Chapter Six

 

 

She didn’t know if she should hate or love whoever was knocking on the front door. They had interrupted a conversation they needed to have.

She dropped her head and focused on her plate as he got up to answer the door. The voices were muffled so she couldn’t hear what was happening. The door closed, and she heard multiple footsteps headed for the kitchen. She took a quick drink of her O.J. and straightened her shoulders.

Xander walked in first, behind him was the female she saw earlier with the red hair and green eyes. Right behind her was the male who was Xander’s twin.

“Hi.” She gave them a smile.

“Hi Saffron, sorry to interrupt your breakfast.”

“That’s not a problem. Xander didn’t make an extra.” Saffron gave an even bigger smile because it was a problem. She needed time with Xander to get to know all of him because she was falling for him, and he was doing the same for her. The desire to roar like an animal who had been interrupted during the mating process was sitting on her shoulders, but she was human. And humans were civil, too bad.

“I can make more if you’re hungry.”

“We ate, but you can make breakfast when you come home.”

There was a low growl in the room. Saffron turned her head looking for the source. Did they have a dog? When she couldn’t find it, she turned back to the table to see everyone staring at her.

Oh God, had that noise come from her? She stood up knocking the chair over in horror as she turned to flee. Xander stopped her by placing his arm around her middle and picking her up.

“It’s fine wild cat; Caden knows when I come home your coming with me.”

She looked at Caden to find him nodding his head. Her body relaxed. There was no way to understand what was happening, but being shot had changed her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

“Don't stop,” Sage said with a grin. “Maybe they will forget all the scenes I’ve caused.”

Saffron smiled back. There was something strange about Sage, she noticed it the first time she met her. If given a chance, she would hate her, but she didn’t know why. Sage also called to her, and in the end, she knew they would be the best of friends.

“Do I know you?”

“I told you!” Sage turned around and spoke to Caden. “I told him I felt like I knew you from somewhere, but I can’t figure it out. It feels like it’s in a fog, and if I could get some light in there everything would be clear.”

“That’s how I feel. The more I look at you; I see a hazy picture, but it won’t clear up. It just sits there and teases me. And that freaking alien in my head just smiles and says you’ll understand soon.”

Her hand went over her mouth, she had revealed too much.

“Same! The alien in my head won’t say a word even though I know she knows what’s happening.”

“You have an alien voice in your head?”

“I do; she has a body and a personality.”

Saffron just stared at her. This was the first time she ever met anyone like her.

“Is her hair multi-colored?”

Sage’s eyes grew to take up her whole face. “How did you know? Her hair is orange with purple streaks, yours?”

“Her hair is purple with orange streaks.”

“They are almost like sisters. What color skin does yours have?”

“She’s white

“Really? Mine is black.”

They stared at each other for a long time. There was a revelation here something important. Someone knocked on the door breaking the connection they were trying to form.

Saffron groaned. Why did they even have a door? Xander got up to see who was knocking. He walked back in with Cait and another male following him.

“Hi Saffron, I came to have a look at you. This is Tristan; he wasn’t around when you woke up.”

“Hi Cait. Hi Tristan, I want to say, thank you for helping to take care of me and save my life.”

“You’re welcome, Saffron. I feel honored to be part of the team that saved you.”

“Do you mind if we step into the bedroom to have a look at you, and then you can get back to visiting with everyone?”

“That sounds fine.” Her eyes met Xander; she didn’t need his permission, but she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He gave a nod confirming what she thought. They were friends. She walked out and into the bedroom with them following.

“How’s your heart been? Have you had any chest pain? Cait told me what happened to you after you got here.” He was listening to her heart as he checked her pulse.

“No, I’ve been good, but I still don’t understand what happened.”

“Certain races can plant triggers. I believe the being you saw was of one of those races. Your trigger was the name of the male who tried to kill you. It would trigger your death if you hadn’t died like you were supposed to.”

“Aren’t I the lucky one. At least, they failed twice.”

“Maybe they won’t try a third time,” Cait told her.

“Have no fear they will come for me again. Richard holds a grudge and doesn’t give up easily.”

“Why does he want you dead?”

“Because I’m the key.”

“The key to what?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Can you describe Richard?”

Her eyes grew dim before she finally shook her head no. “I saw him when I mentioned his name. He was as clear as a bell, but now I can’t remember.”

“Don’t worry it will come to you again.”

