Ava’s jaw dropped open.
To her shock, her sweet, nerdy boss, who was now also her boyfriend, lunged forward and grabbed one of the men by the lapels. He lifted him right up off the ground until his legs were dangling.
The other men didn’t move at first. Then, one of them moved closer. Eli dropped the first one and whirled around, punching the second one. His fist connected with the guy’s face, making a cracking sound. The guy stumbled and fell backward, but he didn’t stay down. He turned back to his briefcase and pulled out what looked like a weapon.
Oh God, no! She loved Eli. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to him, not if she could help it.
Ava fumbled for her phone. She couldn’t risk talking from this spot, but her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the phone to text. She crouched down and crawled, moving to a classroom with an open door. She scurried to the back and huddled in a closet.
Please have decent cell reception!
As soon as she opened her phone, she realized she had no idea how to call Emergency Services in Ireland. Dammit. She hit the button to call Nora, thankful that she’d saved her number.
Nora answered on the first ring and she was wide awake. “Ava,” she said. “Where are you?”
How did she know Ava was gone? “The university.”
“We’re on our way,” Nora said. “We’re getting in the car right now.”
“I’ll call the police, or the Garda—I think that’s what they’re called,” Ava said. “Just tell me how.”
“No!” Nora was emphatic. “Don’t do that. I promise it’ll be fine.” She cursed under her breath. “Just don’t.”
She heard car doors slamming and the start of an engine. She couldn’t fully process what was happening. What was Eli into? How was he really connected to Niall and Nora? And what were they doing that they didn’t want the authorities nearby? Obviously, there was a lot going on that she wasn’t aware of. “How did you know that something was happening?”
“Don’t worry about that. Just stay safe.” Nora paused. “Are you inside?”
“Yes, I’m in an empty classroom.”
“Ava, get outside right now.” Nora’s voice was urgent. “Get as far away from the school as you can.”
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to leave Eli. He might be involved in something that would blow her mind, and even make her break up with him after only one day of dating, but she couldn’t abandon him. “What if he needs help?”
“He doesn’t. He’ll be fine, trust me.”
“How can you say that?” She raised her voice to a harsh whisper. “There are four of them and one of Eli.”
“I can’t explain right now. Just get outside. I promise that’s what he’d want you to do.”
“Okay. I’m hanging up right now.” Ava put her phone on silent and shoved it back into her purse. She crept back to the doorway of the empty classroom. She just couldn’t walk away from Eli without checking on him.
She wasn’t sure what she could do if he was in trouble, but maybe she could create a distraction or make some noise.
She tiptoed back down the hallway, not making a single sound. When she peeked back into the room, the five of them were standing still, all staring at each other. No one was saying a word. She turned her head to see Nora and Niall walking briskly down the hallway.
Her heart jumped. They were here. Ava pointed straight ahead to the room Eli was in.
Nora came to stand next to her, surveying the room.
Niall came behind her and whispered in her ear. “Let me get you out of here.”
She flung her arm out. “No.”
“That’s what Eli would want,” he said.
“No. We need to get him out of there,” Ava insisted.
“We will.” Niall touched her shoulder. “You go sit in the car.”
She stepped back, although she had no intention of leaving the building. Not until she knew if he was okay. “Okay, I’ll go.”
They both sighed with relief and turned away from her. But she didn’t leave. She couldn’t. Not yet.
Niall didn’t hold back. He burst into the room, announcing himself. And Nora went in behind him. Neither of them seemed to have a gun or a weapon of any type. They moved in without hesitation, and now Ava couldn’t see any of them. She pressed her body tight against the stone wall and listened.
“Eli,” Niall said. “What’s going on?”
“Where’s Ava?” she heard Eli say.
“She’s outside. She called us.”
“Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Tell us what’s going on,” Nora said.
“These four gentlemen,” Eli said the word with a twist, “do not belong here. I’m trying to convince them to go home—back to their world.”
Their world?
With both hands on the wall, Ava pushed her way forward. She had to see what was going on in that room.
The four investors were standing in a row. Niall stood in front of them with Nora and Eli off to the side.
“Their world?” Nora asked, echoing Ava’s own thoughts.
“Yes,” Eli said. “Their world. We were right. They aren’t human. They’re not from this planet.”
“Aliens?” Nora breathed.
“Yes, aliens. They’re what’s been causing my monitoring equipment to go off.”
Niall cursed.
“You’re correct to be concerned,” Eli said.
Concerned? Ava’s hands shook as she pressed them against the wall. That was an understatement.
15
Eli
Eli had known they weren’t human.
But he hadn’t been able to figure out what they wanted from him, not beyond what they’d said about investing. But once he’d arrived at the university biology lab, it had clicked.
They wanted to know about his work to the point of obsession, and now they’d broken into a biology lab in the middle of the night.
A sick feeling rolled in his stomach. Bile burned his throat.
“Genetics,” he’d said, barely able to get the word out. “That’s why you came to me.” He wanted them to deny it, to tell him that he was wrong.
But none of them denied it. “Very astute,” one of them had
