EARTH AWAKENED

  A TERRAN REALM BOOK

  MONETTE MICHAELS

  WRITING AS RAE MORGAN

  CONTENTS

  Praise for Monette Michaels’ Books

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Series Foreword

  Earth Awakened

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  About The Author

  Other books in Terran Realm

  Writing as Monette Michaels:

  Earth Awakened, A Terran Realm Book

  Author, Monette Michaels

  * * *

  ISBN: 978-1-7334817-6-2

  * * *

  Copyright 2009, 2012, 2022, Monette Draper

  * * *

  First e-book version, writing as Rae Morgan, published by Liquid Silver Books, 2009.

  Second e-book version, writing as Rae Morgan, published by Liquid Silver Books, in

  Terran Realm, Volume One, 2012.

  Third e-book version, as Monette Michaels, 2022.

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  * * *

  LSB Editor: Chrissie Henderson

  2022 Revision editor: Marci Clark

  Cover Artist: April Martinez

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  PRAISE FOR MONETTE MICHAELS’ BOOKS

  Security Specialists International Series

  “I come back to this series again and again when I want to read a love story that makes me feel great without putting me through an emotional wringer. It is hot, funny, and heart pounding.” – Theresa, Goodreads

  “Once you read the first book you won't be able to stop reading until you've read them all!” – Sheila Kaye, author of The Noah Chronicles

  “Fabulous, sexy, and full of adventure. Love the SSI team and can't wait for their next book. I fell in love with the characters and completely got lost in this book.” – Michele, Goodreads

  “I eagerly await every SSI book that comes out.” – Ziya, Goodreads

  “Rollicking military romance that sizzles.” – Donna, Goodreads

  The Prime Chronicles Series

  “This series has become a yearly read!” - Robin, Goodreads

  “This series just keeps getting better!” – Shaune, Goodreads

  “Really enjoy the fact that the women are as ‘alpha’ as the men in this series.” – Noetical Kink EBooks

  “This is a well-rounded and thought-out series that I really want more of. I hope there are many more books in this world, I know I would love to read them all.” – Tina, Goodreads

  “The series is action packed from start to finish, with a lot of sass, wit and romance!” -Sylvia, Goodreads

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my fellow Terran Realm authors, Terri Schaefer and Bonnie Dee, who read and critiqued early versions of this book. Thanks for setting the gold standard in the shared universe.

  * * *

  To Sherry Crane, my original critique partner—I couldn’t have done this one without you.

  * * *

  To Tracey West, my original beta-reader—thanks for your confidence in me and my world.

  * * *

  To Marci Clark—thanks for making my revision process easier.

  * * *

  To April Martinez—thanks for making the Terran Realm covers shine.

  * * *

  To Jenn for generously giving her time to format the Terran Realm books for republication. You rock!

  BLURB

  The Terran Realm—a world where the Terrans, a species as old as time, secretly coexist in harmony with humans. Their elemental abilities and collective memories are what keeps the world in balance. Or at least until greed for power enters the mix.

  On a dig in southwestern Indiana, Earth Keeper Lily Redfern, a dedicated scientist and unworldly young Terran woman, is the chosen Earth Talisman. Struggling to stop an earthquake that threatens to split North America in half, she gets help from Carr Madoc, the Protector-Consort destined to guard her and supply her with his strength.

  In New York State, Algernon Brody plots to create chaos in the world for his and his Destroyer friends’ financial gain. The earthquake in Indiana was only the beginning. His Air Keeper wife, and soon-to-be Air Talisman, Autumn hates him for killing her parents and abusing her. Trent Steed, Brody’s half-human/half-Terran aide, loves Autumn and will do anything to get her away from the vile Destroyer.

  * * *

  What Brody does not know is his act of greed will unbalance Earth and trigger the beginning of end times.

  * * *

  Can the two Talisman couples restore balance, or will Brody’s foul acts signal the end of all life on Earth?

  SERIES FOREWORD

  The Terran Realm. A world where the Terrans—a species as old as time—secretly coexist in harmony with humans. Their elemental abilities and collective memories are what keeps the world whole. Their century-and-a-half lifespan ensures continuity of knowledge.

  Keepers: Armed with the very power of Mother Earth, Keepers use their special powers over Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Spirit to maintain world balance through manipulation of their element. They are one of the most precious resources our world has to offer.

  Protectors: The guardsmen of Terrans, Protectors are the muscle with magic that ensure a Keeper is never compromised.

