Rebellion

Ria Montori is no stranger to kicking ass. Despite her petite size, she’s a former Sandarian military officer currently serving the Cavacent clan and adjusting to life on a strange planet called Earth. She has no time to search for her psi-mate, the one being who could bring her pleasure beyond any mere physical intimacy. Which doesn’t explain why she’s bonding with a Curzan native who just killed a government official.

Ty Sordina hates Ria’s kind. The Sandarians enslaved his people and murdered his parents in front him when he was a child. He has sought revenge ever since, and nothing will get in his way. Especially not a feisty redhead who challenges his every instinct and calls to his psi like no other.

But there is a war coming. And the two beings who want nothing to do with each other hold the fate of an entire planet in the heat of their undeniable desire…

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Alien Attachments Series

Alien Attachments

Rebellion

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

Rebellion

An Alien Attachments Novel

Sabine Priestley

LYRICAL PRESS

Kensington Publishing Corp.

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Copyright © 2015 by Sabine Priestley

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First Electronic Edition: October 2015

eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-579-0

eISBN-10: 1-61650-579-6

First Print Edition: October 2015

ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-597-4

ISBN-10: 1-61650-597-4

Printed in the United States of America

To my awesome family for putting up with my craziness. A huge thanks to Renee Rocco at Lyrical Press for taking a chance on me. To my amazing Lyrical editor Corinne DeMaagd, you are the voice in my head. Finally, to my great friend and totally awesome editor, Victoria Baksa, you rock!

Ria Montori leaned against the transparent panel with arms crossed, enjoying the view of Earth below. It was good to get off-planet, if only to the Cavacents’ cloaked base station. The little blue planet hung suspended in space, so different from the purples and greens of Sandaria.

Times like these gave her a chance to reflect. She was proud of what she’d accomplished. Because of her small size, she’d had to work twice as hard as anyone else to be taken seriously. Graduating second in her class in the military academy had helped. After her obligatory three years of service, she’d signed on with the Cavacent clan and now had a coveted spot as an Earth Protector, EP for short. But things were changing in the Sandarian Empire, and her world along with it.

She and Dani Standich, the newest member of the EP team, were overseeing the arrival of supplies from Sandaria. EPs had a wide range of duties outside of protecting Earth. The Cavacent clan had escaped Sandaria during the fall of the old empire in such a hurry, many things had been left behind. Due to the animosity of both the new planetary ruler and the Portal Masters’ Guild, they might never be able to return, but with the help of those still living there, things were working out. They had been able to recover a large percentage of belongings they’d been forced to leave behind, and most of Rucon Cavacent’s shipping business had survived intact.

“You okay?” Dani asked. “You look sad.”

Ria regarded the tall blonde. She was a stark contrast to her own petite build and fiery red hair. Where Ria’s world had shrunk, Dani’s had exploded—other worlds, aliens, empires, all laid bare to her. She blew out a breath. “I’m okay. Glad we pulled this duty today. I don’t know if this will make sense to you, but I’m feeling a little claustrophobic on Earth.”

“How can you be claustrophobic on a planet?” Dani asked.

She tried to find the words to explain. “Because Sandaria is home to the Portal Masters, it’s probably the most connected planet in the galaxy. You could request travel to at least a dozen planets. Starships are constantly coming and going.” Both women wore the standard EP attire of black button-up shirt, black jeans, and boots. Ria turned to face Dani and shoved her hands in her front pockets. “I spent three years cruising the stars in the military before I hired on with the Cavacents. And now, with the fall of the emperor, that little ball out there is all there is. Does that make sense?”

Dani squeezed her arm. “It does. I mean, it’s kind of weird for someone like me who never knew anything but Earth, but it makes sense.” Dani bounced up and down on her toes. “I still get goose bumps being able to see Earth from out here. Don’t you?”

Ria gave her a smirk. Her friend radiated a disgusting amount of happy. She’d recently bonded with Ria’s boss, Ian Cavacent, and there were times Ria wanted to smack the happy out of her. She was glad for them, of course, but one could only take so much sunshine.

It was a calm day below, with few clouds to hide the surface.

“I still can’t believe it,” Ria said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “A few months ago Earth was just a job. Now it’s home.”

Dani huffed. “A few months ago, I didn’t know aliens existed or that I had super powers.”

Ria smacked Dani on the elbow. “Psi isn’t super powers.”

Dani gave her a look.

“Yeah, okay. From a human perspective, maybe it is,” Ria said. “We’re Supergirls.”

Ria’s com started screaming like a teenager, making both women jump. Dani’s com followed a moment later with the atmosphere breach alert.

