BONUS BOOK: KIDNAPPED BY SURTU.

Part 1: Desire TERRA.

The new planet was beautiful, but it was not my home.

I left the bed I shared with my alien lover and looked out of the window of our small hut onto the lush jungle below. In this place, we were both aliens.

Our world belonged to neither of us, but it was the only refuge we had now that the Surtu had conquered Earth.

The Surtu. The words were a curse as much as they were a blessing. Having travelled across the universe, the Surtu had come to Earth. Their mission was claiming human women as their mates.

Their females were dying from an incurable disease. The Surtu possessed a unique healing ability, but it was not enough to save them. No one understood how their light healed people. Whatever mysterious forces allowed their powers to work didn't enable them to eliminate their disease.

Humans were the closest genetic match in the universe to the Surtu, evident by our physical resemblance. The Surtu were taller and stronger than humans. They had large elfin eyes with flecks of light that danced around the pupils, but we were similar in every other way.

We could mate. Our children grew up healthy, strong, and resistant to the disease the Surtu women suffered, especially when the child was conceived within a light bond.

Our bodies were not a gift we gave freely. The Surtu invaded Earth under the proclamation that they were doing so to prevent their extinction. They declared that women were sacred to them. Everything they said was technically accurate, but their desperation had made them cruel. Humanity was their salvation, but the Surtu were taking us by force.

Our hope lay in some Surtu like Jidden, my lover. My light bonded. A minority of Surtu soldiers had formed an underground network. They helped men, women, and children escape to our new planet, which was in a secret location.

They knew Earth would not succeed in its fight to defend itself against the invasion. The fleets of Surtu ships that made up its military did not outnumber those of humans, but their strength, technology, and ability to heal made up for it.

For me, Jidden was the blessing in everything, the positive that shined within the ash. He had saved me both with his love and with his deeds.

He brought me here almost a month ago, rescuing me from a long journey that had turned me from a mousy pacifist to a lethal assassin with dark auburn hair Nightshade. I wore the color black like a shield, guarding myself against those who wished to destroy me.

I didn't have to worry about that here. I was safe, for now, because of Jidden.

In the distance, two suns woke the land with their rays. The sun that appeared smaller was the larger of the two. It was an illusion. One sun was farther out within the depths of space. Its size deceived those who saw it in the sky. It was easy to believe the smaller sun was inferior to the larger one that dominated the day, but it was foolish to judge by size alone.

I clenched my hand against the frame of the window of the hut and felt agitated. The Surtu hierarchy would learn they were wrong about humanity just like people were wrong about the smaller sun. They thought they were the master race, free to torture, and take, and kill.

They were wrong.

Sweat dripped down my hand, falling into tiny crevasses where the wood frame bit into the flesh of my palm. With two suns, it was inevitable that profuse sweat continuously poured from our bodies. The daily rainfall usually washed the sweat away, cooling us just like it cooled the land. The water created lush jungles that surrounded us. The humidity also created unbearable heat.

I tried to focus on something other than my physical condition. Somewhere beyond those suns was Earth. I thought of my family and wondered what had become of them after the Surtu took over. They weighed heavily on my mind, but I was here, and they were there.

I glanced over at Jidden. He lay feverishly on the bed, and his dark hair was messy. It was difficult for both of us to sleep.

I couldn't ignore the distance growing between us as a couple, and I feared nothing would be the same again.

ONE MONTH EARLIER.

We were safe, but the Earth was lost.

Onboard the rescue ship, I held onto Jidden tightly. Part of me wanted to cry, but my anger wouldn't allow the luxury of tears. It was red and vicious. The rage exploded inside me like a volcano and took away the hope I had when we first took off.

My one solace was Jidden. His love made the wound of losing Earth to the Surtu bearable.

Jidden was of the Surtu. Technically, he was the enemy, but he was no enemy to me. Once serving only himself, Jidden had sacrificed everything to be with me. If anything, he was my savior. His light had helped bring out my inner darkness, and that part of he had achieved something good.

At least, if killing three men could be considered good. Although they trained me to be a warrior, I had recently taken a life for the first time. I had shot the men to save the innocence and integrity of a boarding school full of young women, but it was still a shock to see blood on my hands.

Before the Surtu had invaded, I did not think myself capable of violence, but the truth was, we are all was capable of violence. There wasn't anything pure in nature. A doe could lead a man to his death if it chose.

"I shot them," I murmured into Jidden's shoulder. His presence was steady and comforting. In fact, it was the only comfort I had left.

"They're dead."

"And more will be," he predicted. "You will likely kill again. In war, we kill to protect those we love. And we kill to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"Don't," I said. I reached out to stop him. "I don't need a lecture of what's justifiable and what's not. The lines are too blurred. I can't process it right now."

"Then tell me what you need me to do."

