Can’t
Forget
Solum, #2
by Colleen S. Myers
Date of
Publication: June 6th 2016
Publisher:
Champagne Books
Cover
Artist: Elaine Smith
Genre:
Science Fiction Romance
BLURB
Is it better to be safe or loved?
Four months have passed since the
E’mani destroyed the Earth and scooped up the remains. Elizabeth “Beta” Camden
was one of those taken. With the help of their enemies, the Fost, she escapes
and confronts her prior captors successfully. Though she knows she should
remain vigilant toward the E’mani, she follows her heart instead and falls in
love with
Marin, the sexy Fost warrior..
She should have trusted her first
instinct.
This time the E’mani don’t come in
force--they slip in silently. And any hope Beta had of a peaceful life is lost.
She leaves in the dead of night to find the E’mani stronghold and end them once
and for all. But love is a tricky bitch.
It takes a threat to Marin’s safety to make Beta realize, if she can’t
forget her past, she won’t have a future.
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Chapter
One
The snowball hit the
back of my head dead-on. Bam.
I stumbled forward from
the force of the blow. The flakes created a halo of white powder around my head
in the cool, crisp air then settled all over my face and neck.
What the…oh no he
didn’t. A growl rose in my throat. I turned to confront my foe. I creased my
eyebrows and I glared at him, mean-like.
With a smug
expression on his face, Marin stared back, tossing another snowball between his
hands.
“Elizabeth, you
appeared distracted. I wanted to help.” His voice was smooth, deep like aged
rum, and echoed in the unique way of his people, the Fost, almost like he was
being dubbed. The sound got me every time causing me to shiver, or maybe it was
the snow dripping down my back.
“That was helping?”
My ass.
“Yes, you were about
to walk into a tree,” he said dryly, dropping his ammunition.
I whipped around.
Sure enough, a tree loomed in front of me. Dark-gray bark, feathery fronds
interspersed with lethal spikes, blue moss climbing its trunk. Yep, that was a
tree. Well for here anyway, not like on Earth.
I glanced back at
Marin, who stood so trustingly under the boughs of another nearby tree laden
with snow. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. See, I could help too. He
looked hot, literally and figuratively.
“Okay, thanks.”
With a thought, my
power twisted deep inside, and I sent out a burst of air through the branches.
They shuddered in response and unloaded their cold, wet contents on Marin’s
head with nary a sound.
The snow dusted his
brows, his cheeks, and obscured the single streak of dark green that coursed
down the left side of his mahogany hair and framed his face. A single flake
melted on his lips.
Our gazes met and
held. His light brown eyes had a slit pupil that dilated then contracted as he
focused on me. I used to find it…disconcerting, but it was just him, along with
his long limbs, sharp features, and elaborate tattoos called jatua. All small
differences but strange enough to have unsettled me in the past. Now it was so
damn unfair how sexy I found him, alien race and all.
Marin raised an
eyebrow and licked at his bottom lip, watching me watch him. My gaze followed
the path of his tongue.
Heat spread through
me as I imagined myself tasting those lips. I tucked a strand of red hair
behind my ear. My breath slipped out in a sigh.
He smiled wide.
“Lands, I love how you look at me.”
“Stop.” I blushed,
twirling back and starting down the path we’d been walking before he ambushed
me.
“How much farther?” I asked when he caught up
and bumped into my side.
“We are close,” Marin
replied. He was so busy shaking the snow
out of his hair, he didn’t see my smile.
“Are we there yet?”
“No.”
Ha, so literal. “Are
we there yet?”
His hands stopped and
his brow crinkled. He looked so confused I had to laugh. Then I tripped flat on
my face in my clunky snowshoes and it was Marin’s turn to snicker. He picked me
up and settled me against him, my face tucked into his shoulder.
“You all right
there?” His words whispered past my ear.
“I’m fine.” My voice
came out a lot breathier than I intended. Damn it.