Ria wasn’t sure what surprised her more, the screaming or the breach. “Harvey, silence the alert,” Ria said. “And stop screaming.” She’d modified her com on Earth, giving it access to the Internet. Over time and with some tweaking on her part, it was developing a personality. The results so far had proved amusing. She never knew what Harvey would do.

“Yes, ma’am,” her com said, sounding miffed.

Dani shot her a what-the-fuck look as they bolted for the portal. “That scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry.” Ria stifled a laugh. “I’ve been playing with the interface. Screaming female wasn’t exactly what I was going for.”

Ria pulled up the status of the six cloaked transport ships that currently surrounded Earth. Two of them were picking up an alien signature on the planet.
How is that even possible?
They stepped through the portal together. Ria felt the familiar pull on her body and tingle of her psi as they were transported from the station to Earth. They emerged in Ian and Dani’s study on Cat Island in the Bahamas. The portal exited through the fireplace and onto woven grass rugs. White floor-to-ceiling bookcases covered the walls, and a massive desk sat near a window overlooking the cliff and water below.

“What gives, Ian?” Ria said. “How could we have an atmosphere breach without an approach from space?”

Ian ran a hand through his wavy blond hair. It was obvious that he and Dani were communicating telepathically via their bond.

Dani’s face paled.

“Your ships picked up alien signatures on the planet,” Ria said. “Who is it, and how did they get here?”

The shock was evident in Ian’s voice. “They exited hyper-space inside the impact zone.”

“Frack me,” Ria said as the meaning sunk in.
Who would do that?
Inside the zone meant it was pure luck they didn’t exit partially or fully inside the planet. Earth could have been destroyed today. A cold sweat formed on her skin as the horrific scene played out in her mind.

The fourth EP currently on Earth at the moment entered the room from the hallway. The arrogant albino, Armond, had arrived from the tunnels and looked as shocked as the rest of them.

The final EP, Marco, was on a mission with Ian’s uncle and wouldn’t be back for a few weeks, at least.

Ian projected the status holo and searched the incoming data.

Armond joined them as information updates came in on the vid. “Identified?”

“Torogs,” Ian said, looking puzzled.

“Where are they headed?” Ria asked.

Ian scratched his head. “They were headed straight toward Asia, but they’ve changed course.”

Ria followed the trajectory of the signal. “They’re coming here.” It was impossible not to remember the last time the Torogs had visited Cat Island. They’d stormed the villa. Their ball-jointed limbs and leathery bodies had half climbed, half fallen through the dining room window. At the same time, they’d smashed in the front door. They’d managed to slice off Marco’s hand before he and everyone but Dani and Ian had made it through the portal back to Sandaria. Those two had almost died when the Torogs bombed the tunnel that led from Ian’s villa. They’d barely survived by pulling off a nearly impossible portal move and following the others to his home planet. The whole thing had been a mess. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No joke,” Ian said. He brought up the villa’s sensors that showed it cloaked and shielded. “They can’t get in here. Question is, what do they want? Why did they change course?”

“What if they weren’t headed to Asia, but the Maldives?” Ria asked.

The EPs had bases around the globe. Ian on Cat Island, Ria in Lago Como, Marco in New Zealand, and Armond in the Maldives.

Ian raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“It would explain the change of course if they’re tracking Armond. They were headed to his base. Now they’re coming here.”

“Why would they be doing that?” Armond looked down on her with an air of superiority.

“I don’t know. You’re the self-proclaimed genius. You figure it out.”

They all watched as the Torog signal approached the Island. It hovered around the Cat for nearly ten minutes before blasting out of the atmosphere and setting off another round of alarms. They followed the signature until they were satisfied the aliens weren’t coming back.

Ian’s com signaled an incoming call. He spoke briefly and disconnected. “My father wants to see us.”

A network of subterranean tunnels interconnected by portals existed deep under the Earth’s surface. The EPs used them to travel the globe and the Cavacent clan for mining the rare and precious mineral carnium. The trace mineral was a required element in the fuel used by their Faster Than Light, or FTL, interstellar ships. The team filed out of Ian’s library and headed for the cruiser. Twenty minutes later, they were gathered in Ria’s villa in Bellagio, Italy. Rucon Cavacent, Ian’s father, had chosen Lago Como as the location of the new Cavacent compound, currently under construction in the hills above the lake. In the meantime, Ria’s villa was the most centrally located and served as temporary headquarters. They gathered around the large dining room table. Ria had instantly felt at home the first time she had seen the marble floors and rich browns and reds of the walls of the ornate Italian villa. She’d inherited it from a previous EP and wouldn’t change a thing.