Trapped: Starwalkers Serial, #2

By Lizzy Ford and Julia Crane

Trapped on the war-ridden planet of Lemuria, Cyena must hide her true identity if she is to survive. She seeks refuge with a small pocket of other elites in hiding, only to find herself in more danger with them than she was on her own. Cyena is one of the only members of the most elite Lemurrian bloodlines to survive the invasion, which makes her a bargaining chip the others want to trade to the insurgents in the hope of buying their own amnesty.

Cyena uncovers their plan and works hard to hone her psychic skills, knowing the same skills that condemned her before the war are all that will save her now.

To complicate matters, Kaydon, her rescuer and the son of the rebellion’s leader, offers her sanctuary. But if she leaves the city with him, she loses any chance of discovering what happened to her sister. If she stays, she risks being killed.

Uncertain who to trust and what to do, Cyena will face untold challenges to find some trace of her sister.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lizzy Ford
• Release date: Jan 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507079348

Book preview

Prologue

Cyena stumbled and caught her balance against the person in front of her. She was being herded down the stairs inside the thick walls surrounding the city, along with the other members of the serving class whose lives had been spared by the invaders. Their path was lit by enormous crystals suspended from the ceiling.

Disbelief made her stop in place once more. She closed her eyes, willing this to be a nightmare that ended here and now. It didn’t seem possible that she’d just watched her city – and the only home she’d ever known – being systematically destroyed by a rebellion whose members wore black uniforms.

When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed.

Sensing her slow, Kaydon moved closer. After saving her life atop the walls, he never strayed far from her.

He took her elbow to guide her down the stairs. Cyena glanced up at the warrior who served the rebellion, too scared to know what to think of his actions. He’d helped her up once before when she fell and seemed to hover around her. While he never looked directly at her, she sensed he was always aware.

Why did he lie about my identity? Why is he helping me?

Neither did she understand why his touch helped ground her frantic emotions. It was yet more added depth to a mystery so overwhelming, she was barely able to function let alone think straight. She focused instead on placing one foot in front of the other.

At long last, she reached the bottom of the stairs and broke free of the stale air of the stairwell and sucked in a breath of the cool night. The scents of war were thick: charred crystals and the sizzling heat of explosions and fire.

Kaydon released her and moved away, joining a few other warriors. Cyena stayed with the serving class members, praying none of them knew her real identity and revealed her as being elite. She’d seen Kaydon’s people execute other members of the elite.

People milled and jostled around her. She stared at the pristine white wall that towered above them, struggling to grasp that someone had penetrated the opaque crystal with the sole purpose of killing off all the elite.

Her gaze found Kaydon again. He claimed to be trying to protect her, but what did he really want? What would happen when the adrenaline of battle wore off, and he realized he’d made a mistake in permitting a member of the elite live?

I need to get out of here! Home. To Tyana. Somewhere!

They’d exited the wall on the side opposite the city, a place she knew nothing about. Men in black swarmed all around her. With some surprise, she realized she’d gotten her wish: she’d set foot outside the walls and was now going to discover what awaited her.

Only she hadn’t planned on there being no home for her to return to once she was done exploring.

Panic bubbled, fueled by the incessant chatter of messages that flooded her mind. As a Relayer, she was able to hear the thousands of telepathic communiqués being sent around the planet by people like her in the service of the elite or the rebellion. There were too many for her to sort through; she felt like she was drowning in them. Inside the walls, where she’d lived her entire life up to this point, she’d been shielded from them. She didn’t know how to handle the deluge that now filled her mind.

The servants were already spooked and milling aimlessly. Cyena pushed through them, needing air, space, somewhere to run. She reached an open area and bolted without knowing where she went, too panicked to think of anything other than sprinting away from the war destroying her world, from the voices relaying messages in her head.

If she could make it home or to the Academy … find Tyana … or maybe this was all a dream, a horrible trick, maybe her father was using his mind power on her to teach her a lesson about disobeying him …

She didn’t care. She just ran. Tears blurred her vision, and she darted and wove through servants and invaders both.

Someone caught her around the waist once more, and she gave a cry of frustration, struggling to break free.

Cyena! Stars, stop!

The vise-like grip around her stymied any chance she had of escaping, trapping her against a muscular body. Her legs buckled. She no longer cared what happened to her. Tears streamed down her face, and she prayed to the two moons above for her death to be quick.

Cyena. Kaydon’s voice was quieter. He didn’t release her but knelt as he lowered her to the ground. Stop, please.

She shook too hard to respond. Her panic subsided, and she swallowed hard. Kaydon shifted his arms around her, wrapping her in a tight embrace and pulling her against his body. The wide, solid strength of his chest was behind her, his warmth and masculine scent egging on the adrenaline coursing within her. Cyena’s head dropped back against his shoulder, and she closed her eyes to keep from witnessing the explosions overhead of shuttles belonging to those members of the elite trying to escape the planet.

Do I know any of them? The tormented thought made her breath catch.

You’re safe, Kaydon said gruffly.

This can’t be happening, she whispered hoarsely.

It is. The people are free now.

Mine are dead! Sheer will prevented her from breaking down into a sobbing mess at the thought of her family being gone.

But you’re not. Kaydon released her and shifted until he knelt in front of her. He took her arms, gazing down at her with green eyes prettier than any crystals she’d ever seen. You have a chance to be free, like everyone else.

She shook her head.

His intense gaze was steady, his muscular frame buffering her from the chilly night. You need to leave here. You risk being identified if you stay, and the walls are all coming down tonight anyway.

I can’t leave, she murmured. If I do, she can’t find me.

Who?

Tyana.

The city will be in ruins by this time tomorrow. Kaydon brushed tears from her face in an act of tenderness she wasn’t expecting. His large palms were rough from use and warm when he cupped her cheeks. You’ll make it through this. Just don’t draw attention to yourself. He hesitated, and then added almost too quietly to hear, I can protect you.

Protect me? From your own kind? She arched an eyebrow at him.

You have a good heart, and you don’t deserve any of this to happen to you. So, yes, if I have to protect you from my people to give you a second chance, then I will.

He held her gaze, his unfailing confidence and intensity was all that seemed real. She’d been compelled to know more about him since running into him in her father’s house, where he was disguised as a servant. The sense hadn’t faded when she uncovered the horrifying truth about who he was. If anything, she was even more drawn to him. Was it his stunning features or the size and strength of the body standing between her and the war?