Page 36 of Alien Mine

A grinning man stepped to the side of the van, his swarthy skin glistening. “Get out of the van, chica.”

Rachel shook her head slowly, afraid to glance away from the man who’d tried to sneak into her house the day Miguel had come a-calling and steal her daughters away. What had Miguel called him? Pablo? Didn’t matter. The no good son of a biscuit eater wasn’t getting his hands on her today unless he wanted to come through the window at her.

Another fist banged into the passenger’s side window. Rachel jerked around, her heart a wild gallop in her chest, and stared at the young man from the beach. Oh, the hits just kept coming, didn’t they? Would she never live down Juan’s reputation? Would it always be like this for her and the girls? God above,what would she do if it came down to a choice between living in fear of constant harassment or having to move to keep her girls safe?

Hands slapped against the side of the van, and it rocked slightly. Rachel bit back the urge to scream. There had to be a way out of this. There just had to be, but what was it? If she went out there, those boys would hurt her or kidnap her or something. But she couldn’t stay where she was. They were going to figure out how to get in. It was just a matter of time.

“Get out of the van, chica,” Pablo repeated, and the van rocked again, harder. He placed his palms against the driver’s side door and shoved, matching the van’s side to side momentum. “Get out before you get hurt, little girl.”

She curled her hands into fists in her lap, one around her useless phone, the other tangled in the fabric of her sodden skirt. “I’m not coming out.”

Pablo’s grin widened. “Oh, yeah, chica. You’re coming out. We got to have a little conversation, me and you.”

The van swayed on its tires, rattling the doors of the cooler in the back and the storage equipment stored there for transporting her goat products. Her bottom slid along the seat every time the van rocked and her breath matched the uneven rhythm, stuttering in sharp starts and fits out of her tight chest.

Think, think. There had to be something she coulddo.

But nothing came to mind, not a goll darn thing.

A hard shove and the van tilted off one set of tires, resting fully on the other. The men shouted triumphantly and rocked the van onto all four tires. It bounced once, then swayed again. Rachel grabbed the door handle and held on for dear life, dropping her phone in the process. A prayer ran through her mind, half formed and incoherent. Miguel’s men were gonna turn the van over, and after, they were gonna come inside and drag her out, and she wouldn’t be in any shape to stop them.

A sharp pop overrode the jangling of doors and trays in the back, and a large hand wrapped itself around her upper arm. Her shrill scream pierced the men’s jeers and yells, halting them, andthe hand slapped itself over her mouth.

Warm breath blew against her ear as Dyuvad whispered, “When I let go, exhale fully.”

She didn’t have time to wonder where he’d come from, didn’t have time to ponder much of anything. The next thing she knew, his hand slipped off her mouth. She inhaled and exhaled reflexively, then the world tilted and swirled through a brilliant kaleidoscope into utter darkness.

Chapter Ten

Dyuvad and Rachel winked into existence inside her living room near the couch. He staggered under the weight of gravity pulling him down and the dizziness gripping him tightly.

Couldn’t pass out, not this time. She needed him to hold on, needed him to protect her and the girls. He curled a limp Rachel against his chest and struggled to focus around the disorientation clouding his mind. The short distance between jumps hadn’t been so bad this time, but making one right after another was like being enveloped in Fryw brewed fog. One touch of the goddess’ breath could bespell a man into sleep for eternity. So it was said and so it was believed. None dared venture into a sudden fog for fear it had been sent by Fryw.

Rachel stirred against his chest and moaned softly.

Dyuvad forced his shaky legs into a staggering totter toward the couch and sank into it with a relief born of diminished strength. Rachel’s lashes were honey rich against ashen skin and her hair tangled in cold, damp knots over his arm. He cupped her face and stroked a thumb along her cheekbone, watching carefully as she slowly recovered from the jump.

She could’ve been hurt. If he hadn’t jumped into the van, those men would’ve turned it over with her inside it. There’d been no time for any other action, no time for Fate to reach her by car or for emergency services to dispatch aid. No time for anything but what Dyuvad had done.

Her eyes popped open on a quick inhale and her fingernails dug into his bare chest. “Dyuvad. Where…?”

“Shush, beauty,” he said. “You’re safe.”

“Safe. Ha.” Her lower lip trembled, then firmed, and her gaze flashed away and back. “How did we get home?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I remember Miguel’s man, Pablo, and the boy from the beach. They were rocking the van, trying to turn it over, and you…” Her hand curled into a fist against his skin, held tight against the erratic thud of his heart. “You were in the van, but that’s impossible. It was locked and you were supposed to be here at home.”

He met her gaze evenly, unsure what to say. He couldn’t lie to her, wouldn’t whether he should or not.

She sighed and closed her eyes. “I don’t care. I’m just glad you were there to…to stop those men.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he said gently, and cradled her close, stroking her hair as her softly hitching sighs slowly became muted, trembling sobs. A hollow ache grew in his gut, a numb certainty that if he hadn’t jumped when he had, if he’d passed out after the jump, if he hadn’t grabbed her and jumped again as quickly as he’d arrived…

If even one thing had gone wrong, Rachel would not now be wrapped safely in his embrace.

He weathered the storm of quiet tears, comforting her as much as he could, and all the while, turmoil reigned inside him. This had to stop before it escalated into real harm. He and Fate had formed a nebulous plan to approach Miguel Ramirez and negotiate a détente.

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