Angel in the Badlands

By Bianca D'Arc

Is she an apparition or is she real?

Crash landing on an uncharted planet, Ezekiel Amber sets out across a desert, looking for help. What he finds is salvation in the form of a woman.

Angela finds the handsome, unconscious man and takes him below ground, where the heat of the desert does not reach. She nurses him back to health, trying hard to ignore the attraction between them.

Angel's small community must be protected from humanity's alien enemies. Likewise, Zeke must protect Angela - his angel - the one woman he wants like no other in the universe.

It's a race to see who will get there first - Zeke's reinforcements or the aliens - and the fate of the human race could hang in the balance.

NOTE: This story was previously released under the title Ezekiel, which is now out of print. It has been substantially revised for this re-release.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bianca D'Arc
• Release date: Feb 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311120731

Bianca D'Arc

Bianca D’Arc lives on Long Island, in New York. She is the daughter of a Dutch immigrant to the U.S. and a materials scientist who worked on America's space program, including such projects as the lunar module, space shuttle and most of the Apollo missions. She earned a university degree in chemistry, and later, graduate degrees in library science and law. Forsaking the corporate world soon after the terrible events of 9/11/01, she began her writing career in earnest in late 2005. She focuses on the paranormal, sci fi and fantasy genres of romance, and loves creating happy-ever-afters for her characters.

Book preview

Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Sons of Amber

Angel in the Badlands

by

Bianca D’Arc

Copyright © 2015 Bianca D’Arc

Hawk Publishing, LLC

New York

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Author.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

www.biancadarc.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Epilogue

Other Books by Bianca D’Arc

About the Author

AUTHOR’S NOTE

With this story, I have done something I’ve never done before. I revised the heck out of an old story, tore out huge swaths of it, started from scratch in several sections adding a lot of new material, and gave it a new title. I want that clear from the outset.

The original version of this story was originally published by a small press that wanted certain things in it, which I added specifically to meet their requirements. The original version, which was called Sons of Amber: Ezekiel, was highly erotic in nature with several very explicit scenes.

While I usually don’t shy away from writing love scenes, I have since regretted taking this series in that direction. In fact, I put out only two of the Sons of Amber stories with that publisher before deciding to just stop and wait out the contracts so I could get the stories back and do this. It’s been a long time coming.

Next up, Sons of Amber: Michael is going to get a rewrite and will be released with a new title later in 2015. After that, there are a lot more Sons to talk about, and the possibility of a novel that might just bring a lasting peace between the remnants of humanity and the Jit’suku Empire.

And now, without further ado, here’s what happened to Ezekiel…

CHAPTER ONE

Zeke looked about the crash site and grimaced. His ship was in bad shape. It wouldn’t be flying again anytime soon without major repairs. But at least the pirates hadn’t gotten him. They were probably still looking for his trail, though, so he had to get moving.

Unfortunately, the uncharted dustball he had landed on was not what anyone would call hospitable. And he was hurt. His leg was bleeding and he had whacked his head on the console when he’d crashed. The world—such as it was—was blurry and too damn hot as he climbed out of his crippled ship and began walking.

The dark, sandy ground beckoned, but he couldn’t drop yet. He had to find shelter before the second sun rose any higher, or he would burn to a cinder on this godforsaken rock.

Zeke had more than his fair share of stamina. It was a gift of his altered genetics. Designed and raised in a special program headed by the famous Dr. Amber Waithe and her team of geneticists, he knew he had a mission in life: to spread his seed far and wide, bringing his fertile offerings to any woman who wanted to have a child. By the Maker, he enjoyed his job.

But even his enormous strength was taxed by the huge binary stars that were just a little too close to this dry, arid planet. He was a risk-taker by nature—what they termed a Wildcard in the program. The propensity to play the odds had been designed into his genes. Usually, his superior brain was able to calculate the odds of success and play his hand accordingly. This time though, the pirates had whittled down his available options.

Crashing here wasn’t the best move he could’ve made, but it was the most unexpected. It would buy him some time at least, to evaluate his options. Given the opportunity to change the odds, he always took his best chance.

This time, however, he might just die before he could turn the tables. The suns were rising all too quickly, and he was caught out in the open with a sore head and a bum leg. He took one last, long, weary look at that second, damning sun and kept on trekking. He had to find shelter soon.

Minutes, or maybe hours later, he felt himself fading under the onslaught of oppressive heat and strong solar radiation. He saw the dusty ground rush up at him as if from a distance, then he knew no more.

Zeke woke hours later, feeling a pleasant coolness on his face. He had to be hallucinating, but he didn’t feel the merciless suns pounding down on him anymore. No, instead he felt the welcome chill of rock, and the faint scent of dirt and dampness in his nostrils, as if he were in a cavern. Cautiously, he cracked one eyelid open just enough to see.

There was a woman at his side, mopping his brow with a damp cloth and the cruel suns were blessedly absent. He had to be somewhere underground. He had no idea how long he’d been out or who had saved him. Somehow, they had transported him to his present location—wherever that was. He searched his memory, but didn’t remember anything after passing out in the heat of the twin suns.

Sister, he wakes.

The high, treble voice came from somewhere off to his left as the wet cloth abruptly lifted away from his brow. He wanted that gentle touch back. Badly.

Are you well, brother traveler?

The soft, melodic voice caressed his senses. He opened his eyes to behold the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. His savior was an angel, he was sure, her face heart-shaped and lovely, even devoid of the usual cosmetic alterations women of the upper classes habitually made to their appearance. No, her face was pure and natural, one hundred percent human female. She was soft, slightly rounded, and perfect.

Her delicate eyebrows drew together in concern as she studied him. Her hand touched his face once more with the cool cloth and it was bliss.

Are you well, brother? She repeated her question.

Just keep doing that. His voice was a hoarse rumble in his chest. Your touch is comforting.

He looked up in time to see the compassion in her expression as well as the slight blush on her cheeks, but she continued stroking his brow with the wet cloth. A smile curved her lips.

He felt terrible. Every muscle ached and an unaccustomed weakness gripped him. He had never felt so feeble before in his life.

What happened? he asked, needing more data to assess his present situation.

His angel spoke as she tended to him. I found you on the surface at midday. I don’t know where you came from or how you came to be on the surface at such a dangerous time.

Ship crashed. His strength was waning and he damned the weakness that stole over him. His eyes drooped with weariness.

You came from the stars? He heard the hesitation in her voice, and his eyes reopened. He read fear in her gaze, and he didn’t like it. Are you human? She whispered the question as if dreading his answer. She seemed to steel herself as

Reviews for Angel in the Badlands

[Azy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A promising start for this series. Can't wait for the introduction of jit'suku aliens,learn the reason of the war between the species and why the virus was released.