Invasive Species by Cassandra Chandler

Author:Cassandra Chandler [Chandler, Cassandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cassandra Chandler

Chapter Ten

Glass shattered everywhere. The sliding door to the back yard, the entire front wall of windows, even the coffee table broke into clear pebbles that rained over the tile floors.

“I’m not allowed to speak ever again.” Tracey’s ears were ringing from the explosion. She couldn’t believe the walls had held. She glanced at the floor, expecting to see hazardous shards everywhere, but everything had broken into smooth pebbles. “You built your house out of safety glass?”

“And reinforced beams,” Carol said. “The lab has explosive chemicals in it, so I planned accordingly when I had the place built.”

“I had no idea geneticists needed explosive chemicals,” Tracey said.

“I’m also storing some things for Barbara.”

“Is everyone okay?” Kyle stood, one arm gripping Tracey and the other Carol as he helped them up.

Tracey shook some safety glass out of her hair. “I’m fine.”

Carol nodded.

The smell of smoke wafted in from the empty door frame. They walked closer, clustered in their little group.

The grass was blackened. Most of the trees at the edge of the property were lying flat on the ground. For as far as she could see, there was only desolation.

“What the fuck was that?” Tracey asked.

“I had no idea that would happen.” Carol’s voice was raw. “I’ve held it before—when I was thinking of Alan and missing him, and that never happened. Why… Why would he leave that with me?” She covered her mouth with her hand and clenched her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tracey put her arm around Carol’s waist and pulled her closer. She didn’t care that they’d just met. Pain of that magnitude called for extreme measures.

“Maybe he didn’t think it would ever be set off,” Tracey said.

“I asked Craig to look at it to see if he could get a message to Alan.” Carol looked at Kyle through tear-filled eyes. “I wanted him to know about you. They couldn’t figure out what it was or how it worked.”

“So Lyrians and humans can touch it,” Tracey said. “But not…”

“Not someone with Tau Ceti DNA,” Kyle said. “He was trying to protect you from beings like me.”

“Not like you,” Carol said.

At the same time, Tracey said, “Get over it already.”

He glared at her, but she didn’t back down. Instead, she stepped closer to his hulking frame, till their chests almost touched.

“You’re an alien,” she said. “You’re green. That’s weird and scary. I get it. But I don’t think that’s what’s freaking you out.”

“You know me so well after less than a day, please, tell me all about myself.” Kyle spoke through gritted teeth.

Our first fight. Great.

Tracey let her momentum carry her along, speaking from her gut—a gut that was trained by growing up with a huge family and having probably hundreds of soul-searching talks with them all.

“From the moment I met you, you’ve been apologizing for how you look—even before you turned green—and trying to paint a picture of who you want me to think you are. ‘I really love books! I haven’t always been this beefy.’ Trying to make me see you the way you want me to—as if I can’t make up my mind for myself.

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