The Falcon Prince (20 page)

She could feel the color drain from her face. “Ohmygod, Mom. That can’t happen. It could open a can of worms that we might not be able to close.”

Silence.

“Mom?”

“What if they find out
you’re
part alien?”

Her pulse sped up again. “If they did that they might—” What? Dissect her? Lock her away in some kind of institution? An eight-by-eight cell with a two-way mirror so they could observe her? She barely swallowed past the lump in her throat.

And what about her parents? They would definitely be at risk for harboring an alien all these years. Ria had to do something, and she had to do it fast.

“Mom, I’ll call you back. I need to get home.” Kristor would know what to do. She handed the phone back to Jeanie, hands shaking.

“What’s wrong?” Jeanie asked, biting her bottom lip.

“I can’t talk about it right now.” She grabbed her purse, then pulled the curtains closed and locked the door. “Can you lock up the back?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“After you do, go out that way, too. And hurry. If anyone talks to you, tell them I’m out of town for a few days.”

“If you need anything, call me,” Jeanie said.

Ria stopped before stepping into the back. “Thanks, Jeanie.” And she was so glad Jeanie didn’t press for more answers.

She glanced both ways before stepping outside. All clear. She hurried to her car and unlocked it. After tossing her purse inside, she slid under the steering wheel and started her car.

Someone tapped on her window.

She jumped and screamed at the same time, her hand flying to her chest.

K
ristor looked up when someone knocked. Ria hadn’t said she was expecting anyone. He glanced down at the towel still knotted at his waist. A promise was a promise and he tried never to break a promise. He sauntered to the door and opened it. Three men stood on the porch, all wearing the same kind of black suit, white shirt, and black tie. An uneasy feeling washed over him.

“Are you Kristor Valkyir?” the oldest of the men asked.

There was something about him that immediately put Kristor on his guard. He looked at the other two men, then quickly dismissed them as followers, rather than leaders.

“Yes, that is who I am.”

“I’m Agent Adam Richards. May we come in for a moment?” Without waiting, he pushed his way inside. “We have reason to believe you might be in the United States illegally.”

“Why would you think that?”

Agent Richards smiled, but he looked more pleased than anything. “An anonymous phone call alerted us to the possibility. Of course, if you can produce papers, then we’ll be on our way.”

Kristor glanced over the man’s shoulder and saw the black van. If they were only here to check for papers, why have three agents and a van, when one agent and a car would have been enough?

Kristor smiled. “Of course. My papers are in the bedroom. I will get them.” His database was on Ria’s nightstand. He could produce a set of papers in only a moment or two.

He turned and walked toward the bedroom. In the mirror above the sofa, he saw Agent Richards motion to the other two men. Kristor grabbed a chair and flung it toward them, but they must have been expecting something because they dodged it and tackled him.

“Cuff him,” Agent Richards said.

With the biggest of the agents sitting on top of Kristor, he could barely breathe let alone try to move. As soon as he was cuffed, they dragged him to his feet. The towel slipped to the floor in the process.

Agent Richards wore a look of disgust. “Get him some pants on.”

The two agents led him toward the bedroom.

“Wait!” Richards said and walked closer. “That’s an unusual birthmark on your ass.”

It was the mark all Symtarians wore: A small rose. But it was not just any rose. No man could ever duplicate the mark.

“Not so unusual,” Kristor said.

“Oh, you think not?” His words rang with superiority.

His gut clenched. There was something about the man. A knowing smirk. Kristor wondered how he knew he was an alien. And he did know. Kristor was almost positive.

“Get him dressed. I want him out of here pronto.”

While they helped him pull on a pair of jeans, Kristor wondered if he would ever see Ria again.

R
ia looked out her window. Donald. “No time,” she mouthed.

“Immigration,” he mouthed back.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Had they been all over town asking questions? Oh, no. How long would it take them to get to her house? Maybe she could hide Kristor at Carly’s. Yes, that was it. That’s what she would do.

Donald wasn’t leaving. She pushed the button on her window and the glass silently slid downward. “I’m in a bit of a hurry. Would you please move.” Or risk losing your toes or something else he might want to keep attached to his body.

“People have been asking about your friend,” he said with a snarky smirk plastered on his face.

“So I’ve been told. I really do have to leave.”

“Too late. I heard they were already on their way to your house. You might want to keep a safe distance. I’d hate for you to get into trouble with the law. Of course, we both knew this Kristor was bad news from the start.”

He looked a little too smug. “Donald, move the hell out of my way or lose a body part.” She slammed the car into reverse and stepped on the gas. Donald barely jumped out of the way before getting hit. Still, he tripped over the concrete parking slab and landed on his butt. She wished she had time to see the expression on his face. She was pretty sure he wasn’t quite so smug anymore.

