Accidental Slave to the Kralians: Sci-Fi Ménage Romance (The Complete Edition) Read online

As she sat in the makeup chair, Avery took a sip of her dark coffee and checked her phone. It was the first day of filming “Star-Crossed”, and she was anything but in the mood. Back in the day, when she’d been trying to make it as an actress, she would have been delighted to play the lead role in a Hollywood movie that was sure to be a blockbuster and bring her some sweet nominations. But that was years ago. Even though acting was still part of her life and career, it was very different now. As an undercover agent, she was acting every single day. When she wasn’t at her apartment or at the Special Provision for Gaia headquarters, Avery Tonkin put on the mask of Poppy Tonks, the young actress who wanted to make a name for herself, and fooled everyone into thinking she was just a sexy, harmless blondie who didn’t quite live in the real world.

  Oh, but she did live in the real world! And the real world was far from what all these people running around on the set, getting ready for a day of hard, honest work, thought it was. The technicians, camera operators, gaffers, makeup artists, hairdressers, the other actors, and even the catering crew… They all thought what they were about to help create was an innocent fantasy about a young woman and an alien prince charming from a faraway planet who popped up out of nowhere to save Earth and sweep her off her feet. The kind of romance women would swoon over on premiere day, then again and again on their comfy couches after they bought the DVD. Relan the Drugan would make it worth their while. Or, to be more exact, Sean Spencer, the funny, smart and hot-as-hell actor who was playing the alien prince. This wasn’t his first Kralia Studios movie. Apparently, the fans loved him and wanted more of his blue eyes and panty-melting smile on the screen. In truth, he was probably the only one Avery couldn’t wait to work with. He was a professional, and a cool guy in general. Even though she’d left her acting dreams behind a long time ago, she was still excited at the prospect of learning from him.

  “Good morning!”

  A chirpy feminine voice startled her. Avery looked up and gave her colleague a warm smile. Okay, so maybe not everyone was completely oblivious to what was going on. Sharon Kander, the curvy brunette who was playing Daisy Clearwater’s childhood friend, had had some first-hand experience with the real aliens a week before, and it had been traumatizing to her on various levels. The SPG was keeping an eye on her and making sure she was fine, but she had refused to go into protective custody. Instead, she had chosen to play along with Avery’s and her two supposed masters’ idea. The Norgavians knew that Avery, a.k.a. Poppy Tonks, was Kryan’s and Aedar’s pleasure slave, and that she had taken a like to Sharon. So, in the eyes of the aliens who’d kidnapped her, Sharon was now Avery’s pet, and allowed to hang around the two Kralian ship captains.

  “Good morning to you. How are you? You look good.”

  Sharon took a seat next to Avery.

  “I’m good, thanks. You?”

  She searched Avery’s face. Even though she knew who she was and that she was working with the Kralians to bring down the other four alien races, Sharon was still worried about her new friend. Just a week or so before, she would have never even considered being close with bratty, arrogant Poppy Tonks. But Poppy was not Poppy. Well, of course, it was just a stage name. Poppy was Avery, and Avery was an FBI agent. Suddenly, Sharon’s world had turned upside down. When she wasn’t sure whom she could trust, she could turn to Avery and her team.

  “Never been better!” Avery’s smile was forced this time.

  “They…” Sharon stole a quick glance around the makeup room. The two girls who were supposed to prepare them for the shooting of the first scene were a few feet away, talking and exchanging ideas. “They treat you well?”

  “Yes, of course. They’re also helping with the investigation. Thanks to Kit and Alex, we’ve made some serious breakthroughs.”

  Sharon nodded, then turned to face the large mirror.

  “Hey.” Avery leaned over and squeezed her wrist. “It’s going to be fine, I promise. It will be over soon.”

  “I hope so.”

  “You’re still going to…”

  “Yes. Three times a week.”

  “Does it… help?”

  Sharon smiled weakly. “I guess so… It’s better than nothing.”

  “Okay, ladies!” The makeup artist and her assistant stepped behind their chairs. “This shouldn’t take long. About an hour or so. Nothing too complicated today.”

