The Price of Discovery (18 page)

The elevator doors closed and Erin smiled. No. Once she got the evidence, she'd look into the charges Rita insinuated against Invasion Shield. Erin would debunk that and then Rita would be left high and dry.
 

Oh, yes, despite having spent most of the weekend in shock and disgust, she was starting to feel much better already. She just needed to tell Greg about what she saw and then they could begin working on his issues.

The front lobby was empty save for the receptionist. “Where is my visitor?” she asked the girl.

“He's outside. Nice-looking guy.”
 

Erin rolled her eyes. She was about to offer Greg's number to her now that he'd certainly want to move on from Ankra, but a call came in and the girl picked up the phone.

The front door opened into a hot wind. She smelled rain. She looked around the parking lot and didn't see anyone until she saw a figure inside her car on the far side of the pavement. Didn't she lock it? She must have forgotten. Erin ran over and slid into the driver's seat.

But when she turned to face Greg, her blood froze. “Drakor!”

His dark stare did not look menacing. More like resigned. “Hello, Erin.”

“What are you doing here? Are-are you the one that came to see me here?”

He nodded. “We need to talk.”

She looked down on her lap. Her stomach did a few flip-flops while scenarios of how he could kill her flashed through her brain. “What's there to talk about?”

“Your home.” His voice was more quiet than she'd ever heard it. “Let's go there.”

“No!” Being alone with him might have been the first thing on her mind on Friday but it was the last thing she wanted today. “Look, Drakor, I know what I saw and I know you saw me there. What's there to say?”

His fingers brushed her hand. She expected revulsion at his touch but instead she felt that familiar warmth and desire. She couldn't move any further away unless she got out of the car.

“I need to explain.” He sighed. “We must go somewhere other than here.”

Erin nodded. “Granny's.”

He took his hand away and they rode in silence to a small diner.

The smell of greasy burgers and cigarette smoke greeted them at the door. They found a booth in the far corner, away from the noise of clattering dishes and shouting waitresses. Erin chose the seat facing the room. She wanted to be able to get someone else's attention if necessary without having to turn her back on him.

Drakor slid his large frame onto the red, pleather seat. He still looked paler than normal. Slight shadows encased his eyes and his mouth looked as though it had forgotten how to smile. No doubt he was truly worried about her discovering the truth. And he had reason to be.

She opened the conversation. “Well?”
 

He leaned forward, his colorless eyes reflecting her red shirt and masking all of his emotions. “Erin, you must keep what you saw to yourself. Tell no one.”

Like
that
was ever going to happen. Especially after the way he treated her. The way he used her. He probably just wanted to experience sex with a human. And she was naïve enough to be his guinea pig.
 

“Why?”

She saw his jaw clench.
 

“Do you have any idea what your government would do to us?”

“I've watched
X-files
. It's probably not very pretty.”

“
X-files
?”

Erin shook her head. “Never mind. Bad joke. Look, Drakor, I realize you are worried, but why should I listen to you? Why should I stop myself from having the biggest story of my career?”

The waitress stopped at their table. “Can I get you drinks or a menu or something?”

“Lemonade and a slice of chocolate cream pie for me.”

She wrote it on her pad and turned to Drakor. “And you, mister?”

“Nothing, thank you.”

“Nothing? Not even water?”

“Nothing.”

The waitress shrugged and left the table.

“Why don't I ever see you eat or drink anything?” Erin asked, glad the opportunity had finally presented itself.

“Because I don't. No one from my home does.”

“But your mother made that bread.”

“She wanted to experiment. She thought it might help my father.”

Erin hesitated, remembering his death. Her impulses were to reach out to him again, but she couldn't take the rejection. “How do you not eat or drink and yet grow and remain healthy?”

He leaned back against the cushion and spread his arms across the back. His gaze shifted to the streaked window. “The atmosphere and weather at home make it difficult to grow any food or keep livestock. We tried for a number of years but the yield wasn't high enough. Everyone was starving. And so the Researchers eventually developed capsules that would meet all of our requirements of nutrition and hydration. We take several in the morning and several at night.”

He recited it as if he had it memorized from a manual. His voice inflected little emotion and he still didn't look at her.

“Don't you feel hunger?”

“Hunger?”

“Your stomach. Doesn't it hurt or cramp for something to be put in it?”

“These capsules were developed long ago, well before I was born. As infants we nourish from our mothers but we are eventually weaned onto the capsules. I had never before tasted food until…” Slowly, his gaze found hers again. “Until you gave me taste of it.”

She remembered that frosting experience, his hard body beneath her and his steamy eyes penetrating to her very core. She had wondered whether he was an alien and deemed him human. Just goes to show what a lousy judge she could be.
 

“Eating is more than just nourishment. It is enjoyment. That's why there must be a million recipes—different combinations of food. Pizza and Chow Mien and Enchiladas and brownies.” She tilted her head. “Have you never even seen or smelled it before?”

“Small amounts of food is still grown,” he replied. “For ceremonial purposes.
Mharai
-unions, family deaths.”

Ma-rye
? “I'm sorry about your father.”

“My mother died as well. She chose not to live without him.”

Erin leveled her gaze at him.
Chose not to live without him?
What did that mean exactly? Part of her wished she could write this all down in her notebook and the other part of her felt a unique sadness. He shared that with her. They both lost both parents at the same time. But now he was responsible for his three siblings.
 

She still couldn't believe she was talking to an alien. How could someone this handsome, this sexy, not be from this planet? And how did he know her language and speak it so clearly? How is it that an alien race resembled them so completely?
 

Oh God, her head was starting to spin again with the jumble of unanswered questions.

