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“That is highly unlikely, and that room is at our normal ship’s temperature. It is an infirmary. We cannot cool it for you.”

“I don’t care. I like it hot.”

“You don’t know what you are asking. We have cooled every area you have passed through to make you comfortable. Our normal ship’s temperatures may harm your lungs.”

My gaze drew back to the glass. Below, David thrashed, screaming and clawing at his chest. The doctors tried to hold him down.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Nematali quaked beside me. “He asked for a medically induced
exteriation
. When they refused, he initialized the crisis chip in his jaw.”

David moaned, arching his back.

“What are you talking about? What’s a crisis chip?”

“It is the same tool he used to change into human form on Earth. They are surgically implanted into all pilot’s mouths. When he returned from your world, he was given a new one.”

One of the doctors flashed a light over David. After a moment, he stopped struggling.

“What are they doing?”

“A neural disruption. It deadens the pain, but only for a short period.”

I held up my camera and fired the shutter three times as the expressionless Erescopians stood around David’s long, metallic table. His chest rose and fell as a thick, blue material spread over his legs.

Denim.
Holy cow.
I clicked the video button.

My heart battered against my ribcage as white cotton stretched over his chest and midriff—the same white tee-shirt and jeans I’d found him wearing in the woods two months ago. Where was it coming from?

Half human, but violescent from the arms up, David clawed his temples and shrieked. A deep cold encompassed me despite the room’s heat. I stopped recording and lowered my camera. That tormented cry dug its nails through my memory, bringing me back to the day we first met.

I struggled to keep from covering my ears as his anguished screams eased into labored tears.

Nematali placed her hand on my shoulder. “You shouldn’t have been made to witness this.”

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what I would have said anyway.

My hands trembled as David pushed up to a shaky sitting position, facing the far wall. His shirt clung to his back, accentuating well-sculpted muscles and strong arms that tested the seams of the taught cotton. His body quaked as if working through a sob, before he ran his fingers through his nearly black hair.

Another whimper slipped from David’s lips. He pawed at his stomach as my own belly clenched. Something inside me twisted and propelled me forward. I needed to go to him, hold him, and shelter him from the pain.

David cried out and spun toward us. Slightly bronzed, peachy membrane bubbled as it stretched over his cheeks and formed a human nose. Long lashes fluttered over eyes as blue as Earth’s sky on a clear summer day. I shook off the shock and raised my camera.
Click
.

But my lungs grew heavy. This was David … in agony. What kind of person takes pictures like that?

Our gazes met. Dread flooded through me, then pressure. But not pushing toward me. More like pulling in. Concealing. Hiding. I let my camera fall to my waist.

I shouldn’t be here
. I needed to leave. Now.

I turned toward the door.

Wait. I couldn’t leave him. I’d never leave him. I struggled against the foreign strength pushing me toward the exit.

I blinked, and my mind cleared. My gaze shot back to David. “Nice try,” I whispered. “I’m not leaving you.”

“No!” David’s voice blasted through the walls. “Get her away. I can’t—” He fell forward, folding at the hips.

I slammed my fists against the glass, as if it would bring me closer. David grimaced, and my heart broke to pieces when Jared Linden’s face looked back at me: the features of an actor I’d never met, encasing the eyes of the guy I fell in love with in the woods.

His entire body convulsed. “Get her out!”

His eyes widened, and a lance cut into me—a burning hot poker that sliced through my chest and skinned me alive. I dropped my camera and screamed, clawing at the phantom creatures gnawing off my flesh.

Nematali grabbed me. “What’s wrong?”

Her words drowned beneath my shriek, ricocheting through my brain.

I flopped to the floor, rolling to stop the fire from eating through my clothing, but there were no flames to quench.

“Help me!”

My back arched, my body struggled to fight against the unseen invader ripping me apart from the inside out. I clawed at my face, but Nematali grabbed my hands.

“Make it stop!” Tears flooded my eyes.

Nematali’s blurry form glanced through the window, agape. Her gaze returned to me.

