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“And neither one of us is an alien. A.I.R. won’t care what we did.”
    â€œThey don’t just hunt aliens. They hunt humans who help aliens commit crimes.”
    â€œBut I didn’t help anyone commit a crime, alien or not.”
    Erik just flicked me another of those hard glances.
    I blinked in shock. “ You helped an alien commit a crime?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd then they saw me follow you with that stupid napkin,” I said weakly, having trouble catching my breath. “So they think…they assume…” Oh, sweet baby Jesus, as Shanel would say.
    â€œYes,” he said again. “They think. They assume.”
    â€œHow could you have done that to me?” I gasped out.
    He shrugged. “I wanted them to go after you rather than me.”
    My shock doubled. “What?”
    â€œThey would have caught you, interrogated you, found the note blank and you as innocent as you appear, and then they would have let you go. Knowing me as they do, they would have figured out that I’d tricked them. But noooo. You had to follow me as if we’d planned it, making you look guilty as hell.”
    â€œYou…you…bastard!” What he’d described did make me look guilty of something.
    â€œI do whatever I have to do.” Erik pinned me with his stare, holding me captive with its intensity. “Always.”
    I thrust my chin forward in determination. “Well, I’m going to go to them and explain what happened.”
    â€œLike they’ll believe you now.”
    â€œThey will.”
    â€œWhatever you say. I mean, you know how they operate, I’m sure.”
    My stomach churned with nausea. “I’m still going to talk to them. I did nothing wrong.”
    â€œYou go to A.I.R. headquarters and you’ll be beaten for information and locked away, just like me.”
    â€œYou’re lying.”
    â€œOnly one way to find out, I guess.”
    My nausea intensified.
    He sighed. “What if they didn’t get your name? What if you’re in the clear? Still think it’s wise to turn yourself in?”
    I experienced a ray of hope. “No.”
    â€œI didn’t think so. Who knows? Because of this, you might even be able to wheedle a vacation out of Mommy and Daddy, hiding out just in case.”
    My mouth dried. My parents. I couldn’t tell them what I’d done, what had happened. I just couldn’t. I’d have to admit that I’d lied and they would be disappointed in me.
    I couldn’t stand their disappointment.
    I was their only child, their “precious baby.” I didn’t want that to change. Really, one watery look from my mother and I’d want to cut out my heart. One “I thought I taught you better than this” from my dad and I’d sob.
    â€œWhat if A.I.R. does know who I am?” I asked softly.
    â€œThey’ll hunt you down, so be prepared. They’ll interrogate you, asking you easy questions at first. Your name, your age. Then they’ll get harder. What were you doing at the club? What did the napkin say? Why did you follow me? Have you ever dealt Onadyn and if so, who’d you get it from? Don’t give them the answers they want and,” he shrugged, “you’ll suffer.”
    â€œOnadyn?” Feeling like I was falling deeper and deeper into a nightmare, I shook my head. Like vampires needed blood to survive, some aliens needed Onadyn. Without it…because of my dad, I’d seen pictures of an Outer who’d died from lack of Onadyn. The body had been contorted, the face so pain-filled it hurt me now even thinking of it.
    Legally, humans were never supposed to touch the stuff. They used it to get high and often died from an overdose, so it was strictly regulated. Selling it was punishable with a life sentence.
    â€œI have never, in all my life, even been around it!”
    Erik ignored me, continuing, “They aren’t