Saved by the Alien Crime Boss (Aliens Among Us #4)

Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

Sevik climbed into the bed of his truck and swept out the snow, twigs, and pinecones from within with a broom.

Almost done, Mina.

Though he willed that thought out to his mate, he knew it was more for himself than her. Since he’d left her apartment early this morning, Sevik had battled temptation. He’d longed to return to Mina, make her close the café even earlier than planned, and take her all for himself immediately.

He hopped down, shut the tailgate, and scattered the fallen twigs and needles into the deeper snow outside the carport’s shelter using his boot.

He’d almost allowed himself to skip the cleanup. It would’ve brought him to Mina a minute or two sooner—which felt like an eternity while they were apart. But old habits had compelled him.

Destroy all the evidence you could, obscure what you couldn’t. Those rules from his former life apparently applied to preparing a surprise for his mate.

After purchasing nearly every Christmas decoration he could find in Sullford between the grocery store, the hardware store, and the thrift shop, and spending hours putting them up, he wasn’t about to let a few stray pine needles give everything away.

Sevik strode to the cabin door. When he opened it, a wave of warm air, redolent of cinnamon and spices, flowed over him. The wreath he’d hung on the door and the baskets of scented pinecones he’d placed on the tables had filled the place with their fragrances. He’d seen Mina’s smile when she’d paused to smell them at Cornerstone a few days ago, and knew she’d appreciate them now.

He returned the broom to its place in the laundry room and flipped the switch for the exterior power outlets before stepping outside and locking up. A warm, golden glow filled the carport thanks to the strings of Christmas lights he’d hung.

But he paid those lights no attention as he entered the truck and started it. There was a tightness in his chest, a restlessness in his limbs, and an impossible-to-scratch itch just beneath his skin. He’d felt them all day…because he was apart from her.

Did Mina feel the same? Was this as difficult for her as it was for him?

As he drove along the driveway, he glimpsed the cabin in the rearview mirror. Red-orange light from the setting sun diluted the brightness of the lights he’d hung, but he still got a taste of the effect—the building seemed friendlier, more inviting.

By the time Sevik returned with Mina, it would be dark. He couldn’t wait to see the Christmas lights shining beneath the night sky, couldn’t wait for her to see them. Her smile would be even brighter.

Excitement carried him along the roads leading to town. His mate was waiting for him, with no idea of what awaited her.

Heat stirred low in Sevik’s belly, and his cocks pressed against his slit, aching dully. He smirked.

Well, she knows some of what awaits her.

But that would come later. Unless… Unless he took her before they left her apartment, just to satiate their hunger for a little while…

Though some of the lights were off inside the café when he arrived, and the door sign was already flipped to CLOSED , the chairs hadn’t yet been put up on the tables. Why would she turn off the lights when she still had work to do?

She’s probably just as eager as me to start the holiday and wanted to make sure no more customers came in.

A simple, likely explanation, but it didn’t quite quell the whisper of misgiving in the back of his mind.

He turned into her driveway and pulled around back, parking beside her vehicle. A single floodlight, mounted high on the exterior wall, shone down on the parking area, bathing it in orange-tinted light.

As Sevik strode to the back door, he was stricken by just how different everything was. How different he was. It wasn’t a new realization—he’d been aware of it for a couple weeks, at least—but each time it hit him, it did so with surprising power.

Nothing was the same anymore, and he never wanted it to be again. For the first time in his life, he had a positive, hopeful future to look forward to.

Sevik unlocked the door and entered the building. Familiar scents filled his nose, including coffee, books, and pastries, but as always, Mina’s fragrance commanded all his attention.

He glanced down the hall toward the café. Light spilled from the doorway on the left side of the hall, which led into the kitchen, but the front of the shop was dark.

“Ready to go, val’syra ?” he called.

When Mina didn’t answer, he wiped his boots on the mat and walked toward the front. “Mina?”

Sevik peered into the kitchen. No Mina, but there were unwashed dishes and utensils in the sink. Frowning, he continued to the front. The counters hadn’t been wiped down, the coffee machines were running, the display case still held pastries, and the florescent lights over the bookshelves had been left on. All that in addition to the chairs having not been put up.

That unease prickled at the back of Sevik’s mind. In the days he’d spent here with Mina, he hadn’t seen her deviate from her closing routine. She’d been consistent in cleaning everything up before leaving the shop.

He called her name again, directing his voice toward the bookshelves. Still no answer.

As he turned to head back to the stairs, something at the corner of his eye gave him pause. He moved to the register and picked up the book lying beside it—the book Mina was currently reading. Her bookmark was nestled between the pages two-thirds of the way through.

She always had a book nearby to fill in the slow parts of her day, when nothing needed her immediate attention. But every evening, she’d brought her book upstairs after closing.

She’s just excited. Closing early, disrupting her routine.

