[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":8485},["ShallowReactive",2],{"writing-status":3,"site-settings":30,"has-blog-posts":49,"book-pain-eater":50,"books":444},{"id":4,"enabled":5,"eyebrow":6,"title":7,"subtitle":8,"wordCount":9,"wordGoal":9,"statusNote":10,"updatedLabel":11,"seo":12,"updatedAt":27,"createdAt":28,"globalType":29},1,true,"Currently writing","Tides and Treachery","The Cursed Tides | Book 3",83000,"A quick peek at where this draft stands.","Updated 26 Sept 2026",{"title":13,"description":14,"image":15},"Tides and Treachery | Writing update","I am now all done with editing Tides and Treachery and it is available for ARC. It's also available to pre-order now",{"id":16,"alt":17,"updatedAt":18,"createdAt":18,"url":19,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":21,"mimeType":22,"filesize":23,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},9,"Cover for Tides and Treachery. Book 3 in the Cursed Tides trilogy by Essie Suter. A woman with long hair is silhouetted in front of mystical waves, holding magic that loops from her outstretched hands around her in a circle","2026-08-12T19:50:01.740Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FThe%20Cursed%20Tides%20Book%203%20-%20Kindle%20-%20High%20Resolution.jpg",null,"The Cursed Tides Book 3 - Kindle - High Resolution.jpg","image\u002Fjpeg",5377823,1600,2560,50,"2026-09-26T16:00:21.512Z","2026-08-12T19:50:49.667Z","writing-status",{"id":4,"wordmark":31,"newsletterName":32,"instagram":33,"amazon":34,"goodreads":35,"bookbub":36,"contactEmail":37,"footerBlurb":38,"copyright":39,"newsletterFooter":40,"mailingAddress":20,"ebookLicense":41,"booksPageSeo":42,"blogPageSeo":45,"contactPageSeo":46,"updatedAt":47,"createdAt":47,"globalType":48},"Essie Suter","Join the newsletter","https:\u002F\u002Finstagram.com\u002Fessie_suter","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002FEssie-Suter\u002Fe\u002FB09X1JC4M8","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.goodreads.com\u002Fauthor\u002Fshow\u002F22366055.Essie_Suter","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bookbub.com\u002Fauthors\u002Fessie-suter","contact@essiesuter.com","Thanks for visiting my website. Come back soon for news on new releases, bonus content, and the latest live readalong","© 2022–2026 Essie Suter. All rights reserved.","You’re getting this letter because you joined Essie Suter’s newsletter. No spam, just stories.","Buying and downloading this e-book gives you a personal licence to read it on your own devices. It does not give you the right to share, copy, upload, resell, or otherwise redistribute the file. Copyright remains with Essie Suter.",{"title":43,"description":44,"image":20},"Why Choose Paranormal and Fantasy Romances","Fast paced stories with slow burn romance. Come and meet the complex female leads and the men that complement all of their facets. \nFound family. Adventure. Sweet and steamy romance. ",{"title":20,"description":20,"image":20},{"title":20,"description":20,"image":20},"2026-08-12T19:55:28.796Z","site-settings",false,{"id":51,"title":52,"slug":53,"series":54,"seriesLabel":59,"description":60,"previewChapters":125,"cover":423,"amazonLink":431,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":433,"otherLinks":434,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":435,"order":120,"seo":436,"updatedAt":440,"createdAt":441,"ebookFormats":442,"excerpt":443},8,"Pain Eater","pain-eater",{"id":4,"name":55,"slug":56,"tagline":57,"order":4,"updatedAt":58,"createdAt":58},"Stoneraven Alphas","Stonehaven-alphas","A fast-paced why choose urban fantasy series with magic, a pain-eating heroine, sexy alpha males and plenty of snark. 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","text","paragraph",{"children":73,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[74,76,79],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":75,"type":70,"version":4},"Kitos told me I was ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":78,"type":70,"version":4},2,"his",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":80,"type":70,"version":4},". ",{"children":82,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[83],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":84,"type":70,"version":4},"But I don’t belong to anybody.",{"children":86,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[87],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":88,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s already brought Stoneraven to its knees, eating the pain and misery like it’s a tasty treat and pumping up his power while destroying everything around him. ",{"children":90,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[91],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":92,"type":70,"version":4},"Now there’s nothing stopping him from taking his control wider. ",{"children":94,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[95,97,99],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":96,"type":70,"version":4},"We can’t let that happen, or it won’t just be one world that needs healing. ",{"type":98,"version":4},"linebreak",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":100,"type":70,"version":4},"Featuring: ",{"children":102,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[103],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":104,"type":70,"version":4},"Pain Eater is the final part of a paranormal romance reverse harem series, meaning that at the end our heroine will end up with a happily ever after with more than one of our guys. ",{"children":106,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[107,112,116],{"children":108,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[109],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":110,"type":70,"version":4},"Four alpha-hole heroes who would burn the world down for our heroine","listitem",{"children":113,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[114],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":115,"type":70,"version":4},"A part-demon, pain-eating heroine with a big heart and an even bigger martyr complex",{"children":117,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[118],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":119,"type":70,"version":4},"A happily ever after",3,"list","bullet","ul","root",[126],{"id":127,"chapterNumber":4,"title":128,"body":129},"6a7a2d9d672efd060b4105eb","Nico",{"root":130},{"children":131,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[132,136,140,144,148,152,160,164,168,172,176,180,188,195,199,203,207,211,215,223,227,231,235,239,243,247,251,255,259,263,267,271,275,279,283,287,291,303,307,311,315,319,323,327,331,335,339,343,347,351,355,359,363,367,371,379,383,387,391,395,399,403,411,415,419],{"children":133,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[134],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":135,"type":70,"version":4},"My idiot brothers are trying to kill me.",{"children":137,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[138],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":139,"type":70,"version":4},"Or maybe drive me insane. It’s a toss-up between the two. They’re definitely annoying me enough that my head feels two seconds away from exploding.",{"children":141,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[142],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":143,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re on a stealth mission, creeping through the darkness to get to our target, and these two idiots will. Not. Shut. Up.",{"children":145,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[146],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":147,"type":70,"version":4},"Gabe is supposed to be at one with the shadows, the one who has spent years as a super-secret spy, specifically chosen by a high-powered demon to report back on Kitos’s activities. And yet…",{"children":149,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[150],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":151,"type":70,"version":4},"He won’t stop talking.",{"children":153,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[154,156,158],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":155,"type":70,"version":4},"Even though I’ve ordered him not to, reminded him that we ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":157,"type":70,"version":4},"can be heard",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":159,"type":70,"version":4},", unlike his state for the past few years. Yet he still isn’t getting it.",{"children":161,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[162],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":163,"type":70,"version":4},"“What do you think she’s doing now?” he asks. The same question he comes out with at ten-minute intervals. ",{"children":165,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[166],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":167,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not sure, man,” I whisper back.",{"children":169,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[170],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":171,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re wrapped up in his shadows, slowly making our way toward the portal between Stoneraven and Anref, Topside and the Underworld. It’s supposed to be a low-key recon mission so that we can get a better understanding of what’s happening at the portal, but it won’t be unless he shuts the hell up. There are guards at the border, just like always, and while August can probably rip their heads off or I could dip inside their heads and persuade them that we’re no threat, it’d be a lot easier if we didn’t have to. ",{"children":173,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[174],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":175,"type":70,"version":4},"“I hope he’s feeding her breakfast. Because it’s important. She is always thinking of other people first, so she won’t ask for it. At least Topside has access to coffee and you know how much she likes that. I want to take her on another coffee date soon, one where I can pay for it myself and we can sit together and laugh like people do in the adverts. I don’t know what they always find so hilarious, but I’m sure I could make Cupcake laugh like that.”",{"children":177,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[178],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":179,"type":70,"version":4},"Yack, yack, yack, he keeps going on like he can’t help himself. Although… it was the demon that prevented anyone from hearing him. Maybe she had the right idea…",{"children":181,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[182,184,186],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":183,"type":70,"version":4},"Nope. That’s an assholish thought, and I’m trying to do better. To ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":185,"type":70,"version":4},"be",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":187,"type":70,"version":4}," better. ",{"children":189,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[190,192,193],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":191,"type":70,"version":4},"“Maybe we should get married or mated or whatever. Sneak in, steal her away, stick a ring on it and then show that ruthless fucker there’s no way she’s ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":78,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":194,"type":70,"version":4},".”",{"children":196,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[197],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":198,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes. I should be less of a dick to him. He’s terrified of losing her, of losing our girl, and I don’t blame him. Although I think a sneak wedding or mating ceremony might not be the answer to our problems.  ",{"children":200,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[201],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":202,"type":70,"version":4},"“She’d deserve better than that. We’re not marrying her just as some weird ownership pissing contest with that shit stain,” I growl back. ",{"children":204,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[205],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":206,"type":70,"version":4},"I can just see her in a long black dress—I’m not sure she’d be into the whole white purity thing that comes with a usual wedding dress—plus the three of us standing up there with her, all sweaty palmed but eager to bind ourselves together once again. Except this time, our binding would be permanent and based on a lot more than last time. When Manon bound us to protect her, her motivation was coming from a place of fear. I don’t want her to feel that fear again. ",{"children":208,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[209],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":210,"type":70,"version":4},"Weird how the concept of marriage, or even a mating ceremony, doesn’t scare the piss out of me. If you’d asked even six months ago, I’d have told you it was a fool’s game and not one I was ever going to get involved in. And that’s despite having some pretty excellent role models, what with my gran and grandfathers being mated for a long time and still as happy as clams together. Now though, I’d sign myself up tomorrow if it meant I could spend my forever with the woman that owns my heart.",{"children":212,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[213],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":214,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s not to say I’m not pissed at her. ",{"children":216,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[217,219,221],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":218,"type":70,"version":4},"I am fucking ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":220,"type":70,"version":4},"furious",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":222,"type":70,"version":4}," with her. She gave herself over to that psycho even though she didn’t have to. She could have disappeared off with Gabe and we could have come up with a plan. ",{"children":224,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[225],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":226,"type":70,"version":4},"Who am I kidding? When faced with a roomful of teenage berserker kids about to get torn apart, there was no chance of Manon letting that happen. ",{"children":228,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[229],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":230,"type":70,"version":4},"“Got eyes on the portal, eyesss eyesss eyesss,” he sings under his breath. “Coz we’re three sneaky spiesss.” ",{"children":232,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[233],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":234,"type":70,"version":4},"Is that a… song Gabe’s made up? Like a theme song for our mission? If it is, it’s truly terrible. ",{"children":236,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[237],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":238,"type":70,"version":4},"I think I’d forgotten what a weirdo he can be. ",{"children":240,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[241],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":242,"type":70,"version":4},"“She’s ours,” a grunted voice comes from my left. “Never the dead-eyed one’s.”",{"children":244,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[245],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":246,"type":70,"version":4},"Now August’s chiming in. As if Gabe wasn’t bad enough, I thought at least August could keep the habit of a lifetime and stay quiet.",{"children":248,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[249],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":250,"type":70,"version":4},"“Mate,” he adds, as if we’re not sure who he’s talking about. ",{"children":252,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[253],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":254,"type":70,"version":4},"Ever since his berserker decided it had its own voice, you can’t get the guy to shut up. ",{"children":256,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[257],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":258,"type":70,"version":4},"And he’s entirely focused on one thing.",{"children":260,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[261],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":262,"type":70,"version":4},"“Mate.”",{"children":264,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[265],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":266,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s like a broken record.",{"children":268,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[269],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":270,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yep, buddy. We’re going to get her back. Don’t you worry about it.” I pat him on the hard-as-a-rock bicep. ",{"children":272,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[273],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":274,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re all just as obsessed with getting Manon back to us, back where she belongs. But I’ve heard nothing else in the two weeks she’s been gone.",{"children":276,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[277],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":278,"type":70,"version":4},"Two fucking weeks. The longest of my life.",{"children":280,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[281],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":282,"type":70,"version":4},"Two weeks of Gabe rambling on about his ‘cupcake’s’ beautiful eyes or the way her hair smells or the baby they’re going to make… or may have already made… not too clear on the details there. ",{"children":284,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[285],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":286,"type":70,"version":4},"I mean, I sure hope she’s not pregnant. I’m hanging on by a thread right now, since I seem to be the only one with my head screwed anywhere near on. If it turns out she’s somehow carrying our child, there’s a strong chance I’ll fucking lose it. ",{"children":288,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[289],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":290,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m playing the nice-y nice-y approach right now. But that doesn’t mean I won’t tear a hole in this fucking world to get her back to safety. If I have to, I’ll dig so deep into the brains of anyone who gets in my way, their eyeballs will explode.",{"children":292,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[293,295,297,299,301],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":294,"type":70,"version":4},"‘",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":296,"type":70,"version":4},"Always with the eyeballs",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":298,"type":70,"version":4},",’ as Manon would say with that cute little grin and maybe an elbow nudge thrown in, taking no shit and giving as good as she gets. She’s never feared me, even when she probably ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":300,"type":70,"version":4},"should ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":302,"type":70,"version":4},"have been. Would have been wiser, anyway. ",{"children":304,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[305],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":306,"type":70,"version":4},"“Okay, you both have to shut up now,” Gabe says, and I roll my eyes. ",{"children":308,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[309],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":310,"type":70,"version":4},"We hover a few feet from the portal, watching from the shadows. The queue to the portal is only about five people deep. I know that on the other side of it, over in Stoneraven, there are guards standing by—some human and some Super. This side just has one exhausted-looking witch. We watch silently as one of the vamps reaches the front and is instantly denied access.",{"children":312,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[313],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":314,"type":70,"version":4},"“Please,” he begs. “I need to get up there to speak to my sister. Our brother, he got torn apart and I need to—”",{"children":316,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[317],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":318,"type":70,"version":4},"“There’s no use begging. It’s not my call,” she replies flatly. “You can’t come through.”",{"children":320,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[321],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":322,"type":70,"version":4},"I get a dull sickness in my stomach as the kid begins to cry. He’s a vamp, so he’s probably a lot older than all of us put together, but that doesn’t make it any easier to witness. ",{"children":324,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[325],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":326,"type":70,"version":4},"We knew this was happening. That the portal was being monitored, and they were preventing most Supers from getting through, but seeing it is something else. The Underworld might be a little old-fashioned and have its own issues, but no one would choose to go to Stoneraven right now, not with the state it’s in. ",{"children":328,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[329],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":330,"type":70,"version":4},"All thanks to our buddy Kitos and his decade long, unofficial reign.",{"children":332,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[333],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":334,"type":70,"version":4},"“So, what are our options?” I mutter to the other two, ignoring Gabe’s elbow to my ribs and ‘shushing’ motion with his hands. ",{"children":336,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[337],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":338,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s the reason we’re here, after all. Not just to watch some poor kid crying. We’re scrambling to come up with a plan of how we can get Manon back and not be constantly looking over our shoulders, now that the one thing that was keeping Kitos confined to his little empire of misery in Stoneraven is no longer around. Now that Asha Vanglorian, she-demon, Gabe’s ex-keeper, and the individual who Kitos was bound to via an agreement, is dead.   ",{"children":340,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[341],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":342,"type":70,"version":4},"I eye the portal thoughtfully. It’s a swirling mass of darkness that seems to draw your eye. It’s like it sucks the light right through it. Not for the first time, I wonder how it was created. The story we were told is that some workers came across it, over in Stoneraven while they were trying to drill down to create a new underground transport system. The workers must have shit a brick when they stopped drilling and found themselves staring right into an inter-world portal. And then again when the first demons and vamps and shifters stepped through. ",{"children":344,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[345],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":346,"type":70,"version":4},"“You think maybe we could persuade the witches to close it? Grab Cupcake, whisk her through and then bam, shut the portal so Kitos can’t follow?” Gabe whispers. ",{"children":348,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[349],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":350,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’d be leaving everyone up there to rot,” August growls.",{"children":352,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[353],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":354,"type":70,"version":4},"“But at least Manon would be safe, right?” I say. Okay, there’s a chance I’m losing my head here. But I can’t fight the urge to drag her to safety as far from that nut job as possible. And if we have to destroy the one known link between the two worlds to achieve it? Yeah, I’m game. ",{"children":356,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[357],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":358,"type":70,"version":4},"“We make a new hole. New portal. Smash right through,” August grunts.",{"children":360,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[361],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":362,"type":70,"version":4},"I stare at him. I… can’t tell if I’m talking to August right now, or his berserker, which is a little unsettling. Seriously, I think either the beast is getting more eloquent—he’s certainly moved on from grunts and single words—or it could be that August is getting more bestial. Which is worrying considering that he’s spent the past couple of months trying to get better control over that part of himself. ",{"children":364,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[365],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":366,"type":70,"version":4},"“How would that help?”",{"children":368,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[369],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":370,"type":70,"version":4},"He shrugs his massive shoulders. “New portal in secret place. People travel through so he can’t control them anymore.”",{"children":372,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[373,375,377],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":374,"type":70,"version":4},"I mean, he’s not wrong. A big part of Kitos’s power is this portal. He’s the one who says whether someone can pass through, and most of the time, the decision is on the ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":376,"type":70,"version":4},"not",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":378,"type":70,"version":4}," side of that coin. I guess if we could create a new portal and allow free movement for anyone that wants it, then it might take away some of his power. Plus, it would be a way of getting Manon away from him, and since we do not know what his plans are with her, we don’t want to waste time trying to find out. ",{"children":380,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[381],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":382,"type":70,"version":4},"The guy thrives off pain and misery, whatever it is can’t be good.",{"children":384,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[385],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":386,"type":70,"version":4},"So, I guess that’s one option. We just have to find out how to create a portal into another world. ",{"children":388,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[389],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":390,"type":70,"version":4},"Small aspirations, right?",{"children":392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[393],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":394,"type":70,"version":4},"Or find a way of stopping movement through this one, although I know Manon wouldn’t be happy with us if we doomed all of Topside to Kitos’s special brand of misery. ",{"children":396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":398,"type":70,"version":4},"“I think we’ve seen enough,” I say. ",{"children":400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":402,"type":70,"version":4},"The shadows rise around us as Gabe grips my arm without warning and we flit through the shadows until we’re miles away from Stoneraven, in the middle of the forest part way between our cottage and the shifters’ village. ",{"children":404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[405,407,409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":406,"type":70,"version":4},"“We need to end him,” Gabe says, and all hints of the singing, chatty guy from a little while ago have disappeared. Instead, his mouth is set in a grim, determined line and his shoulders are straight, like he’s preparing for war. “I know Kitos better than anyone. I’ve spent ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":408,"type":70,"version":4},"years",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":410,"type":70,"version":4}," watching him and I know he’ll do just about anything to get more power. Even if we made a whole new portal, he’d just use it for his own gain. The only way we can know for sure that Cupcake is safe is by getting rid of him.” He shrugs. “Plus, that way we’d know for sure that he will not take over the Underworld with his ever-growing power and all that, yada yada yada.” ",{"children":412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":414,"type":70,"version":4},"I try not to despair at how preventing an entire world from being poisoned by his influence falls into ‘yada yada yada’. But Gabe only really cares about one thing. And that’s Manon. Our girl. ",{"children":416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":418,"type":70,"version":4},"“I guess either way we’re going to need to recruit some help.”",{"children":420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":422,"type":70,"version":4},"Something tells me we’re going to need a damn army to stop him. ",{"id":51,"alt":424,"updatedAt":425,"createdAt":425,"url":426,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":427,"mimeType":22,"filesize":428,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Pain Eater by Essie Suter. Silhouette of a woman walking through an archway, where two shadowy male figures wait. ","2026-08-10T20:01:18.709Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FPain%20Eater%20sihouette%20v6.jpg","Pain Eater sihouette v6.jpg",9329650,2500,3750,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fdp\u002FB0BHWKJ422","gbp",[],[],"2022-12-01T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":437,"description":438,"image":439},"Pain Eater: Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance | Essie Suter","Kitos wants total control. Only Manon and her alphas can stop him. Book 3 of a completed reverse harem paranormal romance trilogy, with a guaranteed HEA.",{"id":51,"alt":424,"updatedAt":425,"createdAt":425,"url":426,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":427,"mimeType":22,"filesize":428,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-26T20:17:27.125Z","2026-08-10T20:01:51.263Z",[],"You can’t heal the world, Manon. Or so my guys keep telling me. Kitos told me I was his. 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A witch without a voice. A ragtag pirate crew of shifters who seem hellbent on causing mayhem wherever they go.",{"children":464,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[465],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":466,"type":70,"version":4},"I've spent all my life running and hiding who I am. Slipping into my sealskin is both my escape and the reason I can never stay in one place.",{"children":468,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[469],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":470,"type":70,"version":4},"Then someone steals my skin. My mate vanishes. And I'm left with nowhere else to turn to other than a ship full of chaos and a crew that defies everything I know about shifters.",{"children":472,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[473],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":474,"type":70,"version":4},"They're too powerful. Too strange. Like someone broke the rules of magic when they were made.",{"children":476,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[477],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":478,"type":70,"version":4},"They're dangerous, damaged, and probably going to get me killed. But they're also my best shot at finding everything taken from me. And if the way they look at me is any indication, this voyage is going to get complicated.",{"children":480,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[481,483,484,486,487,489,490,492,493],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":482,"type":70,"version":4},"A fast-paced fantasy romance with:",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":485,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ Shifter pirates and a selkie heroine",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":488,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ Fated mates, forced proximity, and found family",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":491,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ Magic, betrayal, humour, and slow-burn steam",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":494,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ A reverse harem that develops over the series",{"children":496,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[497],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":498,"type":70,"version":4},"Perfect for readers who love swashbuckling adventures, morally grey antiheroes with surprising sweetness, and romance that's worth the wait.",[500],{"id":501,"chapterNumber":20,"title":502,"body":503},"6a7a28d3672efd060b4105e7","Prologue | Jack",{"root":504},{"children":505,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[506,510,514,518,522,526,530,534,538,542,546,550,554,558,562,566,570,574,578,582,586,590,594,598,606,610,614,618,622,626,630,634,638,642,646,650,654,658,662,666,670,674,678,686,690,698,702,706,710,718,722,726,730,734,738,742,746,750,753,756,760,764,768,772,776,780,784,792,796,800,804,808,812,816,820,824,828,832,836,840,844,848,852,856,860,868,872],{"children":507,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[508],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":509,"type":70,"version":4},"“Don’t you just want to kiss the ground right now?” I pant at Torin. He strides up the steep, winding hill ahead of me with lungs that apparently don’t need oxygen and thighs that aren’t currently screaming at him to slow down.",{"children":511,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[512],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":513,"type":70,"version":4},"“Only if you like the taste of rat piss on your lips,” he replies without missing a beat. ",{"children":515,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[516],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":517,"type":70,"version":4},"“You have to admit, a month at sea without docking is too long,” I continue before gesturing around. “And I doubt there are many rats around here.”",{"children":519,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[520],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":521,"type":70,"version":4},"The town is too quaint for that. There’s a single pub on the corner and a coffee shop down the street, along with the usual butchers and bakery. ",{"children":523,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[524],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":525,"type":70,"version":4},"In other words, it’s mind-numbingly mundane. ",{"children":527,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[528],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":529,"type":70,"version":4},"I have no idea how Kit stomachs living here without dying of boredom. ",{"children":531,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[532],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":533,"type":70,"version":4},"“Doesn’t matter what the place looks like, there are always rats somewhere,” he replies. ",{"children":535,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[536],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":537,"type":70,"version":4},"“So wise.”",{"children":539,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[540],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":541,"type":70,"version":4},"I charge on with a Torin-like grunt and elbow him, earning myself a tingling funny bone for the pleasure, since the man is built like a marble statue. ",{"children":543,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[544],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":545,"type":70,"version":4},"“Shit, did