An Alien Easter (Zerconian Warriors) Read online

  An Alien Easter

  Sadie Carter

  Sadie Carter

  An Alien Easter

  © 2020, Sadie Carter

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  Cover Design: Sweet n Spicy Designs

  Editor: Christie Giraud: EbookEditingPro

  Proofing: Beth Hercules

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Books by Sadie Carter

  Let’s keep in touch!

  1. Ellie and Racar

  2. Zoey and Dex

  3. Saffron and Moroco

  4. Zoey and Dex

  5. Macon and Annabel

  6. Zoey and Dex

  7. Macon and Annabel

  8. Ellie and Racar

  9. Zoey and Dex

  10. Macon and Annabel

  11. Zoey and Dex

  12. Saffron and Moroco

  Epilogue

  Alien Conquest

  Books by Sadie Carter

  Zerconian Warriors Series

  Alien Warrior

  Alien Lover

  Alien Mate

  Sweet Alien Savage

  Alien Savior

  Alien Morsels

  Alien Mine

  All I Want for Christmas is my Alien

  Alien Sacrifice

  An Alien to Die For

  Alien Commander

  A Christmas Most Alien

  Alien Explosions

  Alien Retribution

  Alien Charmer

  Alien Healer

  An Alien for Christmas

  An Alien Easter

  Alien Conquest (coming May 27th)

  Joyadan Mates

  Rye

  Sky Warriors

  Marcun

  Sacaren

  A Sky Warrior Christmas novella

  Nax

  Other

  Fairy Godmother Gone Bad

  Let’s keep in touch!

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  Sadie Carter Reader Warriors

  1

  Ellie and Racar

  “I need to speak to Ellie! It’s a national emergency!”

  Ellie froze, in the middle of icing a batch of cupcakes. Worry filled her. A national emergency? Why would the Empress be in her bakery, asking for her, because of an emergency? She wiped her hands down on her apron and raced into the front part of her bakery.

  She still couldn’t believe she owned her own bakery. With the help of her friends and Racar, she’d achieved a dream she hadn’t thought possible. Life had certainly changed in these past few months. A business of her own, doing something she loved, a safe, stable home, and the universe’s hunkiest man as her mate.

  Life couldn’t get much better, right?

  Only now there was some sort of national emergency and the Empress needed her help? What was going on?

  “Empress Zoey? Is everything all right?” she asked, staring over at the blonde woman. Zoey looked hot, uncomfortable, and very, very pregnant.

  She didn’t say that, of course. That would be rude.

  “Whoa, are you sure there’s only one baby in there?” Blue blurted out from where she stood behind the front counter.

  Ellie turned to glare at her. What was she thinking? Did she really need to point out how big the Empress’s belly was? Ellie didn’t usually let Blue work the front counter. She didn’t have great people skills or any people skills at all really, but Sophie’s little girl had had a tough night, so she’d asked for the day off. Of course, Ellie had said yes. Sophie was an amazing employee and friend. She just hoped her little girl Marnie was feeling better.

  The Empress suddenly burst into tears. Ellie froze. Oh God. Shit. Crap. Her heart raced. Blue had made the Empress of Zerconia cry. The Emperor was going to kill them all. Slowly. Torturously. Everyone knew how much Zerconian males hated when their mates cried.

  She took a slow step back and gestured frantically at Blue, who was staring at Zoey with equal parts shock and fascination.

  “Are you trying to get us killed?” Ellie hissed at Blue.

  “It was an honest question. She could be pregnant with twins.” Blue eyed Zoey. “Or triplets.”

  Zoey wailed louder. Blue’s eyes widened and the few people who were in the bakery left hastily.

  “Maybe. . .I’ll just. . .head out the back. . .” Blue took a few steps back.

  Ellie turned and pointed at her. “Freeze!”

  She whirled around and looked over at Zoey’s dark-skinned bodyguard worriedly, wondering if he was about to arrest them, drag them back to the Emperor, and have them tortured. He just stared back at her impassively. He could have been a statue for how much emotion he showed.

  “Have they all gone?” Zoey whispered.

  Um, what?

  Ellie blinked. “Who, Empress?”

  Zoey raised her face from where she’d had it buried in her hands and looked around. She let out a deep breath and wiped her cheeks clean. Ellie turned to look at Blue, who stared back with wide eyes, shrugging her shoulders. She had no more clue about what was going on than Ellie did.

  “Good. They’ve all cleared out. I didn’t want anyone else around.” Zoey turned to frown at Boris. Her hands landed on her hips as she tapped her foot. “You’re losing it. What happened to the terrifying glare that would send people running within a three-block radius?”

  The man didn’t even move. As far as Ellie could see, he didn’t even blink.

  “Is he okay, Empress?” she asked, keeping one eye on Boris.

  “What? Who? Boris? He’s fine. He’s probably just contemplating ways of murdering me and getting rid of my body. What he doesn’t realize is that his life would be incredibly boring without me in it.”

  Hm. Boris didn’t look convinced of that.

  “And call me Zoey. After all, you’re about to become my new best friend.”

