by Enid Titan
Bonded Telepaths
A Reverse Harem Academy Sci-Fi Romance
Enid Titan
ISBN:
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Copyright © 2019 by Enid Titan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover designed by Enid Titan Designs
Created with Vellum
To my readers. Thank you for the support and encouragement along the way. - E.T.
We shall probably get nearest to the truth if we think of the conscious and personal psyche as resting upon the broad basis of an inherited and universal psychic disposition which is as such unconscious, and that our personal psyche bears the same relation to the collective psyche as the individual to society.
Carl Jung
Description
She should have never opened the door…
Upon Poppy’s return to the terrifying ice planet,
Her three alien mates succumb to their need for her.
They promise that nothing will ever come between them again…
An older student threatens that plan.
He’s dark, demented, and determined that Penelope doesn’t belong.
An incident on the deadly Devoran tundra pushes the harem bonds to their limit.
They face nature, a cult, and a new bully, and learn that…
True love defies space, time, and even death.
Contents
Also by Enid Titan
Preface
1. At The Door
2. Are You My Mother?
3. Prophecies
4. Dream State: F**ked
5. Tongues & Bums
6. New Abilities
7. Penelope’s Return
8. Climax, Interrupted
9. I Fear My Strength
10. Poseidon
11. Debate
12. Bedroom Confessions
13. Sibyl Returns
14. Another Bully?
15. Tundra Creatures
16. Southern College
17. Leaving Vorste
18. The Tundra
19. Long Winter Walk
20. The Dagger In Her Cloak
21. A Stolen Song
22. Help Me Forget The Cold
23. Spreading Warmth
24. A Rescue Mission
25. Attacked By Dogs
26. Return of The Order
27. Ajax’s Rescue Mission
28. Imprisoned By The Order
29. Ajax & The Prince
30. The Defector
31. Make Them Bend, Make Them Kneel
32. Dark Telepathy
33. Half-Human Prince
34. I Would Die To Keep You Safe
35. Poseidon’s Heart
36. Meant To Take Another Mate?
37. The Harem Wears Her Out
38. Someone’s Coming
39. Ferocious Little Vamphare
40. Cancelled Finals
41. Uncle Montgomery’s Warning
42. Telling A Lie, Stealing A Ship
43. Team Of Five
44. Worms
45. Sibyl’s Test
46. She Took No Pleasure In Killing
47. Three Beasts
48. Nothing To Fear
FREE SHORT STORY
An Invitation
Free Sample: Devor
1. Late Summer ‘95
Free Sample | First Contact Captives: Vidar
1. The Basement
About the Author
CW: death, some bullying not by the romantic interests, psychic attacks, mild torture, content for adults only.
Also by Enid Titan
In chronological order:
Short Stories
Virgin Earthling
The Alpha Quadrant Series
Devor
Tau
Aries
First Contact Captives: An Alpha Quadrant Series
First Contact Captives: Vidar
First Contact Captives: Kronos
Book #3 coming soon
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Vortha Gifted Academy
Wicked Telepaths
Bonded Telepaths (You Are Here)
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Blue Alien Savage King Chronicles
coming soon
Preface
I wrote Bonded Telepaths & Wicked Telepaths as part of a continuation of my universe established in The Alpha Quadrant Series1 as well as First Contact Captives2. If you've read both these series, I think you'll find Poppy Darden's story a pleasant addition to the world. This book takes place 100 years after the events of Devor, and a few decades after First Contact Captives: Kronos3. This story, however, is Book #2 in this interconnected series.
I based the Academy in this story is based on real settings I experienced attending boarding school in New England for High School (in Massachusetts to be specific) as well as my experiences at a small liberal arts college in Northern Vermont.
This story includes only characters who are 18+ and those characters will age as the story progresses. Currently, I don’t plan on releasing the third book in the series any time soon, although I have an idea for continuing the story, and hopefully, the reasons for this will become clear why as you read the story. This romance novel combines my love of fantasy and science fiction. I had to tell stories reminiscent of my time living in New England.
Reverse Harem is a tricky beast because there are so many opinions about the genre out there, and I considered not writing a harem romance due to my desire not to alienate readers.
One of the great things about science fiction is the willingness of both authors and readers to explore the taboo and to engage with worlds entirely different from our own. Because of this, I decided to push the envelope and write about a different relationship structure with a dynamic that I enjoy reading and writing. You will find 3 men entirely devoted and loyal to 1 woman in this book with no cheating and a happily ever after story with a very mild cliffhanger. The quad definitely get a satisfying resolution to their tale.
