by Maven, Ella
Chapter One
Excerpt
Daisy
I finally had to admit there was no positive in this situation.
I’d tried to maintain an upbeat attitude when I’d fallen asleep in my bed in South Carolina and woken up on a spaceship. Free vacation!
When I’d been stripped of my clothes and given some sheer white thing straight out of Greek mythology? Oooh, dress up!
When massive aliens with horns, mean eyes, capes, and face tattoos clapped a collar on me and attached a chain to it? New jewelry!
When they dragged me into an arena to witness two other aliens beating the stuffing out of each other for sport while a crowd cheered them on? Entertainment!
That was my thought process until one of the caped aliens yanked on my chain and dragged me in front of an eclectic group of scarred aliens who licked their lips at me like I was their next meal. We stood on the floor of an round arena while the crowd sat around us in stadium seating. My bare toes sank into red dirt, which covered everything in a fine layer of dust. I didn’t want to think about the blood and other fluids that had mixed with this dirt.
While the caped aliens seemed to be in charge—all the guards looked like the one holding my chain with capes and uniforms—the dozen or aliens in front of me consisted of a collection of creatures straight out of Monsters Inc. If Monsters Inc was mashed with Saw and every monster was out to kill. Sure, there was a green, one-eyed guy with long arms, but he also had razor-sharp teeth and a tail that whipped behind him viciously. There was also a large furry blue alien, but he was covered in scars, had foot-long blades for fingers, and I could have sworn he was picking his teeth with a bone.
Every single one looked like he either wanted to eat me or get me naked. Or maybe both. I couldn’t be sure.
Thanks to my fancy new implant translator sitting behind my ear, I could easily make out the words of my captor when he said, “We have a special treat today!” His voice carried out over the crowd. “As an incentive to the gladiators, we’ll be offering a prize to the final winner of this rotation’s tournament.” He gripped my long hair in one fist and yanked my head back. I let out a squeal of pain, and I caught one of the gladiators inhale deeply with a euphoric look on his flat face, as if the smell of my fear excited him. My captor shoved me forward. “A human female!”
The crowd erupted into cheers when they learned my fate. And I stood there numbly, wondering when I was going to wake up. This wasn’t my life. I was an elementary school teacher at a private school in a small town. I drove a dependable Civic. I had a Live, Laugh, Love sign in my house for Pete’s sake.
So that was when I finally began to panic. When I realized that my glass-half-full attitude hadn’t even been reduced to glass-half empty. That sucker was completely dry. With a hole in the bottom so it couldn’t be refilled.
In short, I was screwed.
PREORDER REXOR
Acknowledgments
This feels bittersweet, to hit publish on the final book in the Drixonian Warrior series. While it isn’t the last book I’ll write of my blue guys, this is still an ending of sorts.
I haven’t had this much fun writing in… maybe ever. Thank you so much to the readers for loving my quirky heroines and ridiculous action scenes, and my sometimes corny lines. I wrote these books exactly how I wanted to write them, and the fact that readers have responded so positively humbles me. Thank you!
To Natasha Snow, my cover designer, I’m not sure I would have taken this plunge without you! Thank you for making inspiring art.
To Del, my editor, thank you for making me laugh and encouraging me to keep writing these books. I’ve had a blast. Here’s to many more to come!
A huge thanks to the members of Ella Maven’s Haven. I love you guys so much. You make me smile every day. I can’t wait to share more books with you!
About the Author
Ella Maven is the pen name for a multi-published USA Today Bestselling author who decided to finally unleash the alien world that had been living in her head for years. (Is that weird? Probably). Her books feature dominant, possessive aliens who are absolutely devoted to their humans.
She lives on the East Coast with her completely normal husband and two spawn who sure seem alien some days.