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They'll fight until the last star burns out...
Rian Sherron is a lot of things. Captain of the spaceship Imojenna. Ex-war hero. Ex-assassin. For years, he's traveled from one end of the galaxy to the other, both trying to escape his demons and get revenge on the shape-shifting aliens responsible for his slow demise into hell. That all changed the day Rian rescued an Arynian priestess from slave traders. Ella Kinton is everything Rian both fears and admires. Ella is everything he never let himself admit he wanted. Together, they must face a harrowing choice—come together and defeat the Reidar, or fall apart, leaving the universe in total chaos. |
“There is no resting on the laurels here - it's a fast-paced, in your face sci-fi adventure. There is plenty of humour and the "sexy times" between Rian and Ella are really well handled. I really am sad to see the crew fly off into the far reaches of the universe.” --Nikki’s Book Nook
“Although I’m sad to see this series end, Anastasi ended things with a definite bang, and I couldn’t ask for a better ending.” --Julie H., BookBub
“The Final Dawn’ is written in the spirit of amalgamating the well-known tropes of the super-hero/syfy shows in the last decade or so, with switches in POVs and non-stop action that juggles multiple sub-plots quite deftly. It isn’t solely a focused syfy-romance but more of a team-dynamic-focused one that zips from one place to another at the speed of light as Anastasi’s characters twist their way around fighting the bad guys and struggle to recognize the good ones.” --Unstuck Pages Blog
“Fast-paced and incredibly fun!” --Erika R., NetGalley
“Excellent world building, a dynamic, a diverse cast of characters, and superb writing!” --Monica L., NetGalley
“Jess Anastasi is a fantastic storyteller, and this final book in the series does not disappoint.” --Sara F., NetGalley
“Although I’m sad to see this series end, Anastasi ended things with a definite bang, and I couldn’t ask for a better ending.” --Julie H., BookBub
“The Final Dawn’ is written in the spirit of amalgamating the well-known tropes of the super-hero/syfy shows in the last decade or so, with switches in POVs and non-stop action that juggles multiple sub-plots quite deftly. It isn’t solely a focused syfy-romance but more of a team-dynamic-focused one that zips from one place to another at the speed of light as Anastasi’s characters twist their way around fighting the bad guys and struggle to recognize the good ones.” --Unstuck Pages Blog
“Fast-paced and incredibly fun!” --Erika R., NetGalley
“Excellent world building, a dynamic, a diverse cast of characters, and superb writing!” --Monica L., NetGalley
“Jess Anastasi is a fantastic storyteller, and this final book in the series does not disappoint.” --Sara F., NetGalley
Chapter One
Corners of the Imojenna had grown dusty with misuse. Without the crew traipsing through her every day. Without Zahli’s penchant to clean every little nook. In the unrelenting quiet and stillness, the dust had settled without resistance.
It didn’t feel like eight months since the night Rian had accidentally invaded Ella’s mind and consequently taken his ass up to the bridge and launched his ship without a second thought.
It wasn’t the first time he’d struck out on his own. After the Assimilation Wars had ended, but before he’d purchased the Imojenna, he’d drifted for an indeterminate amount of time. There was something inexpressible in the simplicity of being alone. Though it wasn’t a state he planned to spend forever in. No, it didn’t feel like eight months, but the accumulating dust told him time really had been slipping by without his notice.
He hauled a crate out of the last concealed compartment and carried it through the cargo bay to walk down the ramp and stack it on the meadow grass with the others. His crew had always made jokes about his stash of Violaine, but he’d never taken an accounting of his stock and instead lived with the vague, haunting feeling he was constantly almost running out. Probably because he lived on the stuff like others lived on water. The stack of crates and stray bottles in front of him, however, attested to the fact he probably had a supply that would have lasted at least several years.
“Having some kind of bootlegger’s yard sale?”
Rian looked up to see La’thar approaching. The Mar’keish had found him a few days after he’d left the crew behind on Tripoli. He’d been sitting in a too-fancy bar in a city on some central-systems planet watching Ella’s brother, Isiah Kinton, schmooze powerful Inter-Planetary Coalition government officials and debating whether he could find out what the man had done to his sister—probably through some inventive form of torture—or simply kill the asshole and be done with it.
La’thar and his BFF Ko’en had turned up and persuaded him to return to their Mar’keish base of operations, which had proven a more tempting offer that night. He’d told himself Isiah would keep, and he hadn’t been willing to pass up the opportunity to find out more about the mystics—once known as mind wraiths—and their position in the war against the Reidar.
He hadn’t been sure when or how he’d ever make a move against the shape-shifting aliens, but having the Mar’keish as allies would be a smart strategic play. After all, the Reidar had gone to the trouble of trying to wipe out the Mar’keish decades ago. Only a handful remained, and they stayed deep underground and off everyone’s radars.
Their base of operations had turned out to be a wildlife sanctuary planet that was off-limits to members of the public. A clever way to ensure no unwanted visitors, and a cover to guarantee no one thought to look for them. The Mar’keish ships were designated as conservationist vessels and were able to slip through Transit Gates and checkpoints without anyone looking too closely at who was on board or what they were actually doing.
