Band and woman on the run
Irene sat at the dinette, her back to the table, when Rusp returned. He looked deflated, as if he’d suffered misfortune.
“It go same as always, huh?” Jemi sat next to Irene, holding her. She’d almost stopped shaking. He reached and briefly squeezed his Nobek’s hand as Rusp passed.
“I never be his favorite son.” Rusp smiled weakly, indicating it was an attempt to joke. His clanmates smiled as feebly.
He stood next to Sherv, who’d paused pacing at his entrance. The Dramok patted his shoulder. “Thank you for talking to him. What he say?”
“Is bad. Earther and Kalquorian can have children together. Empire claim they rescue human women, but I think kidnaps are because we have three hundred years to extinct.”
“Three hundred years?” Jemi paled, then shook his head. “Still not right to take women from station.”
“Not only station.” Rusp gazed at Irene miserably. “Kalquor take all Earther Mataras they find off Earth. Give to clans.”
Cold sliced through her. “It’s like the Church said. They’ll make us sex slaves.”
“No, not…well…they promise you be equal to us. Live in best home, with biggest rank clans. Not slave, but you have to be clan Mataras.” He shook his head. “Maybe it is slave if no choice. I don’t know. This is too insane for me to understand.”
Irene shoved past the horror of what his world was doing. “How much trouble are you in for helping me?”
Rusp shrugged. “If caught, arrested. Face charges.”
Sherv’s jaw jutted stubbornly. “No matter. Irene wants home and parents. We find a way to take you there, don’t let Nil take you to Kalquor.”
Rusp nodded, his gaze meeting Irene’s. “Is correct to keep you safe, no matter what happens to us. I tell father I do it, and I mean it.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. They’d risked everything. “You shouldn’t be in this position. I don’t want you to suffer because of me.”
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She searched for freedom and found a Kalquorian clan.
Irene Jonson is a rising star in opera, thanks to Earth forcing her to leave her parents as a teen to join a prestigious opera company. Years later, she loves music, but she wants the freedom to forge her own path as a performer and be reunited with her family.
Sherv, Rusp, and Jemi are a clan and band playing hard, driving music. Success means more than fame and fortune; it would show their disapproving families they’ve chosen the lives they were meant to live. Encountering Irene, creating a new and exciting sound, gives them that opportunity…and a chance at love.
Two worlds on the brink of war threaten everything Irene and Clan Sherv have built and everything they dream of. Two worlds are bent on snatching Irene from the men and music she loves. What chance do four misfit musicians possibly have against Earth and the Kalquorian Empire?
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