Is Princess Blossom destined to be the last Queen of the South on Ledalath?
Finding a prince on a planet that has no royal males is not an easy task. For years, Blossom appealed to the gods for a mate to rule by her side. When the goddess of love finally answers her plea, she is sent far from her home planet to Venus. But how can she find a prince on a planet where there are no fairies?
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Excerpt ~
Blossom sat on the rock again, pulled her robes tighter around her body, and continued to look at the glowing ball still resting on her palm. If she disobeyed the goddess, would Venus punish her? Her heart was torn. She should be faithful to her calling. To become the queen of the fairies. But a queen needed a king, and so far, no prince had come to claim her hand. She could not ascend the throne until she had a mate by her side. And her parents wanted to retire. Not too much pressure… But the king and queen had no answer for her either.
No prince could ever arrive to vie for her hand.
There was no royal male anywhere on Ledalath.
Ledalath, the fairy planet, had four royal houses, one for each region, North, South, East, and West. Blossom’s parents were the ruling royals of the South. The other three royal rulers also had only daughters. Throughout thousands of years, it was the first time that no royal princes had been born on Ledalath.
And it was unheard of that she would choose a commoner to rule by her side. The question had not even come up, though she had thought about it.
Blossom had no sisters. Her parents had only had one child, so she was the crown princess, not even having the choice of abdication. She was destined to rule.
The other three royal houses had royal daughters, more than one. But the oldest daughter of each house would share Blossom’s problem—no prince, no future king.
And now the goddess wanted her to go to Venus where her wish would be granted? A prince on Venus? From what she had learned, the population of the planet was a huge mix of cultures from many worlds throughout the galaxy. How could there be a fairy prince there? Fairies only lived on Ledalath. Nowhere else.
~
Come Find Me!
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Into the Paranormal World: Out for a jog, a cougar shifter stumbles across a discovery that will change his life.
A couple of years before, Virgil McBride’s life changed…for the better. He’d been working as a ranch hand at a cattle ranch in Texas while hiding the fact that he was a cougar shifter. Then his boss brought home a gargoyle mate. It didn’t take long for staff to transition, wheedling out those humans who weren’t trustworthy. Virgil loves his new freedoms, allowing him to shift and explore the ranch in animal form. While out running as a cougar, Virgil scents something amazing, and he realizes his mate is near. Searching out the source, he finds something he’s never seen before…and it isn’t the dilapidated hunting stand. Virgil meets Shaw, a wombat shifter. Even though he assures his mate that he would be welcome at the ranch, Shaw isn’t convinced. After learning why—the beta of Shaw’s wombat wisdom is claiming him as his mate—Virgil realizes he’s not going to be able to fulfill his wombat’s dreams on his own. Can Virgil win Shaw’s trust enough to get the help they need to free his mate and give them a future?
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“Hey, Virg! What are you up to this evening?”
Turning upon hearing the shout of Stanley Redfeather, Virgil McBride grinned at the Native American. He was also the ranch foreman, but he knew his friend wasn’t asking in a work capacity. Between the darkness beyond the window and the way Stanley was dressed for dancing, Virgil figured the man was heading toward the local honky-tonk and wanted a wingman.
So not happening tonight.
“Hi, Stan,” Virgil greeted, giving the handsome man an appreciative sweep with his gaze. “Goin’ out, I see.” Lifting his hands with a laugh, he winked. “See me in these comfortable sweats? I’m puttin’ on my flip-flops and takin’ a jog in the woods.”
Stanley groaned. “So you’re going to say no if I ask you to join me at The Rockin’ Station, aren’t you?”
Virgil nodded as he thought about the local dive bar, which had a decent-sized dance floor in the back. Their jukebox had a large assortment of tunes to fit just about everyone. Well, except rap or heavy metal, but those who enjoyed that kind of music probably wouldn’t be caught dead in the hick bar, anyway.
On Friday nights, such as the evening stretching before them, The Rockin’ Station also had a live band. Virgil knew Stanley swung both ways, same as himself, but if he were to try picking up a guy at the bar, they would probably have their asses handed to them—or at least, someone would give it a shot. That meant Stanley was going to try for a little lady-action.
I’m so not in the mood for human shenanigans.
Instead, Virgil wanted to indulge in something else that evening. “Sorry, man. I already have a date”—he winked—“with nature.”
Stanley nodded even as he sighed, his disappointment clear in his scent. “All right. Guess I’ll ask Walsh. Maybe he’ll be down for it.”
“Down for what?” Walsh asked, walking into the room. The dark-haired human grinned at Virgil. “You letting your kitty out for a walk?”
While Walsh’s tone sounded teasing, an interested gleam had entered his brown eyes.
“Yep,” Virgil confirmed. “Goin’ for a run.” He pointed at Stanley. Then he dropped his flip-flops on the floor and slipped into them before starting toward the front door. “Stanley’s lookin’ for a wingman.”
Walsh arched an eyebrow. “Really? Where ya goin, boss?”
As Virgil grabbed a jacket and slung it over his shoulders, Stanley answered, “There’s a live band at The Rockin’ Station on Fridays, and I’m going to look for a lady to dance with.” A low chuckled entered the foreman’s tone as he added, “And maybe a little more. You want to come?”