“Help me!” I barely recognized my voice for the rasp that came from my lips.

Nematali pulled something out of her pocket, and a flash of silver crossed my eyes. The pain dulled into a swirling torture of pins, whips, and chains assaulting me from all angles.

“This is your own doing,” Nematali whispered.

The room faded to black.

13

A male voice sputtered words I didn’t understand. Someone moved beside me.

“Jessica Natalie?” Nematali’s voice reverberated in my mind.

The scents of pine and waffles wrapped me up and gave me a hug. I blinked three times, and two people came into focus. Nematali and some purple dude.

The alien muttered something in Erescopian. He placed a rigid container next to me on the couch.

I blinked the sleepiness from my eyes. Was I home?

“I’m telling you, she felt his pain,” Nematali said.

“That is not possible.” The dude leaned down, nearly touching my nose.

“Of course it isn’t possible. That’s why I called for you.”

He took something out of his pack. “She’s human. No one would take such a risk.”

“No one ever said Tirran Coud wasn’t young and impulsive.”

“Would someone mind telling me what is going on?” I asked, sitting up.

“You have had a difficult afternoon.” Nematali tapped my shoulder.

Tremors of needles and knives ghosted across my skin. I shuddered. “What happened?”

“That is what we are trying to ascertain.” The dude held a pencil-sized silver cylinder close to my eyes.

I shrunk back. “And who are you?”

“There is no need to fear,” Nematali said. “This is my mate, Falen Nematali.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better because … ?”

Falen blinked his huge, turquoise eyes three times. “Because any other technician would deem you property of the state and cut you open to find out why you seem to have a mental connection to one of our most brilliant scientists.” He waved the cylinder. “May I scan you now?”

I hugged my shoulders and nodded.

“Is David all right?” I asked.

A beam of light passed over my chest.

“I would think so,” Nematali said. “As I said, the
exteriation
procedure is not dangerous, it is just painful.”

Falen pressed the denim beside my zipper and lit me up again with the pencil. “Her physiology all seems to be within human guidelines.”

He grabbed a clear, thick cylinder from his case and placed it over my left jean pocket. A searing burn shot through my skin and strangled my insides. I screamed before he pulled the instrument away.

“What the Hell?” I unbuttoned my pants to make sure I wasn’t bleeding. A red welt formed on my skin just under the elastic of my panties.

“What have you done?” Nematali asked.

Falen shook the vial, now filled with pinky-clear fluid. “Scientific curiosity.”

Her lips tightened.

“I’ve done what you asked.” He slipped the vial into his case. “She will be fine. I doubt your fears are warranted. Our research shows humans, especially young ones, show deep emotional reactions to witnessing stressful events. I suppose that is what you observed.”

He closed the lid and walked through the front door.

Nematali kept her eyes down. “I’m sorry he did that. His actions were unexpected.”

“Unexpected? What did he do? What was in that vial?”

“Just a tissue sample. You are unharmed.”

Yeah, tell that to the friggin’ welt.

Falen just earned position
numero uno
on my people to avoid list. I shivered and leaned away from Nematali. Maybe I wasn’t as safe with her as I thought. “I want to see David.”

She pursed her lips. “That isn’t in my control. For now, please rest. I will notify your father that you will be spending the night.”

Spending the night? Yeah, I could imagine that phone call. It would take all of three seconds for Dad to scramble NASA to fly up here and get me. Nope, that was not going to go over well at all.

“But I’m supposed to be home for dinner.” I stood, but my sight wavered, and I eased back down to the couch. Three Nematalies stared back at me.

“I suggest you continue to rest for a short while.” She stepped to the door. “I need to speak with Falen, but I will return in a few hours. Then we can discuss returning to Earth.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

She nodded and disappeared through the door.

Rest. Easy for her to say.
I rubbed the burning skin beneath the pocket of my jeans.

Although the look and scents of home surrounded me, Doctor Doom and his vial from Hell showed me that I was far from safe. They could do anything to me here. Anything.

