Mesmerized by the Alien Mercenary
The Kurians Book Six
Ashlyn Hawkes
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Other Books By Ashlyn Hawkes
About the Author
Special Author Note
1
Tox
I growl and run my tongue along my teeth.
“What is it?” Nos asks.
Gus eyes me. The two Kurians are best friends, and they’re close friends with me too. All of the Kurians are. After all, we’re practically brothers in a sense. While we aren’t related by blood, we all share a common ancestry.
All of us have mothers from Earth and fathers from Nore. We all live on Kuria. Well, a few now live on Earth, and Flynn has been raised there, but every few years, he’ll come to Kuria to visit us.
Kuria, yes, that’s where the Kurians and the Novans now live, the Novans being the species from Nore. A long time ago, a war raged. Nore is no more, and Kuria is now our home. None of the Kurians ever got to see our fathers’ home planet.
I toss the krislasher to the side. We’re supposed to be training a bit, working some of the same drills the soldiers do, but honestly, it’s boring. I’ve used a krislasher since I could walk. I know how to use the weapon to kill animals, to strip their skin, to get to the meat underneath. While I’ve never used it against a person, I would know precisely where to strike to reach through the ribs to get to the heart.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid to go up against me,” Gus jokes. “You know I’m next.”
“I’m done.”
I flick my krislasher. It lands directly upright in the red rock. All of Kuria is a red rock, the stone everywhere. With the advantage of having levitation devices at our fingertips now thanks to a genius Earthling woman, we are hoping to change the landscape of this place, to have water above the stones in ponds and lakes and rivers instead of within the mesas that cover the planet. It’s an ambitious project, to say the least, and there has been talk of entirely levitating cities, but it will take years for that to happen. Many Novans are clamoring for the project, eager to sign up and help in any way that they can, but honestly, I don’t want to. It doesn’t call to me, doesn’t speak to me.
Nos and Gus exchange a glance. I flop down onto the red stone beside my krislasher and stretch out my long legs. The sun beats down on me, but I don’t feel any warmth. Inside, I’m cold.
I’m done with more than just this silly, useless training exercise.
Gus sits beside me. “Why don’t you tell us what’s on your mind?” he suggests.
“I bet I know,” Nos grumbles. “If your dad is anything like mine, I bet he’s pressuring you to become an officer so you can one day become a captain. It’s all my dad ever talks about.”
I eye Nos. “Well?”
"Well, what?"
“Do you want to?”
Nos snorts through his nose. “No. That doesn’t interest me at all.”
Gus rubs the back of his thick neck as he starts to pace. “You ever notice how the Kurians are all so reckless?”
I lift my eyebrows. “I disagree. We aren’t reckless.”
Gus halts and pointedly stares at my krislasher.
I scratch beneath my chin at him. A vulgar Earthling gesture, I believe.
Gus shakes a fist at me, but it’s all in good fun, and we laugh, the mood a little lightened.
“I would say restless,” I explain.
“Okay, maybe,” Gus admits. “No matter what our parents want for us, we tend to forge our own paths.”
“That what this about?” Nos asks me. “Is it your turn to find your own path?”
I slowly nod and quickly jump to my feet. My hand grasps the handle of my krislasher. “Yes, yes, I think so. I thought being a soldier might work for me, but I don’t want it. Why do we even need soldiers? The Grots were destroyed.”
“Yes, but there could one day be another threat,” Nos says.
I roll my eyes. “We’ve been on Kuria for how long?”
“How old are you?” Gus teases.
“Keep it up,” I joke. “I’ll go a round with you after all just to put you in your place.”
“You know you’ll lose,” Gus retorts. “That’s why you’re quitting. You hate to lose, but you know you will.”
“Ovian bastard.”
We all laugh.
“My point is that Kuria has been occupied by Novans and Kurians alike for decades. Over thirty years. In all of that time, we haven’t seen any other species than Earthlings. No other ships have come close. We’re fine.”
“We’re fine until we aren’t,” Nos says firmly.
“You want to be a soldier, then?” I ask. “Train to be a fighter pilot when there hasn’t been an aerial battle since the Novans killed every last Grot bastard?”
“I didn’t say that,” Nos says uncomfortably.
“Didn’t think so.” I stretch and then begin to toss my krislasher from hand to hand, the blade moving so quickly it appears to be a blur. “I don’t want to be an officer. I’m not a builder, not a driver, none of that. The jobs here on Kuria… not one of them appeals to me.”
“You think Earth has more to offer, don’t you?” Nos asks.
I nod. “Can’t hurt to check it out. Besides, I can go and see Brock and the others. Make sure they aren’t getting into trouble.”
Gus nudges me with his arm. “You just want to check out the women. I’m sure their girlfriends and wives keep the boys out of trouble. They don’t need you around for that.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not worried about—”
“You can’t say that,” Gus protests. “Every Kurian is a horndog.”
We all laugh again. The Novans are a sexual race, driven by lust in order to find love. The Kurians are the same way, but there hasn’t been a shipment of women from
