Chapter 1
"You are going to leave me here on Earth? Alone?" Cytolene gripped her phone tightly. She could not believe what her mother was saying.
“Do you have a better idea?” Neelie asked. The reception was so clear it was hard to believe she was sitting at the command centre of a spaceship orbiting Earth. Neelie always used the best technology.
“I'm sorry,” Cytolene repeated. “I was so sure, I checked everything.”
Neelie's voice softened. “Are you certain you can't farm humans?”
Cytolene wanted to lie, but couldn't quite manage it. “They are mammals which give birth to one live young at a time. Then it takes forever for them to grow old enough to eat. It wouldn't be cost effective.” The words were bile in her mouth.
“This was your idea. Do you have any idea how much this trip cost?” Neelie demanded. It was still a shock when she continued “I'm going home. You can stay here and salvage this mess.”
“Mom!”
“That's not my name.” Even without seeing her, Cytolene knew Neelie had stiffened in outrage. She hated the childish name and refused to answer to it.
“Please. You can't leave me here on my own.” Cytolene hated to beg but the prospect of being left behind was unbearable.
“Are you telling me what I can do?” Years of unquestioned authority echoed in her mother's voice.
“No. Of course not. But -”
Neelie cut her off. “Then it's settled. You're the expert on humans. You'll find a way to make a profit from them.”
“I don't want to.” Cytolene took a breath to steady herself. “Take me home with you, please.”
“Do stop whining. Your first major mission has failed.” Neelie's voice was utterly inflexible.
In the background, Cytolene could hear the ship's crew preparing to break orbit. Without her. “You expect me to live here, with all the humans?”
“The way you look now, you'll fit in much better down there than you would back on Eris.”
Cytolene flinched at the memory of the surgery that had transformed her. Then anger came to her rescue. “Fine! If that's how you feel, I'll make sure you never have to see me again.” She snapped her phone closed, and grinned at the thought of her mother's reaction. No-one hung up on Neelie.
She put her phone down and stared around her. Earth. She was stranded on one of the most backward mudballs of the galaxy. With no way home.
She was sitting in a Starbucks in San Diego. Ten minutes ago, it had been quaint, even exotic. Now it was alien and hostile. Outside, the Pacific glinted blue in the sunlight. She shuddered. What sort of freakish planet had oceans full of poisonous salt water? She longed for the dry heat of Eris.
A human male at a nearby table was watching her. She bared her hated, human teeth at him, but he took that as an invitation and moved to join her.
He obviously liked pale hair with pink streaks and amethyst coloured eyes. Stupid human. She scowled at him and he backed off.
A toddler knocked a glass to the floor and went running for the door. His mother shrieked at him to stop, but he ignored her and raced on. As he barrelled past her, Cytolene reached out and caught the little brat.
She held him by his arms, despite his protests, until his anxious mother grabbed him.
The frazzled young woman kissed and spanked her child while babbling thanks to Cytolene.
She managed a smile. "Think nothing of it. I love babies." It was true. She did love babies, they were so succulent and tender and delicious.
Kissing or even touching an adult human gave her a shot of energy. Children were a special treat, fizzing with life. That little boy had been bursting with vitality. He should have been delicious, but right now, he tasted like chalk.
She wandered round San Diego in a daze, grappling with the notion that she was alone. She had never been on her own before. It was terrifying.
She had no idea how far she had walked when the terror began to clear, and anger took its place. She had done everything she had been asked and more. One minor misinterpretation of the data did not merit exile. How dare Neelie do this to her?
She was not going to stay here like a discarded eggshell. Earth, with all its water, was a popular stopping point on long journeys and humans were a delicacy that were always in demand.
Cytolene was going to hitch a lift on the first passing space ship. Somehow, she was going to get home.
It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Four hours later, she was driving a hired car along a back road, heading for the mountains.
