Page 77 of Her Alien Neighbor

I slowly let my mask evaporate, revealing myself in my natural state. I want him to know a monster defeated him.

His eyes widen as he takes me in, my blue skin, the horns, all of it. He shakes his head hastily, refusing to accept what he sees.

“I-I-cuh…I c-can’t…” he chokes out. Then he continues to sob as he lies there. His left leg looks similar to his right shoulder, bent strangely, and the blood spot on his shirt has now grown to the size of a grapefruit. I must move this along.

“Here is the thing, Trevor Burton,” I say, enjoying the feel of his full name on my lips, knowing that name will no longer carry the fear and pain that it has. “You are going to die today. It is not because you called Vanessa a bitch earlier. I feel I must make that clear.”

I bend down until my face is just an inch or two above his. My draxilio bristles, wanting in on the action. I let him, but not before I say, “It is because you commit unspeakable acts of violence without facing any form of punishment.”

Once the shift is complete, Trevor screams, and I can hear the gurgle of blood in his throat as the life begins to fade from his eyes. I cannot let him suffer much more, I decide, and use my front paw to lift his body off the ground until it is level with my snout. Then I let go, sending his body careening toward the pavement. And with a final crack of bone, I hear Trevor’s heartbeat stop.

My draxilio is not satisfied. He wanted more. He wanted to play with Trevor, to torture him until his final breath left his body. But it is done. Trevor is dead, and the world is better for it.

Just to appease my beast, however, I lean back on my haunches, and tip my head back. The familiar warmth pooling in my belly makes me smile. Oh, how I have missed this. Taking a deep breath in, I stick my neck out and my jaws open wide as a stream of fire bursts from my throat, and up into the sky above. I hold my flames steady as I lower my head, and shoot a final blast toward his motorcycle. It hits the engine, causing an immediate explosion.

My draxilio is at peace, and strangely enough, so am I. The connection between us has never felt stronger.

Then I take one final look at the scene before me. This will look like a terrible accident caused by a man who refused to wear a helmet while riding along a dark, dangerous road in the middle of a snowstorm, after having consumed several drinks.

Satisfied with the result, I cloak myself and fly home.

It is only when I am in the shower, rinsing off any possible signs of where I have been that I realize Vanessa is probably getting ready to leave the reunion. Nerves tighten my chest as I wonder if I have done the right thing. What will Vanessa think? Should I tell her the truth? Either way, I need to see her. I don’t know how she got to the reunion, given Lady Norton’s car is still not running, but even if Sam drove her there, she will need safe passage home in this weather. I do not know what Sam drives, but it is unlikely that it is as stable on icy roads as my truck. I will show up and offer them a ride home. Yes, that is an excellent plan.

“And you wish to knowwhy?” I ask Sam, without looking at her. I keep my gaze on my mate. “Because I love you, Vanessa. Desperately. I love you, and he caused you pain.” I feel my bottom lip tremble. “I have loved you every moment of every day since we met, and I will not allow anyone to hurt you and get away with it. I wish I had a more sophisticated reason to give you, but I do not.”

My heart thunders inside my chest as I watch Vanessa, hoping she feels as I do.

“Rapists on Sufoi die horrible deaths. A fitting judgment for such a heinous act.” I lift one shoulder in a half-shrug. “That is how we see it, anyway. I know your laws are different here, but that does not mean I understand them. I could not let him live another day with such a strong sense of entitlement.”

I take Vanessa’s hand in mine. “I am not sorry. I killed him, Vanessa, and I am not sorry.” I press Vanessa’s hand against my chest above my heart. “You aremine. Too much of your life has been spent trying to forget what he did.” I clear my throat, holding back emotions. “But you are still living in fear. Fear of even seeing him, or hearing his name, and I know it is because deep down, you worry he still has the power to hurt you without ever facing repercussions.”

Vanessa’s eyes look watery, and I cannot tell if it is because she is horrified by my words or feels them herself.

“Now, he cannot hurt you anymore,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her palm. “He cannot hurt anyone.”

It looks as if Vanessa is about to say something, but the doorbell rings, and she pulls her hands from my grasp. Everyone freezes, caught off guard by the interruption.

“Could it be Luka?” Mylo asks. No one answers him.

When Mylo opens the door a second later, three officers are standing there.

“Axil Monroe?” the old male in the front says in a croaking, brittle tone as he looks around the room.

I step forward.

“Come with us, son. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

CHAPTER 21

AXIL

“Ihave told you this twice, already,” I explain to the officers, as calmly as I can, considering they are asking me to repeat myself a third time. “I had dinner with Rick Olsen at his home in Loudon. He is a friend and mentor of mine. I stopped to get gas on the way home. It was there, at the gas station, that I ran into Trevor.” There is no use trying to cover that up since I assume there are cameras that could easily confirm it. “I came home to change my clothes, and then picked Vanessa up from the reunion. We returned to my home after that.”

Officer Burton, whom I gather is Trevor’s uncle, who Vanessa spoke of, looks at his partner, skeptically. “Trevor didn’t say anything to you while the two of you were pumping gas?”

“We spoke,” I tell them. “He said something about the party he was having, and how eager he was for it to begin.” Not a total lie, but not entirely the truth either. “Then he sped off on his bike. Though I did notice he was not wearing a helmet,” I add, feigning concern.

“It’s not required by law,” Officer Burton quickly interjects.

---