Rian had landed the Imojenna on their planet of Castaneda and basically hadn’t been anywhere else since. He’d seen an opportunity and seized it. Because he’d still been hurting over what he’d inadvertently done to Ella, and he’d long ago come to understand she was both his greatest weakness and most steadfast strength. She’d been insisting for months he learn about the entanglement and his own abilities, yet he’d stubbornly refused for reasons he wasn’t even clear on anymore.
Though his pride had balked, he’d asked La’thar to help him understand. The Mar’keish may have differed from the Arynians in ways he didn’t comprehend and didn’t care to, but they still had a better grasp of the metaphysical than he ever would. They also had a slightly different view about the entanglement.
While Arynians believed death could end an entropic entanglement, the Mar’keish believed the metaphysical bond transcended death. That forevermore, in this life and the next—whatever that entailed—he, Ella, and Varean would continue to exist as an interconnected, nonsingular form of energy.
He still didn’t know what he was supposed to make of that fact. It was hard enough grappling with the entanglement and all its various connotations in this existence, let alone in any kind of afterlife. The entanglement had inextricably linked his soul with Varean’s and Ella’s.
If he was being honest, after distancing himself from everything and everyone for countless years, suddenly not being alone—even in his own head, heart, and soul—had been both daunting and overwhelming. He’d run from it like he’d run from everything else. Except it was like trying to escape from the darkness that was so interwoven into his psyche. There was no getting away from it, no matter how many trillions of miles he put between himself and the two people now tied to him on a molecular level.
Corners of the Imojenna had grown dusty with misuse. Without the crew traipsing through her every day. Without Zahli’s penchant to clean every little nook. In the unrelenting quiet and stillness, the dust had settled without resistance.
It didn’t feel like eight months since the night Rian had accidentally invaded Ella’s mind and consequently taken his ass up to the bridge and launched his ship without a second thought.
It wasn’t the first time he’d struck out on his own. After the Assimilation Wars had ended, but before he’d purchased the Imojenna, he’d drifted for an indeterminate amount of time. There was something inexpressible in the simplicity of being alone. Though it wasn’t a state he planned to spend forever in. No, it didn’t feel like eight months, but the accumulating dust told him time really had been slipping by without his notice.
He hauled a crate out of the last concealed compartment and carried it through the cargo bay to walk down the ramp and stack it on the meadow grass with the others. His crew had always made jokes about his stash of Violaine, but he’d never taken an accounting of his stock and instead lived with the vague, haunting feeling he was constantly almost running out. Probably because he lived on the stuff like others lived on water. The stack of crates and stray bottles in front of him, however, attested to the fact he probably had a supply that would have lasted at least several years.
“Having some kind of bootlegger’s yard sale?”
Rian looked up to see La’thar approaching. The Mar’keish had found him a few days after he’d left the crew behind on Tripoli. He’d been sitting in a too-fancy bar in a city on some central-systems planet watching Ella’s brother, Isiah Kinton, schmooze powerful Inter-Planetary Coalition government officials and debating whether he could find out what the man had done to his sister—probably through some inventive form of torture—or simply kill the asshole and be done with it.
La’thar and his BFF Ko’en had turned up and persuaded him to return to their Mar’keish base of operations, which had proven a more tempting offer that night. He’d told himself Isiah would keep, and he hadn’t been willing to pass up the opportunity to find out more about the mystics—once known as mind wraiths—and their position in the war against the Reidar.
He hadn’t been sure when or how he’d ever make a move against the shape-shifting aliens, but having the Mar’keish as allies would be a smart strategic play. After all, the Reidar had gone to the trouble of trying to wipe out the Mar’keish decades ago. Only a handful remained, and they stayed deep underground and off everyone’s radars.
Their base of operations had turned out to be a wildlife sanctuary planet that was off-limits to members of the public. A clever way to ensure no unwanted visitors, and a cover to guarantee no one thought to look for them. The Mar’keish ships were designated as conservationist vessels and were able to slip through Transit Gates and checkpoints without anyone looking too closely at who was on board or what they were actually doing.
Rian had landed the Imojenna on their planet of Castaneda and basically hadn’t been anywhere else since. He’d seen an opportunity and seized it. Because he’d still been hurting over what he’d inadvertently done to Ella, and he’d long ago come to understand she was both his greatest weakness and most steadfast strength. She’d been insisting for months he learn about the entanglement and his own abilities, yet he’d stubbornly refused for reasons he wasn’t even clear on anymore.
Though his pride had balked, he’d asked La’thar to help him understand. The Mar’keish may have differed from the Arynians in ways he didn’t comprehend and didn’t care to, but they still had a better grasp of the metaphysical than he ever would. They also had a slightly different view about the entanglement.
While Arynians believed death could end an entropic entanglement, the Mar’keish believed the metaphysical bond transcended death. That forevermore, in this life and the next—whatever that entailed—he, Ella, and Varean would continue to exist as an interconnected, nonsingular form of energy.
He still didn’t know what he was supposed to make of that fact. It was hard enough grappling with the entanglement and all its various connotations in this existence, let alone in any kind of afterlife. The entanglement had inextricably linked his soul with Varean’s and Ella’s.
If he was being honest, after distancing himself from everything and everyone for countless years, suddenly not being alone—even in his own head, heart, and soul—had been both daunting and overwhelming. He’d run from it like he’d run from everything else. Except it was like trying to escape from the darkness that was so interwoven into his psyche. There was no getting away from it, no matter how many trillions of miles he put between himself and the two people now tied to him on a molecular level.
