Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 27

                 

Alien. That one word resonated over and over in my mind. I almost laughed in his face. But I pictured those five bloody bodies. Then I remembered my miraculously healing gunshot wound. That part I liked. But the evil part... "You need to start talking."

He nodded. "Well, you can obviously tell that we don't look like the ones from Aliens or other freaky movies." He chuckled, but I frowned to let him know that I didn't find him amusing. "Fine. What do you want to know? Where we came from? Why you're a half-breed? Why the humans don't know about us?"

"All of it."

He began rattling off a story as if it were a speech he'd given a million times. "Our civilization has been on Earth for about two thousand years. We came from the planet Dracoria, which was destroyed by our people fighting each other. Our planet was mostly water, and we needed to find a similar place to live. Our ancestors decided on Earth because of the suitable climate and the inhabitants, blah, blah, blah, and we've been here ever since."

"And what about me?"

He shrugged. "We don't actually know how half-breeds come about." He grinned. "Well, we know the act of having children is the same, but it's extremely rare for a child to be conceived between one of us and a human. We don't know how it happens, and we can't recreate it on purpose. It's a phenomenon. But when we find one... a half-breed..." He looked down at my chest. "That's why you were shot. You're a precious commodity."

"What? I thought I disturbed a burglar?"

Jett grinned sheepishly. "That was just a cover." He held up his hand. "And before you say anything about how I should've told you sooner, I was going to tell you, but I wanted to wait until after you finished school and celebrated your Schoolies. I didn't want you to have to deal with finding out you're an alien when you're supposed to be having the time of your life."

How could I be angry at him when he'd done everything for me? I remembered when he'd said that one day soon, I'd understand. He had obviously had every intention of telling me, but I had ruined his plans when I ripped apart Tyler and his mates. "And the police?"

"Part of the cover."

"I knew it didn't make sense," I said under my breath. I narrowed my eyes at him. "So you had me believe that I was going insane?"

He grinned sheepishly again. "It was for the greater good?"

Smiling, I shook my head. "So why am I such a precious commodity?"

"Remember I said we also came here for the inhabitants? Well, humans are a big reason Earth was chosen. They produce a special energy. We need it to survive, and humans have an abundance of it. We feed off them." He held up a hand. "Don't get any sick ideas. We don't eat people or anything like that."

He rested his hands on my thighs. "The more emotion the human is experiencing while we are feeding, the more sustained we become. But the problem is... let's just say we don't like to see our kind with humans. The act is a necessary evil for us to survive."

When he saw the horrified look on my face he quickly continued, "Don't get me wrong. We don't hate humans. If we could, we would only be with our kind. You've probably felt some sort of reaction when I'm around female humans. It's a primitive response, and it's a hard one to live with. When I have to feed off humans, it's like a state of ecstasy, but afterwards, we feel dirty, repulsed at what we have to do to survive. Unless we find a half-breed. Then none of those sickening feelings apply."

"Glad to know you weren't wanting to be sick after you had sex with me," I said dryly.

He cupped my cheek with his hand. "Don't ever think you would make me sick. You could never make me feel that way." He brushed his thumb over my lips. "You are the very essence of perfection. Don't ever doubt the way I feel about you."