by Tammy Walsh
The officers parted, revealing Dyrel’s mom. She might be small in stature but it was clear from her body language who controlled the room.
“You’re not taking my son anywhere,” she said.
“I’m afraid we have to, ma’am,” the police officer said. “Your son is accused of—”
“Please discuss it with my lawyer,” his mom said.
An even smaller figure appeared behind her. Weedy and thin, he pushed the thick glasses up his nose and smiled politely.
The police officers snapped to attention and shared wary glances.
“Mr. Mayor?” the officer said. “I wasn’t aware you still practiced law.”
“From time to time,” the lawyer/mayor said. “How about we take a seat in the front room and discuss this like Titans?”
He drew the door shut, leaving Dyrel, his mom, and me alone.
His mom placed her fists on her hips.
“Well, this is a hell of a hullabaloo,” she said. “If you’d called me, I could have got the passenger ship to turn back. The owner owes me a favor.”
“Thanks for your help,” Dyrel said shortly. “But I don’t need your help. I rescued her from the ship and got her here in one piece.”
“But it was close, from what I heard,” Dyrel’s mom said.
“She’s fine now. Thank you for your help but you can leave.”
He turned his back on his mom and focused on me.
His mom didn’t move. She surveyed the scene and looked from me to her son and back again. There was a strange quirk to her lips.
A smile?
What was there to smile about?
She said, “Dyrel—”
“Really, mom,” Dyrel said. “You can go. I appreciate your help with the officers but there was never a chance I was going to leave her side.”
“She means that much to you?”
“She means everything,” Dyrel said, turning to me and smiling. “I understand your concern about the inheritance, the job, and the company. I understand now because I care about something as much as you do. I don’t need the company. Or the money. You’ve been very patient with me and I let you down. I let the whole family down. Well, that ends now. I don’t want my inheritance. And I don’t want the job or the company either. I’ll begin from the bottom, the same way Dad did.”
His mom was quiet a moment as she contemplated his words. She moved over to the other side of the bed and sat on its edge.
“It was never about the money or the job,” she said. “When I said I wanted you to find a good woman, I wasn’t trying to set a trap. I wanted you to find someone you could love. I wanted you to live part of your life the way I lived mine. I understand times are different. Things have changed. But some things stay the same. Love is always the same. You really love her, don’t you?”
“With all my heart,” Dyrel said, interweaving his fingers through mine.
His mom fixed me with a look.
“And you feel the same way with him?” she said.
I nodded.
“With all my heart,” I said.
His mom nodded.
“Then the inheritance is yours,” she said to Dyrel. “The position will be waiting for you whenever you’re ready. It was always yours. I just wanted to leave your father’s legacy in good hands. Now I can see that between you, it will be.”
She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. She made a fist on her chest and pushed it toward me. I did the same back to her. Even barely touching my chest sent shockwaves of pain through my system.
“Welcome to the family, child,” she said.
She kissed her son on the cheek and left.
We were alone. Even though I must have looked disgusting, he kissed me on the cheek, forehead, and lips.
“Looks like you got everything you ever wanted,” I said.
“I did,” he said. “And it’s right here.”
He ran his finger down my cheek.
Everything was going to change now. Everything was going to get a whole lot better.
I frowned with thought.
“Wait…” I said. “This wasn’t all part of an elaborate plan to keep your inheritance, was it?”
Dyrel threw back his head and barked a laugh.
“I wish it was,” he said. “That would make me an evil genius. And evil geniuses always get what they want.”
Then maybe I was the evil genius.
All I ever wanted was a man I could love with all my heart. And here he was.
“I’ve got something for you,” he said.
He picked up a paper bag and withdrew a handful of hexadodron cream cakes.
Now I really had everything I ever wanted.
Cream cakes and a sexy Titan.
Who needed more?
Wondering what happened to the other girls? In the next book in the series, Sirena is sent on a mission to learn where a hot lord’s loyalty lies… by any means necessary. He’s cold, brash, and abrasive, but it’s all a mask. Underneath his polished veneer lies a dark secret, one that threatens to shake Sirena to her very core. TRAPPED BY THE ALIEN is available now.
Want Vicky & Dyrel’s Epilogue?
I wrote a special chapter for fans who want to see what happens next in their story. It’s available EXCLUSIVELY to my subscribers. You’ll not only get their epilogue but every epilogue for every story I ever write! (Past, present, and future!)
To get it free instantly, all you need to do is signup at tammywalsh.com.
Trust me, you’re not gonna want to miss this!
(Btw, if you already signed up and downloaded the latest epilogue collection, it’s waiting for you now on your reading device!)
Leave A Review
Like this book?
Every review this book gets helps other readers find it. If you enjoyed it, let the author and everyone else know. It only takes a minute and will help the book forever. Tap here to leave a review now!
