleah with money, jobs, and homes. Almost like a bribe, you could say, for our silence, and if they should ever need our powers. We’re the government’s secret weapon.”

  Hayden and I hike back to our parked cars in silence. The area is pretty much deserted, except the occasional jogger zipping by.

  “Why did Arcane say I stunk? Which was beyond rude,” I say.

  “Because whenever we teleport, it leaves a type of residue in the air, like pheromones or an invisible type of ectoplasm, and it clings to human skin.” He rocks on his heels. “That’s one reason why Meleah try not to use their powers around humans, but…things don’t always go as planned.”

  “You’re talking about the night we teleported from the club.”

  “Yes, it left my scent—that residual-type pheromone—on your skin. Sector Thirteen doesn’t like it when we expose our powers to humans,” he says, leaning on the fender.

  “Oh, god.” Heaviness spreads from my chest to my stomach. “Does this mean I’ll put my family in danger?”

  “No, it’s not that strong now.” He gazes at me for a moment, the corners of his mouth turning downward. “The pheromones don’t last long, but there’s no way to mask the scent.”

  I stare out at the surf in thoughtful silence. The rocks resemble indented slabs of black ma
rble, glistening with the afterglow of the high tide. Seagulls dive-bomb the murky waters.

  “How many humans know about our species?” I ask.

  His brows knit together. “You’re not a Meleah. You’re a new species that’s more human, than Zeta. That’s why the residue fuses to your skin. My parents call them shalinayas.”

  “I’ve heard the term. Are there more shalinayas around? Have you ever met any?”

  That uneven grin quirks his lips. “Only one.”

  That either makes me a special snowflake or a freak. I’m going with freak mainly because of my little brother. He’d be annoying in any species grouping.

  “Peaches?” His entire body goes rigid and his gaze fixes on something over my shoulder.

  “I hate when you call me that—”

  “Shut up.” He grips my arm and gently pushes me behind him. “Promise me you won’t scream.”

  “You’re being weird.” I try to move around his body, but he clutches my wrist and shoves me back a step. “Why would I scream?”

  “I think a reaper is roaming the beach.” He slams his fist on the hood of his SUV. “Dammit! I feel like this is all my fault. I’m so, so sorry.”

  I peer over his shoulder at the shoreline and my blood turns to ice. I’ve been transported into a horror movie on steroids. Cold sweat sends my body into shivers.

  No more than twenty-feet from us are a pair of two hundred-pound monsters, well-muscled with bulky bodies and giant heads. The creatures look like cracked-out mutated bears and dogs mixed in a DNA blender. Each animal’s tense muscles ripple powerfully beneath greenish-mottled fur that stands on end like a mohawk running along their backs. A gross frothing slobber drips from their panting mouths.

  My adrenaline spikes. “What the hell are those…” I squint. “Bear monster things?”

  He glowers at the beasts, his jaw tense. “Sector Thirteen must’ve cooked them up in their lab.”

  My body shakes, and I’m about to pee myself. “Like an experiment gone wrong or something?”

  “Or gone right. I’ve heard rumors that ST wanted a way to find humans that might be exposed to our powers. My father calls these creatures, reapers.”