Under Sunless Skies (Starlight Saga Book 2)
Under Sunless Skies
Book Two
Starlight Saga
Sherry Soule
Starlight Saga
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents either are the product of the author's overactive imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
UNDER SUNLESS SKIES (Volume Two)
ISBN: 978-1514192115
ASIN: B01IIW6Y5G
First edition: July 2016
Disenchanted Publishing
San Francisco, California k12
Cover art by SwoonWorthy Book Covers
Copyright © 2016 Sherry Soule. All rights reserved.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by any of the trademark owners.
e-book formatting by bookow.com
Dedication
Dedicated to Linda Hall, who's always been an inspiration to me. Stay strong and never lose your amazing sense of humor.
~~~
And this book is also dedicated to lovers of romance and horror tropes everywhere...
Acknowledgments
The following people are my personal rockstars...
~ ~ ~
My developmental editor, Carmen Erickson. Thank you for always knowing when I need a pep-talk and for being my toughest critic. Your insightful feedback is utterly invaluable.
~ ~ ~
And my marvelous critique partner and one of my dearest friends, Kit McMahon. Thank you for your contagious humor, cheerleader-worthy encouragement, and unwavering support over the years.
~ ~ ~
Lastly, a massive thank you to my awesome beta-reader, fellow booklover, and friend, Sarah Betz, who has helped me to revise this book into something I am extremely proud to include in the Starlight Saga. You rock!
Table of Contents
ABOUT THIS BOOK
VOLUME TWO
ONE
TWO
THREE
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
FRIGHT NIGHT BABBLE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
END OF VOLUME TWO
HUMBLE REQUEST
BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN
IMMORTAL ECLIPSE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Starlight Saga continues…
For Sloane Masterson, being in love with Hayden Lancaster has been a series of highs and lows. Plus, some rather sucky consequences…like those annoying interstellar dating laws. But Sloane’s not gonna let a few lame rules get in her way. She’s on a mission to win back her man.
The big problem with that?
Hayden’s beyond stubborn. Overly protective. And majorly frustrating.
When Sloane discovers a shocking family secret, it thrusts her back into Hayden’s dangerous and mysterious world. Yet, she’s not the only one hiding things that could destroy the fragile bond between them. There’s something Hayden’s not telling her, too...
After a harrowing escape from freaky mutants, dodging an attack from a psycho stalker, and receiving a bunch of creeptastic messages, Sloane’s bizarre existence becomes a real-life horror movie. Add the unexpected arrival of Sector Thirteen, and Sloane doesn’t know who to trust anymore.
If she hopes to evade her enemies and protect those she loves, Sloane must get over her epic trust issues before those evil baddies catch up to her. And time is running out…
*This trilogy is intended for upper-YA readers, has lots of steamy romance, and is not considered hardcore science fiction. While there are minor cliffhangers in this three-part saga, it can be a standalone read.
VOLUME TWO
ONE
Everyone has a dirty little secret. Every family has skeletons in their closet. Like bodies, they want to remain buried. And today mine seem to be rising up faster than zombies...
Just when I think nothing else can go wrong, I witness something so devastating, all I can do is stand there breathing hard and staring wide-eyed at my dad.
Un-fricking-believable!
His face pales and he grabs the wall in the living room with one hand to steady himself. “Y-you saw me?”
We gaze at each other through the large archway that divides the dining and living rooms. My heart thumps so hard, it feels like that creature from Alien will burst from my chest.
“Yeah. You just teleported into our living room!” I say, my voice cracking. “You’re a hybrid?”
His brows pull downward and he straightens. “How do you know about them?” His tone sounds low and raspy.
“I actually know two, David.” He doesn’t like it when I call him by his first name to his face, but I do it anyway. “Actually, make that more like five, if you count Hayden’s uncle and those alien psychos who tried to—”
“Who’s Hayden?”
At the mention of his name, a pressure builds in the space between my ribcage and my stomach, pressing against both. “He was my…my friend.”
No, he was my everything—until the alien kill squad ruined our relationship. My poor heart is still suffering the aftermath of being crushed like shards of glass under Hayden’s big black boot. And now this.
“And your friend told you about the Meleah?” His voice is brittle.
“Yes…” My muscles lock and my shoulders tense. “He’s the one who told me all about the Zeta hybrids secretly living among us, because he trusts me. Unlike some people. And I know they can teleport, like you just did.”
Wait. If my dad is one of them, then that means…
Holy alien babies.
All the air is sucked from the room. I’m not entirely human? Not human! Not only have I inherited my looks from my dad, I have his alien DNA, too.
