Spotlight: Skylark by Megan Michelle
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Being the first female Navy SEAL is no easy job, but someone's got to dismantle the patriarchy. Rachel Ryker, call sign ‘Skylark,’ can outrun and outgun just about anybody, and with her second in command, Christopher Williams, by her side, she’s practically unstoppable. Christopher would follow Rachel to hell and back… or maybe just to the Middle East. When a top-secret malware code is stolen from the CIA, Rachel and Christopher lead their SEAL team through the Middle East in an attempt to recover it.
They both have their own reasons for fighting, but as the team gets closer to finding the stolen malware, Rachel discovers that the man they're looking for may be closer to her than she thinks. Will Rachel’s obsession with completing their mission override her common sense and cause her to lose sight of what is really important- keeping women and children safe from the oppressive patriarchy they are all living in?
With secrets, pride, and a strict no-fraternization policy keeping them apart, falling in love would mean sacrificing everything Rachel and Christopher have worked for. But when Rachel gets injured in combat, everything changes. Now Rachel will have to choose: does her devotion to the Navy outweigh her love for Christopher?
Excerpt
“Can you get people out of Afghanistan?” Shabana sounded hesitant.
“Like, put them on a plane, or do you want them to be able to legally stay wherever they get off the plane?” Rachel asked.
“Preferably the second option,” Shabana said.
“That’s more difficult.” Rachel looked at her quizzically. “Who?”
“My sister, Pari.” She paused, uncertain, before the words spilled out of her. “My brother-in-law raped her. Then my husband forced her to marry him when he found out she was with child.”
“Your husband forced her?”
“Our father died when we were children. He was her closest male family member,” Shabana explained. “From his perspective, he was doing the right thing and protecting her. It’s better this way, for her reputation, the family’s reputation.”
“That man is going to keep treating her terribly.”
“Yes, I assure you that he is. He leaves her home sometimes for weeks on end, never with enough food . . .” Shabana took a steadying breath and stared straight into Rachel’s eyes. “Can you help her get out of the country to someplace safe?”
“Is she being abused?” That small tidbit about being left without food was bad enough, but Rachel couldn’t commandeer a plane whenever she wanted.
“Depends on who you ask,” Shabana said sadly.
Rachel knew domestic violence was prevalent in Afghanistan and rarely, if ever, prosecuted. Some international reports indicated that as many as eighty to ninety percent of women in Afghanistan were the victims of physical abuse at the hands of their husbands and fathers. “He hits her if she doesn’t do what he says?” Rachel tried.
“Yes.” Shabana nodded. “Do you consider that abuse?” Her voice was shaking, and her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach as though she were trying to hold herself together.
Every muscle in Rachel’s body tensed. “What about her child? Or children?” Rachel asked.
“She has two young children. Girls, ages five and three,” Shabana said.
Rachel nodded. “Are they in Khost?” A plan was slowly taking shape in her mind.
“Yes.”
“I’ll need her address and a date and time when I can pick her up.”
“Her husband is traveling,” Shabana said. “He’s gone until Sunday.”
“Call her now,” Rachel said. “Ask her when I can come pick up her and her children. They’ll need to pack bags, whatever they absolutely need to bring. They should take as few belongings as possible.”
Yamna walked over to them, having overheard their conversation. “Use my telephone. We don’t want it in the call log on your cell phone that you spoke with her right before she vanished,” Yamna told Shabana. “Call her now.”
“Are you sure?” Shabana asked. Her eyes were filling with tears as she looked back and forth between Yamna and Rachel.
“You will likely never see her again, Shabana.” Rachel noted. “You’ll have to say your goodbyes over the phone unless you’re going with her.”
Shabana nodded and a tear rolled down her cheek. She went to the kitchen to make the phone call.
“Anyone else want a flight out of here?” Rachel asked.
“No. We cannot leave,” Yashfa said.
“Too many children relying on us,” Yamna added. “Besides, our husbands and our lives aren’t terrible. Not great, but not terrible. Much better you help those who truly need help.”
After finishing her phone call to her sister, Shabana said, “She can be ready in one hour, and her husband will be home on Sunday in time to escort her to midday prayers.” Her voice shook, though she seemed to be vacillating between grief at saying goodbye to her sister and joy at the hope of Pari’s new life.
“One hour?” Rachel raised an eyebrow.
“That’s when she can be ready. She’s packing now.”
Rachel nodded and pulled out her phone to text Ryan over their encrypted messaging app.
“What?” Shabana asked, staring at Rachel wide-eyed with hopeful desperation.
“I’m figuring it out,” Rachel assured her. “So you know though, the newspapers will report that she and her children are dead. There will be some story about how she was a victim of the Taliban. It will be framed in such a way that will cause outrage from the international community and put pressure on the Afghan government to stand up to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.”
“But you’re not a spy?” Yashfa sniffed.
“No, of course not! I’m obviously an academic researcher at Princeton University!” Rachel insisted. Her phone buzzed a minute later with Ryan’s response.
Rachel looked up from her phone. “Shabana, call your sister back and tell her I’ll be at her house in ninety minutes. Make sure she doesn’t tell anyone.”
Shabana nodded and ran back to the kitchen to use the phone again.
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About the Author
Megan Michelle writes dark romance for the fearless women who are ready to reclaim their power and confront the shadows of their past. Her stories blend the raw emotions of military life, the strength of feminism, and the passion of forbidden love, all while guiding readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Through dark romance, she explores the complexity of love, power, and identity. Her stories invite you to dive deep into the hearts of women who don’t just survive—they thrive, reclaiming their power and rewriting their stories on their own terms.
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