He would do whatever was necessary to accomplish this mission. Lives were at stake, including the female reporter’s he was about to meet. If she managed to expose even one of his people’s secrets, their enemies wouldn’t hesitate to kidnap and torture her for information.
And the Vilitos were usually the scouting party for much more violent and formidable species, beings and civilizations that King Dagan of the Caldorians had chosen not to discuss with the humans and their many competing Earth governments. But every Caldorian warrior knew the truth, as did Falden’s Knights.
There were far worse fates than death.
Gareth, his second in command, cut into Falden’s thoughts with a deep baritone through the communication device, “I read the reviews. One human said he’d been going about dating all wrong for years. Always lost the girl because he was a nice guy, until he started following the Nice Guy’s Guide to the Hookup. Now he’s out with a new girl every weekend.”
Falden’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never had to resort to these kinds of tactics to gain a female’s attention.” He didn’t have time for female entanglements to begin with. And he most definitely had no interest in courting a new female every week.
“Well, we’re not talking about our women,” Vander growled angrily, “as most of them are dead. We’re talking about human women and what they like. This human blogger guarantees results and is a popular and admired dating instructor on the planet. He has over a million followers on social media.”
Falden shook his head. “Still an idiot. And if he’s so admired, they’re all idiots.”
Cassiel smirked. “Knowing Vander, he probably tested it already. Must be the reason so many women have been crawling all over him since King Dagan made him start pretending to be one of his Caldorian guards.”
Vander shook his head. “No time for a test run, remember?” He grinned, albeit reluctantly. “Besides, we all know Falden needs help far more than I ever have. He’s always working. Probably doesn’t even remember how to pleasure a woman,” he teased. “Can you even remember a time he de-cloaked long enough to let a woman get a proper look at him?”
Falden’s three warriors, the very best of the Lumerian Knights, and his most trusted companions for nearly two thousand years, continued to joke at his expense. His lips quirked with amusement, but the look didn’t last long, not with the Nice Guy’s Guide to the Hookup burning a hole in his pocket.
Gareth abruptly gave a hushed warning from his post outside the bar. “Target in sight. She’s not alone.”
“Stop fidgeting.” Jessica Carmichael, Isabella’s longtime friend and coworker, nudged her with a shoulder as they walked across the parking lot. “You look scared. Don’t look scared.”
“I’m trying.” Isabella swallowed nervously and forced her hands into fists at her sides to keep them from shaking. She felt like someone had shoved a small dagger between her ribs, right over her heart, the sharp pain chronic and unrelenting. The pounding in her head made thinking difficult. The truth was that she was terrified.
“Try harder.” Jessica spoke through a wide smile and tossed her hair back over her shoulder like she didn’t have a care in the world. They both looked fabulous, dressed to kill, which wasn’t meant to be literal, but the night was young.
Jessica didn’t know the whole truth, and Isabella couldn’t bring herself to tell her best friend all the details. Knowing everything was dangerous.
Isabella pushed her fake lenses closer to her nose, the heavy, thick black frames refusing to stay in place on her nose as she walked across the parking lot of the most upscale bar and grill in town. She’d picked this particular place because she figured no one would ever recognize her through the disguise. She’d never frequented the popular restaurant, although she’d heard plenty of rumors about the imported beer and slick hustlers. If she were looking for a quick hookup, this was the place to go. Not that she was looking. In fact, she wasn’t looking for anything even resembling a hookup. She’d had enough of good-looking men and their lies. No. She was going into the most popular bar and grill in town wearing a wig and overly large glasses because she couldn’t afford to be recognized by the person, or people, meeting her here.
This was no ordinary date. This was a prearranged drop site where she was supposed to meet with the most dangerous people she’d ever dealt with. No, she wasn’t sure about that. Could be human. Might not. This was the first time she’d had to worry about being murdered by aliens.
Her initial contact had been an alien, and not just any alien. She’d been approached by the Caldorian base commander, Sevron Bashall, a few months ago. He’d told her a heartbreaking story and asked her to help him find his twin brother, Torrin.
Sevron had suspected that the humans running the black market on Earth might know where his brother was being held. As a Caldorian, politics didn’t allow him to pursue any human suspects.
But she could investigate for him. Get on the inside. She wasn’t police or military or any other government anything. She was nobody, a local reporter known for getting in a bit of trouble now and then. She thrived on revealing secrets that powerful people didn’t want out in the open.
This was no different. But this secret was terrifying, and the people in power weren’t necessarily human. Or maybe they were. Or maybe they were human beings so vile and evil they sold out their own people for money. Nothing different there. Even the threat of intergalactic war and annihilation by hostile aliens
