“Lock and load, ladies. It is time to kick some ass!”

As far as she was concerned, the Trivators and the Alliance had invaded Earth.
The resulting fallout had been devastating for humans. Her life and that of millions of others had gone to hell in a matter of hours. She’d spent the last decade since that unforgettable day fighting to free her fellow humans from the aliens and as well as from other humans.
It didn’t help when memories of being sold by one of her own species filled her mouth with a bitter taste. She wanted to return to Earth so she could kill Colbert Allen. Who the hell cared that revenge was a bad idea? She’d had a lot of bad ideas in her lifetime and would deal with the consequences just as she always had—with a fight.

She hadn’t planned to kiss him. She wanted to make the excuse that she had done it as a reaction to adrenaline, or because she felt sorry for hurting him when she knew he wasn’t at his best, or a hundred other excuses. Anything except the truth. She wanted him. There was something about him that made her physically attracted to him. Emotionally, well, emotionally she wasn’t ready to admit that there was something about him that made her feel a response she hadn’t felt for anyone else in a long, long time. It was those feelings that were the most difficult to deal with. How could she want someone that she should hate? The problem was caring for him all these weeks had shown her a different side to him that she never expected. She was finding it harder and harder to only see him as an alien, and not as a caring, compassionate man.

He is the kind of guy that a girl could fall for if she wasn’t careful, she thought. Protect your heart, Lina. You know what happens when you fall in love. It doesn’t end well. I can’t fall in love with him anyway. Remember, he’s the alien who broke my heart once already. Don’t give him the chance to do it again.

“Ajaska warned us that your life would be in danger and that it was of paramount importance that nothing happens to you. Razor assigned me to protect you.”

Destin frowned and stared at Trig in disbelief. His life was in danger. Hell, when had it not been? Kali and he grew up on the streets, running them from the time they could walk until well after the Trivators announced their arrival and the Earth had dissolved into a fiery pit of hell and destruction. Now, the Trivators thought he needed a damn babysitter? Shaking his head, he crossed his arms and glared back at Trig.

“I hate to tell you this, but you are about twenty-four years too late on the babysitting job,” he replied sarcastically. “I’ll give my mom credit for the first two years of my life.”

“Razor thought this was different,” Trig replied with a shrug.

“Who am I supposed to be in danger from and what exactly did Ajaska say to make Razor think I might be in danger?” Destin asked with a skeptical expression.

“We don’t know,” Trig admitted, reaching up and running his hands through his hair in aggravation. “The damn Kassisan was pretty tight-lipped. The only thing he would say was that you were in danger and we needed to keep you alive for the future sake of your planet.”

“For the future sake….” Destin shook his head.

“Yeah, well, we’ve been trying to anticipate how this or that factor might affect an outcome we don’t even know the details of. All we know is you’ve got to live through what’s coming,” Trig said with a frustrated sigh.

Destin released a dry, rough chortle, and dropped his arms to his side. “News flash… My life was already in danger. I killed the man who was trying to kill me, and Chicago is being rebuilt. Ajaska missed the memo or forgot to send it out before reality hit. Plus, I already have a team in place to watch my back. I trust them – as much as I can trust anyone. I like you, Trig. I think you are a good man, but I’ve learned that even those you know aren’t always what they appear to be. Go find someone else to piss off – that means to irritate in case you didn’t know. I’ve got enough going on without tripping over your ass all the time.”

“Tough shit.”