Taken By The Tigerlord: a sexy tiger shifter paranormal psychic space opera action romance (Space Shifter Chronicles Book 2)

by Kara Lockharte

  She expanded the screen for us to see. The bodies were in stasis, on the border between life and death.

  There was no escaping from this.

  It had to be my heart.

  “No!” Kai gripped my shoulder, fury, anger, and sorrow in his face. His hands gripped mine tightly. “You can’t do this. This can’t be your fate. It’s supposed to be mine.”

  My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes. “My fate was to love you. And I do.”

  Kai’s face went dark. “And I –“

  One of the undead broke through the line of Nightclaw marines. Kai spun to meet the attack, but as he threw the zombie against the wall, another took his place. To my horror, I realized the walls were covered with the undead soldiers, clinging to the wall like spiders, so densely and thickly it was near impossible to see the actual wall itself.

  I turned to Dr. Silver. “We have to do it now.”

  I gave her access to my armor.

  There was an explosive tiger roar. Then, a sound of desperation, as if wrenched from Kai’s chest.

  “SERIA!”

  Dr. Silver touched me and everything fell away.

  Though it bore a resemblance, I found myself in a place that was clearly not the chamber I had entered. For one thing, there was no ceiling. Above me, a red orange galaxy of stars swirled above me. There were no walls around me either. To the right, was an unrecognizable moon, as orange as a tiger, the left a white sun that should have been blinding in its light. It was as if I stood upon a stone platform that hovered in space.

  “Where am I?”

  Flames surrounded me, licking me, but I felt nothing.

  In a place that has no time.

  Two dragons were watched me with golden alien eyes. One was black, the other a deep red gold. They were huge, with gleaming scales that reflected the firelight into patterns on the stone floor. They looked around, as if searching for their brethren, before settling their gaze on me.

  What is the time from where you come?

  I couldn’t tell which dragon spoke. I didn’t know what they were talking about.

  “We need your help. The Lost Ealen Army of the Undead have returned and are threatening all life in the universe.”

  They hissed and looked at each other, uttering incomprehensible liquid syllables at each other. Then one turned back to me.

  Aid sought, must have an offer in return.

  And so the legends always said. No matter the situation, dragons always demanded a price. “I offer my life,” I said, thinking of the heartless bodies. “My heart.”

  Do you know who you are?

  “I am an orphan. I am the daughter of the Alpha of Nightclaw. I am the daughter of an Infoist whose blood runs back to the Ealen. I am Lady of House Stargazer and beloved of Tigerlord Kai. I am all of these things and I ask for your help in exchange for my life.”

  I felt something searching my mind, seeing my past seeing all that I was.

  And as quick as he was in my mind, he was gone.

  Your physical offering is accepted.

  I had thought I had felt pain, when Annatu had surrounded me with spheres, and turned the nanites in my body against me.

  But that was only a mere degree compared to the nova of pain exploding from my chest. Something held me upward as a small glowing star erupted from my chest. It divided into two small balls of fire, both of which were promptly swallowed by the dragons.

  But it is not enough.

  I stood there, dumbfounded. I gingerly touched the gaping hole in my chest. I looked up at the dragons.

  It is not your time to pass. Your physical heart is not enough.

  My voice cracked. “What more do you want?”

  Your heartsoul is no longer yours to give.

  And then, another presence, faint but still there all the same. It did not speak with words, but I understood it all the same.

  Will mine suffice for one of you?

  Who –

  I remembered Dr. Silver, bracing herself against the pod, one hand on mine.

  No, I tried to scream, but something held me in place as they examined her with the same thoroughness they had taken me.

  And then I heard one speak to her. I will take your heart. But you offer one mortal human heart for two dragons.

  Dr. Silver’s voice grew in intensity. “Go back to sleep then if you wish, and die. Because if you both do not wake, then we will all die, like your comrades.”

  A tendril of fire reached out and touched her. She gasped. The two dragons looked at each other and then looked back at us.

  One of them rose, spreading massive black wings as he came toward her.

  I shall claim you then, doctor.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Life, someone once told me was only a temporary state, consciousness a mere blip of existence. Since we were all made of molecules and atoms that had existed and would continue to exist beyond our passing, what we defined as our conscious self was a mere blip in our unconscious immortality.

  Joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, and all those human emotions were all mere blips in our unfeeling unconscious immortality.

  And so much pain.

  “We won,” I heard a voice saying. “The Dragonlords have returned.”

  Dragonlords, plural.

  Two? Or were there more? How could a zombie space fleet be defeated with only two Dragonlords?

  I tried to reply, but the effort only pulled me back down under.

  My eyes were closed, but I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face.

  I awoke.

  It was so bright, my eyes watered from the unfamiliar sensation of sunlight.

  The place looked oddly familiar.

  A Stargazer crest was on the wall.

  I tried to get up. My stomach protested, rather violently. I lay back down, trying to get the room to stop spinning as I realized someone was sitting by my bedside.

  Dr. Silver.

  “You’re awake then. Of course, the one time I actually get that lug to leave your side, you wake. He’s never going to listen to me again.”

  “Wasn’t I supposed to die?”

  There was something strange about her expression, but I was in such a haze I couldn’t figure out what. She looked at the window. “There’s a reason we Varenesians are considered the best doctors in the universe. You have enough shifter ancestry to adapt. After all, that’s what shifters were designed to do.”

  She looked back at me. “I’ll go get Kai, before he comes charging.”

  “Wait,” I said, putting my hand on hers. “I thought you offered your heart to them. Didn’t you?”

  An odd expression passed her face. “I did. And my offering was rejected.”

  She hurried out of the room.

  There was some sort of drip hanging on a stand, injecting stars know what, on rollers next to me. I grabbed it and dragged myself over to the windowed balcony doors. The heat of the day pressed itself against the glass. I pushed it open.

  Fragrant floral warmth, mixed with the smell of wet greenery flooded my senses.

  I shuffled over to the railing, the stone tiles sun warmed underneath my feet, and looked out over the massive cliff, heard the thundering of the river far below us.

  Us.

  I don’t know when he entered the room. But I was aware of him, all the same.

  “You’re not still trying to escape, are you?”

  I turned toward him. He leaned against the doorway, shirtless, arms folded. Someone had cut his hair again.

  “You wouldn’t let me if I wanted to.”

  He came toward me. “Do you want to?”

  “No.”

  His arms were around me, his head bent, his face pressed against my neck as he held me, breathed me.

  “Seria,” he whispered, in that voice that always shocked a warm thrill within me. “You’re not ever doing that again.”

  Words brought back painful memories, echoes of what must have been done.

  I pus
hed him away, looked at the thin white scars on my chest. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever do that again.” I paused, letting him draw me back into him, savoring his warmth, his presence. He held me for a moment, then as only a shifter could, picked me up, grabbed the drip and ushered me back into his quarters.

  “So did it work?”

  “It worked,” he said. “It is probably a good thing that we were able to only find two Dragonlords. Because the two of them alone were able to beat back an entire space fleet of the undead. I can’t even imagine what an entire civilization of them would be like.”

  The words sunk into me. The power Kai described seemed so at odds with the frozen near dead figures we had found. “How is that possible?”

  “The stories are true about the Dragonlords being able to create wyrmholes. There are still undead all over Altai and Alzar though. And yet, despite all their power, they refuse to do anymore.”

  Wait, what?

  The door chimed.

  “Ignore it,” said Kai.

  The door chimed two more times.

  “That’s never good,” I said. “What do you mean they refuse to fight?”

  His hand crept under my shirt to the small of my back. “One has since disappeared. The other, as far as we know, refuses to come out of the Ealen ruin we found him in.”

  “Then what was the point,” I said, against his chest.

  He tilted my chin up at him. “The point was to change our destiny. And we did,” he said, with the knowing eyes of a seer.

  But I knew him all too well.

  “For now,” I read in his eyes.

  “For now,” he said softly. “But one thing that will never change, is that you will always be my fate.”

  He kissed me. A fire lit within me, burning with all the life and possibilities we had before us.

  “Welcome to my life,” said Kai.

  “I’m glad to be in it,” I said simply, a warmth in my chest.

  Stars, if I got any more sugary, we’d turn into candy.

  “I stated I was not to be disturbed!” said Kai, his voice turning into a growl.

  A woman entered. “Pardon me —“

  “I said I was not to be interrupted for anything.”

