SOMEONE WAS SINGING BAD ROMANCE. That someone was also cooking eggs and bacon. And hash browns. More importantly, I smelled coffee.
I smiled and rubbed my eyes open. Jay was preparing breakfast less than fifteen feet away in his open kitchen.
“You’re an angel,” I called out to him, stretching and arising from my makeshift bed. I felt surprisingly well-rested and energized, my mind clearer than it should’ve been, my head and body suffering none of the aches and pains I would’ve expected after consuming wine and Xanax and sleeping on a couch. Even my looming anxiety over the prospect of going to Vair’s club tonight had somehow abated during the night, because I felt markedly less panicked over the whole situation.
“So I’ve been told. Breakfast is in five.” He waved a spatula at me. “Chop-chop.”
I hit the bathroom, washed up, and was back in ten to take a seat next to Jay at his island countertop. He had already shaved, showered, and dressed for the day. Which was atypical Jay behavior for 9 a.m. on a Saturday.
“The hash browns, fruit, and coffee are all vegan,” he announced proudly, making me laugh as he bit into his bacon.
“Look who’s a funny man this morning,” I teased, picking up my fork and digging into the hash browns Jay had plated for me.
He seemed to be in remarkable spirits, full of energy and beaming from ear to ear like he couldn’t wait to get going with his day. Or to tell me something?
“Did you go out partying after I went to bed last night?”
“And not include you?” he exclaimed with a look of mock horror. “I slept great is all. You?”
“Surprisingly excellent as well. Thanks again for letting me stay with you. And for making breakfast.”
“My pleasure. Can’t let my only female friend face Ks on an empty stomach.” He glanced at his watch. “But hurry it up; we’ve got less than fourteen hours to figure out what you’re going to wear tonight to the club, not to mention come up with brilliant interview questions.”
I frowned. “I’m sorry, did I miss something? Last night we were plotting my escape from the city. Now you want me to go to Vair’s club?”
“I know, I know, but I feel better about the whole situation after sleeping on it. Because guess who’s going to the x-club with you?” He raised his brow and gestured to himself.
My eyes popped. “Jay, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not. I’m crashing your party.” He grinned. “I took it upon myself to contact Vair this morning to let him know I’d be coming. Also, to negotiate our terms.”
My fork slipped to the quartz countertop with a clatter. “You what?”
“Told him you were only going if I came with you and if he guaranteed our safety.” His brown eyes lit with excitement. “And if you got to interview some Ks.”
“You spoke with him?”
“No, we texted.”
“Texted?” My jaw dropped. “You have Vair’s phone number?”
He shrugged, looking sheepish. “I swiped it from your exotic fruit basket.”
“What?” There had been no number written on the card included with the exotic fruit basket Vair had sent me. I’d read that note over a thousand times. “Jay, there was no number anywhere on his card.”
“Not on the personal card, no. But there was a business card tucked inside the basket that included a phone number.”
“And you kept it for all this time? You never told me?”
He held his palm up. “You wanted nothing to do with that basket, Amy. You were spazzing out and didn’t even want to touch it, remember? I barely had time to look through the cool fruit and snag the card for safekeeping before you tossed the whole thing into the incinerator.”
“So you just woke up this morning and texted a K?” I couldn’t process it. “You texted Vair?”
He nodded, his mouth now full from the bite of eggs and bacon he’d taken.
“And he responded?”
Another nod. He raised his finger as he finished chewing. “Yeah. He said I could come tonight.” He paused to take a sip of coffee. “I asked about the Council members, too. He said everything was cool and he was handling it.”
“He said everything was cool?”
“I’m paraphrasing. He said you aren’t in any danger from them or any other Ks offended by your article as long as you stick close to him. You know, so that he can look out for you. That’s why he wants you to come to his club.”
Jay said this like it made perfect, rational sense. As if Vair was blackmailing me into coming to his alien sex club for altruistic reasons.
I couldn’t decide if I should be relieved and embrace my best friend’s abrupt change of perspective on my situation, or be alarmed that I might be living the Krinar version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
“Come on, eat up. Everything’s going to be fine.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “Think about it: this’ll be way better material for your next K article than that veganism stuff.”
I shook my head, my appetite gone. “What’s this deal you made with Vair about me interviewing Ks?”
“Like I said, I told Vair you’d come to his club tonight if I came with you, and if you got to interview some Ks who frequent the club for your next article.”
“This is a bad idea, Jay.” I’d gotten myself into this whole mess by writing an exposé on Vair’s x-club.
“Will you stop shaking your head at me and listen for a minute? Vair gave me his word we’d be safe under his protection at his club.” He spoke slowly and clearly, as if he thought I wasn’t getting it. As if Vair’s word on this was somehow gospel.