Thank you for picking up this book. I hope you enjoy the story.
Peace and long life,
Enid
1 www.books2read.com/devor
2 www.books2read.com/vidar
3 www.books2read.com/kronos
1
At The Door
The rattling door handle haunted Poppy for weeks. She hadn’t seen the three Devoran boys since then except in her twisted dreams. The door to sickbay cracked open and a gnarled grey face covered by a black hood stared right at her. She blanched. The boys couldn’t see the hooded figure’s face — only a shadow. Penelope saw her -- all her terrifying features and the promise of later misfortune.
“Child of Fengar… I have come for you,” the shadow woman hissed.
Poppy had no time to say goodbye, not a moment to protest. She grabbed Castor’s hand one last time, pleading with him silently not to let her go so soon. Then Penelope vanished from my bed and reappeared in the darkness. She sensed there were others in the dark, other grey-skinned Fengari in the hold of a large spaceship. She didn’t recall how long the darkness lasted.
A hand stretched through to her in the darkness and pulled her forward.
“You have arrived, Penelope.”
Without her sight to guide her, Poppy used her hands to feel the cavern walls. A crumbling dust came off onto her fingers as she struggled to stand upright. One wrong move and she’d float off the cavern floor and have to claw her way back down. More hooded figures around her and in front of her quietly processed through the dar
k hallways.
“Is anyone going to tell me where I’m going?”
Nobody answered. Unlike the Devorans, the Fengari didn’t possess the constant telepathic buzz that followed Poppy everywhere on the ice planet. So far away from Castor, Ajax, Jason, and Uncle Monty, Poppy had to rely on her senses to figure out what to do next. She’d promised herself to the Fengari for six months. She could only trust that they’d let her go of their own accord.
The procession stopped in front of a low, curved doorway.
“Earth child, you mussssssst enter alone.”
One of the hooded figures pushed the door open and they scuttled away like ants. Poppy entered a relatively large room. A large, gilded throne sat in the center of the room with another hooded figure perched upon it.
“Welcome to the Lunar Kingdom of Fengar, Penelope.”
“Hello,” Poppy whispered.
There was no specific reason for her whispering other than her terror. The figure on the throne saw clearly through her attempts to hide it. Even lying in the snow in Vortha as The Order attacked her, she'd never felt such fear. There she'd known that she wasn't completely alone.
“There is no reason to be afraid. You are amongsssssst your people now.”
“I wish I’d been giving a choice about when to arrive,” Poppy huffed.
“You are young. You are not aware of the limitsssss of time, and why you mussssst not wassssste it.”
“I’m here. So let’s not waste any more time then.”
“Inssssssolent, like your grandmother.”
“Right. And who are you?”
“I am Sibyl, the Queen of the Fengari Hive, ruler of the Lunar Kingdom.”
“You’re the one who saved Earth, then?”
“Yesssss.”
“Thank you.”
The hood bowed. Poppy still couldn’t make out the alien’s face.
“How come I can’t see you?”
“You will… in time. Your powers are still juvenile and muted from so much time amongst the Earthlings. So much time that must be accounted for.”
“Right. If I’m allowed to return to school, they’ll help me.”
The queen hissed and Poppy felt a glob of spit land on her cheek. She wiped it off but thought it best not to say anything too inflammatory in response.
“The vile Devorans will have our child amongsssst them, yesss. It is the way things musssst be. But you mussssst not trussssst them.”
“Why shouldn’t I? They’ve never lied to me.”
The queen leaned forward and Poppy gasped as she caught her first glimpse of the Fengari queen’s face. Grey skin and eight lilac eyes spread across her forehead and face stared back at her. Two hairy antennae protruded from the queen's head, wriggling back and forth. Poppy’s stomach dropped.
“Be careful with the Devorans, child. Allow them to teach you, but do not allow them to ruin you.”
Poppy had grown acclimated to the dragging "s" and she no longer heard them as a distinct, insectoid sound.
She froze, unable to respond to the queen's criticism of the Devorans. If this were Uncle Monty giving her a lecture, she would have found a window to stare out of and she would have dived into a fabulous daydream. Here, the queen demanded rapt attention that Poppy feared withholding.
The queen continued, sensing Poppy’s tenuous focus.