Join Tammy’s newsletter to get exclusive access to every epilogue she ever writes, stay updated with new releases, and more!
Tap here to see all of Tammy’s books.
Join the fun in her Reader Group on Facebook.
Trapped by the Alien Sneak Peek
Prologue - Kal
There she stood.
A ghost from my past.
So beautiful, so graceful…
Nothing like the last time I saw her on that cold stone slab.
Her eyes were big and wide, so deep and dark you could fall into them and never resurface.
I’ve fallen into them many times, but not for the past two years.
Not since she was taken from me.
My one true love.
How can she be here?
My hands shook and I almost tripped over my feet.
The ghost I’ve dreamt about every night since that fateful day.
She should have been in my arms forever.
And now she was alive—here of all places.
It can’t be her. It just can’t.
Have I lost my mind? Have I finally gone mad with grief?
Or has the Creator granted me this miracle? A second chance at unbridled happiness?
And will I be strong enough to accept the offer?
Kal
Our shuttlecraft touched down behind the emperor’s palatial residence. Except now, of course, it no longer belonged to our emperor. It belonged to theirs.
“I just don’t like it,” Zes said, taking point and leading me down the ramp. His eyes swiveled in his square skull, looking for dangers around every corner. “A lord’s bodyguard should be allowed to check the location is clear before he enters it.”
“Why are you talking about me in the third person?” I said.
“Because that’s what one does when one talks about people of noble birth, doesn’t one?” Zes said. He frowned, managing to confuse himself. “My point is, I should be allowed to go inside and check to make sure it’s safe before you do.”
“You
are going inside before I do,” I said. “The other lords didn’t bring their guards with them. They brought their wives.”
“And I appreciate the invitation,” Zes said. “But it’s not what I mean…”
“I understand what you mean,” I said.
He’d always worried about me and my brother too much.
“If it’s any consolation,” I said. “If they wanted us dead, we would be already.”
“That’s your bright side?”
“Right now, it’s the only bright side we have,” I said.
Dozens of shuttlecraft similar to ours sat with the guards standing uselessly around them.
The lord and ladies were dressed in their finest traditional Titan costumes. Males wore thin leather armor studded with hooks and special compartments where our ancestors would have stored knives, swords, spare bucklers, any and every type of weapon you could imagine. Titans were, after all, a warrior race. Now, they sported flowers, jewels, and other decorations. My own boasted important minerals we mined on our various colonies, and polished gems that came from our homeworld’s breast.
The ladies wore their own armor, smaller but more flexible than the males’. Once upon a time, male and female Titans fought side by side. ‘When a blade is at your door, it doesn’t matter what sex you are,’ was the popular Titan expression.
I watched the lords lead their ladies toward the huge palace perched on the hill. I glanced at the conspicuous hole my dearly departed wife had once occupied.
She was the most beautiful Titan on any of our colonies. She was slim, feminine, but tough as nails. She only agreed to marry me because I was second in line to the Taw fortune. She never wanted a life in the spotlight.
Neither did I.
I guess nobody ever got what they want.
Except for the Changelings. They were getting their heart’s desire. The Titan empire.
At least my wife would never have to put up with the spotlight. I felt sad. She would have shined brighter than the sun.
“Come on,” I said.
We approached the magnificent palace—the seat of power in the Titan empire. Each successive emperor had a new section constructed to celebrate our growing power and influence. With how often construction took place, it was no surprise the emperor rarely resided at the palace and preferred instead to stay at one of his smaller castles.
That was why the Changelings had failed to kill him outright. They didn’t understand Titan culture. This palace was more of a museum than somewhere to live.
No one knew if our emperor was still alive. We were forbidden to search him out. One whiff we were still loyal to him and the game would be up. And so we waited each day, listening patiently for news that the Changelings had discovered him, that he’d been put to death.
Our hopes for salvation would die with him.
He was the only chance we had of forcing the Changelings from our homeworld and mining colonies.
Okay, not the only chance.
There was me.
I was the newly minted Lord of Taw but I wasn’t up to the challenge. I was the younger Taw brother, and I was meant to support my elder brother. I was never meant to take his place.
How I missed him.
Our homeworld wasn’t even a planet, though it was as big as one. It was a moon that circled our host planet Pi’tor in the Titan solar system.
From here we reached out to the distant stars and formed a powerful empire built on mining valuable elements on distant asteroids, comets, planets, and moons. We mined more than we needed and sold the surplus to other civilizations.
We were a generous and honest species.
And some would say naive.
The problem with being successful was there was always someone who wanted to take it from you—those who did not wish to grow or buy, but steal.
Those were the Changelings, and for decades they prayed on our honest nature. They never issued a serious threat, but that was never their purpose.
