“Don’t worry, we’ll get there. We have a few million first-borns to burn through to get it right.”
Kiarra opened her eyes and embraced the guilt she felt every time she thought about what had happened to those poor first-born teenagers.
Because of her blood, not only had five teenagers already gone insane, but their insanity was driving an untold number of them to suicide.
And the researchers wanted to repeat the process with a larger group.
She couldn’t let that happen.
They needed her blood, drawn and injected within hours, as a type of catalyst for the Null Formula to work. If they didn’t have access to her blood, they wouldn’t be able to conduct any more tests.
There was a chance the researchers might find another catalyst within a few weeks or months, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Stopping the tests, even for a few months, would prevent more people from going insane or committing suicide.
Kiarra needed to die.
I can do this. Think of the others. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip around the shiv’s handle and whispered, “Please let this work,”” before raising the blade with a steady hand and plunging it into the top half of her forearm.
Kiarra sucked in a breath as a searing pain shot up her arm. To prevent herself from making any more noise, she bit her lip. Despite the AMT-wide staff meeting, a guard would come to investigate her cell if she screamed.
You can do this, Kiarra. Finish it. With her next inhalation, she pulled the blade a fraction more down toward her wrist. This time she bit her lip hard enough she could taste iron on her tongue.
While her brain screamed for her to stop, she ignored it and gripped the handle of the blade until it bit into her palm. Only when her heart stopped beating would the other first-borns be safe—at least from her.
An image of a little girl crying, reaching out her arms and screaming Kiarra’s name, came unbidden into her mind, but she forced it aside. Her sister had abandoned her, just like the rest of her family. Her death wouldn’t cause anyone sadness or pain. Rather, through death, she would finally have a purpose.
This was it. On the next inhalation, she moved the blade a fraction. But before she could finish the job, the door of her cell slid open.
Kiarra looked up and saw a tall man, dressed head to toe in black, standing in her doorway and pointing a gun straight at her.
Shit. She’d been discovered.
———————
Blaze of Secrets is now available on Amazon (Amazon UK / Amazon AU / Amazon CA / Amazon DE).
Books by Jessie Donovan
Asylums for Magical Threats
Blaze of Secrets (AMT #1)
Frozen Desires (AMT #2)
Shadow of Temptation (AMT #3)
Flare of Promise (AMT #4)
Whirlwind of Change (AMT #5 / 2017 TBD)
Cascade Shifters
Convincing the Cougar (CS #0.5)
Reclaiming the Wolf (CS #1)
Cougar’s First Christmas (CS #2)
Resisting the Cougar (CS #3)
Kelderan Runic Warriors
The Conquest (KRW #1)
The Barren (KRW #2 / 2017 TBD)
Lochguard Highland Dragons
The Dragon’s Dilemma (LHD #1)
The Dragon Guardian (LHD #2)
The Dragon’s Heart (LHD #3)
The Dragon Warrior / Faye and Grant (LHD #4 / Feb 16, 2017)
Stonefire Dragons
Sacrificed to the Dragon (SD #1)
Seducing the Dragon (SD #2)
Revealing the Dragons (SD #3)
Healed by the Dragon (SD #4)
Reawakening the Dragon (SD #5)
Loved by the Dragon (SD #6)
Surrendering to the Dragon (SD #7)
Cured by the Dragon (SD #8)
Aiding the Dragon / Aaron Caruso and Teagan O’Shea (SD #9 / May 2017)
Author’s Note
Thank you for taking a chance on my new series. I grew up watching Doctor Who, Star Trek (Original, Next Generation, and Deep Space 9), and Red Dwarf. I’ve always had a love of sci-fi mixed with humor and close relationships. In fact, my first attempt at writing my dragon series took place on an alien planet. However, that eventually changed to a contemporary paranormal romance, but I always wanted to try writing a sci-fi romance someday. Then the idea hit me—what if there was a shortage of men instead of women? And The Conquest was born.
This book took a lot of world-building and work, but I think it turned out well. Of course I couldn’t have done it without help or feedback from others. I wish to thank the following people:
—Becky Johnson and her team at Hot Tree Editing. They caught quite a few of my inconsistencies and made the story better. Thank you!
—Clarissa Yeo of Yocla Designs. Every cover she makes for me is amazing and this one is no different. She knows exactly how to portray the genre without making it look like ever other sci-fi romance out there. I really appreciate her talent!
—My three beta-readers: Donna H., Iliana G., and Alyson S. These three ladies found a few more inconsistencies and typos. They helped me polish it up and I appreciate their help immensely.
I also wish to thank my readers. You make my dream of writing full-time possible. I know some of you wish I wrote faster, but know deep down that long, quality stories take time. Thanks for your patience and support. It means the world to me.
My plan is to have the second book in this series out sometime in 2017. It will be about Vala and Thorin and should prove extremely interesting. It may not seem so on the surface, but they really do suit each other. While I always post updates on my website or Facebook, you can make sure you hear all the latest news by joining my newsletter.
Thanks and I hope to see you at the end of the next story.
About the Author
Jessie Donovan wrote her first story at age five, and after discovering The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey in junior high, she realized people actually wanted to read stories like those floating around inside her head. From there on out, she was determined to tap into her over-active imagination and write a book someday.
After living abroad for five years and earning degrees in Japanese, Anthropology, and Secondary Education, she buckled down and finally wrote her first full-length book. While that story will never see the light of day, it laid the world-building groundwork of what would become her debut paranormal romance, Blaze of Secrets. In late 2014, she officially became a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
Jessie loves to interact with readers. When not reading a book or traipsing around some foreign country on a shoestring, she can often be found on Facebook either on her Author Page or in her Fan Group.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Conquest
Copyright © 2017 Laura Hoak-Kagey
Mythical Lake Press, LLC
First Digital Edition
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Art by Clarissa Yeo of Yocla Designs
ISBN: 978-1942211471
The Conquest (Kelderan Runic Warriors Book 1) Page 25