Sarah Mackenzie is a brand new handler of the most notorious alien in the underground prison, she expected things to be difficult but never imagined the connection she would forge between very person she was charged to guard. Sarah Mackenzie is a Handler. In the near future a race called 'Dems' began a conquest of Earth, however for some unbeknownst reason, they stopped. The Dems were moved and kept in a uniquely built underground prison where they have been individually watched for almost a century. The Dems could have easily overpowered Earth and yet no one knows why they allowed themselves to be captured, and why they continue to stay when they could easily break out. Sarah Mackenzie is a new and barley trained handler, forced to take the place of her brother after his accident that landed him in a coma. Placed in charge of the most regularly violent Dem named Farren, Sarah is terrified and curious. During her first day she continues to infuriate and receive contempt form Farren for no apparent reason. Over the next couple of days Sarah tries to understand the Dems and learn how to assert some semblance of control but it is becoming apparent that the Dems, with their superior abilities, cannot truly be controlled. In one particular encounter with Farren, after she takes him back to his cell upon his request, he begins to ask questions of her that touch on sensitive areas in her life. Apparently angered, Farren hurts the back of Sarah's head accidentally with his superior strength and tells her to leave. Still dizzy from the encounter, Sarah returns home with blood on her head and bruising on her wrists. The next day both have somehow healed almost completely and she returns to work hesitantly. Farren, after the encounter with Sarah, is horrified that he hurt her but more importantly shocked that her marked her. Marking for the Dems is a very rare occurrence where the Dem imprints a piece of their soul on another, thus transferring some of their power and linking the two closer together than any other. Farren has no idea why he marked her he is now prepared to deal with whatever fallout it may cause. When Sarah returns to work she begins to receive odd looks from other Dems who can see the blue energy markings beneath her skin on occasion and Farren will only give her silence. Determined to figure Farren out, Sarah travels to her local library to see if she can find any books on Dems; finding only one obscure book written by her great grandfather who too was a handler Sarah reads about the hierarchy and customs of Dems that explain why Farren had been so contemptuous and angered by her actions. While Sarah is at the library, Farren and the other Dems break out of the prison begin to establish a presence in the city and have all the humans who have not fled put into the city hall. Sarah hears of the break out and goes in search of her brother in the hospital, on the way she runs into Farren and uses her new knowledge to properly address Farren as general. Farren, only slightly surprised by her gained insight, gives her brother guards at the hospital and takes Sarah back to the hotel serving as his home base before leaving on business. While Sarah is out with a guard to retrieve cloths from her house, they run into another handler who tries to shoot the Dem guard but Sarah takes the bullet for her guard instead. Farren feeling the connection between him and Sarah going haywire rushes to her side in time for their markings to begin the healing process that takes the rest of the night. After Sarah wakes up, she begins to learn more about the Dems and her apparent marking. Sarah learns that Farren was once the crown prince but was forced to accept the human's imprisonment by his father the king after refusing to completely annihilate Earth. Farren's brother soon arrives and holds Sarahs humanity in contempt and successfully rips the marking from her (thus killing her) if it weren't for Farren's immediate remarking of her despite his brothers' orders. By remarking Sarah against his brothers' orders, Farrens has started a battle with his brother for the throne and for Earths survival. Farren immediately takes Sarah back to the hotel where he and Sarah realize their connection has turned into love and mutual respect. The next day Farren duels his brother for the throne and wins, later creating a peace treaty with Earth, banishing his brother and father, and making Sarah his queen.
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Best part of story, including ending:
I loved how the romance took a back seat till later in the story.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene was when Farren realized that he had to mark her again because he loved her.
Opinion about the main character:
I loved the sweet shy way in which Sarah behaved, yet still managed to be strong.