  Kanona entered the room from behind the woman. “You need to answer this message, Seria,” she said, shoving a tablet in front of me.

  Well, there was no love lost there.

  A static picture of my brother Ral was on screen. Underneath it listed all his various titles, including a new one, Chancellor of United Alzar.

  “Seria,” his voice said, “I am glad to hear that you are awake.”

  “Thanks, Ral,” I said trying to ignore Kanona, wishing she would leave, instead of staring at me with that scary analyzing look she had.

  “I recognize that you are still recovering, so I’ll get to the point as quickly as I can. Recently, my intended, Skye was engaged in a situation where —“

  Skye? “Captain Daring? You mean the pilot who — “

  “Yes. I am engaged.”

  “Congratulations!”

  “Thank you. Recently Skye was engaged —“

  Another voice interrupted him. “Ral, just get to the point. Hi Seria. Hope you’re feeling better!”

  There was a lightness to the pilot’s voice that hadn’t been there last when we spoke. “I am, thank you.”

  Ral sounded slightly annoyed. “I am trying to get to the point.”

  “Right, sorry,” said Skye.

  I looked at Kai and smiled.

  “Your baby may still be alive.”

  A sun exploded in my chest.

  Ral continued. “She was stillborn in the Teeth, but they were able to revive her. They put her in stasis.”

  Kai’s face showed no trace of emotion. “Where is she now?”

  “The intelligence we have is weeks old, but last we heard, she was still in the Teeth.”

  The Teeth, the most infamous prison on Altai, now sitting in the middle of a continent that had been virtually given over to the undead. Our baby was on Altai and there was a possibility she was still alive.

  “Thank you for this,” said Kanona. “My house is indebted to yours.”

  Ral’s voice was clear. “There is no debt between family.”

  Kanona looked at me, looked at Kai. That was no small thing for him to say. “Nightclaw is ready to assist if called upon.”

  Ral nodded. “Thank you.”

  Kanona took the tablet back from me.

  I couldn’t find the words to speak.

  Kai’s hand found mine and pulled me into his arms. I felt the racing of his heart under my cheek as hope sank in. Our child could still be alive.

  A long deep shudder racked him, and then me as our priorities realigned. I loved Ral, but I also loved our daughter, and I knew Kai did too. Together, we could overcome anything. Nothing in the Teeth could stop us.

  “We’re going to get her,” said Kai suddenly.

  I leaned back and looked into his sudden intent gaze. “Yes, we will.”

  A slow, sexy smile spread across his face. He kissed me hard and turned to Kanona.

  “We’re going to need to borrow your War Star.”

  Thank You and Author Notes

  Please excuse the random blathering format of these notes; I’m writing these on about four hours of sleep because, well, KIDS.

  Taken By The Tigerlord was written because we couldn’t have Seria going off in Wanted By The Werewolf Prince to confront the man she loved without any sort of resolution!

  But Seria was more than just an Infoist. She was someone who was on her own journey of identity and discovery, but one that hadn’t turned out the way that she expected. How do you go from orphan to dealing with a megalomaniac father who actually might give a crap about you? How do you deal with a man who you loved and obviously misled you about who he was to your detriment?

  Lost orphans and secret identities have always been are pure story gold. There’s something so interesting about learning something unexpected about your ancestry that throws your whole understanding of who you are and the universe around you for a loop.

  I wrote this book in the car waiting to chauffeur my kids to their various activities, and before the break of dawn when the only quiet time I got was when everyone was asleep.

  If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review. Even a single line like, “KARA LOCKHARTE IS THE NEXT JD ROBB” helps (not that you have to actually write that lol). More reviews are crucial in helping readers like you find new authors like me.

  THANK YOU!

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  The Space Shifters Chronicles Continues…

  COMING SPRING 2018!

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  About the Author

  Kara Lockharte is the author of the Space Shifters Chronicles. She loves writing romances with sexy alpha shifters and the strong heroines who can't resist them.

  She lives on Planet Earth and LOVES connecting with readers!

  www.karalockharte.com

  kara@karalockharte.com

  Copyright © 2017 by Smartia Publishing

  Cover design by Croco Designs

  Developmental Editing by Jodi Henley

  Copyediting by Erica Satifka

  Proofreading by Dana Dierkes

  All rights reserved.

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