  “Thank God!” Avery did her best to slip back into her role. Poppy was known for being a bit of a spoiled princess. “I hate sitting in one place for too long.”

  The makeup artist cocked an eyebrow. She was a tall, curvy woman with brown eyes and hair dyed in a fiery shade of red. Her name was Fiona.

  “Let me guess,” she said as she chose her brushes. “You’re a fire sign. Aries? Leo?”

  Avery’s sky-blue eyes went wide with fake excitement.

  “Oh my God, how did you know? Yes, I’m a Leo.”

  The woman laughed. “I promise you I didn’t Google you. Cross my heart. I can feel your energy, girl. My sister dabbles in Astrology. I’m more into Tarot myself, but I’ve picked a few things from her. Want to know what your strengths are?”

  “Tell me all about it!”

  * * *

  Was it weird that, now, she enjoyed being Poppy more than she’d enjoyed it when she’d actually been serious about it? Avery didn’t even notice the time pass. As she, Sharon, and Sean went through a couple of blockings, readings, rehearsals, and then takes, she felt like she could lose herself in the moment. She could allow herself to. After all, there was no danger here, on the set of “Star-Crossed”. The ones who were supposed to be her enemies were now her lovers.

  Speaking of lovers… She hadn’t seen Kryan, nor Aedar since she’d told them and the SPG what she’d found out from the translation of the Danube Valley Tablets. They’d said they needed time to search the database they had stored on the Hordaa, but it had already been three days since then. She had tried to call a couple of times, but they seemed very good at being out of range, which meant they were not at the Walsh Residence, or… anywhere on Earth, for that matter. Apparently, they were spending a lot of time on their spaceship. Avery was doing her absolute best to stay calm and positive. The only reason why they were away so much, and so busy that they weren’t even interested in their little pleasure slave, was because they were working. Right? They were digging deep into the ancient history of their race and trying to find the connection between Kralians and humans. Still… Avery wasn’t naïve. Even when she kept telling her team that everything was under control and the Kralians needed more time, she knew very well that it couldn’t be that difficult to punch in the keyword she’d given them and have the mighty computer on the Hordaa turn the database upside down for the right results. That was… if there was any mention of the Vinča culture in there to begin with…

  “No,” Avery thought for the hundredth time since the night before, “They would’ve told me if they hadn’t found anything. They did. They found something, and they’re taking their sweet time.” She walked to the catering tables and grabbed a fruit salad. “Shit. Why are they keeping me… us… in the dark?”

  She had tried their trailers earlier. They hadn’t been on the set that morning. It was lunch break, and the only Kralian she could see lurking about was Meadow Summer. The curvy brunette had helped Alex Walsh, a.k.a. Aedar, with the script of “Star-Crossed”. Avery was pretty sure she was also doing some ghostwriting for him, as it was impossible for a single man, or alien, to write so many novels in a year. He released a title every month, and they weren’t thin books, either. Meadow, whose real, Kralian name was Medo, was nice and friendly, funny as hell, and a cool person all in all. Avery hadn’t bonded with her, or anything, but she knew the brothers had told her everything. For some reason, she felt weird approaching her. They weren’t friends. They had barely exchanged a few words since they’d met.

  “Hey! What do you think of the first scene?”

 
Meadow chewed the piece of sandwich she had stuffed her face with, then swallowed and beamed at Avery.

  “I love it! There’s some real chemistry between Drugan and Daisy. You guys nailed it. It’s exactly what Alex’s fans want.” She took another bite. “Oh my, these things are good. I can never have enough turkey sandwiches.”

  Avery pursed her lips. “You like turkey sandwiches?”

  “Mhm…” She chewed quickly, then answered. “Better than anything on the… well, you know…” She leaned in and whispered: “Ship.”

  “I… wouldn’t know. I haven’t gotten the chance to try your food yet.”

  Meadow chuckled. “You will. Soon.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She waved Avery off as she grabbed another sandwich. “Nothing. It’s just I’m sure you will.”

  Avery shook her head slowly. “Weird…”

  Meadow eyed her fruit salad suspiciously.

  “That’s your lunch?”

  “Err… I’m not that hungry.”