She was hungry and considering her snacking options when she bounced over a particularly rough stretch of road and almost hit the blue sports car pulled in at the side. A big man bent over it cursing.
She pulled over. "Can I help?"
Close up, he was breathtaking, a magnificent animal, but what really caught her attention was the rage and frustration pouring off him.
"Useless overpriced piece of junk," he growled. "A broken axle and I've only got an hour to get to Pennine."
"Hop in, I'm going that way," she said. Her mouth was watering. This guy was an all-you-can-eat buffet with free refills. He'd keep her going for ages.
She drove off while he was still fiddling with his seat belt and grumbling about shoddy engineering. Then he took his first proper look at her.
"Are you nuts?" he demanded. She blinked at him.
"What are you doing giving rides to strange men? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"
"What?" She was lost for words. She was going to eat him and he was lecturing her about her safety?
He shoved back his shirtsleeve and held up his arm beside hers. His forearm was striated with muscle and thick veins rose prominently beneath his tanned skin. In comparison, hers was white and fragile, almost childlike.
"I can bench press 395 lb. I could break you in half. I detest the Concealed Carry laws but I almost hope you've got a gun." His blue eyes blazed. All that passion was now focused on her.
"At least tell me you have a badge."
She looked down at herself. "No, but I've got some buttons."
He stared at her and she knew she'd said something wrong. She spoke perfect English but half the time she hadn't a clue what humans meant.
Then he laughed. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, right?"
She nodded. He looked at her more closely, hesitated. “I don't want to be nosy, but are you okay? You look a bit shell-shocked.”
Cytolene thought she had herself under control but still felt so raw that unexpected sympathy brought everything to the surface.
“She left me here,” she burst out. “She just went home and left me here on my own.”
“Who did?” the human demanded.
“My mother.” He made a sound, but she didn't give him a chance to interrupt. “I tried so hard. I did everything she asked, but she still left me here on my own. What am I going to do? How am I going to manage?” He was listening intently.
She kept going. “I left my home to come here. I worked so hard. I learned to speak English and all the customs here.”
“English is not your native language? I'd never have guessed. You sound perfect.” His admiration was balm to her soul.
“I changed the way I look. I changed everything about myself to please her.” Now he was scowling. “But it wasn't good enough. I failed, and now she's gone home and left me here.”
In a distant corner of her mind, Cytolene listened to herself and was appalled. She sounded like a hysterical hatchling. But it felt so good to tell someone, to finally say the disloyal words out loud, even if it was only to an animal.
And the animal was reacting the way she wished her family would. He sounded horrified and angry on her behalf. “That's terrible. You shouldn't ever change for other people. When is your mother - “ There was a subtle emphasis on the word mother “ - going to come back for you?”
“She said she would but,” Cytolene's voice shook. “I don't think she will. I'm an embarrassment to her now. I don't look normal any more. I don't know if I can go home.”
“You look great. Don't let anyone tell you any different,” he said fiercely. “Where is home?”
She kept her attention on the road, but out of the corner of one eye, she could see the human focused on her, intent. She answered absently. “I'm from Eris.”
“Never heard of it. Where is it? Is it far?”
She opened her mouth to tell him, then snapped it shut. She slammed on the brakes and turned to stare at him, horrified. She had almost told him she was from a different planet. What was wrong with her? How much had she told him?
The human saw her expression, but obviously misinterpreted it. He put his hand on her arm, and said in a calming voice “It's okay. You're safe. You're not on your own. We'll work something out.” If she wasn't so close to hysterics, Cytolene would have laughed.
When she didn't react, he patted her shoulder. “It's okay, you're okay,” he kept repeating soothingly.
Cytolene turned to face him, put an arm round his neck and pulled him down to her mouth. There was a moment of surprise and resistance, then she had him. She started to suck.
There was the distinctive taste of human, than a flood of warmth and sympathy. It was wonderful. She wallowed in it, feeling the first comfort since the phone call from Neelie. She kept sucking, unable to get enough of it.
