Page 64 of Resisting the Alien Rider

Killian’s eyes were not bright white. For the very first time, I got to see their true colour, something inside him finally soothed enough to let it show.

His eyes were a deep, rich brown. The precise shade that the brown parts of Magnolia’s eyes took on when the sun hit them. The central veins gleamed with clear and vivid gold.

“What are you staring at?” Killian said, narrowing his gold and brown eyes.

My instinct was to go rigid and say, “Nothing.”

But I did not want to lie to him today.

“You,” I told him simply.

He made a face.

“You are being weird,” he said. And then he flounced away.

24

MAGNOLIA

Apparently I’d been hit by a train and no one had bothered to tell me. I lay, feeling bruised everywhere, head pounding, mouth dust-dry. I tried to swallow, and that was a bust. So I just stayed still, breathing slowly, trying to figure out how I’d been hit by a train when there weren’t any trains around here.

Maybe I’d gotten hit by a bracku. Or a rockslide. Or an especially effective Garrek glare.

Garrek.

Just the thought of him gave me the strength to force open my eyes. I became aware of the fact that I was now panting. Where was he?

Where was I?

“It’s alright!”

My burning eyes tracked the voice.

“Garrek?” I blinked. Then I squinted.

Had… Had Garrek always been green?

“Not Garrek, I’m afraid,” the man with a face so much like Garrek’s said. “I’m Oaken.”

Oaken. My fiancé, for all intents and purposes.

Horror gripped me, because I was now nearly certain that the things I’d experienced with Garrek were a dream. Had he already left? Had I been here with Oaken the whole time?

Had I ever told Garrek that I loved him?

My vision blurred with tears. I took a moment to close my eyes and compose myself as best I could. When I opened my eyes, I could see more clearly now that the man before me definitely wasn’t Garrek. Oaken looked a bit like a younger version. Same hair, same jaw, same broad-shouldered build. But where Garrek’s jaw was nearly always tight with tension, Oaken’s wasn’t. His posture was more relaxed, something about his countenance easier and more open. His eyes were a lively green, brightening to a searing mint in the middle.

“Garrek isn’t far.”

“Oh.” The word slipped out of me, a near-sob of sound. “OK.” I tried to swallow again, with a modicum of success this time. “Water?”

“Oh! Of course! Forgive me.” Oaken snatched at a cup that was on a table near the bed I was currently lying in. “Here! Oh. You can’t drink it like this. Alright.” He put the cup back down, then got to work adjusting and fluffing pillows before helping me very slowly to sit up. My whole body screamed with the effort, even as he assisted me.

He gave me a sympathetic look. “I know what that’slike. I was bitten by an ardu once, too. Of course, I was not lucky enough to wake up in a bed like you. No, I woke up in a puddle of my own piss in a field in the dead of night. I had to crawl home. Ah.” He gave his head a small shake. “You don’t care about any of that. Sorry.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I just had absolutely no idea what was going on. Not the barest hint of a clue. My brain felt like sludge even attempting to figure it all out.

“I think Garrek is just helping Killian with something outside. He won’t be gone long.” He gave me a rueful sort of smile. “He’s never gone long from you.” His smile faded, replaced with an expression much more serious. “Magnolia,” he said gravely, “I would like to formally end our engagement.”

---