I stepped back. I appreciated Jidden's support, but he was mistaken. "I'm not upset that I killed. I'm glad I killed those men. I feel no remorse at all. That's what worries me my apathy."

In reply, Jidden placed both his hands on top of my head and smoothed down my mousy brown roots. Beneath his touch, I felt a light flow of electricity that was warm, like a hearth in winter. When he was finished, he held out a strand of my hair for me to see.

The entire length was now a dark auburn, reflective of the type of warrior I had become. I had fashioned my new self after the Surtu goddess Jidden had told me told me about Nelti, a goddess who was equally dark as she was protective of those she loved.

"You are no cold-blooded murderer," he reassured me. "You are strong, adaptable, and resilient. Whether you call yourself Terra or Nightshade, I accept you and love you for whoever you want to be."

I was in awe and moved by his speech. I caressed the strand of hair with my finger. "Is the change permanent?"

"As long as you want it to be."

Jidden's dark blue eyes were full of intensity and sincerity. The flecks of light around his pupils dancing with a heated devotion. It sent a flush of arousal coursing through my body. He was much taller than me and had the body of a well-trained soldier, but my desire to feel our flesh collide was much deeper than a superficial attraction. Our souls were connected and light bonded beyond our physical forms.

We stood alone in a corridor of the rescue ship, but our isolation wasn't guaranteed. Still, I reached up and grabbed Jidden by the back of his head, pulling him towards me in a kiss that would make a hooker blush. His tongue took charge of mine as he pressed his body against me, matching my need. I wanted him to take me here forceful and unrelenting with my back to the wall. To tell him so, I reached my hand down and wrapped it around his erect cock.

We weren't alone.

"That's enough," a woman with blonde hair commanded briskly, finding us in the corridor. "We're about to land."

Reluctantly, I let my hand drop, barely acknowledging the woman. I didn't even know who she was.

"Terra, this is Delia Godfrey," he said. He spoke her name with respect and that told me she had a high rank. Jidden was once the Lead Officer of his ship within the Surtu military, and he revered hierarchy.

"General Delia Godfrey," the woman corrected. "But you can call me Godfrey."

Godfrey didn't look anything like what I thought a General should. Her dark blonde hair was long and styled into a high ponytail, like a model on a runway. Her demeanor was rough and unapologetic. She wore camouflage cargo pants with a gray sweat-covered T-shirt; it was tucked tightly into her waist.

"I heard how you saved those girls at the boarding school, and the townspeople hiding in the barn," Godfrey said. "Not bad, for rookies."

"We're not rookies," I insisted. I wasn't offended. Godfrey seemed a person who would bond over banter. "I am Commander of the Fortuna."

"You were Commander of the Fortuna," Godfrey said quickly. "There is no more Fortuna."

So she was serious. I stood up straight. I wasn't going to have my title revoked so quickly, not after all the hardship I had endured. "Our space station may have been invaded and converted into enemy headquarters, but the heart of the Fortuna lives on in my women and me. As long as we are alive, the Fortuna still exists. We will continue to protect our people on Earth, and we will do whatever it takes."

Godfrey was impressed. "Good," she stated. "Our people need it." Then she walked away, leaving Jidden and me alone in the corridor again.

"Where did you pick her up?" I muttered, unsure if I liked the woman or not.

Jidden seemed uncomfortable beside me. "I'll explain later. Are you ready to land? Our new home is waiting."

I shook my head in disagreement. "No. It is a refuge, one I am thankful for, but it is not home. Earth is home."

"Surt is home," Jidden echoed, surprising me with his sentiment. I had thought he considered ships his only home, jumping from one to the next like a frog on a lily pad, chasing a fly.

"Where is your ship?" I asked.

"At the refuge with your sisters."

My sister warriors. I longed to see them. So when I asked the next question, I tried to keep it free of judgment. "Why didn't you stay on Earth?" I asked. Jidden had helped the women of the Fortuna escape captivity from the Surtu men by loading them onto his ship and flying away.

I wish I had been with them. Instead, I had stayed behind to open the hatch in the docking bay, allowing their ship to leave. My sentence for doing so had been to become a slave to Captain Fore, the Fleet Captain. He had been Jidden's superior.

"We never made it to Earth. We couldn't travel by light without immediately revealing our location to the Surtu, who watched the skies. Traveling by light is quick, but it is not discreet."

From personal experience, I knew he spoke the truth. When Jidden had first boarded the Fortuna with his men, he changed his physical form to brilliant light. It was blinding. I had experienced the transformation only once personally. It was when I had light bonded with Jidden, sealing our fates together.

"So what did you do?" I asked, "We approached Earth at regular speed, but your military in their space stations would not let us pass, even after we explained who we were. They did not want a Surtu ship to land, no matter who traveled inside. We didn't have a choice. We returned to deep space, hiding within the darkness until we picked up a strange beacon. It guided us to a new planet."