As she sucked, her hands ran up his arms and over his chest. He was so hot. A purr started in her throat at the feel of all that power beneath her hands.
He tasted luscious after all those quick unsatisfying handshakes. This rush of energy was what make humans so addictive. She knew she should drain him and dump him there in the desert, but she didn't want to end this amazing feeling. She didn't want to give him up.
Perhaps it might be possible to suck him so he wouldn't remember?
She sharpened her focus and felt for his brain waves. Where were they? She concentrated... ah, there they were. Elusive and delicate and so tasty. She could eat these all day.
A wave of heat flashed over her. What? She realised the delicate mental waves were guarding a furnace of emotion, which was not warm and fluffy. She was drenched in colour, hot, bright and acid-edged. All coming from the human.
Cytolene pulled back abruptly. This was more than she could handle.
She stopped sucking and looked at him again with physical eyes. He looked the same as before. Big, gorgeous, human. Ordinary.
Could she have been mistaken about that inferno of rage and heat?
"Whoa, what happened?" he said woozily. "I never get car sick." His dark blond hair fell over his dazed eyes.
It was such a contrast to what she had felt that Cytolene knew she couldn't let him go just yet.
She decided to drive him to Pennine.
Chapter 2
He never stopped talking. Since she had picked him up, the mobile meal had been chattering away, almost without drawing breath.
He stopped himself. "Sorry, too much. If I talk I might not throw up in your car."
She shuddered, then looked at him carefully. He was a shade of green she didn't think was natural for humans and she felt a twinge of guilt. She firmly believed that if you adopted a pet, you had to look after it. She hadn't done a very good job so far.
The human collected himself and stuck out a big hand in her direction. "Stephen Thornley. Call me Steve."
She shook it, enjoying the jolt of energy she got, even with that brief contact. His brows drew together briefly, then he prompted "And you are?"
"Oh, I'm..." She completely blanked on the name she had been using on Earth. "Cytolene," she finally admitted. What harm? It wasn't as if she was going to be here for long anyway. She would never need to use her Earth name again.
"Cytolene." He rolled it round his tongue, giving it a different accent. "It suits you. Pretty and very unusual."
She didn't answer. He was silent for a few minutes, then started talking again. "...blind date, can you believe? Julie was at school with my sister. Does she know I'm a bodybuilder?"
Cytolene stopped listening. Why did he think she would care? What was body-building anyway? She had a sudden tactile memory of lying on her back with a heavy bar across her chest. The memory felt concrete, complete with sweat dripping down the side of her face, and her heart pounding as she struggled to lift the bar one more time. She knew she had never done that.
She shook her head. Hallucination.
The incident when she had been sucking the human - Steve - kept replaying in her mind. What had she been thinking? She knew better than to play with her food. She had not only been playing, she had found it - erotic.
That sobered her. She had standards. Just because she was stranded here on Earth didn't mean she was going native. She was still a fertile female in a High Family, and she had a position to maintain.
She resolved it would not happen again.
This Steve was tasty, but he was just food.
Cytolene kept her attention on the twisty road. It was badly surfaced, and looked as if the desert was about to take over. She kept a sharp eye out for pot holes and wild animals as the light began to fade.
By the time they arrived it was late evening and Steve was looking a bit better, but nothing like the healthy man she had picked up. Pennine was tiny, a handful of adobe houses, a couple of small shops, a gas station and a bar with a few rooms above it. It didn't look like a good place to be sick. She decided to stay with Steve until he was back on his feet, then she would decide if she still wanted to keep him.
The Pennine Inn was small and throbbed to the sound of Dolly Parton's Jolene. It was unusually crowded with an influx of visitors from the city. The regulars wore jeans, checked shirts and battered boots. They lined the walls, taking up prime positions at favourite tables and watching the newcomers with sardonic eyes.
The visitors were easy to spot. Seriously under-dressed, loud and out to have fun.
