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“Our father is protective, but we can’t blame him. Not after the tragedy that our planet experienced. I should be fourth in line for the throne. We all knew that the firstborn, my sister, would one day become queen.” He went quiet and Jenna wanted to kick herself. She knew what happened to the females on their planet. The Tan-ge manufactured a virus to attack anyone with DNA that made them female.
There were times she wondered what would have happened if they had let lose a virus like that on Earth. It was the Diza who were fighting the battle for them. She knew what happened when the Tan-ge landed in a small mid-western town. It was a bloodbath, and no one had been able to stop them. It was one Tan-ge and he killed thousands before a Diza doing exploration stopped him.
“Welcome to Earth if no one remembered to say that to you. No matter how long you stay, I hope you have a good time and see that we are worth fighting for.” His smile was genuine. He didn’t show his teeth, but he didn’t have to. She could see it in his eyes.
If she wasn’t broken, maybe it would have been possible, but she was, and the pie in the sky wasn’t a real dessert.
“Thank you, sweet Jenna, it was the nicest welcome I have received.”
“I made you welcome and even asked if you wanted a domicile of your own.” Rakha popped his oldest brother upside of his head.
Jenna giggled, and Bella and Amelia joined her. Siblings were siblings no matter what planet they came from. They finished dinner. Jenna stood and started collecting plates to take to the kitchen.
“You don’t have to do that,” Thad said.
“Remember, I’m your favorite sister. I can help if I want to.” What she wanted was some time away from SaKura.
“Thanks for letting me hang out with you.” Jenna was sitting at the island in the kitchen. The main floor was an open concept, but Bella asked Rakha to put up a wall between the kitchen and dining room so Thad would have some privacy when he was cooking. No one wanted to be stared at when they were producing recipes that people would kill for.
“You need some time.” Thad snickered before he started doing the dishes. He used some type of high-tech method that not only cleaned but sterilized the dishes and didn’t require water.
“I just don’t do well in crowds.” Thad snorted, and she ignored him. She didn’t do well in crowds, but that wasn’t the case here. She needed to get away from SaKura.
“The Diza are fascinating people. The minute they go on the hunt, they don’t stop. They will only hunt a prize they deem worthy. When the crown-elect goes on a hunt, he or she will not stop until they trap their prey. I hope your sister told you that the Diza hunt their mates.”
Jenna swallowed hard and then started coughing. All the dreams she had over the last several months came back to her. In every one of them, she was running because something bigger and badder than her was hunting her. Something she was sure she’d never escape.
“I suppose that is SaKura’s older brother.”
“You would think. I have it on good authority that he doesn’t want the crown.” She nodded wisely; it was all the more reason he needed to go home after he visited with his brother. She held her tongue not liking the look that Thad was giving her.
“Is there something I should know?” Thad’s eyes flicked from her to the doorway and back again.
She felt like she was being watched and didn’t know what to make of it.
“Do you trust me?” Surprisingly, she did. He was the one who got her out of Bella’s and Rakha’s reception when everything went up in flames.
“Run.”
Chapter Five
SaKura was sitting in the same chair he’d been in earlier when talking to Bella. His eyes closed when Jenna made a break for the door. It was all he’d been waiting for. He knew she’d run. Later, she may say it wasn’t her idea, but it was. Her legs had moved through dinner like she was forcing herself to sit still. Consciously, she might not understand, but with her gift, she understood subconsciously. That was the part that was in control right now.
“Rakha?”
“Your wish, my will, crown-elect,” Rakha said. One day SaKura would ascend the throne, barring no unforeseen accidents.
It wasn’t the crown elect who said Rakha’s name. It was his brother who was once upon a time fourth in the line of succession and never thought he’d wear the crown.
“Rakha.” This was between brothers older to younger and nothing else.
Rakha frowned at SaKura and then smiled. This was them, brothers, and the crown meant nothing between them.
“Yes.”
SaKura smiled and lifted a finger, making a production of circling it over his head. Jenna wasn’t the only one who was different.
Jenna was running down the driveway when everything changed. The landscape became a mesh of trees, sand, and boulders. It looked like the unfamiliar monster world meshed with the human world to give her an unreasonably tough challenge. What was happening? She shied away from the voice in her head that said she knew what was happening. The monster who decided to make her his was hunting her. She shivered, whether it was with pleasure or dread was anyone’s guess. This had been the driveway a minute ago, so it stood to reason it was still the driveway. All she had to do was get to the end of it and then she’d be free. After that, she’d stay away until Bella told her that SaKura, who was a menace wearing the face and body of a monster, left.
