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
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Immortal
Immortal Works LLC
1505 Glenrose Drive
Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
Tel: (385) 202-0116
© 2020 Melissa Hansen
https://www.melissaohansen.com/
Cover Art by Ashley Literski
http://strangedevotion.wixsite.com/strangedesigns
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For more information email [email protected] or visit http://www.immortal-works.com/contact/.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-953491-98-5 (Paperback)
ASIN B08FGGSC39 (Kindle Edition)
For Derek, who believed first
Alina took her seat in biology class and clicked on her panel, hiding behind the screen. When she’d looked in the mirror that morning, she had despaired to see the trail of bumps on her face had erupted into flaming red peaks. She begged Jade to let her stay home, but it was no use—her absence would only get her in trouble. For almost an hour, Alina worked with her makeup to conceal the blemishes. Despite Jade’s assurances no one would notice, Alina felt them protruding like mountains—so enormous she could see them from the corner of her eyes.
Over the past three years, the other girls in Pria matured in ways Alina did not. Their bodies slimmed and lengthened, their figures blossomed, and cheekbones sharpened under thick eyelashes. They were each beautiful, but unique, and flaunted any feature that stood out. Now, at seventeen, Alina stood out in ways she didn’t like. Instead of growing slender, her skin puckered around her waist and thighs. Her caramel-colored hair looked limp and wiry even after she brushed it, and her teeth were crooked compared to the clean smiles around her. In the rare event she did smile, she kept her lips closed.
Three girls entered the classroom and as Alina glanced up, she met eyes with Flora, who gave her a haughty sneer. Gwen and Zelma batted their eyelashes at two passing boys and after flirting outrageously for a minute, huddled near Alina to complain about them.
“I can’t wait to be done with young boys,” Gwen sighed. She opened a compact mirror and held it close to her face, puckering her lips.
“I am done with them,” Flora replied. “You won’t believe who came to see me last night.” She paused, waiting for their response.
“Who?” both girls said at once, a hint of jealousy in their voices.
Flora leaned in. “Rufus. Do you know him? He’s so hot, and he’s, like, two hundred years old! Pearle was ticked off when he came. I think she was jealous. You should’ve seen her—trying to flirt with him when he came to see me! Can you believe it? My caretaker trying to steal a guy from me? But he totally ignored her. We were alone in the front room and he told me—”
Flora dropped her voice, but Alina heard every word and cringed behind her panel. She understood why Jade never dated. The way older men flirted with young girls made her shudder, despite Flora’s exaggerations.
Miss Rhonda stood up and addressed the class, and Alina shut off her panel, knowing it would draw attention from her teacher. Miss Rhonda’s glossy curls bounced as she shimmied between their desks in tight jeans and stiletto heels. She seemed proud of her large teeth because she smiled at every turn, except when her eye fell on Alina. Then she visibly twitched.
Alina was used to this reaction; in all her years of school only one teacher, Miss Vivian, had positively acknowledged her. Miss Vivian praised Alina in front of the class and didn’t scold her when she daydreamed. She was almost like a friend.
Once, after a boy called Alina ugly, Miss Vivian slipped her a note telling her she understood what it felt like to be different. Alina found that strange since Miss Vivian was beautiful like everyone else, but the words comforted her anyway. She still had the note in a jewelry box on her dresser.
But now Miss Vivian was gone.
Tears sprang to Alina’s eyes and she blinked them back. She hadn’t cried over her former teacher in years.
“Alina, will you please join the class?” Miss Rhonda barked. “Everyone is on page ten except for you.”
Alina reddened as she switched on her panel and found the biology tab, then swiped to page ten. Miss Rhonda glared for another moment, then turned back to the class.
“Today we’ll discuss the process of creating life in the Gordian laboratories. Take a look at the magnificent illustration before you,” she raved.
Page ten displayed a diagram of a child’s growth, from a small drop of ageless serum, to a perfect Prian baby.
“Now, as you remember from our lesson last week on reproduction,” Miss Rhonda began, while a few snickers broke out across the class, “the mortal world of Carthem is a place where babies grow inside women. For nine months the baby develops, and this is very unpleasant—what’s so funny?” Miss Rhonda glared with a hand on her hip.
A boy, with tears of laughter in his eyes, raised his hand. “We can’t see how a baby could grow inside somebody. Wouldn’t the woman get really big?”
“Of course,” snapped Miss Rhonda. “Why do you think pregnancy was so uncomfortable? Not that any of you understand what that means. No one in Pria has ever been uncomfortable. So, try to imagine. But pregnancy wasn’t the worst part! Think of a baby being forced out the woman’s body! The pain was excruciating, and many women and babies died in the process.” Alina glanced around the room. The students looked both fascinated and disgusted.
“Babies died?” Zelma asked, puzzled. “Did they keep growing, you know, into dead adults?”
Miss Rhonda shook her head. “No.