The corner of his
lips curled up. He traced the side of my face. Tingles trailed along my skin. I
put my fingers over his and stood on tiptoe in invitation. Marin obliged and
brushed his mouth along mine. Our lips clung for the briefest of seconds before
he shoved snow down the back of my coat.
I shrieked, dancing
backward. Cold, cold, cold.
Marin bolted down the
path, much more sure in his steps than I.
The jerk. He was
lucky he got out of range, or I would have gotten payback.
I fiddled with my
jacket to get the rest of the snow out, shuddering at the feeling of wet fabric
sticking to my back.
God, I hated winter.
The first snow, I marveled like everyone else. Oh, so pretty. The world
sparkled underneath the coating of white. Then the freeze set in, the biting
wind, the forced isolation. And did I mention the cold? Give me spring or
summer any day.
We were traveling to
the mines outside the city of Groos. The miners had reached a type of rock
they’d never seen before. It was dense and coarse. They couldn’t blast through
it, and their efforts were destabilizing the tunnels. They tried to dig around
it, but so far they’d had no luck. Nobody knew how thick the vein was or how
far it reached. They wanted me to try magical means to remove it. Fat lot of
good that would do.
When I caught up to
Marin, I gave him the evil eye.
Marin grinned.
“What?”
I flipped him the
bird.
He grabbed my middle
finger, “What does that mean? You do it all the time.”
“Nothing.”
His brows wrinkled
again. “Woman.”
“Man. And don’t talk
to me. You put snow down my back.”
Marin laughed.
“Sorry.”
“My ass, you are not
the least bit sorry.”
“Wait, what does your
bottom have to do with this?”
I blinked. Ha, I
forgot sometimes that certain expressions didn’t translate. “Nothing.”
He growled and kissed
my knuckle before dropping my hand. “I hate when you say that.”
“I know, thus, why I
do it.” I grinned and stepped ahead of him with a wiggle in my step.
He swatted me on the
ass as I passed. While I acted angry outside, inside I loved when he played. He
only ever did it when no one could see him. He was Clan Chief after all, even
though he was only five years older than me at twenty-five. The position left
him little time for fun and his own sense of responsibility precluded it.
A few minutes later
and we reached our destination. A box canyon opened up in front of us, filled
with barren trees and snow. At the far end of the canyon, a cave entrance
loomed, braced by wood. A single railroad track led out of the opening to the
left and a snow-laden press stood to the side, up against the high stone walls.
Con waited outside the entrance, his red and
green Mohawk vivid against the backdrop of white. His stout form and kind face
emphasized his resemblance to a Santa, A badass one. No fluffy red suit for
him.
Marin inclined his
head, straight to business. “Show us this rock.”
With a flourish, Con gestured ahead, and we
entered the mines with cautious steps. Just past the entrance, the light from
the two suns outside faded and darkness fell. I slowed and Marin’s hand brushed
my lower back.
“Let your eyes adjust
for a moment,” Con muttered from behind us.
As I stood there, the
walls started to glow. Streaks of aqua phosphorescence lit the pathway ahead.
“What is this?” I
asked in wonder, moving in a circle.
“Theris, a weed. It
grows in the caves. When you break its shell, it glows.” Con held out a small
stick almost like an aloe branch that he snapped before our eyes, and a thin,
clear liquid trickled out. “The glow lasts almost a week. We carry some on us
at all times. Come, follow me.”
Con led the way down
the cramped passageway. Gravel and ice crunched underfoot. The smell of dust
filled the stale air. My breath steamed. Damn it. I shivered and rubbed my arms
through the jacket. Marin ran his hand down my spine.
It took about five
minutes of hiking to reach the antechamber. When we got there, Con stared at me
with a hopeful expression.
“Okay, you want me
to, you know.” I made woo-woo gestures at the wall.
“Yes,” Con replied.
Four months ago, I’d
escaped from an E’mani spaceship and ended up here on Solum. The Fost, Marin’s
people and the sworn enemies of the E’mani, took me in and hid me from their
foes, but the E’mani didn’t give up easily. In one of their attempts to draw me
out of hiding, they set bombs at these mines. Several people had been trapped
inside. I’d used my magic to move the rock—how I got magic, I still don’t
know—and created a new entrance. Now they wanted me to do it again. No
pressure, right?
