Caught Between Two Blue Aliens - Celia Kyle Page 0,21

I won’t be coming back!” Roy blustered, but it lost some of its effectiveness considering he was still Sevith’s captive and blood was trailing down the corner of his mouth.

“It wasn’t exactly like that,” Jenna tried to protest.

“I don’t want to hear from you,” her manager sneered. “Let the men talk.”

Oh dear god, he did not just say that. How long had she been putting up with this crap now? A year?

“She isn’t worth the trouble. I’m done here. For good,” Roy spat smugly. “Me and my whole crew are never returning.”

Little rat bastard…

The manager’s face paled and then went blotchy red again as he glared at Jenna, his nostrils flaring with his anger. He pointed an accusatory finger at her and bellowed, “You’re the reason these aliens are making trouble in my diner? You—waitress—you’re fired.”

This was so fucking unfair. Unfair, and yet totally predictable. Without warning a shock of powerful rage and bitterness rose in Jenna’s chest. Hiren reached for her, but she managed to pull away.

Her eyes darted around—to all the people who were staring, waiting to see what she would do or say. All the regulars who’d let this happen to her, who just sat back and watched. She decided she no longer had any need to be at the diner, at all.

So, with one last conflicted glance at Sevith and Hiren, Jenna spun on her heel and darted behind the counter and through the swinging door into the kitchen. Before anyone could do or say anything to stop her, she ripped off her apron and tossed it aside.

From the front of the diner, she managed to hear Hiren call out to her, “We will wait for you by the entrance!”

She snorted out a bitter half-laugh. As if she would just calmly meet up with them after all that? Were they delusional? She gathered her things and slammed through the back door of the building.

She made it outside and briskly walked down the street toward the bus stop, worry churning uncomfortably inside her gut with every step. Nothing was as discouraging, as heartbreaking, as the realization that so much of her life—her world—was out of her control. These males, both human and alien, could step in and destroy the delicate, precarious balance of her life without a second thought. She knew the diner manager would report her dismissal immediately, which mean she would have to find a way to supplement her income right away unless she wanted the Department of Families on her doorstep.

She and her younger siblings already barely clung to a living wage, and now that she’d lost the income from the diner, things would only get tighter. If Jenna couldn’t find a way to prove her ability to provide for their small family, the state would swoop in and take her brother and sister away and put them in foster care.

And the state didn’t give second chances.

The idea of losing them was enough to cause hot, painful tears to burn in Jenna’s eyes as she broke into a near-jog down the street to the bus stop. She heard the telltale thump of heavy footsteps moving behind her, quickly gaining momentum and drawing nearer. She glanced over her shoulder to find Sevith and Hiren chasing her down. Even though her heart hammered like mad in fear—anticipation?—she tried her best to ignore their presence.

Sevith immediately caught up to her, seizing Jenna by her shoulders and halting her in her tracks. He tried to turn her to face them and give them her attention, but she wasn’t interested. “Leave me alone! Haven’t you done enough? I told you to stop, that you were going to get me fired. And that’s exactly what happened!”

“How could you leave without saying a word? There are dangers in this world you do not comprehend. You are ours. You need us to protect you,” Sevith hissed in return.

“You got me fired! I’m an adult woman. Okay? I’m well aware of the dangers in this city—and right now they’re you two!” Jenna snapped.

To her surprise, this seemed to silence Sevith. Hiren stepped up with a calm expression, arms raised and palms facing her as if in surrender. Clearly he wanted to smooth things over.

Not likely.

“Let us all take a moment to breathe,” Hiren soothed.

Jenna was having issues controlling her emotions, her feelings seeming to ricochet around in her head, fighting for dominance. Maybe their presence was making her more upset than she’d normally be? She couldn’t shake the sense that some of the