  “You’re not on a diet, are you?” She studied Avery from head to toe. “I know your job… Well, not your real job. This job…” She motioned toward their surroundings. “… requires you to be skinny. But, don’t you think you’re overdoing it?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Here, you can have my sandwich.” She looked over the table. “I think it’s the last turkey one. Oh. I ate them all.”

  Avery blinked in confusion, then laughed out loud. Kralian or no Kralian, it was impossible not to like Meadow. Although she had no appetite for turkey, she accepted the sandwich.

  “Alright, then. I need to have a quick chat with the other writers. See you later?”

  “Wait. I… I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Go ahead, honey.”

  “Alex and Kit… I haven’t seen them in a while. It’s the first day of filming and they haven’t come to work.”

  Meadow tensed for a second, then controlled her reaction and relaxed her shoulders. This time, her smile was just a tiny bit fake.

  “I’m sure they’re fine. Alex is working hard on his new novel. He’s set a tight deadline for himself.”

  “I’m not interested in that nonsense, and you know that. Just tell me the truth. I’ve been trying to reach them… their phones are always out of range. I stopped by their house yesterday, and the butler told me they were unavailable.”

  “Look, honey. I don’t know any more than you do. I haven’t seen them in the past three days, either. My guess is you and your people have given them quite the task, and they’re neck deep in research.” She stepped closer, so she could whisper in her ear. “Between you and me, not work fit for two warrior captains, but… well… if they say it’s still not the right time to let our people know the plan has changed, I follow their orders. You should, too. You know… I like you. You’re a badass lady, Poppy. If you want to help them, then stick to your role and play your part. Be careful what you talk with Sharon about, too. Also, how you behave around her and around them. You never know who’s watching. After all, Sorg wasn’t too excited when he had to hand her over to you and your… masters.”

  Avery swallowed hard. There were so many things she would have liked to tell her, but this was not the time, nor the place. When Meadow stepped away and smiled again, she felt like she could breathe more easily. She was right. Sorg, the Norgavian who had kidnapped Sharon, couldn’t be very happy with the way things had turned out for him. As much as she wanted to believe that the Kralians had complete control and authority over Kralia Studios and the people working on the set of “Star-Crossed”, if any of the other four alien races sniffed danger, they would try to plant spies.

  “So, I should just trust them,” she said.

  “Yes. Just like we trust you.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Working two jobs was no easy feat. After a whole day of filming, Avery stopped by the SPG at around 10 PM. She was hungry, tired, angry that she’d skipped her daily workout, and in no mood for a debriefing. She wondered whether “Star-Crossed” was ever going to make it to the big screen. What if she solved the case until then? What if the whole alien conspiracy was brought to light and the world found out who Alex and Kit Walsh truly were?

  “Meh… no Oscar for me, then.”

  She went inside the house on 1834 Pandora Ave, and almost jumped out of her shoes when Lisa Jenkins poked her head from the living room and greeted her with a beaming smile.

  “You’re here!”

  “Jesus, woman!” Avery pressed her hand to her chest. “Why are you always so hyperactive?”

  The IT girl pushed her glasses up her nose and blinked in confusion.

  “I’m just excited you’re back. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  Avery walked past her and dropped into the nearest armchair.

  “With bated breath, even…” Captain Ben Shaw murmured. He placed a stack of files into a drawer, discreetly rubbed his tired eyes, then gave Avery all his attention. “How was the first day on set, Agent?”

  Avery shrugged. “Good, I guess. Nothing unusual. Exhausting.”

  The Captain nodded.

  Avery knew he wasn’t interested in how her day had gone, per se. There was no sense in waiting for him to ask the question. She might as well tell him what he wanted to know and get it over with. Everyone was tired. Apparently, Carter from IT, and Chris and Zadie from Dreamland had already called it a day. The only ones at HQ were Lisa, Simon, and Captain Shaw.

  “I haven’t seen them today either. They didn’t come in, and I couldn’t reach them by phone. Most likely, they’re still on the ship.”

  The Captain huffed and stood up to pace the small space between his desk and the back wall.

  “What do you make of it?”

