Tabby was getting tired of being alone all the time. She wasn’t the kind of girl who was used to sitting at home and doing nothing. Even when she was with Leo, she had a lot of social interaction with his gang and the other people in his environment.

She was always going to parties on his arm and being shown off to his friends. Now, she felt completely useless sitting here waiting for Oro to come back. He could be in danger. Anything could happen to him, and she would have no idea.

She sat on the couch in front of the TV and tried to distract herself. That didn’t last very long. The more she tried to distract herself, the more useless she felt. She had to do something, and she had to do something now. An idea popped into her head. The more she thought about it, the more she thought that it was exactly what she needed to do.

Oro might be pissed that she did it. He’d strictly forbidden her from helping with his mission. Even so, Tabby had to do what she thought was best for herself and for her relationship with her alien boyfriend.

She wanted him to know that she was a take action kind of girl, and she wasn’t going to sit around and take a backseat for the rest of her life. Even if she was meant to have his babies and live in a spaceship, she was still Tabby Wilson.

She stood from the couch and started pacing back and forth in front of the big screen TV. She continued thinking about her plan, considering the details. When she finally got up the nerve, she decided it was time. She pulled her cellphone out of her purse and dialed the phone number she didn’t think she would ever dial again.

“Tabby, where the hell have you been? Where the hell is my bike?” Leo said.

“I had to sell it. I was wrong to leave. I want to pay you back for the motorcycle and for all the pain I’ve caused you. I never should have left. I really want you to come get me.”

“Where are you?”

She gave him directions to a nearby coffee shop where she could meet him. She didn’t want to give away Oro’s mission or the location of their hideout. If she could convince Leo to take her to Juan’s compound, she could get Juan alone and then contact Oro.

She didn’t think there was anything wrong with her plan. In fact, she thought it was an excellent plan. She’d never done this kind of thing before, but she decided that she would be the perfect spy. Even if Oro would be pissed at her, eventually he would see that she was right all along. Hell, maybe he’d even include her in his missions in the future.

She arranged to meet Leo in an hour at the coffee shop. As the time for the meeting approached, she became more nervous. Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe it had been a mistake to call him. Too bad, she told herself. It was too late to back out now.

She put her purse over her shoulder and headed out of the house. She hoped Oro wouldn’t come back before she had a chance to corner Juan in his compound. Tabby walked on the sidewalk of the suburban street and made her way into a little business district where there were restaurants and shops. She went into a little café and ordered a coffee.

So many places had been completely devastated by the economic recession. The neighborhood where she’d grown up had been almost entirely taken over by techno-drugs and addiction. But neighborhoods like this one seemed to have come through the economic downturn unscathed. She had to admit, it kind of pissed her off.

She had seen so many people destroyed by the greater disparity between rich and poor that the Draconians’ new technology had created on Earth. To see that there were enclaves of society that had barely been touched just made the devastation of her own family and environment even more painful.

She knew a lot of people who resented the Draconians for what they had done. But she knew that it wasn’t really their fault. Technology was just technology. It was what human society and culture did with the technology that had caused the problems. The problems had already been there to begin with. The technology had just accentuated and accelerated the pace of social and environmental collapse already on its way.

At least it hadn’t turned into some kind of crazy apocalypse or some dark dystopia. Although, some parts of the country and the world definitely were experiencing dystopian qualities. None of that was the Draconians fault. From what she knew, the aliens were doing absolutely everything they could to repair the damage and bring the human race to a better place for all.

Tabby was actually really glad to be a part of it. She’d never considered herself an idealist. She wasn’t the kind of person who protested out in the streets. She just wanted a comfortable, nice life, like anybody else. It wasn’t like she was blind to what was going on. Her own life had been screwed up by the Draconians’ arrival, just like so many other people’s had.

Tabby sipped her coffee and waited at the table, her heart beating more quickly with each passing moment. She had never wanted to see Leo again. Seeing him sleep with another girl in her own bed, and slapping her for coming into the room, had really been the last straw. That guy was an asshole. He never deserved her.

A few moments later, a familiar form stood in the doorway of the café. Leo was dressed in a designer suit with aviator sunglasses over his dark eyes and angular face.

Anxiety shot up her spine and clenched in her stomach. What the hell was she doing? This had been a stupid thing to do just because she was bored. No turning back now, she had to see this thing through.

“Tabby Wilson, you little bitch. I should smack you down right here for taking my motorcycle. You know that thing was worth forty grand, right?”