“Drakor, how come you know my language so well? It's too much of a coincidence that you would speak it on your planet.”

His face changed instantly. His eyes hardened and his nostrils flared. “We have our own language. But there have been others that have come here before. They have gathered the information.”

Her journalist mind raced. Others? Others have come before Drakor and his family? Where were they? Did anyone ever realize who they were?

“When? How long did they stay? Did they know English—?”

Drakor cut her off with a harsh glare. “My family has benefited from their work.
 
Do you know of a man named Alaziri?”

No. She certainly would have remembered a name like that. “I can't help you there. Is he one who came before?”

His dark expression made it obvious something had occurred with the previous visitors. But she knew he wouldn't explain anything about it now.

But she had to know why he—and the others before him—were on Earth. Was it for trade? If that were the case, wouldn't they make their presence known and contact the government?

“Okay, I'll drop it. But why are you here? Why are you on Earth?”
 

His glare shifted to the paper napkin he kept twisting in his hands. “I can only tell you that we need something from Earth to help us at home.”

“What?”

He shifted in his seat and it squeaked under his weight. “I can't tell you that.”

“Why not?”
 

“Erin…” He looked at her again and reached across the yellowing, scratched table. His mood had softened and his hand trembled. He really was afraid. Or nervous.
 

But she couldn't let that hold her back. He used her. For what purpose she didn't know. But at least now all cards were on the table.

“One lemonade and a chocolate cream pie.” The dish and glass banged down in front of her and Drakor pulled his arm away. “You sure you don't want anything, sweetheart?”

“No, thank you.”

The waitress left and Drakor scooted out of the booth. “I'll be right back,” he said with a pained voice and escaped out the front door into the afternoon sun.

 

 

Drakor found a wooden bench and dropped on to it, burying his face in his hands. Why did Erin have to bring the doll back at that moment? If only she had waited, even a few more minutes. But now he was forced with having to do whatever it took to subdue Erin, to pacify her into silence.

He didn't expect her to resist so much. After all, hadn't Ankra said that if Erin cared for him at all she wouldn't say anything? Hadn't they shared that night together? Didn't that mean anything to her?

Then he had this persistent headache to deal with. Ever since he spent the night within Erin's arms, a thudding inside his skull never ceased. Unless he was with her. It was as if his body continued to crave her. Like she was some drug he needed to be free of pain.

He groaned. How could it be that only a week or so ago he thought they would be off this planet within a few days? Now he was stuck here. Stuck until Ankra could get pregnant. But how would Greg ever want to see her again once Erin told him about what she saw? Would Ankra have to start over with another male? Would that keep them here on Earth even longer?

Vehicles sped by on the road and doors slammed in the parking lot. He lifted his head and winced. Earth's sun glinted off several windows nearly blinding him and the pounding in his head returned full-force. Drakor sighed and went back inside the small restaurant.

Odd smells assaulted him again and he found his mouth starting to water. He saw Erin enjoying her pie, licking the fork with her tantalizing smooth tongue. He swallowed and made his way over to her.

She looked up. “Are you feeling okay?”

“My head hurts.”

“Oh, I have some medicine for that. Or do you not take medications either?”

He suppressed a growl. How superior she sounded. How much she thought she knew. Typical human. Had he thought she was any different than the others? Ankra certainly believed her to be, but his sister didn't judge character well obviously.

“We do have medications at home, but I would prefer to not take one made on Earth.”

Erin lifted her eyebrows. “Oh? Afraid we might poison you?”

He didn't answer. It didn't matter. Now that he was sitting across from her, his headache began to ease. It would be wise if he changed the subject.

“What am I smelling?”

She took several gulps of the yellow liquid in her glass and then set it on the table. “Probably the burgers and frying onions. The grease is a strong scent.”

“Burgers?”

“Hamburgers. It's a meat patty, made from cows.”

“Cows. We don't have any of those. But I think I saw a picture of them before.”

Erin smiled. “I could take you down a few country roads around here and you could see them in person. Moo.”

He cocked his head. “Moo?”

“It's the sound they make. I'll tell you, it makes much more sense now. I'm almost relieved.”

He stared at her.

“You know, that you guys didn't know the simplest words or ideas. I mean, I'd say that most cultures around the world know what a cow is, even if they don't eat it.”

Drakor ignored her comments. He had best focus on something other than her suspicious and provocative remarks. He turned his attention to her half-eaten pie. Did that taste like the frosting she had given him only two nights ago? He licked his lips.

“I can order you a slice, if you want.”

He glanced up into her unusual eyes, though on Earth they weren't unique at all. He just hadn't gotten used to all of the variety here yet. “Just the other day you let me eat off of your spoon.”

“The other day I didn't know you weren't from Earth.”

“Why does that make a difference now?” He leaned across the table.
 

Erin glanced away. “It just does.”

Drakor captured her hand with his and lowered his voice. He didn't want to go down this path, put himself in a position to see her more often. But he had to do whatever it took to dissuade her. Or to distract her until they left.

“The other day you wanted me in your bed, you wanted me inside of you. The other day you told me that I had given you a gift. You didn't want me to leave the next morning.” She tried to pull away but he held on firm. “Erin, the other day we found ecstasy and contentment together and now you won't even share your food with me.”

She wouldn't look at him but he could see her eyes shining. “Yes, and then Saturday you pushed me away and out of your life.”

He sighed. He had to be careful. He could either lose her or gain her right now. “Erin, my parents had just died, I was suddenly responsible for my family, I had so many things to take care of.”

“You could have been nicer about it all.”

“I don't know what to say or how to act in those situations.”