I know I always say that my friend Holly Day is welcome here on the blog whenever she wants to come, but after today’s post, I might have to re-evaluate my stance. Because WHAT’S WRONG WITH NUTELLA ON A SANDWICH? I don’t even know if we can be friends anymore after such a statement!
But while I take my time deciding, I’ll let Holly tell you about her alien story featuring Nutella! 😆
Hello, everyone! Thank you, Nell, for allowing me back on the blog again! Do you know what day it is today? Yes, Sunday. I hear the mutters. But it’s not just any ole Sunday, it’s World Nutella Day. Every year on February 5th, we’re to celebrate this hazelnut and cocoa spread by posting pictures and sharing recipes of our favourite Nutella creations.
Do you have a favourite Nutella recipe?
I have to admit that Nutella doesn’t play a big part in my life. It’s never something I have at home, and I don’t get it. I mean, I love chocolate, and don’t mind hazelnuts in the least, but chocolate on a sandwich? That’s to ruin a sandwich. You don’t know if you’re eating food or cake. Is it fika or breakfast?!?
Right before covid hit, my siblings and I took all our children (10 at the time) at booked a weekend at a hotel. My kids were super excited. Staying in hotels isn’t something they get to do very often, and when it was time for breakfast, and they realised there were waffles with Nutella, and they got to eat as much as they wanted, I feared we’d be stuck at the breakfast table for the rest of the day. Luckily, kids get full too, and there is only so much sugar you can eat.
That’s one of very few memories I have where Nutella has played a part.
In The Devil Will Care, we have Azrail and Dot who are locked up in a prison cell in Nix. They’re the only two humans that they know of in the entire prison, the rest of the inmates and the guards are aliens. Azrail and Dot aren’t normal humans, though. Azrail can siphon life from people, and Dot is a witch, but they’ve managed not to call attention to themselves during the eight months they’ve been in prison.
It all changes when Dot spots Nutella in the food delivery to the guards and talks Azrail into breaking into the pantry. Because what wouldn’t you do for Nutella?
Sadly, they’re not the only ones who tried to break into the pantry that day, and Azrail happens to almost kill a huge alien who looks exactly like the devil. As you might have guessed, things get hairy after that.
I was in the mood for aliens, so I wrote aliens, but I would still claim this is a paranormal story, more alien romance than sci-fi if you get what I mean. They’re in space, and there are aliens, but it’s not a story that focuses on the scientific or technical parts. Nutella, devils, and a plan to escape are the main components 😁
What would you do if the devil claimed you were his destined mate?
Khaal Lupehell isn’t really the devil, but he’s a red-skinned, horn-wearing, tail-waving, eight feet tall alien who claims Azrail Crow is his mate. For eight months, Azrail has been in an intergalactic prison, and for the most part, he’s managed to keep his head down and melt into the interior. That all changes when he runs into Khaal.
Khaal has to get out of prison. He’d planned to escape even before he met Azrail, but now he has to find a way out. He can’t live with his mate in a prison cell. It’s out of the question. So he’ll steal a ship, take Azrail, and they’ll run for their lives. It’ll work out fine. Hopefully.
Azrail has read stories about destined mates, but surely it can’t apply to him. He’s human, and humans don’t have mates. But when Khaal talks about escaping, Azrail wants to come with him. Being mated to the devil can’t be worse than being locked up in prison, can it?
Paranormal Gay Romance: 35,225 words
Buy links:
JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/TheDevilWillCare
Excerpt:
Footsteps approached, and all three froze mid-argument. Normally, they were more careful when they discussed escaping. It was impossible to know how well other creatures’ hearing was.
They were in the last cell in the row. No one came here without reason. The steps were soft, but it was more than one person, and Khaal held his breath. He believed the guards had brought them back to the cell and left it at that. He didn’t want them patrolling here at all hours of the day.
Heat washed over him, much like it had when they’d entered the earthlings’ cell, and he moved close to the bars. Pressing himself against the cold metal, he tried to get closer to the source.
“Eh… hi.” His human and the female he was with stopped as soon as they spotted him. Khaal pressed his lips together to shield his fangs and nodded.
“We… eh… want no trouble.”
