Sparks fly, secrets are revealed, and perilous adventures begin when Chloe helps Tristan escape. While on mission from inner-earth to the earth's surface, the evil subterranean meta-naturals intercepted Tristan's vessel. Taken to a laboratory run by a mad scientist, he is sedated and forced to participate in testing on himself and genetic experimentation. In the meantime... Private Investigator, Chloe Kennsington, in filtrates the laboratory while on a missing persons' case. When she discovers Tristan, the chemistry between them is profound.
View MoreThe Inner Earth Kingdom of Manthella
It had arrived. The day he’d been dreading was upon him. He could hear the whispers of onlookers lining the long passageway as he strode forth with his head held high. He refused to look at them for fear they might recognize the emotions he struggled to hide behind a stoic expression.
For want of volunteers, there’d been a lottery drawing and he’d lost. It was as simple as that. Now, he had to say good-bye to his home and loved ones for an indeterminable amount of time. Possibly forever.
His patriotic side kept reminding him that it was for the good of all that he goes on this mission. It may be for the good of his people, but, every so often, his self-serving side crept to the forefront and dissected the situation in hopes of coming up with reasons good enough to justify the fact that he was risking his life. It was his opinion that there were other ways of accomplishing what needed to be done without sending a single soul on a mission such as this.
From where he stood, it didn’t seem beneficial to send him to earth’s surface to confer with the surface-human leaders. He could see nothing but heartache and loss coming his way from such a venture. After all, he was no diplomat with a savvy tongue. He was military; trained to solve problems head on and with force, if necessary. Yet, here he was, on his way to do his best to communicate with the surface people to reason with them about their abuse of the planet’s resources and the repercussions from it that they all stood to suffer.
He’d argued that the mission would be better served if the lottery was amongst the scientists and engineers instead of the military, but to no avail. King Edgar worried about the ability his scientists and engineers would have in dealing with the aggressive nature they’d witnessed in humans. Not to mention the perils of passing through the land of the meta-naturals. He was convinced that it was a job for someone with military training. Preferably, someone who’d proven himself worthy of a high station. After years of arduous active duty, Tristan was just that person. King Edgar was so pleased when the lottery was drawn that Tristan couldn’t help wondering if it was rigged.
“You have had three months to prepare for your mission, Tristan,” bellowed King Edgar’s deep voice from the throne he’d positioned at such a high elevation as to allow him to look down upon the room instead of just a subject. “I assume that was sufficient.”
Tristan knelt before his king with his head bowed low. Three months was certainly not enough time for him to learn the scientific gargle being tossed at him from all directions. Nowhere near enough; but he couldn’t and wouldn’t admit that to his king and all the onlookers. So, with an air of confidence that he didn’t feel, he said, “It was, your majesty.”
“Good.” The king leaned against the back of his throne with a satisfied smile. “Let us get you into the vessel and on your way.”
“Wait!” shouted the all too familiar voice of Myriana. His chest contracted with guilt at the pain and loss that her tone so clearly displayed. “I must say good-bye. You cannot deny me that, father.”
With brows knitted together in deep displeasure, King Edgar reminded his daughter that he could do as he pleased. Myriana stood proud and tall as she struggled to free herself from the restraints two guards had on her while she boldly locked eyes with her father. After a moment of intense silence, he motioned for his guards to release her.
“Be quick about it,” he grumbled. “The vessel is ready to go and is using up fuel as we speak. The amount of energy needed to get him safely to the earth’s surface has been calculated. If he runs out before he reaches it and is stuck in the land of the meta-naturals, we will have you to blame.”
Since Tristan visited this land on more than one military assignment, he knew very well the risks that awaited him there. Avoiding being stranded in such a place was top on his list.
“It is not fair,” Myriana whispered as she wrapped him in a tight hug.
“I will be back soon,” he whispered. “You will see.”
“If you are not back in thirty sun rotations, I am coming for you,” she said firmly.
“I will be back,” he said with conviction.
“The humans are so dangerous,” she whimpered as she hugged him close. “I cannot stand the thought of losing you.”
“I will be back,” he said once more as he gently untangled her arms from around his neck and pushed her far enough away to be able to look into her amber eyes. “Now, say good-bye and let me go before the fuel supply is compromised.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she kissed his lips and vowed, once again, that, if he didn’t return within the time allotted, she would come for him. He gave her one last hug and, with his head held high and his back straight, walked toward the vessel. When he reached the entrance, he turned to look at her. With a wan smile and a tiny wave, he disappeared into the long, cigar shaped shuttle that would take him to the earth’s surface; a place he’d never been nor had the desire to go to.
