by Ros Baxter
She smiled into his eyes. ‘Because I can dispatch a Medusio?’
‘No.’ She frowned and he sighed. ‘Well, yes, of course, that. But more because you were so alone, and you survived. And you’re so…’ He grasped for the right word. Why was it so damn hard? ‘You’re so whole. Determined. And strong.’
She dipped her head and rested it against his chest.
Long moments passed, and he fretted that it had come out wrong. But if this was the end, he was going to enjoy it. He stroked her back softly as she lay against him, and marvelled again at the silkiness of her skin.
Finally, she brought her head up from his chest. ‘There was a woman,’ she said, her voice so soft Reetor had to strain to hear it, even at such close quarters. ‘An old woman. I don’t know why they kept her. She performed menial tasks on the slave farm. She was the only other person from Earth there.’ There was a long pause. ‘She told me what I was.’
‘She took care of you?’ Reetor’s heart lightened. It seemed there had been someone for the girl, after all.
‘No,’ the girl barked, her voice breaking a little. ‘She was broken. But she pointed me in the right directions. The rest I did alone. The material is there — about Earth — if you look in the right places.’
Reetor pulled her into him again. So much loneliness. He wanted to make sure she was never alone again, but as he squeezed her against him, she took a sharp breath.
‘Your injury.’ His mind raced. They needed to hurry. ‘We need to get you to help.’
‘We?’ She pulled away from him and rolled to sit cross-legged, close to him. ‘That was not the plan.’
He sat up as well and took her hands. ‘There could be a new plan.’
‘Because you don’t want to die.’ Her face was set hard.
‘Because I don’t want either of us to die. Not today.’
She didn’t speak, but studied his face intently.
He tried again. ‘You said you want away from them.’ He held up his hands in appeal. ‘You said you want them all dead.’
‘There is no away from them.’ Her voice was hard. ‘There is nowhere to run.’
‘It’s not true,’ Reetor objected. ‘I found a place. A place I could be safe.’
She frowned, and gestured to the console. ‘The place in the video? You will not be safe there anymore.’
‘But you could be,’ he said, squeezing her hands hard. He believed it. X would want this girl, he knew it. Her knowledge, her skills … and the Enforcers had never found him, there in the Bunker on Tyver. ‘You need to take the chance. I can take you there.’
‘They’ll kill you,’ she said, reaching over to place the flat of one hand against his chest. ‘The file was clear. If you return, you’re dead.’
He swallowed hard. ‘I’ll take my chances.’
‘For me?’ That frown creased her smooth forehead again, like a blemish he wanted to smooth away.
‘For the chance to know you a little better.’
She edged forward and placed herself in his lap, her legs wrapped over his, their faces almost touching.
‘I’ll come with you,’ she said, reaching up to touch his hair. ‘But not to there.’
He started to object but this time she placed her finger on his lips and spoke softly. ‘Where were you going?’
His stomach churned as he thought about the mission. It was so important. ‘I have to do something, but I can take you back to my people first. It will be very dangerous’
She shook her head. ‘I’m good at dangerous.’
‘No.’ No way.
‘You don’t have any choice,’ she said, her mouth setting into a skinny line. ‘It’s the only deal we’re doing here today.’
He thought about the Avengers down on Hydra, doing the vientamite run.
Could he take this woman to them? What if she was playing for higher stakes with her Temerite masters? Could he expose them like that?
He looked at her hard. He didn’t know her, but he did. She was lethal, but she wasn’t evil. And she wanted a way out as badly as he did.
And somehow, for some inexplicable reason, he trusted her.
‘Okay,’ he said finally, pulling her against him. ‘But I’m driving.’
Thanks for reading The Envoy. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage rosbaxterink.com, follow me on twitter @RosBaxter, or like my Facebook page www.facebook.com/RosBaxterInk.
You can also follow me through my publisher’s page here www.escapepublishing.com.au
Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.
You’ve just read a book in my New Earth series. The other books in this series are White Christmas (a stand-alone short novella) and The Seek (a full-length novel). Each of these can be read separately.
If you liked this book, here are my other books Fish Out of Water and Beached (mermaid mysteries), and Lingerie for Felons (contemporary romance).
This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great booksfrom my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.
Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishing…
White Christmas (novella)
Ros Baxter
What if your only chance at survival was to seduce the man who broke your heart?
Seventeen years after the Apocalypse, Admiral-class Explorer Tabysha is caught up in a firefight and shot down over Tyver, where ice vampires hunt human warmth. Seeking shelter in an ice cave, she is instructed to stay put and await rescue. But after another ship crash-lands, and the Hunter Gatherers stalk its wounded pilot, Tabi breaks protocol.