“Oh, sure,” Walsh replied, sounding pleased. Then he called, “And I still wanna see that someday, Virg!”
Virgil knew what Walsh was talking about. The human wanted to see him turn into his cat form. While Walsh had known about vampires for years due to an altercation with a rogue—he was part of the one percent of humans who couldn’t be compelled or mentally manipulated by a vampire’s trancing ability, so the memory couldn’t be deleted from his mind—he’d never met a shifter before being hired at Nicholas’s ranch.
Laughing, Virgil grabbed the door handle as he nodded. “You got it, buddy. Next time.” Then he strode outside.
“I’ll hold you to that!” Walsh called. Virgil waved as he allowed the screen door to close behind him, knowing the man returned his attention to Stanley when he heard Walsh say, “Give me fifteen minutes for a quick shower and shave, and I’ll be ready to go.”
As Virgil stepped off the porch and sauntered across the yard, heading toward the tree line, he thought about the many changes that had taken place over the last few years. When he’d been hired on as a hand to work the cattle over six years before, he’d had to keep his nature hidden. No one on the place had known about the existence of the paranormal.
Then, almost three years before, the ranch’s owner—Baltus Lindson—had insisted on taking his eldest son—Nicholas—on a business trip. While Baltus had owned the place, Virgil had rarely seen him. He was fine with that, too, since his scent bothered his cat.
The smell of greed, manipulation, and expensive cologne was not a good mix…on anyone.
Virgil had known Nicholas quite a bit better, although his scent confused him a little, too. The human worked beside them on the ranch, handling the running of the place. He’d also been engaged to a woman named Sandra, but he’d never had her scent on him.
Nicholas’s return from that fateful trip revealed everything to Virgil…and outed him as a shifter at the same time. The man had stumbled across gargoyles and had been the mate of one. In fact, not just any gargoyle, either—Nicholas was mated to a gargoyle elder—the rulers of their kind.
With Elder Bodb’s arrival, who’d been introduced as a rancher from Montana who was studying Texas practices to see how he could improve his own ranch, Virgil had been certain the wedding to Sandra would be called off. It hadn’t been. While Virgil had been surprised, it wasn’t his mating, and he wasn’t close enough to Nicholas to be asked for advice on how to work through personal issues.
What Virgil found even odder was that Sandra had moved into the ranch house…with another woman, Maggie.
Virgil had wondered what was going on, but it wasn’t his place to ask. Instead, he’d been more concerned about the arrival of more gargoyles and a couple of vampires. Worried about losing his job, he’d steered clear of the ranch house and the whole lot of them, taking his meals in the bunkhouse.
~
Come Find Me!
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In the land of Zanalia, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of war. When two of the realm’s fiercest foes go head-to-head over the sacred ritual, sparks unexpectedly fly, igniting an explosion of love, lust, and ultimately, broken traditions.
In a world filled with warriors, Valentine’s Day means war for the creatures of Zanalia. Mina, queen of the disciplinarian tribe, is responsible for spearheading attacks on the land’s worst enemies.
Spike, Mina’s biggest adversary and the son of king Theo, no longer believes in provoking battles on this love-filled holiday. He secretly encourages the Zanalians to put away their weapons and spend time with their loved ones instead. The absurd suggestion goes against the territory’s oldest tradition and is rejected by many, to the point that Spike receives death threats. His father grows worried for his son and orders Mina to stage his kidnapping, then provide him with personal, around-the-clock protection.
Mina is infuriated by the mission as she’s being forced to protect a disloyal traitor. She vows to make Spike’s time with her as torturous as possible until she unwittingly finds pleasure in the pain she inflicts upon him, while he seemingly relishes her harsh punishments. Emotions run high between the pair, and Mina realizes that Spike’s wish to spread love this Valentine’s Day just may come true after all.
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Excerpt ~
Mina held her head high, a huge smile spread across her smooth pale green face. She marched down the long stone hallway toward King Theo’s lair, proud of the way her spiked bronze teeth glistened while her wavy white hair blew in the wind. Mina was feeling better than ever as she prepared to give the leader of Zanalia a full report on her final week as the realm’s queen of the disciplinarian tribe.
On the way to his domain, she high-fived several of Theo’s soldiers, who cheered loudly while clapping their scaly webbed hands. Mina and her tribal warriors had just successfully completed one of their most difficult missions to date. The job was a personal one for Theo that involved his wayward brother, Horace, who’d defected from their sphere in pursuit of love in enemy territory.
Theo had warned Horace to stay away from the land of Raynalium, whose hate-filled creatures despised the superior Zanalians. Ignoring his brother's advice, Horace ended up being captured and tortured by the Raynali army. It was Mina and her disciplinarian tribe who snuck into the dangerous realm under the cover of night, attacking their entire militia and rescuing Horace from the slimy, menacing wilderness where he’d been held.
