by Erin Raegan
Pythen Blessing
Galactic Order Book Six
Erin Raegan
Contents
Dear Reader,
For Minnie
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Home World
Juldoris
Sneak Peek
SHADOW ASSASSIN
Acknowledgments
Other Books by Erin Raegan
Books by E.M. Raegan
About the Author
Glossary
Pythen Blessing. Copyright © 2019 by Erin Raegan. All Rights Reserved.
Cover Designed by Cortney E Designs
Edited by Joy Editing
All characters, alien or human, events―on planet Earth or otherwise―in this book are a product of the author's imagination and hours of daydreaming. Any resemblance to actual people, otherworldly beings, living or dead, or actual events, are entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, or distributed, in any form, by any means, without explicit written permission from the author with the exception of brief quotations embodied in reviews or articles. This book is licensed for your enjoyment only. Thank you, a thousand times and all the hugs, for purchasing.
Author’s Note
This book is science fiction romance story with explicit language, sexual situations, dark themes, and possible triggers. It is intended for audiences 18 years and older.
If any of that bothers you―beware or turn back.
If not―enjoy and onward to the fun and sexy times!
Beware!
This book DOES NOT end in a cliffhanger, however, not all plot points will be tied up!
This is a series, not a trilogy, it will continue on for quite some time. There will be no other cliffhangers in THIS series, each book after this one will feature a different relationship but will have cameos and pop-ins of other characters.
Enjoy.
There is a Glossary, as requested by my lovely readers, at the end of the book. It’s full of all my fun words and species’ and may help those that need a refresher. Feel free to reference it or ignore it. It is there for you! Special thanks to my FB Council Members! Who helped me tremendously with putting it together!
Dear Reader,
This page is for you.
Thank you for reading.
Books inspire us. They bring us joy and allow us to escape for a little while.
I hope you find that with mine.
Thank you for taking the time out of your lives to read my hard work.
It means the world,
Erin.
For Minnie
To my Minnie Binnie.
You were my faithful writing partner from the first day I began this journey. Sitting in my chair each day without you, not having you by my side to listen to me ramble about my crazy characters, and lick my my ear when I fall asleep at my desk, is going to hurt every day. Your love and kisses inspired each and every one of my furry friends. You will be missed baby and I know you’re up there watching over us.
You were here from the first word of this story and I lost you at the last. This one’s for you.
Prologue
Galactic Council
“Where is he?” Viytenus thundered through the empty hall.
Liytheniyr bowed deeply. “Gone, sire. The assassin has taken the life of the master and with it his throne.”
Viytenus waved impatiently. “The Juldo are no longer my concern.”
Liytheniyr hid his amusement. The Juldo were their only force. Without them Viytenus had no hope of overpowering the Dahk and Kilbus. And the Shadow Assassin could not be cowed as the master was.
“Where is our young shadow?”
Liytheniyr held back a sigh. “Missing I’m afraid. He has not returned since failing to free the master. I believe the assassin is hunting him.”
Viytenus cursed. “I want him found,” he bellowed, slamming his fist against the marble podium. “Before the assassin can track him.”
Liytheniyr stood and turned to leave. If the young shadow did not want to be found…
“Not you, Liytheniyr.”
Liytheniyr turned back cautiously, watching as his sire ordered another off for the doomed task.
At last, Viytenus turned back to Liytheniyr. “Without the Juldo we must act quickly.”
Liytheniyr cautiously stepped forward. “If I may speak freely?”
Viytenus waved on him impatiently.
Liytheniyr took a fortifying breath. “Without the Juldo’s support, sire, perhaps it may be wise to abandon this endeavor?”
Viytenus glowered his disapproval. “The Dahk are on the brink of reneging allegiance to the Order, the Guhuvin King is not far behind. And if they withdraw, the Xixin will follow. We cannot afford to abandon our plight now.”
Liytheniyr held back a sigh. Viytenus’ greed for dominance had driven him here, dragging all Bour with him. A small, primitive world had been the catalyst. Of which the Juldo Master wanted nothing for to do with than make a profit. Viytenus saw his scheming and the divide it drew between the Council Kings. He saw the potential war and knew it was time for the Bour to strike and take back dominion. Had the Juldo Master not fallen, it could have been done. But without Juldo support—
“You are to go to the Dahk world and infiltrate.”
Liytheniyr stood straight, anticipation thrumming at his fingertips. The Bour had drifted into the void of space some time ago. Having suffered a great loss, they were hidden away by their sire. After all they lost—to come back into the light? Even for a short time? The war may be lost for Viytenus, even though Liytheniyr’s sire was unwilling to see its demise.
But for Liytheniyr, to be unleashed?
