if you feel you need to get away for a short time. This I offer to you, woman to woman.”
Keira was at a loss as to how to react to the woman’s compassion. She’d offered more than policy, more than advice. She’d offered friendship. It was something Keira sorely lacked. The queen did not have friends. The queen was above friendship. Tibor was the closest she had to a friend, but his relationship to her was more fatherly protector rather than confidant.
Not certain how to react, Keira answered with a stiff nod. “I will remember your offer.” Deep down, a small, warm spot of relief blossomed. If she needed an escape, she had one.
The woman bowed deeply and stepped back. Then she hurried from the room. Tibor followed to escort her to the door.
Keira stared after them. The woman’s concern only heightened hers. If the Terran prince thought he could be forceful with her, treating her as barbarians treated their mates, he had a surprise in store. She’d spent a lifetime doing things she didn’t want to do. It would not be that way in her marriage.
Chapter Six
No news had to be good news, Jared thought in the back of his mind as his basketball game wrapped up. He’d made a vow to keep to normalcy, even though it was killing him to know what the message from the aliens had said.
He exchanged high fives and ribbed a few friends on the opposing team as he grabbed a towel off the bench. They’d won by twelve points. Not too shabby. Ready for a shower, he walked off the court, limping a bit. His right knee was swelling, the result of a snowboard wipeout the year before. He’d ice it in the locker room before heading out. It was just one more mundane detail anchoring him to his normal life.
The rest of the world was carrying on, as well—aside from the usual wackos screaming that the end was upon them all. Jared hadn’t done enough of anything lately that would require him to repent. But it was Friday, the night was young and he was single. Maybe a little sin was in the forecast. Hell, he deserved it. After ending things with Gina, no one had caught his eye.
Well, except for Warrior Woman. No matter where he and the guys went out for drinks tonight, he wasn’t going to find any smokin’ hot alien babes.
A hand landed on his back as he pulled open his locker and grabbed his shower bag. “Beers, sushi,” Troy told him. “Mikuni’s.”
“Rog.” When they flew together in the guard unit, Troy was Paco and Bob was Gilligan. With the unfortunate name of Bob Denver, there’d never been any doubt as to what he’d be called. It didn’t help that he actually looked like the character from Gilligan’s Island. The pilots were the only ones in the squadron who lived close enough to be part of Jared’s local social life. Troy was divorced and always up for action on a weekend—snowboarding in winter and waterskiing in summer. Bob was married with kids, but he usually joined them for a few after-game drinks before heading home.
It was a good life, Jared thought out of the blue as he stood in the shower under the gushing water. Funny how it wasn’t until you came within a hair’s breadth of losing something good that you stopped to appreciate what you had: good friends, family, a comfortable place to live. He wouldn’t change a thing about his life. He liked everything the way it was.
As he dressed, his mind wandered back to the mysterious message the aliens had sent to the space station. He couldn’t help but worry. Was it a deadline? A threat? Or, he hoped, a treaty. But negotiation was Jana and Cavin’s talent. They’d executed Plan A—Operation Phantom—and had been working on Plan B ever since—conferring with Earth’s brightest minds on possible solutions. He rested easier knowing it was in their hands.
Out in the parking lot, he tossed his gear in the back of the pickup. “I’ll drive,” he told Paco and Gilligan.
“In your hot car,” Paco joked, looking at the dinged-up pickup.
“Hey, so she’s not pretty.” Like Paco’s precious Porsche. “I’m damn glad. I like my cars like my women—friendly, uncomplicated and easy to repair.” Anything but high maintenance. “I got new tires, though.”
“Is that what those are under the crust? What is that shit?”
“Dude, I drove all over Sutter Buttes today, checking property that’s back on