The Edge of it All

by Jessica Grayson

  The Edge Of It All

  Jessica Grayson

  Copyright @ 2020 by Jessica Grayson

  The Edge Of It All. All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions.

  By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen.

  No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of Jessica Grayson except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published in the United States by Purple Fall Publishing. Purple Fall Publishing and the Purple Fall Publishing Logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Purple Fall Publishing LLC.- purplefallpublishing.com

  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Grayson, Jessica, author.

  Title: The edge of it all / Jessica Grayson.

  Series: Mosauran

  Description: First Edition | Purple Fall Publishing, 2020.

  Identifiers:

  ISBN: 978-1-64253-011-7 (paperback) |

  ISBN: 978-1-64253-019-0 (Ebook) |

  ISBN 978-1-64253-029-2 (Audiobook) |

  Subjects: LCSH Vampires--Fiction. | Dragons--Fiction. | Shapeshifting--Fiction. | Human-alien encounters--Fiction. | Science fiction. | Romance. | Love stories. | Paranormal romance stories. | BISAC FICTION / Romance / Science Fiction | FICTION / Science Fiction / Space Opera

  Classification: LCC PS3607 .R3978 E34 2020 | DDC 813.6--dc23

  Edits by Holly Ingraham and Tera Cuskaden

  Cover Design by Maria Spada

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Contents

  1. Chapter 1

  2. Chapter 2

  3. Chapter 3

  4. Chapter 4

  5. Chapter 5

  6. Chapter 6

  7. Chapter 7

  8. Chapter 8

  9. Chapter 9

  10. Chapter 10

  11. Chapter 11

  12. Chapter 12

  13. Chapter 13

  14. Chapter 14

  15. Chapter 15

  16. Chapter 16

  17. Chapter 17

  18. Chapter 18

  19. Chapter 19

  20. Chapter 20

  21. Chapter 21

  22. Chapter 22

  23. Chapter 23

  24. Chapter 24

  25. Chapter 25

  26. Chapter 26

  27. Chapter 27

  28. Chapter 28

  29. Chapter 29

  30. Chapter 30

  31. Chapter 31

  32. Chapter 32

  33. Chapter 33

  34. Chapter 34

  35. Chapter 35

  36. Chapter 36

  37. Chapter 37

  38. Chapter 38

  39. Chapter 39

  40. Chapter 40

  41. Chapter 41

  42. Chapter 42

  43. Chapter 43

  44. Chapter 44

  45. Chapter 45

  46. Chapter 46

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Liana

  A scream of pure terror startles me awake, and my eyes snap open to pitch-black nothingness. My pulse pounds in my ears as I listen for any other sounds, but there is only silence. Maybe this is a stasis sleep nightmare. I've had them before, but this feels much more lucid.

  Taking a deep breath, I exhale slowly through pursed lips, attempting to calm myself. I just need to wake up. Using the tried and true method of pinching my arm, I'm shocked when it doesn't work.

  Blinking several times—as if that will somehow help me see in the dark—I’m desperate for light. I reach out to tap the stasis sleep pod controls, but my hand hits cold, hard metal—some kind of grating where the smooth glass panel should be. Confused, I trace my fingers along the strange pattern.

  This isn't my sleep pod.

  I reach across to activate my wrist communicator and alert the flight doctor that I'm awake, but it's gone.

  Instinctively, I tap my hand to my right upper chest for the backup comm in my breast pocket. But instead of my flight suit, a thin, lightweight material covers my body. Fear skitters up my spine when I realize it's some sort of paper-thin gown that stops mid-thigh, and it's the only thing I have on.

  What the hell is going on?

  A piercing scream shatters the silence, and I still. Long tendrils of dread begin to unfurl and wrap around my spine.

  Closing my eyes, I draw in a shaking breath. Please let this just be a bad dream. Only now does my brain register the rancid smell that permeates the air, and I wrinkle my nose as a wave of nausea rolls through me.

  A woman's voice cries out. Her words are a frantic stream of language I don't understand. A deafening roar cuts them off, and a rhythmic thumping begins. Muffled whimpers echo in the distance.

  Goosebumps prickle my flesh as the understanding of what those sounds mean trickles into my awareness.

  Oh, God. Where am I?

  The woman releases another frightened cry that's answered by an inhuman bestial sound--even more terrifying than the one before. My heart stops and then begins hammering. I have to get out of here.

  Desperate to escape, I twist my body and sweep my fingers out to feel for some kind of opening. Cold metal bars lined with patterned grating surround me on all sides. I freeze as the terrible realization hits me.

  Oh, God, I'm in a cage.

  It's too small to stand or sit up. I've never been claustrophobic, but my chest tightens as my anxiety grows with each passing moment.

  Where is the rest of my crew?

  Panic twists deep inside me, but I push it down. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to focus on the last thing I remember before waking up in this nightmare.

