Correk frowned. “I’m not totally sure. My analysis tells me they possess some unique abilities. They leave a trail like magic, but it’s not quite magical.” He shook his head. “I honestly can’t be sure. The only thing I can be sure of is that Earth is a lot more interesting than anyone on Earth or Oriceran realizes.”
Shay leaned back in her chair with a frown. “If the government has any clue about this, it would explain why they’ve hired people like Durand. This isn’t some history lesson to them. They might be thinking there’s an invasion going on.”
“And they might be right. It’s not like Earth and Oriceran have a monopoly on evil people.”
“Or it might be nothing, or just a few alien tourists.”
James isn’t a fucking invader. A crying and scared kid doesn’t invade a planet, but maybe he was a mistake? Maybe his parents were supposed to come with him. A bunch of amulet-wearing assassins might be running around planning to take out all the major world leaders, for all I know.
Shay shook her head. She couldn’t be sure of anything other than that she would protect James from both Correk and himself if necessary.
I guess this is what love is—protecting your alien boyfriend from some Light Elf responsible for helping all magical beings on a planet.
Fuck, this is complicated!
“It doesn’t matter what the truth is,” Correk commented softly. “It only matters what the government believes.”
“That’s what you think the government is really trying to stop?”
“Yes. Good luck kicking out the actual aliens.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shay kept both hands on the wheel as she pulled away from the meeting, every muscle in her body tense. She’d originally gotten involved in the alien mess only because of some chance information Peyton had found about a missing tomb raider.
Alien invasions? Ancient aliens who aren’t so ancient, and somehow James is wrapped up in all this. What the hell?
She didn’t know what to believe about the strange elf she’d fought in Mexico. She wasn’t sure if he was an alien-infested host body or a demon who wanted to find an alien planet to invade. Maybe he was just a nutty elf.
No, that couldn’t be true, not totally. The stone was a genuine alien artifact, and Project Nephilim and Project Ragnarok were both interested in the alien stones. The government wouldn’t be spending piles of money and hiring elite retrieval specialists if there wasn’t something real.
Shay sighed. “And here I thought faking my death and shifting from being a hitman to a tomb raider would be the most complicated shit I had to worry about.”
Was she doing the right thing by keeping the rest of the truth from James? The man was finding a bit of peace after years of being alone in his relationships with both her and Alison. His issues handling emotions made more sense now that she understood his true background.
No. Fuck it. James can’t do anything about it. This is a job for a tomb raider and a Fixer, not a bounty hunter, even if he’s the toughest fucking bounty hunter on this planet. He doesn’t need the fucking stress.
Shay yanked on the wheel, taking a hard turn at an intersection. She’d protect her man, no matter what she needed to do. She might not be an alien, but giving a shit about another person was as new to her as it was to James.
Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, expecting a text from Peyton or Correk. Instead, it was from an unknown number. The message was straightforward enough.
I understand you’ve been looking for me. I’m at Prophecy Gaming right now.
Shay snorted. “Oh, you’re finally back in fucking town, Tubal-Cain? What is this, the official Oriceran Abrupt Meeting Night?”
The one thing Shay could say about the night was that finding Prophecy Gaming was far less annoying than it usually was. Maybe she was just getting better at concentrating and beating that redirection glamour.
Tubal-Cain sat in a chair and looked up at her expectantly, and Shay tossed a few pictures on the table in the backroom.
“What’s this?”
“You wanted me to find your cousin. This is evidence I think might at least lead to him.”
Several of the pictures were satellite photos of a nondescript farm, with a few other ground-level photos of the same boring-ass farm. One photo revealed the dozens of gnomes who were hidden from normal sight, the split-second image Peyton had ripped from the drone feed.
Shay didn’t feel the need to inform the gnome how she’d set her assistant to the task, especially since she still had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Peyton leaving LA to go to Iowa hadn’t been the smartest move, but she couldn’t expect the man to hide his entire life. She hadn’t even bothered to avoid Nuevo Gulf Cartel territory after faking her death, and they had been the reason for it.
Tubal-Cain leafed through the pictures. “A hidden gnome colony. That explains why my magic failed. So many gnomes gathered together requires extra security. Where is this place?”
“Iowa, not all that far outside Des Moines.”
The gnome frowned. “Iowa. They could hide anywhere, but they chose Iowa?”
Shay shrugged. “Maybe they really like corn. What are they gonna do? Come to LA and enjoy our lovely smog?” She chuckled.
“I’ve never been to Iowa.”
“I’ve been there before. Had an interesting time.”
The gnome quirked a brow. “’Interesting time?’”
Shay waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. Just human stuff.”
Yeah, admitting I offed a guy in the airport there won’t make Tubal-Cain more comfortable with me.
“I’ll need more information,” the gnome explained. “Just knowing the general area isn’t enough.”
“No problem. I can get you coordinates, directions, and all that. Then you can go to the Hidden Valley of the Gnomes or whatever, but there’s something you should know.”
“What’s that?”
Shay pointed at the photo containing the gnomes. “You didn’t give us a description of your cousin, so we can’t be a hundred percent certain he’s there. I