The successful mission wasn’t the only reason Mina was in such a good mood. After ten long grueling years of hard work and unwavering dedication, she had decided to retire from her post as queen of the disciplinarian tribe. Mina knew it would be difficult for Theo to let her go, considering he had no better warrior serving him. Along with her stunning, slightly human-like appearance, beguiling personality, witty intelligence, and innate sixth sense, Mina knew she possessed the strongest will to conquer that Theo had ever witnessed. But as a family man, she was sure he’d understand her desire to hang up her spears, settle down, and explore what other opportunities the galaxy had to offer.
“Great job, queen!” Jewel screamed, jumping up and down as Mina reached the end of the hallway.
“Thank you!”
Mina laughed at her friend’s excitement. She and Jewel had been extremely close for years, having met during their first day of training at the disciplinary camp. Jewel was a petite, adorable little blue creature whose pointy ears resembled those of an elf, while her fluffy gold wings could have been plucked from a fairy. Her endearing appearance was her best weapon, because while she seemed delicate and unassuming, Jewel possessed the strength of ten soldiers. Mina had nicknamed her casualty, because if anyone ever crossed her, that was exactly what they’d become.
Jewel grabbed Mina’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “You have no idea how sad I am that you’re leaving your post as our queen.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not like I won’t be around anymore. You’ll still see me all the time. And guess what? I’m going to recommend to Theo that he choose you as my successor. Your entire existence is about to change in the most wonderful way. Buckle up, sister. You’re in for an amazing ride.”
Jewel’s tiny face fell as she dropped her head and sighed deeply. “Yeah, a ride I’m absolutely terrified to take. I can’t even fathom the thought of going out on these missions without you. Plus I’ll never be capable of filling your shoes, Mina.”
“No one expects you to,” she replied, running her fingers along the edges of Jewel’s wings affectionately. “Just be yourself, my little ruthless casualty. I bet you’ll end up being better than I ever was.”
“I seriously doubt that, but thanks for the reassurance.” Jewel punched a secret code into the glass slate that opened the door to Theo’s lair.
Mina quickly embraced Jewel and then stood in the threshold.
“Permission to enter, sir?”
“Yes, please. Have a seat, my dear,” he said, slowly stroking his long gray beard while gazing at several monitors.
Mina sat down across from Theo and wiggled in her seat, excited to discuss Horace’s successful rescue as well as the terms of her retirement.
“You have no idea how delighted I am to see you,” he told her. “If I may be perfectly honest, I was unsure as to whether you and the rest of the tribe would return from Raynalium safely, let alone recover Horace from that savage jungle.”
“Well, I am quite pleased that we were able to fulfill all of the above,” Mina replied, proudly bowing her head. “I knew that rescuing your brother was a top priority and our most important mission thus far. There is no way we would have let you down. Or him.”
“That is so wonderful to hear, Mina. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I do hope Horace learned his lesson. My guess is he will never defect from the land of Zanalia and enter into enemy territory ever again.”
“I would certainly hope not, sir,” she said, then took a deep breath. Just when she opened her mouth to mention stepping down from her post, Theo reached down inside of his desk drawer and pulled out a large black box.
“As for your payment,” he said, “you will be compensated handsomely.”
Theo pulled several semiprecious stones from the box and slid them across the desk. Mina gasped and covered her mouth while gazing at the glimmering stones.
“Your monetary funds have already been transferred into your account. Because of this mission’s level of difficulty, please consider these stones an added bonus.”
She reached out and ran her fingertips across the minerals’ cool surfaces.
“Theo,” Mina breathed, “these are absolutely stunning. They’re also too much. How can I thank you for such splendid gifts?”
“By not retiring just yet.”
She froze, hoping she’d misheard him.
“I’m sorry, sir. Could you please repeat that?”
~
Come Find Me!
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A hardworking female cattle rancher and a wealthy company man from the city search for diamonds and find one another.
Cattle rancher Emily Williams lives and works in a small Colorado town and loves it. Though she came out west to search for diamonds in a fabled lost mine, she has found more success in her pastures.
Then Carson Murphy arrives in town, sent by his mining company. Tall, strong, and sure, he becomes a beacon of hope for the townsfolk—their best chance to locate the lost diamonds.
Many have searched for the mine, but none have succeeded. Emily has little faith but joins Murphy anyway. The glittering allure of wealth proves too powerful to resist, and the straightforward Murphy attracts her just as much, if not more.
Hardworking, determined, and eternally hopeful, Emily, Murphy, and the town persevere through life on the frontier. They search the lonely hillsides for the answer to their burning question—will they ever find where the treasure lies?
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Excerpt ~
Diamante Hills, Colorado, 1882
WHOOO-EE! Drink that rotgut, drink that red nose,
Whenever you get to town;
Drink it straight and swig it mighty,
Till the world goes round and round!
The loud, drunken men of Diamante Hills made the walls of the saloon resound with their song. They filled every available seat of the barroom. Many stood or leaned at the bar that spanned the back wall. Some stood around the piano to the left of the bar beside the back staircase. Others sat on the steps, lounging and laughing. But most relaxed at the tables that filled the rest of the large room. The tables were simple wooden circles and the chairs unadorned. All were speckled with stains from years of use. As they moved to the music, one man on the stairs sloshed some beer out of his mug, adding another dark puddle to the mosaic on the floor.
