Dariux by Emma James

On the planet Astriq, Lyra was one of the lost. The forgotten. The abandoned…

Each day on Astriq was a struggle – for life, for food, for existence. Lyra had long been abandoned by her family out of fear of the terrible power that lay within. Now, that power was her greatest secret. She dare not let the authorities on Astriq know, lest she be killed on the spot. What she did not know was that she was being watched and hunted for the dark secret that she possessed…

Dariux was a smuggler for as long as he could remember. Each day was spent on the edge of the law, skirting prison, or worse, gruesome death. All in the name of survival. After a mysterious illness strikes his mother, Dariux is forced to take on his most dangerous contract to date with a criminal group known as The Gladius Syndicate – a galactic slave ring. He knew the nefarious nature of their work, but it was easy to ignore the morality in the name of saving those he loved…

Dariux certainly didn’t expect to find love on this mission, let alone such an explosive one. Now he is faced with endangering his own life to save yet another. Will Dariux and Lyra find a way to escape The Gladius Syndicate? Or will they be sold into slavery to fight for their lives?