Oh how fun.
1
Lydia
A loud crash all the way on the other side of the castle had me wincing and looking at the sleeping bundle in my arms. Her lashes fluttered like hummingbird wings before settling. Her mouth puckered as a gust of air left her mouth. I held my breath, waiting for her to realize it wasn’t her mother’s arms around her, but she turned her face into my chest and relaxed again.
Relief shuddered through me, and I so, so slowly collapsed onto the bench behind me. We had fourteen solid seconds of peace before another crash tore down the hall. I groaned when Prin let out a loud squawk of protest followed by an angry screech that quickly tapered off into wailing cries.
Roxy looked over her shoulder at me and the baby, wincing. “He definitely hears her now—”
She broke off with a startled yelp as Vyr misted into the room with a trail of black smoke.
“She’s fine,” I squeaked.
The terrifying alien man glared at me. He had been scaring the bejeezus out of me for the last three hours, coming in every time his daughter made even the smallest sound of distress.
“She cries,” he growled, still glaring at me.
My feet wob
bled under me as he focused all that fury on me. Vyr was the definition of petrifying. He looked like the aliens from my nightmares even though I knew he hadn’t been among them. He had actually been my savior, but it was hard to look at his Juldo features and not see the aliens that had kidnapped and tortured me for weeks.
Not only was he a huge, red, angry alien much larger than my five-foot-two frame, but he had acquired some scary abilities during his human-to-alien transformation. Like vanishing into a ball of mist that could kill a person in seconds.
It was hard to control my bladder around him on a good day. But today? When I had been given the tremendous task of looking after his beloved daughter, Prin? It was a wonder I didn’t have a puddle at my feet.
“Tahk is loud,” I whispered, rocking the crying baby anxiously.
Vyr glared at the wall as though he could see all the way through to the chaos taking place down the hall and the terrified Dahk commander destroying the castle to get to his mate.
The door at his back flung open wide and Mona rushed in, her hair a sweaty mess. “Vyr! You can’t leave like that!”
Vyr snarled a curse under his breath and glared at her. I sagged in relief to have his anger directed elsewhere. “She needs me.”
Mona sighed and wiped her face. “Lydia has her, she’s safe. Vivian trusts her with Prin and so should you.”
Vyr turned his back on her and walked to me. When he carefully took Prin from my arms, the little girl quieted and smiled at her father, all gums and drool. Vyr bent to her head and whispered to her.
“Vyr,” Mona nearly whined. “We need you.”
“He should not be withheld from her,” Vyr gritted quietly. Prin poked at his mouth and he playfully bit her fingers.
“Peyton can’t handle him like this, and Haytu’s not much better than Tahk. Everyone else is too afraid to touch him. Uthyf already has a busted lip, and I’m pretty sure Tahk almost took off his wing while Uthyf was trying to drag him away from Peyton. We need you to help restrain him.”
Vyr sighed and looked back at the wall. “Let him go be with his mate.”
Mona growled and fisted her hands. “If we let him back in that room, he’s going to kill Gryo and Vivian can’t deliver the baby on her own.”
Another crash came from down the hall and Prin cried out. Vyr bared his teeth at the wall.
“Vyr, please,” Mona begged.
Vyr sighed heavily and turned back to me. I swallowed a ball of nerves as he handed the baby to me with a fierce scowl.
“I-I’ll take care of her, I promise.” Not only would the big red alien tear me apart if anything happened to his little girl, but I loved Prin too. She was a bundle of love and baby kisses, and I couldn’t bear to see her hurt.
Vyr looked deep into my eyes. Most likely judging me and my conviction. He wouldn’t find me lacking. Babies were precious and helpless. If I were back home and hadn’t been kidnapped—and the earth hadn’t been invaded by more aliens—I would most likely be trying to have one of my own.
Not even Roxy and Mona knew that about me. That I had a fiancé. Not anymore. That bastard was nothing to me now.
Now that I was here on an alien planet, my only shot at becoming a mother was if I mated a Dahk— one of the big purple aliens inhabiting Home World. Recent events indicated that the odds of me mating one of them were actually pretty high, and if it happened, I would have no control over it. A Pythen mating was pretty much predestined and an unbreakable bond. There was no getting out of it if a Dahk male touched you and felt the mating rage.
So I didn’t go around touching Dahk males. Not that I was as frightened by it as Roxy was, or even Mona before she mated the Dahk king.
