Alien in the House

Chapter 14



I PREPPED MYSELF for words of doom and destruction.

“Not much.” Reyes shrugged. “But anything can be sped through when the right incentives are given or applied.”

Managed not to say that Reyes really had a way with the anticlimax, but decided I was happier with his answer than the one I’d been expecting.

“Well, that’s all mysterious. Want to share what incentives are being tossed around, or are we just shooting the general blah, blah, blah right now so that Jeff and I get to spend the rest of the month not sleeping due to worry?”

“It’s the usual political maneuvering,” McMillan answered. “Some see the current state of affairs to be beneficial, some want to take advantage for their own reasons, both good and bad.”

As “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” from Tears for Fears came on, someone touched my elbow. Jeff shot an annoyed look at the toucher.

Turned to see a tall, slender, incredibly handsome guy with black wavy hair who looked Indian but I knew to be a pure-blooded A-C. I knew him in part because he was in the Armani fatigues just like all the rest of the A-C males, but mostly because we’d spent a lot of time with Rajnish Singh since Operation Destruction. He wasn’t full-time at the Embassy yet, but it was likely only a matter of time, because Jeff’s charm needed more of an assist than the rest of the Diplomatic Corps were providing on a regular basis.

The A-Cs had the same number of skin tones and body types as humans did. When they’d arrived on Earth they’d all been housed in the U.S. Once world governments were advised and the right approvals given, the A-Cs expanded out and created bases all over the world. The A-Cs with the most appropriate looks and body types went to the countries they’d blend in with the best, took appropriate names and surnames, and increased each host country’s overall hotness level. Raj was from New Delhi Base.

This base wasn’t the biggest or even most active of the worldwide bases; superbeings weren’t as common in that part of the world as they were in America, go U.S.A. for the ick-factor win. And while there were plenty of smaller bases all over the world, Euro Base, which was located in Paris, and Moscow Base handled or took the lead on the majority of the international incidents.

So the agents from New Delhi Base tended toward two types—the laidback and low-key and the extremely driven to prove they could run with the big dogs. I still hadn’t figured out which one Raj was.

“Hi, Raj, what’s up?”

Raj shot me a smile that gave Reader’s cover boy smile a run for its money. “Excuse me, Ambassador,” he said quietly. “But there’s a gentleman at the door requesting you.”

Normal sentences, made to sound incredibly thrilling. Yep, Raj was a troubadour. It wasn’t the most popular of talents within the Field and Imageering sides of Centaurion Division, but it was a godsend in terms of the political side. We needed more troubadours, but right now, Raj was splitting his time between us and New Delhi Base, with us getting about ninety percent of him.

“New boyfriend?” Jeff asked, only half-joking.

Shot him the “really?” look while Reader rolled his eyes and Tim snorted. “I doubt it.”

“Why does someone want to see Kitty and not me?” Jeff was pushing the worry.

“Are you picking up anything negative?” Everyone we were with was aware of Jeff’s empathic talents, so asking wasn’t revealing anything classified.

“No, not really.” He looked slightly uncomfortable and I gave myself a duh. He’d told me he’d put his emotional blocks up and with all the people in the Embassy right now, he had to have them set to high. So he could get the strong, rage-level emotions, but he wasn’t going to be picking up nuanced emotions at this time.

“It’s someone who said he isn’t invited to the party and doesn’t wish to crash it, Ambassador. He says he has an important, private message for Ambassador Katt-Martini.”

“Maybe it’s more dirty pictures.”

Armstrong choked on his fruit juice cocktail while the other men laughed. “Please God, not that again,” Armstrong said when he could breathe.

Frankly, I doubted dirty pictures were waiting for me. Figured it was probably Buchanan—if he’d remembered that he’d seen me holding the package I’d told him I’d disposed of, he might want to talk to me alone.

“You’re sure it’s okay, Raj?” Jeff, who wasn’t laughing, asked.

“I’ll stay with her, Ambassador.”

Jeff kissed my cheek. “Don’t be too long with your boyfriend Buchanan. I get jealous.” Nice to see Jeff had made the same assumption as me.

“Really? You? Who’d believe that?” I kissed his cheek as well, then let Raj lead me off to the front door. “What does Malcolm need?”

Our foyer was remarkably empty, considering how many people we had in the Embassy right now. I heard Pierre call everyone to dinner, meaning that the elevators and stairways were going to be busy while everyone headed for the second floor and the walkway to the Zoo.

“I have no idea, it’s not Mister Buchanan at the door.”

Stopped walking. “Raj, just who is at the door? In fact, why did you get the door instead of Pierre?”

“I took over for you and Ambassador Martini at the initial greeting stop so you two could spend time with Representative Reyes. I took over the door for Pierre so he could keep the party moving along.” He cocked his head at me. “Am I frightening you for some reason?”

“Depends on who’s at the door.”

Raj sighed. “Someone who said it was vitally important that he speak with you immediately. Just as I told the ambassador.”

Looked around. “Where are Len and Kyle?”

“Outside, with your visitor.”

Wasn’t sure that this was an improvement on things. Wasn’t sure if I was overreacting to the entire situation, either. Only one way to find out.

I opened the door.

Len and Kyle were nowhere to be seen. Neither was anyone else.