  Destroyers: Destroyers seek to annihilate everything KOTE (Keepers of the Environment) fought to establish centuries ago. To a certain extent, they’ve succeeded.

  Talisman: A special group of Terrans, who not only manipulate their signature element, but have superior control over it. Born rarely, they are more myth than reality, and their importance and talents have mostly been lost to the mists of time.

  Dive into the Terran Realm and experience the lives of the lusty, the willful, the destructive.

  Redemption, Keira Ramsay

  Measure of a Man, Bonnie Dee

  Fruits of Betrayal, Bonnie Dee

  Earth Awakened, Monette Michaels

  EARTH AWAKENED

  “There were giants in the earth in those days.” Genesis vi. 4.

  * * *

  “The true beginning of our end.” Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act v., Sc. 1.

  CHAPTER 1

  Monday, 10:30 a.m. (EST), an archeological dig in southwestern Indiana

  Lily Redfern scraped at the rich, dark earth covering what she suspected was the mound’s stockade, a fortifying wall that surrounded the central portion of the ancient site’s structures. A nagging pain in her back caused her to moan. Sitting up, she stretched and took a short break, her first one of the morning.

  As she rested, she swept the dig site with an expert eye. The ancients had chosen well. The ancients in this instance were Terrans, or Mississippians as the humans had named the prehistoric mound builders. From the top of the mound, she could see the mighty, life-giving Ohio River less than five miles away; it gleamed like liquid fire under the bright spring sun. The elevation also had proved to allow the ancient Terrans easy access to the wind energy and fresh water from subterranean aquifers as old as time buried deeply beneath the site. Earth energy, her elemental affinity, was also abundant, and ley lines hummed and buzzed with power waiting to be plumbed.

  Even more importantly, the element of Spirit ran strong here.

  This was a place of power, of Earth magick. And, under all the wrong circumstances, it was a site of potentially horrific destruction.

  A sharp pain traveled her spine, exacerbating an ache in her temples. She gasped. Something was horribly wrong, more than an aching back from bending over too long at the dig, more than the subtle head pain that had grown fiercer as the spring morning had passed.

  Taking a drink of water from her ever-present sports bottle, she used her five normal senses and searched for anything out of place. Finding nothing, she tapped into her essence, the spirit at her core that made her a Terran Earth Keeper, and sent it down into the earth.

  Sounds of grinding and crashing spoke to her psi and tore through her mind like a tornadic wind. These were the sounds of an Earth in the early stages of tearing itself apart.

  She cried out as the Earth’s pain more fully invaded her body. Bending over, her head touching the ground, she clasped her arms around her middle. She groaned as intense heat and nausea roiled through her. With deep, calming breaths, she managed not to lose what little was in her stomach. Consciously, urgently, she dissipated the energy she’d absorbed from the cataclysm shaping up many kilometers below the surface. The exce
ss power excited the air around her. The resulting mini-whirlwinds teased her hair loose from the tightly woven French braid she habitually wore on a dig.

  Shoving at the escaping strands, she struggled to her feet. Arms extended to each side, she reached with all her Earth Keeper magick and searched the ground beneath her feet once again. And, still, she found the signs of major seismic activity unlike any she’d ever encountered.

  “Impossible,” she muttered. There had to be a mistake. It was inconceivable. This was not a normal quake for the area. Not normal at all. It was too deep and portended to be too strong.

  Glancing around, she located the other, mostly human, members of the dig. They stood by the chieftain’s structure at the uppermost part of the mound. She’d purposely chosen to dig away from the rest today. She had problems—she guessed assault would be considered a problem—with the excavation team’s leader, Darcy Miller. Miller was a Terran like herself, but of the Protector class with an affinity to Earth.

  No matter what he was supposed to be, he’d always been a Class-A jerk and a thorn in her side. But lately he’d surpassed his asshole status and graduated to a stalker, pressuring her to have sex with him. Last night, he’d taken that harassment to the next level. He’d followed her out of a restaurant in town and cornered her before she could get to her car. Before she knew what was happening, he’d grabbed her and held her tightly as he stabbed his tongue between her lips while he used the other hand to grope between her legs.

  She’d broken free from his hold, but not before he’d painfully squeezed her mons. Despite her protests, he hadn’t stopped and tried to pull her farther into the darkness. Luckily, fear-induced adrenaline had given her enough strength to fight him off before he could do more than kiss and touch her against her wishes. She didn’t want to think of what might’ve happened if he’d managed to get her away from the dimly lit parking area.

