Inborn (The Birthright Book 1)

Chapter 6

After dinner, I texted back and forth with Joss about the afternoon's events. I wasn't sure she'd want to talk, but she got back to me fast when I said my dad met Lachlan. Mad or no, she couldn't resist that headline. I left out the weird instance in the upstairs hallway, which I ignored, but couldn't quite forget. Especially combined with his other weirdnesses, like not telling us where he moved from and how he acted around my mom.

Mom was in a better mood the next morning. She handed me my lunch and kissed my forehead, her dark eyes sparkling more like usual. She brushed a piece of my black hair behind an ear. "What happened to the boy who came over to study yesterday?" she said, almost as an afterthought.

"Dad ran him off."

"Oh." She half smiled. "Sorry."

"It's fine. He's kind of flighty, anyway. Not the best study partner."

"Well, maybe you can invite him again."

Xavier barreled down the stairs, grabbing his lunch off the counter. "And he blames me for making us late," I muttered. Mom smiled, waving us off.

Joss and I were also back to normal that afternoon like nothing happened, strolling out to the parking lot after our final classes, chatting about the possibility of Matt turning out to be an alien. When we got closer, I saw Lachlan leaning against his motorcycle, next to our car, and I had to wonder if there was a better chance that he wasn't human. It would explain a lot.

He pushed up when he saw me, resting his helmet on the seat. "Wanna go for a ride?" he said to me.

Joss nudged me with her elbow. "Fill me in later," she whispered and skipped off toward her mom's minivan, her curls bouncing on top of her backpack.

I compared our silver sedan to Lachlan's dark purple and white motorcycle.

"We can go 'clue hunting,'" he said and smirked.

"What?"

"Some of the guys were going to search for evidence where the dead chick was found."

"That's weird. And probably illegal."

He smiled. "Come on. It's a beautiful day." He held out a helmet for me.

I had to admit it was. It still wasn't too cold and the sun was shining. I glanced behind me as Xavier strolled up to the car. "I'm going to Tovey's," Xavier said. "Wanna come?"

Tovey was kind of a crazy old alien dude who sold all kinds of parts and scraps and tech pieces that Xavier used for his inventions. But I knew once he got in there, we'd be there for hours. "I'll pass."

"I don't understand why no one ever wants to come with me."

"Because you never leave and none of us have a reason to be there."

"But he has such cool stuff!"

For a big inventor nerd, yes. For the rest of us... "Sorry. I'll come next time. But, actually, I'm going to hitch a ride home with Lachlan." The words bubbled out of my mouth and I hoped I knew what I was doing. Especially if I even remotely suspected Lachlan was one of us.

"Who?"

I held out my hand toward Lachlan. Xavier knew who he was and was just being a pain. Lachlan walked a few feet and reached his arm over the car. Xavier took his hand, keeping hold of it while his eyes shifted from Lachlan to his motorcycle. "You want to take my sister home...on that?"

"I know it looks risky, but I promise it's perfectly safe."

Maybe the motorcycle was perfectly safe, but Xavier didn't look convinced that Lachlan was perfectly safe. But I'd made up my mind and tossed my books in the backseat. "Have fun, but don't go crazy. Remember what happened last time." Xavier had walked most of the way home, carrying a box full of parts, because he spent all his money and ran out of gas on the way home and couldn't afford any.