Blog Tour
Title: Must Remember
Author: Colleen S.
Myers
Release Day: November
2nd
Nineteen-year-old Elizabeth ‘Beta’ Camden is a
survivor.
When the E’mani—those pale alien
freaks—destroy Earth with a
plague of madness and scoop up the remains, Beta is one of the ‘lucky’ ones.
For years, she endures their tortures, experiments and games. Then one day, she
manages to escape their ship with her life, and no memory of her time with
them.
Stranded on their world, Beta wanders the
mountains, looking for
a way home. She stumbles onto the Fost—the E’mani’s ancient enemy. Their
war with the E’mani is old and rooted in magic that the Fost once had and the
E’mani crave. Magic Beta soon discovers she’s developing along with strange
tattoos and disturbing glimpses of her past. The Fost take her in and train her
in their ways. As she spends more time with them, she falls in love with their
culture and with Marin—he of the hot hands and slit eyes.
But the E’mani took her for a reason and they
want her back—dead
or alive. If Beta doesn’t remember that reason soon, they’re all going to
die.
His eyes were ghost white, with slit pupils, face
smooth and hairless. A large tattoo on
his neck spread up onto his cheek, and resembled claw marks. His eyes appeared much too big for his
face; the brow pronounced, jaw thin,
cheekbones sharp.
Those eyes rooted me; their milky color caused a
distant memory to tug at my mind,
and then fade away. They could have been fake lenses, but his slit pupils contracted as he focused on
me,
and a sinister smile wreathed his face.
Nope, those puppies were real and his expression
was not reassuring. His eyes glistened
with what looked like glee. I watched those eyes track up and down my body. His nostrils flared and
he
stalked in my direction, his movements slow and
deliberate, but a little disjointed given
the length of his limbs. He reminded me of a predator that had sighted its prey. I froze, his eyes mesmerizing
me
for a second before looking away.
Then it dawned on me. Toto, we’re not in
Kansas anymore. I should’ve
realized it sooner. I kind of did realize it sooner. The suns, the rocks, the grass, the everything. This was not Earth. This
guy was not human, the posture, the
movement, the eyes. He was definitely
not human.
Holy shit!
The fear I suppressed earlier rushed through me. My
hands shook and my heart raced. I
stumbled backward and turned to run, barreling smack dab into the tree. Graceful-R-Us.
The tall guy reached me as I staggered back and he
blocked my escape. The other men
twisted to stare then glanced at each other. Nobody looked happy to see me. The ones hunched near the
press appeared frightened, their eyes
wide.
“Who are you? How did you get here? Are there
others?” The tall guy’s voice was
strange, echoey. With a sick start, I realized he wasn’t speaking English, but I could still understand him.
His
voice was deep and rich, like aged whiskey, the echo
the same. The effect was odd, a bit off-
putting, and not even a little attractive.
Nope.
The tall guy pressed close, just short of touching me,
his slit eyes alert and a snarl pulling at
his lips. He had his hand on his knife but was not brandishing it. Santa slid to my right, flanking me.
The other two men remained
crouched by the apparatus.
I backed up and held out my hands. My ass smacked
the tree behind me. A chill raced
through me. I stared at him until his questions registered.
The breath I’d been holding rushed out. “My name
is Elizabeth, err, Beta.
I’m—.”
“What are you doing here?” he
interrupted.
“I’m not sure. I woke up out there-”I pointed around
me, then pointed to my head. “I was
hurt, I think, I don’t know. Where am I?”
Running my hands through my hair, I probed the
back of my neck. Nada. My head didn’t
hurt. Huh. Hadn’t there been a
cut?
The tall guy laughed, “You did not wake up out there.
You had to have traveled here. This is
nowhere. Tell me the truth.”
The last was a shout. The more he talked, the more
agitated he became. He almost
stuttered his words. Or maybe that was just me? How could I understand him? His right hand clenched
and
unclenched around the hilt of his knife. He edged
even closer, pushing me farther back
against the tree.
