Chapter 1

The lake trip was a mistake, one with galactic consequences. My foot tapped restlessly on the linoleum floor until the familiar rumble of a diesel engine filtered through the kitchen window and three rapid honks caught my attention. I peeked through the lace curtains and saw Evan’s black pickup waiting in front of the house, his ski boat and trailer hitched to the back.

Mom closed the fridge, several Chinese takeout boxes in her arms, and glanced out the window, her lips pursed. “Is that boyfriend of yours not capable of going to the door?”

He probably wasn’t. But I kept that to myself as I gave my mom a side-hug goodbye. “I’ll be back . . .” I let the sentence hang there, as I didn’t exactly know when I’d be back. Hopefully sooner than later.

Mom rolled her eyes. “Before midnight,” she finished for me and broke the hug. “I’d rather you not go at all, but you’re old enough to make your own mistakes—”

I raised a brow.

“I mean decisions,” she amended. “Just don’t do anything I would’ve done at your age,” she said with a wry smile then hip bumped me on the way to set the takeout boxes on the dining table.

Evan honked again.

“If he honks one more time, I’ll—”

“Bye, Mom.” I snatched my phone from the counter and shoved it into my back pocket as I rushed to the door, nearly crashing into my brother, Lee, on the way out.

He towered over me, looking like he’d grown a couple more inches overnight. He didn’t seem to know when to stop growing, which made him a favorite on the football team at school and the object of several crushes among my classmates. At least he was in college now, and I wouldn’t have to worry about my classmates asking for an introduction to the “blond hottie.”

Gag. I was just glad Em wasn’t one to ogle him. She had more things on her plate, aka a nonexistent dad and five younger siblings. Probably why we were still friends.

“Have fun.” Lee stuck his tongue out as I passed him.

I mimicked the gesture. “Save some takeout for me, will you?”

He raised a brow. “Won’t you be eating at the party?”

I didn’t have time to explain. Nor did I want to. “Just leave some for me.”

Another honk.

“Jenna!” Mom shouted from the kitchen. “You tell that boyfriend of yours I’m gonna key his truck if he keeps that up.”

“Got it. I’m going!” I shouted back and rushed out the door.

In the driver’s seat, Evan bobbed his head to his favorite rock band, his long brown hair coming loose from his hairband as an overly buff guy in a white sleeveless T-shirt claimed the passenger seat. I climbed into the back and paused before buckling my seatbelt.

“Hey, Evan, I think we need to—”

Evan turned up the volume on the stereo, the pounding beat drowning out my voice as he pulled away from the curb. Unable to utter a word one way or another, I buckled my seatbelt, then paused when I caught sight of something pink and lacy poking out from under Evan’s letterman jacket.

Curious, I tugged the sheer fabric free to reveal a lace thong. My face heated. That wasn’t mine, and Evan didn’t have a sister. I should have known. Should have broken things off the day he locked lips with the head cheerleader at Ryerson’s party. But I’d waited, hoping to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she had come on to him, and he was innocent . . . But at that moment, he had leaned into the kiss, pressing the girl against the fake leather couch, his hands exploring every inch of her lean cheerleader body.

I’d wanted to make a scene. To yank him off her and kick him where the sun don’t shine. I probably should have. Instead, I watched and hid like the coward I was.

When I confronted him the next day, he claimed he had been drunk and thought she was me.

The naïve me forgave him.

Not again. Not with the evidence mocking me from less than a foot away. Mistakes didn’t leave their underwear in the back seat.

When we got to the lake, it was already crammed with Sevier County High students, along with a few faces I didn’t recognize. Likely students from neighboring schools. Picnic benches were littered with hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and a punch bowl that would likely be spiked before the sun set.

With Evan’s letterman jacket draped over my arm, I scanned the crowd and picnic tables for my friend Emily’s telltale red hair. My excitement rose when I spotted a head of red hair, then the girl turned, revealing someone else entirely. Of course, Em would be too busy to come.

Evan and his fellow football teammates backed the boat into the lake while partiers called dibs on who would ride first. Instead, Evan turned toward me.

“Jenna!” he called over the crowd. “First ride goes to you, babe.”

A few catcalls followed, and my face heated. I shook my head to a few boos but ignored them as I retreated to the next dock over where a “Private Property, Keep Out” sign hung between two wooden posts. Maybe it would keep everyone else away while Evan soaked up the attention, giving me a chance to stew in silence. The head cheerleader was once again glued to him like he already belonged to her. And he probably did.

