The Topper Collection: My Crazy Alien Romance Books 1-3

Chapter 4

4When Stark finally came to find her, Topper nearly sighed because he was dressed in jeans and a green shirt that seemed to have turned his eyes the same shade. She missed the swirling silver in his gaze, but maybe it was like when she changed her hair color. Or maybe Stark was an alien chameleon, his eyes taking on whatever colors surrounded him.

Stark looked even younger dressed in casual clothes—with the exception of his silver hair that gleamed in any light. His body looked to be around thirty-five in Earth years. Topper knew she was well-preserved for a witch nearing sixty, and she had a young soul, but most days she looked like the mature woman she was. Like older, but still handsome Earth men, Stark’s extreme attractiveness only served to remind her of her own waning beauty.

Ordering herself to stop focusing on unchangeable things, Topper opted to save her magic and silently led their trek back to the center of town from her house. They stopped by the Sheriff’s office where Theo handed Stark a pair of oversized sneakers and an unopened package of clean socks he’d probably just purchased.

While Stark sat in a chair to put on the shoes, Topper wrestled her attention back to their task and Theo. “Anyone report anything unusual?”

Theo shook his head and then his gaze went to the alien who was investigating the fabric of the socks before tugging a pair on. He wanted to roll his eyes and laugh as the man considered adding the second pair, but Topper’s distress made it hard to stay amused for long.

Theo scratched his nose. In dragon form, he had a horn trying to grow there. He sure hoped that wasn’t going to manifest into something ugly on his human face. “You know that new couple that moved in last month?”

Topper scrunched up her face as she tried to think. “Both are shifters of some sort, right? Nonny did the welcoming. I was out of town.”

“They’re cats—solid black jaguars to be precise. I have no idea what jaguars are doing in the New Mexico desert, but they own a couple of big red mastiffs that went missing two days ago.”

Topper rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me jungle cats are keeping a pair of dogs as pets? Are they being ironic or cruel?”

“They treat the dogs like family from what I could tell and now they’re worried something has happened to them. And you know cats keeping dogs is not the strangest thing we’ve ever seen around here.”

“No,” Topper admitted. Her gaze shifted between Theo and Stark hoping she wouldn’t have to intervene.

Theo rolled his eyes in disgust. “Dude—Stark—one pair of socks is all you need. Save the second pair for tomorrow if you’re still here.”

At Stark’s quick nod and muttered thank you, Theo turned back to Topper. One moment he saw genuine concern reflected in her gaze. The next, he saw disbelief followed quickly by a female interest he had never seen Topper show in any male before.

If anything was strange—that was strange.

Theo put his hand on Topper’s shoulder to stop her from staring. “If Stark needs a place to stay, he can use Kane’s old room at the house.”

Topper shook her head. “Normally, I’d send him to Lacey’s so he could visit with Frost, but I think the best idea is for him to stay with me. If Stark is right about the missing dakkari, they’ll be showing up there soon to rescue the others. I’d just as soon have an expert on hand if that happens. I’m not doubting my magic, just trying to spare myself from over-using it. I’d rather not destroy the animals if I don’t have to do so.”

“Are you going to be safe with him?” Theo demanded.

“Sheriff—the person you are worried about is present and understanding every word you say about him.” Stark stood and walked to stand at Topper’s side. The strange foot coverings were more comfortable than he’d imagined they would be. He stared into the dragon’s eyes as he spoke. “Topper will always be safe with me—always.”

Theo huffed. “I don’t doubt you can protect her from the green meanies, but who’s going to protect her from you?”

Stark turned to Topper. “I was unaware such a dilemma existed. Do you need to be protected from me?”

Topper crossed her arms and glared at both males equally. “No, I do not. You can sleep in the guest room which is closest to the sun porch. That way you can keep an eye on the dakkari yourself.”

Stark bowed his head in agreement. “A wise course of action,” he said in approval. “I accept your wisdom in the matter.”

Topper looked away from Stark to fully glare at Theo. “Stop trying to slow this down. Thanks for the tip about the dogs. We’ll check those out first. The cat shifters moved into the old Jackson house, right?”

