After his boyfriend Jonah Wright defeats the alien queen attacking their hometown, Sean Cross thinks everything is solved and things will go back to normal. But normal no longer exists. Jonah and his other friends look and act too good to be true.<br><br>Sean's suspicions grow after his search for a boy who stayed in Jonah's house, Ryan Godfrey, turns up nothing. It’s as if Ryan no longer exists. Can Sean save his boyfriend, or will he lose Jonah forever? And perhaps the most important question is -- did the alien queen really die?

It Never Left

Sean couldn’t erase the picture of Jonah in that man, Ryan’s, clutches. Yeah, he could see that Jonah had seemed to be grabbed or captured or whatever, despite the relieved—almost longing—tone in his calling for Ryan just now. Sean shuddered to recall the way Jonah’s sagging body was literally imprisoned by Ryan’s strong arm around his waist, while a hand closed in on Jonah’s throat.


“No. Sean, right? Not before you give me whatever you gave him and tell me what it is.”


Sean staggered beside his car. This could not be what he thought it was. Ryan couldn’t be something like that…


“I—” he croaked. “I don’t have it with me now.” It wasn’t true, but…


“I don’t believe you,” replied Ryan calmly. “I can beat you up so you’ll give it to me but I’d rather see you squirm at your boyfriend’s pain.”


To Sean’s alarm, he noticed how Ryan squeezed Jonah’s throat. A low, suffocated sound emitted from Jonah’s mouth. Sean shook his head slowly.


Chapter 7