Until Midnight

  Copyright © 2014 by Melissa Landers

  Cover design by Maria Elias

  Cover photos © 2015 Shutterstock

  Excerpt from Alienated copyright © 2014 by Melissa Landers.

  Excerpt from Invaded copyright © 2015 by Melissa Landers.

  All rights reserved. Published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023.

  ISBN 978-1-4847-2834-5

  Visit www.hyperionteens.com

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Letter from the Author

  Preview of Alienated

  Preview of Invaded

  Twenty-four hours pre-departure

  Cara

  Even in deep space, Cara had a curfew.

  She’d thought that leaving Earth would buy her a little freedom, but sneaking out of the house in Midtown was a cakewalk compared to giving her brother the slip on board an intergalactic transport.

  In their parents’ absence, Troy had crowned himself chaperone—rather ironic considering he’d served a hundred hours for school truancy, and she was the class valedictorian. But no matter. What Cara lacked in stealth she made up for in persistence.

  From her place on the bottom bunk, she stared up at Troy’s mattress and waited for his breathing to deepen. When the first of his thunderous snores rumbled in the darkness, she peeled back her blanket and rested her boots on the floor. In sneaky ninja steps, she crept across the room until she reached the door. Sweet victory was so close she could almost taste it, but then she palmed the keypad, and the door retracted with a loud hiss that ruined everything.

  Like a jack-in-the-bunk, Troy bolted upright and asked, “Where’re you going?”

  Cara sighed and hung her head. “The bathroom,” she lied. “Go back to sleep.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No way,” she said, rounding on him. “This isn’t a team effort.”

  Undeterred, he swung both legs over the edge of his bed and hopped down.

  “Seriously,” she added. “I don’t want company.”

  When he started lacing up his combat boots, she knew she’d lost the battle. “It’s not like I’m gonna watch,” he said with an eye roll. “I’ll wait outside the door.”

  “And listen?”

  “Chill out.”

  “Says the guy following me to the bathroom!”

  Troy raked a hand through his dark curls and fired a glare that reminded her of the time she’d thrown up in the backseat of his Camaro. But in her defense, she’d begged him to stop spinning doughnuts on the snowy school parking lot that day.

  “Look,” he said. “Humans aren’t winning any popularity contests around here. The L’eihrs are pissed. And if they want a scapegoat for what happened in Lanzhou, there are only two candidates within lynching distance.” He pointed back and forth between them. “So suck it up, buttercup. I’m your bathroom buddy.”

  Cara gripped both hips and stared him down. On one hand, she understood his mistrust. The reception aboard their transport had been a bit chilly in the week since a group of extremists killed a L’eihr student on Earth. But the L’eihrs wanted her there. In fact, her participation in the exchange program was one of the requirements for continued alliance negotiations between their worlds. If the Elders wanted her dead, she’d be in a cryogenic box right now, not on her way to an alien high school.

  “So your only concern,” she said, “is for my safety, right?”

  “No,” he drawled, cocking his head to the side. “I follow you around because you’re so damned fascinating.” When she showed him her most fascinating finger, he threw both hands in the air and admitted, “Yeah, fine. Safety first.”

  “Good,” she chirped. “If protection is the only issue, then you won’t mind Aelyx taking your place.” Before Troy had a chance to argue, she added, “He’s faster than you and twice as strong. Plus, he can use Silent Speech, and he knows every nook and cranny on the ship. He’s the bazooka to your slingshot.”

  Troy folded both arms and looked down his nose at her. “Dude’s a clinger. I don’t like the way he hovers around you all the time.”

  “That’s because he loves me.”

  “Enough to keep his bazooka in his pants?”

  “Oh, God.” She slapped the keypad to reopen the door, then walked out and called over her shoulder, “Grow up, Troy.”

  He followed her down the hallway in quick strides that made his military-issue dog tags tinkle. “It weirds me out when a guy looks at my sister like that. Sue me.” He pointed at the washroom entrance as she breezed past it. “Hey, I thought you had to—” Troy cut off with a glare, no doubt realizing the truth. “You didn’t need to go. You just wanted to see him.”

  Cara smiled sweetly. “And you claim you’re not the smart one.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You sure?” she asked. “Guess it must’ve been me.”

  When they reached Aelyx’s room at the other end of the hall, she held up a finger in warning and told Troy, “One more day. That’s all I get before he goes back to Earth, and then God only knows when I’ll see him again. Do not ruin this for me.”

  For a long time, Troy watched her in silence. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled, “Do you have your com-sphere?”

  She delved into her pocket and held up her sphere for show.

  “If I call,” he said, “you have to answer.”

  “I promise.”

  “Even if you’re”—he made a face—“busy.”

  “Please don’t go there. I said yes.”

  “And make sure you stay with him.”

  “That’s the point,” she said. “Tomorrow’s our last day, remember?”

  Troy reached out a hand like he wanted to pat her on the shoulder and say, Make good choices, but lucky for both of them, he withdrew it just as quickly and retreated to their room. Once he was out of sight, she tapped a fingernail on the door in front of her.