They’d been testing and poking and prying at our defense systems, looking for weaknesses and chinks in our armor. Once they found enough, they attacked us without mercy.
They took our homeworld and mining colonies. They threatened reprisals against our allies and killed those that stood in their way.
Like my elder brother, Qale.
Swatted from the sky during his trip to take command of our army. With the head removed, the army fell quickly, though not easily.
Now I found myself Lord of Taw, the most powerful lord in the Empire. And without the king on his throne, I was who the rest of the empire turned to for leadership.
But I was no leader. That was obvious from my very first decision…
We joined the queue for the palace. They handed over their invitations and were allowed to enter.
“You’re going to have to give up your weapons if you want to get inside,” I whispered out the corner of my mouth.
Zes snorted and drew his hunting knife.
“If they want my weapon, they’re going to have to take it from my cold dead hand,” he said.
Zes was a formidable warrior, if not the best tactician. His plans always consisted of, “Hit ‘em so hard an’ fast that it’ll make their heads spin!” or “Punch him in the face. That’ll show him who’s right!” And the incredibly subtle: “Kick him in the balls!”
You wanted him beside you in battle, not so much in the war room beforehand.
“You’re going to have to hand it over if you want to get in the palace,” I insisted.
Zes snorted again.
“We’ll see about that,” he said.
Another two lords handed over their invitations before we were ushered forward. I extended the invitations and the Titan servant smiled warmly and motioned for me to enter. He raised a hand to Zes.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to hand that knife over, sir,” the servant said.
“I’m not the sir,” Zes said and nodded to me. “He is.”
“I still need to take it from you, si— Uh, if you please.”
Zes lifted the blade in its scabbard.
“This?” he said. “It’s ceremonial.”
“Be that as it may, I still have to confiscate it—only until after the celebrations are over. You can collect it again from us when you leave.”
Zes fingered the knife. He moved as if to hand it over before spinning it in his palm and drawing it under the servant’s neck.
“Which knife?” he said. “This knife?”
His eyes glinted with mischief. The servant quaked in his boots.
“P-Please, sir,” he said. “I’m j-just doing my j-job.”
Zes eased back and sighed.
“If that were true, Sunny Jim, none of us would be here to begin with,” he said.
He handed the blade over to the servant, who was still shaking.
“M-May I take your n-name?” the servant said.
“It’s complicated,” Zes said. “I’ll spell it for you. F-U-C-K Y-O-U…”
I left Zes at it. He was a genius when it came to annoying people. The guy had an inexhaustible supply of tricks and turns of phrase.
I entered the palace’s main ballroom. Lords and ladies circled, greeting one another in quiet conversation. Only those with the greatest dishonor appeared to be enjoying themselves—the ones that surrendered to the enemy without a second thought.
But who was I to judge? I had done the same thing.
We were not the only Titans in the galaxy. There were many others. Some still held to our old warrior ways. I often wondered what they would make of those of us who had become soft and easy to manipulate.
A quartet played soft music at the back of the ballroom. But it wasn’t just any music. It was the Titan victory celebration, played after great acts of valor.
Either the Changelings were welcoming us to share in their victory or they were rubbing our noses in our loss. I didn’t know the Changelings well enough to know.
I susp
ected that would change by the end of the evening.
To my eyes, there were two potential outcomes. Either the Changelings wanted us to swear fealty to them or they brought us all here to slaughter us. I put the odds at fifty-fifty for either scenario.
Despite the likely chance of death, I hadn’t hesitated to come. If they wanted me dead, they could do it at any time and anywhere. Coming today meant I had a chance to get to know our conquerors and figure out what sort of future we might look forward to.
A Titan servant extended a silver tray of champagne at me.
Champagne.
“Do you have any Titan ale?” I said.
“Only at the bar, sir,” the servant said, not raising his eyes from the floor.
“No champagne for me, thanks,” I said.
The Titan’s eyes flicked up and glanced at me. His anger burned visibly on his face.
I leaned forward and whispered in the young man’s ear.
“Watch your anger,” I said. “Some might take offense.”
He ducked apologetically and made a hasty exit. The last thing we needed was a scene, especially here of all places.
I didn’t blame how he felt, but turning his anger on me wouldn’t help anyone. Surrender was humiliating in Titan culture. ‘Better to die in honor than live a day in humiliation,’ was another pearl of Titan wisdom.
Words of wisdom from another time.
By now, the other Lords and Ladies had noticed me. There were two reactions. The first was to raise a glass at me in greeting. I smiled politely and nodded back. The second were those who grumbled under their breath and turned their backs on me.
Those I considered my friends belonged to the latter group. They had been loyal to House Taw for generations. I grew up with them, was like a brother to them.
And now they ignored me.
What a difference a single decision could make.
Meanwhile, those who greeted me warmly had always been those quick to sell out when a quick profit could be had.
