on you, little human, I swore on my life and honor as Valittu that I would protect you. I swore I would put your safety and well-being above all else, and I will not back away from this promise.”
“If I asked you to let me go? What would you do?”
“We will go where you like,” he says. “If you wish to continue on in your librarian duties, I will protect you there. I can assure you that our chances of survival are much higher on Lakria than in the library.”
“Okay…” I say, “I want to go back to the library.”
He glares at me.
“Let me out of the car, Raiska.”
He nods again, and steps out of the car. He goes around and rips the door off to get me out. As he walks, he flashes those strange colors again, and his blue skin and horns are gone. He’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt again. When he pulls on the door to let me out, the whole thing rips off its hinges. He holds the torn-off door in his hand and smiles at me as I get out of the car.
He jams the door back on, bending metal somewhere to get the ruined door to lock in place.
“Um,” I say, “if you leave the car here in the middle of the garage like this, you’re more likely to get caught.”
I expect him to get back into the car, put it in reverse, and park it again. Instead, he just grabs hold of the car and lifts the whole thing up into the air. He carries it several steps and lowers it down into the parking space.
“I guess that works too,” I whisper, more to myself than to him.
To my surprise, he walks with me to the elevator, and soon we’re back in the library again. We’re surrounded by people, and I realize I could very easily just scream for help and…
Well, could I really get away from him? He just lifted a car up like it was about as heavy as a bicycle. He has an orb that can start cars without keys. He can disguise himself almost magically. Even if I had a bunch of police come in to protect me, could they really stand up against Raiska?
The library is big and old, and the hallways have marble tile and very high, ornate ceilings. My voice would echo very nicely if I screamed right now, and there are people all around us.
I don’t scream though, I stay quiet. We stop at an archway that leads into the main space of the library. Raiska takes hold of my arm just as I’m about to walk back in.
“Listen to me, human.”
“I’m listening.” I look up at him just long enough to assure him that I am listening, but I don’t hold eye contact with him. I want to see if he’ll really let me go at all.
“This is a very poor strategy. This library has multiple entrances, and my competitors will not hesitate to attack you with other humans around.”
“Show me that you will let me go,” I hiss back to him. “Show me that you really are on my side, and I’ll consider going into your alien portal.”
His lips go tight, and his jaw clenches as he grinds his teeth together.
“I will wait in that chair,” he says, pointing over at one of the leather chairs set up in the study and work area. From there he’ll be able to see me most of the time, but not all of the time. It will depend where I’m working.
I look down at his hand on my arm, and then back up at his turquoise eyes. Now that I’ve seen his true form, his eyes remind me of that. His skin as a human is far too white, and he barely passes as one when you really stop and think about it. Still, he fooled me, and he’ll fool everyone else who sees him now.
“Are you going to let go?” I ask.
He holds on for a few heartbeats longer, but finally he does let go of me.
I walk fast, feeling the rush of freedom. He really just let me go? I still have like fifteen minutes left of my lunch break, but I decide to start working again early. I want to feel like I’m doing my normal, day-to-day thing, because the alternative to that is to think about the Breeding Games.
You are the fertile prize.
I look down at my hips. I do have