you get bigger?” ",{"children":547,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[548],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":549,"type":70,"version":4},"He ignores me, so I continue panting alongside him, flapping my shirt collar like it’s my wings to send some air circulating to my chest. “You think we’ll persuade Kit to stay on the ship for longer this time?”",{"children":551,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[552],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":553,"type":70,"version":4},"The wind takes that moment to shift direction, hitting me in the face with freezing drizzle, and I groan as it hits my overheated skin. ",{"children":555,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[556],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":557,"type":70,"version":4},"“He’ll manage a couple of days at most,” Torin replies. “As long as it takes for him to remove the curse, and then he’ll be on his way. Remind me to head to the apothecary on the way out too, I’ll grab some potions to stop him from throwing his guts up the entire time.”",{"children":559,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[560],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":561,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s Torin for you, always with a plan of how to take care of everyone. He’s like a clucking mother hen with a fearsome glare and biceps made of stone. ",{"children":563,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[564],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":565,"type":70,"version":4},"“I hope so. The crew are going to lose their minds if they’re stuck on the ship for much longer.”",{"children":567,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[568],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":569,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s where our man Kit comes in. Not only is he an expert cursebreaker, despite being Captain Finch’s brother, he’s also somehow the most level-headed bloke in all the six kingdoms. ",{"children":571,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[572],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":573,"type":70,"version":4},"We could do with his calming energy on the ship right now. Something about him always calms the frenetic buzzing of our captain, and we’re hoping that’ll extend to the rest of our cursed crew. ",{"children":575,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[576],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":577,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s too bad Kit’s terrible on water, so much so, he probably gets motion sick in the bath. We’ve tried everything: potions, spells, even a ritual performed by the famous Ballylach witches, but nothing’s worked. ",{"children":579,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[580],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":581,"type":70,"version":4},"Kit can barely stomach a day at sea, and Cap’s refused to step onto land in over a decade. So the two of them are at an impasse, which sucks for two brothers as close as the two of them.",{"children":583,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[584],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":585,"type":70,"version":4},"But, as per usual, I digress. My mind’s working a mile a minute as I scan the street and the handful of people making their way along with their heads ducked to avoid getting a faceful of drizzle. ",{"children":587,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[588],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":589,"type":70,"version":4},"“You think he’ll have any more of those little cakes he had last time?”",{"children":591,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[592],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":593,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin snorts and shoots me his favourite judgemental look. “Is that the real reason you agreed to come to pick him up?”",{"children":595,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[596],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":597,"type":70,"version":4},"I shrug. It’s that and the fact my legs felt more jelly than flesh over the past couple of days. And since Tor and I are the only crew able to move freely, I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity to feel solid ground beneath my feet. ",{"children":599,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[600,602,604],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":601,"type":70,"version":4},"“You can fly whenever you want, so why not do it more often?” Torin mutters. I hear the silent ‘",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":603,"type":70,"version":4},"so you don’t keep complaining at me’",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":605,"type":70,"version":4}," behind his words and snort a laugh.",{"children":607,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[608],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":609,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s true I could switch into my raven form whenever I choose. But since I’m not exactly a seabird, I struggle with the high winds and the distance when we’re miles from land. ",{"children":611,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[612],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":613,"type":70,"version":4},"Not to mention that I’m stark naked whenever I shift back. And while I might not mind the attention, us folk with animal forms aren’t exactly popular in these parts. ",{"children":615,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[616],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":617,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not what they call ‘beast-borne’, which is someone born with the ability to shift into an animal. Instead, I am a half-baked, low-powered sorcerer who has tried a whole bunch of magic over the years and whose only consistent form of magic is to turn myself into a bird. ",{"children":619,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[620],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":621,"type":70,"version":4},"But angry mobs don’t tend to listen to semantics when they see you transform from bird to person. Not when they’ve decided that beast-borne people are a scourge on society, classless and barely intelligent enough to hold down a job. ",{"children":623,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[624],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":625,"type":70,"version":4},"We finally reach the top of the hill, and Torin starts moving stiffly. I eye him with concern, trying to work out if his back’s paining him again, or maybe the stiffness is a result of the stick that’s lodged firmly up his bum.",{"children":627,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[628],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":629,"type":70,"version":4},"It turns out it’s neither. ",{"children":631,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[632],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":633,"type":70,"version":4},"We approach the centre of the town’s market square and its twee painted shopfronts and waterless fountain. That’s not what’s got Torin’s attention, though. He gives a jerky, broken marionette’s bow to the image of King Wildrake and the crown of gold coins plastered on the side of the library wall. ",{"children":635,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[636],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":637,"type":70,"version":4},"I quickly turn my head like I haven’t noticed his unwilling display of respect and start up whistling a jaunty tune. It makes even less sense to me why Kit chooses to live here if he’s surrounded by a bunch of throne-sniffing royalists. Maybe it’s a good thing we’re taking him away for a few days before the rot can sink into his brain.  ",{"children":639,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[640],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":641,"type":70,"version":4},"We step off the main street and head for the shop around the corner, where Kit lives and works. His shop window displays the usual clutter of skulls, books and cutesy trinkets all shoved together. Somehow though, he always has customers, and often when we show up first thing, there’s a queue of people waiting for him to open. People must make a special journey here, considering the size of this town. ",{"children":643,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[644],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":645,"type":70,"version":4},"Not today, though. ",{"children":647,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[648],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":649,"type":70,"version":4},"The shop is entirely empty and there’s no one hanging around outside, either. ",{"children":651,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[652],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":653,"type":70,"version":4},"Huh.",{"children":655,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[656],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":657,"type":70,"version":4},"We try the door, but it’s locked up tight. ",{"children":659,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[660],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":661,"type":70,"version":4},"“You think he didn’t bother to open the place since he knew we were coming to pick him up?”",{"children":663,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[664],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":665,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin grunts. “Let’s head around to the back.”",{"children":667,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[668],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":669,"type":70,"version":4},"We stride through the alleyway that leads to Kit’s apartment, and Torin pounds his meaty fist on the door. The drizzle takes this opportunity to redouble its efforts until we’re both blasted in the face with freezing rain as we wait for Kit to open the door. ",{"children":671,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[672],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":673,"type":70,"version":4},"Seconds tick by. Torin pounds harder on the door, letting out a frustrated huff before striding off back to the shop front where I can hear him hammering on the glass. ",{"children":675,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[676],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":677,"type":70,"version":4},"I hold off for a moment before following him back around to the front. If the racket Torin’s making doesn’t get Kit’s attention, then I’m fairly sure he’s not at home.",{"children":679,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[680,682,684],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":681,"type":70,"version":4},"“Where in all the netherworld is he? Do you think he’s gone to the bakery?” I try not to sound ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":683,"type":70,"version":4},"too",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":685,"type":70,"version":4}," hopeful, but from Torin’s huff, I’m pretty sure I’m unsuccessful. ",{"children":687,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[688],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":689,"type":70,"version":4},"An older woman passes by the shop, clutching a tiny dog in her arms, when Torin slams his hand against the glass, making it rattle. She lets out a disapproving humph, shaking her head while her little dog barks furiously at Torin. ",{"children":691,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[692,694,696],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":693,"type":70,"version":4},"I take the chance to dart forward and accost her. “Hey, excuse me. Do you know where the owner is?” I ask in my very stilted Yarrovian. I can say that much along with, ‘",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":695,"type":70,"version":4},"an ale please and another for my grumpy friend.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘Saints above, your eyes are like starbursts.’ ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":697,"type":70,"version":4},"Those three phrases have been enough to skate by whenever we’ve visited these parts in the past. But the woman starts chattering away and I have not the faintest clue what she could be saying. I manage to pick out ‘closed’ and that’s about it.",{"children":699,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[700],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":701,"type":70,"version":4},"I wait her out until she finally seems to run out of air before asking, “So that’s a no, then?”",{"children":703,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[704],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":705,"type":70,"version":4},"She shakes her head, which at least is fairly universal around here.  ",{"children":707,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[708],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":709,"type":70,"version":4},"“Right, well. Thank you.” I blast her with my most charming grin and tip an imaginary hat. ",{"children":711,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[712,714,716],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":713,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin’s grinding his teeth so loudly I can ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":715,"type":70,"version":4},"hear",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":717,"type":70,"version":4}," it, but the woman doesn’t get the message that she’s exceeded her usefulness. She continues to chatter on as we peer through the glass, and Torin’s shoulders grow closer and closer to his ears with every word that comes out of her mouth. ",{"children":719,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[720],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":721,"type":70,"version":4},"He then lets out a rumbling growl, and the tiny dog yips in her arms, baring his teeth in a snarl at Torin, who rolls his eyes in response. Tor lets out another chest-deep growl, and the dog whimpers in response, cowering in her arms. ",{"children":723,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[724],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":725,"type":70,"version":4},"The woman falters in her rambling, peering up at him with a familiar gleam in her eye. Whatever words she comes out with next, they’re the usual mix of fear and lust that Torin seems to elicit. ",{"children":727,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[728],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":729,"type":70,"version":4},"Tor just straight up ignores her, and she finally seems to notice the dog in her arms is now shaking like a leaf. ",{"children":731,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[732],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":733,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thank you,” I say to her again, wishing I knew any other words. Or maybe that I had mind-control powers I could employ right about now. ",{"children":735,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[736],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":737,"type":70,"version":4},"She gives one last lingering look at Torin’s stiff back before bustling off, leaving behind the lingering scent of sickly sweet magnolias.",{"children":739,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[740],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":741,"type":70,"version":4},"Tor and I share a look before heading back to the alleyway.  ",{"children":743,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[744],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":745,"type":70,"version":4},"“How do you want to do this?” I ask him, eyeing the door. It’s solid wood and locked up tight. I don’t have a whole lot of magic, much to my family’s shame. But maybe I could summon enough to pick the lock, if—",{"children":747,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[748],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":749,"type":70,"version":4},"BANG.",{"children":751,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[752],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":749,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":754,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[755],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":749,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":757,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[758],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":759,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin smashes his beefy ol’ shoulder against it until the doorframe splinters and the door goes flying. ",{"children":761,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[762],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":763,"type":70,"version":4},"“That’s one way to do it,” I say. “Kit’s going to murder you.”",{"children":765,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[766],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":767,"type":70,"version":4},"But Tor’s already stepping inside, sniffing the air and letting out another low growl. “Is it me or does it smell weird in here?”",{"children":769,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[770],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":771,"type":70,"version":4},"“He’s definitely going to murder you,” I mutter as he tracks wet footprints through Kit’s hallway and up the stairs that lead to his dwelling above the shop. ",{"children":773,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[774],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":775,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin ignores me yet again, still sniffing like a bloodhound. ",{"children":777,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[778],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":779,"type":70,"version":4},"“Do you think he’s ill?” We clomp up the stairs to Kit’s sitting room. I yank open the curtains, filling the room with marginally more drizzle-diffused light before heading into the bedroom.",{"children":781,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[782],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":783,"type":70,"version":4},"“He’s not here.”",{"children":785,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[786,788,790],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":787,"type":70,"version":4},"The place is as filled to the brim as ever. There is ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":789,"type":70,"version":4},"stuff",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":791,"type":70,"version":4}," covering the book shelves, the numerous endtables, the coffee table and even the floor. It’s like the shop has spilled out its contents all over his house. Or maybe it’s the other way around and Kit had to open a shop to justify his love of all this crap. ",{"children":793,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[794],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":795,"type":70,"version":4},"We head through to the kitchen where there’s the faint scent of cinnamon in the air, and Torin’s already testing the kettle with the back of his hand.",{"children":797,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[798],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":799,"type":70,"version":4},"“Stone cold.”",{"children":801,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[802],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":803,"type":70,"version":4},"On the wooden counter sits a tangle of chains, attached to two wrist cuffs. I poke them with my index finger before thinking better of it. “Part of his collection, do you think?”",{"children":805,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[806],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":807,"type":70,"version":4},"“His collection of what?”",{"children":809,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[810],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":811,"type":70,"version":4},"“I dunno.” I shrug. “Kinky stuff?” ",{"children":813,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[814],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":815,"type":70,"version":4},"On the scrubbed kitchen table, beside an unwashed mug, there’s a little golden safe covered in unfamiliar markings. ",{"children":817,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[818],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":819,"type":70,"version":4},"“I guess I don’t need to tell you not to poke that one,” Torin grumbles. ",{"children":821,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[822],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":823,"type":70,"version":4},"I hold my hands up as the picture of innocence. Considering Kit’s secondary profession as a cursebreaker, there’s no chance I’m going to risk touching it. ",{"children":825,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[826],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":827,"type":70,"version":4},"“Just the bedroom left to check.”",{"children":829,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[830],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":831,"type":70,"version":4},"This place isn’t exactly expansive. If Kit were here, we’d know by now. But I suppose there’s the chance he left a note for us somewhere to let us know when he’d be back. ",{"children":833,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[834],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":835,"type":70,"version":4},"Inside his bedroom, I yank open the wardrobe and reveal dozens of pairs of jazzy trousers and neatly ironed shirts. On the bed sits a fat duffle bag that Tor unzips, sifting through the contents.",{"children":837,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[838],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":839,"type":70,"version":4},"“Enough clothes for a few weeks,” he mutters. ",{"children":841,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[842],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":843,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s colder in the bedroom than in the rest of the flat, and there’s a dampness in the air, like the weather has seeped in.",{"children":845,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[846],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":847,"type":70,"version":4},"“Window’s open.”",{"children":849,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[850],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":851,"type":70,"version":4},"I step closer to the window and get hit with a scent that drags me straight back to my childhood, forcing a knot to form in my gut. “D-do you smell that?” My voice cracks like a pubescent boy, earning me a sharp look from Torin. ",{"children":853,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[854],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":855,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s rancid, metallic, and herbal all at once. The smell hits the back of my throat and I have to gird myself not to throw up all over my shoes. ",{"children":857,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[858],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":859,"type":70,"version":4},"“There’s blood.” Torin prods the window and it swings further open. “Smells wrong somehow, though. “You think someone came in by the window or that they left that way? There’s no sign the place has been gone over, or you’d think they’d have taken some of the gold stuff in the other room.”",{"children":861,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[862,864,866],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":863,"type":70,"version":4},"Typical that ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":865,"type":70,"version":4},"now",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":867,"type":70,"version":4}," Torin’s decided to be verbose, right when I’m struggling to stop myself from descending into panic. ",{"children":869,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[870],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":871,"type":70,"version":4},"This room smells like dark magic that lures and binds, trapping you until you’re mired in sludge.",{"children":873,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[874],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":875,"type":70,"version":4},"“Sorcery.”",{"id":446,"alt":877,"updatedAt":878,"createdAt":878,"url":879,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":880,"mimeType":22,"filesize":881,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Salt and Sorcery by Essie Suter. 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One pain-eating heroine. A bond forged in blood and betrayal. I thought these guys were my ticket to safety. It turns out, they might just be the danger I never saw coming.",{"children":905,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[906],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":907,"type":70,"version":4},"I came to them on a whim, hoping they could protect me. The agreement they made means I'll get their protection all right, but they don't have to like it... or me.",{"children":909,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[910],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":911,"type":70,"version":4},"Somehow, I wound up covered in their brother's blood with him missing, presumed dead.",{"children":913,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[914],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":915,"type":70,"version":4},"The curse on my tongue means I can't reveal the truth. The fog in my head means I'm not sure what the truth is.",{"children":917,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[918],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":919,"type":70,"version":4},"Then, after a deathbed confession turns out to be a little premature, I find myself in a whole heap more trouble.",{"children":921,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[922],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":923,"type":70,"version":4},"We need each other, so it should be easy enough to work together, right?",{"children":925,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[926],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":927,"type":70,"version":4},"I couldn't be more wrong.",{"children":929,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[930],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":931,"type":70,"version":4},"Shadow Chaser is part one of a completed reverse harem paranormal romance trilogy, meaning that the heroine will end up with a happily ever after with more than one man.",{"children":933,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[934],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":935,"type":70,"version":4},"Featuring:",{"children":937,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[938,942,946,950],{"children":939,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[940],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":941,"type":70,"version":4},"Enemies to lovers",{"children":943,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[944],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":945,"type":70,"version":4},"Alpha males",{"children":947,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[948],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":949,"type":70,"version":4},"Grovel",{"children":951,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[952],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":953,"type":70,"version":4},"A strong, magical FMC",4,[956,1310],{"id":957,"chapterNumber":4,"title":958,"body":959},"6a78f302bae7e4fc30a87fd5","Manon",{"root":960},{"children":961,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[962,966,970,974,978,982,986,990,994,998,1002,1006,1010,1014,1018,1022,1026,1034,1038,1042,1046,1050,1054,1058,1062,1066,1070,1074,1078,1082,1086,1090,1094,1098,1102,1110,1114,1118,1122,1126,1130,1134,1138,1142,1146,1150,1154,1158,1162,1166,1170,1174,1178,1182,1186,1190,1194,1198,1202,1206,1210,1214,1218,1222,1226,1230,1234,1238,1242,1246,1250,1254,1258,1262,1266,1270,1274,1278,1282,1286,1290,1294,1298,1302,1306],{"children":963,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[964],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":965,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s no two ways about it. I’m cursed.",{"children":967,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[968],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":969,"type":70,"version":4},"Hence the reason I’m stuck in yet another basement, eyeing the scowling faces of my three stupidly handsome protectors. The three men who are bound to protect me.",{"children":971,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[972],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":973,"type":70,"version":4},"Who also happen to be three guys that hate my guts.",{"children":975,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[976],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":977,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m late to the job, so late that I show up to a room which is empty apart from their grumpy butts. I look around the basement. It's pretty dark and more than a little grim, but since we’re below one of the city’s municipal buildings, it’s still a lot nicer than my apartment. ",{"children":979,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[980],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":981,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not difficult considering I live in a real shithole. ",{"children":983,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[984],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":985,"type":70,"version":4},"“Nice of you to show up, Manon. Turns out you aren’t needed,” Nico says. “Or wanted,” he adds in a barely lowered tone, because he’s a real prick like that. Particularly as he was the one to text me the location with less than an hour’s notice and I had to make a mad dash across the city. Traffic was grid locked thanks to an incident on the road—some kind of protest from a bunch of angry witches, which the Beta team were dealing with—so I wound up running the last couple of miles. ",{"children":987,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[988],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":989,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s typical Nico, though. A misanthropic dickhead who can count the number of people he tolerates on one hand. Surprise, surprise, I’m not on that list. He can also do some frankly terrifying stuff to people’s brains, which makes me grateful we got the protection bond in place, or I probably would have been ‘persuaded’ to walk into traffic a long time ago. ",{"children":991,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[992],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":993,"type":70,"version":4},"“What happened?” I try to control my breathing so that I’m not panting like a dog. Shame I can’t do much about the fact there’s sweat dripping all down my back and my feet are burning in my boots. My outfit is all black and a mix of leather and denim, good for defending myself against wayward blades and whatever nasties we’re fighting, but not exactly the thing to wear while sprinting through the streets.",{"children":995,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[996],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":997,"type":70,"version":4},"They don’t bother answering, instead turning to the door to head out again.",{"children":999,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1000],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1001,"type":70,"version":4},"I haven’t quite caught my breath when another feeling takes over my body. A full-body tingle, so strong my skin is practically vibrating. ",{"children":1003,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1004],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1005,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hold on,” I say. ",{"children":1007,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1008],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1009,"type":70,"version":4},"Remember, I said I was cursed? Well, this is reason number two. I have an actual curse, a living thing inside of me that flares up whenever I’m around someone’s physical pain. ",{"children":1011,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1012],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1013,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s not all, the thing inside me also likes to eat that pain. It gulps it down like it’s a tasty treat. ",{"children":1015,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1016],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1017,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m like a quarter demon or something. Not sure on the specifics, since none of my family stuck around long enough for any chats on my ancestry. It’s not all that uncommon for people in this city to be something other than human, ever since they tried to build an underground station back in the late sixties to fix up Stoneraven’s terrible transport system. Turns out that not all old cities suit having a load of underground works going on. There were a lot of ancient burial grounds dug up, plus a good ol’ fashioned portal into another world. ",{"children":1019,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1020],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1021,"type":70,"version":4},"It wasn’t like they dug straight through into Hell or anything, but they did somehow make a hole big enough for demons and other non-humans to make their way through from one of the Underworlds. ",{"children":1023,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1024],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1025,"type":70,"version":4},"Stoneraven is a bit of a dump and it always has been. But it got worse after the portal opened and all the Supers started treating it like a port, never sticking around for too long but ruffling plenty of feathers while they’re here. It’s a small place, barely big enough to be called a city. We have a lot of empty buildings, a lot of violent crime, plus a lot of Super\u002Fhuman tension going on. ",{"children":1027,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1028,1030,1032],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1029,"type":70,"version":4},"These days there’s maybe eighty percent of the population that are straight up human. A lot of the incoming Supers took one look at this place and moved as far away from the hellhole as they could get. There are even fewer hybrids, like me and Nico, since it turns out humans didn’t take too kindly to anybody that is ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1031,"type":70,"version":4},"Other ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1033,"type":70,"version":4},"coming into their city, mostly because they were shit scared of the lot of them. It led to a lot of unrest over the years and is the reason that me and the guys have the job we do.",{"children":1035,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1036],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1037,"type":70,"version":4},"The guys are the Alpha team of Stoneraven.  ",{"children":1039,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1040],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1041,"type":70,"version":4},"The routine goes like this: someone (generally human) makes a complaint about a Super who is causing trouble, sometimes they’re chewing too loudly or something, or disturbing them because they stick to a different sleep-cycle. Sometimes they’ve abducted their grandmother or are making a necklace out of the bones of kittens. ",{"children":1043,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1044],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1045,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a real mixed bag.",{"children":1047,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1048],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1049,"type":70,"version":4},"Anyway, most of the time another team comes in to check it out and then we’re sent along to make sure that the problem goes away. Pretty often, the Supers aren’t all that eager to be moved on and Nico has to use his powers of persuasion on them. If that doesn’t work, the other two get to flex their skills. Cass can destroy any creature of the shadows without even blinking—that’s vampires, wraiths, ghouls, even some types of demon. And August, well, August can tear down walls with his bare hands, so he can just as easily tear a Super apart if that’s what the situation calls for. ",{"children":1051,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1052],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1053,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m the resident healer and pain-eater. When I came to the guys and bound myself into their protection three years ago, I also bound myself into working with them. ",{"children":1055,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1056],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1057,"type":70,"version":4},"Inside this basement, which doesn’t seem to have seen any action at all, my skin is tingling like crazy and the thing inside my chest is reaching out to take the pain away. ",{"children":1059,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1060],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1061,"type":70,"version":4},"I take a step toward the guys. “Did one of you get injured?”",{"children":1063,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1064],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1065,"type":70,"version":4},"Again, I don’t get a reply. Nico continues yacking on about some bar or club he’s been to or is planning to go to, but at least they all hold in place to let me check them over.",{"children":1067,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1068],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1069,"type":70,"version":4},"I skim my hands over theirs, trying to work out the source of the tingling. Nico glares at me the whole time, and I get a small nod of acknowledgement from August. ",{"children":1071,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1072],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1073,"type":70,"version":4},"Cass barely acknowledges my presence. He never does. He’s a lot like a zombie, dead-eyed, disinterested. It’s ironic, considering his special skill is that he can light up a room with the markings that cover his skin; he can bend light and create illusions just as easily as he can fry your retinas and leave you blinded. ",{"children":1075,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1076],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1077,"type":70,"version":4},"“Something else is here,” I tell them, flashing my phone’s torch to all the darkest corners of the room and confirming it to be empty. “They must be in pretty awful shape for me to feel it through the walls, unless they’re invisible or something?”",{"children":1079,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1080],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1081,"type":70,"version":4},"It takes some nudging, but eventually Cass breaks out of his stupor for long enough to blast the entire room in a pure white light that would apparently pick up anyone that was cloaking themselves.",{"children":1083,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1084],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1085,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s empty. ",{"children":1087,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1088],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1089,"type":70,"version":4},"I stride around the room and it’s not until I reach the back wall that the feeling intensifies. Feeling around with one hand, I use my torch with the other, since Cass isn’t exactly offering his services. In fact, the only one of them who isn’t holding up the wall, showing a complete lack of interest, is August, who comes up right behind me.",{"children":1091,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1092],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1093,"type":70,"version":4},"“So you got here, and the room was empty like this?” I ask him. “Do you know what we got called out for?”",{"children":1095,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1096],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1097,"type":70,"version":4},"He just grunts. Luckily, by now, I’m pretty good at interpreting the various noises August makes instead of deigning to engage in conversation. I glance up at his gigantic frame—he has to be six foot six, and he’s built to bring down entire cities and tear through hordes of warriors. It’s a bit like talking to a mountain. A very tall, sexy mountain.",{"children":1099,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1100],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1101,"type":70,"version":4},"“There’s like a hatch-type thing down here in the wall,” I say, giving it a little flick with my booted toe. “I can’t make it budge, though.”",{"children":1103,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1104,1106,1108],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1105,"type":70,"version":4},"August doesn’t hesitate to put his foot against the metal hatch and ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1107,"type":70,"version":4},"kicks ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1109,"type":70,"version":4},"with a show of brute force. The hatch doesn’t stand a chance and goes flying with a screech of metal on metal. ",{"children":1111,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1112],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1113,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thanks.”",{"children":1115,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1116],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1117,"type":70,"version":4},"He just grunts again.",{"children":1119,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1120],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1121,"type":70,"version":4},"The space is only just big enough for me to fit through, so I crawl through alone. It’s on my hands and knees that I come face to face with the reason for my curse freaking out on me.",{"children":1123,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1124],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1125,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fuck.” I gag at the smell and the taste in the air, before raising my torch since it’s dark as hell in here.",{"children":1127,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1128],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1129,"type":70,"version":4},"“See anything?” August’s gravelly voice travels through from the other room.",{"children":1131,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1132],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1133,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yep.” I stuff my sleeve into my face to try and stifle the smell. “Wraiths have been here.”",{"children":1135,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1136],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1137,"type":70,"version":4},"Fucking wraiths. We don’t deal with them all that often, but when we do, it’s always nasty. ",{"children":1139,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1140],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1141,"type":70,"version":4},"You know those juicers where you push an orange’s flesh into them and give a little squeeze and out comes all the juice? Yeah, that’s what wraiths do. Except instead of an orange, it’s a person’s body. They absorb everything they can from living flesh in order to feed. ",{"children":1143,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1144],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1145,"type":70,"version":4},"I know, I know, I’m not happy with that imagery either.",{"children":1147,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1148],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1149,"type":70,"version":4},"Nor am I happy about the sights and smells in this room.",{"children":1151,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1152],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1153,"type":70,"version":4},"“There have to be twelve bodies in here,” I call through to August. We’re too late to help most of the bodies littering the floor. But the fact that my skin’s still tingling shows there’s hope for at least one person here. ",{"children":1155,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1156],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1157,"type":70,"version":4},"I see the woman curled up on the dirty floor and I also recognize the state she’s in. The wraiths must have got halfway through draining her and then just stopped. Maybe the guys interrupted her, or maybe they just decided that they were full.",{"children":1159,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1160],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1161,"type":70,"version":4},"She looks dehydrated, malnourished, and absolutely terrified. From the look of total fear on her face, I can tell there’s no way I can do this alone.",{"children":1163,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1164],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1165,"type":70,"version":4},"“Manon,” August calls. “You got a live one?”",{"children":1167,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1168],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1169,"type":70,"version":4},"I head back over to him, keeping my voice low. “Yes, but there’s no way she’ll let me near her without calming her down first.”",{"children":1171,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1172],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1173,"type":70,"version":4},"“Can’t shove her through this hole either,” he rasps. As much as he looks like a sexy mountain, he also sounds a bit like one, too. His voice has this whole gravelly tone to it, and whenever I’ve heard him laugh, it sounds like two huge boulders being pushed together. ",{"children":1175,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1176],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1177,"type":70,"version":4},"Not that I should be thinking about any of that. But in this job, you need to compartmentalize a lot of the horrible stuff we witness, and that means my mind is in about ten different places at once. ",{"children":1179,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1180],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1181,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod at August, realizing he’s waiting for me to respond. What he’s said is accurate enough. I haven’t even thought about how I might cart her damaged body out of here. ",{"children":1183,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1184],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1185,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hold on,” he says and there’s the telltale slam of a body against the brick. Whether it’s August’s fist or foot, I can’t tell. “Might want to move back.”",{"children":1187,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1188],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1189,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s surprisingly gentle for a berserker. Over six and a half feet tall and built like a brick shithouse, enough that he could tear down walls with his bare hands. But he’s always been the least dickish of this band of merry assholes, not just because he speaks a lot less than anyone else. August is definitely the nice one of the group. Unless he’s in the middle of a fit of rage, but even then, you can’t take it personally if he tries to bring a building down on your head when the red mist descends. He’d do the same to anyone. ",{"children":1191,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1192],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1193,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a comforting thought. ",{"children":1195,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1196],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1197,"type":70,"version":4},"Who needs a demolition expert when you’ve got a berserker on your team? It takes a staggeringly short amount of time for him to widen the hole until it’s big enough to fit through without having to get onto my hands and knees.",{"children":1199,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1200],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1201,"type":70,"version":4},"“Shit, man. What if that’s a load-bearing wall?” Nico’s voice is raised to a yell.",{"children":1203,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1204],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1205,"type":70,"version":4},"“It is.” But by the sounds of it, August doesn’t give a shit.",{"children":1207,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1208],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1209,"type":70,"version":4},"“We could have the entire building come down on us, not to mention the city won’t be too happy if we destroy the building.”",{"children":1211,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1212],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1213,"type":70,"version":4},"“Gotta get her out. Need light.”",{"children":1215,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1216],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1217,"type":70,"version":4},"I take a step closer to the hole in the wall, since the situation could do with sentences that include over two words in explanation and clearly Nico hasn’t been paying attention to what’s going on.",{"children":1219,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1220],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1221,"type":70,"version":4},"“Shit, Manon, don’t creep around in the shadows like that. Your face gives me enough nightmares as it is.”",{"children":1223,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1224],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1225,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fuck you, Nico,” I reply as easily as breathing. It’s almost a catchphrase at this point. “I need you to work your magic and calm a very frightened woman down. Can you shut your mouth for five minutes and help me?”",{"children":1227,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1228],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1229,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not if I’m ‘working my magic’. Need my tongue for that.” He waggles it at me like a fucking lech, showing off the piercing that is one reason he’s nicknamed the ‘silver-tongued devil’. ",{"children":1231,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1232],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1233,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes and give an exaggerated shudder. “Save it. Please. She’s hurting.”",{"children":1235,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1236],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1237,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yeah, yeah. I’m on it. Could do with some light, though, Cass?”",{"children":1239,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1240],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1241,"type":70,"version":4},"We step into the room and, thankfully, Cass only lights up a portion of it with soft light, so we’re not faced with the full horror of what’s down here. The last thing we need is the poor woman seeing what she’s been surrounded by and getting traumatized even further.",{"children":1243,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1244],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1245,"type":70,"version":4},"Nico hunkers down an arm’s length away from the woman, speaking in a low, honeyed tone. I can’t hear any of what he’s saying but whatever it is does the trick. Within a couple of minutes he gives the nod and I take my place beside the woman, sliding my palm against her bare forearm. My curse flares into life as our skin connects, and it begins to feed on her pain, slowly drawing it out of her body and into my own. ",{"children":1247,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1248],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1249,"type":70,"version":4},"There are plenty of reasons I don’t flaunt my curse, not least because it’s pretty intimate. I feel the moment it hits her system, and she slumps with a faint sigh. While I’ve never felt it myself, I’ve had enough people describe it to me. It’s a shot of morphine, of pure joy, a wave of gentle comfort taking away every bad moment that’s come before. ",{"children":1251,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1252],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1253,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m basically an opioid in human form. ",{"children":1255,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1256],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1257,"type":70,"version":4},"I know that for a lot of other demons; they get energy from extracting from others. But most of them deal with the big five: anger, fear, sadness, joy, and lust. ",{"children":1259,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1260],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1261,"type":70,"version":4},"For me, it’s a little different. It actually takes energy away from me to take away the pain, and even more energy if I have to repair any damage while I’m there. But I just can’t help myself. The curse inside me is always ravenous, and I get weirdly twitchy and uncomfortable if I don’t take it. ",{"children":1263,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1264],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1265,"type":70,"version":4},"I suppose you could say that my curse needs feeding. ",{"children":1267,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1268],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1269,"type":70,"version":4},"Time passes with my skin connected to the woman’s. Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I can feel the familiar pull in my chest, like I have strings inside of me that are being pulled taut and plucked by invisible fingers. ",{"children":1271,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1272],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1273,"type":70,"version":4},"Once the pain is all eaten away, I move on to the things I can do to heal her. It’s not much. I can knit a broken bone back together, or fix internal damage, but I can’t do anything against dehydration, and I can’t give this woman her flesh back. Pulling myself away from her for long enough to glance up at the guys, I see August is keeping guard over me while I’m in such a vulnerable position. I catch his eye and then Nico’s and shake my head.",{"children":1275,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1276],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1277,"type":70,"version":4},"“I don’t think there’s anything I can do,” I whisper.",{"children":1279,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1280],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1281,"type":70,"version":4},"Even though Cass is meant to be our fearless leader, we all know that Nico is the one who makes most of our decisions, like he has ever since Cass checked out three years ago. ",{"children":1283,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1284],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1285,"type":70,"version":4},"“Okay then.” Nico meets my eye and for a second, I see a glimmer of something more than hatred and disdain. He then turns away and does his thing with the woman, persuading her brain that her body no longer needs her heart to beat. ",{"children":1287,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1288],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1289,"type":70,"version":4},"See, like I said, he can do some pretty scary stuff. ",{"children":1291,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1292],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1293,"type":70,"version":4},"August helps me to my feet and steadies me as I wobble slightly on shaky legs. And for a moment, it feels like we’re all on the same side. ",{"children":1295,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1296],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1297,"type":70,"version":4},"Then Nico turns back to me, and I can see that the shutter has come down over his eyes. They’re back to being ice cold. ",{"children":1299,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1300],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1301,"type":70,"version":4},"For a moment there, I got carried away and let myself feel like I was part of a team. But his expression is enough to school me that I’m not welcome here. The guys might be bound to protect me, and I might be technically a part of their team, but that’s not because they want me here.",{"children":1303,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1304],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1305,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re bound together, yet they hate me. Wish I could say that I feel the same about them. ",{"children":1307,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1308],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1309,"type":70,"version":4},"Told you I was cursed.",{"id":1311,"chapterNumber":77,"title":958,"body":1312},"6a78f337bae7e4fc30a87fd6",{"root":1313},{"children":1314,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[1315,1319,1323,1327,1331,1335,1343,1347,1351,1359,1363,1367,1371,1375,1379,1383,1387,1391,1395,1399,1403,1407,1411,1415,1419,1423,1427,1431,1435,1439,1443,1447,1451,1455,1459,1463,1467,1471,1475,1479,1483,1487,1491,1495,1499,1501,1505,1509,1517,1521,1525,1529,1533,1537,1541,1545,1549,1553,1557,1561,1565,1569,1573,1577,1581,1585,1589,1594,1598,1602,1606,1610,1614,1618,1622,1626,1630,1634,1638,1642,1646,1650,1654,1658,1662],{"children":1316,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1317],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1318,"type":70,"version":4},"I head inside the library with my backpack over one shoulder, using my long coat to hide the fact I’m packing maybe twenty small throwing knives on my person.",{"children":1320,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1321],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1322,"type":70,"version":4},"Head Librarian Irene rolls her eyes at me from behind the front desk, but I just shrug as I make my way past her. We’ve had words plenty of times before about me coming in dressed for a job, but today I can’t help it.",{"children":1324,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1325],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1326,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s been a couple of days since the whole situation with the wraiths in the basement and Nico texted me an hour ago to say that we have a job on, but that August was nowhere to be found. I’m not entirely sure why he was telling me, since we’re not exactly texting buddies, but I have a pretty good idea of where August might be holed up. ",{"children":1328,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1329],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1330,"type":70,"version":4},"Back to the scene of the crime. The place where I first approached these guys with my crazy idea to make a deal between all of us. ",{"children":1332,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1333],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1334,"type":70,"version":4},"The place where I decided that binding four scary alphas to me would be a good way forward for my life. ",{"children":1336,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1337,1339,1341],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1338,"type":70,"version":4},"A few things I should explain before I get into the whole ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1340,"type":70,"version":4},"binding the guys to protect me",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1342,"type":70,"version":4}," thing. My dad was a real shithead. He spent a lot of time in the gambling houses, always losing money. I used to be the lucky one that got to go and fetch him since it was that or sending JJ and there was no way my baby brother was going near those places. Not if I could help it. ",{"children":1344,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1345],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1346,"type":70,"version":4},"It was always just the three of us. My mother died when I was a baby and JJ’s decided she didn’t want anything to do with either him or her freakshow step-daughter. ",{"children":1348,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1349],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1350,"type":70,"version":4},"Anyway, one night when I was fetching him back, I got unlucky. He was on a real losing streak, which was pretty obvious to see by his bloodshot eyes and ashy complexion. He just so happened to look up as I came into the dingy backroom. Our eyes met, and even though I was fourteen and barely more than a kid, I knew I was royally fucked. I saw his eyes light up, practically witnessed the cogs turning in his brain as he went double or nothing.",{"children":1352,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1353,1355,1357],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1354,"type":70,"version":4},"Betting ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1356,"type":70,"version":4},"me",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1358,"type":70,"version":4}," as his stake.",{"children":1360,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1361],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1362,"type":70,"version":4},"Predictably, he lost, and that was how I found myself owing a life debt to a seedy backroom gambling joint.",{"children":1364,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1365],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1366,"type":70,"version":4},"Not my father. Me. ",{"children":1368,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1369],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1370,"type":70,"version":4},"I was the one who owed the debt. Which meant that even when he got into a fight a few months later and ended up bleeding out on the street, the debt didn’t dissolve. I was still the one on the line to pay it off. ",{"children":1372,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1373],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1374,"type":70,"version":4},"For once, I got pretty lucky with the logistics of what I had to do to pay off my debt. I know that for a lot of teenage girls, it would have been a death sentence. For ten years I worked there. Paying off what I owed bit by bit in the tiniest increments imaginable. Every day I was accruing interest on the debt, so it barely seemed to decrease at all. ",{"children":1376,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1377],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1378,"type":70,"version":4},"It wasn’t so bad. I mostly kept my head down and helped to clean the place, avoiding grabby hands and leery looks. Not that my cleaning ever did much good. It was a real dive, the kind of place where people weren’t opposed to spitting on the floor or drinking themselves into a state where they lost control of their bladders.",{"children":1380,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1381],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1382,"type":70,"version":4},"Real nasty.",{"children":1384,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1385],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1386,"type":70,"version":4},"The guy who owned it had a chronic back problem, which he wanted me to help him out with, but otherwise was pretty inoffensive as the owner of such a seedy shithole. He could have pimped me out, hired by the hour for a bit of underage pain-eating and more.",{"children":1388,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1389],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1390,"type":70,"version":4},"But I think more than anything, I freaked him out a bit. He was a human and not all that used to dealing with part-demons, so I got the impression he thought I had a few tricks up my sleeve—maybe a tail or a penchant for eating human flesh—so mostly I got left alone. ",{"children":1392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1393],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1394,"type":70,"version":4},"About three years ago, I was helping out in the back office like I did every Thursday. The guy who managed the place was cooking the books, and I was just hanging out, when I came across some papers about the sale of the place. ",{"children":1396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1398,"type":70,"version":4},"Someone had bought out the joint, along with every other dodgy game room, gambling house, and bookies in the city. They’d also bought out every existing debt owed to each of these places.",{"children":1400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1402,"type":70,"version":4},"Including mine.",{"children":1404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1406,"type":70,"version":4},"That wasn’t the worst of it. When I saw the details of who it was that now owned my debt, a full-body shiver went through me. ",{"children":1408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1410,"type":70,"version":4},"Kitos: I’d heard the name before. Everyone had.",{"children":1412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1414,"type":70,"version":4},"He was a crime lord, known for having his fingers in as many illegal pies as he could get hold of. He was also a ruthless fuck and anybody that went against him wound up in the river. And I just knew that things were going to change a lot for me if I had to start paying my debt off to Kitos. ",{"children":1416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1418,"type":70,"version":4},"As soon as I found out that he was the new owner, I should have gotten far, far away from Stoneraven. But stupid me stuck around. My little brother, JJ, wasn’t doing too well at that point. He was making some pretty shitty choices and generally on the way to fucking up his life and I couldn’t just abandon him. ",{"children":1420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1422,"type":70,"version":4},"I wasn’t a total idiot. Straight away, I stopped going to work at the gambling house and moved out of my apartment into a series of increasingly crappier and crappier places, trying to get anyone off my tail who might be interested in my whereabouts. I even closed my bank account and ended up hoarding cash under my mattress, like a lazy dragon. ",{"children":1424,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1425],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1426,"type":70,"version":4},"That lasted for a few months, with me constantly looking over my shoulder, expecting to get caught at any moment. I had barely any money and was just scraping by with somewhere to live and enough to eat; I wasn’t sleeping much and was a total wreck. ",{"children":1428,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1429],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1430,"type":70,"version":4},"When I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I came and found August in the library and begged him for protection. ",{"children":1432,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1433],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1434,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ll admit I wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I made the decision to approach him about protecting me. ",{"children":1436,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1437],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1438,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s a minor understatement, in case you can’t tell, since I was fucking terrified for my life, in full panic mode. My brain went, ‘huh, who do I know that looks big and tough like they might stand in the way of a creepy loan shark slash crime lord who owns my ass’. ",{"children":1440,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1441],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1442,"type":70,"version":4},"I racked my brains for all of five minutes and came up with the image of the scariest motherfucker I’d ever seen, who just so happened to visit the city library at the same time as me every Saturday afternoon. ",{"children":1444,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1445],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1446,"type":70,"version":4},"Anyway, I offered myself (not in a sexy way, more in a ‘I’ll work with you and eat your pain and heal you guys whenever you need it’) if he and his team bound themselves to help shield me from Kitos and his minions. I do not know whether it was the pure panic in my eyes, or something else, but August agreed.",{"children":1448,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1449],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1450,"type":70,"version":4},"They made a deal. Completed a binding ritual and everything. And I don’t know if you know anything about making a deal with a demon, but it’s not something you take lightly. Even if that person is only a quarter demon blood. ",{"children":1452,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1453],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1454,"type":70,"version":4},"The deal was: I work with them as their resident pain-eater and healer, and they provide me with protection from Kitos if and when I ask for it. ",{"children":1456,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1457],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1458,"type":70,"version":4},"None of us know exactly what will happen if they break their end of the deal, but I’d imagine it wouldn’t be pretty. ",{"children":1460,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1461],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1462,"type":70,"version":4},"Fortunately for the guys, it’s now been three years and so far, I’ve not needed to ask for their help. Either Kitos isn’t all that interested in finding me, or I’ve got lucky so far.",{"children":1464,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1465],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1466,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not holding my breath that my luck will hold out.",{"children":1468,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1469],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1470,"type":70,"version":4},"Cursed, remember?",{"children":1472,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1473],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1474,"type":70,"version":4},"No one breaks away from Kitos while owing him money. No one. ",{"children":1476,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1477],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1478,"type":70,"version":4},"He always gets paid.",{"children":1480,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1481],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1482,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s gotten even bigger and badder over the past three years. Supposedly, even his most loyal workers wind up in the river so that they can’t sell him out. These days he doesn’t just own all the gambling houses—both demon and human owned—but any number of dodgy businesses: drug running, smuggling, money