He settled himself into the control seat as the door closed behind him and stared at the panel of complicated equipment. He was at the mercy of the engineers who operated everything remotely. Of course, he was required to understand how to manually maneuver the shuttle on the off chance something went awry, and he’d have to take over. With such superior engineers at the helm, the odds of that happening were next to nil.
He settled into the seat and buckled up just in time before centrifugal force pinned him in place as the shuttle took off at an unimaginable speed.
With nothing to do but wait, he allowed his mind to wander. He thought about the times he’d gone on missions to help bring order amongst the meta-naturals in middle earth. He pulled back the sleeve of his one piece traveling suit to view the scar that was a never-ending reminder of the battle that almost ended him. If it hadn’t been for Myriana, it very well may have. She was a tough warrior who he was always happy to fight beside.
He regretted letting things get as far as they had between them. It started out innocently enough. He was grateful to her for leading her troops in infiltrating the prison that held him and his comrades under the harshest of conditions. So, he expressed it by offering his gratitude, friendship, and loyalty. What he hadn’t offered, but what she clearly assumed was part of the menu, was his love. By the time he realized her feelings for him, he had no idea how to break it to her that he didn’t reciprocate them. Like a coward, he held his feelings to himself and did what was necessary to avoid being intimate with her; which would only raise her expectations even higher.
He would have thought that after several years of the cat and mouse game he played, she would have become frustrated with things and moved on, but she held firm to her illusion of love and he, in turn, remained the coward who would tell her no different.
He couldn’t explain why he didn’t love Myriana. She was beautiful, fit, strong, a solid leader, and the daughter of his king. What’s not to love? Yet, something deep inside of him resisted not just love with her, but love with anyone. It was as if he was saving himself for someone. But, who?
He saw her in his dreams sometimes. The vision was never clear, but it was enough for him to get glimpses of her waist length copper hair, petite frame, and creamy skin. Copper hair was unheard of among his people, so he couldn’t imagine where she was from. The petite frame was also an anomaly. His people tended to be tall and strong boned. As for her creamy complexion, well, his people were ruddier with their looks, but creamy skin wasn’t unthinkable. He guessed he’d meet her when he ventured into other parts of inner-earth. Perhaps during one of the peace festivals that were held between participating kingdoms. That would explain the difference in body makeup and coloring.
The unexpected jolt as the shuttle came to an abrupt halt ripped him from his thoughts. Had he not been seat belted in, he’d have been tossed from the chair. He quickly worked the controls to allow him to get an idea of what was happening.
“Tristan,” said a controller over the intercom, “are you alright?”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“We’re looking into it,” the voice replied. “Your fuel supply is still intact. We believe there is something blocking you.”
“It was an abrupt stop,” Tristan grumbled. “Have I reached the surface?”
“From what we can tell, you are still subterranean, but close,” the intercom said.
“Close does not count,” Tristan mumbled. His dark eyes grew even darker with aggression as he asked, “Am I in meta-natural territory?”
After a long silence, the controller said, “We are not certain, but it is possible.”
Their return to Manthella was bittersweet. Their hearts were heavy over the loss of four good soldiers while they were light with the joy in the fact that Chloe and Lizzy were returning with them.After extensive conversation where Lizzy informed the remaining Manthellans about the true origin of herself and Chloe and a good deal of deliberation as to whether they should remain on the surface of earth or go to Manthella, Myriana went through the proper channels and received permission to bring them, should they wish to go.It took little convincing to get Chloe to agree and even less for Lizzy, who wanted to stay close to Chloe to monitor her pregnancy and also who had no desire to part company with Jepson.With a good deal of the vampires and hybrids having perished along with their maker, the trip back to their vessel was far less perilous than when they arrived. Eager to get home, they wasted no time setting the course.Baqman and Mar
Lizzy had to search down several corridors before she found the room with the remaining soldiers locked up in a glass cage similar to the one Tristan and the other soldiers were in. She rushed up to the intercom and explained who she was and what was happening. Unlike the soldiers who were locked up with Tristan, they were grateful for her help and eager to cooperate.One of the soldiers was Jepson. Like Tristan, he possessed the ability to pull the code to unlock the cell from the energy thought cloud hovering over the keypad. He did it quickly and precisely. When he stepped out of the cell, the chemistry between him and Lizzy hit both of them like a thunderbolt to the point where they both stepped back in surprise.After taking a moment to regain her composure, she said, “Tristan is doing his best to battle the vampires. I had enough antidote for the serum in you for one. He’s in dragon form.”“
