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The next book in the Starstruck series by SE Anderson releases March 8th and I have here with me now a very special excerpt from Chapter 1. A bit of confusion clearing regarding Zander's name. Check it out:
Inalienable by SE Anderson, Excerpt, Chapter 1
"Who the hell is she?" Marcy's voice dropped to a whisper. "She's giving off hella weird vibes."
"My sister has that effect on people," said Zander, reaching through the bars of his own cell. "Does anyone have any food? I'm feeling peckish."
"Zander?" she squawked. "You're … what the hell? You're alive?"
Marcy’s eyes grew so fast and wide I thought they might fly out of her skull. Mine would, too, if my very much once-dead friend was standing only a meter away from me. Which had truly happened, and I had later killed him. But it wasn't going to stick, so I didn't count it in my running tally of murders. He was probably still out there somewhere—crap. He couldn’t be involved with this arrest, could he?
"Marcy, that's not Xander," I said, shaking Nimien out of my thoughts and instead jumping wholeheartedly on the terrible backstory bandwagon. "That's Zander. His identical twin brother."
"Hell if he is. I'd recognize him anywhere!" She stomped over to his cell, forcing him back in surprise. "Holy shit, you faked your own death?"
"Sorry." He shook his head, feigning ignorance. "I'm the other Zander. With a Z, not an X. That was my twin."
"Xander and Zander?" She frowned. "This isn't a soap opera!"
"Well, no." Zander came up close to the bars now, putting on a brilliant display of meekness. "His full name was Lysander. Mine actually is Zander. My parents had wanted to call me Alexander, but their friends stole the name and gave it to their child. So, they ended up with Lysander and Zander. Technically, his nickname was Sander, but he hated that and changed it to Xander."
“I think you have your own backstory backwards,” muttered Blayde, low enough I’m not even sure I heard her.
"Ho, come on!" Marcy shook her head. "You can’t not be Xander–Zander–whatever! Also, why would Alexander have the Z name? This is the dumbest crap I've ever heard!"
She turned back to face me. I was dying for a drink at this point. These kinds of conversations were much better held in a bar than behind them.
"So," she said, smacking her lips, "I leave you alone for one month—One. Month—and you befriend the FBI and the so-called ‘twin’ of your dead roommate and his weird sister, get involved in an alien hoax, and get arrested for murder. Am I missing anything?"
"Sally’s also dating said twin," said Blayde. I would have strangled her if it served a purpose.
"What?" Marcy rubbed her temples. "This can't be happening. None of this makes any sense. It's like a telenovela written by a drunkard."
When she turned back to look at me, I couldn't read her face, so I plastered on a grin and hoped it would stick.
It did not. Massive fail. A good 3/10. And those points were only for effort.
"So, how was the honeymoon?" I asked through my sheepish smile.
The unreadable face remained illegible. "Ironically, I'm sure you could have Dany arrested for what we were up to. Out of this world, I tell you. But we are in a jail, so I'm going to shut up now."
Blayde let out a bark of a laugh. "Sally, you never told me you Terrans actually had a sense of humor. I would have stuck around longer."
"Again, who is she?" asked Marcy. "Am I supposed to like her?"
"She's my sister," said Zander. "The only family I have. So, you don't have to like her, but you do at least need to put up with her. You put up with Dany, so I know it’s possible. Hell, you even married her!"
"There. I knew it. You're Zander! And shut up about these Xs and Zs. There's only one you, and I'd recognize him anywhere."