laundering. ",{"children":1484,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1485],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1486,"type":70,"version":4},"He's got a wide reach and a lot of eyes all around the city. And although I’m nothing, no one important, I don’t for a second think that I can hide from him forever.",{"children":1488,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1489],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1490,"type":70,"version":4},"I also know there aren’t many pain-eaters out there and I know there are a lot of unsavory possibilities of how someone might use my particular skill set.",{"children":1492,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1493],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1494,"type":70,"version":4},"The last thing I want is to be pimped out to his rich buddies for a smooth business deal, hired out by the hour, eating people’s pain to make him money.",{"children":1496,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1497],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1498,"type":70,"version":4},"No, thank you.",{"children":1500,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":1502,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1503],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1504,"type":70,"version":4},"Most of the time, I like to give off the impression that I’m unflappable, or at least that I’ve got my shit handled. Yet here I am, searching the city library, ready to admit to our berserker that I need him.",{"children":1506,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1507],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1508,"type":70,"version":4},"This week I’m feeling flapped… flappable… whatever. I’m jumping at every shadow, convinced that someone is watching me.",{"children":1510,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1511,1513,1515],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1512,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not that I’ve ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1514,"type":70,"version":4},"seen ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1516,"type":70,"version":4},"anyone per se, more like a feeling of eyes on me. ",{"children":1518,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1519],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1520,"type":70,"version":4},"Which sounds paranoid. Possibly a little insane.",{"children":1522,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1523],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1524,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s why I find myself back where this all started in the city library. I know exactly where August will be and what he’ll be doing. It’s the same thing he’s done every Saturday afternoon for years.",{"children":1526,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1527],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1528,"type":70,"version":4},"I spot his gigantic body on the floor in the corner, head resting against a chair that he wouldn’t fit his tree trunk thighs on for more than ten minutes before it cut off circulation. I take my place on the other chair, the one that’s always in the same position opposite him, just like I do every other Saturday.",{"children":1530,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1531],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1532,"type":70,"version":4},"Typically, we don’t speak. We barely acknowledge each other’s existence, but we sit here together once a week for a good five hours. In winter, he walks me most of the way home, without ever acknowledging that’s what he’s doing.",{"children":1534,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1535],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1536,"type":70,"version":4},"I eye the pile of romance novels resting beside his knee. He’s got at least four books in one pile and another couple in another, plus the one he’s currently reading, a slight furrow in his brow as he concentrates.",{"children":1538,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1539],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1540,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s masking his emotions by distracting himself. Forcing his way into other worlds where everything ends happily so that he doesn’t need to think about his own life or his own feelings.",{"children":1542,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1543],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1544,"type":70,"version":4},"I know, because it’s what I do too. August and I don’t eat our feelings, we read our way through them.",{"children":1546,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1547],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1548,"type":70,"version":4},"August likes historical romances, all that chivalry and bodice ripping—not a surprise since I think he’s a secret gentleman behind the gruff, silent exterior. He’s less of an asshole than either Nico or Cass. That’s not exactly difficult, though. ",{"children":1550,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1551],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1552,"type":70,"version":4},"“You all right?” I murmur. He grunts in response, and I reach out to kick his shin, just hard enough that he flicks his attention from the book to my face.",{"children":1554,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1555],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1556,"type":70,"version":4},"He levels me a flat look as I fight a grin. ",{"children":1558,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1559],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1560,"type":70,"version":4},"“Need something?” he asks in a voice so deep and gravelly he’s physically incapable of whispering. Not that any of the librarians mind. I’m sure they’d love to have him in residence. Reading out loud in his raspy voice, he’d be flocked with starry-eyed admirers hanging onto his every word.",{"children":1562,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1563],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1564,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’ve got a job on,” I say.",{"children":1566,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1567],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1568,"type":70,"version":4},"He nods and turns his attention back to the book. This isn’t news to him.",{"children":1570,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1571],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1572,"type":70,"version":4},"I clear my throat as I struggle to form the words. “Will you walk me home after the job, please?”",{"children":1574,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1575],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1576,"type":70,"version":4},"He glances up, pauses like he’s waiting for me to add details, and, when I don’t, August gives a single nod and casts his eyes downward again.",{"children":1578,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1579],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1580,"type":70,"version":4},"That was easier than I expected. I thought it would take longer or that maybe I’d have to explain myself. Instead, I settle down in my chair and grab my own book. ",{"children":1582,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1583],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1584,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s silent for a little while until August speaks without looking up. “You worried?”",{"children":1586,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1587],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1588,"type":70,"version":4},"“I just have a feeling,” I say, and he nods again, like that’s enough for him. The churning anxiety in my gut settles for the first time in days.",{"children":1590,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1591],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1592,"type":70,"version":4},"*","center",{"children":1595,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1596],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1597,"type":70,"version":4},"The job is pretty straightforward. Something that seems to be getting rarer and rarer. More often than not, we’re seeing some pretty weird stuff going on—people acting even crazier than usual—and it feels like there’s something bubbling beneath the surface and we’re just waiting for it to all boil over.",{"children":1599,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1600],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1601,"type":70,"version":4},"Today, it’s just a bunch of fox shifters that need to be persuaded that hanging around inside the train station isn’t such a great idea. They’re a rowdy bunch but harmless, but they have this whole obsession with marking their territory. I can kind of see the humans’ point, considering the whole area reeks of piss. ",{"children":1603,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1604],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1605,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re done in record time, which is fine by me. I’m itching to get back home to see if I get the same feeling of being watched as I had earlier. ",{"children":1607,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1608],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1609,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m pretty sure it’s time for me to move again and it’ll take me a couple of days to find somewhere with my very limited budget. ",{"children":1611,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1612],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1613,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m walking Manon home,” August says as he heads for the exit, with me hurrying along to match his stride.",{"children":1615,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1616],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1617,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hold on, dude,” Nico calls. “Have you forgotten what day it is?”",{"children":1619,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1620],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1621,"type":70,"version":4},"August stops, glances at me, and mutters a curse under his breath. “Family dinner. I forgot.” He eyes me for a moment longer and then adds, “She’ll join us.”",{"children":1623,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1624],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1625,"type":70,"version":4},"Joy. Dinner with the fam. All of whom hate me, by the way. It’s a running theme with these people.",{"children":1627,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1628],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1629,"type":70,"version":4},"I mean, I don’t blame them, not really. But it’s always awkward and messes with my appetite. ",{"children":1631,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1632],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1633,"type":70,"version":4},"I missed a part of the story when I was explaining before about how we made the deal and the guys became bound to protect me. That wasn’t all that happened.",{"children":1635,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1636],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1637,"type":70,"version":4},"We made the deal, which, as I’ve already said, is a big thing when you’re part demon. There were four of them: Nico, August, Gabe and Cass, plus me. And Cass, as the big, strong team leader, had just signed on the dotted line. We were all hunky-dory, and I felt like maybe things might work out okay for me, or at least be heading in that direction.  ",{"children":1639,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1640],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1641,"type":70,"version":4},"Until five minutes later, when it all went to shit.",{"children":1643,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1644],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1645,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t exactly remember what happened since my mind went all foggy and as much as I try to push through it; I find my brain tied up in knots until nothing makes sense anymore. ",{"children":1647,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1648],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1649,"type":70,"version":4},"All I know is that I went to find a toilet and somehow between leaving the room and stumbling back, I wound up covered in Gabe’s blood with no idea how it got there and a weird feeling in my throat, like it was closing up, whenever I tried to explain. ",{"children":1651,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1652],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1653,"type":70,"version":4},"Gabe, Cass’s twin brother.",{"children":1655,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1656],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1657,"type":70,"version":4},"Who used to be a part of the team until he disappeared that day.",{"children":1659,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1660],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1661,"type":70,"version":4},"And who hasn’t been seen since.",{"children":1663,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1664],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1665,"type":70,"version":4},"Guess who they all blame?",{"id":4,"alt":1667,"updatedAt":1668,"createdAt":1668,"url":1669,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":1670,"mimeType":22,"filesize":1671,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Book cover for Shadow Chaser by Essie Suter. 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It turns out, they might just be the danger I never saw…",{"id":1685,"title":1686,"slug":1687,"series":1688,"seriesLabel":1689,"description":1690,"previewChapters":1756,"cover":2156,"amazonLink":2162,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":2163,"otherLinks":2164,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":2165,"order":77,"seo":2166,"updatedAt":2170,"createdAt":2171,"ebookFormats":2172,"excerpt":2173},7,"Beast Tamer","beast-tamer",{"id":4,"name":55,"slug":56,"tagline":57,"order":4,"updatedAt":58,"createdAt":58},"Book 2 | Completed Trilogy",{"root":1691},{"children":1692,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[1693,1697,1701,1705,1713,1717,1721,1725,1729,1732,1753],{"children":1694,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1695],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1696,"type":70,"version":4},"Gabe is alive and my life debt has been paid off, so all my problems should have been dealt with, right?",{"children":1698,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1699],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1700,"type":70,"version":4},"Wrong.",{"children":1702,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1703],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1704,"type":70,"version":4},"Oh, so wrong.",{"children":1706,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1707,1709,1711],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1708,"type":70,"version":4},"August, my gentle berserker, is missing. The crime lord I was once indebted to doesn’t seem to have got the memo that I don’t work for him anymore. And that’s not to mention whatever the hell’s going on between myself, Nico and Cass. Nico is ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1710,"type":70,"version":4},"nice",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1712,"type":70,"version":4}," now? Or at least he’s nice to me. While Cass is still keeping his distance.",{"children":1714,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1715],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1716,"type":70,"version":4},"Plus, now that Gabe’s back in our lives… or at least my life since he’s still slinking around in the shadows, he’s insistent on trying to tug my strings… and hold my hand wherever he can.",{"children":1718,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1719],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1720,"type":70,"version":4},"When things in Stoneraven reach a breaking point, we’re forced to head into the Underworld. My world might have got wider, but that just means my problems are getting bigger: Monsters, poison, people trying to control their inner beasts, are just some of our new challenges to face. ",{"children":1722,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1723],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1724,"type":70,"version":4},"Luckily I’ve got more than one man at my side to help me through. ",{"children":1726,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[1727],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1728,"type":70,"version":4},"Part two of three of a paranormal romance reverse harem series, meaning that at the end our heroine will end up with a happily ever after with more than one of our guys.",{"children":1730,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[1731],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":935,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":1733,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[1734,1738,1742,1746,1750],{"children":1735,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[1736],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1737,"type":70,"version":4},"A slow burn",{"children":1739,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[1740],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1741,"type":70,"version":4},"Continued grovel",{"children":1743,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[1744],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1745,"type":70,"version":4},"Alpha-hole heroes who would burn the world down for our heroine",{"children":1747,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[1748],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1749,"type":70,"version":4},"A sweetheart berserker trying to get a handle on his beast",{"children":1751,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[1752],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":115,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":1754,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1755],{"type":98,"version":4},[1757],{"id":1758,"chapterNumber":4,"title":958,"body":1759},"6a7a2c0a672efd060b4105ea",{"root":1760},{"children":1761,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[1762,1766,1770,1774,1778,1782,1786,1790,1794,1798,1802,1806,1810,1814,1818,1822,1826,1830,1834,1838,1846,1850,1854,1858,1862,1866,1870,1874,1882,1886,1890,1894,1898,1902,1906,1910,1914,1918,1922,1926,1930,1934,1938,1942,1946,1950,1954,1958,1962,1966,1970,1974,1978,1982,1986,1990,1994,1998,2002,2006,2010,2014,2018,2022,2026,2030,2034,2038,2046,2050,2054,2058,2062,2066,2070,2074,2078,2082,2086,2090,2094,2098,2102,2106,2110,2114,2122,2126,2128,2132,2136,2140,2144,2148,2152],{"children":1763,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1764],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1765,"type":70,"version":4},"August is missing. ",{"children":1767,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1768],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1769,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not sure how it’s possible for a guy who’s six and a half feet, with shoulders so wide he has to turn sideways through doorways, can just… disappear.",{"children":1771,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1772],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1773,"type":70,"version":4},"He must have been bleeding pretty badly. After all, he tore an August-sized hole in the wall and plowed right on through and that’s not to mention all the other damage he did to the gym. And yet, it’s been days now and no one’s reported a rampaging berserker on the streets of Stoneraven.",{"children":1775,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1776],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1777,"type":70,"version":4},"“Do you think he’ll have been himself when he woke up?” I ask Nico. It’s approximately the hundredth time I’ve asked the same question in the three days since we found the gym empty. Instead of scowling at me, or just ignoring the question like he would normally, he tousles his dark hair with one hand, clicking his tongue piercing with his teeth like he does when he’s thinking. ",{"children":1779,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1780],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1781,"type":70,"version":4},"“I don’t know. Like I said, it was the first time I’ve put someone under for so long. I don’t know what state he’ll have woken up in. Although—\"",{"children":1783,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1784],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1785,"type":70,"version":4},"Judging by the daylight flooding through the massive hole. We can both agree that whatever state August was in, it wasn’t good.",{"children":1787,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1788],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1789,"type":70,"version":4},"August hates being confined. I learned that first-hand when we got stuck in the tunnels under the city together. I can’t stop thinking about it, how scared and stressed he must have been to destroy this place as thoroughly as he did. The berserker inside him must have completely taken over, considering the trail of blood after he must have cut himself and then kept on going until he’d smashed a hole in the wall with his bare flesh. I sweep up shattered and bloodied pieces of mirror, trying to keep my inner turmoil from spilling out, as Nico straightens up the exercise equipment. ",{"children":1791,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1792],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1793,"type":70,"version":4},"I think Nico can tell that I’m a woman on the edge. While we’re not exactly back to the Nice Nico of a few days ago, he’s not returned to his usual snappy, dickish self either. Meanwhile, Cass has been steadfastly ignoring me. It’s like our relationship has taken a hundred steps back after I came home after being kept in a cell by his asshole brother and he blew up at me about being a liar and decided he was done with me. ",{"children":1795,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1796],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1797,"type":70,"version":4},"Frankly, I’m done with dealing with him too. If he wants to think the worst of me, he can. ",{"children":1799,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1800],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1801,"type":70,"version":4},"“You want to do another sweep of the streets after we’re done here?” I ask Nico. “I was thinking of heading to the library again but need to drop in and see JJ first.”",{"children":1803,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1804],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1805,"type":70,"version":4},"“Five minutes,” he says. ",{"children":1807,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1808],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1809,"type":70,"version":4},"Baby Saskia is less than a week old and I already feel like I’m failing as her aunt. Searching for August has been taking up so much time, I’ve only managed one visit so far and I’m surprised I’ve even managed that. I can’t remember the last time I ate a full meal or slept for more than a snatched couple of hours. ",{"children":1811,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1812],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1813,"type":70,"version":4},"“Uh, what?”",{"children":1815,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1816],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1817,"type":70,"version":4},"“Give me five minutes,” he says slowly, really enunciating each word, just in case I’d forgotten what an ass he can be. ",{"children":1819,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1820],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1821,"type":70,"version":4},"“You’re coming with me?”",{"children":1823,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1824],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1825,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yep.” He gives me a look, like I’m an idiot for even asking. “I want to see Nat and we’ll cover more ground looking for August together.”",{"children":1827,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1828],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1829,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not sure that’s true. So far, we’ve been kind of splitting the city in two, the both of us walking miles every day so that we can try to hit as many of the likely spots where August might have gone as we can. ",{"children":1831,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1832],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1833,"type":70,"version":4},"We finish tidying up the room until it no longer looks like a bomb went off. It looks better, but even without the massive hole in the wall, the mirrors are mostly shattered, and half the gym equipment has pieces dangling off it and are unusable.  ",{"children":1835,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1836],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1837,"type":70,"version":4},"“These all need replacing,” I mutter. “Can you order some so they’ll be here when he comes home?”",{"children":1839,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1840,1842,1844],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1841,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s a pause and I’m half expecting Nico to reply something cutting about us having no idea about ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1843,"type":70,"version":4},"when",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1845,"type":70,"version":4}," that might be. Instead, he surprises me by just giving me a nod.",{"children":1847,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1848],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1849,"type":70,"version":4},"Pretty sure that Nico agreeing to something without bitching is one of the first signs of the apocalypse.",{"children":1851,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1852],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1853,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’ll find him, Manon,” he says, squeezing my shoulder and I have to bite my cheek to keep my wayward feelings in check. I think it’ll be pushing him a step too far if I start blubbering on his shoulder. I think I need him to push back a bit, to argue with me so that I have somewhere to direct the surging mess of guilt and fear and anxiety that’s filling my veins.",{"children":1855,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1856],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1857,"type":70,"version":4},"We head over to Nico’s sister, Natalie’s house. She lives in a cute, little townhouse just down the road that’s tiny compared to the guy’s mansion but is a million times nicer than JJ’s bungalow, where I’ve been staying ever since Cass kicked my ass out of their house.",{"children":1859,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1860],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1861,"type":70,"version":4},"“Christ, you look about as bad as I feel,” JJ greets me, pulling me into a hug. “I. Am. Shattered. But good to see our favorite babysitters have come to the rescue so that we can take a little nap.” He moves out of the doorway, letting us in. “Mommy and daddy could do with a little alone time.”",{"children":1863,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1864],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1865,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes, keeping my attention on Nico to check his reaction to my brother’s teasing. But he just slaps JJ’s shoulder, ignoring his wink and moving past him.",{"children":1867,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1868],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1869,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s weird. They seem to be getting along a lot better than before. I haven’t heard Nico threaten JJ’s life since before the baby was born. ",{"children":1871,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1872],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1873,"type":70,"version":4},"I head inside the house and as soon as I step into their living room am greeted by the sight of Nico with a tiny baby in his leather-jacket clad arms. She looks so little and delicate being held there, I can practically feel my ovaries squee-ing. ",{"children":1875,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1876,1878,1880],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1877,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m far too tired and emotionally drained to cope with the visual of the highly attractive asshole looking down at a tiny baby with something a lot like ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1879,"type":70,"version":4},"reverence",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1881,"type":70,"version":4}," in his eyes.",{"children":1883,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1884],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1885,"type":70,"version":4},"Big fat nope.",{"children":1887,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1888],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1889,"type":70,"version":4},"“How are you all doing?” I ask softly.",{"children":1891,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1892],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1893,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s a little chaotic, but it’s good.” Natalie flashes a tired smile. “Can’t remember the last time I brushed my teeth, but we’re all doing okay. Especially with my big brother and his pot roast delivery.”",{"children":1895,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1896],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1897,"type":70,"version":4},"I blink at that, glancing between her and Nico. Pot roast delivery? “You’ve been cooking them meals?”",{"children":1899,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1900],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1901,"type":70,"version":4},"Nico smirks at me over the top of the baby’s head. “Sure have. Better step up your game, love, or you’ll be out of the running for best family member.”",{"children":1903,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1904],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1905,"type":70,"version":4},"I just stare at him in amazement. When the hell has he had time to cook and deliver them food? We’ve been scouring the streets until the small hours of the morning every day and then he’s been juggling jobs with our search for August in the daylight too. ",{"children":1907,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1908],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1909,"type":70,"version":4},"“No sign of the big guy, then?” JJ asks.",{"children":1911,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1912],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1913,"type":70,"version":4},"“Nope. We’ve been to all his favorite places in case he finds his way back there.”",{"children":1915,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1916],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1917,"type":70,"version":4},"There aren’t exactly a lot of them. The library, his old foster home, my old apartment. We’ve even scoured old job sites, just in case his berserker brain decided they would be a safe place for him to hide out as he no doubt heals from numerous wounds. ",{"children":1919,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1920],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1921,"type":70,"version":4},"JJ raises an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’re looking for a stray dog, not a man.”",{"children":1923,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1924],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1925,"type":70,"version":4},"I just shrug at him and Nico chimes in, keeping his voice low, tone soft as I’ve ever heard it. “If he’s still in berserker mode, he’s more beast than man. He’s fueled by rage normally, but when I took that little trip inside his head, he was panicking. It makes sense to imagine that he’ll try to return to spaces where he feels safe.”",{"children":1927,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1928],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1929,"type":70,"version":4},"“That’s what we’re hoping, anyway.”",{"children":1931,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1932],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1933,"type":70,"version":4},"JJ yawns massively, slumping onto the sofa. “Has your boss noticed he’s missing yet?”",{"children":1935,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1936],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1937,"type":70,"version":4},"“Lucky he’s so self-absorbed, it should take a while. We can always just say that he’s sick.”",{"children":1939,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1940],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1941,"type":70,"version":4},"A heavy silence falls and I studiously avoid looking at Nico or at the way his hair is flopping down onto his forehead so that I just want to lean up and brush it away for him. ",{"children":1943,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1944],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1945,"type":70,"version":4},"I need to keep my emotions and my hormones in check and he looks far too good at this moment, particularly for a guy that must be running on fumes.",{"children":1947,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1948],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1949,"type":70,"version":4},"“I need to get going,” I announce to the room.",{"children":1951,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1952],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1953,"type":70,"version":4},"I need to focus.",{"children":1955,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1956],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1957,"type":70,"version":4},"Find August. ",{"children":1959,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1960],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1961,"type":70,"version":4},"The real reason we’re up most nights and have been wearing holes in our boots, searching the city for any signs of our berserker, is because as long as August is out there, he’s in danger.",{"children":1963,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1964],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1965,"type":70,"version":4},"August isn’t his own man. He’s owned by the city and doesn’t have the freedom to take time off work or disappear.",{"children":1967,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1968],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1969,"type":70,"version":4},"He especially cannot be caught raging out in public.",{"children":1971,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1972],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1973,"type":70,"version":4},"And if the authorities find him and decide that he’s dangerous. They’ll put him down.",{"children":1975,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1976],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1977,"type":70,"version":4}," I really need to get out of here. ",{"children":1979,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1980],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1981,"type":70,"version":4},"“I thought you might hang around for a bit so we could—” JJ starts.",{"children":1983,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1984],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1985,"type":70,"version":4},"Nope, I’m