Alien in the House

Chapter 45



FOR AS TIRED AS I WAS, both physically and emotionally, it wasn’t a shocker that I fell right to sleep once we were done having lots more incredibly fantastic sex. Jeff was even fully naked by the time we were done, too.

What was surprising was that I woke up early.

Put it down to the fact that I was now used to getting up with Jamie. Of course, Jeff was still sound asleep, and he was normally up before me.

Looked at the clock. 6:30 in the morning was earlier than early for me, unless Jamie had woken up early for some reason. And Jamie wasn’t here.

Neither were the pets. Listened, but didn’t hear any animal or bird sounds. Didn’t hear much of anything, other than Jeff’s rhythmic breathing. So why was I awake?

Rolled carefully out of bed so I didn’t disturb him. Gathered up my underwear, his clothes, and the now-beloved fedora and went to the closet. Another fedora and trench were in there. Presumably the Elves didn’t want Jeff going out in a dirty set, and also presumably they were clear that I was going to keep him in that outfit as much as possible.

“Thanks,” I whispered to the hamper. I doubted that was where the Elves lived, but my bet was that it was their portal. “Seriously, if you guys want cookies and milk or silver dollars left in shoes or any other kind of bonus, leave me a note where Jeff won’t find it. I’ve got you covered.”

Dumped the clothes into the hamper, put the “old” fedora on top of the hamper, and trotted into the bathroom.

Came out to find Jeff still fast asleep. Worry niggled. What if he’d been hit with whatever Buchanan had been hit with? What if Jeff wasn’t going to wake up?

He grunted. “M’wake.” Then he rolled over and went back to snoozing.

Worry abated, I contemplated what I should do with my wide-awake self. I could read more of the Briefing Books of Boredom or the Diplomat’s NYC Phone Book. Decided those were only options if I wanted to go right back to sleep. Part of me did, because I doubted I’d had enough rest.

But I was awake, and maybe I was awake for a reason. After all, when the Peregrines had arrived, Christopher and I had been woken up first. Maybe we were getting a shipment from Alpha Four.

Waited. Nothing. So, that most likely wasn’t the right answer. Checked my phone. No calls, no texts, nothing. Burner phones were quiet as well.

ACE? Sure it was probably useless, but I could hope, right? ACE, are you there? Do you need Kitty?

Waited, but no answer came. Heaved a sigh, but then it had probably been too much to hope for. ACE would let me know when he was back. I hoped.

It was still raining. Maybe there’d been thunder or a heavy raindrop or something. No matter, I wasn’t going back to bed.

Put on a robe and went out to the living room, taking my purse and handbag with me. Turned on the TV while I transferred stuff from the handbag to my regular purse. Which was a mistake—turning on the TV, not moving stuff into my purse—because the news was filled with our disastrous party. Hadn’t realized I was masochistic, but apparently this was so, as I morbidly flipped through the channels to find out who was covering the story. Everyone was. Go journalism.

Could wake Jeff up and share the “fun” with him, but that seemed pointless. Frankly, waking anyone up seemed pointless. They’d all see and hear about this soon enough.

My phone beeped with a text from my father, asking me to call him whenever I woke up. Well, Dad was up, and I was up, and I desperately wanted to talk to someone. Waited an entire two seconds before I dialed.

“Hi, kitten, you’re up early.”

“Um, yeah. Dad, have you looked at the news?”

“Yes. That’s why I sent the text. Your mother’s still asleep. She got in late and is thankfully sleeping like a rock. She needs it. You need it, too.”

“Yeah, Jeff’s still asleep, but I woke up and am really wide awake. And Mom’s had a busy few days, hasn’t she?”

“Yes, but I don’t know all the details.” Dad sighed. “How are you doing, really?”

“I’m okay.”

“Kitty, don’t lie to your father.”

“I don’t want to whine.” Actually, I desperately wanted to whine, but felt that I was a little old for it.

“That’s what I’m here for, kitten. You may be a big girl with an important job, and a husband and baby girl of your own, but you will always be my little girl and if I need to slay some dragons for you or defend you from the ravening hordes, then that’s what I’m here for.”

That was all it took—the floodworks started. “Oh, Daddy . . .”

Blubbered out a variety of things, mostly related to having Reyes die at my party while holding my hand, and then to have his murderer turn out to be inept and assassinated at the same time. Dad grunted sympathetically at all the right places.

Then I blubbered some more about nothing that really mattered—my dress getting likely ruined, our having thrown another disastrous party, the news asking if we were The Embassy of Death. Dad continued the sympathetic noises with the occasional “not to worry” tossed in.

Proceeded to then sob on about things that did matter—Jeff being forced to become a representative, my being forced to handle being the real, full-time ambassador, my fears about all the variety of unknowns we had going on, Reader being mad at me.

“And when we first moved here I thought Eugene was my friend but he wasn’t and now it’s like Vance is trying to be my friend and like James isn’t and it’s so weird and I just miss being a regular person,” I shared as I was winding down.

Dad chuckled. “Kitten, you’ve never been just a regular person. Even before you met Jeff you were exceptional.”

“Aren’t you required to say that under the Parent’s Rules and Regulations Code?”

“Maybe, but it’s true. You were much more exceptional than you realized.”

“I guess. But I just had a normal job and a normal life.”

“Do you miss it? I mean truly, not just at this moment.”

Considered this. Decided I owed my father honesty. “No, not really. But I miss what I used to do with Centaurion Division.”

“Only because you had a bad day yesterday. You’ve been settling in well, and now your rhythm’s being shifted again. I understand. But, honestly, kitten, as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.”

“Thanks for the Spiderman moment, Dad.” I sniffled. “I know I have a great life, I really do. But right now, I feel like all my friends are doing other things. Not just James and Lorraine and Claudia. But Amy’s taking on Gaultier Enterprises, and when she wins, that’ll mean she’s going to be running that company. Caro’s always busy with the senator, especially now. Sheila and I are back down to a text a month to make sure we’re both alive kind of thing.”

“You see Charles at least every week, if not every day,” Dad reminded me gently. “And every person you named would be there for you in an instant.”

“True.”

“James may be upset with you, but it’s because he cares about you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt. He’s in charge now, and, as I said before, that means he has the greatest responsibility. That can wear heavy, especially when things go wrong, as they did last night.”

“I guess.”

“Let’s be honest, kitten. You had two people you knew murdered in front of you last night.”

“I’ve killed people, Dad. It’s not like I haven’t seen someone die before.”

“But there’s a difference between killing in battle, killing in self-defense, and witnessing cold-blooded murder. You were hosting a dinner party. People aren’t supposed to die at dinner parties unless they’re in Agatha Christie novels.”

Sat up. “Say that again, please.” The little idea I’d had the night before seemed clearer.

“It was just a little joke, kitten. I said people aren’t supposed to die like poor Santiago did, poisoned in that awful way, unless they’re in a murder mystery.”

And suddenly I could see the forest of dense and confusing foliage for the distinct tree branches that were really there.