“Forty grand?” She hadn’t been aware that it was worth forty thousand dollars. If she had been, she would’ve tried to sell it, stolen or not.

“How much did you get for it?” he said, sliding into the chair across from her.

He pulled his sunglasses away from his eyes and looked straight into hers. His pupils were pinpoints, and she knew that he had been taking the techno-drugs. Leo had become more and more involved in his own product.

It was a dangerous downward spiral that led to complete immersion into the virtual world. People spent their entire lives hooked up to the system, having sex with virtual sex bots and doing lines of virtual cocaine. They felt every nuance of the environment, and it completely overtook the addicts’ lives.

“Like a thousand dollars,” she said, smirking.

“A thousand dollars? You’ve got to be kidding me. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You betrayed me, Leo. What did you expect me to do?”

It was true, he had betrayed her. She stopped to think whether or not she would’ve left if that instance had never happened. Maybe she wouldn’t have left then, but she would’ve left eventually.

Tabby had grown tired of the whole scene a long time ago. She knew she deserved more out of life, and she was going to get it. Oro had shown her exactly what she deserved, and she didn’t intend to ever go back to being treated so poorly.

“Tabby, you know you’re my number one girl, right?” He gave her one of his winning smiles, showing his bright white teeth. Tabby decided to play along and slid her hands across the table to grasp his.

“Of course I do, Leo. We’ve been through so much together. You’ve done so much for me. I can never pay you back for that.”

“You have to pay me back for my motorcycle.” The way he looked at her made her nervous. What the hell was he even talking about? How could she ever pay him back for the motorcycle? “I have to go to Juan Norte’s compound today. You’re coming with me. I intend to collect your debt.”

The suggestion that she had to pay him back the forty grand for the motorcycle frightened her, especially with the look on his face.

“Whatever you need, baby. I’m here for you,” she said. She delivered the words with impeccable acting skill, but they tasted like ashes in her mouth. After spending the last several days with Oro, and experiencing just how wonderful and kind a man could be, the more she realized how much she hated Leo. He was a horrible person. He cheated on her, did drugs, hurt her. He practically kept her prisoner as his sex slave. Maybe it wasn’t like that on the surface, but it was certainly like that underneath.

She followed him out to his SUV and got in the passenger seat. This was getting really intense and she had to keep herself calm if she was going to pull it off. She put herself into the lion’s den, without Oro’s permission. This whole setup was supposed to help him with his mission. But Oro had forbidden her from doing it at all. As she drove in the car with Leo, she chastised herself inside her mind for being so impulsive and dumb.

Oro had explained what would happen if Juan was tipped off before Oro was able to stop him. He would turn his drug addicted zombies into an army against innocent people. Or he would make them all self-destruct simultaneously. Oro had said it was something like one million people who were addicted to the techno-drugs.

As they drove down the highway, Tabby thought about what would happen if she screwed up or failed. She might be a take-action kind of person, but it wasn’t like she had no conscience. She wanted to help Oro for a reason, and it wasn’t selfish one. She wanted to put a stop to men like Leo and Juan as well. She also wanted to see the world become a better place. She wanted to do her part in making that happen. She’d never realized it before, but as she watched the desert fly by, it became more and more clear to her that she did.

It only took about fifteen minutes to drive to the gate of Juan’s compound. The reinforced steel gate slid open. The guards’ eyes slid over Tabby suspiciously, but they let her pass anyway.

Leo drove into the compound and parked outside of a big two-story Spanish-style mansion. It was a beautiful place that anyone would like to live in. Knowing it was occupied by the most dangerous criminal in the state, maybe even the world, made the place a lot less attractive.

Leo slid out of the driver’s seat, and Tabby followed him up the walkway to the front door of the mansion. There were men in bulletproof vests holding semi-automatic rifles, pacing back and forth around the porch. No wonder Oro was having such a hard time finding an opening.

The thought of Oro made her flush. He had been spying on the compound for days. Maybe he could see her now. The thought of him hiding somewhere, watching his mate walk into such a dangerous situation, filled her with regret. She didn’t want to hurt him or upset him.

Tabby was beginning to have genuine feelings for Oro, feelings she’d never experienced before. She wasn’t sure exactly what to call them. Was it love? She would have to think about it later because the door to the mansion slowly slid open, and she and Leo were welcomed inside.

The front hallway had the same Spanish style as the exterior, with intricate tilework on the floor and open beams on the ceilings. It was a beautiful place. Too bad it was owned by an asshole like Juan Norte.

