Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Other Titles
Daughter of the Alien Warrior
Treasured by the Alien 3
Honey Phillips
Bex McLynn
Copyright © 2020 by Honey Phillips and Bex McLynn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author.
Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Cameron Kamenicky and Naomi Lucas
Edited by Lindsay York at LY Publishing Services
Chapter One
Jade reached out and turned off the 5:00 a.m. alarm before it could ring. She hadn’t been sleeping; she rarely did anymore. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and started her morning routine. Fifteen minutes of strength training, thirty minutes on the treadmill—her daughter’s name echoing in her head with every step—and a final fifteen minutes of yoga, practiced for control rather than the serenity she had lost.
After a quick shower, she pulled on black yoga pants, a sports bra, and tank, then tucked her short dark hair under a matching black hoodie. As she moved along the upstairs hallway in the huge empty house, past the bedrooms she had once hoped to fill, she paused at the door to her daughter’s room. Her eyes went to the empty crib as they did every morning.
I’m going to find you, baby.
The coffeemaker finished brewing as she arrived in the kitchen. She filled up the waiting thermos, grabbed a protein bar that she would have to force herself to eat, and headed for her big black Escalade. The last thing she did before she left the house was strap on her gun.
As she pulled out of the driveway, the car clock read 6:15.
When she arrived at the city park, the parking area was empty. Good. That meant no one was in danger. She parked at one end of the lot and took a sip of coffee as the sky began to lighten. In earlier years, she would have enjoyed the sight, but her husband was dead and her daughter was missing and there was no joy left in her world.
As she got out of the car to begin her rounds, she paused. The air was still, not even a whisper of birdsong breaking the silence. The hair on her neck stood up, and then she smiled. Perhaps today her hunt would be rewarded. Slipping into the edge of the woods next to the walking trail, she waited.
Ten minutes later, two minivans pulled into the parking lot. Ashley and Naomi always walked on Wednesday mornings. They were both young, pretty. Trophy wives, she thought dispassionately as she watched them pull out the latest model jogging strollers and buckle in their babies. Normally, they chattered and laughed like the missing birds, but today, the oppressive silence seemed to be affecting them as well.
After a short discussion and several nervous looks around, they headed down the sidewalk. They liked to take the long way around and come back by the lake. She followed them silently, determined not to let them out of her sight.
They kept a brisk pace, darting nervous glances around, but there was only the silent park and Jade slipping along behind them, unobserved. By the time they reached the lake meadow, they were almost jogging, anxious to get back to their cars. The mist off the lake was even thicker than normal, cloaking the area in white shadows, and Jade closed in, no longer worried about being seen.
A muffled cry came from in front of her and she ran, arriving in time to see a man in a black suit bending down over one of the women while another reached for the stroller.
“No!” she yelled. “You’re not taking another baby.”
She pulled out her gun and flicked off the safety. The year of training was about to pay off.
“Put the baby down and back away.”
The barest whisper of sound came from behind her, and then there was a hand over hers as long, cold fingers, too many fingers, tried to wrestle the gun from her grip. She instinctively clenched her hand, determined not to lose the weapon, and there was a loud bang. Before she had time to register the shot, a sharp pain bit into her neck. The gun dropped from her limp fingers as the world started to spin. The last thing she saw before she descended into darkness was Ashley and Naomi floating away across the meadow.
As Jade struggled back to consciousness, she reached instinctively for her gun but found only the empty holster. Fuck. That wasn’t good. The last thing she remembered was being by the lake. What happened to her?
Her head ached and there was a lingering pain in her shoulder, but she didn’t sense any other injuries. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to use her other senses to gather information about her surroundings. The air was cool and dry with a slight medicinal odor. She heard a faint sob, and then a minute later, a baby cried. A sudden, wild hope filled her heart. Could it be…?
Her eyes sprang open and she sat up, her hand still clutching the empty holster. Disappointment washed over her as she saw Ashley cradling her baby, trying desperately to quiet her as she shot a nervous look behind Jade. Of course. It would have been foolish to assume the kidnappers took her directly to her daughter. But perhaps she was one step closer. She surveyed her surroundings anxiously, looking for any clue as to her whereabouts.
Both she and Ashley were perched on narrow cots. Naomi sprawled on a third one, her son tucked in her arms, both of them sleeping. Clear plastic containers floated next to each cot, and white metal walls formed three sides of the room. The fourth wall consisted of a single glass panel and on the other side of the glass were two men in black suits. Or rather, two beings…
As she studied them closer, she realized that they were most definitely not men. Matte black hair topped skin as white as if they had applied the thick makeup her grandmother had worn on ceremonial occasions. But this wasn’t makeup, and her sobo never had glowing red eyes or six fingers on each hand.