As he nodded, Theo rolled his eyes and held up both hands. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I don’t trust him, Topper. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Do you trust him?”

Topper looked back at Stark with his silver hair, his smooth pale skin, and one eyebrow arched high at the surprising question. But now she knew the arrogant alien wasn’t nearly as clueless as he looked.

“Stark has given me no reason not to trust him, Theo. His n***d arrival is nothing to judge his character by, now is it? Female witches dance in the buff every time their Sabbath rolls around. I don’t see anyone in town judging them for their two days of nudity. And half the town saw Frost n***d when Lacey’s spell broke. I think he was in your jail at the time and you threatened to sell tickets because everyone wanted to get a look at his alien assets.”

“Both of those are completely different circumstances from this,” Theo insisted.

Topper glanced sideways and waited until Theo met her gaze so he’d understand how serious she was. “Not really. But all that’s critical is that my priorities are clear. I want my house back, my peace back, and to maybe go Colorado River rafting this weekend. Possessed animals could screw that up royally, so Stark stays with me until this is all over.”

“Fine,” Theo said sharply. “Change of subject—when was the last time you saw Alfred? Apparently, he’s gone missing too.”

Topper sighed and stared at the ceiling. Why was she always held responsible for everyone’s decisions? She was a witch, not a muse.

“The last time I saw Alfred was the night of our dinner date. It was awkward and that’s the best thing I can say about it. He complained all through the meal about how hard it was living as a human and said he should have just stayed a fish. Who reported him missing?”

“No one. He and I had a lunch date, and he never showed. There’s an opening for a fish and wildlife warden for the Magic area. I thought it would give Alfred something productive to do with his human time.”

Topper sighed and nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll make sure to check on him as soon as this is over.”

“Are you sure nothing bad happened on your date?” Theo asked.

Topper shook her head. “No—nothing happened at all. I thought we parted as friends, but I’ve never been great at all that male ego stroking stuff. Maybe I said something that sent Alfred into a funk. But if I did, I have no idea what it could have been.”

Theo shrugged. “Okay. If you see him while you’re hunting green meanies, tell him I need to talk to him.”

“Sure thing,” Topper agreed. She reached out a hand and Stark just looked at it. “Hold my hand in yours. We need to touch one another to travel the way I want to.”

“More magic travel?” he asked. Stark slid his fingers through Topper’s, surrounding her smaller hand with his much larger one. A sense of rightness exploded along his nerve endings.

Topper never answered his question. She just smiled… and then they were flying.

Topper landed on the edge of the road leading up to the property. She waited patiently for Stark to walk off his small bout of nausea. She frowned at his back. “Did you eat before you travelled through the portal?”

Stark shook his head. “No, I had a glass of ale with Polar—Frost’s father. Probably a mistake, but Polar insisted.”

Topper shook her head. “Well, that could be the problem with magic travelling again so soon. I have to speed up our molecules to make it happen and that burns a ton of calories. Are you vegetarian or carnivore?”

“Carnivore,” Stark replied.

Topper closed her eyes and chanted. She opened them to a thick sandwich piled high with everything she’d had in her refrigerator in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She held both out to him. “This should hold you a bit. I’ll feed you better later. The outside is bread made from organic ancient grains. The inside is fresh meat, cheese, and vegetables.”

Stark took her offering, smelled it, and then took a healthy bite. “It’s very good. Thank you, Topper.”

Her stomach rippled in satisfied flutters at his thanks and his obvious enjoyment of the food. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if you’d eaten earlier. I’m usually a more polite host.”

Stark didn’t answer her. He finished off the food and then opened his drink. “Bottled essence of the Goddess. I wish they had this on Glacier—very portable. I use canteens, but they’re not as aesthetically pleasing,” he said, holding it up level with his shifting eyes.

Topper smiled at his description and his pleasure. “I find it is the simplest things in life that make it worth living. I like adventure, but I can also appreciate the sun setting across the New Mexico desert just as much.”

“Indeed,” Stark said, handing the now empty bottle back to her. “I think I could also bask in that caring smile of yours for a few hundred years. Thank you for feeding me, Topper. I sometimes forget the need for food until my body revolts like it did when we travelled.”

