Earth Lost (Earthrise Book 2) Read online

  Marco nodded, voice choked. "It will keep you safe."

  "Marco . . ." She tugged at the straps. "Marco, help me."

  It broke his heart to see her confused, struggling in her bonds, here in this small white chamber. A prisoner.

  "Do you remember what happened?" he said.

  She looked at him, confusion on her face, then nodded. A tear ran down her cheek. "I remember. I'm scared, Marco. Is it still inside me?"

  He nodded, unable to stop his own tears. He held her hand tightly. "We're going to fix this. We're going to heal you. Once we reach the frontier, they have the best doctors in the cosmos. They'll get it out of you, whatever is inside. They'll heal you, Lailani."

  She closed her eyes. "I cannot be healed. It's who I am, Marco. I was so stupid. So stupid." She wept. "I'm a monster."

  "No." He shook his head and stroked her hair. "No, Lailani."

  "I hurt you. I killed Elvis." She trembled. "I'm so ashamed. I'm so scared."

  "They made you do it," Marco said. "The scum."

  "The scum fathered me," Lailani whispered, and she opened her eyes again, eyes flooding with tears. "Help me, Marco. Help me, please. Take it out of me. I can hear it inside me even now."

  There was just enough room for Marco to lie on the bed beside her. He lay on his side, caressing her cheek, gazing into her eyes.

  "Do you remember that time Elvis smuggled all those packets of jam out of the mess in basic, and they burst open during our crawl under the barbed wire, and Singh thought Elvis had shredded himself half to death?"

  Lailani nodded. "I remember."

  "Do you remember how Addy and I found the vending machine, how we feasted that night? My God. Addy must have eaten half the machine, but you only had a few bites."

  "I was full," Lailani said. "And too slow."

  "But nothing beats that meal the old lady in Greece cooked us. Remember? We sneaked into her yard to pee, during that rescue drill, and instead of kicking us out, she fed us peppers stuffed with rice, tomatoes, and beef."

  Finally a faint smile touched Lailani's lips. "That was a good day. That was my best day. The best day in my life."

  "Better than Sundays at Fort Djemila, when we just lay in our tent all day, holding each other, naked, while the others played soccer outside?"

  And now her smile turned into a grin that showed her teeth. "Okay, those were even better."

  Marco slung an arm across her, and he kissed her cheek. "We'll have more good days together. Because that's who we are. Those two people in that tent. Those two people who ate stuffed peppers. That's us. That's who we'll always be."

  Let us never know loss again, Marco added silently. Let us never forget who we are.

  Lailani nodded and leaned her head against him. He lay beside her, holding her, as the stars streamed outside. The Miyari flew on through space, leaving their nightmare far behind, heading toward the frontier.

  The story continues in Earth Rising (Earthrise, Book 3).

  Click here to read the next book in the series:

  DanielArenson.com/EarthRising

  AFTERWORD

  Thank you for reading Earth Lost. I hope you enjoyed the novel.

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  Thank you again, dear reader, and I hope we meet again between the pages of another book.

  Daniel

  NOVELS BY DANIEL ARENSON

  THE MOTH SAGA

  Moth

  Empires of Moth

  Secrets of Moth

  Daughter of Moth

  Shadows of Moth

  Legacy of Moth

  REQUIEM

  Dawn of Dragons Requiem's Song

  Requiem's Hope

  Requiem's Prayer

  The Complete Trilogy

  Song of Dragons Blood of Requiem

  Tears of Requiem

  Light of Requiem

  The Complete Trilogy

  Dragonlore A Dawn of Dragonfire

  A Day of Dragon Blood

  A Night of Dragon Wings

  The Complete Trilogy

  The Dragon War A Legacy of Light

  A Birthright of Blood

  A Memory of Fire

  The Complete Trilogy

  Requiem for Dragons Dragons Lost

  Dragons Reborn

  Dragons Rising

  The Complete Trilogy

  Flame of Requiem Forged in Dragonfire

  Crown of Dragonfire

  Pillars of Dragonfire

  The Complete Trilogy

  ALIEN HUNTERS

  Alien Hunters

  Alien Sky

  Alien Shadows

  EARTHRISE

  Earth Alone

  Earth Lost

  Earth Rising

  OTHER WORLDS

  Eye of the Wizard

  Wand of the Witch

  Firefly Island

  The Gods of Dream

  Flaming Dove

  KEEP IN TOUCH

  www.DanielArenson.com

  [email protected]

  Facebook.com/DanielArenson

  Twitter.com/DanielArenson