Caught Between Two Blue Aliens - Celia Kyle Page 0,73
Hiren said.
“Family meeting?” Jenna answered, her eyes stinging.
She looked down to see Noah gazing up adoringly at Hiren. And then Hiren reached out and held her brother’s hand. It was so precious she thought her heart might burst.
“It’s just so hard to believe,” Jenna murmured. “I’ve spent so much time stomping on my own dreams. I always thought it had to be one or the other. I would have to be alone and without the great sweeping love story I didn’t think I deserved. Or I would have to sacrifice all the things I have now. The family I’ve strived so hard to keep together.”
“You do a good job,” Noah said quietly, his sweet little voice music to Jenna’s ears.
“You make it easy—both of you,” she answered. “I love you both so much. I never, ever would’ve dreamed of leaving you guys. You know that, right?”
“We know,” Bea answered. “Y-y-you’ve always given us everything we need. But, Jenna… you deserve to be looked after, too.”
“Yes, you deserve to feel safe and protected at all times,” Hiren asserted.
“I’ve only ever wanted to be good enough for you guys,” Jenna mumbled.
“And you are. You are more than good enough,” Sevith assured her. “You are a fantastic guardian. It is something we Drokten struggle to comprehend sometimes. Our ways are not like yours. We failed to understand your difficulty with the duties of the Oso. We did not understand what was keeping you from submitting to fate. We could not envision anything powerful enough to keep you from us once the bond was established but… upon meeting Noah and Beatrice, we understand.”
“Love for your siblings made you hesitate,” Hiren surmised. “Love made you fearful, but it has also made you strong.”
“Perhaps even stubborn,” Sevith teased.
“I can’t deny that.” She laughed. “It’s who I am. Now you see what you were asking me to give up before,” Jenna told her two aliens, gesturing to her brother and sister.
“Yes.” Sevith nodded as he peered at them with genuine fondness. “And we would never ask that of you, my Oso. Never.”
“But, Jenna, we feel the same way as you. You’ve spent so long working hard to provide for us,” Bea remarked. “And now you’re being offered a chance at a different life—a better one than this. We can’t let you turn it down for our sake.”
“Yeah, whatever happens to us, we just want you to be happy,” Noah agreed. “If someday that means you have to leave us and go live with Hiren and Sevith, that’s what it means.”
Jenna blinked in surprise at how eloquent her brother sounded. “You’re even smarter than you let on sometimes. Aren’t you?”
Noah’s face burned bright red and he retreated slightly behind his sister.
“But no one has to be left behind,” Hiren said. “Sevith and I want you all with us. We are a family.”
Beatrice smiled stood up straight and held her head high as she cleared her throat. “I have a confession to make.”
Jenna raised an eyebrow, worry etched across her features as she prompted, “Yes?”
Beatrice peered at them all and then took a deep breath before admitting, “Jenna, remember when I eavesdropped a little bit when you were talking to Jade? I’m sorry. I know you were having a private conversation and that it’s rude to listen in, but—”
“That’s okay, Bea, I had a feeling you heard more than you were letting on,” Jenna sighed.
“But, Jenna,” Bea persisted. “Remember what you were telling Jade? About how you’re afraid of Secretary Wells and what he wants you to do? Have you told them yet about that? You have to come clean. You have to tell them… I went to Hiren because I knew he could help.”
Jenna’s body went hot and then ice cold, and she panicked for a moment at the idea of confessing her unwilling participation in the secretary’s plot. She’d meant to tell them the moment she got them alone, but then she was crying and then they were touching her and… oh hell, why was she stalling? She slowly looked over at Sevith and Hiren—their faces stoic and unreadable—and knew Bea was right. It was time to come clean.
“Right,” she sighed. “Okay,” she began, squaring her shoulders. “This is the real reason why I was crying earlier. I was afraid to tell you this and carrying the lie around was killing me. It may change your mind about me, but I have to tell you the