  The dark-skinned man snorted. The Empress turned to glare at him. “Hush, Boris. Your input isn’t necessary.”

  Ellie’s eyebrows rose. Zoey was the Empress of Zerconia, but still, Ellie thought she was either really brave or really foolhardy to speak to Boris that way.

  “Your new best friend? Isn’t Mila your best friend? Nothing has happened to her, has it?” Was that the national emergency? But how would that have anything to do with Ellie? She barely knew Mila and Zoey.

  “Mila? Why would I be here if something was wrong with Mila?” Zoey asked. She had no idea, but then, she also had no clue what was going on. “Mila is fine. I mean, Dex is having a conniption over the way Quentan has claimed Elodie, so if Koran wasn’t his best friend, he may have already deported them all, but otherwise, she’s good.”

  Deported them? Holy shit.

  “Is that why you, ah, wanted everyone to leave? So, you could talk about this national emergency? What is it? Are you all right?” Ellie asked her. And how the hell could she help? Then something occurred to her. Zoey must be close to giving birth. Did she need a healer? “Do you want me to get Racar?” But Moroco was the Empress’s official healer. Wouldn’t she contact him?

  “Not unless he knows how to make chocolate,” Zoe
y told her.

  Chocolate?

  “Um, I don’t believe he would know that.”

  “No, I didn’t expect he would. That’s okay, because you have a plan for Easter, right?” Zoey asked, rubbing her hands together above her big belly.

  “Easter?” Ellie asked, trying to catch up.

  “Wait, is this national emergency about Easter?” Blue asked incredulously.

  Zoey frowned and Ellie sent Blue a chiding look. She’d already made the Empress cry once. Although now it seemed as though Zoey had turned on the tears to clear out the bakery.

  This was all rather confusing. But from what she understood, things often were confusing when the Empress was involved.

  “Yes, this is about Easter. Okay, so it’s not officially a national emergency, but it’s an emergency to me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pregnant.”

  Oh, they’d noticed.

  “And I’ve run out of chocolate.”

  Okay, she was beginning to see the issue.

  “And it’s nearly Easter! So I’m just checking you’ve got a plan in place to create some Easter eggs. Chocolate Easter eggs, none of those eggs made from icing bullshit, and I want to be first on the list to buy some. There’s got to be some perks to this empress crap.”

  Zoey rubbed her hand against her lower back, grimacing. Boris took a step closer, studying the Empress carefully.

  “Are you all right? Would you like to sit?” Ellie asked, moving towards the tables to grab a chair.

  “No, no, I sit all day. It’s so boring. Moroco is always on at me to stay off my feet. He’s the reason I’m as big as a house!”

  Tears dripped down her face as Ellie looked at her, aghast. Even Boris appeared concerned. He grabbed the chair from Ellie, setting it down by Zoey and pressing her into it.

  “Th-thanks,” Zoey said, even though she’d just protested that she didn’t want to sit. Boris pulled a cloth from his pocket and Zoey used it to mop her face. It seemed the big, silent guard came prepared.

  “It wasn’t my fault this time!” Blue held up her hands.

  Ellie sent her an exasperated look. “Blue, can you grab an éclair? The Empress likes those.”

  “Zoey,” the tired woman reminded her. Zoey glanced up at Boris, who had a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a smile. “I’m all right, Boris.”

  “Empress, I mean, Zoey, can I get you a drink of water or something?” Ellie asked her.

  “Water would be great, thank you. Sorry, didn’t mean to lose it like a crazy person.”

  Was she apologizing for calling Easter a national emergency, for bursting into fake tears to clear a room, or for actually crying?

  Ellie was pretty sure it was the last. Blue brought the Empress a glass of water and an éclair. Zoey sighed and took a big bite of the pastry.

  “Man, that is delicious. Maybe I should take a few of these with me when I go.”

  Boris cleared his throat and Zoey frowned. “Yeah, I guess not. If Dex finds out, he’ll murder me.”

  “He’ll be angry at you for eating éclairs?” Blue asked, taking a seat at the table. Ellie sat as well. Boris moved to the door and pressed a button on the touchpad, which put the bakery into closed mode, locking the door and darkening the front windows so no one could see in. Ellie sighed. Great, she was going to have some pissed-off customers, wondering why she’d closed in the middle of the day.

  But Zoey was the Empress.

  “No. Well, yes. Moroco wants me on a healthy diet. He’s worried about my blood pressure. Which is why I’m supposed to rest all the time. But I’m so bored. I’m not allowed to move around, I’m not allowed to eat sweets. I mean, what else can he take from me? My movies?” Zoey scowled. “The man is a freaking sadist.”

  Those seemed like pretty reasonable requests, if Zoey had high blood pressure. Ellie saw Blue open her mouth and knew she was about to say something. She sent her friend a sharp look. She’d really like to live to see tomorrow. And even though she was pretty certain that Zoey was a fairly reasonable person most of the time, today did not seem to be one of those days.