The crowd at the bar was three deep, and a handsome Hispanic barman dispensed drinks with casual efficiency.
Inside, the room was long, with a bar at the top, a tiny dance floor with juke box, and small tables scattered round the rest of the space.
There were no empty tables, so Cytolene picked one with a single occupant, a dark haired male. Usually she made humans uneasy, and she reinforced this effect with a glare, but the man just smiled at her and stayed where he was. She shoved Steve down at the table and looked for a waitress.
Steve stumbled slightly as he sat, and almost fell off the stool. "Whoa there." The other man put out his hand to balance him. "You okay there, bro?"
Steve gripped the edge of the table until the wave of dizziness passed. "Fine, just a bit car sick." He took a breath. "Mind if we join you?"
"Be my guest." The man held out his hand. "Mike Reyes." His brown eyes crinkled in a deeply tanned face and white teeth gleamed when he smiled. His white T-shirt and worn jeans were a contrast to most of the outfits on display.
Soon Steve was ploughing into a large steak with extra broccoli and olive oil, no fries, and he was starting to look more human. He was eating as if he hadn't seen food for a week. Cytolene tried not to watch the disgusting display of mastication.
Mike's reverent voice distracted her. "Oh man, I hope she's looking for me."
They both looked round. A tall blonde was standing at the bar, scanning the tables for someone. She had waist length hair, and wore a black corset, tight jeans and boots with killer heels. Steve swallowed a mouthful of broccoli. "Sorry dude, she's looking for me. That's my date, Julie." He waved to attract her attention and stood up.
The blonde - Julie - came over. "Steve Thornley?" she asked. He nodded and smiled in welcome.
She looked him up and down and smiled back. "Your avatar doesn't do you justice. I'm delighted to meet you."
He gestured Julie to the table where he was still eating. She paused, surprised at the other couple there. "Oh! I didn't realise we were double dating."
Steve had picked up his fork. "We're not. I've never met him before. And this is Cytolene."
Mike's mouth quirked into a slight grin as he murmured "Bro, gotta admire your balls."
Steve looked at him, puzzled, just as Julie demanded "You brought another girl on our date?"
"No!" Steve almost choked on a sip of water. "Cytolene is..." He started again. "Cytolene is..." He broke off, unable to complete the sentence.
"Taking casual chic to the extreme?" asked Julie, taking in Cytolene's ripped jeans and belly top.
"Pleased to meet you," said Cytolene, holding out her hand. "I gave Steve a lift here."
Julie flushed. "Oh. Sorry about that. I'm Julie Nitz. I went to school with Steve's sister." She sat down as far away from Cytolene as she could manage, which put her right between the two men. She smiled at Steve and Cytolene had a sudden urge to pull her long blonde hair.
Mike introduced himself and held onto Julie's hand just a little longer than necessary. She pulled it back quickly. Steve's mouth was full, so she turned to Cytolene. "I love your hair. That shade of pink is amazing."
"I dyed it, you know. This is not my natural hair colour," Cytolene confided. Julie opened her mouth but said nothing.
Cytolene searched for something polite to say in reply. "You have very big breasts."
Julie gasped, crossing her arms over her chest, while Mike roared with laughter, his dark eyes flashing beneath mink brown hair. "You're my kind of girl," he told Cytolene.
She glared at him. "No. I am not," she said. Mike just grinned and tipped his glass to her.
"Sure you are," he said. "Gorgeous, outspoken, and your ears are as nature intended."
Cytolene looked round. She hadn't noticed until then, but a lot of the people on the dance floor had ears with points that were clearly artificial. She touched her own newly rounded ear and said nothing.
“You look in great shape,” Julie said to Steve. “Are you a fireman?” He shook his head. “SWAT team?” Another no. “Marine?”
“I'm an IT consultant,” he told her.
She was deflated, but tried “Like in Hackers? You use a computer to catch bad guys?”