Emily Williams didn’t sing along, but she did raise her mug along with everyone else and cheered at the song’s end.
“Drink up, ya ugly bastards!” someone shouted from the bar.
“Hey!” Laura protested.
The men in the saloon erupted in laughter.
Laura’s eyes were smiling, but her face was stern. “Who’re you calling ugly?”
Abram Holt bowed low from his place at the bar. “Terrible sorry, milady. What I meant to say was ugly bastards and beautiful angels.”
The men cheered again. A few whooped and whistled.
Emily raised her beer once more. “I’ll drink to that!”
She and Laura led the room in a long, frothy draught. She brought her empty glass down hard upon the table while Laura took another moment to drain her beer.
“You ladies need a refill?” Sam asked from behind the bar.
Emily shook her head. “No thanks, barkeep. I might be the only one in this establishment that remembers, but we’ve got a cattle drive at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”
“What do you think we’re celebrating for?” one of the men shouted. Raucous laughter and cheering followed. When these men drank, they’d cheer for a rock.
Emily shrugged. “Just remember, if you aren’t there, we leave without you. There’s a substantial bonus for any man that goes on the drive.”
“Yes, ma’am, boss,” Holt cried, raising his mug. The inevitable cheering momentarily drowned out the sound of someone starting a new song on the piano. Soon the entire saloon was singing along.
Emily went to Sam and handed him a few coins.
“You don’t owe near this much, Emily,” he reprimanded.
She shrugged. “It’ll cover the mess, then. Take care, Sam.”
“Night, Miss Emily.” He nodded at her. “Miss Laura.”
Laura winked at Sam, and he looked away. Emily and Laura turned and headed for the door, weaseling their way between tables, chairs, and bodies.
Emily slipped her hand through the crook of Laura’s arm. As they passed through the door and into the cool, quiet night, she asked, “Why on earth do you torment that poor man?”
Laura tossed her hair and laughed. “Because I’m young and I’m pretty and I like to be noticed. There’s no harm in it, Emi. He’s the most faithful husband there is. His wife has him wrapped around her little finger.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “If that woman were any less good-natured, she would have come after you by now.”
“Ah, but I choose my targets wisely. Never pick a fight you know you can’t win.”
“Or bat your eyelashes out of.”
“Most likely that,” Laura agreed.
Emily regarded her friend. Laura was a little high on herself, but she certainly wasn’t wrong. She was a gorgeous woman of twenty-six with long, thick, soft blonde hair that fell to the center of her back. She wore it up during the day, but on nights like this she preferred it long and wild, as did the men. She was devoted to her beau, Daniel Watson, but she liked to keep her admirers on their toes.
Laura had no lack of smarts, despite what most assumed, and shared many little tidbits of wisdom she’d picked up during her hard life. She ran the Diamante Hills equivalent of a brothel, though, in truth, it wasn’t nearly so barbaric as that. She simply ran a boardinghouse for the young single women of the town, who she called her ducklings, and turned a blind eye when they made their rent by not-so-savory means.
After all, who was Laura to judge the world’s oldest profession? She’d made her fortune selling herself.
Laura had arrived in Diamante just two years before Emily. Back then, Diamante Hills had been a small muddy collection of three or four buildings surrounded by a legion of tents. A legend had resurfaced of diamonds being found in a hidden cave years ago by the Spanish. The most desperate and gullible miners had slowly trickled into town to try to find it. They had nowhere else to go, left bereft after the Colorado Gold Rush faded away.
~
Come Find Me!
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Is Dr. Grend alive?
In the distant future, not long after Dr. Grend arrived on a moon called Lo Pla trying to find a cure for cancer, she stopped sending 3D holographic messages to her employer, Physitan Corporation.
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Excerpt ~
The starship I was on went into orbit around a space station. My supervisor’s face appeared in my contact lenses. He frowned at me. “Hello, Sir Tesk.”
“I have another assignment for you. Dr. Arlene Grend, a human, is missing. You must find her.”
“Why haven’t you sent LMP to locate her?” Locate Missing Persons robots were a new invention, and they were efficient.
“IT sent two of them nine days ago. An hour after landing on Lo Pla, the moon where Grend was searching for a cure for cancer, both of them stopped transmitting 3D holographic messages to EOD.”
I paused, surprised. The IT department manufactured quality robots. EOD, the Expedition Operations Department—a recently created branch of the police department—solved cases ninety-five percent of the time. “That’s horrible.”
A 3D hologram of Grend, a slender brunette with mocha skin, appeared in my lenses. Then the hologram rotated, making it easier to identify her. She was a biochemist with a small triangular birthmark on her right temple.
He scowled. “Exactly. EOD staff was shocked.”
“Why haven’t orbiting satellites spotted her?” 80 percent of the time these tools, ones that used albedo reflected light, found a person. If that didn’t work, they used microphones. If that equipment failed, the satellites utilized radio, visible infrared, and ultraviolet interferometric telescopes.
“It could be a combination of things. However, IT isn’t sure.”
I blinked, surprised that the staff at IT didn’t know.
“Your flight for Lo Pla leaves in two hours. The pilot’s name is Ael. When you reach this moon, a Qio humanoid named Difo will provide more information.”
