Royal Recruit - Susan Grant Page 0,2

collecting people and resources so they could stay one up on their opponent, the Drakken Empire, overseen by a Darth Vaderish warlord named Lord-General Rakkuu.

Yeah, he would have celebrated if he didn’t know the Coalition would consider their take over of Earth an acquisition, not an invasion, even though it meant removing the entire native population and shipping them somewhere else.

In his business as a commercial real estate developer, he knew this as imminent domain. It referred to the power of the government to take private property and convert it into public use. In the U.S., the government could take land only if they provided just compensation to the property owners. According to Cavin Caydinn, his future brother in law and the man who’d warned Earth of the coming invasion, the only thing the Coalition would offer was protection from the Drakken Empire.

No, not gonna be enough. They weren’t handing over Earth.

Jared made a sound of contempt in his throat as he pulled on a sweatshirt and prepared to leave the family ranch where everyone else was still sleeping. Give him half a chance and he’d teach the Coalition a thing or two about acquisitions and hostile takeovers. They wouldn’t like it. He guaranteed that.

Problem was it wasn’t up to him—or guys like him. He considered himself more of a scrappy mediator than an eloquent boardroom negotiator. When it came to politics too many people in his family did it better. Or at least they enjoyed it, which was more than he could say about his feelings on the subject.

The elder Jaspers hadn’t tried to stop him when he’d decided to pursue dual careers in commercial real estate and military flying. His grandfather, while accepting of his choice, had been somewhat disappointed, but soon he’d had Jana to groom, whose success had brought the old man immeasurable pleasure up until the day he died. But in Grandpa’s view, every Jasper was a public servant, politico or no. “Our duty to others comes before our own interests and ambition,” he’d say.

Jared was no stranger to duty—his national guard career testified to that; he just wasn’t cut out for the “sacrifice your life for the greater good” thing. He’d fight in the trenches to the bitter end, but he wasn’t going to lead the charge.

The sun was barely up as he grabbed the keys to his pickup and walked outside. The threat of alien invasion seemed to hang over the world like summer smog in the L.A. basin. He made up his mind to stick with his routine: Grab coffee, something to eat, then hit the gym. After working out, he’d head to the office, although his eerily efficient staff would probably ask why he’d bothered.

How would he answer the question? That he was restless? Sleep-deprived? That somehow his view of life, his future, had shifted, and what used to feel comfortable about his existence now felt like a new pair of shoes that rubbed? He doubted he was the only one on Earth feeling this way, but his deeper involvement magnified the symptoms.

Jared sat in the idling car, gripping the steering wheel as he watched the sun rise over the ranch-house roof. Everyone who mattered to him was inside that house. His parents, his sisters. And now Cavin. His family all maintained separate residences, but somehow they always gravitated back here, where they’d grown up.

Where all the good memories lived.

As firstborn, the ranch would be his someday. He’d raise a family here, and his kids would run through the fields and climb the trees, riding the old tire swing to splash landings in the pond. Sure, he was a ways off from settling down, but it was comforting somehow, knowing that life waited for him.

Waited for him? Was he freaking hallucinating? An alien fleet was off somewhere, likely regrouping. Unless Earth figured out how to keep them away, extraterrestrials would be taking up residence at the ranch, not him. Not his family.

He jammed the idling pickup into drive and skidded around the arc of the gravel driveway. Before he could drive off, the front door opened and his younger sister burst outside. “Jared, wait!”

Dressed in sweats with a yoga mat tucked under her arm, Evie trotted down the driveway. “I’m on my way to get coffee,” he said. “Then the gym.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

“Hop in.”

A whiff of vanilla followed her into the seat. Evie always smelled good. She smelled like home. “What a night,” she said.

“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. You?”

“I