Renegade Magic (Star Renegades Book 1) Read online

  Renegade Magic

  Star Renegades Book 1

  Jennifer M. Eaton

  Renegade Magic: Star Renegades Book 1

  © 2021 Jennifer M. Eaton

  Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. 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 permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Published by Galactic Razor

  Cover design: Covers by Julie

  www.coversbyjulie.com

  Contents

  About

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  1. Dania

  2. Cal

  3. Dania

  4. Cal

  5. Dania

  6. Cal

  7. Dania

  8. Cal

  9. Dania

  10. Dania

  11. Cal

  12. Dania

  13. Cal

  14. Dania

  15. Cal

  16. Dania

  17. Cal

  18. Dania

  19. Cal

  20. Dania

  21. Cal

  22. Dania

  23. Cal

  24. Dania

  25. Cal

  26. Dania

  27. Cal

  28. Dania

  29. Dania

  30. Cal

  31. Cal

  32. Dania

  33. Cal

  34. Dania

  35. Cal

  36. Cal

  37. Cal

  38. Cal

  39. Cal

  40. Dania

  41. Cal

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  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Preview of Star Renegades, Book 2: Renegade Thief

  About

  In outer space, there is no right or wrong...unless you get caught.

  Cal commandeers a smuggling vessel to escape a death sentence for a crime he didn't commit. When a galactic law enforcer lands far too close, Cal’s new crew kidnaps her hoping they can prove his innocence.

  Hey, what could go wrong?

  Dania, a powerful mage enforcer, is on a mission to eliminate a human trafficking ring. When a small team of criminal buffoons grabs her instead, she’s honor bound to exterminate them despite their pleas of innocence.

  The Star Renegade crew is guilty and must be punished for their crimes. However, they use their smuggling profits to feed the hungry. Dania will face her own execution for not enforcing royal edicts, but how can she execute people breaking the law for all the right reasons?

  Star Renegades is Guardians of the Galaxy meets Firefly and Robin Hood.

  Jump on board and start your inter-galactic adventure today!

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  Thanks so much for reading. If you enjoy STAR RENEGADES, please visit the link below to discover more great adventures by Jennifer M. Eaton.

  www.jennifereaton.com

  For my kids.

  When I started writing, you were all barely out of diapers.

  Now you are young men, launching your lives.

  Shoot for the stars, and be happy wherever you land.

  (As long as you land within driving distance of your mother.)

  [Insert all-knowing Mommy glare]

  1

  Dania

  A hint of fuel emissions and aged metal filled the air, but it would soon smell like blood if Dania had any say in it. The small skipper craft that had transported Dania and her men from her cruiser lifted off the docking platform, the hum of the engines rattling the metal gangway.

  Workers scurried about, doing their best not to look in her direction.

  Nothing unusual. Most humans tried to avoid enforcers at all costs.

  Her communication bracelet pinged, announcing a transmission from her team on a nearby moon.

  The voice of one of her lieutenants rose from the band. “General, the twenty-three accused colonists have been detained in the center square.”

  Dania nodded. “And you’ve ascertained their guilt? They are the ones who vandalized the king’s gardens?”

  “Without a doubt, General.”

  “Fine.” Dania grimaced.

  Trampled flowers. Such a waste of life.

  “Show them mercy. No pain. Execute them quickly and return to the ship.” She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Why humans continued to break laws when they knew the consequences confounded her.

  A few paces ahead, her primary medic and protector, Alexander, stepped off the gangway. The artificial illumination made his opalescent uniform sparkle, and his long, nearly white hair flowed through the air, pulsing with primordial energy and shimmering with a light all its own.

  He held out a hand to her, and she stepped down, taking her place beside him.

  Their new mission would be fulfilled by gaining undetected tactical advantage. Still, allowing Alexander to walk so close, like she were a fragile crystal that might break, grated against her resolve.

  Yes, she’d instructed Alexander to look like he was shielding her, but the truth was, she was the one that others needed protection from.

  He cocked a brow at her. “You aren’t bulletproof.”

  Dania heated over his intrusion into her thoughts, but this was nothing new. “I can run faster than a bullet.”

  He pursed his lips. “You can’t outrun a weapon you don’t see.”

  Dania sighed. Alexander’s excessive warnings of caution grew tiresome, but unlike Kile and Miguel, walking far ahead of them, Alexander cared whether or not she survived. His regard for her was some consolation when they were in battle. This wasn’t a battle, though.

