Spy You Next Year

One night. One stolen secret. One alien mate I never saw coming.

Daria

I go to the New Year’s Eve gala for one reason: steal a data chip from a decorated general before the clock strikes midnight. Silk dress, poisoned smile, and nerves of steel; this is what I do best. Politics, power, and champagne swirl around me, and nothing is supposed to distract me.

Then I see him.

Killian is devastating in a way that has nothing to do with tailored suits or practiced charm. The air between us hums with heat and warning. When my mission spirals out of control, he’s suddenly there, shielding me, protecting me like my life is already his to claim.

By midnight, I’ve uncovered a betrayal that shatters everything I believed, fallen into a passion I never planned, and found myself running for my life with a man who feels impossible to resist.

Killian

Earth was supposed to be simple. Observe. Assess. Decide if this forming Alliance threatens my people. No attachments. No distractions.

Then I see her.

Daria hits me like fate wrapped in silk and shadows. My instincts roar the truth the moment our eyes meet, she is my mate. Mine to protect. Mine to choose, even if she doesn’t know what I am…yet.

As the night burns into chaos, I defy my mission, my people, and fate itself. When dawn comes, I must choose between my duty and the woman who owns my soul.

And I will always choose her.

This story was previously part of the no longer available End of an Era anthology.