The realization blows my whole world apart.
My legs wobble and I stumble to a dining room chair to sit down. My pulse throbs, pumping liquid fire through my veins, and burning a trail to my gut. I clutch my stomach, feeling like I’m going to throw up all over the shabby Orien
tal rug.
David weaves around the brown leather couch and the ugly orange recliner to stand in the dining room. “Are you all right?”
I can’t speak. I can’t even tell him about the kidnapping or my near death experience with the Meleah crazies. My body bends in half, my arms clutching my waist as I lower my head between my knees.
This is too surreal. Too much for me to process. Way too much for me to believe.
David steps closer. “Take deep breaths, honey. Relax,” he says in a soothing voice. He rubs my back with one hand, but my body becomes ice, rigid and immobile beneath his touch.
“Seriously? I just found out that you’re not even human—that I’m not, and you want me to relax?” I shift in my seat, squirming away from his hand.
He lifts his arm and takes a step back, as if I’ve hurt him with my words. Maybe I meant to. David paces the room as if he’s a caged lion wanting to escape his confines. His wrinkled polo shirt and khakis, along with his tousled hair, looks like he just came through a wind tunnel. A thin layer of scruff covers his cheeks and chin.
“For years I’ve wanted to tell you and your brother the truth, but there never seemed to be a right time. I suppose I was waiting until you were mature enough to handle it.”
I cross my arms. “Ugh! I am so sick of people thinking I can’t handle stuff!” I catch my reflection in the glass doors of the china cabinet behind him. My hazel eyes are red and watery with dark smudges of mascara staining my pale face. I slump in my seat. “Is Mom a hybrid, too?”
“No, she’s human. And I do not like the term hybrid. I’m a Meleah, the offspring of an ancient alien race, the Zeta Reticuli.” David glances at me, flexing his hands.
My dad continues to stride back and forth, and I can’t help tracking his movements, like watching a ping-pong ball whishing back and forth, which gives me something to focus on. He only pauses to lift a family photo from a tabletop to peer at our happy faces, then puts it down.
A shiver steals through my body as something occurs to me. “You broke the Galactic Brotherhood law. You’re the one Agent Dixon’s been searching for!”
“You know Dixon?”
“Yeah. I met him through Hayden. And I can’t believe you never told me all this. My whole life’s been one big lie—”
“No, it hasn’t!” His loud voice rumbles off the crème painted walls. His brows furrow, causing deep lines to crease his forehead and his voice lowers to a more normal tone. “Since neither of you seem to have inherited any dominant Zeta attributes, I figured you and your brother would pass as human. Well, except that your brother’s IQ is off the charts.”
Guess I didn’t get that particular gene. I do get decent grades, but I’m no genius, like Jonah. The creep even attends a special school for the ultra-brainy.
“This is beyond crazy,” I say, rubbing my temple.
“Please let me explain…”
The front door opens. We look at each other, then at the foyer, where my mom enters the house.
“I’m home!” she calls from the doorway. “I have groceries in the car and I could use some help.” Walking through the living room into the dining room, she sets a sack of food on the table in front of us. She glances from my dad to me, her lips flattening together. “What is it, David? What’s wrong?”
He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sloane knows.”
“Knows what?” My mom’s frown deepens, and then her eyes widen. “Oh, my god. How did she find out?”
“I had to teleport into the house today, Karen,” he says.
“What were you thinking?” she snaps. “You swore never to use your abilities!”
“I didn’t have a choice,” David says gruffly. “I spotted ST agents outside my office. They might’ve been looking for me.”
“Are you sure you lost them?” She pulls at the collar of her blouse. “They didn’t follow you home?”
“No. We’re safe.” David scratches his stubbly chin. “Where’s Jonah?”
She sits down heavily across the table from me. “Probably in his room playing video games.”
“I’ll go get him,” he replies.
As David moves past my mom’s chair, she grabs his wrist. “Are you sure?”
David lightly brushes his knuckles along her cheek. “I think it’s past time our children knew the truth, sweetheart. We couldn’t hide it forever, and since Sloane knows, we might as well tell Jonah, too.”
She shakes her head. “He’s too young to understand.”
“Jeez. You’ve had how long to tell us the truth?” I shake my head. “Besides, it’s not like Brainiac Boy’s not smart enough to figure it out eventually.”
“Sloane’s right.” David straightens. “It’s time to tell them.”
She sighs and releases her grip on his arm.
