Alien in the Family

contemptuous, honestly . . .” Chuckie’s voice trailed off. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
    “Never piss off the comics geek-girl. Yeah, I’m thinking exactly that.” I looked up at him. “Kill her if she gets loose, but otherwise, I’m gonna go have a girl chat with our shapeshifting Wonder Woman.”

CHAPTER 22

    THEY LET ME INTO THE CELL. It wasn’t all that large, but it was big enough that I didn’t have to be right on top of her. She had short blonde hair and was very muscular but in an attractive way. I almost laughed, though—she was clearly not from the A-C home world. Not that she was ugly, but she wasn’t a stunning beauty, either. Her eyes also looked wrong—larger, more elongated, and they were dark purple. Her limbs were the same, elongated just a bit, but enough to look out of proportion for a human. A-Cs were in perfect proportion, I verified that every night.
    She gave me a slow smile once the door closed. “Is he dead?”
    “Who?”
    “Your mate. The one I fooled.”
    “No, he’s not dead. He’s not my mate, either.”
    “He loves you. You love him.” It was true, but not in the way I assumed she meant.
    “What makes you say that?”
    She laughed. “It was obvious.”
    “Why did you kiss me?”
    Her eyelids lowered. “You are attractive.”
    “And you’re so crappy an assassin that you stopped to grab some nookie before killing the target?”
    “You are not my target.”
    “James was?”
    “No. He was . . . annoying.” Interesting. Reader hadn’t been the target, and she’d known it from the get-go. So who was she really after if she wasn’t after the guy she thought was my mate?
    “Why?”
    “He was pawing you. And you enjoyed it.” Her eyes flashed. “You are a woman of power, yet you let them touch you. You show off your body for them.” And the trash guys, but who was keeping score?
    “We’d call you Amazons here. What do you call yourselves?”
    “You cannot pronounce it.”
    “Yeah, we hear that a lot. Apparently double suns make you strong, speedy, and fast talkers. Pity none of you ever want to become an auctioneer or something equally benign. You’re all really annoying, though, I can say that. You can speak our language, how?”
    “Radio waves carry. Even through the net.” Her eyes flashed again.
    “No one on this planet put that net up. We have one around us, too.”
    “The ones who put it up are coming here. To crown a new king. And he will die before the crown reaches his head.”
    Great, they were after my mate, my real one. “No one here wants that crown.”
    “Liar. All men crave power.”
    “Sure, but there are different ways to get it. Besides, you’re power-mad, too. So, what do you call yourselves that we can understand?”
    “The Free.”
    “Hilarious. Since you’re the least free people out there.”
    “Yes, we do understand the irony. We will be freed from the tyranny, and we will make all who bound us pay.”
    “You realize that most of the people you’re going to exact your revenge against are innocent of the crimes?”
    “No man is innocent.”
    “Oh, for God’s sake. How do you all reproduce without men?” She gave me another slow smile. “Come here and I will show you.”
    “Wow, you’re so smooth. I don’t want to have sex with you. You’re not my type.”
    “Because I’m a woman?”
    “Because you kiss like crap. I mean, I realize it was the start of a girl fight, but jeez, you sucked, and not in a good way.”
    “I can do things no man can or will.”
    “Wow, you all buying that on your planet? Sure, there are plenty of men who don’t have a full range of moves. Mine doesn’t happen to be one of them. Plus, if that kiss was your opening salvo, you just cured any bi-curiosity I might have had. Gag me, okay? I’m gonna assume, however, that Earth lesbians kiss better, because a girl should always keep her options open. Now, cut the crap. You didn’t come across the galaxy to hit on me, and I think you’re a psycho bitch, so I’m not fixing you up with my single lesbian girlfriends, either. The love connection’s out, so why the hell are you here?”
    “To destroy the royal family’s hopes of succession.” She looked out the door. “I see them. Know they will die.”
    “Everybody dies. But I’m not going to let you kill them.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I don’t like your style.”
    She shifted, and Reader was staring at me. “You would prefer his