not hanging around the baby-making chemicals that are clearly still in the air. That’s my only explanation for my mouth going dry as my eyes dart back to Nico, cuddling the baby close to his chest. ",{"children":1987,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1988],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1989,"type":70,"version":4},"“As fun as it might be for us to sit around while you mess around with my sister in the next room, we need to get back out there,” Nico says, delicately passing Saskia back to his sister.",{"children":1991,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1992],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1993,"type":70,"version":4},"We extract ourselves without too much bother and my brother seems to understand that I cannot physically stay here, can’t stay still. Not while August is missing.",{"children":1995,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[1996],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1997,"type":70,"version":4},"He pulls me into a massive bear hug. “Get some sleep, Manon. You look like shit.”",{"children":1999,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2000],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2001,"type":70,"version":4},"With that, and with a massive grin, he shuts the door in my face. ",{"children":2003,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2004],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2005,"type":70,"version":4},"The dick.",{"children":2007,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2008],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2009,"type":70,"version":4},"“Library first?” Nico asks as soon as we’re outside.",{"children":2011,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2012],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2013,"type":70,"version":4},"I rub my tired eyes and sigh. It’s already dark out, but I know I will not sleep tonight until we’ve checked there, plus my old apartment. I’ll then head back to JJ’s bungalow where I can hopefully pass out for a few hours before starting all over again.",{"children":2015,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2016],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2017,"type":70,"version":4},"Tomorrow will be day four. If August was as panicked as Nico says he was, there’s a chance he ran and just kept on running. If that’s the case, he could be miles away from Stoneraven by now. I don’t even want to consider that as a possibility. It’s not like we can tell anyone that he’s missing without the possibility of alerting the city authorities or our boss at the same time. So right now, we’re keeping the search local and just hoping he’ll find his own way back after he’s cooled off. ",{"children":2019,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2020],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2021,"type":70,"version":4},"“Why don’t you try the library—that’s the big building with all the books, by the way,” I say. “I’ll check my old apartment.”",{"children":2023,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2024],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2025,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not subtle about the fact that I need a bit of space from Nico. Just a bit of breathing room. A chance to think and wallow and stew in my own guilt and anxiety without having to worry about him thinking I’m weak.",{"children":2027,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2028],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2029,"type":70,"version":4},"Three days we’ve been looking for August. What if we don’t find him, or the wrong person finds him first?",{"children":2031,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2032],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2033,"type":70,"version":4},"The thought is fucking terrifying.",{"children":2035,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2036],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2037,"type":70,"version":4},"August is my safe harbor. Even when he didn’t like me all that much, he was the person I had a long-standing library date with. He’s sweet, smart and loyal.",{"children":2039,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2040,2042,2044],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2041,"type":70,"version":4},"And he’s ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2043,"type":70,"version":4},"mine",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2045,"type":70,"version":4},". I need him.",{"children":2047,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2048],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2049,"type":70,"version":4},"Nico stays silent while I’m spiraling, lost in my head",{"children":2051,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2052],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2053,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fine, I’ll try the book building. You go to the apartment and try not to pick up any diseases while you’re there.”",{"children":2055,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2056],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2057,"type":70,"version":4},"I shoot him the middle finger, but then slightly ruin the effect as I say, “And then you need to get some sleep.”",{"children":2059,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2060],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2061,"type":70,"version":4},"I generally try to avoid looking too closely at Nico’s face. He’s too attractive for his own good for one thing, and normally his face is sporting a sneer. That must be how I missed the dark circles under his eyes.",{"children":2063,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2064],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2065,"type":70,"version":4},"We’ve both been running ourselves ragged and he must have been sleeping even less than I have if he’s been helping his sister.",{"children":2067,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2068],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2069,"type":70,"version":4}," “I’ll sleep when you do, love,” he says, waving a hand and striding off down the street in the opposite direction to me. ",{"children":2071,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2072],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2073,"type":70,"version":4},"My old apartment building is a bust. Somehow they’ve rented out my old place to some other poor sucker in the months since I moved into the guy’s mansion and was subsequently kicked out. The whole place still has an incredibly strong smell of mold and trash in the air, like they pump it through the air vents or something. I check the stairwells, keeping my torch high and a knife at the ready since this is not the safest spot to be hanging around after dark. I then head up to the top floor and work my way down, searching for any damage or other indicators that August might have been through this way. ",{"children":2075,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2076],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2077,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m fit to drop by the time I head back to JJ’s bungalow, although that doesn’t stop me from doing a onceover of every alley I pass. ",{"children":2079,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2080],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2081,"type":70,"version":4},"No August. But I do catch sight of a bunch of rats and a few bare asses of people that decided that fucking in a piss-soaked alley was a good idea. ",{"children":2083,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2084],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2085,"type":70,"version":4},"Letting myself in to the bungalow and kicking off my boots, I don’t bother to put any of the lights on as I head straight to the bedroom and slump down onto my crappy bed with its musty sheets. I’m just drifting off when there’s a bang at the door and someone starts obnoxiously rattling the handle. ",{"children":2087,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2088],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2089,"type":70,"version":4},"A little kernel of hope expands in my chest as I jump up and head to the door, swinging it wide open.",{"children":2091,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2092],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2093,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not him.",{"children":2095,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2096],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2097,"type":70,"version":4},"I try not to let the disappointment show on my face as I frown at Nico on the other side of the door.",{"children":2099,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2100],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2101,"type":70,"version":4},"“Any luck?” ",{"children":2103,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2104],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2105,"type":70,"version":4},"He shakes his head and then maneuvers me out the way, plopping himself down on the sofa and unlacing his boots like he’s sticking around for a while.",{"children":2107,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2108],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2109,"type":70,"version":4},"“What are you doing?”",{"children":2111,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2112],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2113,"type":70,"version":4},"“As someone helpfully pointed out, I need sleep. So I’m going to do that. If you’ve got some spare bedding, that would be appreciated. I’d prefer not to put my face directly onto this monstrosity.”",{"children":2115,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2116,2118,2120],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2117,"type":70,"version":4},"He seems entirely unmoved by my frown and I’m far too tired to argue. I have no idea why he’d choose to spend the night on JJ’s shitty sofa rather than at home in his ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2119,"type":70,"version":4},"mansion",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2121,"type":70,"version":4}," on his very comfortable bed, but who am I to question Nico’s decisions? ",{"children":2123,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2124],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2125,"type":70,"version":4},"That doesn’t stop me from chuntering to myself, rubbing my temples—since, you know, he’s just rocked up at my house and started demanding things. But I do fetch him a spare pillow and blanket and even manage to fight the urge to smother him with them.",{"children":2127,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":2129,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2130],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2131,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m awoken a little later by the sound of something dropping to the floor in the living room and the clink of the letterbox.",{"children":2133,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2134],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2135,"type":70,"version":4},"Leaping out of bed, I slide across the floor in my socks in my haste to get to the door. Nico’s already there, looking sleep-rumpled and grouchy. He’s holding a little box in his hand. ",{"children":2137,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2138],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2139,"type":70,"version":4},"“What is it?”",{"children":2141,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2142],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2143,"type":70,"version":4},"He dumps it out with no regard to whether it might be something we don’t want all over the floor… or, like, an explosive or something. Something hard and plastic clatters to the floor. ",{"children":2145,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2146],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2147,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s a phone.”",{"children":2149,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2150],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2151,"type":70,"version":4},"I take a step closer. It’s not just any phone. It’s mine, the one that was taken off me when I was in Kitos’s basement. ",{"children":2153,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2154],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2155,"type":70,"version":4},"As soon as I pick it up off the floor, it starts to ring.",{"id":1685,"alt":2157,"updatedAt":2158,"createdAt":2158,"url":2159,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":2160,"mimeType":22,"filesize":2161,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Beast Tamer by Essie Suter. The silhouette of a woman stands beneath an archway, where a bear stands looking at her","2026-08-10T19:56:06.300Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FBeast%20Tamer%20sihouette%20v4.jpg","Beast Tamer sihouette v4.jpg",10168736,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fdp\u002FB0BH11M81J",[],[],"2022-10-15T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":2167,"description":2168,"image":2169},"Beast Tamer: Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance | Essie Suter","August, the sweetheart berserker, is missing. Kitos won't let go, and a fourth alpha wants back in. Book 2 of a completed reverse harem paranormal romance trilogy.",{"id":1685,"alt":2157,"updatedAt":2158,"createdAt":2158,"url":2159,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":2160,"mimeType":22,"filesize":2161,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-26T20:16:12.085Z","2026-08-10T19:57:02.403Z",[],"Gabe is alive and my life debt has been paid off, so all my problems should have been dealt with, right? Wrong. 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","2026-08-10T09:34:07.917Z",{"root":2183},{"children":2184,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[2185,2189,2205],{"children":2186,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":4,"textStyle":68},[2187],{"detail":66,"format":4,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2188,"type":70,"version":4},"In a city of magic users, I’m a freak—a sponge with the ability to absorb the powers of others. Even worse, I’m an illegal outlaw who’s spent the past decade on society's fringes, concealing my true nature and struggling to survive.",{"children":2190,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2191,2193,2194,2195,2197,2198,2199,2201,2202,2203],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2192,"type":70,"version":4},"Everything changes when three alpha mages enter my life, each notorious in our city's shadowy underbelly.",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2196,"type":70,"version":4},"Roscoe, the master of illusion, with unwavering loyalty to his friends. His quick grin and cheerful nature break through my sky-high walls like nothing else.",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2200,"type":70,"version":4},"Zeph, the grouchy storm mage who is seriously intense and not a fan of mine.",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2204,"type":70,"version":4},"And Fabian, their surprisingly sweet leader, poisoned by a deadly blood curse that only I can help him break.",{"children":2206,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2207,2209,2210,2211],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2208,"type":70,"version":4},"Together, they offer me a chance at a clean slate. One that would bring me back into society along with my new family of weirdos and outcasts.",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2212,"type":70,"version":4},"Now I just have to get through this mission while keeping my secrets safe.",[2214],{"id":2215,"chapterNumber":20,"title":2216,"body":2217},"6a799b49672efd060b4105e4","Chapter 1",{"root":2218},{"children":2219,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[2220,2225,2229,2233,2237,2241,2245,2249,2253,2257,2261,2265,2269,2273,2277,2281,2285,2289,2293,2297,2301,2307,2311,2315,2319,2327,2335,2339,2347,2355,2359,2363,2367,2371,2379,2383,2387,2391,2395,2399,2403,2407,2411,2415,2419,2423,2427,2431,2439,2446,2457,2463,2471,2475,2479,2483,2487,2493,2497,2502,2506,2510,2514,2518,2522,2526,2530,2532,2536,2540,2544,2548,2552,2556,2562,2566,2570,2574,2578,2582,2586,2590,2594,2598,2602,2606,2610,2616,2619,2623,2627,2631,2635,2639,2643,2647,2651,2655,2659,2663,2667,2671,2675,2679,2683,2687,2691,2695,2699,2703,2707,2711,2715,2719,2723,2727,2731,2735,2741,2745,2749,2753,2757,2761,2765,2769,2773,2777,2781,2785,2789,2793,2797,2801,2805,2809,2813,2817,2821,2825],{"children":2221,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2222,2223],{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2224,"type":70,"version":4},"Witch, outcast, dead person—according to official records, anyway.",{"children":2226,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2227],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2228,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m a lot of things. ",{"children":2230,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2231],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2232,"type":70,"version":4},"Including directionally challenged.",{"children":2234,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2235],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2236,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s really biting me in the ass right at this moment in time. ",{"children":2238,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2239],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2240,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m so close to being done with my job for the day, I can almost taste sweet, sweet freedom. I skid to a stop at my planned exit… or at least I think it’s my planned exit. I jiggle the door handle, ready to get the hell out of here before anyone notices my presence. ",{"children":2242,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2243],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2244,"type":70,"version":4},"Nothing happens. The damn thing is locked. ",{"children":2246,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2247],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2248,"type":70,"version":4},"Dammit. I’ve been in the Moonshadow coven’s house for over an hour already, casing the joint ready for my job tomorrow. So far, I’ve managed to avoid seeing another person the whole time I’ve been here. I’ve had to keep myself cloaked with a thick glamor the entire time. My scent, my image, my damn aura are all blanketed in a thick layer of magic, so I won’t trip any of the wards. The last thing I want to do is trigger them. I can’t afford to alert anyone to my presence, since I’m not supposed to be here.",{"children":2250,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2251],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2252,"type":70,"version":4},"I pull and push at the door before trying to force a little magic into the handle. I’m hoping that it’s just stuck and maybe a bit of elbow grease will have it flying open any moment. ",{"children":2254,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2255],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2256,"type":70,"version":4},"No such luck.",{"children":2258,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2259],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2260,"type":70,"version":4},"This particular wood and iron monstrosity does not budge an inch. ",{"children":2262,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2263],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2264,"type":70,"version":4},"Yeah… it’s definitely the wrong door. ",{"children":2266,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2267],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2268,"type":70,"version":4},"Shit.",{"children":2270,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2271],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2272,"type":70,"version":4},"My heart is pounding already after running around this place. The Moonshadow coven is a mid-tier coven with its residence right in the middle of Arcanum city center, and my mark for this week’s bit of larceny. My client has requested two of the magical artifacts the coven has currently sequestered away. Today’s job is a bit of prep work and reconnaissance before my actual mission. Good thing too, or I’d currently be struggling to get out of a locked door while cloaking the magical signatures of two very powerful objects. ",{"children":2274,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2275],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2276,"type":70,"version":4},"Apparently, the coven used to be larger before it broke in two. When they split, the coven Mother took both artifacts. My client has tried talking things out, but that didn’t work. So here I am with this gig, to find and retrieve the artifacts.",{"children":2278,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2279],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2280,"type":70,"version":4},"Lucky me. ",{"children":2282,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2283],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2284,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve got a sweat going since I’ve got my hood pulled all the way up. My armpits are clammy and I can feel sweat dripping and pooling at the small of my back. ",{"children":2286,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2287],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2288,"type":70,"version":4},"No one ever said this job was glamorous. ",{"children":2290,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2291],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2292,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t afford to mess this up. Things are always tight at home. But after an incident involving me trying to retrieve an illegal dog-slash-chimera mix that had been stolen from its owner, and a fire escape, I sprained my ankle and I’ve been unable to do any hands-on work for weeks. Instead, I got relegated to the boring busy work which doesn’t pay nearly as well. ",{"children":2294,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2295],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2296,"type":70,"version":4},"I need to get out of here. I reckon I have about twenty minutes before my magical batteries go flat. I’m already going to be in desperate need of sugar and caffeine to get me home without passing out on a park bench. ",{"children":2298,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2299],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2300,"type":70,"version":4},"Been there, done that, got pooped on by a pigeon for the privilege.",{"children":2302,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2303,2305],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2304,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hey, Ember?",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2306,"type":70,"version":4},"” I send the thoughts through to my buddy, my pseudo-brother, and fellow outcast. He’s a telepathic whose family kicked him out as soon as they realized the powers he’d manifested. He was ten at the time and spent an entire year on the streets before the rest of us found him. Unsurprisingly, he hates his powers and rarely uses them. ",{"children":2308,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2309],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2310,"type":70,"version":4},"Well, tough titties for him. All of us outcasts and weirdos have a complex relationship with our powers. They’re the reason our society shunned us all. ",{"children":2312,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2313],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2314,"type":70,"version":4},"But right now, I really need him. ",{"children":2316,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2317],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2318,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ember, man. Buddy, ol’ pal, I need a little help here.”",{"children":2320,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2321,2323,2325],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2322,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m the only person we know who can ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2324,"type":70,"version":4},"push",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2326,"type":70,"version":4}," my thoughts into Ember’s head. I know he hates it when I do, so it’s not something I’ll force him into unless I have to. ",{"children":2328,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2329,2331,2333],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2330,"type":70,"version":4},"“Silver.”",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2332,"type":70,"version":4}," His voice growls inside my head and I let out a huffed breath of relief. “",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2334,"type":70,"version":4},"You in trouble?”",{"children":2336,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2337],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2338,"type":70,"version":4},"“My exit is blocked. I need Rook to come up with another route out of this place. Is he with you?”",{"children":2340,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2341,2343,2345],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2342,"type":70,"version":4},"“Locked door tripping you up? That’s not like you, Silver.” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2344,"type":70,"version":4},"His raspy chuckle is right in my ear, like he’s standing beside me and I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me. “",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2346,"type":70,"version":4},"You sure you didn’t get confused between upstairs and downstairs again?”",{"children":2348,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2349,2351,2353],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2350,"type":70,"version":4},"These guys might be my bodged-together family, but that doesn’t stop them from being assholes. It’s a running joke that I can do absolutely ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2352,"type":70,"version":4},"anything",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2354,"type":70,"version":4},". I’m a jack-of-all-trades most of the time and my skill set is pretty… diverse. ",{"children":2356,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2357],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2358,"type":70,"version":4},"Unique. ",{"children":2360,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2361],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2362,"type":70,"version":4},"One of the reasons I’ve spent most of my life hiding exactly what I can do. But I can’t do everything.",{"children":2364,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2365],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2366,"type":70,"version":4},"Like opening stupid locked doors. ",{"children":2368,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2369],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2370,"type":70,"version":4},"Or finding my way out of a well sign-posted room. Doesn’t seem to matter if I’m inside or outside. Half the time I barely know my left from my right.",{"children":2372,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2373,2375,2377],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2374,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not so hot on getting ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2376,"type":70,"version":4},"out",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2378,"type":70,"version":4}," of places, in general. Or anything that requires a huge amount of patience, or a gentle touch. I’m more of a wham bam, thank you ma’am type. ",{"children":2380,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2381],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2382,"type":70,"version":4},"I could just draw on some of my magic and blast a ball of fire at the door, but that’s not exactly going unnoticed.",{"children":2384,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2385],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2386,"type":70,"version":4},"Dammit, I knew I should have brought someone with me. ",{"children":2388,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2389],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2390,"type":70,"version":4},"“Seriously, a little help, man? I’m trying to fly under the radar here, and if I blow up the door, it’ll set off the wards. There are people upstairs and I need Rook right now.”",{"children":2392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2393],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2394,"type":70,"version":4},"“Sure, sure. Deep breath, Silver. I’m on my way to him right now and we’ll get you out of there.”",{"children":2396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2398,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook’s our resident escape artist. He’s a few years older than me and helped me to find my feet when I was twelve years old and had just been kicked out of my coven. If he hadn’t happened to be in the same cell as me when I was first apprehended, I doubt I ever would have escaped from the execution that was planned for me by the city judiciary. ",{"children":2400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2402,"type":70,"version":4},"As it is, we worked together and managed to escape from the judiciary, with both of us officially recorded as having died in our cell. ",{"children":2404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2406,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a knotty, dark past the two of us share. ",{"children":2408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2410,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook has got me out of more than a few jams in the past. More than that, I’m pretty sure he’s the reason I’ve survived this long. ",{"children":2412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2414,"type":70,"version":4},"I just hope this is another jam he can get me out of. ",{"children":2416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2418,"type":70,"version":4},"Another minute passes and my palms are sweating so badly they’re slippery as I slink away from the door. I head toward a little antechamber close to the bottom of a huge wooden staircase, keeping an ear out for movement. I know the witches in the coven have been busy in their morning rituals. I heard the chanting when I skirted around the back of the house earlier, but that’s bound to finish soon. ",{"children":2420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2422,"type":70,"version":4},"And right on time, I hear them. ",{"children":2424,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2425],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2426,"type":70,"version":4},"Voices. ",{"children":2428,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2429],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2430,"type":70,"version":4},"They’re heading down the staircase toward me. I pull on more of my magic, shoring up the cloaking spell I’ve got going on, barely breathing as they pass by. ",{"children":2432,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2433,2435,2437],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},"“",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2436,"type":70,"version":4},"Silver?” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2438,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember’s voice in my head makes me just about shit my pants. ",{"children":2440,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2441,2442,2444],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2443,"type":70,"version":4},"Still here,”",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2445,"type":70,"version":4}," I tell him.",{"children":2447,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2448,2449,2451,2453,2455],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2450,"type":70,"version":4},"Okay, so listen very carefully.” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2452,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes at him, even though he can’t see me.",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2454,"type":70,"version":4}," “Rook says there’s a door just behind the staircase. It leads to another room with a back exit. Head through it and then there should be a window you can use to get out of there. No lefts or rights for you to get muddled up.” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2456,"type":70,"version":4},"His voice is heavy with amusement, and I mentally flip him off. ",{"children":2458,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2459,2461],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2460,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thanks, guys.” