Page 1 of The Erion Triad

Chapter One

Lucie

Get the crystal. Don’t let anyone see you. Get it and don’t look back.Get the crystal. Get it now.

The voice reverberated around Lucie’s head, knocking all thoughts out of its way. No matter how small. No matter if they were just the potential of a thought. It was too strong to ignore, and she didn’t have the energy to fight it anymore.

It was just. So. Persistent.

She’d tried for weeks now. Weeks of ignoring. Of pretending. Of pleading it to go away. Of demanding it to shut up. Only now… it had worn her down. She just couldn’t take it anymore.

Oh, she knew what she was going to do was wrong. So, so wrong. She would never be forgiven, not even by these men—aliens—who had claimed her as their exalted mate.

After all, the fate of their Homeland hinged on the crystal in the tower. Without the supernatural power of the crystal, Triad males could not find their female mate to form Quads. Without Quads connected through the mate-sync, there could be no children conceived. Their population has stagnated. A whole race of people would die out.

Her mates had returned the Erion crystal to the tower just after they’d landed on their Homeplanet. Their subjects had lined the streets, cheering, clapping, yelling, laughing. They were saved. They finally had hope for their future. People had come from all over to witness this momentous event. And ithadbeen momentous. After ten years, their race had hope for survival. Only their tower had not lit up, even with the precious crystal put back into its place of honor.

The jubilations hadn’t lasted long after that. No one could work out why the crystal had not powered the tower. Even their experts had come up short.

But she knew.

The demonic voice in her head that had tormented her since she’d escaped the Reptiles cages told her it wouldn’t light up. Not without its specific authorization. There was a lock on it that only it could undo. It also told her not to say a thing.

That it would hurt her mates if she did.

Even though she was clearly insane, she listened to it.

She was too terrified not to.

The three men, who had saved her—treated her with absolute affection and caring—would be harmed because of her. She almost couldn’t believe that total strangers could even act that way. She didn’t believe it could possibly be real. How could it? They didn’t know a thing about her and besides, she wasn’t going to stay here for long. Three weeks, she had been here for, and while they were incredible men, catering to her every whim, this wasn’t her planet, or her home. She wouldn’t be sticking around. When she could, she would return to Earth.

Besides, relationships didn’t work that way. Three men didn’t just snap and fall in love with a woman, driven by a mystical, supernatural connection. The idea was beyond absurd when she’d never had one person love her. There was no such thing as fate. There was only haphazard chance at best.

Even when you thought you knew a person, they’d surprise you. And not in a good way. She’d learned that little lesson in the most hurtful way possible.

It had ultimately been the hurt that had propelled her to grab her car keys and drive long and hard into the dead of night. Before she’d started to calm down and rationalize what she was doing, she was in the middle of nowhere, driving along theNullarbor Plain. There had been a flash of blinding light and she’d woken up cold and naked in a cage too small to stand up in.

Then the nightmare had really started. Until Kyel, Zaen, and Juliran had rescued her—and promptly claimed her. Their hearts had recognized her. Or so they said. She didn’t know how that could actually happen. She’d given up her heart long ago and it was long dead. From what she’d seen, it was a complete liability.

Still she didn’t want them hurt, no matter how misdirected their intentions were. Or for anything to happen to them, come to that. The voice continually threatened to maim them, kill them, hurt these three men. It didn’t stop, drilling over and over in her mind, filling it with terrifying images brought up from her worst nightmares.

Pain.

Suffering.

Torture.

The most horrible images she might ever imagine. She couldn’t stand it anymore. It was driving her insane.

The voice also told her not to tell anyone about it.

So, she didn’t.

She was too damned scared to utter a sound about it.

So, she’d fended off their attentions. Besides, sexy men were often the opposite on the inside. Good looks could hide a dark heart. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

They’d been insistent though, luring her with an arsenal of kind words. Kissing. Touching. Caring. Thoughtfulness. They were almosttoogood to be true, making them impossible to trust.

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