CASSIE
I’d told myself the first time Jason kissed me that the way his touch had electrified my senses had been an anomaly. A live wire connection simply because of what he was. Forbidden. The outlawed alien. But each kiss carried the same tornado of emotion as the first one. I was sucked in, barely able to breathe in the immense power, the rush of sensations slamming into me from all directions. The transference he’d spoken of the first time hit me again and I felt his confusion, his want, and his guilt. The sun and moon collided and the stars rained down on me. I belonged to the Earth; I was part of the sky.
His lips pressed harder into mine, and I clutched the front of his shirt, not wanting to let this go, not wanting to let him go. I didn’t feel confused or guilty about the kiss. The pressure of his body against mine felt right. Meant to be. He broke the kiss after several minutes, and breathing heavily, stepped away from me. I touched my lips, and a flash of torture crossed his face.
“Please don’t say you regret what just happened,” I asked.
“I don’t.” His voice was agony and self-recrimination. “All I can think about is you.”
“And that’s bad?”
“Each time I touch you, it gets harder to remember that we’re different.” He traced a wisp of hair at the side of my face. “That you deserve someone whose existence won’t put yours in jeopardy. Someone normal. You deserve a life.” The last sentence sounded as if it had been ripped from him.
“Normal is way overrated, trust me, and I have a life.”
His jaw clenched. “Cassie…about that life—”
“No. Don’t say anything.” I moved away from the truck, trying to think things through. Then I stopped pacing. What was there to think through? I knew what my heart was saying and I wanted him to know. “I want to be with you.”
“You mean…” He sounded hopeful.
“I like kissing you, too. A lot.” I laughed nervously, walking a mental tightrope while I waited for his response.
“Oh. I want to be with you, too.” He held his hand up when I smiled. “I want that because I’m selfish—only thinking about how you make me feel when I’m with you. But I’m afraid the day is coming when—”
“No talk about the future.” I put my fingers on his lips. “Living in the moment. That’s how we do this.”
“Do what? We hook up? Date? Because—”
I stopped him again. “I want to be whatever as long as it’s with you.”
“There are things you don’t know about me.” His voice deepened. “Things that would make you hate me and I need to tell you.”
“I don’t care. Even if this ends badly, I want to be with you. I’ve never wanted anyone the way that I want you.”
He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them, his eyes were troubled. “Please, just listen. I need to tell you—” His phone rang and he glanced at the screen, then made a face as he answered. “I’m on the way home now.” He disconnected the call and laced his fingers with mine. “Us together, our families aren’t going to like it.”
“This isn’t about them. It’s about us,” I said firmly. For the first time in my life, I didn’t care about what I should do. I didn’t care about pleasing others. It wasn’t that I was blinded by my heart or my hormones. The connection between Jason and me was too strong to continue denying.
“Then we’ll go out after school tomorrow.”
“Like a date?”
He shrugged and grinned. “I hear that’s what humans call it.”
“And the kissing? What do aliens call that?”
“Some things are the same in any language.”
We got into the truck and I paused in the middle of fastening the seatbelt. “You speak another language?”
“Tazavorn aren’t born with language barriers like humans have. We can speak them all, including our native one.”
“Say something in your language.”
“Uquoc gurrin.”
“What does it mean?”
“I’m not telling you. Look up our language in the history book.”
“I’ll do it tonight. Better not be something gross.”
He laughed, and drove me home. Lights blazed from every window. The front door flung open, and Mom rushed out followed closely by Sydney. Not even waiting until I removed the seatbelt, Mom pulled me into a smothering hug, whispering, “Never again. Never again,” in my hair. Leaning around me, she took Jason’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Agent Simon said you wouldn’t leave Cassie alone at the agency at great risk to yourself. Thank you.”
I unbuckled the seatbelt and slid from the truck, glancing back at Jason. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mom didn’t give me time to say anything else before she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and tugged me toward the house. I turned to look at Jason again, excited about the prospect of our date. Doing something normal in the middle of all the craziness held great appeal.
“I found a judge with some common sense, and there’s an emergency restraining order against your father. He can’t come within a hundred yards of you or this house. Are you hungry? I can make some grilled cheese.”
“Mom? Take a deep breath. I’m okay.”
She burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, honey. I didn’t realize how far your father’s obsession had gone.”
“It’s not your fault.” Dad had betrayed both of us by blowing us off, acting like we were nothing. I grieved for my mother, for the fact that she loved a man who loved his work and nothing else.
“I should have recognized—”
“Mom!” I cut her off before she kept riding the guilt train. “The grilled cheese sounds great. I’m gonna shower, and I’ll be right back down.”
Her smile was watery and she hugged me even harder this time around before she went into the kitchen.
Sydney followed me upstairs. “Can’t believe my best friend is a felon.”
I pulled out a pair of pajamas. “Funny.”
She flopped onto the bed. “Were you scared?”
“A little. Jason climbed into the duct work above my cell because he didn’t want me to be alone.”
Her mouth dropped open. “That is both crazy and hot.”
“I know.” It was crazy and hot. He was hot and all I could think about. I went into the laundry room to grab a clean towel from the dryer.
Sydney groaned and looked at me with pity. “Oh, Cassie.”
Throwing the towel over my shoulder, I said, “I know I shouldn’t. It’s reckless and foolish, but I can’t help it. We’re connected.” Her eyebrows raised, and I blushed. “Not like that. It’s like we were meant to find each other.”
Sydney followed me to the bathroom and leaned against the counter. “Soul mates?” Her tone dripped with skepticism.
“No.” I frowned. “Wait. Do aliens even have souls?”
“According to your dad, they don’t have that or hearts.”
“He’s wrong.” I turned the water on. “I’ve felt Jason’s heart beat.”
“Gonna be kind of hard to feel that connection when he’s gone. Relationships separated by distance rarely work out, much less relationships separated by galaxies.”
“We’re taking things one day at a time.” I refused to believe that me loving him wouldn’t have a good ending.
“Cassie?” Mom called from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ll see what she wants.” Sydney headed downstairs, and I jumped into the shower. I’d never been as thankful for hot water as I was right then. Washing away the scent of the agency made me feel worlds better. As soon as I was done, I dressed, braided my hair, and dug out my history book. Flipping to the section about the Great Extinction, I searched through the language guide and slowly pieced together what Jason had said. “You’re beautiful,” I whispered out loud.
I shouldn’t let myself feel what I did, but it wasn’t a mind decision anymore. My heart had made its choice long before I even recognized what I felt for Jason. Closing the book, I went downstairs with a smile on my face.
JASON
“Did you hurt Cassie?” I demanded the second I walked in the front door.
My father’s face turned red. The veins in his neck stood out and his eyes narrowed.
“Are you insane?” he screamed, ignoring my question and my mother’s whispered plea to calm down. “You broke into the Alien Eradication and Defense Department for a worthless human girl. Then you accuse me of hurting her?”
I didn’t back away. “It was either you or Carl.”
“You know nothing,” he practically spat the words out.
“In his grief did he go after an innocent girl? Is that what happened?” We were practically nose to nose.
He sneered. “No human is innocent.” He pointed his finger, jabbing it into my chest. “And this is the last I’ll hear about that girl.”
I shoved his hand away from my body. “Touch me in anger again and I’ll take away your power.”
Shock and horror crossed my dad’s face. I’d never gone against them before. I’d always been the obedient son.
“Oh, Jason.” Mom collapsed onto the sofa, clutching her stomach as if she needed to hurl.
“I. Will. Not. Allow. This.” Dad stomped to stand in front of me. As he opened his mouth to speak, the front window shattered, and the reptilian eyes of a Ragespawn glowed as it leaped onto his back.
My mother screamed.
I raised my hands and fired a burst of my power at the creature’s head. The energy grazed the side of my father’s face, drawing blood. The Ragespawn dropped to the floor, then quickly bounced to its feet and advanced again.
Mom climbed onto the coffee table and fired at the creature’s abdomen. With a groan of pain and anger, the creature dropped to its knees. Dad grabbed it from behind, jerking the creature’s arms backward. I lifted the creature’s head by his hair so I could see into the reptilian eyes. “Where are the others?”
The creature smirked. “You’ll never find them all. There are dozens of us now.”
“Dozens?” I should have known the first one lied to me. “What do you want?”