“Eighty percent of Lo Pla is covered by three oceans, the Saot, the Oap and the Renn. Ninety percent of the population is Monn, a race of humanoid anglers. The Ina, a race of hunters, make up the remaining 10 percent. They live in the Yerk, a jungle in Besm, one of Lo Pla’s continents.”
“Exactly. Your love of research will help you solve this case.” Tesk’s face vanished, ending the call.
More information scrolled through my lenses. Eleven summers ago, in the year 4025, Dr. Brad Deeg, a botanist with a background in biochemistry, and three TRSR—transport supplies robots—started exploring the Yerk. Because of severe down drafts and strong winds, Deeg’s spacecraft had to land on one of Besm’s shores. If it didn’t it would crash.
Yerk was over eleven million square miles, and Deeg wanted to collect sixteen plants. According to an orbiting satellite’s laser Doppler scans, all sixteen were exotic orchids. They were a species unlike anything that any scientists had seen before and were located forty miles from the coast. Scans indicated that all sixteen were filled with a chemical that destroyed cancer cells.
After their spacecraft touched down on a beach, Deeg’s expedition hiked. Two evenings later they came upon a group of huts, dwellings that were located on the Yerk’s outer edge, nine miles from the coast. Within minutes, they met Kota. He was a member of the Ina race, who warned them about flesh-eating birds and lethal snakes.
Deeg thanked this stranger for the information and asked Kota if he would help guide their expedition. Kota hesitated. After Deeg gave him food rations along with a machete, Kota agreed to help him locate the orchids.
Three days later, Deeg and his search party along with Kota vanished without a trace. Deeg’s last 3D holographic messages mentioned loud birdcalls and vague information. All the messages were sent to Marn University’s Biochemistry department—his employer—three hours before every member of the expedition disappeared.
In 4029, Dr. Garland Smith, a botanist who was impressed by Deeg’s discovery, hiked for miles to find the orchids. Smith was accompanied by two utility robots (URs) that carried his supplies. After cutting their way through dense jungle for hours, they located a group of huts that were sixty miles north of those that Deeg had found. An Ina male stepped out of one and said his name was Notar.
During a conversation, Smith asked Notar if he would help him find the exotic orchids. Notar hesitated, then told him that carnivorous ants and deadly lizards roamed the area that surrounded the flowers. Smith gave him exotic liquor, knives, and a hand-held laser—a tool that made it easier for Notar to cut a path through dense jungle. Notar accepted the gifts and said he would help Smith locate the exotic plants.
The next morning they left. Six hours later, Smith stopped transmitting 3D holographic messages to Camin University’s Botany department, the organization that financed and set up his expedition. Dr. Qenx and Dr. Oret, his colleagues in the department, never heard from Smith or any member of his expedition again.
Within five days, Qenx and Oret held a meeting. Near the end of it, everybody who was present agreed that their Botany department didn’t have enough money to send a rescue party to Yerk.
In 4033, Dr. Ray Johnson, a botanist at Camin who was also impressed by Deeg’s discovery, organized another expedition. Johnson felt he could locate the orchids because he had five UR V’s—updated androids.
After hiking next to a stream for hours, Camin’s expedition located huts that were five miles north of those Smith found. Soon Johnson met Ao Ta, an Ina, and told him about the orchids. Ao Ta warned him about six-foot tall flesh eating birds and gigantic snakes. Johnson gave him an SRK, a skin repair kit. Ao Ta demanded to know what the SRK was used for. Johnson cut his own finger, then smeared a trace amount of the substance on the wound. It healed in seconds. Ao Ta said he would help Johnson find the orchids.
~
Come Find Me!
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Achieving the impossible is only a thought away.
Nate Holliday and his girlfriend, Melanie Sarkosian, are back. This time, they’re fighting crime across the great state of Portland. While earthly law and order is Nate’s main focus—that, and graduating high school—he is soon contacted by a representative, Titanic Man, a member of a crime-fighting group from a parallel Earth.
It seems that trouble is brewing on Earth-Seventeen, a world similar to ours in terms of clothing and design, but with more advanced technology.
It seems that one member of the good guys has been captured by the opposition. Ukiko Monaghan, also known as Dividing Woman, has gone missing, and Nate and Melanie are the only ones capable of bringing her back.
It won’t be easy. Ukiko has fallen in with—or been taken captive by—Alvin ‘Big Boy’ Larpis, the most feared gangster who sends his minions to various Earths in search of materials to build the ultimate weapon.
However, when Alvin sends a hit squad to Nate’s and Melanie’s home world, things get darker, more personal, and Nate has to make a terrible choice of seeking vengeance or upholding the law.
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Excerpt ~
Portland High School. Friday, noon, September twentieth. Fries and salad for lunch. Standard carb intake.
Like life, my senior school year turned out to be different than how I’d imagined it would go.
At first glance, a person would think I was normal, your average, nondescript, middle-class high school senior. I had a caring mother, and a lovely girlfriend, Melanie Sarkosian. Not too much different than anyone else.
As for my classes, I’d studied hard, crammed on every subject, and my grades showed marked improvement. On the surface, things were looking up. University seemed to be a reality, after all. My teachers had given me my props, and the feedback boosted my ego.