  We were on our way back to Terra from Mars Colony, preparing to go into stasis. Amanda was trying to coax Barkli into her sleep pod. The normally fearless Golden Retriever let out a small, distressed whimper and ran behind my legs. She'd been through stasis before on our outbound trip to the red planet, and she wasn't eager to get back into one of those chambers.

  I didn't blame her. Between the occasional terrifying nightmares and the jarring discomfort when you're woken back up by the computer, stasis is definitely not for the fainthearted. I reached down to comfort her, running my hands gently over her soft, thick fur.

  "It's okay, Barkli." I kissed her forehead and was rewarded with a quick lick on my nose. Trembling slightly, her expressive, dark-brown eyes searched mine, and her tail gave a small, hesitant wag as she cast an anxious glance over her shoulder at Amanda.

  Amanda's saddened gaze drifted between Barkli and me. An expression I'm almost certain was mirrored on my own face as well. We knew this would be hard on our dog, but we didn't feel like we had another choice. We had to bring her with us.

  Although she technically belongs to Amanda, we share an apartment back on Terra, and Barkli is kind of like our shared child. After the last trip we made to Mars, we both agreed we didn't want to leave Barkli behind again. She'd been so distraught by our absence that she refused to eat or drink hardly anything. She had lost a lot of weight by the time we'd returned. Even my little niece, Elizabeth, whom Barkli loved, was barely able to c
onvince her to eat.

  Reluctantly, I held out her sedative laced treat, and she took it from my hand, swallowing it whole. The complete trust in her eyes broke my heart. I hated having to drug her.

  It didn't take long to work. She laid down, her eyelids drifting open and closed as she struggled to stay awake. Gently, I held her and stroked her fur as the sedative took effect. "When we get back to Terra, we'll go to that park you love, and you can chase all the pigeons you want, okay, girl?"

  She's such a smart dog. Recognizing the words she knew and loved so well, she began to wag her tail slowly, giving a final thump against the floor before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  We carefully placed her into the smaller pod. Amanda's teary gaze met mine. "You think she'll forgive us when she wakes up?"

  Looking down at Barkli's small form, I ran my hand once more across her soft, golden fur before sealing her pod and whispering softly, "I hope so."

  Amanda and I shared a commiserating hug before she stepped into her pod, next to Barkli's. She gave me a small grin. "Just think, Liana, we'll actually be home in time for Christmas."

  I nodded and watched as she closed her eyes and settled into stasis sleep. Amanda—our ship's doctor—is like a sister to me. She reminds me so much of my actual sister, Angela, who I can hardly wait to see when we get home.

  Resting my hand lightly against the glass, I took one final look at my friend. "Sleep well," I whispered. "I'll see you on the other side."

  I walked along the row of pods. As ship's commander, it's my job to check that each of my seven crew members enters stasis and that everything is functioning normally before I go to sleep as well.

  When I reached Jeff's pod, it was empty. I gasped in surprise as a large pair of hands covered my eyes, pulling me back against his solid chest. "You didn't think I'd go to sleep without trying for a kiss, did you?" His breath was warm in my ear, and I could hear the smile in his voice without even seeing his face.

  With a slight smirk, I turned in his arms, shaking my head in mock frustration. "You're supposed to already be in your pod, you know."

  He grinned as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on my lips. His blue eyes stared deep into mine with a look somewhere between possessive and teasing. "Now, I can go to sleep and dream of you," he whispered. His hand slid down my back to the curve of my hip, his thumb lightly tracing along the waistband of my pants. "We're the only two awake now, you know?"

  I tensed. Placing my palm to his chest, I gently pushed him away, putting just enough space between us that he couldn't try to change my mind with another kiss. "I'm not ready yet."

  His face fell, and despite his reassuring grin, the mild impatience behind his eyes was obvious. "I respect that. We'll just wait until you are."

  We'd been flirting. Heavily. For two months. I'm trying to be really careful. Jeff and I met during flight training. And in those past two years, I've seen him go through several women. And, despite my better judgment, he somehow got under my skin with his subtle charm, good looks, and disarming smile.

  But because I know his history with women, I'm not quite ready to make the leap to being his girlfriend yet, which is something I suspect he's not used to. If we did date, and we ever slept together...for him, I could end up being just another conquest, but for me...he'd be my first. And that's not something I want to do before I'm sure that he's the one. Especially after I witnessed all the heartbreak my sister went through with her ex-husband.

  Trying but failing to hide the rejected look on his face, Jeff gave me a final, reluctant hug before he stepped into his pod and sealed it behind him, closing his eyes as he entered stasis.

  After confirming our course destination, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and pushed the sequence to activate my pod, sealing me inside. I've always hated going into stasis. But I love flying, and it was part of the job.

  A bright light flickers on and floods my vision, ripping me away from my memories. Temporarily blinded, I raise my hand to shield my eyes, blinking several times to adjust my focus. Loud footsteps approach my cage, followed by a harsh clicking noise with a strange and frantic cadence. A large shadow falls overhead, and my jaw drops as I look up to find huge compound eyes staring down at me.