“He also agreed to let you interview Ks, but only Ks of his choosing.” Jay scrunched his nose up at the last part—like it was the most regrettable news. “And only on his terms, which include him being present for any and all interviews with these other Ks. For your protection, of course.”
Once again, Jay was quick to present Vair’s actions as considerate—practically noble. What the heck was going on?
“To be honest, I got the impression Vair just wants you to interview him, actually.”
Great. “Jay, you know I want to help get factual information out to the public about the Ks more than anyone, but don’t you think I should avoid pissing off the Krinar Council any more than I already have at this point? What if Vair’s lying and this is all a trap?”
Jay cocked his head, studying me with a distracted expression.
“If you come with me, we’re both endangering our lives,” I pointed out. “We could disappear off the face of the Earth, and no one would ever know what happened to us.”
“Hey, you’re not wearing your glasses. And you’re not squinting at everything like you normally do without them.”
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
“I heard it,” he acknowledged dismissively. “Are you wearing contacts? I thought you lost your contacts weeks ago and hadn’t replaced them yet?”
I was about to flip out on him over his bizarre behavior when I realized he was right; I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I had lost my contacts weeks ago. Nine weeks ago to be exact—the night I’d hooked up with Vair.
And I could see fine without glasses or contacts right now. Perfectly, in fact.
I could see flecks of gold and black in Jay’s brown irises that I’d never noticed before. I could read the tiny print on the dial settings on the small Viking convection oven nestled within the wall of cabinets that was well over six feet behind Jay’s back.
“Oh, my God …”
I hopped off my stool and dashed over to the couch. I found my glasses right where I’d left them on the coffee table the night before and put them on.
Then I took them off. And put them back on again.
I couldn’t see for shit with them on.
It wasn’t a new prescription that I needed. Apparently, I didn’t need glasses at all? Something wasn’t right.
Then it hit me. His scent hit me.
My heart thudded in my chest. I dropped to my ass on the couch, balled the mess of tangled sheets between my hands, and raised them to my face, inhaling deeply.
“Um … what are you doing?”
I recalled my dream. “I think Vair was here.”
“Don’t be silly. We have doormen downstairs.”
“Like that matters. Jay, we watched him disintegrate a wall right in front of us at his club, remember?”
“Point taken.” Jay joined me on the couch. “But maybe it’s just my cologne you’re smelling.” He attempted to pull the sheets from my grasp, and I jerked back reflexively, clutching them to my chest.
Like a possessive, K-sniffing xenophile. A crazed K addict.
I tossed the sheets at Jay like they were on fire.
Subtle.
“No—I mean, it’s not, um … your scent.” I took my glasses off and busied my fingers fiddling with the hinges. “You can sniff for yourself.” I sounded like a lunatic.
The look on my best friend’s face confirmed my worst fear. I put my glasses back on.
Perfect vision was overrated.
He stood. “Okay. Ah, suppose it’s from your limo ride yesterday then? You didn’t shower last night, right?”
It was a perfectly plausible explanation. But somehow I knew my gut was right this time. Vair had been here. And I had very confusing, mixed feelings about that.
My body did too.
“You’re probably right.”
“Of course I’m right. I’m always right,” Jay said with a forced laugh, doing his best to lighten the mood. “But why don’t I try to connect with that friend of mine from college anyway?” he offered, tucking the crumpled-up sheets under his arm. “The one I think ended up at the CIA. You know, as a precaution.”
I nodded. Maybe the government was quietly working on a Krinar vaccine that could make me immune to Vair? I’d gladly volunteer to test it.
“I think that’d be a good precaution,” I agreed, even though I doubted any human could protect us from Ks. “Especially if we’re going to risk going back to Vair’s club tonight.”
“Baby girl, I know we were both pretty spooked last night about everything that happened yesterday, but I feel better about the situation this morning after texting with Vair. I really don’t get the sense that he intends to harm you. Think about it: he would’ve done it already. And besides”—Jay puffed his chest out, assuming a comical stance—“you’ll be with me! What could possibly go wrong?”
I had to laugh. “What indeed.”
“I mean, look,” he said with a shrug, “maybe Vair wanting you at his club isn’t about angry Krinar Council members or about Vair wanting to love you long time. Maybe it’s as simple as Vair wanting to reignite the buzz about his club that your last article created?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s just possible not all vegan, bloodsucking alien overlords are villains, right? Vair could simply be opportunistic and capitalist-minded—like everyone else in this city.”
I snorted. “One can hope.”
“Atta girl!” He reached down and chucked me under the chin. “Do you want”—he held the balled-up sheets out to me—“you want your K blankie back?”
“Ugh, my God.” I arose from the couch, shoving a laughing Jay from my path. “I’m gonna shower now.”
“Good idea,” he called after me. “Wash that alien stink outta your hair.”