It served him right. Ria had a feeling he had something to do with immigration agents being in town in the first place. It was the whoopee cushion incident all over again, except this time the stakes were a lot higher.

As she hurtled toward her house, she speed-dialed Carly. Ria breathed a sigh of relief when her friend answered on the first ring. She really needed Carly right now.

“We’ll take you to places you’ve only dreamed about at Wilson’s Travel Agency—”

“Carly,” Ria interrupted.

“Ria, what’s wrong?”

“Immigration might be on the way to my house. Can you meet me there? I know I’m asking a lot, but can Kristor stay with you? Just for a little while. Until it’s safe. I’ll explain more later.”

“Yes, of course. Oh, God, Ria. I’m so sorry. I—”

“I’ll talk to you when you get here. Hurry.”

“I’m on my way.”

She snapped the phone closed and dropped it inside her purse. Please don’t let them already be there, she prayed. If they weren’t, she would get him into her car, and they would get away as fast as she could drive.

Then what?
Shintara asked.

“I don’t have time for this,” she told her guide. “And where the hell have you been?”

I was busy.

Busy? Doing what?

Ria didn’t ask as she slid around a corner practically on two wheels.

I’m too young to die!
Shintara screeched.

“You’re not going to die.”

Crap, that was it. Kristor could shift into his animal guide and fly away. If only she had a phone in her house she could call and warn him, but all she had was her cell. She didn’t think calling her nosy neighbor would work. What would she say? Could you run over and tell the alien who’s staying with me that he needs to shapeshift into a hawk and fly away before immigration arrives and carts him away? Nope, that wouldn’t cut it.

She pulled up to her house and slammed on her brakes, skidding to a stop just before she plowed into the unmarked, black government van. It had exempt license plates. What the hell else could it be?

Her heart plummeted.

There was nothing she could do. She could only sit and watch as they led him out of her house in handcuffs, wearing only a pair of jeans.

Everything moved in slow motion. She vaguely knew when she opened her car door and got out. A man in a suit hurried over to her.

“Are you Rianna Lancaster?”

Dazed, she could only look at him.

“Ma’am, I’m Agent Jack Stafford and I’ll ask you one more time. Are you Rianna Lancaster?”

“Yes,” she finally answered. “What are you doing?” She started to go to Kristor, but suit-man put out a hand to stop her.

“It’s best you keep your distance for now. We have reason to believe the man who has been staying with you is an illegal alien. He can’t produce any papers. Do you realize it’s against the law to harbor someone who is in the United States illegally?” He glared at her.

She realized just how official he looked. There were three of them. All wearing the same style dark suit, black shoes, white shirt, and black tie. And they all wore the same dead-pan expressions, except the one glaring at her right now.

“He’s not from another country,” she told him. Not exactly a lie, but she hoped it would keep Kristor out of jail. Not that she really thought it would work.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I just don’t think he would lie about something like that.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Has he done anything strange or out of the ordinary?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“We looked through our records and a woman called about a possible alien from another planet, but the person taking the report laughed it off, except there was a blip on the radar about that same time. So, I’m asking you again, is there something strange about this Kristor guy that you’re not telling us?”

She swallowed hard, then cocked an eyebrow. “Are you going to stand there and tell me you believe in aliens?”

He let out a deep breath and relaxed just a little. “No, I don’t, but there was enough evidence to at least check him out.” His expression changed to one of pity. “I’m sorry, ma’am. You need to be careful who you take in. I know you have your own business. Women like you are ripe for the picking. He’s probably a scam artist.”

“No, he’s not.”

“We’ll know soon enough.”

“But I love him.” And she did. With all her heart. Why hadn’t she just left with him in his spacecraft? She could’ve taken enough drugs to knock herself out. She wouldn’t have even known when they left the ground. Maybe.

She looked around. But could she leave everything behind? Her business, her family? She met Kristor’s gaze across the expanse of her front yard. He looked furious, but quickly masked his feelings, and smiled at her. Even now, he was trying to protect her. What had she gotten him into?

“I’ll get you out of jail,” she called to him. She turned to the agent. “How much is his bail?”

“I’m afraid there isn’t any. If he’s here legally, we’ll let him go. If not, we’ll deport him.”

“Deport him?” She’d like to see them try. “Where are you taking him?”

Before he could answer, Carly pulled up, her face as white as a sheet. Ria ran to her as she got out of the car.

“They’re taking him away,” Ria sobbed, falling into her friend’s arms.

“Let’s get you into the house.”

“They won’t let me.”

“They’re leaving.”

Ria whipped around. “No, they can’t.” She ran toward the black van, but it sped off in a small cloud of dust.

“I have to go after them.”

