Assistant for the Alien Prince by Tammy Walsh
Jessica
My communicator had buzzed,startling me from my arrested gaze upon Zai as he took Tus’s hand—another female’s hand—and led her onto the dancefloor.
I didn’t know why I should be so surprised by that.
It wasn’t like it should have come as a shock.
It was what we’d been working toward this whole time, wasn’t it?
Still, I was relieved when the call came through.
I put the communicator to my ear and hastened out of the main hall.
“What is it?” I hissed the moment I left.
“There’s someone at the front entrance,” the security officer said.
“So?” I snapped. “Why are you telling me about it? What’s it got to do with me?”
“She says she knows you.”
“Does she have an invitation?”
“No—”
“So send her away.”
“She says you are her invitation.”
I came to a stop.
I didn’t know many people, even fewer who would claim something like that, and only one I could think of who would have any interest in being at this particular event.
“I’ll be right there,” I said.
I snapped the communicator shut and stamped down the endless winding corridors and hallways.
How had she managed to get here? I wondered.
She couldn’t have gotten here without the use of some seriously fast shuttlecraft—the kind way out of our price range—
And then it hit me.
Wedidn’t have access to that kind of technology, but Zai most certainly did.
I could see the conversation now, my sister calling Zai and insisting she attend the event, and for him to do her a small favor and send a ship out to pick her up…
I ground my teeth and thought about what I would spit at her.
I swear, I wouldn’t even let her in!
I didn’t care how many light years she’d covered to be here!
When I laid eyes on her, she was leaning forward, pressing her elbows on the security guard’s weapon and gazing into his eyes.
The fool actually looked smitten with her!
“Hey,” I said, interrupting their moment. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?”
Upon seeing me, the guard snapped to attention and gazed into the distance, though his eyes kept glancing over at Tina when he thought I wasn’t watching.
The title of “Master of Ceremonies” carried some weight with these people and I intended on using it.
I lowered my voice.
“Tina! What the hell are you doing here?”
“A party ain’t no party without yours truly. Don’t worry. I know you’ve had a lot on your plate lately—among other things—and my invitation probably got lost in the mail.”
“It didn’t get lost in the mail!” I growled. “You weren’t invited!”
“Sure, I was.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“It must be some mistake.”
“It’s no mistake! I can’t have you running around inside, causing trouble!”
“Who’s causing trouble? Don’t be such a spoilsport.”
“I’m not being a spoilsport—”
“Yes, you are. Now, let me in to go find the suitor of my dreams among all these rich Ev’vat folks. There’s bound to be one with a good sense of style and class and with too much money they can’t possibly spend by themselves…”
She turned to march past me but I blocked her way.
“I can’t let you in. You’ll make a nuisance of yourself and I’ll never live it down.”
“Except, after this job, you won’t be working as an event organizer anymore, will you?”
I opened my mouth to argue and bit back my response.
“That’s not the point! This party isn’t about you! Or me! It’s about Zai finding his fated mate!”
And damn it if my voice didn’t shudder toward the end of that sentence!
Tina blinked in surprise, glimpsing my fragility.
I’d barely even managed to maintain control of myself up until this moment and it didn’t help to have Tina here, dropping in.
I folded my arms across my chest.
“Jessica… I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
“You never do! You always do what you want and to hell with the rest of us!”
“Jessica… I’m sorry. I thought… It’s just a party…”
“It’s a lot of things but it’s not just a party. It’s the most important ceremony for the Ev’vat. You’ve always been like this. You always do what you want and don’t care about anyone else. If you want to go inside, then go ahead, but don’t expect me to clean up after you again.”
“Jessica…”
I turned away from her and marched back into the temple.
“If she wants to go in, let her,” I said to the guards. “I’m done with being her babysitter.”
I hated leaving Tina like that but I had enough of an emotional earthquake to deal with without having to keep an eye on her all night.