Scratch the surface, though, dig a little deeper, and the reality didn’t quite fit the picture of your average high school scholar wannabe…
“Nate, what are you thinking about?”
That question came from Melanie—Mel—my nickname for her. Tall, green-eyed, and lovely, she and I made a somewhat improbable couple. In high school, looks ruled. The good-looking guys went for the prettiest girls and vice-versa. Those who weren’t gifted in the looks department were relegated to a second-tier.
No, that rule hadn’t been written in stone, but I saw it every single day of the week. No one could ever tell me different.
Truth be known, I got by with my average appearance. The mirror told me the story—five-nine, lean, with a mop of dark hair, gray eyes, and a nondescript, hatchet face.
That’s the way it was, and I’d come to terms with it a long time ago. Short of plastic surgery, which wasn’t an option, this was how I would look forever, and then my thoughts turned to lunch.
Mel was in the middle of tearing through a sandwich. Me, the fries I had were soggy, and the salad was tasteless, but I had to have something in my stomach, and…
“Nate?”
Her question brought me back to Earth. Daydreaming could really throw a person off-target. “Oh, uh, nothing special.”
Right, lie and hope she’ll believe it. A quick glance around the cafeteria told me the story. People were staring at us. No, not blatantly, but they were staring—and whispering.
Mel stopped eating and gazed around the room. I followed her head movement. Sure enough, those who’d been looking in our direction quickly went back to their meals and their lives.
They hadn’t been staring at Mel, pretty though she was.
They hadn’t been staring at the fall weather through the windows.
No, they’d been staring at my right hand.
It seemed that everyone had a backstory. Mine was that I’d been born without a right hand. Up until three months ago, I’d been forced to use a prosthetic, which only invited more gawking, gaping, and the aforementioned staring.
Then Ukiko Monaghan came along. She went by another name—Dividing Woman. A resident of a parallel Earth—that was a mind-bender in and of itself—she’d come here with her powers and tech, and Mel and I had helped her capture two extremely dangerous criminals.
Ukiko’s powers included exceptional strength as well as the ability to divide her body’s atoms and send copies of herself to other places nearby.
Looks-wise, call her a perfect chimera. The left half of her face was Caucasian, with a bright blue eye and short, spiky black hair.
In sharp contrast, the right side was Asian, along with a brown peeper and silky black tresses. When someone talked about being biracial—her father was Irish and her mother, Japanese—she was the perfect symbol of it.
Her appearance had freaked me out at first, but then it dawned on me that she was genuine. Due to her looks, she’d also suffered, and in a kind and wise manner, she’d helped me to realize that having a handicap was really no handicap at all, not if I let it get to me.
At any rate, in a showdown against the main criminal that she was trying to nab—his name was Astral, and he was a truly bad hombre—she’d given me something called Neural Metal.
Here came another mind-trip—Neural Metal could form itself into any shape or thing, flesh or metal that the wearer could imagine.
Initially, I’d formed a hand, a real, human hand, but quickly found another use for it. My first construct had been a plasma cannon—conceive and achieve—but for the past three months, there hadn’t been any burning need to form any weaponry, unless I went on patrol.
For the time being, I amused myself by forming a flower pot, a replica of the Enterprise, the old space shuttle, and a samurai sword.
Each construct was perfect, conceived by my mind’s eye and my imagination. The first and second-year kids thought it was cool—at least, most of them did. In contrast, the seniors looked upon me with suspicion.
In the past, they’d stared at my prosthetic hand, and the obligatory “Stumpy” or “Captain Hook” comments had come my way.
Now, though, the looks were ones of trepidation. Would I turn it against them? In a way, I couldn’t blame how they thought, and truth be known, I was tempted at times. Payback. Revenge for past slights. Kick their butts.
However, Mel kept me grounded, and I willed my hand to the form of a catcher’s mitt, and then back to normal.
Mel grinned at the sights. “You’re really having fun with that, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah. You don’t like it?”
A thoughtful expression replaced her grin. “I’m still getting used to it, to be honest. Not that I’m not happy for you,” she added hastily. “But—”
“But what?”
She bit her lip. “It’s just that, when we were kids, I got used to you having no hand or wearing your prosthetic. Now, you’ve got some kind of alien tech I can’t understand, and…”
Come Find Me!
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Doing a family favour before a wedding is nerve-wracking at the best of times, clearing out the haunted venue is a nightmare.
Hecate’s social life is looking up. Her sister is getting married, the new brother-in-law-to-be is a really good guy, and his family is helping Hecate fill in the gaps of her knowledge of what the hell she is.
Her grandfather’s ghost is convinced that she needs to become a ghost hunter in her family tradition. She has attempted to tell him that her way is more appropriate, but it is hard to get a new idea into the minds of the deceased.
When her grandfather’s assistant arrives, Hecate is in for a shock. Not only is he pale as marble, but he is also as solid as the stone as well.
She doesn’t have time to deal with the new arrival. Her sister’s wedding venue has had a disaster strike, and the search is on for a new one. Hecate goes with them when they locate a prospective replacement. There is only one problem. It is the most haunted building in the province. It’s a good thing that Hecate has cleared her calendar for the week before the event. She has some work to do.