  Images of his leering face and large, muscled body as he tried to drag her away played behind her eyes in a repeating loop. Over and over—her own personal horror film. The marks from his fingers had bruised her arms. The stench of his sweat had been so strong, so fetid that she could still taste it. She gagged and reached for her water bottle. Taking a deep drink of water to wash away the remembered taste, she wished she could vanquish the memories as easily. Even two showers and liberal applications of her favorite body lotion hadn’t erased his smell from her skin.

  No wonder she’d chalked up her early morning headache and impending sense of dread to the violence perpetrated upon her. But she’d been wrong. Maybe fatally wrong. What had caused her physical and mental distress was much worse than being attacked.

  Far beneath her, the Earth was self-destructing.

  She dissipated the seismic energy automatically, attempting to halt the progress of the quake before it reached the surface.

  “Lily!”

  The masculine voice filled with rough machismo and overbearing conceit caused her racing heart to speed up even more. She looked up. Darcy waved at her then headed her way, with a self-satisfied smile on his smarmy lips. The bastard acted as if she’d wanted his sexual advances.

  Shaking her head, she didn’t have time for his unbridled and smug idiocy now. She raised a hand in an attempt to halt his forward progress. He ignored it. Figured. He was nothing if not persistent. It had taken a shot of Earth energy into his balls to get him to back off her this morning when he’d stopped by her room to give her a wakeup call.

  Mumbling foul words under her breath, she hurried to meet him. They had very little time to save the humans.

  “We’re breaking for lunch.” He reached for her. “Come on, you’ll ride with me.”

  “No!” She put her hands behind her back to avoid his.

  Childish? Yes. But Darcy, while not much taller, could match her strength and more. Bruised balls and her threat to emasculate him had worked this morning, but probably wouldn’t in the future. She hadn’t reported the most recent assault, or any of his earlier sexual harassment, to the Keepers of the Environment, the organization that employed them both and had funded the dig, because she needed the job. Miller’s father was a KOTE Council Elder, and when push came to shove, the politically connected Darcy would be believed over her. Life’s lessons had taught her that much.

  “There’s a problem,” she said. “You need to take the humans and get the hell out of here. Now!”

  Darcy frowned. Gripping her upper arms tightly, he pulled her to him and said in a low, savage tone, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do. You can’t avoid me. You can’t avoid us.”

  Us? Not in a million years.

  He shook her and tightened his hold even more, undoubtedly layering more bruises on top of the others he’d left on her. Well, the newer marks would appear only if she lived long enough. The quake would most certainly kill her and millions of others if she didn’t get a handle on it soon.

  “Darcy,” she hissed, struggling against his grip. “One word: earthquake. Large. Now. Here. Get the humans as far away as possible. Do your fricking job for a change.”

  His jaw dropped open, and he released her arms. “Are you sure?” He shook his head. “Of course you’re sure. You don’t joke about things like this. Not the serious Lily Redfern.”

  Something snapped inside him, and she could visibly see the Protector essence he managed to sublimate most days come to the fore. “How much time? And how far away is safe?”

  “Very little. Far.” Like the Arctic Circle, maybe.

  He nodded sharply. “Do your job, Lily. I’ll be back for you. We aren’t through, yet. You’ll be mine … completely.”

  “Whatever.” She’d already turned her back on him. Calling over her shoulder, “I’m not worrying overmuch, Darcy. I don’t figure either of us will survive the conflagration.”

  She angled her head and realized she’d made her comments to dead space. Darcy had already herded the team to the KOTE helicopter. Thank the gods he had the authority to requisition the expensive mode of transportation. All other KOTE projects she’d worked on used four-wheel drives to ferry the scientists to the archeological sites.

  A vicious wave of earth energy swept over her skin and into her spine, interrupting her wayward thoughts. Her back arched with pain and she fell to the ground, landing on her rear.

  Better stay down, Lily, my girl. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

  She rolled to lie on her stomach. Placing an ear to the ground, she closed her eyes and sent all in her that was Earth Keeper into the soil.

  Down, down, her psi essence sank, seeking the depth and magnitude of the quake. All around her the earth groaned, crackled, and buckled. Slowing her psi’s descent, she paused at three kilometers and realized immediately she’d have to go deeper, maybe as much as ten kilometers, to reach the core of the quake. For it was at that level where the formerly somnolent Wabash Valley Fault line lay.

  “This is unbelievable,” Lily muttered as she sent out counter energy, fighting fire with fire, in an attempt to prevent the buildup from reaching the surface. In most quakes, it was the rolling motion when the tremendous forces reached ground level that caused most of the death and destruction.