While he goes upstairs to get Jonah, my mom and I sit at the table without speaking. Her hands shake as she picks at the splatters of dried paint dotting her arms like multi-colored freckles. She sputters out a nervous cough and absently touches her mahogany hair, knotted in a bun on top of her head. My mom seems nervous and guilt-ridden. This is what lies do to a person—even moms who preach about honesty and dress in innocent flowery blouses, who should be making cookies, instead of excuses.
I can’t believe the day I’m having. It’s one blow after another. First, I get brutally kicked to the curb by the boy I love, and now I discover my parents have been keeping one huge monster of a secret from my brother and me.
Who the hell are these people?
David reappears with Jonah, who’s grumbling about having to turn off his PlayStation. My brother plops onto a seat beside my mom and rests his elbows on the table. Jonah’s freckled face is rosy and his messy, dark hair sweeps across his forehead.
“Are we having a family meeting?” Jonah frowns. “Because I aced my science quiz—”
“No, Jonah, it’s not about that.” My mom pats his leg. “Your father and I have something important to tell you.”
David remains standing at the end of the oak table. He takes a deep breath, then slowly exhales. “We never meant for any of this to happen,” he says, gazing lovingly at my mom. “From the moment I met your mother, I knew I couldn’t live without her…no matter the consequences.”
Jonah puts a finger into his mouth and pretends to gag. “That’s what you wanted to tell us? Thanks, but I’ve heard enough.”
I agree. We already know how he and mom met. If Dad thinks he can weave this story like one of his prize-winning articles, I have news for him—it ain’t gonna happen. And I really don’t want to hear about their epic love story when my own ended like a downright disappointing and traumatizing season finale.
“Get to the point, David,” I say.
Jonah scoots back his chair, but our dad waves him back down. “Dad, the complexities of relationships are well recorded, so if you and mom are planning a divorce, I totally get it. Statistically, you’ve done better than a large percentage of the population—”
“We’re not getting divorced. I just wanted to explain why I broke the law.” David glances at my mom. “She was worth it.”
Jonah’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Since when is marriage against the law?”
My mom clutches David’s hand. “I don’t regret a second of our lives together.”
“Can we please stay on topic?” I roll my eyes. “Brainiac Boy hasn’t even heard your big alien secret yet.”
“Aliens?” Jonah’s head whips around to each of us, then he pops out of his seat like a Toaster Strudel. “You’ve discovered extraterrestrials, Dad?”
“Not exactly. My ancestors were part of a DNA-altering experiment while in the military. It was a classified program called The Genetic Trials, engineered by Sector Thirteen, a secret branch of the government,” he explains, glancing between Jonah and me.
Jonah tilts his head. “What’s Sector Thirteen?”
“A group of military soldiers, human geneticists, and alien
scientists, the Zetas,” David says.
“More like intergalactic villains,” I mumble.
“These scientists worked together to combine extraterrestrial DNA with human genes,” David continues. “They did a genetic splicing procedure to create an entirely new species, the Meleah, which are what some might call metahumans, and I am an offspring. We’ve lived secretly among the humans for centuries.”
Jonah nods thoughtfully, as if he’s downloading all this data into his oversized computer-like brain to process. “That would certainly explain my awesomeness. Have you met these alien relatives, Dad?”
My jaw drops. My mom puts a hand over her lips to suppress a smile, and David barks out a laugh. Not the response that any of us expects from the little menace. My brother might be okay with being lied to for his entire life, but I’m sure not.
“I’ve never had the pleasure.” David stands behind my mom’s chair and grips the sides. “I’m so sorry we lied to you, but we felt it was necessary for your protection.”
“Because you broke the law by marrying our mom, a human,” I say.
Jonah nods. “Clearly the inferior species.”
“Yes,” my mom says. “And no, Jonah, humans are not inferior. It was a dangerous gamble, but we were young and very much in love.”
“I don’t understand.” Jonah’s cute nose scrunches. “Why is it against the law for humans and Meleah to socialize?”
My mom shifts in her seat. “We believe it’s because the Meleah leaders don’t want to dilute the bloodline.”
“I think it’s more than that.” David nods pensively. “I’m not entirely human or alien, but a different species altogether.”
“Will we get superpowers? Like teleportation?” I ask, only mildly curious.
Jonah sits up straighter and does a quick fist pump. “We can teleport? Yes!”
David softly chuckles. “There aren’t any others of your kind, which are called shalinayas, so I don’t know if—or even when—you’ll develop any abilities. It might only be a genetic mutation that lies dormant through adolescence in half-humans. If you do, I need you to tell me right away.”