Page 5 of Draevan

I’ll see you soon.

And we’ll be together forever.

Love, M.

She backed away from the window just as three drones descended from the sky, shooting down the drones carrying the advertisement. She stumbled and almost tripped over a coffee table but finally managed to sit on the sofa. Deep tremors shook her body, and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

Tears burned in her eyes, and a hopeless sort of fear took root. If her stalker could find her here, she supposed there was nowhere to hide. He could find her anywhere on Earth.

Anywhere on Earth…

Suddenly, in the midst of her shock and growing fright, her path became very clear. She had to leave Earth. She had to go somewhere he couldn’t follow. A planet or an outpost that even the wealthiest human men couldn’t easily travel to.

Like Planet New Vaxx.

Her mouth went dry and she swallowed hard.

She’d recently watched a documentary about the Vaxxlians and the mail-order-bride program run by the Intergalactic Dating Agency that matched their males with human women.

Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides, or VAMOB for short.

After watching the documentary, she’d pulled up the website and glanced at the application, telling herself she wasn’t seriously considering it, telling herself that she was just a little curious.

Although she had saved the link to her favorites folder…

But now that she knew for certain her stalker was still out there and that he knew where she lived… well, applying for the VAMOB program seemed like her new best option. Her safest option.

Of course, it would mean marrying a stranger, a fierce alien warrior. But according to the documentary, although Vaxxlian males were deadly in battle, they were quite gentle with their females. They were reportedly very protective of their mates, very involved in the raising of children, and they formed such strong bonds with their females that they never cheated.

Cora glanced toward the window, but the advertisement drones were gone, the threatening message from M no longer in the sky. The smoke was growing thicker, however, making her wonder if a nearby building had just been destroyed. Was her stalker responsible for the explosion? She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done it just to ensure she glanced out the window at the exact time the drone advertisement flew by with his creepy message.

A knock suddenly sounded on her door, causing her to gasp and jolt in place. She took a few deep breaths, tried to will herself to calm down, and finally approached the door.

She peered through the peephole to find Timothy, the security officer who normally delivered her groceries, standing in the hallway. She opened the door.

“Good afternoon, Miss Kalloway. Did you happen to see anything in the sky outside your window a few moments ago?”

She nodded. “Yes, I saw it.” Somehow, she kept the tremor out of her voice, but inside she was still shaking. She also felt so cold she wondered if she would ever get warm again.

“We’re sorry about that. We don’t normally shoot down advertisement drones, but once we saw the message and realized it was targeting you, we immediately destroyed it. I wanted to let you know we are working to track down the person who paid for the advertisement, and we’ve also alerted the FBI.”

“Thank you for letting me know.” She started closing the door. “Please excuse me. I’m in the middle of something.” Then she closed the door even though Timothy looked like he had more to say. Or perhaps he just wanted to have a more personal conversation with her and make sure she wasn’t too shaken.

But she didn’t have time for that.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Planet New Vaxx and the documentary she’d watched about the Vaxxlians. The program had shown images and videos of the main settlement on the aliens’ new planet, Starzzia, a picturesque city filled with white stone buildings and lush vegetation growing between all the houses and businesses. She remembered how there were sidewalks and walking paths everywhere, and vast forests surrounding the residential areas that stretched to the snow-capped mountains.

A sense of freedom stole through her as she considered what it might be like to live there… on a planet that had a protective shield around it. A planet that didn’t allow males from other species, including humans, to visit. Even if M found out she’d gone there, he wouldn’t be able to follow.

She would be able to walk freely around a city for the first time in years. Even before the stalker had started bothering her, she hadn’t been able to walk down the street without someone approaching her to ask for an autograph or a picture.

At first, she’d loved the attention and was grateful she had so many fans. But the interactions had sometimes felt strange, like when a fan became too pushy or even a bit inappropriate, and she’d also experienced social fatigue from constantly having to interact with strangers.

But Starzzia? Sure, some of the human women might recognize her, but she doubted she would draw the kind of fanatical attention she used to draw when she went out in public anywhere on Earth.

She rushed to her laptop, clicked on the bookmarked link for the VAMOB application, and stared at the text at the top of the page.

MAIL ORDER BRIDES WANTED. Single human females ages eighteen to forty needed to become life mates of lonely Vaxxlian warriors. Must be willing to relocate to Planet New Vaxx in the very near future. Apply today! Serious applicants only. Disclaimer: Vaxxlians mate for life.