They made it through the back door with no mishap, but their luck wasn’t to hold up. In their search for the rest of the team, the soldiers who were locked in with Tristan were discovered and an alarm was sounded. They had their size on their side, but their opponents had fangs and venom.Whether a victim of a vampire bite survived was totally in the hands of the vampire. A little bit of venom would turn the victim, while a lot would take him to the point of no return. Chloe watched in horror as vampires sank their fangs into the Manthellan soldiers. The soldiers tried to shake them off but they clung with all of their mite while they deposited their venom into the muscular flesh. She wasn’t sure how much was needed to take down the Manthellan soldiers. They were clearly slowing down and weakening.The thought that the goal was to turn them instead of killing them came to mind and she gasped with horror. What a leth
Lizzy smiled as she watched the emotional reunion between her beautiful niece and the handsome giant. Even though there was a definite size difference, she didn’t think it was so substantial as to make a big deal of it. She’d seen many surface humans with the same height encumberments who managed to have long and lasting relationships. It was only size, after all.When Tristan finally pulled his attention from Chloe, he looked at Lizzy with both curiosity and mistrust.Seeing this, Chloe reassured him that she was on their side and convinced him to let Lizzy inject him with the much-needed antidote. Even though it wasn’t tried and true, Chloe believed it would work and that was good enough for Tristan. Unfortunately, there was only enough antidote for two of them. A brief conference was held amongst the others to determine who was willing to risk being injected with a serum that wasn’t tried and true that was brough
It was official. She was pregnant. Once the infectious joy that Lizzy emanated calmed down, the worry over Tristan’s well-being took over. Even Lizzy was concerned about him surviving the attack on the laboratory without their ability to shift.They labored with the anguish for the better part of an hour before deciding to do something to help them. Lizzy spent the remainder of the day teaching Chloe how to use skills that were inherent within her. She helped her to unleash her telepathic abilities to their fullest and then worked on showing her how to teleport by shimmering from one location to another by simply thinking about it.When she was satisfied with Chloe’s progress, Lizzy brought up a sensitive subject. “I have something I’d like to do, but I want to warn you that it would be painful for you and, possibly, risky for the baby.”Chloe’s eyes opened wide. “Risky? You mean, it could k
The anti-venom barely entered her bloodstream before she felt its cleansing effect. A surge of energy rushed through her and a sense of well-being swept over her. “I feel wonderful.”Lizzy busied herself repacking the satchel with her medical supplies. “I imagine you do.” She picked up her satchel and held her hand out for Chloe to take. “Now, it’s time to leave.”For the first time since her aunt appeared before her, Chloe questioned how she’d gotten past her captors. “I thought you were a captive like me.”“I sensed them coming to my farm and hid. They don’t know I’m here,” she said.“How did you get past them?”’ Chloe asked.Lizzy placed her arms around Chloe and pulled her close. “Hold tight and you’ll see.”Chloe felt Lizzy’s body start to vibrate. Soon, her own was vibrating in unison. Within s
She was back in her apartment at the lab. How odd to be placed there instead of with the other breeders. Chloe could only think that the risk of her turning was too high to chance having her in close quarters with the other women; many of them being pregnant.She couldn’t help being nervous about what it would be like to be transformed into a vampire or a werewolf or, perhaps, even both. If she hadn’t been so surprised and upset with Jim, she would have asked him about it.She was so wrapped up in worry that her body began to react like it had in Manthella, except, this time, Tristan wasn’t there to catch her. The loud thud of her hitting the tiled floor echoed through her head before darkness took over.The soft touch of a woman’s hands on her forehead was the first thing she was able to decipher from the fog in her mind as her surroundings slowly came into view. She was lying on the floor with a wet c
Chloe was surprised to see them turn into her aunt’s driveway. “How did you know where she lived?”Jim chuckled. “You’re only just asking?”She shrugged. “I guess I was so engrossed in talking that I didn’t realize you drove here without my directing you.”“I was here looking for you,” he explained as he pulled the car to a stop at the end of the driveway.Something felt wrong to Chloe, but she couldn’t put her finger on just what it might be. It was years since she’d been to her aunt’s farm, so she wasn’t sure how it should look or what type of activity she should expect, but instincts told her that things were too quiet.“Hmm,” she mused. “I would think Aunt Lizzy would come out to see who was in her driveway.” She craned her head to look around the farm for signs of her aunt coming from one of the outbui
After giving him the bare bones of her harrowing experiences, Chloe used her GPS to tell Jim her location and then settled down a few yards off the road beneath an oversized bush to wait for him. She felt cold and alone in the darkness.With nothing to occupy her mind, it was practically impossible to keep thoughts of Tristan out of her head. Her body tingled all over as she lost herself in the reminiscence of their lovemaking. She touched her cheek as she recalled the feel of his solid chest against it. She could almost hear the beat of his heart in her ear. She laughed when a few of the stories he’d told her to amuse her came to mind and cried at the memory of his saddened look as he walked away from her in the tunnel. All the while, she anguished over whether or not she’d done the right thing in leaving him. She’d never felt for someone the way she felt for him. Even when in a long-term relationship while in
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