Chapter Four
Rayden finished wiping the glass and set it on the marred surface of the bar countertop. His moves were practiced and he played the part well. But I still don’t completely fit in here.
Music played from an old jukebox in one corner of the largeroom, a specific style the humans called country. After two years working as a bartender at Old Rusty’s, Rayden had heard every song on the damned contraption at least fifty times. Somedays he actually enjoyed the simple melodies, but other days, like today, every note seemed to pluck at his throbbing head.
He hid his irritation well, his mask firmly in place. He’d dived into his life as a human the same way he’d dived into the role of being next in line to be Khar of his people. He spoke, ate, drank, and thought the way he needed to in order to become what was necessary. But becoming a human was a hell of a lot more fun than having the weight of an entire people on my shoulders.
“Another round of shots! And four more drinks!” a drunk female college student shouted, followed by a round of giggles from her companions, and a quieter, “Mr. Sexy Bartender.”
Of course.That’s what I’m here for.
Every one of the girls was smoking. The damn fumes always made his temples ache. Humans.Why would a species do something so toxic to itself? I would never allow it for my people.
Grabbing bottles without thought, he poured four more shots of a beverage known as a Lemon Drop, and strode to the other end of the bar. The girls watched his every move with a hunger he’d grown to recognize.
He set the shot glasses down in front of them.“That’ll be another twenty.”
The girl in front of him, a tall blonde with a shirt so low one nipple was actually hanging out, grinned as she slid him a fifty. “Keep the change.”
He raised a brow and nodded in thanks, but said nothing as he slid it off the well-worn countertop.
But as he turned to go, her voice stopped him. “Your name is Rayden, right?”
Looking back at her, he knew exactly where the conversation was going, but had to walk the steps of the dance anyway. “Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled, leaning over farther. “You know on campus they call you the Sexy Bartender?”
“I know,” he said, shifting his weight, waiting patiently.
Old Rusty’s was on the outskirts of the college town surrounded by tree-covered mountains. The people in his area were nice, mostly older, and treated each other as family. A short five-minute drive through the city, however, brought them to the crowding of shops, restaurants, and other business that surrounded the university. This bar never really attracted college kids, according to Rusty himself…that was until Rayden had come to work for him.
“You’re a little on the odd side,” Rusty had said those two long years ago, “but I think you’ll bring girls like a steak luring a goddamned mountain lion.
And he was right.
So now, even though Rayden was an alien far from home, he’d found a job on the little blue planet. One that paid him enough to have a place of his own, food to eat, and a beat-up truck that got him from point A to point B. It was better than he could’ve hoped for when his ship had malfunctioned. But I still need to get back.Somehow.
“Sexy dark hair, sexy dark eyes…every girl on campus would probably do anything for you.”
He forced himself to focus his attention on her. She was probably what a human would call beautiful, her youthful vibrancy and curvy body a beacon to any man. Except me.
Even if he never got off this planet, none of these young girls were for him. The simple truth was, they weren’t her. Syri.His mate.
The college girl was too bold, but her smile was genuine and after all his experience he knew it was just the liquor talking. Let her down easy.
“Do you want to go for a drive or something?” the blonde asked.
One of her friends raised a glass, and suddenly they were all distracted as they slammed their shots. The blonde stroked his hand. “How about that drive?”
He wanted to just tell her no, but that wasn’t what he was paid for. Remember, it’s an act. Play the part. Instead, he leaned in and trailed a finger down her jaw. “Sorry, beautiful, but I’ve got to work late.”
“I can wait,” she said, her rapid, alcohol-laced breath puffing against his face.
“Maybe another night.” He flashed her a smile that seemed to melt her right into her chair, then turned to focus on cleaning up. It was almost closing time, after all.
“Good work,” Rusty said, leaning back in his favorite seat at the other end of the bar. “They’ll be sure to come back for their chance to have a go at you.”
“Shut up, asshat,” he said to his friend, topping off the other man’s ale.
The human language has its moments.
Rayden was one of the few people who knew that this Rusty was actually the third “Rusty” to own the bar. He was middle-aged for human years, with a slight belly and too much gray hair for his age. Gray whiskers grew wildly on his face, and his white T-shirt was stained. Probably from his chicken wings at lunch.
But Rusty was what they called…good people. Rayden used to say “a good person” instead, but that was just the kind of formal talk the locals raised a brow at. But it didn’t really matter what Rayden called it, Rusty was loyal, honest, and hardworking. Rayden was glad to call him a friend.