I threw the letterman jacket on the dock and sat at the edge, feeling numb. No hiccupping sobs or tears. Just plain old anger . . . and shame.

I debated whether I should call Lee for a ride home or stay and end things properly. Not that Evan deserved it. A text would be more than sufficient. I typed out a message.

I’m sorry, but this isn’t working . . .

No. Too wishy-washy. He’d argue that we could make it work.

You cheating scumbag!

Tempting, but it made me sound like I actually cared when I’d stopped caring months ago.

Evan, we’re through.

It was good enough. My thumb was hovering over the send button when a notification popped up. It would still be better if I broke things off properly, even if he didn’t deserve it. I deleted the message and checked my notifications, letting myself fall into a trance of endless social media scrolling. Eventually, the party moved to the nearby lake house for more drinking and loud music as the sky darkened to a bruised purplish blue.

“So, this is where you’re hiding,” Evan said from behind me, startling me from my phone.

I rose to my feet and picked up the jacket as a cool breeze raised goose bumps on my arms. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

Evan hmphed. “That’s not fair. You hid from me. And you still haven’t gone for a ride in my boat.”

“I’ll pass,” I said and gingerly pried the lace thong from the jacket pocket. No way I was going to touch more of the thing than I had to.

Evan’s eyes widened in recognition before he covered it with a furrowed brow, putting on a confused expression. “Are you asking for a little fun tonight?”

With a rushing sound in my ears, I lobbed the thong at his face. “You know exactly what that is, so quit the act. We’re through, and you know it.”

Evan raised his hands, palms out in a placating manner. “Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe a quick ride will help cool your head.”

“I already told you no.” I turned my back to Evan and faced the lake.

“Come on, Jenna. Let’s not waste a good trip. You can’t just accuse me of something without hearing me out. Besides, you’ll be able to yell at me all you like out there without an audience.”

Already, a few nosy girls held their phones out, ready to record. Gritting my teeth, I ground out the word, “Fine.”

Seeming relieved, he towed me onto the boat. And before I could renege, I sat at the back of the small ski boat, the vinyl seat cold and wet against my thighs as Evan pushed forward on the throttle. The rumble of the engine churned my stomach, and it was only when we’d picked up speed that I realized neither of us were wearing life jackets.

I searched the boat and checked under the seats, but no luck. Every bump rattled my nerves. I clutched the edge of my seat in a death grip, which I swore made Evan go faster. After several calming breaths, I half crawled toward the driver’s seat, my arms splayed wide to catch myself if I fell.

“Evan!” I shouted over the noise.

He turned toward me, not slowing the boat. “Yeah?” he shouted back.

“We need to go back!”

“Why?”

“We forgot our life jackets!”

“Left them in the truck! Sorry!” He pushed forward on the throttle again, and I clung to the back of Evan’s seat, my legs barely holding me up.

“Evan, I can’t swim! Let’s go back!” I pleaded.

He shook his head, his hair escaping its hairband. “Not my problem. Should’ve thought of that before you got on.”

I held back a curse and pulled out my phone with a trembling hand. If he wouldn’t stop the boat for me, maybe Lee would talk some sense into him. They were former teammates, after all.

Before I could unlock the screen, Evan plucked the phone from my hands. “Jenna, there’s no need to call anyone!” he said. “I’ll explain everything. Just wait, will you?”

I snatched at the phone and missed.

Evan stood, holding my phone higher, and smirked.

With my jaw clenched, I was readying myself for a higher jump when I caught sight of a log in the boat’s path. Evan jerked the wheel hard, and the floor surged up, buckling my knees and launching me from the boat.

Night-blackened water rushed in, muffling the sound of the boat’s engine. I thrashed my arms and legs in a wild attempt to swim. To grab hold of something, anything, to pull me back to the surface.

Somewhere in the distance, the rumble of the boat engine cut off, and shouting voices filtered through the churning water. My lungs burned, and I clawed at the water.

I searched for the voices, but only the blurred light of the moon floated on the water’s surface.

I kicked harder, arms reaching.

The burning in my lungs turned to fire, and I sank farther, the large body of water pressing in against me, draining my panicked energy.

Then, weakened and unable to hold my breath any longer, instinct took over, and I sucked in a lungful of water.

My body convulsed. My mind fogged. Another lungful of cool water dulled the panic. Darkness crept in, my limbs slowed then stopped, and the moonlight faded.

