Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology (32 page)

I pulled back, needing the distance to focus. Though, staring into his lust-filled eyes only made me want to resume kissing.
"I thought you hated me? You did so many mean things…"

Tate placed his hands on either side of my face so I looked him in the eye.
"I could never hate you. I'm just an idiot. I was a stupid punk kid who never knew how to make you see how much I loved you. The hair pulling? I just wanted your attention—your eyes on me. The drawing? I drew it so I could always see your beautiful face. It was that asshole Joey Fishborne who drew nasty things on top of it. He stole it out of my backpack and passed it around. And Prissy Krissy? Joey was going around telling everyone you were a lesbian because you wouldn't put out. I told him you had better taste than to be with a jerk like him, so he said if you weren't a lesbian, you must be a priss. He started the nickname. I kicked the crap out of him after gym class for that, but by then the damage was done. The whole school had heard it and it stuck. I'm so sorry, Krissy. I never wanted to hurt you. Never."

I blinked, replaying every incident from my childhood with Tate in my head, but my mind kept focusing on one thing.
"Love? You loved me?"

"
No, Krissy. I love you. As in, present tense. I always have."

I didn
't need any more words, any more apologies. I went to him, kissing him feverishly. My hands roamed over his broad shoulders and strong, defined arms. He picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He led us into the house and onto the couch, setting me down like I was delicate china.

"
Are you sure I'm not dreaming? Aliens? Being chased and almost dying? And now this? You? Here with me? I must be dreaming."

Tate wrapped a strand of my hair around his fingers, pulling gently like he used to as a kid.
"No, Krissy, this is just a dream come true. A long, overdue dream come true. We've heard the rumors about aliens our entire lives living so close to Roswell, and I never believed it. I always thought it was a pain in the ass with all the damn tourists and crazy lunatics who came here for them. But I swear, I've never been so happy to have found evidence that other life forms exist, because they brought me closer to you. And my life? It's complete now that you're here."

"
I couldn't agree more."

From that moment on, every time I saw a falling star in the sky, I
'd think of Anusha and Abhaya. And thank them. Tate and I may have saved their future, but they saved ours in return. And I couldn't be happier.

B
y Raine Thomas

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http://rainethomas.com

The Ascendant

Jason Ringsted was a colossal butt-munch.

That thought pounded through Kyra's head in time with the blades whipping across her windshield. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the steering wheel and struggled to focus on the road. It was a toss-up whether her inability to see clearly was due to the monsoon currently drenching the township or the hot tears pouring from her eyes.

She should have known. Hadn
't she wondered why a hot university freshman had invited her—a nobody seventeen-year-old—to a party? Hadn't she asked herself why Jason would suddenly show interest in her? In the three years they'd lived down the street from each other, they'd barely exchanged ten words between them.

Yes, she had asked herself those things. But in the end, she
'd decided that it was possible that he was just shy. Maybe he'd secretly wanted to ask her out for a long time, but hadn't known how to approach her.

So she
'd agreed to attend the party with him. She'd begged and pleaded with her parents to let her go, agreeing to an early curfew in a form of compromise. She'd spent far too much of the money she earned at the local diner to buy an outfit that she thought made her look more sophisticated. And she'd taken extra time to get ready, really wanting to impress Jason.

She offered to meet him at the party, not wanting him to have to leave after just two hours due to her early curfew. Her nerves nearly got the better of her when she parked at the large home where Jason told her to meet him. Boisterous people spilled out the open front door, mingling on the wide porch and vast lawn with drinks in hand.

Who was she kidding, thinking she could do this?

Jason knocked on her window before she could drive back home. His smile gave her a boost and she finally dared to step out and join him.

He introduced her to a number of his friends and their dates. She had expected the university girls to be more standoffish and, well, spectacular. Although she met some girls like that, most of them were nice and friendly. Jason's friends also went on and on about how perfect she was for him, calling her a real prize. For the first time, she felt like she was holding her own in a social situation.

About an hour after she arrived, she visited the bathroom. The door was so thin that she could hear everything happening just outside of it. It was awkward, but it turned out that it was how she found out why Jason invited her.

"They do it every year," a female voice said. "They call it Dog Days."

"
I don't get it," another female said. "Why would they deliberately choose to go out in public with such ugly girls?"

Kyra
's face paled as their words registered. She considered the many plain girls she'd met that evening. Heat rose in her cheeks as she dried her hands and stared at her own unremarkable reflection in the vanity mirror.

"
It's a contest among the freshmen. They all contribute. The guy voted as having the biggest dog of a date wins the whole pot."

It had taken Kyra a couple of minutes to compose herself enough to leave the bathroom. She avoided the gazes of the girls standing outside the door when she walked past, but she heard their snickers.

She got soaked running to her vehicle, but she was beyond caring whether her new outfit got ruined. She'd probably burn it now, anyway.

Once she tore out of the parking area, the vehicle moved on autopilot. She had no idea where she was going, but she had to get away from Jason and the awful party. She wasn
't ready to return home and face her mortification by telling her parents what had happened.

It took about ten minutes for the numbness of shock to ease and the tears to come. The extent of her humiliation had her wanting to leave town and never return. How could anyone be so mean to another person? Sure, she
'd experienced her share of being picked on as a kid, but this went far beyond that. This was a boy telling her that he thought she was the worst possible date he could get.