He looked horrified. “Jeez no, I teach companies how not to get hacked.” He started telling her about firewalls.
Julie took a deep draft of her margarita. "Why is it so crowded?" she asked, struggling to make conversation.
Mike snorted. “Last night's so-called UFO, of course. It brings all the weirdos out from under a stone."
To prove his point, a man asked to join them at their table. Cytolene glared, but Julie gestured him to a chair. He sat between Julie and Mike, so the corner of the table was poking him in the stomach, but he didn't seem to notice. He introduced himself with a sweaty handshake as Daniel an expert on aliens, and was soon holding forth on the subject.
"...You wouldn't believe the things you can find at a landing. I think the aliens just throw stuff off when they land on Earth. Maybe they open a rubbish chute or something. Last week was amazing. Of course, there was nothing last night..."
"That's because last night's UFO was an unauthorised military flight from across the border." Mike interrupted. "There are no aliens or flying saucers."
"No. No. There are aliens. I've been tracking them on the Internet. You can even correlate the different shaped ships with the direction they come from." Moisture beaded on his forehead as Daniel got excited.
Cytolene looked around in alarm. He was far too close to the truth. But no-one else was listening to him. She interrupted Daniel and spoke directly to Mike. "What do you think the weather will be like tomorrow?" Humans talked a lot about weather.
He looked amused. "This is Southern California. We're at 33 degrees North. I think it's safe to say it will be warm and sunny. Perfect for a trip on my boat."
Cytolene shuddered.
He laughed. “Come on, you'll love it.” She shook her head.
Julie signalled the waitress and ordered a large pitcher of margaritas.
Daniel twisted his wedding ring absently as he continued to talk about aliens.
Cytolene wondered if Steve was tasty enough to be worth putting up with all these humans. She was thinking of leaving him when the bar door swung open and a tall man marched in, long black coat flapping. He ignored the crowds as he strode up to the bar. The barman held up a beer glass to him, but he shook his head.
"Just water, I need to stay alert." He had the clear voice of a TV anchorman. “There's going to be trouble.” He ignored the young woman who stared at him.
As he drank, he took off his coat, hooking it over his shoulder and revealing a strong body dressed in loose black cotton pants and a sleeveless T-shirt. Cytolene thought she could see the outline of weapons underneath. He had electric blue eyes under chestnut brown hair and the air of someone who could look after himself.
“What a tool,” muttered Mike dismissively.
“I don't know, he's kind of hot,” said Julie. “Look at that body.”
“Decent muscle definition,” Steve said grudgingly.
The waitress arrived with another beer. "Who's that?" Julie asked her.
"Oh, that's only Rafael. He's got a thing about space vampires. The wheel's turning, but the hamster's dead,” she said with a giggle. “Hell of a waste, though,” she sighed. As she gawked at Rafael, her tray tilted and a bottle fell.
Without rushing, without even appearing to be paying attention, Mike caught it before it hit the ground and put it back on her tray, giving the waitress a quick smile. Julie blinked.
Rafael had been scanning the crowd in the bar. He caught Cytolene's eye and gave her an interested stare before passing on to Julie. His gaze swung back. He focused intently on her eyes, studying them. His own eyes narrowed, then widened.
Surely her eyes weren't that unusual? With horror, she felt them begin to change colour.
Rafael started to push his way towards her, and she panicked. She scrambled to her feet and shoved past Steve saying "I have to move."
“Good idea. Let's dance.” He pulled her onto the tiny dance floor. She froze. She didn't dance. Erisians never danced. But as Glenn Miller started to play, Steve swung her out, and somehow, she danced.
She could Lindy hop. She wasn't sure what a Lindy hop was, but she knew how to do it.
Her feet moved without her guidance. She and Steve moved in unplanned harmony. She knew how to twist and spin and when to turn back to him. When he swung her up in the air, although his first lift was too high, she knew how to balance.