“I’m here for my weekly meeting,” Leo said to the guard who had greeted them.

“Juan is down in the basement overseeing inventory. He’ll meet you up in his office in fifteen minutes. Who is this?” the guard asked, tilting his gun towards Tabby.

“This is a little extra payment.” The guard nodded at Leo and Tabby suppressed a surprised gasp. She instead smiled and giggled as if being given to Juan Norte by her ex-boyfriend was a normal thing to have happen in any given day.

They walked up the stairs, led by the guard from the front door. The man opened a reinforced metal door that led into a well-appointed office space that looked like it had originally been a master bedroom. There was a big oak desk facing the window. A table set with lunch and a bar full of decanters of alcohol.

“Help yourself to the food. Juan is expecting you. He’ll be here in a few moments. I’m sure he’ll appreciate the gift.”

Tabby slid into a padded chair in front of the table, scooped up some fruit and bread, and poured herself a mimosa from the bottle of champagne and orange juice sitting on the table. If she was going to be in this dangerous situation, she might as well have something to eat and drink while she was at it.

Leo didn’t sit down. He paced in front of the big French doors that looked out onto a patio and the pool area at the back of the house.

“Why don’t you sit down and have something to eat?” she asked.

“I’m not hungry,” he said. People who were hooked on the techno-drugs rarely ate real food anymore. Many of them wasted away over time because they lost their appetite, not only in reality, but for the sustenance of life.

“Your loss,” she said. There were fresh melons and strawberries. It was delicious and nice for a change. Leo rarely had fresh food in his house. It was usually something from one of the restaurants that he extorted. Usually, that wasn’t very good. Something about extortion just wasn’t conducive to “made with love”.

As she shoved a piece of watermelon into her mouth, the door opened. A short, fat, bald man in his early fifties waddled into the room.

“What do we have here?” Juan asked Leo.

“Juan, I brought you a gift. We’ve been doing business together for a long time, and I thought that it was appropriate to show my appreciation. This is Tabby Wilson.”

“It’s always appropriate to show your appreciation,” Juan said, coming closer to inspect Tabby.

“Stand up, Tabby,” Leo commanded, still pacing back and forth in front of the window. “Let him see you.”

“No, no, no. Stay seated. Make yourself comfortable. My home is your home, as they say,” Juan said, sitting across from her. The guy wasn’t necessarily disgusting. It wasn’t like he was missing all of his teeth or anything. But knowing what she knew about Juan Norte, he was the ugliest man she’d ever met.

“I love these melons,” Tabby said.

“I love your melons,” Juan said. Seriously? Did he really just say that?

“Thanks,” she said, not knowing how else to respond to such a lame line. This guy seriously needed to work on his game. But she supposed that he really didn’t have to have any game, considering he was a drug kingpin and all.

“Leo, you go down and get your shipment. I want to get to know my new friend here,” Juan said.

“Whatever you say, boss,” Leo said, moving to the door. “Bye, Tabby. You can consider our debt closed.”

Leo walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving her with Juan. He was leering at her in the most unsettling way, his eyes grazing over her cleavage and then focusing on her lips.

“Where did a guy like Leo find a girl like you?” he asked.

“My old neighborhood, on the border. It’s been a really sketchy place since the Draconians arrived.”

“Ah, the Draconians. The race who created my entire industry. Someday, I’ll have to thank them. But right now, I’m more interested in getting to know you. What makes you tick, Tabby Wilson?”

“I like shopping, relaxing with friends, hanging out by the pool in my bikini. You know, girl stuff.”

“We have a pool. I’m sure we could find you a bikini, too. But of course, who really needs a bikini when you have Juan Norte, leader of the entire techno-drug cartel? You partake, Tabby?”

“I never got the habit. I prefer things to be…physical,” she said, reaching across the table and sliding her hand over his. She was going to have to find a way to contact Oro soon. Now was his chance.

If he didn’t realize that it was Tabby alone in the room with Juan, he wouldn’t strike. She had her cellphone in her purse, waiting to text him at any moment. She slid her free hand into her purse as she ran her fingers over Juan’s wrist.

She had pre-prepared a text message, and she only had to press the send button. She had grown up with technology in her hands, become an adult in the time of the Draconians, she was a techno-native. She knew what she was doing. She hit the button and waited, smiling gleefully at Juan Norte’s ugly face.

If Oro was as good as he said he was, he would come busting into the room at any moment. Tabby was counting on it. If he didn’t, she was royally screwed. And she might get royally screwed by Juan, which was not a prospect she was looking forward to in any way shape or form.