  “Not yet, it’s not,” Alexander whispered.

  As usual, he was right. But Dania was more than capable of fulfilling this mission on her own.

  A group of humans bowed as they passed, an unnecessary gesture, but fitting. This station, and all of Earth’s galactic territories, had been signed into the protection of the Banes thirty-eight years ago, after the Carteks had swooped in from the Camian galaxy and started decimating Earth’s holdings. The treaty had put Earth and her territories under the king’s protection.

  There was an adjustment period for the humans as they learned the king’s law, but all agreed that bowing to the will of the Banes, and their enforcers, was a better option than allowing the Carteks to strip all of Earth’s worlds of their natural resources.

  Her boots thumped on the metal grates covering the ventilation system as they caught up to the others. Per their plan, she took the weaker position in the rear of the enforcers’ formation. Dania steeled herself against the need to stride forward and take her proper place at the head of the diamond. She’d proven that she belonged there. Anywhere less mocked her station.

  This was her own plan, though. And it would work. She just needed to convince the humans she was the weakes
t enforcer of the four.

  Kile strode before them with his head held high, his short, opalescent hair gleaming in the space station’s murky light. He was doing well, feigning authority. Miguel kept a step behind him, dwarfing Kile in both heights and shoulder width. The two could not be mistaken for the weapons they were.

  Several people raised cameras, probably sending messages to the criminals her team were here to find. Within moments, the trappers would know what Kile and Miguel looked like, believing they were the ones to be avoided.

  Little did they know the one they should fear was the younger woman in the rear. It would be this lapse of judgment that would be their undoing.

  “As long as you don’t get shot first,” Alexander said over his shoulder.

  Sometimes, her friend had a ridiculously one-track mind. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Keep out of my head.”

  He snickered and returned his attention forward. She had to work with him on breaking protocols. They needed to be alert, especially for this mission.

  They were here under orders of the king to stop the most heinous of crimes against their kind.

  The insolent slavers who’d taken refuge here in Midway Station had been abducting weakened or novice enforcers for over a year. At first, the royal family had believed the attacks to be politically motivated—until they’d discovered their elite police force had been deemed valuable collectors’ items and were being sold on the black market as exotic pets.

  Dania gritted her teeth. For a time, it hadn’t been personal. But two weeks ago, Matara, an enforcer apprentice from another team, had disappeared.

  The girl had been only in training for four years when Dania had taken her under her tutelage. Two years later, Matara had excelled, turning stronger than any of the men on that team. And they’d noticed.

  Dania had known they would. Dania herself had once fought for every last bit of her own training as her power had manifested, and she refused to see another woman struggle because of men’s bruised egos.

  Under Dania’s guidance, Matara had grown fierce. Smart. Ready to take a high place in the enforcer ranks.

  But now she was gone.

  Dania’s stomach soured. Matara had disappeared before the galaxy got to see her shine. She hoped to find the girl alive, but Matara’s chances of survival waned with each passing of the moons.

  Dania quickened her pace. For all she knew, the girl could be being tortured at that very moment.

  She needed to end this threat. Now.

  They moved farther into the facility, to where the docking bays emptied into a massive high-ceilinged space. Grime-coated walking paths connected tables manned by vendors shouting and holding up everything from partially ripened fruit to reclaimed ship parts.

  Trade, refueling, and human entertainment were the core proficiencies of Midway Station. Too bad the criminal element made this a frequented stop for the galactic enforcers as well.

  A shot rang out, and several women screamed. Alexander bolted in the direction of the shouting before Dania could order him to stop.

  He knew better. He was supposed to be pretending to protect her.

  The instincts of an enforcer were strong, though. She couldn’t begrudge him doing his duty.

  Kile and Miguel raced after a man running for the rear exit. So much for following her plan to the smallest detail.

  No matter. The more commotion, the greater the chances of the trappers swooping in, hoping to take advantage.

  Kile and Miguel certainly didn’t need her help to handle one criminal, so Dania headed after Alexander. She pushed through a small crowd gathered around a human female cradling a man’s head on her lap.

  Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she swept back her cropped, pink-tipped hair. “Doc… Peter, hold on. I’m here.”

  A red bloom of blood spread across the man’s white shirt. His short, dark hair stuck wet to his forehead as he reached up to her. “Alanna?”

