Sanctuary's Aggression Complete Collection Box Set: A Post-apocalyptic Survival Thriller Series

by Maira Dawn

  Sonora knew what he wanted. Her breath rushed from her as she stared at his full lips. "Please."

  His mouth came to hers, gentle then more demanding. Ian stopped and raised his head to gauge her reaction. After seeing her glazed look, he smirked. And came back for more.

  Sonora tightened her grip on Ian's wide shoulders. He wasn't going anywhere without her.

  Everything was perfect now.

  Sanctuary’s Aggression 7: The Atlantis Cure

  This box set is compiled in the order in which the books were written. The prequel books, The Beginning and The Atlantis Cure, can be read first or where they are located in the box set.

  The prequels are important to the conclusion of the series.

  Thank you for reading the series. :)

  Copyright © 2021 Maira Dawn

  All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and a resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Contents

  1. The Couple

  2. Love and Tragedy

  3. Happy

  4. Start There

  5. Goodbye for Now

  6. A Start

  7. My Main Man

  8. The Most Danger

  9. Confessions

  10. There had been a Day

  11. Soon

  12. The Heist

  13. The Box

  14. Hope

  15. Home

  16. Debate

  17. Justice

  18. Trouble

  19. Jorah

  20. Reaching

  21. Disagreements

  22. The Handshake

  23. Even This Wrong

  24. Threats

  25. All Edges

  26. Murder

  27. Hello, Little Niece

  28. A Special Cocktail

  29. Labs

  30. Changes

  31. Time

  32. Deadly

  33. Escape

  34. Revelation

  35. The Best Thing

  36. Reeling

  37. Your Name

  38. Something Horrible

  39. It Must End

  40. Everyone Makes Mistakes

  41. Escape

  42. Turns Out

  43. The Larger Good

  44. Dark Horizon

  45. Genetics

  46. Nick

  47. You Would Be Surprised

  48. Disappeared

  49. Sierra

  50. Little Boy

  51. In The House

  52. Dark Storm

  53. The New Way Home

  54. Not Problem at All

  55. Save The World

  One

  The Couple

  Chapter One

  Azurine watched her daughter and an immensely attractive man as they kissed on the dance-floor. He certainly had been determined to get to Sonora. But, who was he? No one she had met before, that was for sure. Azurine tapped a finger against her cheek in thought. Maybe Claire had been right. Maybe Sonora had fallen for the man who saved her that day in the ocean, and maybe, this was him. What was his name again? Oh yes, Ian.

  Sierra dreamily smiled as she laid her head against her new husband’s shoulder. She looked over at her sister questioningly and raised an eyebrow. So, was he the one Sonora refused to talk about? Looked like a determined one. Sierra wouldn’t be surprised if her sister was the next one in a wedding dress.

  Blake turned a deep shade of red as he eyed the couple. Ian hadn’t mentioned that he knew Sunny, let alone that he was in the habit of kissing her. But now so many little things were falling into place. Ian’s confusion and anger at the wedding when he’d thought Sunny was the bride, and his insistence on coming to the reception when he had at first refused. Blake’s hands clenched into fists.

  “No, never!” he muttered to himself. “Over my dead body!” He walked across the dance-floor, his anger building with every step he took. On reaching the dancing couple, Blake grabbed Ian’s arm and said, "We have to talk."

  Sonora's eyebrows creased as she tore her gaze from Ian. "Grandpa?"

  Ian continued to stare at Sunny, unwilling to acknowledge Blake, but Blake wasn't giving up. "Ian!" he whispered harshly.

  "Go away,” Ian said. “I have until midnight."

  "Until midnight? What kind of—" Blake sharply shook his head. "This isn't a fairy tale! I need to speak to you now before it is too late." Maybe if he could get Ian away from Sonora, then the worst couldn't happen.

  Ian disagreed. "It's already too late. She's my Intended. She's been my Intended."

  "What? When?"

  "When she was missing," Ian said.

  Blake swung his gaze to his granddaughter who now had her eyes glued to the floor.

  “Sorry, Grandpa,” she said.

  Blake stared at Sunny, then back at Ian. How had this happened?

  "Ian. Now!" Blake barked, causing those near them to turn their way.

  Ian ran his hand down Sonora's arm as he turned to leave. Sonora frowned and grabbed an arm of each of them. "You two know each other?" she asked.

  Neither answered her question, instead they turned in sync and said, "Stay here."

  Sonora stood there for a moment, hand on her hips and a question on her face, before she threw her hands in the hair and mumbled, “Like I’m going to stay here in the middle of the dance-floor.” She trailed the men.

