Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy by Tracey Lee Campbell Page A

nearly nine hundred years old.
    "Are you pulling my leg?" I took a step closer. "Oh, come on Aric - you can't really expect me to believe that!"
    He glanced at the ground, then back at me. "I told you you'd be weirded-out."
    I folded my arms. "So... eight hundred years old? Are you like, a vampire or something? Are you immortal?"
    He shook his head and laughed grimly. "No, not a vampire. And not immortal. I just age slowly, and live a long time."
    "So what are you then?"
    He took a deep breath. "Those creatures - the Innaki? They created me. I'm half human, half Innaki. A hybrid."
    My mouth fell open in an "O" shape, I couldn't think of anything to say.
    "They abducted my mother around the year 1112. I was the result of genetic engineering. The mind-reading is just one thing I can do... "
    My legs felt weak. I wished I'd sat down as Aric had suggested.
    "So you've seen these... Inny..."
    "Innaki," he corrected.
    "Innaki - you've dealt with them before?"
    "Yes."
    I looked up through the tree canopy. The sky was a brilliant blue. I couldn't see any clouds. It looked so 'normal'.
    "They were after me. I heard you arguing with them. What do they want with me?"
    Aric stepped forward and placed his hands on my shoulders again. I looked into his eyes. They were hooded, cloudy, and blue as a deep lagoon after a summer storm. I sensed he was reluctant to tell me, and I wondered whether it was wise to hear the truth. But I'd go crazy with all sorts of scenarios in my mind if I was left to imagine why I was being chased through a forest by alien creatures. I gave him an encouraging nod.
    "They've been taking you since you were seven, Lucy. You don't remember because they initiate a kind of amnesia on you so you can't remember. They've been studying you."
    My knees grew wobbly again, and I would have sunk to the ground if Aric hadn't caught me.
    "Are you okay?" He helped me to sit on a nearby boulder. "We should just keep walking. You don't need to hear any more."
    "There's more?" My voice was high pitched. Suddenly, the world around me didn't seem as solid as it used to be. "How did they know we were up on the ridge?"
    "You have an implant. They keep track of you with it. I've spent the past few weeks blocking it - shielding you. But I can't keep the shield going when I'm asleep, or last night... when I was kissing you. I'm afraid it was impossible to think of anything else other than you. I let the shield down, and they found you. I'm sorry."
    My eyes widened as I tried to take it all in. "So you've been shielding me ever since you came to Shadow Bend?"
    He nodded.
    "So why didn't they come at night while you were sleeping - why last night?"
    "There's no rhyme or reason as to when they come for you. They just do. I was shielding you in case they came. I haven't slept since I met you. I don't need much sleep. "
    I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He obviously needed at least a little sleep. "Were you planning on staying awake indefinitely? You need to sleep some time, and then they will come again."
    "The plan is to teach you to shield until we can remove your implant. Then you'll be safer."
    "But they know where I live anyway."
    "You can't go back to Shadow Bend Lucy."
    His words hit me like a punch in the stomach. "But... my uncle - he won't agree to me just taking off." He was telling me I had to leave the only real home I remembered. It had taken me so long to get there, and now I had to give it all up.
    "You have no choice. You can't see him again. At least not here. It's not safe."
    My head was swimming with confused thoughts and questions.
    "Where will I go?"
    "There are others like me. They don't agree with what the Innaki are doing either. We need to get to Newtown. They will help keep you safe."
    The helicopters buzzed overhead, making a wide sweep of the ridge. We stuck to the cover of the trees, and stopped to wash the dried blood from our faces in the creek. Aric's skin was as smooth and unblemished as it had always