“Join the damn club,” she mumbled.
Studying, she wanted to know what the man would want with it. Even if what he said was true. The chip held some familiar chemical residues, but there were also traces of elements that she couldn’t identify.
Why would they want this back, and what were they doing poisoning people? Yeah, turning Deo over to a bunch of people who thought killing people was a good idea, didn’t sound promising. If they wanted an alien, then they were obviously aware of them, and that gave her reason to pause. What were these people exactly? What was creepy guy? Not human?
She leaned back in her chair. None of this was a good sign. Years of grounding herself in science and here she was, believing that there was something else out there. If she didn’t know about other realms, maybe this would be more strange. Demons existed. Of course the Fae existed. So maybe it was logical to think that aliens did as well.
Sighing, she put the chip down and her eye caught the paper with Deo’s handwriting. She needed to call him. She needed to see him. She wouldn’t sell him. He was a living person, and no one was worth a price. The chip, however. Maybe she could talk Deo into letting her exchange that? Flipping creepy guy’s card over, her eyes bugged out.
That was a lot of zeros. So many. Damn, Deo was a catch apparently. Well, she knew that. But what would make him worth this much?
What she could do with that kind of money. She could start her own research facility, maybe even have a team of magically based chemists. She was certain that any cure would have to be a mix of human and magical compounds. She just hadn’t figured them out yet.
She was so close though. A rat that should have died a year ago was still running around and somewhat healthy. She’d even named him Herbie, because she was convinced he would be around for a while more. But it didn’t fix it all. Not by a long shot. This money, though. Wow.
No. She couldn’t. She loved Deo for whatever reason unknown to her; he was what her heart desperately wanted. Even the thought of turning him over to someone made her skin crawl.
Shaking her head in amusement, she did somewhat wonder how they thought she’d turn him in, anyway. Good luck making him do anything.
Crap. She’d come here to tell him that. To tell him she loved him. Right? That’s what she’d agreed with herself. She was fixing her mistake of sending him away.
It was probably in her head, but the air grew thicker as she tried to breathe. Yeah. She needed to call. She was falling apart without him. She just needed to figure out what to do with her life after that.
If she told him she loved him, what would happen? Maybe she could take her research with her? He said he had access to labs. He’d mentioned other science minded people, well probably dragons. And maybe her issue was she needed more perspective. Could you get more perspective than being light years away?
Okay. So maybe there were still a lot of questions.
Grabbing the chip, she carefully put it in her satchel hung over the back of her chair. Grabbing his number and her phone, she headed back out, locking her door as she left.
Aisha dialed the number to Deo’s phone as she walked. Her body maneuvered on autopilot as she waited for him to answer.
Before she knew it she was outside. Nothing seemed like it had before, not now. Not since she’d met Deo and then pushed him away.
There was no answer.
“Damn it.”
Pulling the phone away, the screen was dark. Not even the chance to leave a voicemail.
“Fine. I’ll just keep calling. We’ll see who is more stubborn.” She punched at the redial as if waging war on the phone. Okay, it wasn’t the phone's fault. She was determined though.
Hanging up again at the lack of answer, she growled at the black screen. This was annoying. Then she thought about it. Where exactly would he keep a phone in a dragon form. Maybe he wasn’t back to the ship, or wherever he was going? She’d just crushed his soul. God, that kiss, though. Her fingers rested on her lips as they tingled.
How had she let him leave after that?
Aisha needed to talk to him. She needed to let him know she was just confused, mostly. She also needed him to tell her she could sell this chip. Or maybe she needed to know what the expectations were.
He mentioned labs back home, so she figured out he would want her to go with him. Fine. But how long would they still be here? And if they went back, and she solved world peace, or at least something, could she bring it back?
She needed to focus. Only she couldn’t. Deo wouldn’t get out of her head.
“Aisha?”
She jumped as a hand caught her shoulder. “Tan. Don’t sneak up on people like that.”
He nodded.
“Okay. Sorry. That wasn’t my intention, you ran out so fast,” he said, keeping pace with her.
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Hey, you know what, maybe we should talk? How about tomorrow?”
He nodded. “Why not now?”
She checked her phone again. Nothing still.
“Because, Tan, I have to fix something. But I promise tomorrow.”
They walked up to the front lawn and there on her front porch was Deo, nearly naked for the world to see.
12
Deo leaned against the support of her porch. His arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t know where she was, but he would wait for her return.
Cy had informed him mid-flight that the phone device they kept for human reasons was ringing with Aisha’s number. He hated that device, but it served