“We want you to give us your spaceship so we can get off this planet.”
“You can’t have it.” Dad jerked the creature’s arms harder, and it snarled.
Licking its lips, the creature blinked his eyes rapidly, widening, and then narrowing his reptilian pupils. “Then the girl dies.”
“What girl?” I demanded.
“Your precious human, Cassie.” The creature glanced my mother’s way. “You should have killed her that night on the campground.”
My mother looked both stricken and guilty. The look on her face ripped my heart out. My mother was the one who hurt Cassie?
The creature struggled, trying to lunge free. “I have my orders to kill the girl.” He drew his lips back in a snarl. “I’m going to take her apart and make her agony last. She’ll know pain unlike—” I put my palm against its heart and shot a burst of my energy into him. His lips turned blue, then gray before his head slumped over.
Dad let go of him, then glared at me. “We should have released him, let him lead us back to the others where we could have had them all in one place.”
“I won’t risk Cassie,” I said, staring him down.
“He said there were dozens of them?” Mom asked, trying not to look at me.
“He’s lying. They all do.” Dad put his arm around her shoulders.
I watched them for a second, momentarily at a loss for words after what I’d learned about my mother’s actions. “You were the one who tried to kill Cassie?” Though she wasn’t my real mother, I couldn’t reconcile the image of the kind woman who’d raised me with one who could do that kind of damage to a human.
My mother tugged the hem of her shirt to straighten it. She lifted her chin and a flash of hatred crossed her face. “Yes,” she admitted without remorse.
“Why?”
“Because Sam Grant needed to feel the pain we felt when Carl’s wife, Francis, was killed.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Dad said.
I clenched my fists. But I did understand. More than I wanted to. I wasn’t like my so-called parents. I never had been. I didn’t have the blood lust they had when it came to killing humans.
“I have to go. The other Ragespawn will be hunting Cassie.” I walked toward the door.
Dad grabbed my arm. “Where are you going?”
“Do you have to ask?”
His chin lifted, his expression daring me to leave. “More of these creatures could attack us tonight. We need you here to fight with us.”
“Cassie and her mom are powerless against them.” I opened the door.
“Jason, my plan all along has been to let Carl have his justice with the death of Sam Grant and his entire family. If you choose to protect her, to save them over us, I will strip you of your heritage. You’ll be an outcast.”
Mom clutched my father’s hand. “You can’t expect me to never speak to my son again. You can’t cast him out.” She faced me. Over the last hour, she seemed to have aged. The lines around her mouth deepened as she pinched her lips together. “Jason, please don’t do this,” she begged.
My father shushed her. “Choose, Jason, and know that your choice will define the rest of your life.”
My mother launched herself at me, grabbing my arm and hanging on tightly. “Please, don’t push this, Son. I know I’m not your real mother but I have loved you since you were an infant.” When I didn’t answer, she went on. “If you do this, when we return to Shion, you’ll be the lowest class among us. Hated and rejected.”
True, there would be repercussions for me. If my father turned me into an outcast, my future would drastically change. I would become the lowest of the lows among our people. Once we reached Shion, I would be shunned and would spend the rest of my life alone. That future held misery and hopelessness. Any Tazavorn who raised a child from infancy had the ability to cast off a child who put the family at risk. The ancient rule was meant to protect the bonds of family, but my father would use it as a weapon to attempt to control me.
As far as I was concerned, there was no real choice. I would find a way to fix everything for Cassie and to be with her, but just to be clear, I said, “I choose Cassie.” I stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind me.
“Outcast!” Dad’s voice boomed through the broken window and he thrust his hand out toward me.
“No!” Mom screamed.
Dad’s power wrapped around me like a black cyclone, holding me prisoner. I kept my back straight even as his energy dug into my skin like hundreds of knives sliding into me. The pain was enough to make me want to drop to my knees, but I refused. Wide bracelets of black formed and circled both of my wrists, burning my skin and shackling me to my new future, preventing me from ever hiding what I’d been labeled. Over time, the markings would continue to expand over my upper torso until my skin was covered with them. I clenched my teeth as the outcasting process ripped into me. Finally, his power released me and breathing hard, I stumbled from the porch and raced to get to Cassie before it was too late.