A couple of regulars came up from their table, and he poured them another round of beers before giving last call. Just a short time later, he flashed the lights on and off as the drunks inside slowly made their way to the door. He took the keys from his regulars and left them to stumble the short distance to their house. Then, he pointed out the cab he’d already called for the college girls. When he finally locked the door, he stared at the handle for a moment, feeling for a moment strangely weary.
“Want to talk about it?”Rusty asked, clapping him on the shoulder.
Rayden almost shook his head, but instead walked to the bar and sat down next to his closest friend, stealing the rest of his ale. Rusty was the only one who knew his secret, a fact that he’d gone from being terrified about to being grateful for. “Not really.”
“Yeah, right.” Rusty had the nerve to laugh.
Humans laughed a lot. That was one thing Rayden loved about them. Even simple things could bring the pleasant sound bubbling from their lips. My own people show their emotions…but not quite so freely.
“Missing home?” his friend said, sounding a little more serious.
Rayden sipped the ale, wincing at the sharpness to it. “Not exactly.”
“Well, come on, old man, out with it,” he barked, reaching around the bar to pour himself another ale. “You can’t just sit there with that damn sour look on your face.”
“I don’t have a sour look on my face!” Rayden said, glaring.
“Please, you damn fool. That blonde was begging you to plow her all night, and you couldn’t even stop worrying long enough to notice.” It was his turn to glare. “If she’d have thrown herself at me, I’d have taken her sweet little nipples and…”
“All right, all right!” Rayden smiled, and stared down at the amber liquid in his mug. “Everything seemed so clear when I left…but the closer it gets to their arrival, the more worried I become.”
It was true. When he’d left his people two years before, he’d planned to use their brand-new, one-of-a-kind ship to visit Earth, prove the humans were worth saving, and head home. But when his ship had crashed, everything changed.
Yet, everything will change again when they arrive here…in what, two weeks?
Rusty cocked his head. “You worry they won’t find you before blowing us all to kingdom come?”
Yes.
“No,” he lied, taking a deep breath, then prepared a half-truth. “Someone sabotaged my ship. Someone close to me. Only a handful of people knew about it and my mission. You’d think by now I’d have figured out who it was, but I haven’t.”
“Well,” Rusty
said, taking another sip of his ale. “You’ll catch the damn son of a bitch once they get here, I’m sure. The bastard will show himself eventually.”
“That I will,” Rayden said, a cold fury coming over him. “But it isn’t just the traitor. I worry that without me there to influence my father and the council these years, they won’t give me enough of a chance to argue in favor of saving humanity.”
Rusty glanced at him, raising one untamed brow. “You’re a stubborn jackass. I have no doubt you won’t let them kill us off.”
He nodded. And then there’s my other fear.
“Are you thinking about her again?” Rusty’s voice held a note of satisfaction.
“No!”
But he was. Syri haunted his thoughts more and more lately. When she’d left for the Garden of Virtue, they’d been children. Receiving pictures of her was not allowed, so his image of her should still be that of a young girl. But for some reason, he could picture her as a woman grown…his brain seemed to freeze at just the thought of her.
She was so beautiful. Tough. Headstrong. Intelligent.
The women of his planet often chose to be seen but not heard. But not his Syri, her voice carried a power among the council even as a young girl. Many people argued it was because her father was the Khar’s greatest advisor, yet Rayden didn’t agree. Syri fought for the humans of Earth as loudly as Rayden himself.
But what had happened since he was gone? If they were sure he was dead, they may have given Syri to another man. Just the thought of it brought fury racing through his veins. Clenching his fists, he willed the anger back inside. Rusty might have accepted his strange friend was an alien, but he hated it when his powers flared.
“She must’ve been something special to get you so wound up.”
He almost denied it. “Yes. She was.”
“She’ll be waiting for you. I mean, look at you. I’d never swim in the man pond, but even I do a double take when you walk by.” Rusty shook his shaggy head, chugging the rest of his ale.
“So, you got a thing for me then?” Rayden said, grinning.
“Shut your damn mouth. Goddamned mouthy aliens, using their weird powers to make a man as straight as a ruler do a double take.” He thumped his drink down with a little too much force.
Rayden swallowed down his usual response: that’s not how my powers work.“Well, I’d better head out. I got work to do.”
Rusty rose from his seat, walking him to the door. “Your ship any closer to working?”
“It’s close.”
But not close enough. Because as much as he tried to reassure his friend that the Elementas wouldn’t just kill all intelligent beings when they arrived, the truth was he wasn’t sure. He needed to return to the mother ship before they reached Earth. Or all could be lost.