Julian

Aliya wasn't the type to stumble through life blindly. She tiptoed gently with blinders on allowing her to only see what was in front of her. It was supposed to keep her safe.

She forgot when evil came after you it didn't care about your desire to be safe. It was easy to be in the wrong place at the right time. Now she was paying the price.

They said they wanted her blood, but they really wanted her life.

Julian was getting away from it all. Sometimes there was such a thing as too much family. He dare not say that to his. When you were an alien on an alien planet you were expected to stick close together.

The Earth has been his home for hundreds of years, it no longer felt alien. He struck out on his own and did the last thing his family expected of him—short-order cook for a hole in the wall restaurant—a hole in the wall he loved.

He might have spent the next ten years there if Aliya hadn't stumbled in starving and looking for a hero. He was no one's hero, but Aliya could make him believe when she looked at him.

He was fine with letting the Earth battle their own monsters until those monsters came for Aliya. Now he would move not only the Earth but the heavens to keep her safe.