Ethia. According to mom that was where they were from. She told Emmaline a little more about the place––an Empire that spanned a whole galaxy. A place where there were thousands of livable planetary systems that had been divided into twelve Kingdoms each ruled by a King. And those Kings were ruled over by an Emperor.

  Mom even went into detail about one Kingdom called Ky-mara––where Mom had been born and lived most of her life. She spoke of it so fondly that there was no denying the truth of her words.

  It took until then for it to really settle on Emmaline that her mom was speaking the truth. But still, it felt shocking and surreal. How could this be? How could her world be turned so upside down in a span of a few hours? Would she lay back down in bed and wake up tomorrow to find it had all just been a dream, or maybe a nightmare?

  This thing wasn’t over, not by a long shot, and even though mom tried to make it all sound so wonderful, that this Ethia was an amazing place, Emmaline couldn’t help but remember all of her mother’s tears and despondent behavior from earlier. There was more to the story, but she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to talk about that part of it.

  Emmaline had questions. Like, why had her brother been in so much danger that Mom and Dad had taken him away from Ethia? And what did that have to do with big black ship hovering over Lake Thurmond? It just didn’t make sense, none at all. But Mom talked as if a floodgate had been opened, and everything came pouring out like an unstoppable torrent. There was no room for Emmaline’s questions.

  So she let her mother talk, and she tried to take it all in, even if a large part of her felt numb and maybe more than a little detached from it all. But Emmaline sat and listened, glad that her mother had finally opened up about what was going on.

  “I was a horticulturist, and I came from a long line of them. In fact, our family took care of King Ansil’s palace gardens. And that’s how I met…” Mom abruptly cut off, and she looked away.

  Oh no. Not again. Em felt her heart seize up at that look. Mom wasn’t going to start crying again, was she? “How you met whom?”

  Mom turned back to Emmaline and gave a strained smile. “Maybe we should go check on your dad and brother.” And then she stood up from the bed and made for the door.

  Emmaline looked a little shocked by the change in her mother, but she wasn’t going to be left behind. Emmaline followed her down the stairs. She wasn’t surprised to find her mother had stopped in the middle of the kitchen. Emmaline saw that Michael was sitting at the kitchen table with a perplexed look on his face. Dad was nowhere to be found.

  “Michael, where’s your father?”

  He looked up to Mom. Michael looked almost as if he was going to be sick, but he ended up answering.

  “He left.”

  “Where?” Mom asked with a slight panic in her voice.

  Michael leveled his gaze at Mom, and it seemed like the full brunt of his attention was on her now. “He told me about them and about where we came from.”

  So he knew about the Ethians too. Of course, he did. But from the look on his face and the emotion heavy in his voice, Michael seemed to know much more than Emmaline did.

  “What do you mean, where we came from?” Emmaline asked, the words coming out before she even knew what she was saying.

  She felt her insides do a flip at the sharp look Mom threw Em. Crap. Okay, fine. So maybe Emmaline was still having some doubts. And maybe she wanted her brother to actually say the words instead of hinting around it. But then maybe he was still having trouble coming to terms with it all too. Jeez. Why did it feel like her whole family had taken a sharp turn toward crazy town?

  “Go to your room, Emmaline,” Mom said in her mom's voice.

  Ugh, well, maybe she deserved that. But still… there was no way she was leaving. This was about her too! This was her life going up in smoke, and she wasn’t going to miss an explanation as to why. Emmaline suspected there was much more to it all. The way her mother had glossed over so many details in her story upstairs and now her mom’s outright dismissal. It hurt that Mom was treating her like a child.

  “I want to know what’s going on,” Emmaline said.

  Mom whirled onto Emmaline. She was shocked by the intensity of the look from her mother. “Do as you are told!”

  What the hell!? Why was she acting like this? Hadn’t they just had a moment upstairs and Mom sat there pouring out her whole freaking life story––well, maybe not all of it, but still. It didn’t fit with what Em had been witnessing from her mom all morning. This was much more like the stern mom she was used to. Just great that that mom had finally decided to make a comeback now of all times.

  But Emmaline wasn’t going to back down. She deserved to be in the know as much as Michael. “No!” Em yelled at her mother.

  “Enough!” Michael’s voice rose above both of them.

  Mom and Emmaline turned to the young man. His eyes flashed with anger, and his chest heaved with emotion. He spoke, but the words seemed like it took great effort to get them out.

  “He’s gone. He’s given himself up.”

  Gone? Given himself up? He who? But Emmaline suspected they were talking about the person who was currently missing from the kitchen––dad. But what the heck did that mean––give himself up? Em looked to her mother as if the answer might lie there. Her mom’s face drained of all color. She swayed on her feet, and Michael rushed forward to grab her arm. It felt like someone was walking over Emmaline’s grave.