***

Something heavy pressed against my chest. Was Lee trying to wake me up? Who was shouting? The weight on my chest doubled and threatened to crack my ribs. What was he doing? I tried to swat him away, but my arms felt like lead.

The ground shook. More shouts and screams as a wave of heat scorched the air. The air I couldn’t breathe.

The feeling of water in my lungs returned, and I gagged as the urges to cough and breathe fought against each other. I rolled onto my stomach and vomited a lungful of muddy lake water, my nose clogged with its stench. My next inhale sucked in a cloud of dirt and smoke.

Hacking coughs rattled through me, and my insides burned like they wanted to come out.

Another explosion sent me sprawling on hard earth, ears ringing and muffled like they’d been stuffed with cotton. My eyes flew open, and a bright, piercing light blinded me. I squeezed them shut, but the light continued to sting through my eyelids.

Pushing myself to my knees, I used one arm to block the light, taking in the red rock canyon walls around me. Thick plumes of black smoke choked the air. Several man-size objects hurtled through the air, while the blurred shapes of people on the ground crouched behind glowing barriers and large rock formations. Flashes of light zipped past me, accompanied by more explosions.

I blinked several times to clear my vision, but it remained blurred.

I cursed. My contacts had washed out in the lake. But I could see the rocky canyon I was in well enough to know I was way too exposed with whatever conflict was raging around me.

I needed to call someone. The police? My parents? Where was Evan? I reached into my pocket only to find it empty.

Oh yeah. My phone had likely fallen into the lake. And I’d lost my sandals at some point. Probably also in the lake.

I cursed again.

But where was the lake? How had I ended up in a desert canyon after falling into a lake surrounded by trees and houses?

My throat tightened. More shaking under my knees, and I couldn’t tell if it was me or the explosions.

Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Think!

Bang! I ducked as shrapnel rained from another explosion that I felt more than heard.

A freakishly tall, lean man stepped in front of me as more explosions rocked the ground. On closer examination, he wore what looked like a sand-colored wet suit with military-style body armor and a full-face helmet. He shouted something through his helmet that I couldn’t make out, the ringing and cotton feeling in my ears muffling all sound. His face repeatedly turned in the direction of a small group of soldiers huddled behind a natural rock formation.

Did he want me to follow him? I tried to stand, but my legs shook, and it felt like I’d gained twenty pounds in the last few minutes.

Seeming to grow impatient, the guy shouted again in some foreign language and lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing. He took off running as another explosion left a crater in the spot we’d vacated, shrapnel hitting some kind of invisible shield that flared red on impact.

My hands trembled, and my pulse pounded in my ears as the guy set me down on the dirt behind the gathered soldiers and their makeshift barrier. Several equally tall and helmeted soldiers did double-takes in my direction. I couldn’t see their faces behind the helmets, but I could tell I wasn’t what they’d expected.

Nor did I expect what came next. An image of me in my cutoff shorts and black tank top flashed across my mind, along with a fascinated curiosity that wasn’t mine. More voices in that same odd language, images, and emotions flashed through my head. They were a bit faint but still bypassed the ringing in my ears and the muffled explosions beyond the rock barrier, as if I were seeing and hearing everything with my head rather than my eyes and ears.

I tensed but didn’t dare react further. No one else seemed to notice anything beyond the immediate fight, so it was likely those explosions had rattled my brain enough to cause some damage.

Please don’t let it be permanent.

The soldiers, unable to continue their staring without putting their lives at risk, returned to their fight. Several leaped over the rock barrier, launching themselves into the fray. But instead of falling back to the ground, they flew without any obvious forms of propulsion, meeting the enemy in the air. More explosions rattled the ground. More muffled screams as laser bursts ripped through invisible shields and—

I closed my eyes. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

Except I wasn’t waking up, and the blood-curdling screams, explosions, and shouting continued. My throat constricted, and my control over my breathing crumbled. I curled into a ball and sucked in short, quick gasps, my breaths scraping against a raw throat and lungs.

This wasn’t happening. It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Just a—

A puff of air in my face startled me, and I blinked. My rescuer knelt in front of me, his helmet nowhere to be seen as he spoke in a soothing tone—his words, while muffled, were foreign to me. The guy was younger than I’d thought, about my age or Lee’s, with a bronze complexion, onyx eyes, and a head full of . . . Those weren’t feathers, were they?

Probably fake. My breathing eased a little as I focused on his words. The language had sounded harsh at first, but as the guy spoke, he slipped into a cadence of silky words that were almost musical.

