The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,64

driver’s door.

“Be safe,” he said, drawing the fingers of one hand down her back as she turned away.

Lisa stepped out into the sunshine. “You, too.”

Closing the door, she headed for the store.

As Taelon watched Lisa stride away toward a large market, every instinct clamored for him to go after her, to keep her close, protect her from any and all threats. But he had read in her eyes that she needed to do this, whatever it was. And she was right. He was hurting. His head felt as though someone had blown a hole the size of his fist in it with an energy blaster. His vision was even a little bit blurry.

He gently rested a hand on his chest and winced. His shirt stuck to him when he tried to pull it away, glued to his skin by the blood that had poured from his nose while he’d combed through the immortal Eliana’s mind in search of information on Amiriska.

Drawing the sticky fabric away from his flesh, he peered down at his chest. Not only was the ugly incision still not healing, whatever he’d damaged in his head reading the immortal’s mind seemed to have sapped whatever was left of his natural regenerative capabilities, because the skin along the incision’s edges looked red and inflamed.

Releasing the shirt, he glanced around.

The bright light of the sun pierced his eyes like needles, increasing the pounding in his head.

Minutes ticked past.

Earthlings—or humans as Lisa preferred to call her people—shuffled by on occasion, empty-handed going into the store, pushing carts or carrying bags when they exited. Vehicles came and went. A shiny black SUV like the one he inhabited pulled into the parking lot.

Taelon stiffened and followed it with his gaze until it parked in the next row.

Anxiety and anger rose as he waited for the occupants to exit and calculated his chances of slipping out of his own vehicle and retrieving Lisa unnoticed.

A woman emerged, wearing blue pants and a brightly colored shirt. When the door on the opposite side opened, a younger woman who closely resembled her emerged. Two children clambered out of the back.

Relieved, Taelon relaxed back in his seat and resumed his vigil.

Lisa exited the store, pushing a cart.

Taelon’s heart sped up as he kept a sharp eye on those around her, ready to leap to her defense at a moment’s notice.

At last she reached him. Opening the back door, she hastily transferred several bags to the back seat, pushed the cart over to join a line of others, then returned and settled herself behind the wheel.

Turning, she smiled at him. “See? Easy peasy.”

Taelon yanked her into his arms and hugged her tight.

“No sign of the men in black?” she asked, leaning against him and returning the embrace.

He shook his head.

“Good.” Easing out of his hold, she sat back and regarded him with the same soft smile that twisted his heart. “Okay. So here’s the deal.” She reached into the back and dragged a bag onto the console between them. “We’re in Austin, Texas, now. I’m not sure where we were originally, just west of here somewhere. I’m originally from California. We moved to Texas two years before my mom got sick. And even though I’ve been to Houston for some of my mom’s cancer treatments, I’m not that familiar with the layout of the other cities and towns in Texas. It’s a big damn state.” She drew a device encased in a shell of plastic from the bag. “I figure it shouldn’t take much longer for the guys in black to figure out we stole their SUV, if they haven’t already. There’s only one way in and out of that place, so the guard at the gate will know something’s up when Agent Walker tries to leave, because he thinks Agent Walker already left. The guard thought you were him, right?”

Taelon nodded.

“And if Walker or one of the others guys goes to use this SUV and finds it missing, that will launch a search, too.”

Again he nodded. When she seemed to have trouble liberating the device from the plastic, he took it from her and forced the package open.

“Thank you,” she said as he handed it back to her.

“What is that?”

“A prepaid cell phone.”

One of Earth’s primitive communications devices. From what he understood, it had a very limited reach, restricted only to select locations on the planet.

“I’m going to use it to call a Forward Mover to come pick us up,” she continued. “They’re hired drivers. And we’re