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I like being a superbeing exterminator. The hours are kind of random, but the benefits are great, especially the benefit of getting to live and work with the most gorgeous people on Earth. Sure, they have two hearts, can run at hyperspeed, and actually come from Alpha Centauri. But, hey, they’re just regular folks, for the most part.
On the other hand, pla
But mixing wedding pla
I’ll just keep them distracted with lots of doublespeak and focus their attention on things like flowers and seating arrangements. Before they know it, the wedding will be over, and they’ll all go back to their lives, none the wiser.
Yeah, I know. It’s one of my plans. It’ll go all Dog Day Afternoon somewhere along the line. But a girl can dream, can’t she?
CHAPTER 1
“WHY ARE WE WAITING OUT HERE in the middle of the night?” Martini asked for what, by my count, was the tenth time in less than an hour.
“Because Chuckie said there was something here we needed to see, Jeff. You know, like I’ve said for the past, oh, hours?”
“Why do you insist on calling him Chuckie?” Martini was really in a mood. Possibly because we’d been interrupted in the middle of a very romantic di
“Because that’s what I’ve called him since ninth grade, and calling him Mister Reynolds seems sort of stupid, calling him Charles sounds like I think he’s my uncle, and if I’m going to call him Chuck, then I’m going to add on the ‘e.’ ” Of course, I knew the real reason Martini wasn’t happy. But I wasn’t going to bring it up. We’d had the jealousy chat months ago, and he was supposed to be working on dealing with the fact that other men occasionally found me attractive and trying not to be a jerk about it. Tonight he wasn’t doing so well.
“Jeff, you know you could go on back to the Science Center and let me and Kitty handle it.” Reader winked at me where Martini couldn’t see.
“Right, thanks for the offer, James. But just how would the two of you get out of here if there were any problems?”
Martini had a point. We were perched on the top of Animas Peak in New Mexico, staring at pretty much nothing. Reader and I, being human, would have a hard time getting anywhere fast if Martini or another Alpha Centaurion wasn’t with us. On the other hand, we could drive and fly because our reflexes weren’t so good that they destroyed Earth machinery. So we had that going for us.
On the other hand, we’d gotten to this point via a gate, which was alien technology that let you move hundreds or thousands of miles in seconds and had the added advantage of making you completely nauseated. On the other hand, because we weren’t aliens, neither Reader nor I could actually see the gate that had deposited us here, on top of a really high mountain, in the middle of the night. (Yeah, I know, that’s a lot of hands.) I thought about the drop and sidled a little closer to Martini.
My walkie chirped. “Kitty, you there?”
“Hi, Christopher. How goes it at your location?”
“Dull, dark, and boring. You sure the C.I.A.’s not trying to kill us or freeze us to death?”
“Somewhat positive. We’re supposed to see something. Soon.”
“I’m seeing my bed. It’s nowhere near me, but I can see it.”
“Hilarious. How’s Tim doing?”
“He’s as bored as I am. So’s Paul, should you care to know. ACE, however, seems fascinated.”
“Glad one of you, or at least part of one of you, isn’t sitting around complaining like an old lady.” ACE was a superconsciousness I’d managed to cha
“At least it’s stopped asking about our sex life,” Reader muttered.
“ACE is just interested in things.”
“Girlfriend, I don’t even want to get into how totally unromantic you get when you have to clinically explain kissing, let alone any other sexual act, to an entity that didn’t have a body for most of its existence.”
I thought about it. “Um, ick.”
“In a word, yeah.” Reader had been the top international male supermodel for several years ru
I could tell Martini picked up my emotions, because he reached out and pulled me to him. As he was the most powerful empath on Earth, this wasn’t a surprise. He didn’t go insane from all the myriad emotions batting around everywhere and from everyone because of the blocks and other empathic-protection goodies the A-Cs knew how to install in their brains and use. Martini didn’t have blocks up against my emotions. Sometimes I wondered if that was a wise choice on his part.
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m just tired and tired of waiting. And you’re freezing.”
“A little.” Okay, a lot. I just didn’t want to complain. I was in the standard-issue clothing for working female A-Cs—white Oxford button-down, black slim skirt, and a long, black trench coat, all Armani. I was also in Aerosole pumps because the A-Cs believed in looking good while feeling comfortable. But we were on top of a high mountain, and while the guys were in their standard black Armani suits with their white Armani shirts and their long black trench coats, they seemed to shove off the cold better, even the human guys.
Martini opened his coat, pulled me against him, and wrapped it around me. “Better?”
I snuggled up and leaned my head against his chest. “Mmmm, yeah.” He was warm, and I always found his body heat and double heartbeats soothing.
“Baby? Wake up.”
“I was awake.”
“You don’t snore when you’re awake.”
“I wasn’t snoring!”
Reader coughed. “Um, yeah, yeah, you were.”
Martini’s walkie crackled. “Yeah, we could hear you snoring over here.” I could tell Christopher was snickering.
“You played my snoring for them?”
Martini shrugged. “I wanted to make sure they were awake. Not my fault you were sort of loud. You coming down with a cold?”
“No, I am not. Though if we’re here much longer, I might.”
“Blame good ol’ Conspiracy Chuck. I’m not the one who suggested a romantic rendezvous out here.”
“You know I don’t call him that. Only people who weren’t his friends called him that.”
“Which is why I feel great calling him that.”
I let it pass. I mean, I didn’t want to head into one of Martini’s favorite complaints, which was that I was far too willing to take Chuckie’s calls. “Besides, this isn’t a date.”