  It slid open instantly.

  Aelyx stood on the other side, leaning against the jamb with one booted foot crossed over the other. He tucked a lock of hair behind one ear, his warm, silvery gaze moving over her in a way that never failed to turn her knees to oatmeal. “I thought he’d never leave,” Aelyx murmured, unleashing a lethal smile.

  “Hi,” was all Cara could say. He had that effect on her sometimes.

  His smile widened. “Hi.”

  “Alone at last, huh?”

  From somewhere in the darkness, a girl called, “In or out, Aelyx. I can’t sleep with the hallway light in my face.” And then, “Hello, Cah-ra.”

  “Oh.” Cara frowned. “Hey, Elle.” She’d forgotten that Aelyx’s sister was rooming with him. So much for being alone.

  Aelyx stepped into the hall and took her hand. “Come with me,” he said. “I know a quiet place we can go.”

  The anchor of his touch was so powerful that Cara barely noticed in which direction he led her. She watched their hands as they walked, admiring the flexing tendons in his wrist and his long fingers laced among hers. Something about the contrast of their skin had always captivated her. Where she was pale and freckled, a bluish web of veins visible beneath her flesh, Aelyx’s complexion rivaled that of melted caramel. Maybe that’s why she loved the sight of their linked hands. It was a physical reminder that
while they came from different worlds, they fit perfectly together.

  For now, she thought. Absence can make the heart grow cold.

  No. Cara shook her head to banish the negative thoughts. Aelyx loved her. She’d felt it through Silent Speech, where deception was impossible. Once he helped mend the alliance, he’d return to L’eihr and they’d build a new life together on the colony. In the grand scheme of things, their time apart was a hiccup—she’d said so in those exact words.

  Now she needed to believe it.

  But despite that, a gradual ache opened up inside her. It started as a tiny pinprick of grief, and by the time Aelyx pulled her into a secluded storage closet, her chest had grown heavy and her eyes watered with tears. The door had barely shut behind them when she threw both arms around his neck and hugged him tight enough to snap his collarbone. If she felt this lonely now, how would she bear it when he actually left?

  She didn’t have to explain. Aelyx drew her into a powerful embrace, eliminating every atom of space between them until they melted together as one. He always seemed to know what to do, and that made her preemptively miss him even more. Resting her head near his shoulder, she breathed in his exotic scent and let it rush to her head. No one on Earth would sniff felt-tip markers to get high if they had access to Aelyx’s neck.

  He pulled back and took her face between both palms. “The time will go by quickly.”

  “I know,” she whispered, voice cracking. “But that’s just part of the problem.”

  “Talk to me.”

  Cara couldn’t put the bigger issue into words, at least not coherent ones. There was more weighing on her heart than just a separation. Maybe the season was to blame. Didn’t psychologists say that depression skyrocketed at Christmastime? It made sense in her case. This holiday she wouldn’t taste Mom’s gingerbread, or pretend not to overhear when Dad cursed a blue streak after burning his hand on the turkey fryer. Her brother was there, but they hadn’t lived under the same roof in years. Troy wasn’t her tether to home. Ironically, that was Aelyx.

  And in another day, the connection would break.

  “Show me what’s wrong,” he said, tilting their heads together and softening his gaze for Silent Speech.

  Ordinarily, Cara would complain about the mental exertion, but this time she wanted him to understand. She peered deeply into his eyes and embraced the pressure building behind her lungs, letting the homesickness build until Aelyx shut his eyes to close the connection.

  “I know what you need,” he said.

  “You always do.”

  “Come on.” He moved for the door. “I’ll walk you back to your room.”

  “What?” She tugged on his arm to keep him in place. Being apart from Aelyx wouldn’t cure what ailed her—he of all people should know that. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re a little off your game tonight.”

  He grinned down at her and arched a brow. “Is that so?”

  “Yes, that’s so,” she said, propping a hand on her waist. “For starters, everyone knows you don’t take your girlfriend inside a dark closet to talk.”

  “Forgive me.” In one smooth motion, he pressed her back to the wall. Then his mouth was at her ear, whispering, “I’ve never had a l’ihan before.” He brushed his lips down the side of her neck and left goose bumps in his wake. “I’m still learning.”

  “Liar,” she breathed, tilting her head to give him free rein. Maybe he hadn’t dated many girls, but when it came to making her pulse gallop, he was a pro. And he knew it. He’d even rocked their first kiss, despite the fact that L’eihrs didn’t show affection that way. “You shouldn’t be so good at this,” she groaned. “It’s unnatural.”

  He bit the inside curve of her shoulder, then caught her when both knees gave out. “Are you complaining?”

  “Unh-uh. Zero complaints.”

  “Good.”

  Tilting her chin, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in the barest whisper of a kiss. It wasn’t enough, but each time she rose up for more pressure, he maintained control by pulling back. He teased her like that until she made the embarrassing whiny sound he loved so much. Only then did he deliver the deep, bone-meltingly thorough kiss she’d come to expect from him—the kind that curled all ten toes inside her boots.