Is he right?
she wondered.

Pain lanced through her as she questioned her self-worth. She knew better than that. The true
"dog" in this situation was him, not her.

That was easier to think than to believe.

After a while, she tried to stop crying long enough to concentrate on her driving and figure out where she was. It was dark…much darker than usual for this time of night, even with the storm clouds filling the sky. She registered that there weren't any lights or other vehicles driving down this particular stretch of road. Where in the world was she?

As she strained to read a passing road sign, the vehicle skidded over a deep puddle. Water shot up and over the hood, completely coating the windshield and obscuring her view. Adrenaline shot through her, making her skin prickle. Her foot eased off the accelerator and her grip tightened on the wheel. The last thing she wanted to do was hydroplane.

The rain began falling even faster, battering her windshield in heavy sheets. This was crazy. She would drive to the next intersection and turn around.

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and swallowed a sob. When she glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror, her foot inadvertently pressed against the accelerator. God, she looked awful.

A dark figure darted into the road. She barely saw it in the flash of her headlights. It moved fast, but stood tall on two legs. Impossibly tall.

She was too terrified to even scream. Her foot slammed on the brake. She jerked the wheel to avoid hitting the shadowy figure. The vehicle hit another patch of water and started to spin. When she saw a thick wooden pole racing towards her, her paralyzed vocal cords finally eased enough to free her scream. She braced herself for the impact and prayed the vehicle
's safety features kept her alive.

Something large and solid leapt in front of the wooden pole. Her door impacted it. The vehicle propelled away from whatever she
'd hit. The action hurtled her forward and to the side, causing her forehead to strike the steering wheel. After another brief second of spinning, the vehicle came to a shuddering stop in the middle of the road.

Kyra stared straight ahead, oblivious to the blood trickling down her face from her hairline. Her choppy breathing filled the vehicle. The engine had cut off, but the headlights still shone and the wipers continued to slash across the windshield.

So she saw the incredibly tall, lithe shadow approaching, and she saw that it wasn't alone.

This can
't be happening
, she thought, even as she tried to turn the key in the ignition.

Nothing happened. Whatever had been done to stop her vehicle had totally killed the engine. She was a sitting duck.

She fumbled for the latch to her safety harness. Although the dark figures moved cautiously, her intuition screamed that they sought to harm her. Her eyes didn't move from them. They reflected no light even in the beams shooting from the front of her vehicle. They wore some kind of camouflaging clothing that allowed them to blend seamlessly with the night. She'd never seen anything like it.

Just as her safety harness released, her door opened. Another scream lodged in her throat as she was yanked from the vehicle. She was tossed backwards like a bag of refuse, landing in a muddy puddle with an impressive splash.

"Stay," growled the large male who had thrown her.

Fear and insult made her want to snap out an argument, but she realized he was now surrounded by the dark figures. Although he stood about six feet, four inches tall, his opponents towered over him. He was dressed much like the guys at the party had been, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, black pants, and boots. He was also apparently unarmed. Despite that—and the fact that he was seriously outnumbered—it was the shadowy creatures who hesitated.

"You know the routine," he said over the rain, his back to her. His deep voice was accented and familiar, but she couldn't place it. "If you want her, you have to get through me."

The figures paused. Their heads twisted as they looked at each other, as though they were communicating without words. Kyra watched in frozen silence as the rain pelted her. Her heart thudded heavily enough that she felt it in her throat. She tried to rationalize what she was seeing.

Who or what were these creatures? Who was this warrior-like male with the dark hair and such calm assurance? What did any of them want with her?

Run, you
idiot!
she thought. But she couldn't move.

Instead, she watched as the shadowy figures moved as one, surging towards the male. Long, dark weapons suddenly appeared in the hands of the attackers. Kyra couldn
't imagine where the sword-like objects had come from, as she hadn't seen any type of sheaths or harnesses around their waists.

I
'm dreaming
, she realized.
This is just a nightmare. I'll wake up any moment.

But the rain felt cool and wet as it struck her skin. The sharp grit beneath her hands bit into the tender skin of her palms. The bright light of the weapon produced by the dark-haired male hurt her eyes.

She knew she wasn't dreaming.

The tendons in her neck stretched taut as she watched the male fend off his attackers. She counted seven as he met each strike with either his sword-like weapon or his fists. A couple of them were brought down by his powerful legs. He used whatever means necessary to defeat his enemies, who were much more slender and clearly less trained than he was.

When the last one fell, the male let out a vicious curse. Her eyebrows shot up. Though she didn't know how, she sensed that she was in danger.

Strong arms seized her from behind and dragged her from the ground even as the male turned in her direction. For the first time, she saw his eyes. They were the purest silver she
'd ever seen, gleaming almost white in the light from her vehicle. Although he was focused on the enemy, the look in those eyes made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"
Release her if you want to live," the male said.

It sounded like a cheesy line, but Kyra sensed the power behind the words. She guessed her attacker did, too. Its grip tightened around her ribcage, making her cry out. The male
's eyes flickered briefly to her, then once again focused on her assailant.