When it turns out the survivor is the man who stole her heart then skipped out on her ten years before, it seems to Tabi that no good deed goes unpunished, and things can’t get any worse. But she’s so wrong.
As the Hunters pick up the escalating heat signature of the former lovers, Tabi has to tell Asha that there is only one way to repel the creatures stalking them.
And it involves picking up where they left off ten years before.
New Earth Book 1
The Seek
Ros Baxter
From the talented and versatile Ros Baxter comes the first full-length novel in her sexy, engaging, groundbreaking SF Romance series.
When everything else is gone, all you have is hope.
The year is 2098, and the people of New Earth have been homeless for seventeen years. Ruled by a mysterious Council and adrift in a fleet of space stations, their sole mission is to survive long enough to find a new home. They call it The Seek.
Kyntura is the first and only female Avenger — one of the secret, separate elite who stand on the frontline between the refugees of Earth and a universe that would do them harm. For Kyn, fight and pain are the only things that drive out memories of the Apocalypse…and of the boy she left behind when she enlisted. But a young recruit called Mirren and a deadly mission will bring her face to face with all she has tried to forget.
As she leads a squad of Avengers in The Seek, Kyntura will have to face her demons — and the boy whose heart she broke a decade before — to confront the truth about New Earth and save the future of humanity.
New Earth Book 2
Chaos Broken
Rebekah Turner
The final instalment in the Chronicles of Applecross trilogy finds Lora left in charge – and quickly losing control.
Lora Blackgoat is in charge. But after losing a lucrative contract, it looks like she’s also running her beloved benefactor’s mercenary company into the ground while he's away on holidays. Her problems double when she discovers Roman, exiled nephilim warrior and current confusing love interest, is brokering a dangerous peace agreement.
When a new enemy emerges from across the ocean, threatening to tear the city apart, Lora finds
herself taking on new and surprising allies, finally acknowledging the prophecy that haunts her and using it to her advantage.
Curses Once Spoken
Carly Drake
In Words Once Spoken¸ we met Evelyn, the normal girl with an extraordinary secret. Now we meet the men who love her…
Prince Liam and Lord Devon may be mortal enemies, but they’re suffering from the same affliction: they’re both in love with the same woman, Evelyn, the human-raised woman awaiting her coronation as Queen of the Fey.
Liam and Evelyn may have fallen in love, but his blood curse keeps him from taking his place by her side in Faery. Lord Devon has time, family, and lineage on his side. But Evelyn is no ordinary Fae, and she’s not going to wait around for fate to decide.
On a quest for a cure, both Liam and Devon will vie for Evelyn’s love, and a chance to rule Faery by her side.
The MacGregor
Jenny Brigalow
In Children of the Mist, we discovered the secret history of the Children. Now, in the wilds of Scotland, one of them has come of age…
Megan MacGregor has lived her life off the grid, in complete secrecy. Now she’s all grown up, and needs what every female werewolf before her has needed: a mate.
Tracking one down in the lonely wilds of Argyll will be no easy task, but Megan is no ordinary woman. When she finds Sean Duncan, she’ll do anything to keep him. But Sean has secrets and a past of his own, and Megan might get more than she bargained for in a mate.
Chosen Thief
Scarlett Dawn
The second saga in the bestselling, groundbreaking Forever Evermore series begins with Chosen Thief, where the life of a skilled lawbreaker becomes much more than she ever wanted…
Caroline Jules knows death is imminent. She’s only 22, but as an inmate of Death Row in the most secure Mystical jail, what else could her future hold?
Caro has no idea. Her solitary, transient life is about to get flipped on its head when it is revealed that she is the new Prodigy Elemental, and she has responsibilities and ties that she can’t ever escape. Caro is attempting to run from a brutal past, but the Rulers have other plans for this thief’s future.
But the transition from a self-contained existence to life with the other Prodigies, the Kings and Queens, and even the Elders was never going to be easy, and Caro has secrets she’s loath to share. Suddenly she has friends, mentors, lovers — and they all want to know more about her than she is willing to reveal.
Will Caro ever escape the darkness of all she is, or will she fall deeper into the life that has been chosen for her?
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Sign up to our newsletter
Share your reading experience on:
The Escapades Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Watch our reviews, author interviews and more on Escape Publishing TV
ISBN: 9780857992420
Title: The Envoy
Copyright © 2015 by Ros Baxter
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 4/132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2060.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.escapepublishing.com.au