  After he’d made her breathless, he asked against her mouth, “Do you trust me?”

  “You know I do.”

  “Then let me walk you to your room.”

  Reflexively, her arms tightened around his neck. “But we only have one day—”

  “Stop saying that,” he told her, pressing a finger to her lips. “We have a lifetime.”

  She pushed away his hand. “You know what I mean.”

  “Do you trust me?” he repeated.

  Cara let her forehead thunk against his chest. Since resistance was futile, she blew out a long breath and said, “Fine. You win.”

  All the way back to the room, she dragged her feet. When they stopped in front of her door, Aelyx kissed the top of her head and smiled like he had a secret.

  “I’ll come back in a few hours,” he said.

  “A few hours?” she asked in disbelief. Either she hadn’t heard him right, or he didn’t understand how long that was in “last day” time. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes,” he told her, “and I want you to get some rest.”

  “But I don’t—”

  His fingertip reappeared at her lips. “Promise you’ll try.”

  She nodded, her shoulders rounding in defeat.

  “If I remember correctly,” he said, “Satan won’t come until you’re asleep.”

  “Satan?” Cara burst out laughing. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll keep my eyes wide open so as not to summon the devil.”

  Aelyx’s smile flatlined. He arched both hands in front of his stomach. “That’s not the obese man who sneaks into your house and leaves behind lumps of mineralized carbon for fuel?”

  Cara cracked up again, twice as hard as before. She loved it when Aelyx’s lack of understanding trumped his superior IQ. Such occurrences were rare but entertaining. “That would be Santa, my alien friend,” she said, patting him on the chest. “And he leaves presents. Only the naughty kids get coal.”

  He furrowed his brow. “Clearly, I have some research to do.”

  “Well, you’ve got plenty of time, because Christmas isn’t for another week.” She palmed her keypad and said, “I’ll try and sleep. But don’t keep me waiting too long, okay?”

  He backed away and told her to dream of speculums.

  She assumed he meant sugarplums.

  Cara couldn’t stop grinning to herself. Then she returned to her bunk and counted the minutes until she could be with him again.

  Twenty-two hours pre-departure

  Aelyx

  Of all the bizarre customs Aelyx had studied during his time among humans, none perplexed him like the Christmas holiday. One of Earth’s major religions had claimed the twenty-fifth day of December to celebrate the birth of their god. Or that god’s son, depending on who you asked. Others claimed both men were one and the same. To make matters more confusing, nearly all rituals surrounding the celebration were rooted in an ancient pagan festival of the winter solstice. Even the date made little sense, as historians agreed that Christ could not have been born in December.

  Aelyx didn’t understand it at all.

  But the holiday meant a great deal to Cara, and that made it important to him. Which explained why he’d spent the last hour accessing Earth’s electronic database in search of answers. His query for Christmas traditions yielded twelve million results. Humans had their faults, but he admired the way they collected so much information on their World Wide Web. He could find anything there, even instructional videos for the kinds of topics his professors didn’t teach at the Aegis. Aelyx had allowed Cara to assume he was an excellent kisser by nature, but in truth, he’d googled it.

  Extensively.

  So now that he’d filled
his data tablet with all manner of holiday merrymaking, the real work could begin: reenacting human customs with the limited materials on the L’eihr transport. Right away, he crossed “evergreen wreaths” and “holly berries” off the list, as the colors green and red didn’t exist on his planet. Nor did natural sugars, which eliminated candy, cookies, cakes, and sweetbreads. But the act of hanging socks on the wall as a means of decoration seemed feasible, if odd. There were plenty of socks on board—some of them even clean.

  He made a stop at the laundry, and then the transport kitchen, where he put in a request for two special meals. The upgrade cost him twenty credits, but he didn’t mind. If this brought one smile to Cara’s face, the expense would be worth it.

  For the rest of the night, he labored to make the endmost corner of the dining hall festive, and when the first passengers shuffled in for breakfast, he stepped back to admire his work. Not too bad, if he did say so himself. If he squinted and cocked his head to the side, the cardboard hearth he’d hung on the wall resembled those he’d seen on Earth, as did the paper pine tree, despite the fact that it was gray instead of green. Satisfied, he returned to his bunk to freshen up and sent Cara a message to do the same.

  No matter what she said, today wasn’t their last.

  It was just the beginning.

  He knocked on her door, and she answered with a bright smile that told him she’d enjoyed some much-needed sleep. The puffiness had faded from around her irises, leaving behind the clear, vivid blue he’d grown to adore. The affection gleaming behind those indigo eyes made his heart flutter. He loved it when she looked at him this way—like he’d lit every star in the heavens with a mere snap of his fingers.

  He loved her.

  “Mornin’,” she said, pulling her long red hair into a ponytail. “I’m ready for our mystery date. What’s on the agenda?”

  Aelyx lifted a pair of new boots he’d borrowed from storage. “Once you change into these, you’ll find out.”

  She glanced at the boots already on her feet. “But—”

  “Just take this pair,” he said. “They’re better.”