  Since dinner was over, most of the servers and kitchen staff had gone home for the evening. So when Blake and Ian burst through the kitchen doors, only two servers were gathering their belongings to leave by the backdoor. One of them was the young woman who Ian had talked to earlier. For a moment, her face lit up at the sight of Ian's big frame striding through the swinging doors. Then seeing the thunderous looks on the men's faces, she hurriedly pushed her friend toward the outer door. “Let’s get out of here. I was here once before when a fight broke out, and the paperwork alone makes me shudder. I don’t intend to stick around for another one.”

  Blake was happy to see the servers leave no matter why they were doing it. As soon as the door swung shut behind them, Blake said, "You went after my granddaughter? What is wrong with you?"

  Ian stood his ground. "I did not go after her, she called to me as Jata Ara. You better settle, old man. Your face is red. You are going to have one of those heart issues they have up here."

  Blake stepped toe to toe with Ian. "My granddaughter!"

  "I did not know she was your granddaughter! Do you think I would have chosen Atlantian’s most hated man’s kin as mine if I’d had a choice? You know how it happens.”

  Blake ran a hand through his hair and exhaled a deep sigh. Of course, what Ian said was true. Still, he didn't like it. Not one bit.

  Ian chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, the woman has led me a merry chase and she continues to do so. It has not been an easy courtship."

  Blake snorted. "Good."

  Ian threw him an irritated look. "This could be considered your fault, having a family up here. Do you know what you did to me? I thought I fell for a human. A human! I thought I was going crazy." He slapped his hand on the steel table. The sound reverberated around the kitchen. "I still could be. After all, she's only one-quarter Atlantian. She might as well be human."

  Blak
e's eyes narrowed. "What did you call my granddaughter?"

  "I call her what she is, it doesn't mean I don't love her."

  "Do not call her human!" Blake, still reeling over the sight of Sonora and Ian, knew he was being unreasonable. His granddaughter was exactly what Ian said she was, but it was something that had always eaten at him.

  "Blake, settle."

  Blake ripped off his jacket and slugged Ian in the face as hard as he could.

  Ian rubbed his chin, unruffled. “I hope that made you feel better. I’m impressed you can still defend your family as well as you can.”

  "I hope you got your fill tonight," Blake growled. "Because you will never see Sunny again. You do not have my permission to be with her. And without it, my being a criminal or no, you will never have her!"

  Ian stilled, staring daggers at Blake. "You have no say."

  "You know that is not true."

  Ian dropped his fists to his side and clenched his jaw. “If she is ready to come to me, I will not allow anyone to stop her.” He yanked Blake up by the front of his shirt, ignoring the ripping sound of fabric.

  Blake reached for a weapon, any weapon, clattering through utensils laying on a metal tray, but came up empty. Ian slammed Blake up against the wall, a resolute look in his eye.

  A small feminine gasp sounded behind them, and Ian closed his eyes. Blake shot a look at the door. Sunny stood there.

  Her gaze flickered over the guilty faces of the two men, her hands tightly clasped in front of her.

  “Ian, please!” she begged. “Let my grandfather go!”

  Blake stumbled when Ian instantly dropped him but found his footing.

  Sonora took a tiny step back as a hand flew to cover her mouth and the other pointed at her grandfather. “Grandpa?”

  The word seemed to echo across the room as Blake looked down at himself. A large rip at the shoulder of his shirt had exposed his shimmering tattoo. He raised his head and stared at Sonora sadly. “Oh, honey.”

  Sonora stared back at Blake, head swimming, as she finally put everything together. She had once watched a professional pinball tournament where one player, after a Lazarus ball and a couple of amazing thumpers, carefully nudged, tilted and stacked the machine. When the backbox blazed and strobed with the final score, the machine seemed to quiver and chime without end.

  Her mind felt like that pinball machine. It was like everything aligned just right. All the lights and bells were firing. It all made sense now.

  Her gaze darted to her grandfather's sickened face. Grandpa's lack of relatives, his need to be near the ocean, and so many other small things she had noticed through the years.

  Surely, her mother knew. And Dad—he hadn't told her the entire truth.

  Sonora's gaze shifted to Ian's face. Is this why she felt closer to him than she should have almost from the beginning? Why she couldn’t let go of him even after all this time?

  Is it why she loved the sea so much? Why the thought of living there didn’t frighten her, but rather excited her? Grandpa always said she was the most like him. Was this what he meant?

  Two

  Love and Tragedy

  Chapter Two

  Blake felt his heartbeat slow to what seemed like almost nothing for the first time in years, as he wished to be anywhere but there in that moment. Unable to tear his horrified gaze from his granddaughter's face, it forced Blake to watch her every reaction. Sonora's shocked voice beat against his ears. His stomach twisted. This is what he'd hoped and prayed would never happen.