  “Has it really come to that?” Mom sobbed.

  “He said it was the only way,” Michael replied.

  Mom nodded. “He’s not wrong. It’s just…” her words trailed off and that far away look came back to her face.

  “Mom, please tell me he’s going to be alright. That they aren’t going to hurt him.” The fear in Michael’s voice made Em’s heart flutter.

  She watched as her brother seemed to struggle to stand. He used the island to move around to the bar stools sitting on the other side, and he took a seat. All Emmaline could do was stare and hold her breath.

  Em didn’t like any of what she’d heard so far. The way they were talking about dad. Give himself up? Did that mean what she thought it meant? Wasn’t Dad supposed to be taking care of the aliens? Like getting them to go away. But from the way Michael and Mom made it sound, that’s not what was happening at all.

  “Why? Why didn’t you say something sooner? Maybe we could have done something to prevent this,” Michael whispered.

  Mom huffed. “What? You think we didn’t try everything we could? The plan was not to be found. Why do you think we left Ethia? Every moment we stayed on this planet and they didn’t find us was a blessing. Part of the appeal of being here was that we could blend in, so even if they came here, we could spin the narrative the way we wanted to, and they wouldn’t know the difference. This was always going to be the plan if they found us.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Michael shot mom a glare. “And I get no say in this at all?”

  “Michael, we are only trying to protect you.” Mom said as if that would make it all right.

  Michael shook his head. “By living a lie? For twenty years? At some point, you had to realize they might never come. And at some point, you had to realize that I was old enough and capable of hearing the truth regardless of what might or might not happen.”

  Mom gave Michael and me a sad smile. “You were happy. How could I destroy that by telling you something that didn’t matter anymore?”

  “Didn’t matter? Have you seen the television, Mom? I think it does matter.”

  Emmaline almost snorted at that. Go Michael. Give her hell! But she stayed silent, because she knew this was Michael’s fight to fight, not hers, at least for now.

  Mom shook her head. “You know what I mean, Michael. After so long, it was easier not to say anything, to keep your memories from you.”

  Memories? What did that mean? Obviously, it upset her brother. Emmaline could see Michael’s shoulders tense in anger. She had to give him credit. He was holding back better than she would right now. She’d be totally losing her shit, and probably the whole neighborhood would hear it.

  “Of course it was easier, but that doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do. Maybe if I had known in advance, I could have helped you come up with a better plan than to just hand Dad over to them,” he said.

  Say what now? Emmaline stared at Michael and then looked at Mom. That couldn’t possibly have been the plan? Em started to feel the queasiness in her stomach come back.

  Mom shook her head. “No, this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

  “So what? We just forget about Dad? Write him off like he doesn’t even matter? And what happens when we can’t explain where he’s gone? People are going to ask questions. A lot of them.”

  “I told you that we planned this. I already have a suitable story we can use to explain your father’s disappearance.”

  Seriously? Emmaline blinked at my mother. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was almost more impossible to comprehend than the whole we-are-aliens thing. Emmaline felt her whole body begin to shake. Her heart was so loud in her ears she barely could hear the conversation between her mom and brother.

  “Do you even love him? Did you ever love him?” Michael said in an icy voice.

  Mom looked taken aback. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course I love him. More than words can say. He helped me save you after all, and he gave me Emmaline. But you don’t understand, Michael. There’s so much more to it. Things I’m sure he didn’t have time to explain, or want to because he was afraid you might intervene.”

  Emmaline looked at her mother and shook her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was like she didn’t even know this woman, not really. And of course there was more. There was always more, and Emmaline was thinking maybe she should have gone to her room. This whole thing was leaving her feeling sick, beyond frustrated, and scared.

  “Of course there’s more,” Michael echoed Emmaline’s thoughts.

  “Michael, please. This isn’t easy for any of us.” Mom took a moment to steady herself before continuing. “Shortly after you were born, your dad took a blood oath to be your Protector. It’s a very serious thing and creates a life long bond. It supersedes all other bonds, even that of marriage. It is literally your dad’s duty to protect you and die for you if need be. This isn’t about what any of us want. It’s about his duty to you.”

  “Seriously? And I will say this again, because you didn’t seem to hear me the first time. Shouldn’t I get a say in this? This doesn’t seem fair or right, Mom.”

  Yep! What he said. God! Were Emmaline and Michael the only freaking adults in the room?

  Mom shrugged as if it didn’t matter at all. “It is what it is.”

  Emmaline felt bad for Michael. He was clearly frustrated, as he should be. Mom’s attitude certainly wasn’t helping. He ran a hand over his head, and Emmaline could tell he was at the razor’s edge. She felt like going to him, but her whole body seemed paralyzed in fear.