“I’m concerned that what I can’t remember will kill me.”

“That would worry me too, but honestly I don’t think that will happen with Xander at your side.”

A soft smile touched her lips. “Are we done?”

“No yet, lay down.” Cait ran a small machine over her chest and abdomen.

“Your heart is enlarged a little. After all, you’ve gone through I expected it to be bigger. Remember I told you if you’re tired or feel the need to slow down, do it?”

“I remember.”

“I want you to heed whatever your body is telling you. You’re in better shape than I thought. Get some exercise, walk around or run just don’t overdo it. We’ll be back in a couple of days.”

“Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

She watched as they walked out and said goodbye to everyone. Cait stopped to talk to Xander before leaving.

“We’re going to leave too. It was nice seeing you again,” Caden told her.

“We’ll see you soon.” Sage gave her a wave before they walked out.

“Did I scare them away?”

“They wanted to give us time together.”

She grinned at him. Now they wanted to give them time together. Their family had bad timing. She stopped they weren’t her family, and he wasn’t hers this was just a cooling-off period before life restarted. Yeah, she knew everything she had been thinking to herself, but life just knocked. Her heart was enlarged, what male wanted to deal with that? Then there was some shadowy figure named Richard out to kill her. How could she ask Xander to deal with the extremes that was her life?

“Cait said I should get some exercise I can even run.” Okay, she wasn’t running anywhere. Not that she couldn’t, but she wasn’t a fan of running only to find out she ended where she began. Now if a monster was coming down the street, she was going to run you down getting out the way of it.

“You want to take a walk?”

“I’d like that.”

“Come with me.”

She looked down at her feet. The sandals she had on weren’t conducive to walking since the sole was so thin. She followed him anyway.

“Should I find Cait and get my license back?”

“You won’t need it.”

They walked down the street until he stopped in front of a beautiful house with a large porch.

“This is where Caden and I live. It’s one house, but we each have a private section. When we were fighting, we always lived together. Having a space to call our own was new to both of us.”

He moved on and took her to the Garage. Inside were two beautiful Jeeps. He took her to the black Jeep with the purple accents. She grinned and nodded her head; she was sure this one was his. It screamed I’m Xander, mess with me if you’re tired of living. He was a bad ass.

He opened the door for her and helped her in.

“What do you think of it?” He asked when he got in.

“I think your Jeep is as sleek and tough as you are.” He turned to face her his eyes shining with pride.

“Where are we going?” He started the engine and exited the garage.

“You need a pair of shoes first.” They exited the barrier.

“I can walk in these.”

“But what if you want to run?”

Should she disillusion him now or let him live in a world where she might be running for a little while longer?

“I hate to tell you this, but running isn’t my thing.”

“No problem, I’ll just carry you.”

She sat back with her mouth open and allowed that statement to run around her brain. Then she looked inside of herself for some clarification. Of course, all the voices inside her head were silent. Why couldn’t she be crazy when it was helpful?

What the heck? There was a car on the opposite side of the street that just did an illegal U-turn and was now following them. We do not know the way to paradise she wanted to shout at them. Except her stomach was in her throat because something about the passenger, the only person she could get a good look at, scared the hell out of her.

“Xander?” Her voice was tentative. This is what she meant about catching him up in her life.

“I see them wild cat.” The butterflies in her stomach took off. He had called her that before, now she knew it was going to be his pet name for her. The only pet name she remembered was her dad calling her Roni. Her mother’s voice tried to come through, but it got lost in all the background noise in her head.

“Remember what I said about the need to run? We’re going to get you running shoes in case the need arises later.”

“What about them?”

“They will follow or they won’t. I know what they look like now.”

He pulled into a secluded parking place at the mall and got out. Then he walked around the Jeep and opened the door for her. The car parked next to them, and he never turned around as if they weren’t a threat.

“I think you can find what you need here. According to Jessie, there’s a shoe store in there to die for. I’ve no idea why you would want to die for shoes. When I asked, the females laughed and said it was a girl thing.”

“I’ll explain it to you later.”

“That won’t be happening.” Thing one said coming into view.

She had to grin at her name for him even though she knew this was serious. If she didn’t laugh, then her heart might give out on its own no help from thing two who was now in view with a gun in his hand.

“Give us the girl, and you’ll get to live.”

“Where did you go to learn your bad boy speeches? They owe you a refund.”

He lifted the gun higher. Xander stepped in front of her.

“No.”