“My mind holds all the minds of Fengar. I remain here in this room and serve my empire. I give life to all Fengari and Earth. I take life away. Penelope Darden, you have the power to take life and to give it, but you have trials to come that you must be ready for. This is why I have brought you here. I see your future… one of many futures and if you do not listen to me, you will lose the ones you love.”
A chill ran down Poppy’s spine.
“So what, this is some kind of prophecy?”
“A possibility. Each one of my eyes sees a posssssssibility. There is one that rages louder than the others.”
“Thanks. I’ve managed this far without a prophecy.”
“Insssssolent,” Sibyl hissed.
Poppy stepped back to avoid another spray of spit.
“You have my mother. I want to see her.”
“Yesssss. Your mother is ill. We saved her, but some parts were losssst.”
Poppy’s heart raced. They had her mother here. After all those years, she’d finally see the woman who sacrificed everything to save Earth.
“I will answer all of your questions, child. Firsssssst, you musssst make me a promise.”
“Another deal?”
“Yesssss.”
“That depends on what promise you want me to make.”
“Come clossssser, child.”
Poppy hesitated to get closer to the eight eyes, the writhing antennae, or the ashen skin, but saw no choice. She stepped forward and gazed closer at Sibyl’s face. Her jaw was rounded and an excess of teeth emerged from her maw. She reached into the pocket of her hood and pulled out a blade.
“Learn to use this blade before you leave or I cannot let you go. Learn to use thisssss blade, Penelope, or you will die.”
“I thought I came here to learn about telepathy.”
“You will learn many ssssecretssss while you’re here. Now go. I will have Chanal take you to your mother.”
“Thank you, for the blade.”
Sibyl nodded and waved Penelope off. No more questions, that was it. Learn to use the blade, learn to become a Fengari telepath. No word on when she'd return to Devor here or how she'd know how much time passed without the sun.
Poppy missed them. She couldn't see Ajax's face, or Castor's or Jason's clearly while she was awake. The numbing telepathic field on Fengar struggled against her limited human perceptions.
I don't belong here, Poppy thought to herself. Yet Sibyl, the grey queen, insisted that she did.
2
Are You My Mother?
Chanal took Penelope through the low gravity caverns for around a mile. She didn’t speak at all until Penelope spoke to her.
“Where are we going?”
“To see your mother.”
She emphasized her ’s’ sounds like all Fengari.
“Where is she?”
“In the home inherited from your father.”
“My father didn’t live here.”
“His family possessed great wealth.”
“Yeah. On Earth.”
“And here,” Chanal replied, sounding defensive.
“Where’s my aunt? I met her before. She didn’t look like…”
Penelope suddenly thought it rude to mention Sibyl’s bizarre insect-like appearance. Chanal shrugged.
“You see what you wish to see. That’s the problem with seeing.”
Everyone here blabbered in riddles.
“She gave me a blade and said I’m to learn how to use it.”
“Yes. You will learn. We’ll send a teacher. Talak specializes in telepathic blades.”
“What do you mean a telepathic blade?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, you ask a lot of questions.”
“Yes. I do.”
For once, Poppy managed to sound unapologetic. She still wasn’t too thrilled about coming here, ripped away from the three people she needed the most. Chanal bristled.
“What?”
“Your mates. You think about them very loudly.”
“I was concealing my thoughts!” Penelope protested.
“Devoran techniques have their limitations. But you aren’t ready to awaken yet, not until you’ve finished school.”
“Does everyone here know everything about me?”
“Only in the present. Sibyl is the only one who knows the future.”
“Oh. Great.”
“We’re here.”
“This is a wall,” Penelope mumbled.
“Look closely.”
Poppy stared at the wall, feeling quite foolish. She stuck her hand out and for a moment, a doorway flashed before her eyes.
“Do you see
it?”
“Sort of.”
«Look closer.»
Her companion’s hypnotic voice lulled Poppy into a calm state. Yes… She could see the room, past a low rounded doorway. An old cot in the corner, a stone nightstand with chiseled etchings in the side, and a woman curled up on the bed all flashed before her, then disappeared.
«I can’t hold the image.»
«Look closer.»
Poppy’s cheeks flushed with frustration. Focusing like this was incredibly difficult and Chanal only repeated the same suggestions like a stuck record.
«Empty your mind, child.»
Poppy pushed thoughts of Chanal out of her head. Getting rid of her thoughts about Ajax, Castor and Jason proved much harder. The doorway and the room appeared again. The woman curled up on the bed shifted and Poppy held the image steady. She relaxed her shoulders. Chanal’s hand rested on hers.
«Very good. Now enter.»