On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) Read online

  “Yep! I heart Hartley! He's... Uh, a fictional character. You probably haven't heard of him...” The gorgeous blond girl made a point of running her right hand over her left breast, causing the nipple to stiffen visibly through the flimsy cotton of the shirt. Her brother rolled his eyes and snorted a little at the antics he witnessed.

  “Hartley! The whole thing is ridiculous. On-line fan fiction, not even an actual novel or anything. It's just some fantasy thing my sister does, pay no attention to it. Or her...” He made eye contact well, picking out a highly emotive pattern. One that practically screamed that he was interested in her, locking eyes for four seconds, looking away, down and to the right, then looking back for six second before breaking off again. It was familiar to her, since they all learned it in second grade and were required to practice it daily from that point on. He probably hadn't even realized he'd done it, she knew, the pattern being so well ingrained in them all.

  She giggled a little and pretended to be a Hartley fan as well.

  “Oh, I love Hartley!” She laughed when she said it, since it was literally true. The two across the table looked at each other, clearly thinking that this new girl would say just about anything to get closer to them, which probably happened several times a day in their world. It happened in Kate's and she worked to downplay her sexual appeal, so it must be a lot worse for them, she knew.

  Nodding at her, Britney decided to call her bluff apparently, since she moved in to some rather confrontational questions about what was obviously one of her favorite topics.

  “You like Hartley too? That's great! Other than Hartley, of course, who's your favorite character?” The other girl leaned forward, a slightly evil look in her eye. Or at least, Kaitlyn figured it was supposed to be an evil look, on Britney it managed to look incredibly cute. Adorable even.

  “Oh, you got me there... So many wonderful characters to choose from. Who's your favorite?” After she said it, she realized how that answer must sound. She wasn't trying to dodge the question itself really, but since the “characters” she'd mentioned were real life people that she knew and liked, picking between them for a favorite would actually be really hard.

  The other girl gave her a sly look and listed off a couple of names.

  “Well... I think Clara's my favorite, you know, the werewolf girl that runs the pretzel stand? Though I also like Hartley's boss, Lars, the homosexual guy that runs the bar they work at?” She grinned, probably thinking that she'd been fairly clever. Actually, Kate realized, the girl had been pretty swift. If Kate had actually been a poser, just looking for a subject to bond over, she could agree with one of those choices confirming that she didn't really know who Hartley was and at the same time allowing Britney to let the whole thing go, not burning any bridges with her so that she could still get her into bed later. Not a bad plan for being thought up on the fly.

  Kate did know the correct names however, so she grinned at the other girl and stuck out her tongue.

  “Hah! You thought I wouldn't catch that? It's Claire, not Clara, and she manages the frozen yogurt place, across from the candle shop where Lisa, the homosexual woman, is the manager. But, you know, really, Lisa's actually bi, not gay. I know that she dates women mainly, but she and Hartley go at it on their lunch break about four times a week...”

  Both the Alede across from her gaped for a bit, open mouthed. It was Don that broke the silence then, pushing his tray back and leaning forward to stare at the people across from him.

  “I thought that you told me that Brit had made up this Hartley character, Blaine...” He raised his eyebrows and stared first at one of them, then the other, finally swinging around to look at her, his eyes focusing on hers in an almost comical fashion, a single finger pointing up to the sky.

  “This proves that you're both aliens! I knew it. Kate here must be your alien advisor, come to punish you both for your wanton ways and blatant fan-fic rip offs!” He managed to hold his face still for several seconds before breaking out in a huge grin, one that made him look awfully charming, Kate saw. He should do it more often she thought as he held up a single French fry, apparently as evidence of some kind, though how the potato product worked in she couldn't tell, only to have it fold over limply as he stared at it.

  “Or something like that...” He finished weakly, giving the fry a forlorn look, then grinned again as he took a bite.

  Kaitlyn smiled back at him and decided to provide a reasonable back story for them all, since the first one to do so would set what the story would be, possibly for the rest of the year, and these kids, though nice enough seeming, would probably get them all into something too convoluted for her taste if she let them pick.

  “Or, just as another possibility, other than the alien hypothesis, which really is quite a good one Don... may I put forth the chance that these two are actually related to me and that we met at a family reunion a few years ago? I get why they don't remember me, but they're both pretty memorable. The Alede family reunion? I'm cousin Kate, from Washington? Kaitlyn Swanson?” She whipped off her glasses dramatically, shaking her hair around in a sensuous wave, as if that should help them remember her or something. If they went to a normal school, they'd know that they should go along with her story. If they didn't, she'd have to start screaming at them and throwing salad, because it was such a basic point that anyone should be able to catch on, even if they were home schooled or something, which she'd heard of, but didn't believe was real. Alede kids needed too many other people around for one parent to handle alone all the time past a certain age.

  They both looked shocked at first, then the boy, Blaine, jumped up and ran around the table, grabbing her up in a hug, only to be joined a few seconds later by Britney.