And there wasn’t much I could do about it.

My backpack lay at the base of the couch with Old Reliable propped up against the worn canvas. I grabbed my camera and turned over the lens. A few scratches, but none the worse for wear. I pressed the power button and scanned through the photographs.

My stomach flipped. The agony on David’s face, the bubbling of the artificial skin as it took form …

“Why did you do this?” I whispered.

Dread. Sorrow.

I sprang to my feet and reached for the couch when my head did another tilt-o-whirl. I held on until the room stopped spinning and turned to the wall beside the stairs.

Guilt. Shame.

“David, I know you’re there. Please don’t hide from me.”

Nothing.

“I am not going to sit here so you can look at me through a wall. I am not some sort of freak show, so get your ass in here, or so help me—”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I spun toward the sound coming from the front door. The realism of the dust on the molding, the chipped paint, the worn door handle, all mocked me. I blinked hard, forcing my mind to come to grips that I wasn’t in my living room, and no one had ever knocked on that fake door before.

Yet little invisible fingers pulled me forward, gently tugging me through the living room until I faced the entrance, and the man I knew was waiting for me on the other side.

I straightened the picture of Mom and Dad on the wall beside the door before reaching for the handle.

David leaned against the frame, his eyes lowered. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I never meant … ”

I pulled him in the room and slammed the door shut. I grabbed his face, running my fingers along his features. His
human
features.

Perfect. Flawless. Stunning. But not him.

“Why did you do this?”

He closed his eyes and walked to the couch. “I needed to.” He sat, folding his hands.

I eased beside him. “I told you I didn’t care what you looked like. You didn’t need to do this to yourself.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You didn’t. You’re beautiful. I don’t need you to be something you’re not. I’m sorry I flinched when we touched. I didn’t mean it.”

Moving like lightning, he grabbed my head, immobilizing me. He lightened his grip, running his warm palms across my cheeks. I closed my eyes. My body vibrated, drinking in his caress.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked.

Huh?
My eyes shot open. “No, of course not.”

David released my cheeks and took my hands. He ran his thumbs over my red, inflamed palms. “But I did hurt you earlier.”

“You didn’t mean it.”

His gaze returned to mine. “I couldn’t live like that, Jess, having you here and not being able to hold you.”

I combed my fingers along his perfectly cut jaw. “But putting this on, it hurt so much. The pain, it was horrible. How could you … ”

He slid his fingers into my hair and dragged his hand down my neck. His skin was hot, but not burning. I pulled him to me. Warm. Definitely warm, but no pain.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I said.

He shook his head. “I’d do it ten times over just to touch you once.”

I leaned on his shoulder. His perfect, creamy-bronze human shoulder. “I felt your pain.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“But why?” I eased back so I could see his eyes. “Why could I feel it? I mean—” I shivered. “I don’t understand.”

His mouth twisted as if holding back a sob. “I projected the pain into you. I didn’t do it on purpose. That’s why I tried to get you out. I’m not strong enough to hold my emotions in.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You weren’t supposed to be there. I left you in this room and lulled you to sleep. You shouldn’t have even been awake. I swear I never would have … ”

I placed a finger over his lips. “I hate you for this, you know that, right?”

The crook of his lip crinkled up. “Probably just as much as I hate you.”

I smacked him. “You scared me, you jerk.”

He stifled a laugh. “I never meant for you to see any of that. I was hoping you’d be happy.”

Stinking, stupid, selfless, alien boy!
I hugged myself. “It hurt. God, it hurt.”

“I know.”

He pulled me to him, and I rested against his chest. David’s heartbeat soothed my anger, my fear. I didn’t want him to be someone he wasn’t, but I’d missed this. His skin vibrated against me, pulling, stroking, kneading—but not burning.

Maybe this
was
the only way we could be together.

His forehead stroked mine. Such a simple touch, but so real, so meaningful.

“You can’t imagine how much I missed holding you,” he whispered.