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2462,"type":70,"version":4},"I wait another moment to make sure the owners of the nearby voices have moved on, and then make a mad dash toward the door behind me. ",{"children":2464,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2465,2467,2469],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2466,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook’s come good again. This door opens easily. I push it open slowly and find myself in what looks like a mud room. There are coats and cloaks and boots scattered all over the place. And ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2468,"type":70,"version":4},"jackpot,",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2470,"type":70,"version":4}," there’s a massive window leading out onto the street outside. I peer out and see that it leads to a quiet side street, which is currently deserted. Yanking it open and cringing as it creaks slightly, I fling myself out onto the concrete outside, wincing as I land heavily on my dodgy ankle and then slip out onto the main street. ",{"children":2472,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2473],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2474,"type":70,"version":4},"The city of Arcanum is bustling, despite the fact it’s drizzling. I keep my hood pulled up over my face and hurry along, joining the crowd and heading back toward the Salvage Yards. ",{"children":2476,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2477],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2478,"type":70,"version":4},"Home. ",{"children":2480,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2481],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2482,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not until I’m hidden in the crowd. I let out a long relieved breath. ",{"children":2484,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2485],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2486,"type":70,"version":4},"Fuck, that was more stressful than it should have been. ",{"children":2488,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2489,2491],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2490,"type":70,"version":4},"“You get out all right, Silver?”",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2492,"type":70,"version":4}," Ember asks.",{"children":2494,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2495],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2496,"type":70,"version":4},"“Sure did. I need a coffee, a doughnut, and a nap.”",{"children":2498,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2499,2500],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2501,"type":70,"version":4},"Uh huh, see you soon.”",{"children":2503,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2504],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2505,"type":70,"version":4},"He doesn’t sound impressed with me, but I shrug his displeasure off. He doesn’t like me doing these kinds of jobs. Ember’s an artist and he’s the one responsible for most of the artwork covering the shithole warehouse where we live. Sometimes he even deigns to sell a few pieces of his work under a false identity and brings in a few coins, but it’s never an income we can rely too much on. ",{"children":2507,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2508],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2509,"type":70,"version":4},"Not that any of us can have jobs that are steady. There are no nine-to-five office jobs in our futures. That would mean being included in a database, having our names and addresses filed away somewhere. All things that you can’t have when you live your life in the shadows. ",{"children":2511,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2512],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2513,"type":70,"version":4},"When you no longer have a name that you can claim ownership of. ",{"children":2515,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2516],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2517,"type":70,"version":4},"Or like Rook and me, you’ve been dead for the past decade and are living under false identities. ",{"children":2519,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2520],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2521,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not like anyone would want to hire us for legitimate work, anyway. We’re the forgotten dregs of society and that works for us. We make it work.",{"children":2523,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2524],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2525,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember doesn’t seem to get that I can’t go around turning down jobs, just because they’re a little high risk.",{"children":2527,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2528],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2529,"type":70,"version":4},"After all, our entire lives are risky.",{"children":2531,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":2533,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2534],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2535,"type":70,"version":4},"*  ",{"children":2537,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2538],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2539,"type":70,"version":4},"Twenty minutes later and my feet are burning in my cheap boots as I hotfoot it down the hill to the Salvage Yards. Our place is one of the old warehouses in an entire district of them. The district has been abandoned for at least fifty years, ever since the city got an influx of magic users and most of the humans moved out. All the warehouses and the factories got shut down, and they were left to grow cobwebs. ",{"children":2541,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2542],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2543,"type":70,"version":4},"To rot. Just like those of us who choose to live here.",{"children":2545,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2546],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2547,"type":70,"version":4},"Ten of us live in an old textile warehouse, one that’s absolutely plastered with graffiti—all thanks to Ember and his need to decorate everything he has to look at for more than five minutes. The inside is a hodgepodge of furniture we’ve rescued over the years and out back there’s a little oasis of a garden, thanks to our resident potion maker and herbalist, Luna. ",{"children":2549,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2550],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2551,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s not all sunshine and roses, though. We barely have a waste management system since the city authorities don’t bother to stretch this far, considering no one is supposed to live way out here. No transport runs within about a mile of us, so we all do a ton of walking since none of us have the cash to even consider buying a car. We barely have working plumbing either, and the system our electricity works on is unregulated, which means it goes on and off at odd intervals.",{"children":2553,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2554],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2555,"type":70,"version":4},"The only other people around are those that aren’t welcome anywhere. Most of the time, they’re no trouble. But every so often, we wind up having people dipping in and out, where we wake up one morning with all our wiring stripped out or our savings swiped. ",{"children":2557,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2558,2560,2561],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2559,"type":70,"version":4},"The whole place is a dive. But it’s all we’ve got, so we make do.",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"children":2563,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2564],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2565,"type":70,"version":4},"As soon as I step through the warehouse door, I’m accosted by two teenage girls who can somehow scent the bag of doughnuts I picked up on the way home. Seriously, the two of them are like bloodhounds when it comes to sugary treats. ",{"children":2567,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2568],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2569,"type":70,"version":4},"Una and Mona, twins that have only been with us for the past few months. ",{"children":2571,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2572],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2573,"type":70,"version":4},"And I have to say I’ve got a soft spot for the two of them. ",{"children":2575,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2576],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2577,"type":70,"version":4},"I thrust the bag at them and grin. “Breakfast of champions.”",{"children":2579,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2580],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2581,"type":70,"version":4},"My offering is met with two very high-pitched squeals that echo off the high ceiling and I wince slightly. Hopefully, everyone is up already. They’ll certainly be awake now if they weren’t.",{"children":2583,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2584],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2585,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not sure that’s what counts as a healthy, balanced diet,” Ember grumbles from behind me. I spin around and shoot him a shit-eating grin. These two kids spent a couple of months living underground in The Buried Citadel before they found their way to us. It's a labyrinth of tunnels, old sewer pipes, and catacombs where only the really desperate outcasts from our society go. Things must have been pretty dire with their mother for her to send them down there and it’s clear the two of them have seen more shit than they should at their age. ",{"children":2587,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2588],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2589,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t see a sugary breakfast damaging them too badly. ",{"children":2591,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2592],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2593,"type":70,"version":4},"“So today went well,” he says drily. “You’re not still planning on doing the job, are you? If you get caught, there’ll be no saving you. You get that, right?”",{"children":2595,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2596],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2597,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes at Ember as I feel the waves of his disapproval in my general life choices rolling off him. ",{"children":2599,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2600],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2601,"type":70,"version":4},"But screw him. The guy might be like my brother, but he’s not the one who can do the things I can. He’s not the one who ends up getting most of the jobs that put food on our table. Who buys us clothes and medicine, shoes for us all and whatever else we might need. ",{"children":2603,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2604],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2605,"type":70,"version":4},"This job should keep us sitting pretty for a couple of months at least. We might even be able to get our water heater fixed so that it doesn’t scald us randomly. We’ll have to pay a massive premium to anyone willing to travel this far out to fix it. And while we all try to be handy and fix stuff ourselves as much as possible, the system is ancient and doesn’t respond to either coaxing or threats. ",{"children":2607,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2608],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2609,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember must see the resolve in my expression. He sighs loudly and puts his warm, stained hands on my shoulders.",{"children":2611,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2612,2614,2615],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2613,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fine. Let’s go find Rook and see if we can find you some alternate escape routes. Something tells me you’re going to need them.”   ",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"children":2617,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2618],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1592,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":2620,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2621],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2622,"type":70,"version":4},"I blame my shitty sense of direction for what happens later that night too. ",{"children":2624,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2625],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2626,"type":70,"version":4},"One wrong turn and I wind up in an alleyway right on the edge of the Nexus District, a place known for its underground clubs and bars and an anything goes nightlife scene.",{"children":2628,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2629],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2630,"type":70,"version":4},"One wrong turn and I’m not where I’m supposed to be.",{"children":2632,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2633],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2634,"type":70,"version":4},"Which is meeting with one of my repeat clients. He messaged earlier and asked to meet here to discuss another job, probably another bit of minor stalking of his ex-boss. It’s simple enough. I hang around their work, follow them around a bit and report back that they don’t seem to be struggling too badly without him. ",{"children":2636,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2637],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2638,"type":70,"version":4},"Which is better than him stalking them himself, I guess. ",{"children":2640,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2641],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2642,"type":70,"version":4},"And it’s not like I don’t have morals when it comes to the jobs I take on. I don’t hurt people unnecessarily. If he was a red-flag ex-boyfriend, I wouldn’t be involving myself in his business. But it’s hard to have bold lines when you have a bunch of people to feed. New shoes to buy for the younger kids who can’t earn money for themselves yet. ",{"children":2644,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2645],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2646,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t be too picky and I didn’t want to lose this guy’s business, even though he asked to meet in a bar at close to midnight. ",{"children":2648,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2649],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2650,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m up at the ass crack of dawn, so I want it all to go smoothly.",{"children":2652,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2653],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2654,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad I don’t have a clue where I’m going.",{"children":2656,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2657],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2658,"type":70,"version":4},"I should be at a bar called Mystique. The client said that it didn’t have a super obvious sign, because they liked that kind of shit around here.",{"children":2660,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2661],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2662,"type":70,"version":4},"Fan-fucking-tastic.",{"children":2664,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2665],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2666,"type":70,"version":4},"But searching for a sign-less door led to me not paying attention to where I was walking, I got turned around somehow and then must have taken a wrong turn.",{"children":2668,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2669],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2670,"type":70,"version":4},"Leading me here. ",{"children":2672,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2673],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2674,"type":70,"version":4},"Down an alleyway that smells faintly of garbage and smoke. ",{"children":2676,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2677],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2678,"type":70,"version":4},"I turn around and bump into a growly wall of a man.",{"children":2680,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2681],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2682,"type":70,"version":4},"… two minutes later and my back’s against the brick wall sucking in deep breaths of a stranger’s spicy scent.",{"children":2684,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2685],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2686,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t exactly know how this happened…",{"children":2688,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2689],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2690,"type":70,"version":4},"One minute I was wandering around like an idiot. I turned on my heel and slammed into this guy’s broad chest, then he growled at me like an angry bear. My eyes flicked up to see two dark eyes and a head of curly dark hair. ",{"children":2692,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2693],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2694,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s gorgeous in an intensely good-looking way. Like it almost hurts my eyes to look at him ",{"children":2696,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2697],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2698,"type":70,"version":4},"“What are you doing hanging around out here, doll?”",{"children":2700,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2701],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2702,"type":70,"version":4},"I stare up at him, our chests brushing, breaths mingling. ",{"children":2704,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2705],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2706,"type":70,"version":4},"“Pretty sure I took a wrong turn somewhere,” I tell him. “Story of my life.” That’s delivered with a little grin and a wink, causing him to step impossibly closer. ",{"children":2708,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2709],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2710,"type":70,"version":4},"He runs his fingers up my arm, tracing the skin of my neck until it reaches my pounding pulse.  ",{"children":2712,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2713],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2714,"type":70,"version":4},"“So you’re saying you didn’t follow me out here?” he asks with a cocky eyebrow raise.",{"children":2716,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2717],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2718,"type":70,"version":4},"The question is so ridiculous, I let out a laugh that came out breathier than I’d have liked. ",{"children":2720,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2721],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2722,"type":70,"version":4},"“No, I didn’t. I’m sure you’d have liked that though, wouldn’t you?”",{"children":2724,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2725],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2726,"type":70,"version":4},"One eyebrow goes up as he studies me with a little smirk. “Well, you’re here now, aren’t you.”",{"children":2728,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2729],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2730,"type":70,"version":4},"My heart pounds in my chest. Everything about this situation should be setting off alarm bells. Meeting random, massive men in deserted alleyways doesn’t seem like it should be on anyone’s list of good life choices.",{"children":2732,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2733],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2734,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m weirdly not afraid though. ",{"children":2736,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2737,2739],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2738,"type":70,"version":4},"Not just because I know I can take care of myself. I have plenty of things up my sleeve I could pull out if needed. I have no idea if all sense left my brain when I left the warehouse tonight or something, but all I feel toward this man is ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2740,"type":70,"version":4},"heat.",{"children":2742,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2743],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2744,"type":70,"version":4},"A primal kind of attraction I haven’t felt before. ",{"children":2746,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2747],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2748,"type":70,"version":4},"He has this raw kind of energy pulsing off him and instead of it repulsing me, I find myself drawn to it. ",{"children":2750,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2751],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2752,"type":70,"version":4},"“How about I persuade you it was a right turn you took,” he growls, eyes darting between my eyes and my lips with obvious intent.",{"children":2754,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2755],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2756,"type":70,"version":4},"My answer is to surge upward and press my lips to his. ",{"children":2758,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2759],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2760,"type":70,"version":4},"And fuck, if I thought he was magnetic before, kissing him is like pressing my lips against a livewire. Energy floods through me as he lets out a low groan, pressing my back hard against the brick. ",{"children":2762,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2763],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2764,"type":70,"version":4},"I gasp and writhe against him, squeezing my hand against his hot, thick cock still zipped in his pants. ",{"children":2766,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2767],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2768,"type":70,"version":4},"I quickly rectify that, feeling his hot length against my palm as I pump up and down and he lets out a delicious groan. ",{"children":2770,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2771],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2772,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fuuuck. Keep doing that and I’ll come in my pants.”",{"children":2774,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2775],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2776,"type":70,"version":4},"He doesn’t back up though, instead taking my lips again in another devouring kiss. I continue to pump my hand, squeezing around the hard length of him as he pushes his hand down my pants, massaging my clit with sure strokes. ",{"children":2778,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2779],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2780,"type":70,"version":4},"“So damn wet. Fuck.”",{"children":2782,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2783],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2784,"type":70,"version":4},"We continue to frantically get each other off, like two teenagers that have just discovered the fun you can have with your pants down. It’s hot and senseless and a couple of minutes later, he’s letting out a deep groan as he comes all over my hand. I clench around his fingers as an orgasm overtakes me almost simultaneously. ",{"children":2786,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2787],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2788,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re both panting, sticky messes when we finally break apart. ",{"children":2790,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2791],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2792,"type":70,"version":4},"Then, like a spell is broken, he pulls away. The bear of a man then extracts his fingers and sucks my juices from them with another guttural groan. ",{"children":2794,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2795],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2796,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fuck, I feel like a fucking teenager, jizzing all over myself.” He zips his pants up with a scowl. “Guess that’s the end of my night then,” he mutters.",{"children":2798,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2799],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2800,"type":70,"version":4},"I shoot him an uncertain smile as I yank up my own pants. ",{"children":2802,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2803],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2804,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yeah, me too.” His release is still all over my hand and is cooling fast. My own panties are wet and I can’t wait to get out of them. ",{"children":2806,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2807],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2808,"type":70,"version":4},"This is the awkward part. The post hook-up, post orgasm clean up and disengagement. ",{"children":2810,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2811],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2812,"type":70,"version":4},"He doesn’t offer to walk me home, or to get me back safely. ",{"children":2814,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2815],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2816,"type":70,"version":4},"Not that I expect him to. It’s not like a quick mutual handjob is the sign of superior manners on either of our parts. ",{"children":2818,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2819],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2820,"type":70,"version":4},"“Well, good meeting you, doll.”",{"children":2822,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2823],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2824,"type":70,"version":4},"With that he spins on his heel and heads through the back door of the club, leaving me alone in the alleyway.",{"children":2826,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2827],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2828,"type":70,"version":4},"Damn sense of direction leading me astray. ",{"id":77,"alt":2830,"updatedAt":2831,"createdAt":2831,"url":2832,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":2833,"mimeType":22,"filesize":2834,"width":2835,"height":2836,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Outlaw Witch by Essie Suter. 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Book 1 of a reverse harem urban fantasy trilogy.",{"id":77,"alt":2830,"updatedAt":2831,"createdAt":2831,"url":2832,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":2833,"mimeType":22,"filesize":2834,"width":2835,"height":2836,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-28T16:06:53.320Z","2026-08-10T09:41:50.763Z",[2860],{"format":2842,"label":2861},"EPUB","In a city of magic users, I’m a freak—a sponge with the ability to absorb the powers of others. Even worse, I’m an illegal outlaw who’s spent the past decade on society's fringes…",{"id":16,"title":2864,"slug":2865,"series":2866,"seriesLabel":1689,"description":2867,"previewChapters":2927,"cover":3582,"amazonLink":3589,"directSaleEnabled":5,"pricePence":3590,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":3591,"otherLinks":3594,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":49,"releaseDate":3601,"order":120,"seo":3602,"updatedAt":3606,"createdAt":3607,"ebookFormats":3608,"excerpt":2873},"Livewire Witch","Livewire-witch",{"id":77,"name":2178,"slug":2179,"tagline":2180,"order":77,"updatedAt":2181,"createdAt":2181},{"root":2868},{"children":2869,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[2870,2874,2878,2882,2886,2890,2894,2898,2902,2906,2909],{"children":2871,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2872],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2873,"type":70,"version":4},"Three mage princes of the city’s underworld, a vampire, and me—the witch with outlawed magic.",{"children":2875,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2876],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2877,"type":70,"version":4},"Fabian’s curse is gone, but so are all of his memories of me. We’re on the run from the head of the city’s underworld. The person who cursed Fabian’s blood is still out there, and I don’t know who to trust.",{"children":2879,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2880],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2881,"type":70,"version":4},"Then the bodies start to appear. ",{"children":2883,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2884],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2885,"type":70,"version":4},"Despite the odds stacked against us, my bond with two of my mages deepens. Epic snuggler Roscoe seems to always brighten my day while I seem to have gotten on an even keel with stormy and intense Zeph. ",{"children":2887,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2888],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2889,"type":70,"version":4},"Then there’s Fabian, who unconsciously stabs my heart every time he turns around and forgets me. ",{"children":2891,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2892],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2893,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re forced to ask for outside help in the form of Dante, the vampire who's always there, a sexy lighthouse in the chaos. ",{"children":2895,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2896],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2897,"type":70,"version":4},"As secrets unravel, and stakes rise, our unusual alliance becomes our only lifeline. There’s magic, buried skeletons, and plenty of mystery.",{"children":2899,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2900],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2901,"type":70,"version":4},"My name is Silver and welcome to the next chapter; the real adventure is just beginning.",{"children":2903,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2904],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2905,"type":70,"version":4},"Livewire Witch is part two of three of a paranormal romance reverse harem series. It’s recommended you start at book one to get maximum enjoyment from the story. The story is fast-paced, but the romance is a slow burn. ",{"children":2907,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[2908],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":100,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":2910,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[2911,2915,2919,2923],{"children":2912,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[2913],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2914,"type":70,"version":4},"Hurt\u002Fcomfort",{"children":2916,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[2917],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2918,"type":70,"version":4},"Forced proximity",{"children":2920,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[2921],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2922,"type":70,"version":4},"Secret identity",{"children":2924,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[2925],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2926,"type":70,"version":4},"A snarky and ridiculous found family",[2928],{"id":2929,"chapterNumber":4,"title":2930,"body":2931},"6a7cd0ec939b92475e0ee526","Silver",{"root":2932},{"children":2933,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[2934,2939,2943,2947,2951,2955,2959,2963,2967,2971,2975,2979,2983,2987,2991,2995,2999,3003,3007,3011,3015,3019,3023,3027,3031,3035,3039,3047,3051,3055,3059,3063,3067,3071,3075,3079,3083,3087,3091,3095,3099,3103,3107,3111,3115,3119,3123,3127,3131,3135,3139,3143,3147,3151,3155,3158,3162,3166,3170,3177,3181,3187,3191,3195,3199,3203,3207,3211,3215,3219,3224,3228,3232,3236,3243,3254,3258,3262,3266,3270,3274,3283,3287,3291,3295,3306,3310,3314,3318,3325,3342,3348,3352,3356,3361,3365,3373,3377,3382,3386,3391,3399,3403,3407,3411,3415,3419,3423,3427,3431,3435,3439,3443,3447,3451,3455,3459,3463,3467,3471,3475,3479,3483,3487,3491,3495,3499,3503,3506,3510,3514,3518,3522,3526,3530,3534,3538,3542,3546,3550,3554,3558,3562,3566,3570,3574,3578],{"children":2935,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2936,2937],{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2938,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s dark underground. ",{"children":2940,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2941],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2942,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s probably not surprising, but it makes me think that whichever bright spark named the city beneath Arcanum ‘The Buried Citadel’ had never actually stepped foot down here.",{"children":2944,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2945],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2946,"type":70,"version":4},"It sounds lofty, right? Like a mysterious world hidden below the pavings of Arcanum city. ",{"children":2948,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2949],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2950,"type":70,"version":4},"In reality, it’s not even a shanty town. Instead, it’s a mix of old sewerage systems, defunct subways, catacombs, and tunnels that lead right the way through the city. ",{"children":2952,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2953],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2954,"type":70,"version":4},"The ceiling is low in most places, barely a couple of feet above our heads, and the air feels dense and smells thick with the scent of old rock and earth. It’s claustrophobic as hell. ",{"children":2956,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2957],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2958,"type":70,"version":4},"Dark, too. ",{"children":2960,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2961],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2962,"type":70,"version":4},"While some sections of the tunnels have ancient electric lighting and spell-enchanted candles that are never fully extinguished. There are miles of tunnels down here that have no light at all. ",{"children":2964,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2965],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2966,"type":70,"version":4},"Clean water is a struggle to get hold of which means I haven’t bathed in days and all three of us are covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime I don’t want to look too hard at.",{"children":2968,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2969],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2970,"type":70,"version":4},"Plus, there are bones down here.",{"children":2972,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2973],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2974,"type":70,"version":4},"So many bones.",{"children":2976,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2977],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2978,"type":70,"version":4},"That last one is a major issue. Since, along with the stench of this place—the mixture of years old sweat and decay and mold—my necromancy magic has been having a field day. ",{"children":2980,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2981],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2982,"type":70,"version":4},"The bones whisper to me. All day long.",{"children":2984,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2985],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2986,"type":70,"version":4},"And the stuff they come out with is weirdly banal. ",{"children":2988,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2989],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2990,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dance with me, baby.”",{"children":2992,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2993],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2994,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s dark in here. Put on the light so I can kiss you.”",{"children":2996,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[2997],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2998,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m regretting wearing these shoes.”",{"children":3000,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3001],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3002,"type":70,"version":4},"“Did you see what Tim was wearing? It’s like he got dressed in the dark.”",{"children":3004,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3005],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3006,"type":70,"version":4},"Honestly, you’d think they’d be plotting revenge, or that the bones would be angrier. Instead, it’s like being the fly on the wall at a dive bar, ",{"children":3008,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3009],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3010,"type":70,"version":4},"The first time I heard them was right after we came down here after escaping Felix Hawkshead, and I was pretty sure I was losing my mind. I put it down to exhaustion, magical energy drain, or an adrenaline slump. Fabian’s curse had finally broken, which was a big enough deal on its own. Then, add to that, Felix tried to kill Fabian’s little brother, and I accidentally revealed a little too much of my forbidden magic.",{"children":3012,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3013],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3014,"type":70,"version":4},"It’d been a day. So, a breakdown wasn’t all too out of the question. ",{"children":3016,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3017],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3018,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s not to mention the stress of having dragged my Fabian and Seb down here with me. That’s Seb, the incurably sick teenager who was still reeling from being a hair’s breadth from death. And Fabian, the mage I’ve been steadily growing closer to over the past few months, who elected to forget me as part of the sacrifice he made to rid him of his blood curse.",{"children":3020,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3021],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3022,"type":70,"version":4},"So yeah. I was stressed to the max. ",{"children":3024,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3025],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3026,"type":70,"version":4},"But even after my heart rate returned to