After my imprisonment in a Juldo slave camp, I had my own issues with bagging a mate. It wasn’t the Dahk themselves that scared me. You’d think I would have a problem living with, and conversing with aliens, but I didn’t. The Dahk were tall and muscular. And sure, they were very alien to me. They were varying shades of grey and purple. Some so light, their skin was lilac, others so dark, they were nearly darker than the deepest amethyst. They had enormous wings and armored plates on their chests, arms, and thighs. They didn’t quite stand straight, kind of bent at the knees, and they had fangs. And the ridges… well, the Dahk were intimidating in their strangeness. But also beautiful.
I figured we were just as strange to them. Maybe even ugly. Though I hoped they could see our differences as I did. Amazing. Captivating.
The Dahk were warriors. They were honorable—at least most of them—and brave. Brave in a way that mesmerized me. They fought for their homes, their lives, and their loved ones in a way that reminded me of my father.
The idea of a mate that would put all of that bravery into protecting me was—it was so tempting. Seductive. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? The thought of being seduced by an alien, human, or anyone, was terrifying. So terrifying it was nearly debilitating.
There was the horror and abuse I had experienced at the hands of the Juldo, but it was so much more than that. I had given myself to a man once. Not too long ago. I had given him everything. My love, my dreams. My trust. And he had broken everything. I didn’t know how to open myself up to that kind of pain again.
I had tried. With a soft-spoken Dahk that had blushed nearly more than I did. Despite my fear, I had tried. But he stopped visiting like he promised. And I was so tired of broken promises.
And so, there would be no babies for me. No matter how much I longed to be a mother, it just wasn’t in the cards for me anymore.
I shook myself before I lost myself to those memories of the Juldo and my fiancé.
Vyr gave me one more glare that promised pain if I failed his daughter, then he left the room the same way he came. By vanishing into a cloud of smoky mist.
Mona sagged against the door frame, muttering under her breath.
“That bad?” I asked, watching Prin to see if she would notice her father’s absence and have him running back. But she was now distracted by one of my braids. I let her twist the golden knots around her baby fist as Mona dropped into the nearest chair. Roxy and I hadn’t heard a word about Peyton since it all started. We were dying to know how it was going.
“I don’t know how much longer Peyton can go.” Fear was heavy in Mona’s voice and eyes.
“It’s only been twelve hours,” Roxy said.
“Only twelve hours?” Mona made a sound in the back of her throat. “That’s damn long.”
“My sister was in labor for over twenty.” Roxy’s sad eyes met mine before she looked away. She never spoke of her family. Then again, neither did I.
“But the baby is half Dahk. There’s no telling how dangerous it is for her to keep going like this.”
“What does Vivian think?” I asked, slowly pacing the room.
Mona shook her head, looking at her hands. “She keeps telling Uthyf everything is okay, but not even he believes it. It’s not just that it’s taking so long. It’s that Tahk can’t ease her pain the way he would if Peyton were also a Dahk.”
I blushed and looked away. I had never attended a Dahk birth, but I’d heard they were a far cry different from a human birth. Dahk females didn’t feel pain the way human women did, lucky ducks, and the little pain they did feel was eased by their mates. Through sex of all things. I had heard that in order to ready her birth canal, a male Dahk would make love to his mate for so long he would actually be the one in pain. Excruciating pain even.
Mona snorted and her lips lifted into a smile. “Tahk tried to climb on top of her after the first contraction and she lost her mind.” Mona’s smile dropped as quickly as it came. “He can’t take it. Every time she screams, he loses it a little more. Uthyf’s got him locked in a room with twenty other Dahk and they can barely contain him. Vyr’s the only one who hasn’t walked away with an injury trying to lock him down.”
Roxy crossed her arms and sighed heavily. “I agree with Vyr, I don’t see why they don’t let him be with he
r if it’s so much trouble to keep him away.”
Mona stood and shook out her arms, her face scrunching. “It’s not that simple. He can’t help her and it’s killing him. Every scream out of her has him ready to attack Gryo. He wants the healer to help her since he can’t, but Gryo can’t do anything for Peyton. They don’t have epidurals here. They won’t even attempt a Cesarean on Peyton. When Vivian mentioned the idea, it nearly sent Tahk into a mindless rage.”
“She’s going completely natural then?” I asked, pulling a now-dozing Prin tighter into my chest.
A muted feminine scream bounced off the walls and an inhuman roar of rage answered it. We were on the other side of the castle, but everyone was being so quiet out of respect we could hear almost everything.
Prin’s eyes shot open and filled with tears. I shushed her before she could scream.
Mona’s eyes went wide. “No drugs for her.”
Roxy and I winced in sympathy. I had never experienced labor, but I had dreamed about that day if it ever came. I foolishly thought I could have a baby the natural way. But after hearing Peyton’s pain for hours and hours on end, I had no doubt I would have screamed for drugs pretty quickly. I had a new respect for women who had the balls to go without drugs, and I wasn’t even the one in labor.