“It’s that bad?’
“You might want to pour yourself a strong drink, too. A double.”
DeeDee led the way to the less formal living area. There was a big screen television on one wall. A cream-colored sectional sat across from it. A plush beige carpet covered the floor, and in one corner was a mahogany bar. Behind the bar there were shelves of glasses and bottles of alcohol. Callie suspected DeeDee bought the liquor for the pretty bottles rather than the alcohol they held.
DeeDee walked behind the bar, tapped her finger against her chin, then reached inside the small refrigerator and brought out the Margarita mix.
“When all else fails, grab the tequila.” She rimmed the two glasses in salt, added ice, then mix, and two generous splashes of tequila. “Bottoms up.” She handed Callie her drink, then went to the sofa.
Callie followed at a slower pace. How much should she tell DeeDee? They had been friends for a long time. Each one knew the other’s secrets. Callie knew DeeDee hated pain of any kind, calling herself a wuss. That she’d lost her virginity when she was sixteen, and it had been the worst experience of her life. DeeDee had fallen in love at least a dozen times, and Callie also knew, no matter what, DeeDee would be there for her, but would this be pushing things too far?
Callie took a drink, then wrinkled her nose. “Wow, that’ll open the sinus cavities.”
DeeDee shrugged. “You said you wanted the hard stuff.”
“Yeah, I know.” She took another drink for courage, then set her glass on the coffee table. She leaned back, grabbed a pillow, and scrunched it against her chest. “Rogar brought news of my parents. That’s really why he’s here. That, and to take me home.”
DeeDee was just taking a drink. She choked and coughed before she caught her breath and sat her glass down. “Do you think you might have led up to this just a little?”
DeeDee had always been just as concerned about Callie’s past as Callie. She shouldn’t have just blurted it out. “I’m sorry.”
DeeDee’s shoulders slumped. “You’ve known about this since Rogar came to town, haven’t you?”
She nodded, wanting to take away DeeDee’s hurt, and feeling incredibly guilty. How could she have told DeeDee any sooner when Callie was still coming to terms with it herself?
“You didn’t tell me,” DeeDee’s words were filled with pain.
She would never intentionally hurt her friend. “I think I needed for it to soak in, to know that it was real. It’s complicated.”
DeeDee suddenly sat forward, oblivious to the fact she sloshed some of her Margarita over the side of the glass. “You know your past!” She jumped up, set her drink on the coffee table, and ran to Callie, drawing her into a bear hug that nearly stole Callie’s breath.
“DeeDee…air,” she gasped.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” She laughed and clapped her hands as she sat down. “This is fantastic news.”
“Yes, I know.” Callie smiled.
Suddenly, DeeDee frowned. “I don’t understand any of it, though. How did Rogar get mauled by a tiger?”
How much information should she give DeeDee? DeeDee wasn’t just a friend. She was her best friend. Callie took a deep breath. “My blood isn’t pure. I mean, I’m mixed blood.” She twined her fingers together. “Some…uh…people in Rogar’s…uh, country…want all mixed bloods dead. They think we’re an abomination. Zerod, he’s the leader, is…I mean has, this tiger. That’s how Rogar got hurt.” She let out a deep breath. That had sounded plausible. Maybe?
“You’re from another country. I always suspected as much. I mean with your coloring, plus you have those hypnotic green eyes.”
Callie brightened. “You think my eyes are hypnotic?”
“Duh, yes.”
“Thanks.”
DeeDee’s spine stiffened. “Hey, wait a minute. You said someone was trying to kill you? That’s crazy! We should call the police.”
“No, I don’t want to get them involved.”
DeeDee slowly nodded her head in understanding. “Rogar is here illegally. An illegal alien.”
Callie breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes. Well, sort of.” It was almost the truth. He was an alien, and he was here illegally, so that pretty much made him an illegal alien.
“What is he—Greek?”
Now it might get a little tricky. “Symtarian. From New Symtaria.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Symtarian? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them.”
“They’re not well known in the States.”
Callie reached for her drink and took a gulp to keep from meeting DeeDee’s gaze. The alcohol burned her throat and made her eyes water. Bad move. She was already starting to feel a little light-headed.
DeeDee leaned back against the cushion and studied her. “You’re not telling me something. I’ve known you way too long not to guess when you’re leaving something out. You might as well spill everything.”
Callie carefully set her drink back on the coffee table. “Really, there’s nothing else to tell.”
“Maybe I should look this New Symtaria up on my computer. What country did you say it was near?”
Callie should have known she wouldn’t be able to get away not telling DeeDee the whole truth. She took a deep breath.
“You’ll have to keep an open mind,” Callie told her.
“I can be very open-minded.”
Okay, DeeDee had wanted the truth. Callie only hoped she could handle it. “New Symtaria isn’t on Earth. It’s another planet. Rogar is an alien from another planet.”
Chapter 15
DeeDee jumped from the sofa, went back to where she left her drink, and gulped it down as though she was suffering from a bad case of dehydration.
Callie had been afraid DeeDee wouldn’t take the news well. Maybe she shouldn’t have told her friend quite so bluntly. Lead up to it. Something like, hey, seen any flashing lights in the sky lately? Speaking of aliens.
DeeDee began to pace.
Now her friend was starting to scare her. She’d pace for a while, then she would turn and stare at her. Callie didn’t think she had grown a second head or anything.
“My father has a friend who’s a psychiatrist,” DeeDee finally said. She hurried back to the sofa and took Callie’s hands. “I won’t let them lock you in a nut house. You’ve been under a lot of pressure at work. I know this animal keeper job is important to you, and you’re always talking about Sheba as though she’s your baby, but…”
“I’m not going crazy,” Callie spoke slowly and distinctly.
DeeDee sucked in her bottom lip and was thoughtful for a moment. “Then Rogar has filled your head with a lot of nonsense. He’s probably using this as a line to get laid. Guys are like that.” She patted Callie’s hand. “You’re such an innocent.”
“I’m not that innocent, DeeDee.” Sheesh, did her friend think she was that gullible? “At first, I thought Rogar was pulling a fast one.”
She nodded. “See, that’s all it is then.”
“Until I saw him change form. Symtarians are a race of aliens who shapeshift. They take on the animal form of their guides.” She frowned. “Or another animal until they truly meet their guide.”
DeeDee leaned a little away from Callie. “Wow, and you believed all that crap? You are naïve.”
“But it’s true. He really did change into a jaguar, and he’s a prince on his planet.”
DeeDee fell back against the cushions laughing. “Okay, where’s the camera?” She glanced around the room. “This is a great Halloween prank, and I have to admit, you had me going there for a bit. Great makeup on Rogar’s leg.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t a prank. It’s the truth. I’m part Symtarian. And Rogar was really attacked. There are Symtarians who think the mixed bloods should be destroyed, that we taint the race. Zerod murdered my father, and now he wants to kill me as well, and any other mixed blood Symtarians.”
DeeDee looked skeptical. “Okay, maybe I do buy that he was attacked because I don’t think you would make that up, but come on, tell me how he really got hurt? You don’t have to lie and say it was aliens. If Rogar was goofing off around your precious Sheba, and she hurt him, I won’t tell anyone.”