Juan drew his hand away and poured himself a mimosa, still smiling at her with that leering, gross look on his face. He took a step and raised his eyebrows as if he had had a new idea.

“Why don’t we finish our drinks, and then I’ll show you the pool,” he said.

“That’s an awesome idea,” she said, pouring herself another drink. She had to buy herself some time. Oro, where are you? She slowly sipped the orange juice and champagne, the seconds ticking by as if they were hours.

She heard a subtle crack on the roof above, and Juan looked up. He narrowed his eyes and frowned, pulling away as if he were going to call his guards. Tabby held onto his hand and frowned at him, giving him her best pathetic girl pout.

“Where you going?” she whined. “We were just starting to have fun.”

He settled down and smiled at her. “I thought I heard something. I suppose it’s nothing.”

She picked up a strawberry from the plate and slowly leaned across the table, showing as much of her cleavage as possible as she angled the strawberry towards Juan’s mouth. He smiled at her and parted his greasy lips, knowing what she was doing. She pushed the ripe strawberry between his lips, her entire body revolting at the sight of it. Gross. Juan closed his eyes and ran his tongue over her fingertips as he took the strawberry into his mouth.

Juan reached across the table and slid his damp fingers down her bare arm. Tabby repressed a shudder of disgust. She was beginning to worry that Oro might not come. What then? She’d have to allow Juan to do whatever he wanted with her or she’d been in deep shit.

Juan stood from the table and came to stand beside her, grasping her hand in his.

“Let’s take this to my bedroom,” he said, in a suggestive tone. Tabby squeezed her eyes closed, trying to keep her face from betraying her true feelings. His very presence made her sick. This guy was responsible for destroying so many lives, including her parents, including her own.

She slowly stood, turning to Juan with her best fake smile. He was shorter than her and smelled like a combination of gasoline and old cheese. He ran his hand over her hip and gripped her waist, growling.

“Leo’s going to get a bonus for this,” he said, his hand inching up toward her breast.

The doors of the patio opened and both she and Juan gasped, turning toward the door. In an instant, a laser shot across the room and blasted Juan right between the eyes. She jumping back, knocking her chair over onto the floor. Juan wheeled around, his face smacking into the plates on the table before he fell to the floor.

“What do you think you’re doing, woman?” Oro spurted angrily. She was shocked and a little bit traumatized, so his angry words made her angry as well.

“I’m helping you with your mission! What you think I’m doing?” She knew he had a right to be irritated. But she wasn’t going to admit that right now.

“Who told you, you could help me with my mission?” Oro demanded, grabbing her and inspecting her body for injuries.

“I’m fine, stop fussing over me. We need to get out of here.”

“This is unacceptable, Tabby.”

“Did you or did you not just take out Juan Norte? I mean he’s dead on the floor right now, right? Or did that not just happen?”

“Okay, okay. You helped me. I see that. But you put yourself in danger.” He wrapped her in his arms and crushed her against his chest. “I would have died if I had lost you.”

From what Tabby understood about the Draconian and mating impulse, the part about dying if he’d lost her wasn’t far from the truth. She did feel kind of bad about it. If something had happened to her, Oro would’ve slowly lost his mind. But nothing had happened, and she’d helped save the day. She was feeling pretty good about that fact and didn’t want him to take it away from her.

“I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it. But I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to help, and I was tired of sitting around the house watching television. I’m not the kind of girl who can just sit there and do nothing. You kept me around on this mission. Let’s just think about that for a moment, shall we?”

Oro heaved a heavy sigh, still keeping her crushed to his chest. “I concede, my mate. You did help me, and I will be forever grateful to you. I see you are a brave, strong warrior in your own right, and I should not have doubted you. Now, we must leave.”

He pulled her towards the open doors, enfolding her in his arms. Out on the patio, a line shot out from his wrist up towards the roof. It elevated them upwards, and they jumped onto the rooftop. Once there, Oro flicked a spot at the base of his neck and his uniform disappeared. There was shouting from below and gunshots ricocheted off the roof.

“You will ride on my back, my mate.”

Before Tabby had a chance to ask what he was talking about, Oro shifted into a steely black dragon. His scales mirrored the surroundings, making him camouflaged. She scrambled on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. The prospect of riding a dragon was more terrifying than even going into Juan’s compound. She buried her face in his scales and gritted her teeth. His powerful wings beat the air, and he launched into the sky. The sounds of gunfire followed them as they hurried away.