Compared to me, he was huge, at least six feet tall.
There was no trace of fat on him. His
muscles rippled as he leaned in and placed his face next to mine. I remained still, trying not to piss
him off. Tears threatened, but I
blinked them away. Damn allergies. His eyes ignited at my silence.
“How did you get out here?” he gritted out
between compressed
lips.
“I told you the truth. I don’t know how I got here. I
woke up
out there. I heard something thumping and moved
toward it.” I gestured, looking at him
and the others who surrounded us.
“Are there more of you?” he
pushed. I recalled
the laughter, the crash, and the cold from earlier, but…didn’t mention it. I hadn’t seen anything.
“Are there more of you?” he growled.
“No, when I woke up, no one else was
there.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Yes, it is,” I retorted. It
really was an answer.
“No, it is not,” he snarled at me. His hand
gripped his knife harder, knuckles
whitening. He took the blade out of its sheath and flipped it backward. His nose grazed mine and heat spread in
its
wake. My heart skipped a beat. I stared straight
ahead.
Minty breath wafted across my face and his teeth
were not bad, a bit pointy, but
otherwise normal. At least he brushed, or I hoped he did because he was at kissing distance. The rest of the
men remained motionless. Barbarian
Santa’s gaze darted between the tall
guy and me. I was splayed against the bark like road
kill.
“Tell me!” he shouted.
And with that I was done. All the tension, all the fear,
all the questions rolling through my
mind and this guy was yelling at me. Screw him. Plus there was something about him I liked but didn’t,
all
at the same time. It was confusing. My stomach
churned. I didn’t need this. None of
this was my fault.
“What do you want from me?” I screamed back. “I
said I was alone.”
He reared back a bit, startled by my answering shout
and glare, which he couldn’t miss,
since he was still right there in
my face.
“I do not believe you. You are an E’mani.” The tall guy
spit the name out as if it left a bad
taste in his mouth. Who the hell were
the E’mani? A vague silhouette formed in my mind, then faded away. Something else I didn’t know; great.
I added it to the list.
“You wear E’mani clothes. You are an E’mani spy!”
His words were triumphant as he
pressed his knife against my throat. When I swallowed, I felt the prick of the blade and a
trickle of blood dripped down my
neck. My head swam and my bladder loosened a bit but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
His eyes flickered, confused, as the moment stretched
on.
We maintained our desperate eye
contact.
I panted and the longer this went on, the more my
muscles lightened until my fingers
went numb. I tasted violence on the wind. Neither of us moved. Ten seconds. Twenty. He blinked first
and let his dagger drop with a growl and spat next to
me on the grown.
“E’mani treza.”
I didn’t know what he just called me but it was too
much. I was done. I snapped and
started shoving him across the field. “I’m not E’mani. I don’t even know who or what that is. You asshole.
I’m
from Earth. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know
how I got here. I don’t know anything!
I need help and you aren’t helping me. Please, help me.”
At this last, my voice cracked, and I fell to my
knees,
shoulders falling.
The tall guy seemed so stunned by my response, he’d
let me push him back to the mine. He
stared at me for a long second. One. Two. He brought his blade up again. It pressed into my neck
forcing my head back. Then with nary
a word, he dropped his arm.
My throat burned.
Oh.
Huh. Everything started to fade and the world
turned black.
Colleen plays many roles. Not only is she a veteran, a mother, and a practicing physician, but she is a writer of science fiction and contemporary romances. Colleen’s dreams include surviving her son’s teenage years, exploring every continent on this planet, except Antartica, cause that’s way too cold, and winning the Nobel peace prize. Dream BIG! Currently she is getting ready to publish her first novel, MUST REMEMBER in November of this year (cover reveal soon.) Until then look for her at Three Rivers Romance Writers, at Facebook Colleen Myers, and at @ColleenSMyers.
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