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Excerpt ~
“You are not serious enough about this, Hecate.”
She looked at him through narrowed eyes and yawned. “About what, Grandfather?”
“About your role as a ghost hunter.”
“I am not a hunter. I am an expediter, extractor, or remover. I don’t hunt them; I go when I am called.”
He muttered, “You should take an interest in breaking the family curse.”
She groaned and sat up, swinging her legs out from under her blankets. “Right now, I have an interest in a carafe of coffee and some hot breakfast. Is it even dawn yet?”
He blustered and got out of her way as she walked through her house and into her kitchen. Making coffee on automatic was something she had been doing for years.
She put pastries into the toaster, verified the setting, and pushed the lever down.
“You do not have a good diet. You consume too many calories.”
She gave the form of her grandfather a dark look as her coffee began to emit its life-giving scent. “I burn eight thousand calories on a day when I work. My body is constantly in a battle to keep itself heated and functioning. Being half-ghost and half-human is not something that comes with a lite grocery bill.”
She poured a coffee and took the cup out to the deck, where she watched the eastern sky turn pink.
In the last fourteen days, she had taken care of a jealous poltergeist that she had almost forgotten about, met her grandfather’s ghost, and been invited to the rehearsal dinner for her sister’s wedding. There were a few more ghosts extracted and released and the daily routine that never seemed to stabilize, but she was getting better at juggling.
“You need a structure to build on your strengths. Your instinct for your skills is tremendous, but there is never an excuse to reject education.”
“I will gladly welcome education. I just need materials to study.”
“Domerik should be here shortly. I don’t understand the holdup.”
She sipped at her coffee and muttered, “I think he had to hire a truck.”
“What?”
“When you made it clear that he was arriving with the furnishings, I knew that he had to bring them properly, at least for this community. I called Domerik back and explained things, so he was transporting stuff over and hauling it here in a purchased sea container. This community is small, and if something simply appeared without any means of approach, people would talk.”
“Ah. What did he say?”
“He would be driving in this week.” She smiled.
Ulysses was shocked. “I didn’t know he could drive.”
Hecate gave her grandfather’s ghost a stare. “I thought he was your driver.”
“No, he is a butler, assistant, and archivist.”
“Oh. Well, your question is answered. He’s about five minutes out. I just heard air brakes from the highway turn.”
“How do you know it is not for someone else?” He crossed his arms.
“You don’t understand how small this town really is. I would have heard if there were any other shipments coming in.” She smiled and headed in to get her toaster pastries and more coffee.
Four minutes later, a semi made its way down her drive with a forty-foot sea container hitched to it. She smiled, got up, and walked in front of the slowly moving vehicle, waving it on to the site that she had prepared for it.
The driver got out, and they discussed the placement of the doors. He made a slow loop around and then backed up until he was in front of the site. The bed the container was on tipped, and the sea can was gently eased into place, settled down with a thud, and when Hecate signed for the receipt, he handed her the keys.
All of the chains were unhitched, the transport bed was locked back in place, and the semi made its way off her property, leaving only the sea container behind.
Ulysses looked at the metal box. “It is most unseemly.”
“This is the country. And the new world, for that matter. Practical wins until I can arrange to have a proper outbuilding built for it.” She flicked through the keys and went to the unit, figuring out which way the key went in the lock before popping the first of three of them.
“How do you even know how to open it?”
She paused and turned to him with a frown. “Unsettled ghosts were often killed in this kind of container. I needed to get in, so I learned.”
Once the locks were off, she lifted the vertical posts that locked the doors into the base of the container via their handles. The metal moved with a hard squeak and a screech. She hauled the door outward, and it swung open and to the side.
Her grandfather stepped toward the door, and he called out, “Domerik!”
A figure stirred in the darkness of the stacked boxes. “Do I hear your call, Wakeman?”
Hecate was standing right in his path with the light blazing behind her. “You hear your old master, and you hear my voice once again. It is good to see you in person, Domerik.”
He stepped toward her, and he was a match to the deep voice that she had listened to over the phone. “Miss Wakeman? You have your grandfather’s eyes.”
He bowed low and looked up with bright, twinkling green eyes. The rest of him was more suited to a Nordic bodybuilder than a librarian. His blonde hair was tied neatly at the nape of his neck, and he smiled brightly when he stood straight in front of her again.
“Miss Wakeman, I stand ready to serve you as I have served six generations of Wakemans before you.”
Hecate stepped back. “Uh...”
~
Come Find Me!
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On the Road: After a breakdown forces a shifter to make a pit stop, he realizes it’s a blessing in disguise when he scents his mate.
When Deacon Ferdmin learns his brother, Daevon, is transitioning into a new life, he decides it’s time to do the same. Plus, as a badger shifter, he’s tired of living in the city. Buying a motorcycle and heading cross-country to meet up with Daevon, Deacon enjoys the change of pace from his prior high-stakes job as a firefighter…until his motorcycle breaks down. There’s only a couple of mechanic shops in town, and the first one he goes to refuses to service his machine since he’s openly and obviously gay. As angry as it makes Deacon, when he walks into the second shop, he quickly turns grateful. He scents that somewhere within the depths of the dingy space is his mate. However, Deacon also realizes that approaching the man—Axel Spumoni—will take some finesse. Not only has Deacon already experienced discrimination, but he notices Axel is a burn victim. Can Deacon figure out a way to woo his reclusive, wary mate while dealing with the backwater town’s hostility?