“You and every other male ever born. It must come with the gender. In all my years, I’ve never figured it out.”

Topper sighed at how happy Stark’s happiness made her. Wow—she really needed to date more. She was obviously missing male attention.

Stark snorted. “Too much reflection on the past makes you start counting time backwards. It is an easy slip from there to feeling old.”

Topper shrugged and studied the driveway dirt. “I guess that’s right. Even being a powerful witch, I will not live past two hundred Earth years. The women in my family tend to die early and not even last one hundred years. My time is growing short, if that’s the case for me. To balance that, I live life fully and don’t have many regrets. I find counting my blessings makes the good parts last longer.”

Stark smiled fully. “Then I shall count them with you. I am feeling very blessed that we met.”

Topper swallowed hard at the sincerity shining from his face. She’d seen Frost look at Lacey like that. She turned away, not letting her mind conjure up more than was really there. Stark was being friendly—that’s all it was. And he wanted s*x. All men were extra nice to women they were pursuing. She might be out of practice with men… but she wasn’t stupid.

When they reached the house, only one of the shifters was home. They were invited in and she showed them the matching dog beds and dog bowls. The furniture in the house was sparse, except for an incredible four poster bed that was a mile high and had things hanging from it that Topper pretended not to notice. But it certainly looked like the jaguars knew how to play.

Nearly everything else in the house of any worth had a dog’s name on it. Theo was right. The dogs were their family. And the woman was ill with genuine worry.

Stark looked around the food dishes, the water bowls, and investigated the pillowed beds. He rose and asked to see where they normally played and did their business when nature called.

Out they all trekked to the backyard to see the area.

Stark walked around until he found what he was looking for. He picked up several things from the ground and carried them back with him. But it was his frown that told the real story. Topper braced herself to hear it.

“Two of them took the dogs as hosts,” he said, holding out bits of fur dotted with tooth marks and b****y patches. “It looks like the males got them because the female is bright red.”

“What can we do?” Topper asked, reaching out to hug the woman who’d started to cry.

“Find them fast,” Stark said flatly. “In two days, the physical connection would still be partial, but each individual dakkari would have taken over their dog’s mind in a single day. If we find them quickly, we might be able to remove the dakkari before it is absorbed. I can’t guarantee the animal’s lives, but becoming a fully assimilated dakkari host would be a worse way for the animal to die.”

Topper hugged tighter when the woman rolled into her chest and started weeping full out. She met Stark’s sympathetic gaze over the woman’s head. “Isn’t finding them the problem we’re still trying to solve?”

“Yes. But it’s gotten a little easier,” Stark declared. “They’re with the beeberg. We just have to locate the animal she’s taken over. I promise you the dogs will be nearby.”

Topper pushed the cat shifter gently away and ran a hand full of glittering magic over her hair. The shifter’s sobbing reduced to sniffling almost immediately. She looked at the woman’s face and met her gaze. The shifter would not know she acted from magical inclination, but they didn’t have time to indulge her grief properly. If they didn’t find the dogs, there was going to be a lot more weeping.

She lifted the woman’s chin with her hand. “I want you to call your mate and tell him about your dogs. And I want you to call the Sheriff if the dogs show up again. Don’t do anything to them and don’t let them into your home until we get their alien abductors off them.”

Topper smiled at her whispered okay and patted her cheek. She stepped away and held out her hand to Stark. “Okay. Let’s head back to town and see if Theo has any more leads for us.”

Stark linked his fingers through hers and braced himself. “Ready when you are,” he said, gripping her hand. “At least if I get ill again, my body has something to reject this time.”

Topper squeezed his fingers and laughed at his trepidation. She found herself liking Stark’s company far more than she’d expected. Not all men were such good sports. “It takes a brave person to fly with the most powerful witch in town. Looks like your impressive man package isn’t all you’ve got going for you.”

Stark felt a smile take over his face. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so entertained by just a female’s company. “Is that a compliment on your world, Topper? Because it is definitely one on mine.”

When his sincere gaze turned to her, Topper panicked at the challenge in it. She was transporting them back to town before Stark could act on the genuine interest shining in his eyes.