  She was also afraid that if she moved or said a word, they’d stop talking. For better or worse, the truth was coming out, and she was desperate to be in the know instead of being sent to her room like a little kid.

  Michael shook his head. “Why wait twenty years to come after us? I mean, why come after us at all? Dad made it sound traveling here hadn’t been easy. It seems like a lot of effort for three insignificant people.”

  A grim look came over my mother’s face. “He didn’t tell you who your birth father is, did he?”

  Birth father? Dad wasn’t Michael’s real dad? After everything she had heard today, Emmaline was surprised that she could still be surprised. But she was. The feeling rippled through her body. Emmaline bet that was why Mom hadn’t wanted Emmaline around for this conversation. Wow, just freaking wow.

  “Does it matter?” Michael said with a heavy voice.

  Oh, so he knew. Emmaline wondered how long he had known about that? Did he just find out today? Or had he always known? There had never even been a hint from Michael or Dad that they weren’t blood-related. Yeah, sure, Eric wasn’t blood related to any of them, but that didn’t matter. But still, Emmaline had always assumed that she and Michael shared their parents. She thought it was part of what made their relationship a little different from the one she had with Eric.

  Mom snorted, “Oh, it matters. But I suspect that’s why he didn’t tell you that part. He wanted to make sure you didn’t follow him or talk him out of what he was doing.”

  Michael shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “He knew that if you had leverage with the Ethians in that ship, you’d use it to change things.”

  A stillness came over Michael. “Change things how?”

  Mom waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late. It’s better this way, Michael. Neither your dad nor I wanted you caught up in that mess. That’s why we left. We wanted to save you from all of that.”

  Michael stood up from his stool as if a sudden idea had come to him. “That what?”

  Mom just stood there for a long moment. It was like Mom and Michael were having another one of their private conversations, and Emmaline was being completely left out. No fair!

  Finally, Mom spoke. Her voice was so low Emmaline had to lean forward to hear what she said. “Michael, your father is the Emperor of Ethia.”

  Oh, come on! “Seriously?” Emmaline blurted out.

  Oops, had she said that out loud? Yep, she had. Both Mom and Michael were staring at her. Well, shit. There went her attempt to remain a fly on the wall.

  “I told you to go to your room,” Mom said. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  Emmaline snorted. “Oh, so it’s not my business that my brother is the son of a leader of a bunch of aliens that sent a hulking ship that’s currently plastered all over the news, or that my dad is right now handing himself over so they don’t take Michael instead. I did figure that out right, didn’t I? Because it’s not like anyone in this house thinks I should be bothered to be told a thing.”

  She wasn’t an idiot. She could put two and two together. But then she saw the hurt look in Michael’s eyes. Dammit! She rushed forward and threw her arms around her brother.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Michael. I don’t care who your birth dad is, and I don’t want them to take you either. I just wish that stupid ship had never shown up.”

  Michael’s arms tightened around Em. “I know, and me too.”

  They held each other for a long moment before Mom ruined it by speaking. “I’m so sorry about all this––and it’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell any of you the truth.”

  Michael pulled away, shaking his head. “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to sweep this all away because it’s a little hard right now. The fact is, we might be handling this a lot better if we’d been prepared. So I need you to tell me the rest of it––all of it, and Emmaline gets to stay. Whether you like it or not, this does concern her, because this affects all of us––our whole family. So, no more lies, no more secrets.”

  Yes! Emmaline’s heart soared. She threw an arm around her brother again and gave him half a hug to show her appreciation of his support. He then nodded at the other barstool. Emmaline didn’t hesitate to go for it, pulled it out a bit so she would be right in the middle of the conversation, and then plopped right on the top. Michael gave Em a warm smile before turning his attention back to their mother, who was grimacing at the both of us.

  “Go ahead. You were telling us about my real father.”

  Mom gave him a sad smile. “Michael, no matter what becomes of this, you need to know that Arie has been your real father in every way that counted. He loves you. We both do.”

  “We all do,” Emmaline corrected our mother.

  Michael gave Em another smile. “Thanks.”

  Emmaline nodded and turned to her mom with an expectant look on her face. Her heart still did little flips at finally being asked to be a part of this very adult conversation. Michael looked to Mom too.

  Their mother continued. “As I was saying earlier, because of who your birth father is that makes you a Prince of the Empire, and it means you are important enough to travel across galaxies to find. There could be any number of reasons for this, but I suspect it may simply be that your father is angry that you were taken away in the first place. He had big plans for you. I can’t imagine he took your disappearance well.”

  “What do you mean, big plans for me?” Michael’s voice was full of question.

  Mom gave him a pointed look. “What do you think that means?”

  Emmaline didn’t know if Michael had gotten it, but she sure did, and it made everything make a whole lot more sense. Crap on a cracker.