  How did he tell her she wasn't who she thought she was, but something the people she lived among would fear and revile? How did he tell her his actions led to the human’s fear?

  Oh, how he regretted the day he rose from the sea with vengeance in his heart and betrayal in his hands. That was the day he put his family in danger before they were even born.

  Blake reached for Sunny, her name a question on his lips as he asked for forgiveness before she knew what she would be forgiving. Sonora gave it willingly and flew to his arms. Blake tightly wrapped her in his, holding her soft, small body as if it would help ward off the memories that flooded him.

  Argos. The name spun through Blake's mind. The minute he had heard the name, it had taken him back. Back to the silken sea flowing over him, back to the family and friends left behind. Back to her.

  After all this time, it was better not to let her name grace his thoughts, let alone his lips. The emotions still ran through him like a crack deep in his soul, and he worried it was still just as dark.

  Sixty years. Sixty. He'd been so full of life and vigor then. So young. And so sure—of everything.

  Twenty-one. He'd been young to join with his Intended. Though some felt their Intended almost from birth, they held marriage off until the late thirties or even forties. Most found their beloved, as he did, exploring the cities of the sea. But he'd been young, almost a child, as he had toured along with his older brother. Not the mature man he should have been. It was his undoing, and hers as well.

  Love and tragedy had come so quickly on the back of one another and left him bereft. Sucking everything from his soul but that last breath—the one that would've given him peace. And with that breath, he'd torn the world to pieces. Until they captured him.

  The man he was, Argos, quickly learned to fear what humans could do. Drugs and torture under the guise of medical experiments stopped his rage and replaced it with the resignation this would be how his life ended.

  Until Sarah.

  One kind human who cared for Argos more than he deserved. She helped him escape and find a new life at her side. He cared for her, and bonded in some small way, but never loved her as he had his Jata Ara. But Sarah gave him children and them, grandchildren. Family, the greatest joy for an Atlantian.

  If Blake were to be honest, his favorite stood before him now, her warm arms hooked around him and a frantic question in her bright blue eyes.

  Blake pulled Sonora closer to him. He knew what Ian could give her, and even if she was a quarter Atlantian, it wasn't enough. Ian would tire of the struggle of trying to bond with a human. An Atlantian could only truly love another Atlantian.

  How many times had Blake been by Sarah's side in sorrow? An intense desire for someone else, anyone else, who would share his enthusiasm of senses? Someone to bond to, their emotions full and heavy with the entire power of his people, reaching out with empathy and awareness?

  Sarah had known. On some level, she had known. And he would die before he allowed Sonora to suffer the same loveless fate of her grandmother. No, it was better this ended now.

  "Grandpa?" Sonora asked as she patted Blake.

  "Sunny dear," Blake said in a stern voice, his look direct. "There are things about this man. Things you cannot know, and I don't want you near him."

  Sunny released her grandfather and looked over at Ian, who scowled at Blake. "It looks like he thinks the same about you, Grandpa."

  Blake looked away and nodded. "He does."

  "So," Sonora said. "The two of you will fight about this?"

  Ian's words were rough as gravel as he said, "Your grandfather does not make my decisions."

  "Fight a different day. I promised Ian this evening, so that’s what will happen, Grandpa." Sonora's determination was every bit as firm as her grandfather's.

  "It will be too late then," Blake said.

  "Well, Grandpa, if you mean what I think you mean, it's already too late. Ian already told you that," Sonora entreated him. "Let us have tonight."

  When Blake said nothing, Sonora turned to Ian and held out her hand to him. A blazing smile replaced his scowl.

  Sonora pinked and peeked up at Ian. "Shall we dance?"

  When he nodded, Sonora led him back out to the dance-floor.

  Three

  Happy

  Chapter Three

  The music was slow and steady, quite unlike Sonora's heart. It pounded out a rhythm so hard she was sure Ian could hear it. She revel
ed in the feel of his strong hand in hers, the weight of his other at the small of her back.

  She'd tried for so long to forget this man, to reject him, only to have her first thought of the morning and every waking moment after that be about him. Then he strolled into her life like he had every right to be here. And if she listened to her thundering heart, he did.

  She'd left Atlantis thinking whatever sorrow there belonged to Ian and any lingering sadness she'd carried would soon disappear. Instead, regret followed Sonora, stayed with her. It had grown, and over time, she realized it was her own.

  It had been a mistake to lie to him, telling Ian she felt nothing for him. She did. She did then, and she did now. But they were not the immense feelings he had. His feelings frightened her, a lot. Would she be able to keep up with that?

  Sonora looked up at Ian and squeezed his hand. She didn't need to reject him even with the complications. There were other things to consider.

  Ian stared at her, and she smiled. At one time, this habit of his would've made her uneasy or irritated, but now she felt differently.