  “I’ve got you,” the girl, Alanna, said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Alexander knelt beside them. “What happened?”

  Alanna’s eyes widened, and her lips parted, trembling. “W-We were just getting supplies.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “Stray bullet,” a bystander said. “Not all that uncommon in these parts.”

  Dania frowned as a tear from the woman’s cheek dripped onto the dying man’s forehead.

  Stray bullets should never be common. This needed to be dealt with expediently—once their current orders were carried out, of course. No one should die needlessly in a market.

  She blinked, the programming of her mission pushing out the extraneous thoughts.

  Stray bullets were irrelevant to their operation. Catching trappers was the current priority, which Alexander had seemingly forgotten. Again.

  Past the shops and tables, toward a rear exit, a man cried out. His voice elevated to a screech and then gurgled to a stop. Apparently, Kile and Miguel had caught up to their target and passed a swift judgment.

  “Hold him still.” Alexander pulled the man’s shirt apart and placed his hands on the patient’s crimson-stained chest.

  The air about them vibrated and warmed. Alexander’s hair floated, pulsing with the power of the Banes. Around them, citizens gathered, shoving to get a better look as a small fragment of metal slowly rose from the man’s chest.

  The blood flow increased. The woman sobbed before Alexander placed his palm over the hole.

  Dania had seen this countless times, and it never failed to impress her. Prince Geron had spent a considerable amount of time making Alexander an efficient healer. It made her friend a liability in battle, always working to help others rather than pressing forward to achieve their goal. However, he’d saved several of her soldiers from inconvenient deaths when their arrogance had gotten in the way of their sense of safety. She supposed all skills had their place.

  Alexander removed his hand and wiped away the blood. Fresh, new skin graced the man’s chest.

  The woman gaped. “Doc?” She reached for the clean skin but then drew her hand back.

  The patient looked down at his chest before meeting Alexander’s gaze. “I-I don’t believe it.”

  Kile appeared over Dania’s shoulder. He glared at Alexander. “We will get nowhere if you stop and heal every commoner we find. Get up.”

  Alexander sighed and mumbled, “We’ll have no commoners to serve if we let them all die.”

  The girl, Alanna, grinned at him, probably a reaction to Alexander’s polished angles and long, shimmering white hair rather than his trite comment.

  As he made to stand, the girl grabbed his wrist. She held him for a moment, staring at him. “Hey, thank you. I mean, really.”

  “It’s nothing.” Alexander motioned to his patient. “He should lie still for a few days. His internal organs still need to heal. Keep him quiet.”

  Her eyes brightened. “I will.”

  Dania tugged Alexander from the crowd of smiling merchants and shoppers. “Can we catch the people committing atrocities now?”

  He smiled. “You aren’t fun anymore, Dania.”

  Had she ever been fun? Certainly not during a mission. There were at least a dozen criminals on this space station. Once they were eradicated and she’d found Matara, then she’d be able to rest.

  She pushed forward. “No more stunts. You’re going to make yourself look weak.”

  A child of maybe seven years stood along the edge of the road, a bloody gash on her forehead.

  “I hardly look weak.” He drew his finger over the child’s laceration, and the cut disappeared.

  Dania scoffed. No, maybe it didn’t make him look weak. In many ways, he was the strongest of them. Too bad his affinities were all toward helping others or she’d be able to put those talents to better use.

  Still, caution was necessary. Alexander looking less aggressive might make him a more appealing target, which would ruin days of planning. />
  As they turned toward the center of the market, a woman cried out, “Stop! Thief!”

  Dania smirked. She hadn’t anticipated such a short wait for the next crime.

  Kile looked over his shoulder at her. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded. A thief was exactly what they were looking for, and this was a much more public place than the side alley the previous criminal had run to. They couldn’t have planned this better.

  A man whipped around the corner. His eyes turned to saucers when he saw them. The criminal skidded to a stop, dropping several orange and yellow fruits, and ran the other way.

  Kile raised his hand, and the man rose off his feet and floated back to them. The people in the streets covered their mouths, wide eyed.

  Odd, how the power of the enforcers was the stuff of legends, yet anytime a commoner saw their strength firsthand, they always seemed surprised.

  The crowd moved closer as Kile placed the condemned on the ground before them. Also odd, how humans were as fascinated with executions as they were with healings.

  The man fell to his knees. “Please.” He held up his hands. “I only did it to feed my family. They’re starving.”