  “Cousin Kate! I totally didn't recognize you, oh, man, it's so good to see you!” Blaine told her as he hugged her again. Britney came in for seconds too, wrapping her up warmly, even though they weren't actually directly related. This kept going for several minutes, though they were clever enough to skip the normal kissing and petting that Alede did when they first met, since that ship had kind of sailed. If they did that now it would just look wrong to the Humans watching. When they were done with her they both pulled back, smiling. As if joking, Don threw his arms out wide for a hug too and seemed shocked when she moved in and hugged him.

  “What?” She asked him, a gleam in her eye. “I've spent nearly as much time with you as I have them now. At least as far as the last few years have gone, since they didn't even look up for the first ten minutes we sat here talking... So of course you get a hug too, we're old friends and all, relatively speaking.”

  Don blushed a bright red, smiling, which Britney and Kate seemed to think cute, but got a low murmur from Blaine about leaving the poor guy alone. Neither of the women reacted overtly to this, though Kate backed away from the Human, just in case the Incubus was claiming some kind of link to him. They were roommates after all, and even if they didn't have sex, that didn't mean Blaine wouldn't try to protect his friend from perceived harm or threat, right? She'd gotten that from Don, while he'd described the game idea he had.

  Blaine leaned forward onto the table top and began trying to send actual Alede codes, a subtle lick of the lips that most people would have missed completely, a brush of his hand, as if moving hair out of his eyes, even though his hair in this form was actually far too short to warrant the move. Kate responded appropriately each time, giving the right counter sign. If either of them had any doubts that she was what she'd hinted to them with all the Hartley references, they got it now, she realized. So she gave them both a smile, as a reward. It had taken them long enough to catch on that she almost worried she was going to have to yell it to them across the table, possibly while removing her clothes and dancing. Sure, that sounded fun, but it would draw a little more attention to her than she really wanted at the moment. She had to fight to keep a wicked smile from her lips, so that the twins wouldn't think she was making fun of them.

  Part of
that was honestly just her, she knew. Alede got better at controlling how much energy they leaked out by accident as they got older. As a rule anyway. Some never bothered to learn much control at all, and could end up hundreds or even thousands of years old, still leaking like a teen. Others worked hard at it and could seem far older than they otherwise would have because of their self discipline. As well fed, thanks to Zack, as she found herself and as well trained, she hardly felt like an Alede at all anymore. Still, the signs and signals, the code phrases and hints she'd given them should have been enough. They were designed for situations like this, after all. Made up so that you could start a dialogue with someone that might not normally be able to tell who or what you were for some reason. Like that they were very young and new to the world, she tried to keep in mind, and prone to making simple mistakes. They were kids, they were supposed to make a mess of things. Really it's probably why their parent had sent them to Human college anyway. To get a chance to learn how to navigate in the real world without a net, but in a place that was, in the main, still reasonably safe.

  Blaine stepped up and started then, apologizing for his lapse.

  “I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you right off! I guess I was distracted by all the pretty people in the room with us... You know how that is though, right?” He cast his gaze around the room, not laying claim to anyone specifically, but indicating that what they could see was part of his normal hunting ground. Britney did the same.

  “Of course in a place like this there are plenty of cuties to go around, don't you think?” He added, clearly suggesting that sharing the campus shouldn't be a problem, even with three of them working it constantly.

  Kate winced. The boy had been so blatant that his clumsiness embarrassed her just a little. It would have been one thing if they were sitting around having this chat in private, but divvying up the people around them where they could hear, and some of them were obviously listening in, was really just not smooth. As if to prove the point, Don sighed hugely and stared at his roommate, head shaking slightly in displeasure. If she could read the slightly sour look on his face right.

  “That may be true for you three, but I can't even get a date on this campus. I mean, these two,” Don didn't point, using his head to gesture at the twins instead. “Seem intent on sleeping with everyone on the grounds before the end of term. Except for me, of course... which, by the way Blaine, I want to thank you for again, but Brit... I mean you could at least pretend to find me marginally interesting, you know?”

  Kate noticed Britney stiffen a bit there, pulling her lips into her mouth in a way that looked anything but sexy, when he mentioned all that. As Kate watched, a small film of tears entered the other girl's eyes, though she blinked it away almost instantly. So, Kate thought, not only was this something that the other girl had noticed, but something that actually bothered her.

  “Look, Don...” The girl started, Don just threw his hand out and laughed, if a little hollowly.

  “Don't worry about it, just sour grapes on my part... you know. I'll be fine, I just need to get better looking or something. Probably a better personality, too. My current Eeyore line isn't going to draw a lot of women to my door. You know- thanks for noticing me...” He said the last line in a funny sounding voice. Deep and sad sounding. Kate noticed a girl nearby wince a little in sympathy at the words as if she recognized it from somewhere.

  He left unsaid that if that line did work, the girls would still probably have slept with his roommate instead of him. That probably would have happened even if Blaine hadn't been an Alede, looking the way he did. Young girls almost always claimed they wanted prince charming, but if the frog was good looking enough they'd instantly hop into bed with him, no matter how much better off they would be with the prince. It wasn't the shallowness that was the problem. Not for Don.