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Excerpt ~
“We don’t serve your kind here.”
Deacon Ferdmin arched his left brow as he stared at the smirking man—James, according to the name written on his coveralls. “Excuse me?” At first, he thought James was referring to the fact that he was a badger shifter. Except, there was no way the human could know…right?
James curled his lip in a sneer as he swept his gaze over Deacon. “We ain’t helpin’ a faggot.”
Well, holy shit!
Deacon couldn’t remember the last time he’d been discriminated against for being gay. The fact that he swung that way was pretty damn blatant, too. Between the streaks of green that he’d dyed into his black hair, the studs and hoops in his ears, eyebrows, and lip, plus the pale-green and yellow plaid shirt he’d chosen to wear under his unzipped black leather jacket, it was an easy assumption.
Even all the guys at the firehouse he’d left behind when he’d resigned his position hadn’t given his sexuality a second thought in years. At least, they hadn’t acted as if they had anyway. They’d thrown him a going away party and wished him well. A few of them had said to keep in touch, and Deacon probably would for a few years. Then he would need to stop, since he would outlive all of them by centuries.
“Didn’t you hear me?” James crossed his arms over his chest. “You can leave.”
“I’d like to speak to the owner,” Deacon countered. As much as it galled him to trust the workmanship of his Triumph to a homophobic bastard, he needed his motorcycle fixed.
James sneered at him as he pointed at the store logo on the wall. “James’s Garage. I’m James.” He tapped the name on his chest. “I’m the owner, and I ain’t servicin’ the bike of a cocksucker. Get out.”
Damn. Was afraid of that.
Turning on his heel, Deacon left. He crossed to his motorcycle and leaned against it. Pulling out his phone, he opened his internet app and searched again.
When his motorcycle had quit and Deacon had coasted into town, he’d thought he’d been lucky to immediately spot the garage. Too bad he hadn’t known it was owned and operated by a backwoods homophobic hillbilly. He sure hoped there was another garage in this Podunk town.
Deacon read a second garage listing and hoped it wasn’t run by a homophobe, too. After making a mental note of the directions, he lifted it off the kickstand and began wheeling it down the street. At least with his shifter strength, pushing the motorcycle was easy.
As soon as Deacon had heard that his brother Daevon had chosen to resign as a college professor and approach a nomadic alpha to join his pack—or gang, as they called it—Deacon had decided he would do the same. He hadn’t had the opportunity to spend much time with his brother in over forty years. As a shifter, a paranormal living in a human world, he had to remake his identity every few decades.
The last time around, Deacon had headed to Chicago to be a firefighter, while Daevon had found a position in another city. Neither of them had had much free time. For the first time in a long time, Deacon had appreciated the changes in technology, but talking over a computer wasn’t the same as frolicking together in animal form.
Thinking about his brother, Deacon realized he would need to call the man and let him know he wasn’t going to make the rendezvous.
“As soon as I have something to tell him,” Deacon muttered as the sign for the second garage came into view. The place appeared old and dingy, but at least, there was a glowing open in the window.
Deacon left his Triumph in the parking lot and headed into the office. Seeing no one behind the counter of the dirty room, he grimaced. He could hear clanging and talking coming from an open door to the left of the counter, so he knew someone was there.
“Hurry up with that oil change, Axel,” a man ordered. “You were supposed to have that done this morning.”
“Yes, sir,” a deep voice responded softly.
Deacon knew that only his shifter hearing allowed him to make it out. The bass tones caused a warm flutter in his gut, and he almost hummed appreciatively. Having already been singled out for being gay stayed his reaction.
Instead, Deacon headed for the door and hollered, “Hello, the garage?”
“Yeah!” responded the first voice from deep in the bay behind an older Dodge pick-up.
Stopping in the doorway, Deacon swept his gaze over the area. He spotted movement in the back and waited. As he watched an overweight man in filthy coveralls lumbering toward him, he tried to breathe shallowly.
The scent of grease, oil, and other vehicle fluids hung heavy in the air. To his surprise, however, there was something else, too. He took a slow, deeper inhale, and heat and need began pooling in his gut.
Oh, damn! Do I seriously smell my mate in here?
With the way the heavyset man stared at him with narrowed eyes and a curled lip, Deacon prayed to whatever gods cared to listen that it wasn’t him. Great. Another homophobe. Doing his best to ignore it, Deacon dipped his chin in a nod of greeting.
“Hello, sir,” Deacon greeted. “I think the stator went out on my motorcycle. Can you take a look?”
The man looked Deacon up and down, his expression easy to read. “Axel, take care of this customer.” Then he turned and walked away.
Oooookay. At least he’s not my mate. His nasty BO just about knocked me outta my boots!
Which leaves Axel.
~
Come Find Me!
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