Dark Flight is releasing on July 11th (it is available for pre-order today). I thought I’d share the first chapter over the next couple of weeks.
This is the first scene.
Rhea trusted no one.
She loved Paloma, would protect her sister with her life, but she couldn’t trust her. Her sister was young and gullible. She told everyone everything and believed only what she wanted to believe.
Even now, the sixteen-solar cycle old girl chattered beside her on the bridge of the merchant ship, sharing every thought passing through her brain. She didn’t care that the Humanoid Alliance was hunting them, confident her sister would safeguard her as she always had.
Rhea, having six more solar cycles, had been responsible for her sister all of Paloma’s lifespan. Their parents had been spies, busy with their larger cause, relaying information from their Humanoid Alliance neighbors to the Rebels they secretly supported. Their children, beings Rhea often suspected had been conceived as part of their parents’ cover, were an afterthought.
She had sheltered Paloma as best as she could, striving to give her the semi-normal upbringing she never had. Her sister had known nothing about their parents’ activities.
It was safer that way. Paloma couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
When their parents were finally apprehended and executed, Paloma had refused to believe they were guilty of espionage, wouldn’t accept that they were dead.
Rhea, having seen their deaths with her own eyes, was alone in her grief and alone in her worry. Their mother, before being captured, had told Rhea to go to the Refuge, a settlement on Carinae E.
That destination was their sole hope. The Humanoid Alliance had tracked them to every stop they’d made en route. They’d been saved once during their journey by strangers. They’d been betrayed by numerous others. Luck, careful observation, and Rhea’s skills with a gun had kept them alive.
Rhea flicked her gaze between the main viewscreen of the merchant ship and the personal viewscreen embedded in the console. There were no signs of any other ships and that made her nervous.
The Humanoid Alliance wouldn’t give up so easily.
She didn’t know why warriors were pursuing them. It might have something to do with the blueprints her mother asked her to study two planet rotations before the Humanoid Alliance had knocked on their domicile’s door.
If that was the case, the Humanoid Alliance need not be concerned. She could remember very little of the vessel’s design.
“Is that our new home?” Paloma leaned forward, her beautiful face lighting up. “It’s…it’s…” Her enthusiasm immediately dimmed. “It’s very blah.”
Rhea was very blah. A slender, tanned, brown-eyed brunette, she was plain compared to her sister, a voluptuous, blue-eyed, pink-skinned blonde.
Males preferred Paloma. Rhea wasn’t emotional about that. It was simply a fact, like the universe being large and stars being bright. She was shocked when Marowit claimed Rhea was his preference.
But that had been yet another lie, a trick to gain her trust.
“Carinae E is a desert planet.” Rhea tapped on the personal viewscreen, refreshing the image. The monitoring system indicated no vessels. “This is the Refuge.” She marked the location on the main viewscreen with an X.
“Why are we deviating so far to the left?” Paloma wrinkled her nose.
“The wind currents around the settlement make it impossible to approach from above.” The wind currents weren’t natural, beings had told her. Kralj, the Ruler of the settlement, had special powers.
Was that why her mother had sent them here? Would those special powers protect them?
Rhea didn’t know.
The main viewscreen flashed red. An unfamiliar ship had entered the monitored space.
“Strap yourself in,” Rhea advised, her voice flat. A lifespan spent hiding her parents’ activities had taught her to conceal all emotion.
“They could be friends.” Paloma’s bottom lip curled but she did as she was told.
Her sister thought everyone was a friend. Rhea fastened her harness. “It’s a Humanoid Alliance warship.” She increased the merchant ship’s speed, heading for the planet.
The engines groaned and the panels rattled.
“Captain Lethe and Officer Ghost flew a Humanoid Alliance warship.” Paloma pointed out.
“That’s not their warship.” The human captain and her cyborg had been the strangers who helped Rhea and Paloma at the beginning of their journey, saving them from a Humanoid Alliance attack.
Theirs had been the last friendly faces Rhea and Paloma had seen. The two of them were on their own.
“We could hail the beings in the warship and explain.” Paloma continued to fuss. “Father and Mother aren’t spies. This is all a big misunderstanding.”
“We’re not hailing them.” And it hadn’t been a misunderstanding. Their parents had been spies. But even if it had been a mistake, the Humanoid Alliance wasn’t known for open-mindedness. When in doubt, they killed all the beings in question.
The ship shook as they entered Carinae E’s atmosphere.
“This is why you don’t have any close friends.” Paloma pouted. “You don’t trust anyone.”
Rhea gritted her teeth as she steered their ship. She didn’t have any close friends because her entire life was a lie. It was better not to talk to anyone than to fabricate stories she would have to remember.
And she had trusted someone—Marowit. Guilt coiled low in her gut. Flattered by his attentions, she’d allowed the handsome, charismatic male to woo her, spend time with her, fuck her.
Rhea hadn’t completely let down her guard. She’d been hiding her true self for too long. She didn’t know if total honesty was possible with anyone. But she had shared what she’d thought had been small, unimportant details about her planet rotations.
That mistake led to her parents being captured and executed. She’d killed their mother and father by trusting the wrong being.
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Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