When she managed to drag her attention from her feet, she realised that Steve was as good as she was. The other dancers had moved away from the floor to give them more room, and he took advantage of the extra space to lead her into more elaborate spins and higher lifts. He flipped her through his legs and she spun into a cartwheel.
"This is almost as good as flying," she thought. By the time the track was over, she was feeling wonderful. She was breathless and flushed but fizzed with energy as she turned back to their table. Then she took a good look at Steve. He was pale and unsteady, and looked ghastly, even worse than when she had sucked him earlier. She realised that during the dance, all the times they had touched and he had swung or lifted her, she had been drawing on his energy. Now he was having trouble standing up.
As she steadied him to steer him back, she motioned to the waiter to bring another steak.
Mike and Julie made their way to the dance floor just as Rafael pushed his way towards her. "Hey. You. I want to talk to you," he called.
" 's not fair," slurred Julie. "Why is she getting all the guys?" She turned, slightly unsteady, to glare at Rafael.
Mike put a supportive arm round her. "It's okay, sweetheart. You didn't want him anyway."
Julie stepped away. "But she shouldn't have them all." She tottered and fell against Rafael. He pushed her out of his way, without taking his eyes off Cytolene.
"Hey. You can't do that," said Steve, struggling to stand upright. Rafael ignored him and reached out to grab Cytolene. Steve put out a restraining arm to stop him. Rafael grabbed it and shoved him sideways. It was a practiced, instinctive movement. Steve went straight down and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Something cracked.
He didn't get up.
Rafael looked down, surprised. It had not been a forceful blow. Behind him, Julie was announcing drunkenly "Those bodybuilders are not really strong, you know, it's all show. And he's probably got a tiny..." Mike put his hand over her mouth and gently pushed her back towards Daniel.
Cytolene felt sick as she realised this was her fault. She'd sucked him twice, leaving him drained and far more fragile than usual, then he'd got injured trying to protect her. She was doing an appalling job of looking after her pet.
Steve stirred slightly, and groaned, obviously injured.
"Help me get him to a bed," she called. Mike and the barman helped him to stagger painfully to a daybed in the staff room. She sent them to get medical supplies. She was sure humans used those.
In theory, it might be possible to return some of the energy she had inadvertently stolen. Mothers fed energy to their hatchlings, it was an innate ability. Of course, she hadn't even one potential father lined up, never mind the three she would need to mate, so baby feeding techniques hadn't been on her reading list.
"How hard can it be? Really?" she asked aloud. She took a deep breath, put her mouth against his, and pushed. She could feel the energy gathering, but nothing happened. She tried again. Almost but not quite. Maybe she needed more contact. She opened his shirt, put her hands on his bare chest and kissed him again, pushing as hard as possible.
This time, she felt something give and her energy started to flood into him. She could feel the flow. On a sudden impulse, she moved her hand to his injured shoulder and tried to direct the energy towards it. The skin of her hand prickled as beneath it, the broken collar bone started to knit.
Excited and amazed, she continued to push until she was exhausted, but she could feel him recovering.
Just as she reeled away, Mike came back. "Jesus. What happened? You look like a train wreck."
"Sorry, just a bit dizzy," she said as she leaned against him, trying to discreetly suck energy from him. He was so strong. It helped but not enough.
"What's the story? Is he badly hurt?" Rafael put his head round the door and looked at her suspiciously. He was the last person Cytolene wanted to see, but she'd take what she could get. She grabbed Rafael and sucked as hard as she could, not trying to limit the amount. She needed it more than he did, and this was all his fault anyway.
As she let him go, he staggered back, dizzy and disorientated. Then his eyes sharpened and focused on her. "You! You are one of them. You're a vampire."
Panicked, Cytolene pushed him over, then ran out. As she threaded her way through the bar, she heard him behind her yelling "Stop her. She's an alien. She's a space vampire. Kill her."