  Fear wars with disbelief as I study the odd creature before me. What I'm seeing can't be real. It looks almost like an insect, but it's the size of a Terran.

  Light reflects off the chitinous, deep maroon shell that covers its entire body like armor, reminding me of a gigantic, humanoid ant. Standing upright on two legs, it lifts two of its four arms to the cage bars. A thumb and three fingers tipped with sharp claws on each hand fumble with the latch a moment before it opens.

  It tilts its strange ovoid head, and the two antennae on top move back and forth as it studies me. Frozen in place, my own terrified green eyes reflect from the multiple lenses of its own. Two large mandible-like pincers where a mouth should be click several times, and an involuntary shudder of revulsion ripples through me.

  It reaches inside, and I scramble away, slamming my back against the metal bars in my retreat. Determined, it lunges forward and clamps down on my shoulder with an iron grip. A feral cry of panic rips from my throat as sharp claws slice through my skin like knives to drag me from the cage.

  Primal instincts surge through me, and I kick out wildly. With a loud crack, my foot makes contact with something solid.

  It screeches in pain, the sound blasting my ears like a high-pitched siren as it loses its grip. My reprieve lasts only a moment before a loud thump against the metal floor is quickly followed by a low, buzzing hum. The hairs rise on the back of my neck, and paralyzing fear snakes through me at the ominous sound.

  Without warning, something rams against my ribcage. The air explodes from my lungs in a silent scream as the burning fire of electric shock rips through me. My back arches, my body contorting in a series of twisting spasms as I writhe in agonizing pain.

  Just when I think I can't take anymore, it stops, and I collapse. Shaking uncontrollably, I gasp, panting heavily to catch my breath as I roll onto my side and clutch my chest.

  Something sharp scrapes against my scalp as it twists in my long, auburn hair, forcibly gripping the strands. Panic floods my system as it jerks on my head and drags me from the cage and onto the cold, metal floor. The menacing low hum of the shock stick fills the air, and I scramble toward the doorway, desperate to escape my captor. It shocks me again, and I collapse.

  My eyelids flutter open and closed as I fight to remain conscious. It drags me by my hair down a long, dark hallway, past row upon row of cages. My every muscle is limp, unable to move. It's difficult to concentrate through the fog-like haze that's wrapped around my brain. Desperately, I try to focus as strange creatures swim at the edge of my vision, staring at me with terror-filled eyes.

  Despite the stark metal walls, floors, and ceiling, the air is thick with filth, sweat, and blood. The alien beings back away from the bars as we pass, cowering as my captor clicks out a harsh cadence in warning.

  Devastation washes through me. No help is coming. No one is going to rescue me; I have to save myself.

  An image of my family flashes through my mind. My parents, my sister, my niece...I have to get back to them. But everything hurts, and the peaceful void beckons me to take refuge from the pain. My head lolls back, and I fall away into oblivion.

  "Aunt Liana, wake up," a small voice calls out.

  My eyes snap open to find my niece standing over me, her long red hair—so like my sister’s—pulled back from her face into a cute little ponytail.

  I inhale sharply but relax as soon as I realize there's no danger here. "Elizabeth, what are you doing here, my angel?"

  She grins, her piercing blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "It's Christmas. Hurry, so we can open presents."

  I sit up. "Christmas?" Relief floods my system. Thank God, it was all just a nightmare. Smiling widely, I reach out and wrap my arms around Elizabeth in a gia
nt bear hug.

  Sharp pain snaps me out of my dream and back into awareness as I'm hit with the shock stick again. When I open my eyes, blinding white light assaults my vision; I quickly squeeze them shut.

  Without warning, my body lifts from the floor. Terrified, my limbs flail wildly as I do a slow spin into an upright position, my feet hovering just above the ground. No sooner do I stop when my arms and legs are roughly gripped by an invisible force and spread apart, rendering me completely helpless.

  Ice-cold fear floods my veins as I scan my surroundings. Sterile, reflective, gray metal panels line the floor, walls, and ceiling. A long table to my right, laid out with several sharp instruments, only amplifies the panic building inside me. I struggle against the invisible bonds that hold me in place and gasp as a vise-like grip tightens painfully in response around my wrists and ankles, instantly immobilizing me.

  A harsh click draws my attention to two insectoid creatures standing off to the side. They circle me as their unnerving compound eyes rake over my barely clothed form.

  The closest one reaches out to lift a tendril of my long auburn hair, looking back at its companion and clicking its mandibles together in its strange and disturbing speech.

  The other steps forward and swipes a cloth roughly across the bridge of my nose. It pulls back to study the material, cocking its head to the side in a puzzled look. The fabric is as coarse as sandpaper, and my skin burns like fire from the contact. When it leans in as if to try again, I yell at the creature to stop.