Showing results by author "Ella Maven" in All Categories

Mouse: I have no memory or what or who I am, all I know is that everyone and everything is out to hurt me. Hands slap, teeth bite, and boots kick. So when I meet a big, bronzed warrior with blue eyes whose hands are gentle and voice is kind, I don't trust him. And when he starts showing up in my dreams, a part of me I long thought was dead awakens with a passion.

I'm not a stranger to being behind bars, but this prison leaves a lot to be desired. There are zero communal showers, minimal locking cells, and the other prisoners are extremely hostile. That could be because they are aliens, and this is a prison in another galaxy. Add in the fact that I'm a human female, and my life span has just dropped some serious time. I'm about to go down fighting when a scary blue alien with spikes decides he's my rescuer. Except he doesn't seem happy about my presence and, well, join the club, buddy.

This place absolutely sucks, and I've been in some pretty terrible places. I would have run myself through with one of my captor's blades long ago if it wasn't for this innocent creature who's dependent on me. I won't let her down. I can't. But I'm only a human on a planet full of monsters. Until I meet the most deadly monster of them all. He's scarred and wears an emotionless mask, but I can see the simmering rage and revenge underneath it all. I also see a soul needs me as much as I need him.

I'm stranded on an island, but this isn't Castaway and coconuts. There's no Tom Hanks or Wilson. There's me, some monkey-like creatures and . . . oh yeah, I'm on another planet. Grass is blue, dirt is green, and I'm never getting home. Earth feels like light-years away, because it is.

The only way I've been surviving through the chronic pain of my mutation is the drug, Kixx. I hate what the addiction has done to me, but what I resent the most is that I've had to barter with a lowlife Rogastix for my supply. One day, he shows off his new property-a human female. He makes me a deal to protect her until he can exchange her for a healthy supply of Kixx of which I'll get a lion's share.

My life has never been my own, and that's never been more true than in the Rinian Galaxy. I've always had dreams that led me to believe my life is bigger than being the servant to some snake alien queen, but as each year goes by, I'm beginning to think my subconscious is lying to me. Until he shows up . . . the Kaluma with one blue eye who I've never forgotten. But he's not who I remember, and it seems this galaxy has broken another soul.

Scoring a job at the exclusive and secretive Hotel Castle Verna is exactly what I need to pay off my debt and avoid a punishment I might not survive. The guests are a little eccentric, but they are great tippers. All I have to do is ignore the strange sights, smells, and sounds coming from the guest rooms, and I can remain gainfully employed. Simple, right? Except there's one guest at the hotel who's always watching me with his mismatched black and white eyes.

After finding my apartment ransacked for the third time, I'm done being stalked. I'm just some nameless orphan who's only trying to survive in this broken city. I shouldn't matter. I shouldn't be a target. I shouldn't have to live on the run. But here I am, trying to find a hideout when living beyond the city without a permit is punishable by death. I'm desperate. But I'm scrappy too, and soon I'm surviving off the land with only the rodents for company. Everything's fine. Until he shows up.