Their presence, combined with the metal walls and the banks of strange-looking equipment in the corridor behind them, led to only one impossible conclusion. Aliens. Her daughter had been taken by aliens. No wonder the police she had hounded constantly and the leagues of private detectives she had hired were unable to find a trace of Hana.
Her initial dismay—she now had an entire universe to search—was replaced by determination. She was closer to her daughter now than she had been for the past year.
“Kwaret appears to be correct. The product is less troublesome when stored with the breeders,” one of the aliens said begrudgingly.
Although she could hear a faint clicking noise beneath their words, she understood them perfectly. Go
od. Hopefully, that meant they would also understand her. She rose and went to the panel, ignoring how weak her legs felt.
“I’m looking for my daughter. You took her a year ago. Where is she now?”
The alien who had spoken gave her a disinterested look, then ignored her and turned back to his companion.
“I’m not as sure about his suggestion to provide all of them with translators. I have no desire to hear slaves address me.”
Slaves?
“His argument is that it will make it easier to have them obey our commands.”
“I’ve always found a shock collar to be an effective training tool.”
“But it also causes damage, and they fetch a higher price when they are undamaged.”
If they thought she was going to obey some strange alien’s commands, they had another think coming. She smacked her hand against the glass, smiling when one of them jumped.
“I said I’m looking for my daughter. Where is she?”
“Breeders are to be seen and not heard,” the alien said disdainfully.
Her fist clenched, longing to smack that supercilious look off his face.
“Breeder?” the other alien asked.
“If she is looking for a child, then she must have produced one.” He scanned her again, sneering. “Although I admit she looks to be past her prime breeding years. Still, a fertile female is worth more than a non-fertile one. Commander Kadica will be pleased with the potential for extra profit.”
Fertile? She bit back a derisive retort. It had taken ten years and hundreds of thousands of dollars before she had been able to become pregnant.
“You mean you hope he will forgive you for bringing her on board rather than eliminating her.”
The two males exchanged a nervous glance.
“If you two assholes won’t listen to me, take me to your commander,” she demanded.
“You would be well served if I did so.” His hand went to a small box attached to his belt, but the other alien reached out and stopped him.
“Kragan, you can’t do that. You know his temper. If she shows no more respect than she has done so far, he will punish her. If she’s lucky enough to live through it, she would be too damaged to bring in more than a modest amount of credits. We only have the five of them to sell this time and I want to get as much profit from this trip as I can.”
Kragan’s hand dropped away. “I suppose you’re right. The more credits we bring this trip, the more sponsors we will have for the next one.”
The next one? Jade stared after them in distress as the two aliens turned and walked away. They had to be stopped. No other woman should have to face the pain she had lived with this past year.
“Ash? What’s going on?” Naomi’s sleepy voice sounded behind her, and she turned to find the other woman sitting up on her cot.
“I don’t know!” Ashley wailed. She was a pretty, petite blonde with big blue eyes and a helpless air. “We were in the park and then I woke up here and there are these creepy men and I don’t like it. I want to go home!” She burst into tears.
It didn’t surprise Jade that Naomi was made of sterner stuff. A statuesque redhead with a sharp brain behind a seductive smile, she immediately focused on Jade.
“Who are you? Do you know what’s going on?”
“You probably won’t believe me, but we’ve been captured by aliens.”
“What the fuck?” Naomi stared at her with obvious skepticism.
Jade had followed these two every Wednesday for the past four months and she knew all about them, including Naomi’s past as a Las Vegas showgirl and her cynical view of the world. She hadn’t expected to convince her.
“I know it sounds crazy, but you’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
“Why? What do they want from us?”
“They called us breeders,” Ashley sobbed.
Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “In other words, they’re like every other bastard male out there.”
“Not exactly,” Jade said dryly.
The woman looked down at her admittedly impressive body. “If they’re males, I can handle them.”
Jade suspected that wouldn’t prove to be true with these aliens, but she didn’t argue. At that moment, Ashley’s daughter, Heather, began to cry again.
“She’s hungry.” Ashley looked around frantically. “Did they bring her diaper bag? She needs a bottle. And a diaper change,” she added, screwing up her nose.
The crying baby woke up Naomi’s son, Justin, and he added to the noise. For the first time, the woman’s nonchalant air cracked as she picked up her son and tried to comfort him.
