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“You can’t do this,” Evie snapped angrily, ignoring the way her vision blurred with tears. She wasn’t sad though. She was furious. Full of rage at what falling in love with a monster had done to her life. Whatever brief moment of power and triumph she’d felt earlier for finally standing up for herself was washed away in an instant.
The car came to a slow stop and Senator Keesler leaned forward, invading her space.
“Accept this offer, Evadora. You’ll be able to start fresh, and my son will finally be able to free himself from the torment you present.” Rough fingers dug painfully into her skin, pinching her kneecap until she winced. “I wouldn’t suggest fighting this. Fightingme. You’re just a lowbred bitch raised in poverty with a meth-head for a father and a mother that abandoned you shortly after your birth. I have so many resources at my disposal to ensure your existence on Earth is miserable,ifyou choose to stay.”
“You’re as sick as your fucking son,” Evie spat before shoving at his hand and pushing him away. “And keep your hands to yourself, asshole.”
Evie looked away from him, her gaze locking on a small jet in the hangar they were now parked in. She hadn’t even realized they’d driven to a private airport, too focused on the fact that her life was crumbling around her.
Senator Keesler followed her gaze. “That’s the jet that will take you to the Air Force base where you’ll sign in before boarding the spaceship. I took the liberty of having a few things packed for you.” Senator Keesler pointed to a black duffel bag at his feet. “I hope you don’t mind that I used the spare key Stephen had to let one of my employees into your home.”
Evie’s jaw clenched. Of course, Stephen had a spare key, the fucker. They had never even lived together! She sat there, frozen in her seat for another few seconds, furiously trying to come up with a solution to her new problem.
She could make a break for it. Run away. Pray like hell that Stephen’s dad was bluffing and risk spending the rest of her life in prison.
Or she could leave Earth forever.
Her brother would look for her when he came back from deployment, she was sure of it. Maybe she’d even be able to get ahold of him at some point and let him know what had happened. Maybe he could help her return home one day.
Evie grabbed the duffel bag from the floor, her body vibrating with renewed fury as she shoved the door open and stepped outside.
She spun around, looking at the senator one last time. There were several things she wanted to say. An impromptu speech about how she believed in karma and knew it would bite him in the ass. A sonnet about how his son was a piece of shit, just like his daddy. Instead, she spat in his face and slammed the door.
And Evadora Chambers didn’t look back.
Chapter 1: A. C. (After Cazar)
Lately,whenhisemotionswere too strong, it physically pained Cazar to breathe.
Like now, as he sat in his own home and listened to his father discuss the newest development with the human alliance. An alliance that was now slowly crumbling after the humans and a traitorous group of Aragnokans had made a blatant attempt to steal his planet’s technology for their own gain three weeks ago.
People had died, warriors had betrayed their government, and two human women had almost been kidnapped.
Cazar’s hands tightened into fists as he tried to keep thoughts of one specific woman at bay, no matter how useless the endeavor had become. Evie, the human woman he had only just begun courting, the woman he wanted to mate with, was one of the people who’d been attacked and injured when his lab had been infiltrated. She’d nearly been taken from him.
He had done what he could to protect her and his brother’s mate, Alejandra, when the attack had occurred, but he was a scientist; a male of observation and discovery. Not a warrior or some superior beast capable of keeping them safe from harm against dozens of assailants.
At least… hehadn’tbeen a beast. Now he wasn’t sure what he was. A beast. Amonster. All he knew was that he was dangerous to everyone around him.
It was during that very insurrection that a parasite within his lab had broken free of its confinement, attacking him suddenly. Cazar hadn’t even managed to shout out a warning to the women in his care before he’d fallen, desperately attempting to pry the creature from his body.
It had been indescribably horrifying, knowing his life was about to end as the parasite had fought him for supremacy, growing in size until it clung to every inch of him. Shortly after, it began seeping into his very pores. It had been infinitely worse knowing Evie was in danger and he was powerless to protect her.
That had been his last thought before he’d been fully cocooned in the large, black mass, losing consciousness for days. That he’d failed Evie. That he was unworthy of her.
When he’d woken up, quarantined in the prisoner section of the capitol’s hospital in Ragtar, he’d discovered that not only had he become a host to the parasite, it was now fused to him on a cellular level. He’d been bombarded with questions by members of the government about hisnew conditionbefore Senator Jakkar, his father, had bartered for his release, demanding they allow him to rest and recover first.
There had been several days of negotiation regarding this; Cazar was now considered a deadly threat and no one knew whether he was safe to be released. Eventually, the other senators had agreed to set him free, upon the condition that Cazar tell the healers everything he knew of the parasite.
He’d been reluctant initially, afraid that he didn’t know enough to gain his freedom. But his father had reassured him that once this was done, he could go home and recover from his ordeal privately. Following his father’s orders, Cazar had told the healers what little he knew of the alien life form now attached to him.
The parasite that had attacked Cazar had originally been found latched onto an Aragnokan warrior only a few short weeks prior. The male had just returned to Aragnok from a secret mission to an undisclosed location, and he’d unknowingly brought home the foreign alien species.
It had been feeding on the male at the base of his spine, slowly weakening him over the course of several days. His symptoms had come on suddenly; shortness of breath, chills, a fever, nausea and then lethargy. Cazar believed the male would have died if another few days had passed with it still affixed to his lower back.
Luckily for the warrior, Cazar had been called in to deal with the specimen, but he’d never seen anything quite like it. It appeared to be a black, oozing mass suctioned to the warrior’s spine, protruding from his body like some kind of disgusting growth. A few inches in diameter, it should have been easily felt by the male, at least to the point of discomfort when he moved, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t noticed it at all. He was willing to bet a paralytic agent had been in play, numbing the area, but he didn’t know for certain.
Cazar could still recall the wonder and trepidation he’d felt when he’d first observed the parasite, hesitant to touch it. In the end, he’d prodded the mass with the back of a scalpel he kept within his briefcase, astounded by the squishy yet thick substance of the creature. It had jiggled when he’d prodded it, vaguely reminding him of something breathing as it slowly expanded before returning to its original size.
