A kaleidoscope of shapes and colors exploded in Kyle’s vision. He gripped onto something tight, hanging on in the howling confusion of colors, tastes, smells, and sensations. When Kyle could see again, he was standing in the desert under a night sky. Heat from a forge blazed nearby. A woman with beautiful skin the deep color of a purple calla lily and bright blue eyes held something out to him. He could barely make out the shape of the object.

It was a glass heart pierced by a golden dagger, and blue liquid shimmered inside.

As the woman spoke, Kyle smelled jasmines on the night air. “Devis, your brilliance will save the Progeny from Nox’s devious designs. You will be Earth’s savior.”

Devis was Kyle.

The hand with which Kyle reached out to receive the object was the same deep shade as the woman’s. The billowing white sleeve of her dress lingered on his skin as they held the device between them.

It was a warmth Kyle ached to know more.

He regained consciousness, crouched over a toilet near the school’s cafeteria. The act of ejecting his breakfast rocked his already pounding head. Genetic memories sucked.

The desert. A forge. Some weird trinket. And a beautiful woman.

A beautiful woman with the same eyes as Rayne. That’s where the similarities stopped. Celindria was shorter and curvier than her descendant, with long hair in locs and braids. While Kyle found Rayne’s ancestor extremely attractive, her eyes lacked the same warmth as Rayne. Too much cold intelligence pressed from behind the cobalt blue irises.

“Yo, Roberts. Are you okay in there?”

Kyle recognized Pablo Suarez’s voice and nearly cursed. This was embarrassing. With a groan, he stood and said, “Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.” He opened the door to find concern in his Nicaraguan classmate’s warm brown eyes.

Pablo volunteered, “Mi madre always gives me ginger soda and salted crackers for a stomach bug. Maybe you should see if the cafeteria has anything.”

Kyle muttered, “Nothing can help me now.”

“What?”

The genuine kindness emanating from Pablo’s worried frown took away some of Kyle’s gruff. “I said thanks, man. I’ll go check now.”

It was a lie, but at least it seemed to put his classmate at ease. Pablo smiled and said, “Anytime.”

The smell of discount lunch meat and cheap vegetable medleys nearly sent Kyle back to the toilet. He’d have to start bringing his own lunches, anyway, since Xelan put them on a strict protein macro diet. Grilled chicken and steamed broccoli.

Hooray.

Outside the cafeteria, where the teachers parked out back, students gathered for some fresh air at a cluster of picnic tables. Tameka, Sagan, and Rayne were huddled around a table, and Kyle knew as he approached they were talking about this past weekend.

About Xelan.

Being Monday, and being Kyle’s night to train solo with the ancient alien, the last thing Kyle wanted to talk about was Xelan. He ran a hand through his hair, tearing through the knots in frustration.

“You look a little stressed.”

Oh, thank goodness. A welcome distraction and possibly a new date for homecoming. Kyle turned and faced Nikki with a grin. “Hey, beautiful. Your solo is coming along nicely.”

Nikki gave him an incredulous look, which really brought out the freckles on her translucent skin. “You were skipping in the auditorium again?” Despite her admonishing tone, a blush crept onto her cheeks.

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Kyle feigned shame, saying, “Yeah. You caught me spying on your rehearsal. I guess you’d better punish me for it.” He winked.

Nikki’s blush deepened as she giggled and swatted him. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Hah! More than you know.”

Her eyes were an icier blue than Rayne’s, but sparkled all the same as she stepped closer to murmur, “But I know why you were really there.” They both looked over at the girl in question still huddling with Tameka and Sagan. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret if you take me to homecoming.”

Kyle tucked a strand of Nikki’s dishwater blond hair behind her ear and whispered into it, “Deal.”

“Hey, you two.”

The short girl gazed up at Rayne with a secret smile. “Hey.”

Kyle asked, “You three planning to bring your alien boyfriend to homecoming?”

Rayne’s eyes tripled in size, and she glanced over her shoulder where Tameka and Sagan were still conspiring to fill Kyle’s weekends with training. When Rayne turned back, her frown affected him. “Kyle, we aren’t supposed to tell people.”

