Free Woman Beware by Tianna Xander Page B

wrong, you fool.” Artu said with a growl as he turned back to Benton and scowled. “I will begin to age, yes, but I cannot get injured or die until you have a new defender from another generation.”
    “It just goes to show what he knows,” Lena said with a smirk as she gestured to Benton.
    Help me!
    Lena frowned. “Did you hear that?”
    “Hear what?” Benton asked, his toned sarcastic. “Did we hear the death knoll for our people?”
    Help me! Save my baby! Lena’s heart began to race. “I know I heard that.” She rested her hand on Artu’s forearm. “Tell me you heard that,” she said as she headed for the door. “We have to go, Artu. If I’m some goofy female derivative of a defender, I get to go with you.” She bit her lip. “But you’ll have to give me a ride.” She frowned. “Why do you look shorter?”
    “Look down, Lena,” Artu said with a wry grin.
    “Holy crapola!” Lena gasped. “I’m walking on air!”
    “No, my love, you are floating, but it’s pretty much the same thing.” Artu took her hand and pulled her from the room. “Let me show you what else we can do on our way to save that babe.”
     
    Two days later, Lena woke up and stretched. Standing, she turned back to Artu. “You know, now that your sister’s things are washed and I feel like getting dressed,” she said with a wink, “I think I’ll wear that blouse I pulled out on that first day.”
    “The red one?” Artu frowned. “I thought you didn’t like the red one. I believe you said something about red shirts causing death for your people.”
    “That was before,” she said as she pulled the blouse from the closet and held it out in front of her with a grin. “Now that I’m a defender like you, I’ll never be afraid to wear a red shirt again.”
    After all, there was just something about being invincible that lent confidence to a sci-fi geek.
    Help me!
    Lena smiled as she donned the shirt. “You’d better get up, lazy bones. It’s time to go to work.”

 
     
About the Author
     
     
    Dear Reader:
    If you’re reading this, I hope it means that you’ve just enjoyed reading one of my books. Always a romantic, I started weaving little fantasies for my friends at the tender age of fifteen. Never once did I think that writing would be my dream until around 2002. After complaining to my husband that my favorite a uthors didn’t write fast enough, my husband asked a fateful question. “Why don’t you write one of your own while you’re waiting?”
    Once I started, he couldn’t stop me. Now, I write in the morning before work. I write during my breaks at the day job, I write at night when I should be relaxing. Heck, I’ve even been known to write in my sleep. Every member of my family has had the dubious honor of witnessing my fingers moving over the keys while I’m off in dreamland. Sometimes it even makes sense!
    I grew up in Southwest Florida where I met and married. My husband was in the Navy for twenty years, so if you wonder where I have gotten some of my ideas, I blame him. I suggest you do the same. He’s always saying he has wide shoulders. Let’s load them up, shall we?
    Currently, I live in a small town in Michigan, seven miles from the nearest grocery store. I love living out here in the country. It gives me the peace and quiet I need to continue to write these stories for you. It also shows me a lot of natural beauty that I try to share with you in my books. While my titles may be dedicated to certain individuals who have touched my life in differing ways, please remember, every one of them is written for you.
    My most recent dream is to continue what I do—to share more stories with anyone willing to read them. My new dream is to be able to pursue both my writing and my husband fulltime. Do you think he’ll run?
     
    More of Tianna’s Books
     
    The Paradise series:
    A Stranger in Paradise
    Gates of Paradise
    Return to Paradise
    Trouble in Paradise
    Road to Paradise
    Another Day in