“I can’t stand it when he cries.”
Jade’s heart ached as she turned back to the front of the cell, pounding on the glass. She wouldn’t care if Hana cried every day as long as she was with her again.
She beat a steady rhythm on the glass, yelling for Kragan, for the commander, for anyone to come and pay attention. Her hands were throbbing by the time another alien appeared. She didn’t recognize this one and he approached with an almost deferential demeanor, unlike the arrogance of the other two.
“You must keep quiet,” he said nervously. “You do not want to arouse the commander’s wrath.”
“The babies are hungry. I’m not going to be quiet until they are fed.”
“I don’t understand. Why don’t their mothers feed them? That was my argument for placing them in the same cell with you.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “They aren’t being breastfed. That means they need bottles. Formula?”
“Oh dear. I didn’t consider that.”
“You don’t have anything to feed them?” she asked in alarm, then switched to thinking about alternatives. “Do you have some type of cereal? Something that could make a very thin gruel? Or what about milk—something that animals feed to their young?”
He looked shocked. “I would never feed an infant anything like that.”
“They have to be fed something,” she said impatiently. “We have to try at least.”
“No, no. You don’t understand. I can provide a healthy formula. The, umm, bottles are a little more difficult but I will see what I can do.”
Despite his words, he was already moving to the bank of equipment on the far side of the corridor. In a surprisingly short time, he returned bearing two odd-looking containers, but since they had nipples, she assumed they were intended as bottles.
Ashley and Naomi had joined her at the glass as they tried to comfort their crying children, and they eyed the alien with distrust.
“What’s in there?” Ashley asked. “Heather is on a strictly organic formula.”
“Are there drugs in there? Are you giving them something just to shut them up?”
At Naomi’s question, he looked horrified.
“Of course not. This formula is specially designed for human infants. They will thrive on it.”
“How do you know that?” Jade asked, her heart racing. I knew it! These bastards had taken her daughter.
“You are not the first,” he said evasively, opening the glass panel far enough to give the containers to the other women.
They took them reluctantly, glancing at them with suspicion before Naomi sighed and presented the makeshift bottle to her son. He latched on immediately. Ashley hesitated longer but she apparently couldn’t resist her daughter’s cries, and she too offered a bottle. Heather didn’t seem concerned about whether the formula was organic, sucking greedily.
Jade turned back to the alien, her suspicions confirmed.
“Listen… what’s your name?”
He looked oddly shy. “I am Kwaret.”
“Listen, Kwaret, I knew there had to have been others. You took my daughter. I have to find her.”
His eyes widened. “Your daughter? Why do you think I took her?”
“I don’t mean you personally,” she said. “Your… people. One of your ships was here a year ago.”
Kwaret closed his eyes brief
ly, then admitted, “It is possible that a Vedeckian ship has been here before.”
“I’m sure of it. How else could she have disappeared so completely? Do you know where she is?”
“I am not aware of any human children that are not with a family,” he said slowly.
“What do you mean by family?” She gestured over at Naomi and Ashley, both now sitting and feeding their children. “Do you mean they’re with their mothers?”
He looked oddly thoughtful. “Are biological ties required to form a family?”
“You know what I mean,” she snapped. “Did you sell human children to an alien family?”
The thought of her sweet daughter being sold like some type of pet made her throat close up.
He cast another look over his shoulder and closed his mouth.
Although Kwaret refused to answer any more questions, he told them how to use the clear plastic containers. They turned out to be a high-tech version of a crib. Not only did they provide a place for the babies to rest, but their padding also absorbed their waste and cleansed them. There was a small bathroom at the rear of the room for the women to use.
After he left, the three of them sat and stared at each other.
“Who are you?” Naomi asked again. “Were you jogging in the park?”
“No, I was following you.”
“Why were you following us?” Ashley edged a little closer to Naomi. “Are you with them?”
A bitter laugh escaped. “No, but I was looking for them. It just never occurred to me that they would be aliens.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My daughter disappeared from the same place a year ago. They killed my husband and they took her.”
“Killed him?” Ashley’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell us that we were in danger?”
“His death was in all the papers.”
It had been a one-week wonder in the press, but longer for her when she fell under suspicion because she hadn’t been with him. Instead, she had been foolishly clinging to a vestige of her pre-pregnancy life. At Nathan’s insistence, she had been on a conference call with her Board of Directors when he was killed. It had been the only way he would consent to taking Hana for her walk and, in the vain hope that it might awaken some spark of fatherly feeling, she had agreed to his condition. She had lived with the guilt ever since.
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