He’d go upstairs to let her know he’d arrived, and then he would start cleaning down here. He didn’t want anything left undone that would worry her even a little during the holiday.

After removing his boots at the back door and leaving them on the mat beside Mina’s, he climbed the stairs. Another twinge of unease hit him when he realized the apartment door was ajar.

Mina always kept that door closed and locked, whether she was inside or not. She’d once mentioned—while Sevik waited a few steps down for her to unlock the door—that some of the townsfolk had criticized her for it. They’d insisted that Sullford was such a safe little community that no one had any need to lock anything.

Mina had maintained that she was a single woman living by herself, so the door would stay locked. Her recent experiences in town had only solidified her stance.

Sevik agreed with her. Anything left unlocked was as good as an invitation.

Calling for her again, he pushed the door open. None of the lights were on. No sound came from inside the apartment but for the ticking of the wall-mounted clock in the kitchen.

Sevik’s unease shifted, twisted, and expanded into a leaden chunk of dread. Instinctively, he reached back to grasp the plasma pistol holstered under his belt, though he didn’t draw it yet.

Overreacting. She’s fine. Lying down for a nap, or…she ran down to the store for something she remembered at the last moment.

But her boots were downstairs, her coats had been hanging on the hooks, and her car was parked in its usual spot. Unless she’d walked coatless to Cornerstone, where could she be?

She wasn’t on the couch, wasn’t in the bathroom, wasn’t in the spare room she used as a reading room.

“Napping, then,” he muttered as he moved to the bedroom. “You’re supposed to be ready to go, val’syra . Are you so eager for a punishment that?—”

Sevik froze in the doorway. That dread sank in his belly, pulling everything down, wrenching his insides into knots.

The floodlight’s orange glow spilled in through the window, casting a skewed rectangle of light across the bed. Mina was not there, but two objects lay in the center of the light, atop the neatly spread comforter.

Mina’s phone, its screen dark, and a small, disc-shaped device that could only have been a holographic projector.

No.

No, no, no.

The word sounded in his head again and again, losing meaning with each repetition until it was a hollow, incessant echo. Unbidden, his suddenly numb legs carried him toward the bed. An agonizing eternity passed over the course of those few steps.

All he could smell was himself and Mina—both their individual scents and the blended scent of their joining. But someone else had been here. Someone else had invaded and violated this intimate space, and the complete lack of alien smells meant a scent mask had been used. The intruder knew what Sevik was…

And Sevik knew who the intruder had been. There was only one possibility.

Under any other circumstances, he wouldn’t have touched either of the devices on the bed. Both could’ve been rigged with explosive charges. But this…this was no simple assassination, or he would’ve been dead already.

Leskahn tor lesk , he’d let his guard down often enough lately to have given any would-be assassins hundreds of opportunities.

Gritting his teeth, he touched the front of Mina’s phone. The lock screen came on. Its background had been changed to a picture of Mina lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious, with her arms bound together at her wrists. The mat beneath her was the same one by the back door downstairs.

Sevik’s heart thumped. A surge of fear, icy and insidious, coursed through his body. A roiling, fiery blast of fury followed. That fire and ice raced through him, one after another, with each heartbeat, and every new wave added to the terrible pressure building at his core.

My mate, my wife, my Mina.

Taken.

Ragged breaths escaped through his nostrils as strength poured into his muscles. A bloody haze gathered at the edges of his vision, and his jaw clenched tighter still.

With a trembling finger, he activated the projector.

A holographic screen appeared over the device, displaying words written in the native language of his people. He recognized it as one of the ancient warrior mantras Brekker had found so fascinating.

Speak and give name to your death, that you may face it with honor.

Honor? That piece of shit really had the nerve to bring up honor ?

The pressure nearly burst as he spoke with all the seething rage of a firestorm and the frigid wrath of a blizzard.

“Brekker arn Urgen.”

He curled his hands into fists and squeezed. His claws bit into his palms.

The words vanished, and the projection changed to a horizontal, three-dimensional map of Sullford. Its focus zoomed out to show more of the surrounding area before shifting to the northwest, focusing on a point off an old, secluded road several miles outside of town.

It was a large clearing in the thick of the forest, connected to the road system by what appeared to be a tiny access road. The perfect spot to hide a spacecraft.

A new message, also in Korasi, appeared over the location.

Come, Sevik kol Talris, and meet your fate.

Sevik snatched up the projector and hurled it against the wall with a roar. It dented the drywall before falling, its projection flickering and glitching. He spun on his heel and raced out of the apartment, limbs quaking with the need to kill.

Meet his fate? He’d already fucking seized his fate, and nothing would keep him from it. Nothing would keep him from Mina. Whether Brekker had come alone or with an entire fucking army, Sevik would kill them all and reclaim his mate.

I’m coming, Mina. Hold on.