It wasn’t Spanish. I would recognize that one from my two failed attempts at learning the language in school. Maybe one of the other romance languages. French? No. It sounded different—smoother. Italian? I could only recall the names on pasta boxes. Maybe not Italian. Some East Asian language? I couldn’t be sure. Guessing his language was likely a hopeless endeavor at this point, when I didn’t have a clue as to where I was and why I was hearing voices in my head.

The explosions died down, and a wave of muffled cheers signaled the end of whatever skirmish I’d found myself in. A group of twenty or so soldiers flew back to the rock outcropping, passing us as they headed toward a fleet of colorful, wingless aircraft that shimmered into view. Several man-size metallic spheres hovered after the soldiers, towing the dead and injured in cocoon-like wrappings. I counted at least fifteen with my limited vision, though the effort left my head aching. Then the smoke cleared a little, and the overly bright sun only made the headache worse.

As the soldiers passed, they retracted their helmets, and my jaw dropped. Besides their combined height and varying dark complexions, a few wore what could only be described as either theater makeup or cosplay. One woman preened her head full of long pink feathers, while another looked like she was covered in spotted fur. A man with piercing gold eyes and black reptilian scales passed close by on the way to the ships. The woman next to him was no less strange, as she sported a head full of long, sharp quills.

She caught me staring and flashed a smile full of razor-sharp teeth. My eyes widened. What kind of movie set or nightmare had I found myself in? I squinted at my rescuer, forcing my vision to clear, only to find that he did indeed have jet-black feathers on his head. I had to resist the urge to run a hand through them to see if they were real.

This had to be some kind of movie set. A top-dollar one, based on how convincing the costumes were. I chuckled. It all made sense. I couldn’t remember it, but I’d likely wandered into the pyrotechnics zone during filming. I just had to find the person in charge and get the police on the way. Who knew how my family would react. It looked about midday, and I’d fallen into that lake during the evening . . . Though, why was I coughing up lake water so long after the fact?

Something wasn’t adding up.

My rescuer waved a hand in front of my face, grabbing my attention as he pointed to his wristband. He pressed on a symbol and spoke. This time, the wristband mimicked his voice in what sounded like a different language with sharp staccato sounds. I shook my head, and he frowned, turning his palm down. Then he spoke again, and another language spilled from the band in his voice. This time, the voice was more guttural and growled in a way I doubted he was capable of.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

A second later, my own voice echoed from the wristband in the smooth, rhythmic language everyone here seemed to speak.

He brightened and spoke again. This time, English echoed from the wristband. “Is this your language?”

I nearly collapsed in relief.

I hadn’t realized how amazing it would be to hear my own language. But right then, I could have kissed him. Though I doubted that would be an acceptable greeting. Instead, I nodded. But he continued to wait for an answer.

“That’s my language,” I said out loud, and the wristband echoed my words in the other language.

The guy rocked back on his heels. “An Earth language. Good. I was a bit worried you might not speak anything in the database. I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Luka,” he said, resting a hand on his chest.

“I’m Jenna,” I responded slowly. Where did he think we were? Or was he trying to stay in character? The soldiers returned to staring at me, this time without the helmets blocking my view of their feathers, scales, and quills. Had I interrupted some big movie scene? “Um, can you tell me where I am and what’s going on?”

Luka followed my gaze. “You don’t know?”

My face scrunched. “You’re filming a movie?”

Luka’s head tilted in confusion. “No . . .” he said, and I felt his concern directed at me, as if he were letting me know his attention was on me in some weird way. Which was impossible, of course. It was likely all in my head, since that was technically how I was perceiving it. It made sense that he was concerned. What else would he feel if some concussed girl wandered into his film shoot?

“What you saw was real,” Luka said. “Do you not know what planet you’re on?”

“What planet?” I laughed at the absurdity of the question and his sudden jump in logic. He was really staying in character if he could keep a straight face.

But when he continued to stare at me with that concerned look, my smile faltered. “You’re not joking.”

Then everything clicked. The fact that I’d woken up in some desert canyon after falling into a lake seemed impossible. Tennessee didn’t have canyons like these. Then there were the voices in my head, everyone’s strange appearances, and the impossible technology.

None of that was real. It couldn’t be. Not unless . . .

A falling sensation washed through me, leaving me lightheaded. “I’m not on Earth . . . am I?”

He turned his palm down in a gesture I guessed meant no. “This definitely isn’t Earth.”