I was confused. "You followed a beacon? Why would you trust it?"

"What else were we going to do? Someone put the beacon there and had faith in us," he replied. "When we landed on the planet, there were no other people. Whoever sent the beacon did not show themselves, but we stayed to regroup and to decide on our next move."

He paused for a moment.

"Another Surtu ship arrived soon after us, guided by the same beacon. That's when we learned about the network. It's a movement to help humans escape capture, inspired by the flight of the warriors on the Fortuna, and inspired by rumors that you and I had light bonded of our free will. The network wants to create a society where humans and Surtu live together in freedom and love."

He touched my cheek. "We set an example, Terra. We were the first to find love, but we will not be the last. Many more will follow us."

"And the Surtu will be saved from extinction," I breathed, understanding the deeper implications of the society the network hoped to create.

Jidden looked upon me with regret in his eyes. "My people will be saved from extinction, but they will not stay the same. Neither will yours. Given enough time, our two races will blend and no longer be distinct from each other."

I had already accepted that reality. I placed my hand over the one he had on my cheek, feeling nothing but love for him. "At least this way, the best parts of us will merge of our free will. That is what we fight for our freedom. We have no control over what happens later."

"You are the best part of me," Jidden said.

Abruptly, the ship shook, entering the atmosphere of the new planet. It didn't give me a chance for a decent reply. I looked out the window, but a fog masked our landing.

"What is the refuge like?" I asked. I was curious.

Jidden grinned as bright as the light within him. "You're about to find out."

"Terra?" Lucina whispered. Her face was pale and expressionless as I entered the central building of the refuge. It was high in the trees of a verdant jungle, where the lush flora grew in defiance of the two suns above.

It broke my heart to see Lucina so fragile. She had been my best friend since childhood. Usually, she was the stronger of us. She healed my emotional wounds with her charm and radiance. I wasn't sure I could do the same for her now.

The death of Gallia weighed on her like an iron collar.

Gallia, our former Commander, had died while confronting a Surtu soldier who had claimed Lucina as his own. She wanted nothing to do with him.

His name was Kalij.

He was a cruel man with dirty ginger hair, but he couldn't hurt her anymore. By killing Gallia, he had sentenced himself to death. The last time I saw him, he was being led away by his fellow soldiers.

Kalij was dead, but Lucina still had not recovered. Her clothes were an army T-shirt and pants. They were likely loaned to her from Godfrey to replace the Surtu uniform she had worn while captive. The clothes hung from her petite frame and made her look like a scarecrow. Her bright blonde hair had dulled.

"I'm here," I told her, trying to keep my pity to myself. She probably wouldn't have noticed, but my sorrow would dishonor her. I knew a happy Lucina was inside somewhere, hidden underneath layers of grief. I made a silent vow that I would help Lucina find herself again.

"Good," she said. She sounded pleased, but her expression did not change. "You're here."

We embraced. As we did, I felt a longing to be a child again. I remembered when Lucina and I ran around the desert full of innocence before we lived the consequences of war.

"It's about time," Bellona muttered behind me, her fire-red hair falling around her body like a robe. It was as close to an emotional display as Bellona was going to give.

She had been a priestess on board the Fortuna, but her wisdom was always practical and discerning. Bellona's advice was free from emotion, just like her skills as the Red Assassin.

"Bellona!" I greeted her happily. I was truly delighted to see her. I was pleased to see everybody. With the fate of my family unknown, my women were the only family I had left. Together with Jidden, they were everything I had of value in the world. "How is it here?" "Terrible," she answered. "We're here hiding when we should be on Earth fighting. One arrogant sidearm thinks we'll draw too much attention on Earth if we return, and we'll ruin the efforts of this network everyone is talking about."

I knew she was referring to Godfrey. "Who is she?"

"She's your replacement. At least, she tries to be. I keep telling her that we rescue people by fighting those who hurt them, not by sitting in our lovely little huts, but she refuses to let us return."

"My replacement?" A knot of disappointment formed in my stomach.

"She piloted the first ship that met us on the planet. After hearing of our escape from the Fortuna while she fought the Surtu with her blasters, she planned an exodus of her own. She stole a Surtu ship and filling it full of refugees. She knew we were out here, somewhere, and she flew blind, hoping to find us. That's when she received the same mysterious signal we did."

One minute I despised Godfrey, but she could win me back over in a heartbeat. "Her efforts should be applauded."

"Her efforts are different than her command. Upon landing here, she immediately took charge because she was a General. Our sister warriors did not protest. We were still mourning you and your sacrifice. None of us thought it would be forever. Godfrey sure the hell thinks it's permanent."

"So you don't like her?"

"I don't like that she assumes everyone will do what she says. She's a woman, but she's no sister. She doesn't treat us with the same respect you did." She hesitated.