  “Should you be here right now?” Ellie asked, watching the éclair disappear nervously. What if Zoey’s blood pressure spiked? How dangerous was that? She looked up at Boris for some clue. Why had he let Zoey leave her room if she was that ill?

  Maybe she’d cried. Could the big guy be swayed by tears? Hard to know.

  “The only thing I have to look forward to is Easter. Please tell me you have a plan to make some Easter eggs. Help me, Obi-Wan-Ellie, you’re my only hope.”

  “Isn’t that a line from a movie?” Blue asked.

  “Ooh, you’ve seen Star Wars?” Zoey turned to Blue. “It’s such a classic. One of my favorite old films of all time. You can come to the palace and watch it with me sometime if you’d like.”

  Blue’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, and it seemed like she didn’t know where to look. Not that Ellie had much sympathy for her. She was still reeling from Zoey’s request.

  “Well. . .I. . .ah. . .”

  “If you don’t want to, you can say no. It’s not a royal decree or anything.” The Empress smiled but Ellie saw a hint of sadness flash through her eyes. Blue must have seen it as well.

  “I’d love to,” Blue told her. “Sorry, it’s just you’re not what I thought an empress would be like.”

  “Oh, you made the mistake of thinking I’d be more like my esteemed mother-in-law, the former Empress of Zerconia. Yeah, I try to live by the DOOB philosophy.”

  “Doob philosophy?” Ellie asked.

  “Do the opposite of the old bat.”

  Blue grinned. “Every time I think I have you pegged, you move the goal posts.”

  “Ick. Sports analogy. I don’t do sports. Once I convinced Dex that I wanted to try aqua jogging. But they don’t have swimming pools here, so I had to do it in the ocean. I nearly drowned. He banned me from all sorts of jogging. Suits me. The girls don’t appreciate being knocked around while my booty bounces up and down. It’s just not natural, right, Boris?”

  Boris, predictably, said nothing.

  Zoey leaned forward or at least Ellie thought that was what she was attempting to do. Pretty hard to lean forward with her stomach protruding so far. Ellie reached out; worried Zoey was about to topple forward out of her chair.

  “I’ve got a limited amount of time before someone notices I’m missing and tells Dex. Or worse, Moroco. Swear to God, I don’t know how Saffron hasn’t smothered that ass in his sleep. Boris, make a note, I’ll need you to go smother Moroco in his sleep tonight.”

  Ellie looked at Blue in alarm. She didn’t mean that, right? Ellie turned her nervous glance up to Boris, but his face hadn’t changed expression. She didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. Maybe he really did have a mental list filled with people to assassinate.

  Maybe if Ellie didn’t make the Empress some chocolate Easter eggs, she’d end up on that list. Oh crap. She felt ill.

  “I’ve been attempting to perfect a chocolate recipe, but—”

  “But what?” Zoey interrupted.

  “Well, I think I’ve got the taste right, but the texture is slightly off. I need to keep experimenting.”

  “Then do that.” Zoey clapped her hands as though it was a done deal.

  “Um, well, the thing is I still have to work and—”

  “You need helpers? I’ve got your back. Boris, mental note.”

  Ellie blinked. Was she for real?

  Zoey started to heave herself out of her seat. Boris reached out with his good hand and helped her stand. “So I’ll find you some helpers, and you keep working on your chocolate recipe. What about molds? Do you need Easter egg molds? I want Elodie to have the whole experience. As well as all the other human and Zerconian children.”

  “I think I can get Marc to make me something that will work,” Ellie said, standing as well.

  Zoey smiled at her brightly. Her moods darted around so much, Ellie could barely k
eep up.

  “Spectacular! Great talking to you both. How long do you think it will take? A day or two?”

  “Maybe give me five days?”

  Zoey frowned. “Easter is in a week. You’re cutting it fine.”

  Yes, well, she had only just found out she was expected to make all these Easter eggs. In a week.

  “Just as long as you remember to put me at the top of the list. All right?” Zoey gave her a serious look.

  “Y-yes, of course,” Ellie said nervously.

  Zoey grinned. “Excellent. Ooh, I’m so excited.” She turned towards the door. Boris moved to unlock it. Then Zoey turned back. “Oh, and Blue?”

  “Yes?” Blue answered.

  “It’s a good idea to never comment on the size of a pregnant woman’s stomach, got me?”

  Blue’s mouth opened. Then closed. “Yep.”

  “Good. Bye-bye!”

  Boris turned to give them both stern looks. Ellie swore her heart was racing so hard, she felt faint. Then, to her shock, he winked and left.

  “Holy. Shit. I’ve gone up against some scary people before and she is. . .she’s something else.” Blue ran her hand over her face.

  “You don’t think she was serious about getting Boris to smother Moroco in his sleep, right?” Ellie asked, feeling her legs grow weak. She sat abruptly.

  “No,” Blue answered. “But I do think she was deadly serious about you creating chocolate eggs for Easter. You better get on it. Apparently, you’re her only hope.”

  Ellie groaned and leaned her forehead against the table.

  Awesome. Just awesome.

  2

  Zoey and Dex