Alien in the Family

she’s awesome.”
    “Me too.”
    “Oh, there were some men with them, too. It’s pretty much turned into a party. Your mother wanted your father to come out, but he told her about James. I think the plan is your father will come to Vegas with James when he’s up to traveling.” Tito smiled at the look on my face. “Sooner than you think. Might be sooner than a week. The medical stuff the A-Cs have is incredible. And James is healthy, strong, and wants to get well. Said something about having to take care of his girlfriend’s wedding.”
    I managed a laugh. “Good to hear.” I looked around. “What are we going to do with the psycho Amazons?”
    “Queen Renata is all for killing them.” Gower sounded serious. I looked at his expression. He was serious.
    “Um, Paul? I think that might pose issues, don’t you?”
    “Yes. However, they are her subjects.”
    “And they’re on our world. So, no. Not yet, anyway.” Chuckie’s voice was pleasant and casual, but I picked up the knife and it was clear.
    Gower did, too. He shrugged. “Fine with me. But we have other problems as well.”
    “True,” Chuckie said with a sigh. “We have no idea when the Alpha Four team will be arriving, but I think it’ll be soon.”
    I shook my head. “I think they’re already here. At least some of them, anyway.”
    “What do you mean?” Chuckie sounded tired and a little annoyed. I remembered that he hadn’t been with us when I’d figured out who the spies were.
    Martini and Christopher both heard me. “I’m still not sure I buy who you think the spies are,” Martini said. “Are we done yet? Ouch!” This was directed to Lorraine.
    “Me either,” Christopher agreed.
    “Spies?” Chuckie asked.
    “We’d be done if you stopped jerking away.” Lorraine had Martini’s shirt off and was doing something to his rib area. He looked bruised all over. I started to worry about certain important body parts. Parts I knew Kyrellis would have taken particular aim for.
    Martini flashed a grin. “I protected those. Trust me.”
    “Okay.” I figured I’d test later. And give them tender loving care should he be in pain. I stared at his chest, and it did to me what it always did—I wanted my mouth all over it. “Can we go back to the hotel any time soon?”
    “Almost done,” Lorraine snapped. “Not my fault you all get banged up so much.”
    “Spies?” Chuckie asked again. “I’m still waiting to hear what you’re going for, Kitty. Besides Martini, I mean.”
    Martini waved. “Eyes up here.” I looked up, and his grin went wider. “Not that I mind, but you were going to share your latest theory with Reynolds.”
    “Huh? Oh, right.” I took a deep breath and was rewarded by seeing Martini’s eyes shift downward. “Up here.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” His eyes weren’t moving up, but I didn’t care. There were a lot of impressively filled out tank tops in this place, and he was only looking at me. I was great with where his eyes were.
    “Do you two ever stop?” Christopher asked.
    “Not really.”
    “I’m really losing patience,” Chuckie said. “Mind actually telling me what you’re talking about?”
    I filled him in on my theory about the two hunks who’d been flirting with me, including the fact that these two had probably been on Earth long enough to have learned how to blend in.
    Chuckie nodded slowly when I finished. “It makes sense, and it ties up several loose threads. Or will if we can find them. Could you pick them out of a lineup?”
    “Possibly, but since they can put images over themselves, we’re probably not going to get the opportunity until they’re ready to let us know they’re around.”
    “Why were they so obvious?” Christopher asked. “I mean, you and Jeff were both aware of them.”
    “Overconfidence,” Chuckie answered. “For all we know, they’ve been around all of you far more often than you realize.”
    “Fabulous,” Martini muttered.
    “It’s the only theory that fits so far,” I pointed out.
    “True.” Chuckie sighed. “Oh, we found out what that dish was.”
    “The Gruel of Grossness?”
    Chuckie laughed. “Yes, that one.”
    “It’s from Alpha Four,” Alexander confirmed. “It’s considered quite a delicacy. Boiled tapeworms.”
    Everyone within earshot, human and A-C alike, gagged. “You have tapeworms that big?” I had to stare at Martini’s chest again to get my stomach under control. Worked like a charm. Lord, the man had incredible