  No, if Blaine had been an ordinary guy, even one willing to sleep with his friend's girls or boys, the other fellow would have at least had a chance. After all, a regular human guy would get tired some time. He would have slept at night, and three or four times a day would have tapped him out as far as sex went. Also, realistically speaking, Don would have been competing with a ten, not a fourteen, that being about how attractive the other guy was to most women, once they got hit by his energy field.

  Just to make things worse, Blaine had to sleep with the girls that came into his life. The guys too for the most part, if he could. Harvesting energy required full time work for most Alede. If they missed a day, things got hard on them, depending how much energy they'd started with. For most of their kind, starvation was never more than two or three days away, even during a good week. Like a Human with water.

  Kate knew that she could go longer than that, up to ten days, starting from a full charge, because of her ability to not leak energy and prevent herself from burning it off like the others did, but as far as she knew, in the whole world there were only about half a dozen of her people that could do the same thing. Most of them well over a thousand years old.

  A negotiation for resources and territory had to take place however, that was the tradition. Still they had time to deal with Don's situation first, at least a little. After all, it clearly made his friends sad that they couldn't be more for him, for whatever reason that was.

  “Don't worry Don. Things like this have a habit of working themselves out, you know? I mean, this is one of the top party schools in the country, even though party seems to mean drunken stumbling around in the snow here... Still, there are a lot of girls in this place that came looking for a good time, and you're good looking enough to give it to them. Guys too, if you're into that. I do both myself, but I mainly like guys.” She added the last line in particular, because the girl with the tan jacket seemed to be hanging on every word she said. Lines of interest, a deep blue color, coming off of her and hitting everyone at the table, especially her and Britney. Don got one too, even if it wasn't as strong. Even if she didn't need to feed like the others did, sex was still fun and the girl looked pretty cute. Her face, heart shaped and a little soft, framed by golden blonde curls, reminded her a little bit of a porcelain doll. Not classically good looking, but other people would notice her when she walked down the street.

  With a force of will, she brought her attention back to the table. Don sat with his eyes downcast, not saying anything. Britney looked at him with a combination of longing, and oddly, shame. The blonde Succubus didn't share why this was with her, so Kate dropped the subject, figuring she could see if she could help with it later.

  “Anyway, I'm not here for the cuties. I actually came to get an education, as odd as that sounds for someone from our family.” She directed this to the people across the table. Don gently nodding at her, as if letting her know that he got it and that she didn't have to make up excuses as to why she wouldn't be interested in him. She reached over and took his hand, causing him to sit up a bit straighter. “I may have room for one or two in my schedule though...”

  Blaine smiled, and Britney didn't, though she nodded somberly at Kate. This seemed like a solution to a problem that they'd all been worried about, apparently. She'd have to get one or both of them alone so they could discuss it more clearly before she did anything. She didn't want to step on toes if she didn't have to and given everything, as long as they weren't abusing the boy on purpose, she didn't have to.

  They worked out, a little slowly, that she'd be fine sharing the campus with them and that she didn't have anyone that she needed to specifically call dibs on here yet. They both gave signs that they did have some people, though neither indicated their friend as being one of them. She put her hand out again, touching Don's arm, getting a brief smile and nod from them both, meaning they were fine with her picking him up. Britney hesitated and added something, making sure that Blaine didn't see it for some reason, reaching across her body, she grabbed her lower arm, three fingers raised and stroked slowly down toward her hand, the signal for “go gently with this one”. No threat implied, just a
request. Making sure her friend wouldn't be hurt or used and tossed aside. Interesting. Kate winked at the girl, which Blaine saw but didn't understand, having missed the sign his twin had tossed her.

  The Incubus went quiet for a bit, since they'd pretty much covered the socially required portion of the day's events. Kate was about to beg off and go back to her room, to get some real food, when he spoke again, a bit hesitantly.

  “Kate... I can't remember clearly, but at the reunion, you mentioned that you practiced martial arts still, right?” This didn't come out as a threat, it was more like he wanted something from her.

  “Uh, yeah. I still practice when I can, you know, family tradition and all. How about you?” She looked around the table, the Alede both nodding at her, Don lifting his right hand and making a waggling motion, indicating “kind of”.

  It turned out that Blaine loved martial arts and wanted to be an academy level instructor some day. Kate felt impressed, since saying that out loud to another Alede was basically like a Human man saying he was training to be a green beret or navy seal. More impressive, he didn't bother trying to claim he'd already reached that level, just that he wanted to. To her mind that meant serious intent. Anyone could brag, but not everyone would be willing to back it up with work.

  Hesitantly, almost shyly, he worked his way around to asking her something. It wasn't clear exactly what he wanted to her at first. Don finally laughed and told her flat out. Apparently, once he got over feeling like the world was going to dump on him again, he was really helpful. Sort of funny too.