I reached out and
touched the wall. The dark surface crumbled under my fingertips. All throughout
the flaky stone, a silver metal streaked. Not dust or ore. This was metal, hard
and thick. No wonder they couldn’t get through it.
With a deep breath, I
closed my eyes. The power sprang eagerly to my summons. Heat spread outward
from my core and my palm tingled where it touched the rock. The chill from
being deep in the cave during winter faded.. A pulse vibrated in the air around
me, pulling me deeper. I concentrated on that sound, letting it center me. My
heartbeat synchronized to the sensation.
One. My skin grew
tight. I let my breath rush out in a slow exhale.
Two. The stone warmed
underneath my fingertips.
Three. The ground
shook in response to the power rushing to my call. I kept my hands square on
the wall.
Four. My hair stood
on end, strength rushing through me, filling me until the force of the earth
beneath my hand made me feel stretched like taffy. My mind screamed from the
pressure and I squeezed my eyes shut. I needed to hold it as long as I could.
My body shuddered until every pore sweat and my body strained from the contact,
pushed to its limits and beyond. And then I shoved all the power out with my
mind into the rock.
Please move. Please.
A beat.
Nothing happened.
“Anything, Beta?” Con asked right next to my
ear.
I jumped.
“Nope,” I squeaked
out, trying to bring my pulse under control, oddly empty.
“Keep trying,” Marin
said and touched the rock to my left. Con did the same on my other side. We all
focused this time, but unlike the time we freed the miners, there was no
movement. The metal seemed inert. Its light gray color contrasted starkly with
the dark-brown stone.
My shoulders slumped.
“Nothing. I’m sorry.”
“And this means we
cannot mine the ferok, doesn’t it?” Marin asked, rubbing his forehead.
“Correct, it covers
the veins,” Con said.
My fists clenched.
The Fost had found another metal--ferok. It was pliable and could be imbued
with magic. With it, they could shatter the technological defenses of the
E’mani. That was a good thing, but the metal kept us from it. And we had so
little of the ferok to begin with. This was not happy news.
“Land’s sake, why can
it never be easy?” Marin echoed my thoughts.
Marin slapped Con on
the back. “We will search the library for more information. You continue to try
to mine this rock. See what you can do.”
Con nodded in agreement as Marin gathered me
up and we trudged out of the caves. Silence reigned for the next half hour.
“Stop worrying,”
Marin said.
“I’m not worrying.”
“I can practically
hear the thoughts racing through your head.”
“I am not worrying.”
I enunciated slowly, my steps deliberate
“Yes, you are.”
“Well, fine, I can’t
help it. I can’t stop thinking about the E’mani. Without the ferok, we only
have our magic and we need more. And there’s this feeling of dread,” I splayed
my hand across my chest, “right here, and it’s getting stronger. The E’mani are
out there. I know it. I’m not sure why they haven’t attacked us yet, but they
will. We need a weapon.”
The E’mani wouldn’t
have forgotten about me or the Fost. I didn’t hold out hope that they’d
forgotten about the men they’d lost in their attempts to recapture me either.
“The land protects
us,” Marin replied.
A snort escaped me.
“Magic vs. machine. That didn’t work out so well for you guys the last time.”
Marin tossed me a
chiding look. “We survived, did we not? That is what matters. And we have lived
as we are meant.”
God, his words made
my teeth itch. “You can’t think the E’mani aren’t planning retaliation. They
are not a forgiving race.”
I’d know having been
their prisoner and all. And the more I thought about the E’mani, the more
hatred stirred inside me. I loathed those pale freaks. They’d destroyed my
world, in their never-ending quest to “make things better.” Then they brought
me here. I didn’t remember much of my time with them, not yet. But I recalled
enough to despise them. They were not kind masters.
White eyes stared at
me through amber glass, E’mani eyes.
“Hello, Elizabeth,”
Xade crooned. Light flashed off the razor sharp edge of the scalpel in his
hands. “Time for more samples.”