Behind him, Chavir growled and neared the bars, but Khaal swished his tail in warning. When he focused on the humans again, they’d backed a step, and Khaal took a deep breath not to snarl. “We mean you no harm.”
Chavir growled again, and this time Khaal turned around, flashing fangs in warning.
“Perhaps we should come back another day. We only came to give you a peace offering, but maybe it’s a bad time.”
Peace offering? Khaal didn’t understand the concept. He believed the ASF language chip translated it correctly or literally or whatever, but some things weren’t translatable. “What is a peace offering?”
Stillness settled in the corridor outside the bars. Then the male looked at the female and shrugged. “It’s a gift you offer someone, and if they accept it, there is no longer a conflict between them.” He glanced at the female as if to see if she accepted his explanation. She shrugged, then nodded, so Khaal assumed it was correct.
“Okay.”
“No. I have the right to take revenge.”
Khaal snarled and whirled around. “I told you no!”
“It’s my right. He—” He pointed at Khaal’s mate. “He did something to me.”
“Maybe a peace offering was a bad idea.” His mate was slowly edging away.
“Told you so.” The female turned around, ready to leave, and desperation threatened to suffocate Khaal. They couldn’t leave.
“No! Wait.” He took a deep breath. “Come closer.”
His mate took a step closer.
“No.” The female yanked him back. “Don’t. Look at the one in the back. He’s insane.”
Khaal glanced at Chavir. He stood tall with his hands curled into fists and his tail swaying ominously behind him. Next, he glanced at Yilea. “Keep him away from the bars.”
She sighed but walked over to stand in front of Chavir. “Why don’t you take a seat, idiot, and let the captain handle this.”
Chavir snarled, but when Yilea smacked her palm against his chest, he sank down to sit on her mattress. “Fine.”
Khaal nodded and turned back to the earthlings. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Azrail, and this is Dot.”
Weird names, but not impossible to pronounce. “Azrail.” Khaal allowed the name to rest on his tongue, enjoying the taste of it. “I’m Khaal Lupehell, captain of the— It doesn’t matter, the ship is no more. I’m the leader of this clan.” He gestured at Chavir and Yilea, wishing they’d look more impressive. Being the leader of two people wouldn’t impress anyone, and he needed to show himself worthy.
“Oh, yay, a clan.” Dot gave Azrail a look he couldn’t decipher, but he feared she was mocking him.
“Sweet.” Azrail took a step closer.
Sweet? What was sweet? He hadn’t seen him eat anything.
“Do you see the ships coming and going from here?”
Khaal hesitated. Did Azrail know what they were planning? Maybe he’d heard their conversation. How well did earthlings hear? “We don’t see them arriving and taking off, but they enter through that door.” He nodded in the direction of the airlock leading out to the dock. He’d never been through it, so he wasn’t sure the dock was through there, but he assumed so.
Azrail nodded. “A couple of days ago, there was a human ship, right?”
Khaal nodded.
“They delivered food.”
Khaal nodded again. He hadn’t seen any food, but they’d brought boxes, and he assumed it was food. They hadn’t gotten anything special to eat, though. It was the same mush they always got. Sometimes it was a brownish mush, other times a grayish mush. He longed for meat, something he had to use his teeth to tear apart.
Maybe they got different foods. Maybe Azrail and Dot got the food the humans delivered, but since Dogron was so far away, they didn’t get any food from home, and therefore they were served the mush. “Have you been getting the food?”
Khaal curled his fingers around the bars, wanting to order Azrail to step closer.
“No. We haven’t been getting anything out of the ordinary.” He frowned. “Have you?”
Khaal shook his head. “Come closer.”
Dot cleared her throat. “Let’s not tempt fate, shall we?”
About Holly day
According to Holly Day, no day should go by uncelebrated and all of them deserve a story. If she’ll have the time to write them remains to be seen. She lives in rural Sweden with a husband, four children, more pets than most, and wouldn’t last a day without coffee.
Holly gets up at the crack of dawn most days of the week to write gay romance stories. She believes in equality in fiction and in real life. Diversity matters. Representation matters. Visibility matters. We can change the world one story at the time.
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Nell Iris 