Carly pulled her toward the house. “It won’t do you any good. If he’s not here legally, then they’ll deport him. But I’m sure he’ll try to contact you. Besides, they’ll probably lock him up here. Heath and Neil will make sure they don’t harm Kristor.” Once inside, Carly shut the door from prying neighbors.

Ria paced the living room. “You don’t understand. There’s more to it than that.”

“More what, Ria?” Carly watched Ria with troubled eyes. “What haven’t you told me?”

Ria stopped, and looked at her friend. It was time to tell her everything. She took a deep breath. “He’s an alien.”

“I figured that one out,” Carly said. “But all they’ll do is deport him. I’ll get you a discount ticket and you can go to wherever he’s from.”

She shook her head. “Only if you can get a ticket to another planet.”

Carly opened her mouth, then snapped it closed. Her forehead puckered in thought, then her eyes widened. “He scammed you into believing he’s an alien from another planet? You have got to be kidding me.”

“He wasn’t scamming me. He’s a shapeshifting alien from the planet New Symtaria, and I’m part alien. My father was part alien; my mother was from Earth.”

“You haven’t been smoking anything, have you?” She scanned the room. “We didn’t do drugs in school. Why would you start now?”

“I’m not on drugs.”

A car pulled up out front, and doors slammed a few seconds later. She ran to the door and opened it.

“Mom! Dad!”

They rushed inside.

Ria fell into their outstretched arms. “Men in black suits came and took Kristor away. What am I going to do? What if they discover he’s an alien?”

“I’ll call Heath. Maybe we can break him out of jail,” her father said.

“I could bake a pie and hide a file inside,” her mother suggested.

“Whoa!” Carly looked at each of them. “Have y’all lost your minds? He’s not an alien from another planet and you can’t break him out of jail! That’s illegal. Do you want to spend the rest of your lives behind bars?”

Her mother and father looked at each other. “You haven’t told her?” her mother asked.

“It just never seemed like the right time.”

Carly threw her arms into the air. “Oh, puleeze! This is so not happening.”

“I have to see him. Make sure he’s okay.” Ria looked at her father. He would know what to do. He always knew what to do.

“I’ll call Heath. He’ll be able to tell us what Kristor’s rights are. I’ll hire him a lawyer. Whatever it takes.”

But before her father could make the call, Heath and Neil pulled up in the patrol car and jumped out. Running toward the porch, they took the steps two at a time, which didn’t take long to reach the top since there were only four steps.

Her father flung the screen door open. “We have a mess on our hands, fellas.”

“You can say that again,” Heath said.

Neil went to Carly’s side. “You okay?”

She shook her head. “They’ve all lost their minds.” She hiccupped back a sob.

“What are they doing to Kristor?” Ria asked.

“I don’t know,” Heath said with a worried frown.

Ria froze. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t he locked in your jail?”

He shook his head. “They took him back to their office. One of them said they’d gotten some information Kristor was more than an illegal alien. That he might be from another planet.” He shook his head. “I know, it sounds crazy. That’s the government for you, though.”

“That’s what the agent told me, too. That they got an anonymous phone call.” Ria sat down on the sofa with a hard thud. “Who would tell them such a thing?”

“Me,” Carly squeaked. “Oh, God, don’t hate me. I was desperate, and scared for you.”

“Why?” Ria asked, tears welling in her eyes. “I thought we were friends. You could’ve just come to me, not strangers.”

“I was protecting you. I’m so sorry. When I couldn’t find New Symtaria on any map, I called Donald for advice and he encouraged me to call immigration.”

Ria’s lip curled. “Yeah, I just bet he did.” It was a good thing Donald wasn’t here or she’d flatten him. She came to her feet, ready to put a stop to all of this. “Where are they taking him?” she asked Heath.

He shook his head. “They told me they were taking him to an undisclosed location. I’m sure he’ll be okay, though. The worst they’ll do is deport him.”

“No, that isn’t the worst thing. I have to know where he’s going. What direction did they leave in?”

“East. But you’ll never catch them now,” Neil said. “All you can do is wait.”

I can find them,
Shintara said.
After all, I have the eyes of a hawk.

Fear filled Ria at the thought of shifting into her animal guide. Could she do it if it meant saving the man she loved?

No, she couldn’t.

The thought of flying terrified her. She didn’t want to crash in a blazing ball of fire: She hadn’t married or had children or anything.

Of course, the man she loved was being carted away to God knows where, to possibly be dissected by mad scientists. If they did that, she would probably live a lonely miserable life, then die an old maid.

You can do it,
Shintara’s words whispered through Ria.

I’m scared.

Face your fears. You can do it. I’ll be there with you every step of the way.

Ria had a feeling she was going to regret what she was about to do, but she couldn’t see any way around it. She took a deep breath.

“I can find him,” she said. “If I shapeshift into my animal guide.”