Marin’s words snapped
me out of my memories with a jolt. “We all know the E’mani are coming. But the
winter has been harsh, more so than usual. And before they came after you, it
had been ages since the last time we saw them. They left this world long ago to
recoup their losses after the war. They left even while we were still fighting
and maintain only a small presence out in Industry.”
My jaw set. “Good.
Industry is where I need to go. I need to find one of their labs.”
Marin sighed. “We
have talked about this, Elizabeth. First, you have no idea where to find a lab.
And second, you have no idea what you need to do if you did find it.”
“I remember some of
what they taught me. And being in the labs, where they kept me, will help me
remember even more. I scared them, Marin. Me. When I confronted them—”
“It might not have
been you. It might have been all the lightning you were throwing around, or the
blade Zanth wielded,” he argued.
I grit my teeth until
my jaw hurt. Damn him. Why wasn’t he listening? Tears blurred the path in front
of me.
“It was me; I could
tell. I know something that can hurt them, I can feel it. The E’mani were
frightened enough of me that they came in force to capture or kill me and it
has to do with the labs. I know there is something I’m meant to do, and soon.
If not, something bad is going to happen.” Chills shivered down my spine. I
heard the faint echo of screams—men’s and women’s—from long ago. They had a
plan for us, just like they had for Earth. How could I stop it? “Marin?”
“Yes.”
“If I asked you to,
would you leave with me, today, and travel to Industry?”
Marin blinked.
“Today? No, we need to plan these things, you know that, Elizabeth. To go now
would be stupid.”
I stomped forward on
the trail. “Of course it would be. How silly of me. You’re right.”
“Elizabeth, please.”
Marin caught up and put his arm around my shoulder. “We will go to Industry
soon. I promise.”
“Yeah, yeah, you keep
saying that.” I let my head fall against his shoulder. Arguing with Marin never
seemed to end how I wanted it to. No use being pissy about it now. And he was
right, which was even worse. To go during winter would be foolish, but still…
A few minutes passed.
The snow crackled beneath our feet. It was cold enough, I’d long since lost
feeling in my toes.
The entrance to the
city of Groos came into view. There was a large chiseled gate built into the
natural arch that fronted the valley. They built the gatehouse into the valley
walls itself and tunneled above the gate, giving the guards a clear sight line
of anyone approaching.
Bas-relief scenes
covered the arch’s surface blending with the rock face. One scene depicted a
Fost couple embracing in a corner their arms wrapped around one another. In the
other corner was a Coreck, a catlike creature that stood on two legs, with a
long tongue. Yet another showed a battle. Men fought with swords and spaceships
flew overhead. The pictures were so vivid, they seemed to flow across the rock,
lifelike and real. My fingers itched to touch the stone. Every time I saw it, I
was struck by how natural it appeared. It fit.
Unlike me.
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Author
Info
Colleen Myers was raised in a large
family in the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she grew up on
Harlequin teen romances and stories from her mother’s work as a paramedic. She
was her high school salutatorian and attended Allegheny College on the
Presidential Scholarship.
After college, Colleen spent a year in
service in the Americorp giving back to the community at a local Pittsburgh
Women Infants and Children Clinic (WICC) before attending Kirksville College of
Osteopathic Medicine on a military scholarship.
Upon completing medical school,
Colleen attended residency at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland during 9/11.
She earned three meritous service awards from the military along with
outstanding unit awards. After serving seven yearsof active duty, she promptly
landed a position at the VA to provide fellow veterans with optimum medical
care. Still an avid fan of romances into adulthood, her love of the genre inspired
her to hone her craft as a writer, focusing on contemporary romance and science
fiction. Her background in medicine and the military provide an inspiring layer
of creative realism to her stories and characters.
Her first book, Must Remember, the first
of the Solum series, is being published by Champagne Press. The sequel, Can’t
Forget is the recipient of the 2015 RWA New England Readers Award.
Colleen currently resides in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her son, and spends her spare time writing novels.
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