  She sighed. “I don’t know. Meadow Summer was there, and she said she hadn’t heard from them either. She’s confident that everything is fine, and they simply need more time to research the Vinča lead.”

  “It hasn’t taken us that much time to find the Vinča lead, and we don’t have a best buddy super computer,” said Lisa.

  The Captain shook his head. “Please don’t be ridiculous, Jenkins. It took us forever. If the Kralians hadn’t told us about the gene sequence our races share, it would’ve never crossed our minds… your mind, actually… to look into the ancient astronauts theories.”

  “Well, yes… But once we got there, we moved fast.”

  “With their help.”

  Lisa pursed her lips. She stole a glance at Avery. The blonde woman seemed to be lost in deep thought, as if she wasn’t even listening to their exchange. There was silence for a couple of long minutes. Lisa shuffled in her seat, played with a pen, rearranged some papers on her cluttered desk. She wanted to say more, but it seemed the Captain wasn’t open to the idea that the Kralians might be playing them at that very moment.

  “Do you want to know what I think, Captain?” Avery started. “I can give you the honest truth, but I have no proof that my suspicions are correct.”

  “Yes, Agent Tonkin. Your thoughts are better than nothing, and I trust your intuition. It has served us right so far.”

  “I believe they found something. It’s been three days. Four, almost. I believe Kryan and Aedar found something about the Vinča culture, and they’re sitting on the information because they don’t know what to do with it. Maybe, it’s even more shocking than any of us expected, and they’re afraid of our reaction. Or, maybe, whatever they found is in their advantage and they’ve decided to keep it for themselves and use it against us. Maybe, it’s the missing piece of their puzzle, and we know their puzzle has never taken Terrans and their safety into consideration. Maybe, they’ve taken that intel to the Alliance and the aliens are planning something big right now.”

  Lisa let out a breath of relief. So, she wasn’t paranoid. She wasn’t the only one who’d succumbed to the worst, most negative thoughts.

 
; The Captain took a moment to think about her words.

  “Fear…”

  “Sorry?”

  “Your thoughts are the result of fear. I know, because this is exactly what I think, too. Jenkins, as well. That’s why I stopped her. I stop myself every time I feel myself going down the slippery slope of uncertainty and doubt.”

  “I… I’m sorry. As things are, I don’t have anything positive to say.”

  “Kryan and Aedar saved Sharon Kander.”

  “Yes.”

  “They helped us find the translation of the Danube Valley Tablets.”

  “Yes.”

  “They protected you when you materialized out of nowhere right inside the enemy’s nest.”

  “Yes…”

  Captain Shaw took a deep breath. “They’re on our side. They have to be.”

  “Sir…”

  “They have to be, otherwise we have nothing.”

  Avery let out a deep sigh and rubbed her right temple. A headache was the last thing she needed today.

  “What do you want me to do, sir?”

  “When you talked to Medo, what did you feel?”

  “She wasn’t lying. She was close enough for me to catch glimpses of her thoughts and emotions, and she meant it when she said we should trust her captains.”

  “Let’s give them more time.”

  “How much more time?”

  “Another day, at least. They can’t stay away forever. Not if they want to keep up the appearances. When they show up on set, you’ll be there.”

  “Yes, okay… Alright.”

  She stood up and smoothed down her clothes. She was in dire need of a shower and sleep. The next day, she had to be on set at 6 AM, and the prospect didn’t particularly excite her. To her relief, the Captain dismissed everyone. As she said goodbye to Lisa and Simon in the parking lot, she looked up at the still lit windows.

  “Does this guy even have a family to go home to?” she whispered to herself.

  * * *

  The next morning, as Avery walked out of the makeup room and onto the set, she almost gasped and did a happy dance when she saw Kryan, in his put-together human disguise, talking to the director. Aedar had to be around, too. She headed straight for him, but she only managed to say “good morning” and “how are you today, Kit?” before the director announced they were running late and pulled her away to start working on the next scene. It was too early for Avery to come up with a passable excuse to talk to the producer, so she went with the flow and accepted that she’d have to find another way later, maybe during lunch break. That was… if Kryan didn’t run back to the Hordaa before then.