Only: The Alex Conner Chronicles Book Three One would think the sassy, sexy hybrid Earthen Protector and Healer Alex Conner deserves some downtime after all she’s been through. But no. Instead, she finds herself trapped by the king of the Fae, and he’s not letting her go until he gets what he wants. As alternate realities tangle her in confusion and bring her close to forgetting who she is and everyone she loves, will she unwittingly give the king what he craves? If she does escape, will she ever pick up where she left off with her sexy Adonis Ryan? And can she control the new power she never knew she could wield—one over life and death itself—or will she be entangled in a realm whose ruler is hell-bent on entrapping her and someone she holds dear, forever? Excerpt: I call to Gaia. “Please, help me heal your prince, Lestan. Please. Bring him back to us.” It’s a soft request, nothing like the demands I thrust into her being when I found Bear near death. Tears continue to fall, sadness pulling from deep inside my heart, from the memories of my time with him, both as Lestan and Justin. The sorrow shifts from my mind, transforming into happiness as the memories move into the warmer places in my belly that tickled when we laughed and when he touched me with his goodness and light. I’ve been with this man spiritually and physically, this man who is merely pieces of what seems impossible as the last remnants of such a force of nature. Yet, as I spool the energy within my chest before pushing it outward to mend him back into some semblance of what he was before, I begin to sense his presence, or something close to it, part of him and yet more feminine and powerful—his mother. The part of her that lay hidden from both Lestan and the king has kept a spark within him alive and safe from the death Valant inflicted on his Justin form. “I feel her. His mother. You were right, Thatcher. She’s kept him, part of him, alive in some way. Transforming what’s here into an entire person is something I’ve never dreamed of doing, but all I can do is try. I have to try.” I glance at Misa and Thatcher. Misa’s eyes are wide and her mouth is slightly open, while Thatcher’s keen eyes and broad chest give me the boost in confidence I need. Latching on to his mother’s hidden gift, I move it around with my force, roving over the table seeking out parts to form into his cells, bones, muscles, and tendons. I was never very good at sculpting, so I can only hope as the cells multiply that they combine the way they once did within his mother’s body. She helped him then, as she is helping him now, creating the man with the wild black hair, the brown eyes like polished stones, and his scent of untamed earth, plants, and the sea. I smell and see all of it, all of him. With my eyes closed, I will the pictures to come, those of the boy I visited. Oh, how much has changed. “Come back to us,” I whisper. The joy in my memories brings different tears to my eyes. They fall, taking with them my plea that his body be rebuilt, to be full of breath and life. My eyes open just as a tear falls from the top eyelashes of my left eye. I watch it plummet down, a tiny sun flaming to life within the small drop of liquid, landing on the spark from his mother, their union igniting something raw and primitive, like the first form of life within the darkness of the universe within my being. My body fills entirely with a deep, long intake of breath, fills with the will of Gaia. Something beyond what I have ever felt before overcomes me; I am stronger than the oceans, than the air, older than the earth, and more deadly than the burning fire. Right here, right now, I am the goddesses of old, the makers of life, and by my will alone I bring this man, this creation of mine back to my worlds. Back to me, for he is mine. I can feel two living creatures backing away from me. Pheromones of fear reach my nose, but they are of no danger to me as I continue to focus on my work, allowing love and raw power to engulf the table where it creates a dazzling cocoon of bright green vines that hold the swirling matter upon the table. Now I tend to the replication of cells, rebuilding the Fae prince’s body, squashing the small oozing evil touches from his father between my fingers and snarling at their presence in my thing of beauty. He will be dealt with later. Cells multiply, creating the parts within him that will be his organs, tissue, bones, hair, and everything he was before his life was taken by the Demon. I spit at the word, but they are also my creation. Our curse that took a turn I never expected. Within the cocoon movement begins. Fingers press against the walls, reaching for me, a head—nose, cheekbone—presses against the top. Hello, Alex. Get a hold of yourself. It’s going a little dark side in here. What? I look around but see only the other two I sensed earlier. No, this voice is within me, within this body. Where am I? My hands look foreign to my eyes, yet I know who I am. One of the first goddesses—Gaia, the creator of Earth, Avalon, and countless other worlds, and I am a part of this body. She is me. “Eila, Alex, you need to gain control. The goddess energy has come alive in you, has taken you over. You must not surrender to it. Use it, but you cannot become it.” The cat in the corner begins to walk toward me, but the smell of fear has been replaced by compassion, understanding, and strength. I gaze back at the table, where the cocoon has taken on the full shape of a man’s body. Lestan is nearly complete. My just prince. He needs me. All of this power is the only way he can return, even more powerful and beautiful than he was before. Placing my hands upon his body, I prepare to fill him with one more wave of power. Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Aching hits my ears and my mind. That voice again. What am I doing? I can’t do that to him. He was perfect just the way he was. The control of this body and mind starts to change as a presence pushes against me, gathering me into her and pushing me to the side, smothering my intensity and dampening the raging fire. I’m not supposed to be here; this is her body and her life to lead. Don’t let me turn her to the darkness as I did to so many others. Let the young woman be, before I destroy her.

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