Nikki blinked. “Uhm… Alien boyfriend?”

“I know. I know.” Kyle held up a hand to placate Rayne. “If we tell anyone, they’ll lock us up in the loony bin. But at least now you have an excuse for your guardian to include Nikki here in the apocalypse training. Unless you want her to die in an alien invasion?”

The color drained from Rayne as she stared at Kyle, mortified. He felt kinda bad but…

Nikki’s trust in Rayne was open in her eyes as she waited patiently for the brunette to fill her in or freeze her out.

To Kyle, Rayne said, “I’d planned to ask Xelan after his session with you.” She met the other girl’s earnest expression and smiled. “Nikki, we need to talk.”

Good.

Before the two girls walked off together for that bizarre conversation, Kyle made a point to say, “I’ll call you later, Nikki, and we can talk about homecoming.”

When a smile blossomed on her face, Rayne’s reaction wasn’t what Kyle had expected. How could he get over her if she insisted on smiling like that?

Kyle blocked Xelan’s kick with both arms crossed at his front. Still, the blow rattled his bones, until he cried, “Son of a bitch!” As his voice rang through the trees of his backyard, he worried his mother would hear.

Xelan likewise scanned the perimeter for intruders or maybe more spies while he waited for Kyle to recover.

“Show me that kick again,” Kyle demanded, eager to learn everything he could from their guardian.

The Icarus grinned with a warmth Kyle realized was signature to his personality as Xelan said, “A tornado crescent kick is a little advanced. Let’s try a good old-fashioned roundhouse, first.” He demonstrated the kick, slowing the movements. It should look ridiculous in cargo pants and a t-shirt, but apparently, the Icarus didn’t own any other clothes.

Dressed in workout shorts and a tank, Kyle mimicked the move. Slow at first, and then he tried faster. He knew without asking that it would get easier and feel more natural with practice and strength. More training. But at one day a week, it would take forever.

Kyle asked, “What can I do on my own to speed up this process?”

Xelan nodded approvingly. “Hit the gym. Train upper and lower body, and don’t forget cardio at least four days a week. Thirty minutes of it at minimum. As you get older and gain more freedom from your parents, we’ll work on the training course.”

Freedom.

Did Xelan know about Kyle’s home life? The young man wasn’t about to volunteer it, and the second Xelan hit the road, Kyle was teaching his sisters everything he’d learned tonight. They’d taken the news of the invasion pretty well, and the siblings had prepared a strategy for when the day finally came. His sisters wouldn’t tell their mother, not for fear of eviction or worse, hospitalization.

Kyle shuddered.

“Are you cold?” Xelan asked while packing his stuff.

With a frown, Kyle shook himself back to reality. “No. Are you heading out?”

Xelan swung his duffle over his shoulder like it weighed nothing, despite all the gear Kyle knew it held. Xelan asked, “Do you want more than two hours?”

Wow. Two hours.

Kyle shook his head. “Naw. I don’t want you keeping Rayne up too late. I can’t believe she volunteered all her nights for this.”

“She’s a surprise, that one.” Xelan’s fondness suffused his voice.

It grated on Kyle. “Well, you would know, spying on her and shit.”

Xelan didn’t look upset by Kyle’s accusation. Instead, his features softened with sadness. Almost enough to make the younger man regret the ugly remark. Xelan said, “I’ve looked after all of you from a safe distance until the situation called for intrusion. Every night, I pray to Elden the reports of Nox’s progress are wrong, and none of this is necessary. But I couldn’t live with myself if the invasion went down with you five unprepared.”

Kyle sighed. “Look, I don’t mean to come off as ungrateful, and I’m sorry for accusing you of being a weirdo. But you are kind of a weirdo. It’s taking some adjustment on my part to trust that you’re really on our side.” Especially with Rayne, but he left that part out.

Xelan patted Kyle’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m no more a weirdo than you. See you next week.”

“Say ‘hi’ to Rayne for me.”

Walking away, Xelan’s grin was in his voice. “If you’re lucky, I just might.”

Asshole.