He was such an idiot…plain and simple. He was so clueless and gullible…he sucked up every lie that she ever told him, and just accepted it as truth, never wondering if there was a possibility that she was wrong, or something wasn’t right.

In other words he was playing right into her hands.

She hadn’t seen him in a few days…not since she had faked her own kidnapping with the help of Senator Whittaker. She had hoped that Max would come to her rescue. Perhaps seeing her weak and broken might help her in her attempts to seduce him. Apparently Whittaker had other plans though. It wasn’t Max she was trying to lure in, it was Isabel.

Tess supposed that her plan was pretty ingenius. She was trying to break the group apart from the core of it: Max and Isabel’s close relationship. Things were already falling apart with Michael…the two stupid boys allowed themselves to begin their stupid rivalry even before she had arrived into their pitiful world. If they managed to break Max and Isabel apart, things would completely fall to pieces.

Still, as intelligent as the plan was, Whittaker deserved to die for going against Tess’s explicit orders…and that whole beating her up, thing. It was supposed to be just a mind warp, but Whittaker was known for taking things too far…she claimed that the mind warp wouldn’t fool anyone. It had to be real.

It was real all right… And Max had been forced to heal every cut, bruise, and broken bone.

It was worth it, though. Tess would do anything for her people.

Including, when the time was right, kill Max Evans.

Max was no leader. He was a disappointment to their whole planet. His people sat at home, waiting for him to come and free them from slavery, but it would never happen. Max Evans let his human emotions rule him, consume him. They made him weak and easy to conquer.

Every day since she arrived, Tess had pulled him a little further into her void, and away from his true destiny. When the time was right, she would take him home, and execute him openly in front of all of his people, so that they knew that all of their hope was gone.

She smiled softly, an evil grin spreading openly across her face.

Waiting until Max was out of sight, Tess turned on the motor of her SUV, and pulled out of the parking lot in the opposite direction that he had headed. He went into town, while she headed straight out into open desert.

A black, unmarked sedan waited along the highway a few miles outside of town, and Tess pulled up behind it, leaving a trail of dust flying up into the air when she pulled off the road. She got out, and steadily made her way to the other vehicle, slipping into the front passenger seat.

“You’re right on time as always, Tess. What is your status.”

“Everything is going according to plan. He’s still being stubborn and pursuing her. It’s almost as if some part of him is rejecting everything Nasedo and I have taught him about his destiny, and still going to her. But it won’t take long to turn him around. She, on the other hand, is stupid. She believes everything she hears without question, and keeps pushing him away from her…to me. He’s still resisting me, but the way I see it, he can only fight so long before he breaks down and gives in to me. After all, he does believe that I’m his destined mate, even if he doesn’t want me.”

“And once he comes to you, you know what to do, right?”

“I’ll eliminate him.” Tess responded instantly, without hesitation. She chuckled evilly. “I’m looking forward to that day. He’s so…irritating.”

“I’m sure. I wouldn’t want to be stuck with…them.” The man replied in disgust. “I’ll pass your status report along to the leaders. You need to get back there before he notices you’re missing. He can’t grow suspicious of you, otherwise all of the years we’ve spent on this filthy planet were all for nothing.”

“Don’t worry…it won’t be pointless. Max Evans is as good as dead. I won’t fail.”

“Good.”

Tess slid out of the sedan, which immediately pulled back onto the highway, roaring away, leaving her in a cloud of dust.

Climbing back into her SUV, Tess sighed. Soon…she’d finally be able to fulfill her own true destiny, and murder the one time ruler of her home planet.

Then…for the first time in 50 years, she’d finally be able to head home.

Cutting a u-ie, Tess headed back towards the high school.