Enthralled

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Available from Extasy Books

Taken, confined and kept in the dark, Tess is surrounded by shadow...and she likes it.

Tess Mathers wishes that her mind would simply stop recording the horrors that she witnessed after the city where she studied was blown to bits. Running through the nearby hills may have saved her life, but nothing short of a miracle would save her sanity. Taken from the planet as the spoils of war, Tess hopes that her end is quick. Life at the fighting pit is harsh brutal and usually short. Hiding inside her mind is her means of survival until the day she is thrown into a black cell and given to one of the fighters. The next day she remembers nothing, a frustration to her captors, but the next night she is sent back and once again he holds her enthralled.

Excerpt:

“We found one for you.” Looking down into the swirling vortex of darkness that was refusing to communicate until its needs were met took more nerve than Dr. Mavich was willing to admit. Knowing that, at any moment, a tendril of the shadow could lash out and incapacitate him was unnerving to say the least. When the voice came from the maelstrom below, it was almost a relief.

“She matches the specifications?” The voice was deep enough to be felt and heard at the same time.

“She does. We had to rescue her from Soorn and he was not happy about it, but we have her in a storage pod.”

“Bring her to me.”

Now was the time to make the deal. “Will you fight?”

“Allow me a few hours with her and I will.”

Dr. Mavich breathed a sigh of relief. “Two hours. That is all the time that can be spared. There is a large gathering and they are requesting your particular talents for a bout. Do you have any preferences for an opponent?”

The shadows shifted and almost showed the form of the being within. “Soorn.” The word reverberated on the walls of his enclosure and shook the stone until it hummed.

“They will not give you Soorn. Someone else?”

“If it is not him, then it does not matter. Bring her to me now.” The swirl and snap of the shadows indicated eagerness.

Dr. Mavich almost pitied the female in that moment.

* * * *

Clawing at the interior of the storage pod had done nothing but bloody her fingers. They had left her in the dark with only her memories of the attack to keep her company. Horror welled as shadows of colleagues wandered in the darkness around her pod. Some were missing features, some had been gutted by debris, but all were looking at her with silent accusation. Why was she still alive when they were snuffed out with no warning?

Tess slumped in defeat and let despair wash through her. Her life was going to be short and judging by the comments of the medical staff, unpleasant.

With nothing to distract her, Tess thought back to the events that had brought her here. Her talent for languages and fascination for trade records earned her a place in the Volunteer ranks on Terra. Her family was proud and quite happy to have her in such a prestigious position. She had never been happy just plodding along day by day.

There had been tears when she had boarded the shuttle to the Alliance ship, but they were happy tears. She swore to them that she would stay safe and frankly, entering the Alliance as an academic, she really didn’t see that much of a possibility for peril.

Apparently, she was wrong.

When the opportunity for the position in Barco had arisen, she had jumped at the chance to have access to the Nyal archives. Few, if any, linguists had had a chance to investigate the ancient trade documents. She had been on a short list of five who were considered for the position. Tess said yes and here she was.

Why hadn’t she taken the posting on Azon? Tess kicked herself mentally as she lay trapped in the pod. She could have been mated to a nice researcher by now and living in a modest home on Azon or one of its colonies.

Well, hindsight was always 20/20.

A light flicked on in the storage area where they were keeping her and she put her bleeding hands up in front of her eyes. She guessed that she had been in the tube for nine hours or so, based on how hungry she was.

“He wants to see you. Now.” The medical officer stroked the keys on the side of her pod and she was moving.

Rolling through hallways filled with light burned Tess’s eyes. The cuts that the shards had left behind had swollen her lids so that they only opened to slits. Her pod was a clear plexi on the exterior, heat and air were the only things that were built in and those units were under her feet. She was completely exposed and didn’t like it one bit.

At least she still had the shredded remains of her robe around her. It had allowed her that little bit of dignity before they dumped her in the pod for safekeeping. The slashes on her clothing barely allowed it to hold together, but it kept her from complete panic as they passed any number of horrific creatures in the hall that looked at her with unabashed curiosity.

The first book in this set ... Entranced available from Extasy Books

The second book in this set ... Entwined available from Extasy Books

The Third book in this set...Enchanted available from Extasy Books

Enthralled...available from Extasy Books