something like normal, I could still hear them. The whispering bones. ",{"children":3028,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3029],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3030,"type":70,"version":4},"As if this place wasn’t creepy enough. ",{"children":3032,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3033],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3034,"type":70,"version":4},"There are skulls all over the place too. They’re inescapable. Someone has been using them as candle holders, they’re embedded into the walls, and… they’re also used as a kind of decoration, I guess? There are also piles of them just dumped all over the place for seemingly no reason.",{"children":3036,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3037],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3038,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s creepy as fuck. ",{"children":3040,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3041,3043,3045],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3042,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve never spent too much time exploring my necromancy magic. I’ve mostly ignored it and hoped it would go away. I’m not all that used to hanging around cemeteries, or morgues, or anywhere dead people hang out either. But down here, the bones are ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3044,"type":70,"version":4},"everywhere",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3046,"type":70,"version":4},". Which means the whispers have been constant. ",{"children":3048,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3049],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3050,"type":70,"version":4},"I wouldn’t have thought they’d be so damn chatty. Not that they seem to want a response. It’s more like an echo of words. Memories, maybe. ",{"children":3052,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3053],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3054,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dance with me.”",{"children":3056,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3057],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3058,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s whispered in my ear often enough, waking me up whenever I jerk out of sleep at odd hours. ",{"children":3060,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3061],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3062,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve dealt with ghosts before, back in Arcanum in my everyday life. And at least they were semi-entertaining. They have a smidge of humanity left, so you can have a chat. But the bones seem to be a whole other matter.",{"children":3064,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3065],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3066,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s now been three days since we first came down here and they haven’t let up. And I’ve seen enough of this place to wish we’d never come down here. We’ve been steadily making our way through the tunnels, trying to get to the boundary of the city so we can find a way out of Arcanum. It’s slow-going, especially after our first encounter with the sorts of people that live down here.",{"children":3068,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3069],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3070,"type":70,"version":4},"We stumbled across one of the abandoned subway stations on our first day here, and it’s not a mistake I’m planning on making again. The place was lit up and warmer too. ",{"children":3072,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3073],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3074,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad the cause of that warmth was thanks to the unknown meat being cooked on a spit on top of burning barrels. It only took a minute for us to spot them before Seb tugged me on the elbow.",{"children":3076,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3077],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3078,"type":70,"version":4},"“That doesn’t look like rat meat.”",{"children":3080,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3081],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3082,"type":70,"version":4},"No, it didn’t. It was far too big, too… torso shaped. As soon as they spotted us, the person behind the nearest barrel hissed in my direction, brandishing a long, sharp fork. They looked semi-feral. Desperate people with nowhere else to go.",{"children":3084,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3085],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3086,"type":70,"version":4},"I quickly summoned my glamor to make me unnoticeable, grabbed Seb’s hand in one of mine and Fabian’s in the other and we got the hell out of there. ",{"children":3088,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3089],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3090,"type":70,"version":4},"Thankfully, no one followed us. I guess keeping guard over the food was more important than trying to scare us off. ",{"children":3092,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3093],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3094,"type":70,"version":4},"Since then, we’ve avoided any other run-ins. Mostly with the help of my glamor magic, ensuring anyone goes straight past us without noticing the two mages and a witch huddling in the shadows. ",{"children":3096,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3097],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3098,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hey, Silver?” Seb says, drawing my attention out of my head to where he’s walking beside me. “How much further do you think we’ll be going today?”",{"children":3100,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3101],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3102,"type":70,"version":4},"I glance over at him, noting the way he’s limping slightly. Damn, the last lot of vampire blood he had to help with his sickness is showing signs of wearing off already. The conditions down here aren’t exactly healthy for anyone, but Seb’s not used to walking much and the air we’re all breathing is stale. ",{"children":3104,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3105],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3106,"type":70,"version":4},"I mentally track through the directions Rook gave me earlier today. We should be just a couple of minutes’ walk away from another section of catacombs. While they’re not good for my sanity, thanks to the millions of noisy bones hanging around, they tend to be deserted, since no one else seems to enjoy sleeping so close to the ancient burial grounds. ",{"children":3108,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3109],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3110,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod. “Just a couple more minutes,” I tell him. ",{"children":3112,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3113],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3114,"type":70,"version":4},"The sound of hushed whispering draws me closer, telling me we’re going in the right direction. These bones are at least a little quieter than the ones we’ve come across over the past few days. Instead of intelligible words, the sounds they’re making are more of a murmuring, like how I’d imagine it sounds to be in a forest, surrounded by trees. I let out a little sigh of relief. Seems like I might actually get some sleep tonight. ",{"children":3116,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3117],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3118,"type":70,"version":4},"The tunnel we’re walking along opens up into a domed, dimly lit cavern. Its walls are bare earth and stone, etched with ancient sigils that I can feel pulsating with latent magic. The carvings seemed to respond to the rhythm of my heartbeat. ",{"children":3120,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3121],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3122,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’re staying here?” Seb asks quietly. ",{"children":3124,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3125],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3126,"type":70,"version":4},"“For now. We’ll sleep here tonight as well.”",{"children":3128,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3129],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3130,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s a recessed alcove which Seb plops down into. It’s hard rock, just like everything else down here. There are zero comforts, no softness to be found anywhere. ",{"children":3132,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3133],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3134,"type":70,"version":4},"“Come on, man. We’re staying here for a bit. Sit down,” Seb says to his older brother, who is roaming around the space, like he’s looking for hidden dangers. ",{"children":3136,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3137],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3138,"type":70,"version":4},"“Are you both all right here if I go to find us something to eat?” I ask. ",{"children":3140,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3141],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3142,"type":70,"version":4},"“Sure. Are you gonna be okay going by yourself?” he asks. ",{"children":3144,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3145],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3146,"type":70,"version":4},"I try to smile at Seb, but it’s half-hearted. We’ve been walking all day and my feet are burning in my boots. While I’d love nothing more than to sit down and rest, it’s clear Seb can’t carry on walking. And since Fabian forgets about my very existence as soon as he turns his head, I don’t trust him to bring me any food back. ",{"children":3148,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3149],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3150,"type":70,"version":4},"Food has only recently started to become an issue. By dumb luck on the first day down here, we came across a hidden cache of tins which turned out to be unspoiled and they’ve kept us going until now. ",{"children":3152,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3153],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3154,"type":70,"version":4},"Right now, I’m exhausted, and my head is weirdly foggy. I haven’t eaten or drunk enough in days and it might be hours before I can find us something to eat. Still, I plow on, turning back the way I came and continuing on through the tunnels alone.",{"children":3156,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3157],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1592,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":3159,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3160],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3161,"type":70,"version":4},"Maybe making a decision while panicked and terrified wasn’t the best idea. All I wanted was to get Seb to somewhere safe, in case Felix came after us once he regained consciousness. ",{"children":3163,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3164],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3165,"type":70,"version":4},"My brain went straight to ‘we need to get out of Arcanum’ and since getting out of this city when you’re unnamed and undocumented like me is almost impossible, we needed someplace safe to lie low for a few days.",{"children":3167,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3168],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3169,"type":70,"version":4},"‘Safe’ is no longer the word I’d use to describe what it’s like down here. I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, but the reality of this place is so much worse than I thought.",{"children":3171,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3172,3173,3175],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3174,"type":70,"version":4},"Hey, Ember. Any luck talking to Roscoe or Zeph yet?” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3176,"type":70,"version":4},"I summon a little of my magic and send the words telepathically as I head back through the tunnels, in search of something to eat and drink. ",{"children":3178,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3179],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3180,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s one type of magic I’m thankful for, at least. My cell phone has zero signal down here and we’d be totally cut off if I wasn’t able to get in touch with Ember. ",{"children":3182,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3183,3185],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3184,"type":70,"version":4},"He responds pretty quickly, somehow managing to drawl even when responding directly into my brain. ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3186,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not yet. Seems like they got back to business a few days ago, but it’s like trying to get a meeting with damn royalty. I had some seriously suspicious side-eye when I said I wanted a word.”",{"children":3188,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3189],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3190,"type":70,"version":4},"I groan and rub my eyes. Typical. ",{"children":3192,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3193],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3194,"type":70,"version":4},"“You all right, Silver?”",{"children":3196,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3197],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3198,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m okay.” ",{"children":3200,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3201],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3202,"type":70,"version":4},"Apart from the pounding headache that’s been plaguing me. It’s a mixture of dehydration, poor ventilation, not enough food, and of course, the damn whispering bones preventing me from sleeping. ",{"children":3204,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3205],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3206,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m exhausted. Mentally frayed.",{"children":3208,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3209],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3210,"type":70,"version":4},"And emotionally, I’m feeling kind of… fragile right now.",{"children":3212,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3213],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3214,"type":70,"version":4},"Mostly thanks to having to spend so much time around Fabian. Every time I look at him and he gives me that adorably confused frown, like maybe I’m someone he’s bumped into at the local store but never directly spoken to. Like there’s a sense of familiarity there, but it’s so vague he can’t place me and subsequently dismisses me.",{"children":3216,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3217],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3218,"type":70,"version":4},"Yeah, that sucks.",{"children":3220,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3221,3222],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3223,"type":70,"version":4},"Well… that’s a lot.”",{"children":3225,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3226],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3227,"type":70,"version":4},"Dammit, I must be more frazzled than I thought. I didn’t mean to broadcast any of those thoughts to Ember. ",{"children":3229,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3230],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3231,"type":70,"version":4},"He pauses for the longest time and I miss the distraction of his voice as I skirt past yet another entire wall of bones. Not sure what it is or why it’s here. Maybe it’s artwork. Maybe someone’s been trying to summon a demon god. Whoever designed this forsaken place had clearly spent too much time down here without access to clean air.",{"children":3233,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3234],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3235,"type":70,"version":4},"I then have to pass down a section of the labyrinthine tunnels that has no lighting at all.  Summoning a little ball of fire so that I don’t trip over my own feet, I walk fast, not wanting to linger any longer than necessary.",{"children":3237,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3238,3239,3241],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3240,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ll try again to talk to your mages,” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3242,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember says.",{"children":3244,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3245,3246,3248,3250,3252],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3247,"type":70,"version":4},"They’re not ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3249,"type":70,"version":4},"my",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3251,"type":70,"version":4}," anything,” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3253,"type":70,"version":4},"I grumble back. ",{"children":3255,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3256],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3257,"type":70,"version":4},"My stomach swoops with anxiety. I dread to think what they must think of me right now. They won’t even know that Fabian’s okay, or that his curse is gone. ",{"children":3259,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3260],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3261,"type":70,"version":4},"Although whether he’s ‘okay’ is kinda complicated right now. His body seems a little messed up, and he’s got the memory of a goldfish—at least with his memories of me—which makes finding out about his well being a tricky thing.",{"children":3263,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3264],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3265,"type":70,"version":4},"He doesn’t know me anymore.",{"children":3267,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3268],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3269,"type":70,"version":4},"Doesn’t trust me.",{"children":3271,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3272],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3273,"type":70,"version":4},"And having the same conversation repeatedly is like the slowest form of torture. Not to mention how heartsick it makes me. ",{"children":3275,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3276,3277,3279,3281],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3278,"type":70,"version":4},"And if that doesn’t work,” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3280,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember adds. “",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3282,"type":70,"version":4},"I can see if I can get close enough to that fucker, Felix, to find out what he’s thinking about you and the kid.”",{"children":3284,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3285],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3286,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ember—”",{"children":3288,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3289],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3290,"type":70,"version":4},"“I know I can’t remove you from his head like the mini mage-ling can, but that doesn’t mean I can’t mess him up a bit. Scramble a few wires until he’s not sure what he knows. Hell, I could make it so he barely knows his own name. Bombard his brain with outside voices and thoughts. See what happens.”",{"children":3292,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3293],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3294,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember’s voice is lined with steel and I’m so shocked by what he’s saying, I can’t even think for a moment. ",{"children":3296,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3297,3299,3300,3302,3304],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3298,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s so protective of himself and his magic. It took ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":408,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3301,"type":70,"version":4}," before any of us learned what he can do. He ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3303,"type":70,"version":4},"hates",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3305,"type":70,"version":4}," his powers like no one else and barely uses his telepathy other than to talk to me, and that’s only when the need is dire.",{"children":3307,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3308],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3309,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad that tends to be a weekly occurrence for me. ",{"children":3311,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3312],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3313,"type":70,"version":4},"But I’ve never, in all the years that I’ve known him, heard him threaten to use his magic as a weapon. Using telepathy is illegal, after all. It’s one of the banned forms of magic, just like my necromancy. ",{"children":3315,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3316],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3317,"type":70,"version":4},"It scares the shit out of the Archarcans, the elite rulers of our city.",{"children":3319,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3320,3321,3323],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3322,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember—”",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3324,"type":70,"version":4}," I try again to get some words out, but he’s not listening.",{"children":3326,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3327,3328,3330,3332,3334,3336,3338,3340],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3329,"type":70,"version":4},"You shouldn’t have to run away. You shouldn’t be down in that place because of that ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3331,"type":70,"version":4},"mage",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3333,"type":70,"version":4},".” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3335,"type":70,"version":4},"He spits the last word like it's tainted with poison. “",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3337,"type":70,"version":4},"You were brave, Silver. You’re always brave. You do what needs to be done, and that’s why you agreed to help Fabian. I know that ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3339,"type":70,"version":4},"slimy fucker",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3341,"type":70,"version":4}," threatened you, but don’t pretend like you wouldn’t have helped Fabian and the others, anyway. Then you saved Seb’s life, and you didn’t hide who you are or what you can do.”",{"children":3343,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3344,3346],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3345,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake my head, rubbing my tired eyes. ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3347,"type":70,"version":4},"“It wasn’t like I planned any of it, Ember. It all just happened.”",{"children":3349,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3350],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3351,"type":70,"version":4},"“I know, but I also know that you’d do the same thing all over again.”",{"children":3353,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3354],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3355,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s got me there. I can’t think of the sequence of events ending up any differently. ",{"children":3357,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3358,3359],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3360,"type":70,"version":4},"Be careful down there and just hold on a little longer. We’ll get you home soon enough.”",{"children":3362,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3363],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3364,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thanks, bud. I’m just on the look-out for somewhere to get some food. Rook doesn’t have any ideas, does he?”",{"children":3366,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3367,3369,3371],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3368,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook has always had an innate sense for routes and exits. I don’t know exactly how it works, seeing as he doesn’t seem to have any actual ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3370,"type":70,"version":4},"magic",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3372,"type":70,"version":4}," that I know of. I also don’t know if his little talent might stretch to knowing where to get sustenance. Maybe it’s my over-tired brain, but it makes sense to me that he might, if he has some kind of innate powers of survival.",{"children":3374,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3375],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3376,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember goes quiet for a few minutes and I continue to trudge along. My footsteps are the only sound and I’m trying to keep my tread as light as I can, but it’s not easy when my legs are damn tired. ",{"children":3378,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3379,3380],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3381,"type":70,"version":4},"He says if you walk for another five minutes, keeping to the right when you hit the fork in the tunnels, there should be someone close by that sells food so long as you make a donation.”",{"children":3383,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3384],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3385,"type":70,"version":4},"My stomach grumbles and churns simultaneously. I’m so hungry, my insides are starting to eat themselves. But his mention of ‘donations’ has my guard going up.",{"children":3387,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3388,3389],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2434,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3390,"type":70,"version":4},"Donations?”",{"children":3392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3393,3395,3397],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3394,"type":70,"version":4},"“Nothing too bad,” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3396,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember replies. “",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3398,"type":70,"version":4},"Just a chunk of your hair, apparently.”",{"children":3400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3402,"type":70,"version":4},"I sigh internally. This fucking place. ",{"children":3404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3406,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m too tired to even question how Rook has any of this knowledge. It’s not like he’d tell me if I asked, so I keep my thoughts to myself. ",{"children":3408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3410,"type":70,"version":4},"Plodding further through the tunnel, I mentally repeat Rook’s instructions until I can smell meat cooking up ahead, which I’m hoping is a good sign.",{"children":3412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3414,"type":70,"version":4},"Please don’t let it be more torsos. ",{"children":3416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3418,"type":70,"version":4},"I reach the fork. Turn right. Trudge a little further along until I reach a little cart that’s set up.  ",{"children":3420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3422,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod at the slightly scary lady that seems to be cooking her version of ‘street food’. The air is filled with a haze of smoke and the scent of cooking meat and vegetables—who knows how she got hold of both in this hellhole. ",{"children":3424,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3425],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3426,"type":70,"version":4},"She looks almost human at first glance. Brown hair and wizened pale skin that clearly hasn’t seen sunlight in a long time. Then her eyes flick up to mine and I see the slitted pupils, which are almost sibilant. ",{"children":3428,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3429],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3430,"type":70,"version":4},"Demon. ",{"children":3432,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3433],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3434,"type":70,"version":4},"She doesn’t talk and barely makes eye contact. ",{"children":3436,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3437],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3438,"type":70,"version":4},"“Uh, hello,” I say to her, holding up my fingers to indicate how many pieces of mystery meat I want, like an idiotic tourist. “Three, please.” ",{"children":3440,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3441],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3442,"type":70,"version":4},"She nods jerkily and gestures to the little clay golem beside her. 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Fabian’s the first to notice me and his whole body goes on the alert as he springs up and gets between me and his little brother. ",{"children":3511,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3512],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3513,"type":70,"version":4},"My heart sinks, even though it’s not the first time this has happened. Nowhere close.",{"children":3515,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3516],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3517,"type":70,"version":4},"“What do you want?” he rasps.",{"children":3519,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3520],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3521,"type":70,"version":4},"“Stand down, big guy,” I tell him as he towers over me, all broad-shouldered and stupidly tall.",{"children":3523,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3524],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3525,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t touch him, even though my fingers itch with the need to. ",{"children":3527,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3528],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3529,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fabian, it’s fine,” Seb says softly, shooting me a guilty half-smile. “This is Silver. 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Some shields are worth lowering.",{"children":3905,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[3906],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":935,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":3908,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[3909,3913,3917,3921,3924,3928,3933],{"children":3910,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[3911],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3912,"type":70,"version":4},"He falls first",{"children":3914,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[3915],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3916,"type":70,"version":4},"Bodyguard romance",{"children":3918,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[3919],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3920,"type":70,"version":4},"Caretaking",{"children":3922,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[3923],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2918,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":3925,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[3926],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3927,"type":70,"version":4},"Bed sharing (not quite there’s only one bed, but near enough!)",{"children":3929,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":3932},[3930],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3931,"type":70,"version":4},"Found family of misfits",6,{"children":3934,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":1685},[3935],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3936,"type":70,"version":4},"No other woman drama, no cheating, low angst",[3938],{"id":3939,"chapterNumber":20,"title":3940,"body":3941},"6a7a24be672efd060b4105e6","Prologue | Dylan",{"root":3942},{"children":3943,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[3944,3948,3952,3956,3960,3964,3968,3972,3976,3980,3984,3988,3992,3996,4000,4004,4008,4012,4016,4020,4024,4028,4032,4036,4040,4044,4048,4052,4056,4060,4064,4068,4072,4076,4080,4084,4088,4092,4096,4100,4104,4108,4112,4116,4120,4124,4128,4132,4136,4140,4144,4148,4152,4156,4159,4163,4167,4171,4175,4179,4183,4187,4191,4194,4198,4202,4206,4210,4214,4221,4225,4229,4233,4237,4241,4249,4253,4261,4265,4269,4273,4277,4281,4285,4289,4293,4297,4301,4305,4309,4313,4317,4321,4325,4329,4333,4337,4341,4345,4349,4353,4357,4361,4365,4369,4373,4377,4381,4385,4389,4397,4401,4405,4409,4413,4417,4421,4425,4429,4433],{"children":3945,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3946],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3947,"type":70,"version":4},"Things are not going to plan. ",{"children":3949,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3950],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3951,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re inside a townhouse that was supposedly abandoned about a decade ago, here to check the place over and inspect for any unwelcome visitors now the house has gone to auction. The job was supposed to be an easy one, in and out. ",{"children":3953,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3954],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3955,"type":70,"version":4},"Instead, it’s like a hoarder’s paradise filled with booby traps. ",{"children":3957,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3958],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3959,"type":70,"version":4},"The place is filled to the brim with belongings. There’s furniture and newspapers and years of rubbish all piled on top of each other. There are also hexes on half of the doors, summoning hordes of flesh-eating bugs every time you try to open them. ",{"children":3961,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3962],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3963,"type":70,"version":4},"And skeletons. There are so many skeletons covering the walls, enough to give me the willies. I thought at first glance that they were hunting trophies, but one seems to have skin and hair still clinging to it. Another is still wearing a pair of spectacles.",{"children":3965,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3966],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3967,"type":70,"version":4},"The air is thick with the scent of mildew and damp stone, along with something sharper and more acrid, making my nose twitch as we head deeper into the house. ",{"children":3969,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3970],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3971,"type":70,"version":4},"Replacing my axe in its sheath, I glance around to meet our squad leader’s eyes. “Where next?”",{"children":3973,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3974],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3975,"type":70,"version":4},"Midas pauses, assessing the situation with his amber eyes and scenting the air. He’s part wolf shifter, with incredible tracking abilities, but even he’s struggling in this house of horror. ",{"children":3977,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3978],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3979,"type":70,"version":4},"He shakes his head. “I don’t like this. The place smells all wrong.”",{"children":3981,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3982],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3983,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s barely got the words out when there’s a garbled yelp from the doorway to my left and I see my squadmate and fiancé, Pan, hanging from a giant spiderweb. True to form, he’s entirely unbothered by his predicament and snorts a laugh, wiggling his tatted arms uselessly. “You always say that, man. Maybe your nose is messed up.”",{"children":3985,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3986],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3987,"type":70,"version":4},"I stride over to him, hacking at the web with my dagger, but nothing happens. My blade is sharp enough to cut through leather like it’s butter, but it bounces straight off.",{"children":3989,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3990],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3991,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ooh, that’s not good.”",{"children":3993,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3994],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3995,"type":70,"version":4},"As always, I’m here as the muscle. I might not look like it, but that’s my role: the mindless goon.",{"children":3997,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[3998],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3999,"type":70,"version":4},"Pan just shrugs and shoots me a lazy smile, his dark hair covering one eye. “I’m sure I’ll wriggle free eventually. What’s the worst that’s gonna happen? The spider turns up and tries to nibble me to death?”",{"children":4001,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4002],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4003,"type":70,"version":4},"Pan’s our resident poison expert, immune to pretty much all toxins. He’s also a bit of a hothead and an act first, think later, kind of guy. It’s something we have in common. Hence why he’s currently held up inside a giant spider web. It’s also the reason for the sparkly ring currently on a chain around my neck that’s resting beside the pendant that’s keeping my other half in check.   ",{"children":4005,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4006],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4007,"type":70,"version":4},"“You said that orc wedding last week smelled wrong too,” Pan continues, ignoring the fact he’s currently mostly upside down so he can continue to razz our leader. ",{"children":4009,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4010],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4011,"type":70,"version":4},"“I did, and look how that one turned out,” Midas growls. ",{"children":4013,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4014],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4015,"type":70,"version":4},"The wedding turned into a brawl after someone spiked the wedding cake. It turned out the bride had a mean right hook on her and the father of the groom had a penchant for setting stuff on fire. We were the closest squad in the vicinity, so muggins here got the lucky job of hauling the bride out of there before the place burned to cinders.",{"children":4017,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4018],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4019,"type":70,"version":4},"Not all that unusual. Our work has always been varied, and it’s often dangerous. ",{"children":4021,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4022],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4023,"type":70,"version":4},"Today’s job seems to be no exception. ",{"children":4025,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4026],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4027,"type":70,"version":4},"“So far we’ve seen blood-sucking bugs, massive spiders, and that stupid trapdoor that Titan nearly broke his neck when he fell through it. What other treats do you think they can have in store today?”",{"children":4029,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4030],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4031,"type":70,"version":4},"Midas turns to me, clapping his hand on my shoulder. “Something definitely isn’t right here. Look, Lady, whatever happens, you need to complete the full inspection and then we get out of here.”",{"children":4033,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4034],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4035,"type":70,"version":4},"Lady. That’s me.",{"children":4037,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4038],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4039,"type":70,"version":4},"Lady Rage. ",{"children":4041,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4042],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4043,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a stupid code name, possibly the stupidest of all of them. But I didn’t exactly have much choice about it. My first day on the job, after I’d let my other half come out to play, Titan looked me over and gifted me the moniker. ",{"children":4045,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4046],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4047,"type":70,"version":4},"That was six years ago, and despite the dumb name and the sometimes questionable decision-making skills shown by us all, I still love these guys. I love this job too, even though it tries to kill me on a regular basis. ",{"children":4049,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4050],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4051,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’re one man down already, and Titan’s not doing so well on that ankle of his. I reckon we split up and we’ll get this done quicker. I’ll take the first floor, you take the basement.”",{"children":4053,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4054],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4055,"type":70,"version":4},"“And Lennox?” I ask, my tone dry as I stifle a sigh. ",{"children":4057,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4058],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4059,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox with the moon eyes, who isn’t actually an official member of our squad. He shows up on some of our jobs and Midas lets him tag along for some unknown reason.",{"children":4061,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4062],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4063,"type":70,"version":4},"Maybe he owes him money or something. Or maybe everyone else is under a spell that prevents them from seeing just how useless he is. I’m fairly sure we’re breaching the rules of our contract by having him on a job with us, and I’d love to understand why. It’s certainly not because Lennox brings anything useful to the table.  ",{"children":4065,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4066],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4067,"type":70,"version":4},"A roar sounds from the next room, just beyond a wall of bones, and everything inside me freezes.",{"children":4069,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4070],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4071,"type":70,"version":4},"Ohh no, that is not good. ",{"children":4073,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4074],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4075,"type":70,"version":4},"LET ME OUT.",{"children":4077,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4078],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4079,"type":70,"version":4},"The voice in my head has a different reaction to the bestial roar. While the rational part of me wants to turn tail and get the hell out of here, my other half is donning her metaphorical boxing gloves and getting ready to square up to whatever is lying in wait. ",{"children":4081,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4082],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4083,"type":70,"version":4},"“Stay back,” I hiss at Midas. “Protect Pan, since he’s a numbnuts who decided to go poking around in a giant web.”",{"children":4085,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4086],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4087,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox and Titan then stumble through an open doorway toward us and my eyes focus on the way Lennox is dragging Titan’s six-foot-six form forward, and the glazed look in his eyes. Titan’s our diplomacy expert, the one who can talk anyone out of anything. But something tells me his skills won’t be much good right now. ",{"children":4089,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4090],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4091,"type":70,"version":4},"“What the hell happened to him? He looks drunk out of his mind.”",{"children":4093,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4094],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4095,"type":70,"version":4},"“Babba booey. Slipped on a weird puddle and it was soo dusty. Got up my nose.” Titan taps his face with his fist, blinking hard and then grinning. ",{"children":4097,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4098],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4099,"type":70,"version":4},"Well, aren’t we just the dream team? Titan’s injured and looks drugged out of his mind. Pan’s caught in a spiderweb. And Lennox is a useless civilian on a good day. ",{"children":4101,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4102],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4103,"type":70,"version":4},"I guess it’s just up to me and Midas to get this done so we can get out of here. ",{"children":4105,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4106],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4107,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s another roar from the next room and my stomach sinks as I glance at Midas, who nods. “I’ll protect them. Scout it out and confirm that we can’t go any further and then we’ll retreat.”",{"children":4109,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4110],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4111,"type":70,"version":4},"I shove down my rising apprehension. This is my job, after all. I’m the one that charges forward and clears the room so the others can do their jobs. ",{"children":4113,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4114],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4115,"type":70,"version":4},"Nodding to Midas, I unsheathe my axe and slowly step forward. Keeping my tread as light as I can, I head into the next room. ",{"children":4117,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4118],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4119,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s dark in here, filled with musty boxes that are piled right up to the high ceiling. It’s also dusty as hell. I scrunch up my face against a sneeze. Damn allergies better not start acting up, or they’re going to get me killed. ",{"children":4121,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4122],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4123,"type":70,"version":4},"“What’s happening?” The panted voice behind me makes my skin crawl, a visceral reaction that has my shoulders bunching and me clutching the pendant around my neck.",{"children":4125,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4126],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4127,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox. Exactly where he shouldn’t be, once again. ",{"children":4129,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4130],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4131,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dylan? Lady? There isn’t much light, is there?” he hisses into the darkness.",{"children":4133,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4134],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4135,"type":70,"version":4},"No, there certainly isn’t. Mostly because the piles of boxes are covering the windows. But there’s definitely something lurking in the dark. I might not have Midas’s sharp senses, but I can still feel the unnatural quiet in this part of the house. It’s like every mouse in the walls is too afraid to move and attract the attention of a predator. ",{"children":4137,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4138],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4139,"type":70,"version":4},"“Lennox. Go. Back,” I hiss. “Stay with the others.”",{"children":4141,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4142],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4143,"type":70,"version":4},"There. I’ve tried to be gentle about it, better than my usual bulldozing. ",{"children":4145,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4146],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4147,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m not leaving you,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep going. Think about this. You don’t know what you’re going to find through there. I can pull some strings, speak to the right people, and we can pull you out of this. You don’t need to do this job anymore.”",{"children":4149,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4150],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4151,"type":70,"version":4},"I blink at him as a surge of irritation passes straight through me and I struggle to keep my temper. ",{"children":4153,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4154],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4155,"type":70,"version":4},"“What the hell are you talking about?”",{"children":4157,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4158],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4075,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":4160,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4161],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4162,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes, ignoring both my other half and Lennox. Then I take another slow step forward, careful to keep my tread even. As I pass beyond a wall of newspapers, a strip of daylight lights the way in front of me.",{"children":4164,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4165],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4166,"type":70,"version":4},"Revealing yet more bones and yet more boxes. This time they’re piled altogether, not like trophies at all. But like we’re dangerously close to some creature’s den. ",{"children":4168,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4169],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4170,"type":70,"version":4},"I can still feel Lennox’s presence behind me, his arm brushing against mine. ",{"children":4172,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4173],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4174,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dylan.” His face twists and an ugly expression passes over his shiny, uniform features. “If you’re continuing on. I’m going too,” he insisted. “Unless… unless you think we should turn back?”",{"children":4176,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4177],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4178,"type":70,"version":4},"The hopeful lilt to his voice only stokes my irritation. ",{"children":4180,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4181],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4182,"type":70,"version":4},"“I can’t turn back,” I tell Lennox. “Not yet, anyway.” ",{"children":4184,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4185],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4186,"type":70,"version":4},"This is what I do. I’m the last stand, the one to plough into battle and face whatever lies behind the walls of skulls and newspapers.   ",{"children":4188,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4189],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4190,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox captures my hand and squeezes, even as I try to shake him off.",{"children":4192,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4193],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4075,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":4195,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4196],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4197,"type":70,"version":4},"IT’S COMING.",{"children":4199,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4200],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4201,"type":70,"version":4},"“If you mention my name, they’ll understand. Of course, we’ll have to wait a few months for the wedding. You can let your hair grow out, so it’s not so short.” He pauses, frowning like he just heard his own words.",{"children":4203,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4204],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4205,"type":70,"version":4},"“What are you talking about?” I ask, incredulous. “Are you proposing right now? I’m already engaged. To Pan.”",{"children":4207,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4208],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4209,"type":70,"version":4},"“The man who’s currently trapped in a giant spider’s web.”",{"children":4211,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4212],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4213,"type":70,"version":4},"Well… yeah. He might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but nor am I. We mesh well together, always have. ",{"children":4215,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4216,4218,4219],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4217,"type":70,"version":4},"I do ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":376,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4220,"type":70,"version":4}," mesh well with Lennox. ",{"children":4222,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4223],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4224,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s like a toxic goo, always sticking around and impossible to wash off. ",{"children":4226,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4227],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4228,"type":70,"version":4},"Another roar sounds, and I instinctively drop to a crouch. This time it’s deafening and my shoulders raise instinctively. I need to move before whatever it is making that noise makes itself known. ",{"children":4230,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4231],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4232,"type":70,"version":4},"And then I see it through a gap in the piles of crap. ",{"children":4234,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4235],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4236,"type":70,"version":4},"A long reptilian tail. ",{"children":4238,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4239],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4240,"type":70,"version":4},"Oh no. No no no. ",{"children":4242,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4243,4245,4247],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4244,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t need to go any further to know that we shouldn’t be here. This is one of those jobs where we’re going to have to make a ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4246,"type":70,"version":4},"very",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4248,"type":70,"version":4}," careful retreat. ",{"children":4250,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4251],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4252,"type":70,"version":4},"NO. WE FIGHT.",{"children":4254,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4255,4257,4259],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4256,"type":70,"version":4},"Once again, I ignore the internal yell of my other half. We should ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4258,"type":70,"version":4},"definitely",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4260,"type":70,"version":4}," not fight whatever is in the room with us. We should get out of here as quickly as possible and hope like hell that we can dislodge Pan from his web in time. ",{"children":4262,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4263],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4264,"type":70,"version":4},"Because I’m fairly sure that we’re inside the den of a dragon. ",{"children":4266,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4267],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4268,"type":70,"version":4},"“Of course, of course.” Lennox crouches beside me, blocking my exit. His fingers grip mine and he clings to me, tugging down like a five-year-old trying to capture his mother’s attention. “But tell me you’ll think about it. About us?”",{"children":4270,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4271],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4272,"type":70,"version":4},"“Lennox. Shut. Up.”",{"children":4274,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4275],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4276,"type":70,"version":4},"I grip my pendant like it’ll keep my sanity in check, as well as my other half. ",{"children":4278,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4279],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4280,"type":70,"version":4},"“Get. Out.” A growling voice sounds loud enough to make my ears ring. ",{"children":4282,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4283],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4284,"type":70,"version":4},"Then a flash of green light blinds me for a moment and I react just in time, throwing myself onto the ground and covering Lennox’s body as a fireball flies right over our heads. ",{"children":4286,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4287],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4288,"type":70,"version":4},"You know what’s a dumb thing to hoard if you’re a dragon? Newspaper and boxes.",{"children":4290,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4291],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4292,"type":70,"version":4},"This entire place is a tinderbox about to set alight. ",{"children":4294,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4295],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4296,"type":70,"version":4},"I scan the area, eyeing our exits. I’m still clutching my pendant, but I need a clear head right now, and my other half isn’t great at retreating.",{"children":4298,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4299],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4300,"type":70,"version":4},"Nope. She’s always spoiling for a fight. ",{"children":4302,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4303],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4304,"type":70,"version":4},"Another guttural roar had the hair on the back of my neck rising. Beneath me, Lennox shakes violently and I can feel his panted breath on my cheek. He smells like stale coffee and mints. ",{"children":4306,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4307],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4308,"type":70,"version":4},"His fingers wrap around my wrist again, and I want nothing more than to peel them off. His touch makes me want to crawl out of my skin. ",{"children":4310,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4311],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4312,"type":70,"version":4},"This is why we don’t let civilians join us. Too many unnecessary risks. ",{"children":4314,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4315],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4316,"type":70,"version":4},"They can’t keep their heads under pressure. ",{"children":4318,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4319],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4320,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s a dragon,” I mutter. “A dragon, Lennox. That wasn’t on the bloody brief.”",{"children":4322,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4323],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4324,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dylan,” he whines, squirming underneath me. ",{"children":4326,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4327],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4328,"type":70,"version":4},"“You need to turn back now and run as fast as you can. I’ll distract the dragon.” ",{"children":4330,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4331],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4332,"type":70,"version":4},"Those are some sick final words if I’ve ever heard them. ",{"children":4334,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4335],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4336,"type":70,"version":4},"“I can’t.” He shakes his head, and I fight to keep my internal scream in check. Appraising him, I can see he’s speaking the truth. He seems to have reached that state of fear where your body gives out and your legs stop working. ",{"children":4338,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4339],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4340,"type":70,"version":4},"Fight. Flight. Fawn. And Lennox is fawning like a champ right now. ",{"children":4342,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4343],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4344,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fine.” I peer around, looking for anything that might shield him from another fireball.",{"children":4346,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4347],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4348,"type":70,"version":4},"“There.” I point at a large cabinet that’s mostly hidden by a human skeletal pelvis. “Go. Hide yourself there. I’ll try to lure him in a different direction.”",{"children":4350,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4351],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4352,"type":70,"version":4},"No idea how I’m going to manage that. I quickly type out an emergency SOS text to Midas, telling him to stay back. ",{"children":4354,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4355],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4356,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox grips my hand again and I use the connection to yank him out of the way, narrowly avoiding us both being eviscerated. Another rush of heat brushes past my face and I can smell singed hair. My blood burns as I roll to a crouch. “Go. Now.”",{"children":4358,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4359],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4360,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dylan. No.”",{"children":4362,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4363],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4364,"type":70,"version":4},"Then the massive face of the current occupant of the house appears and Lennox lets out a terrified squeak. ",{"children":4366,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4367],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4368,"type":70,"version":4},"I might have been modified to be tougher than the usual human. My skin and bones don’t break so easily, but that doesn’t mean I’m invincible. ",{"children":4370,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4371],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4372,"type":70,"version":4},"And I am certainly not fireproof.",{"children":4374,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4375],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4376,"type":70,"version":4},"I yank off my pendant, shoving it deep into my pocket as I unsheathe my axe with one hand and my dagger with the other. ",{"children":4378,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4379],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4380,"type":70,"version":4},"Almost immediately, the familiar fury starts bubbling in my gut, rising higher and higher with every passing second. I try to breathe through it, to tamp it down until Lennox is safely out of the way and won’t be collateral damage. ",{"children":4382,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4383],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4384,"type":70,"version":4},"Too late. ",{"children":4386,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4387],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4388,"type":70,"version":4},"My vision tunnels. Heart thundering in my ears and all I can focus on is the rush of blood flowing through me. ",{"children":4390,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4391,4393,4395],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4392,"type":70,"version":4},"Filling me with spitting ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4394,"type":70,"version":4},"rage",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4396,"type":70,"version":4},".",{"children":4398,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4399],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4400,"type":70,"version":4},"Things became less clear after that. It always happens when I let the feral side of me take over and I lose control. 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Roll and then slash and slash until something hot and wet hits my arms. ",{"children":4406,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4407],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4408,"type":70,"version":4},"Two double eyelids blink shut. ",{"children":4410,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4411],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4412,"type":70,"version":4},"Then everything goes even more fuzzy as I feel something sharp stab me in the arm. ",{"children":4414,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4415],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4416,"type":70,"version":4},"But the baddie has been slain. The job is done. ",{"children":4418,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4419],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4420,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t make sense of what’s happening as I blink down at the needle piercing my flesh.",{"children":4422,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4423],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4424,"type":70,"version":4},"Darkness swirls around me and my blinks grow heavier. ",{"children":4426,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4427],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4428,"type":70,"version":4},"Before I lose myself to the dark, one last conscious thought rolls through my mind like a stray marble. ",{"children":4430,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4431],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4432,"type":70,"version":4},"Lennox. 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Some still have their engines running, others stand smashed from collisions caused by rubberneckers or panicked drivers slamming on their brakes. Currently, there’s a lane of traffic moving very slowly. The other lanes remain at a standstill, as they have for hours. ",{"children":4532,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4533],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4534,"type":70,"version":4},"We’re waiting for additional emergency responders to arrive and clean up the mess, but the process has been slow as shit. ",{"children":4536,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4537],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4538,"type":70,"version":4},"A lot of the cars were abandoned as soon as people saw what was happening. 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Covering up the bodies of the ones that are beyond saving. ",{"children":4604,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4605],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4606,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. ",{"children":4608,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4609],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4610,"type":70,"version":4},"Fuck knows what actually happened here tonight. I’ve not been able to get in contact with anyone for at least an hour. And I haven’t seen Roscoe, or Rook, or Hanna since right after the zombies fell. ",{"children":4612,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4613],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4614,"type":70,"version":4},"Last thing I saw, Hanna was using her fire to keep people warm and Rook was forcing a dented car door to open with his brute strength. It doesn’t help that I can barely see more than a few feet in front of me, thanks to the blizzard. I could use my magic to clear it, but I’m not willing to burn myself fighting a blizzard.  ",{"children":4616,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4617],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4618,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m heading toward another car with its engine running when I hear a sound that stops me in my tracks,",{"children":4620,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4621],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4622,"type":70,"version":4},"A whimper. ",{"children":4624,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4625],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4626,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s high-pitched. 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Dressed in a coat that’s not fit for the weather and a pair of sneakers that must be soaked through. He’s shin deep in the snow since he’s so damn small. ",{"children":4640,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4641],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4642,"type":70,"version":4},"And he’s alone.",{"children":4644,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4645],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4646,"type":70,"version":4},"Fuck. ",{"children":4648,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4649],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4650,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t know how to talk to kids. I’m too big. Too intimidating. 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Hoping wherever she is, she’s safe. ",{"children":4660,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4661],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4662,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s been the same all night, my thoughts flashing back to her constantly, like I can barely keep her out of my head for more than a minute. I’m an addict and she’s my score. ",{"children":4664,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4665],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4666,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s exhausting.",{"children":4668,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4669,4671,4673],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4670,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve never cared so damn much about another person. With Ro and Fabian, they’re the closest thing I’ve got to family, but it’s not like I spend half my time worrying about where ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4672,"type":70,"version":4},"they",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4674,"type":70,"version":4}," are or if they’re safe. I don’t wonder if they’re tired, or hungry, or happy.",{"children":4676,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4677],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4678,"type":70,"version":4},"“You got parents, kid?” I ask, crouching down so I don’t look so freakishly big. ",{"children":4680,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4681],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4682,"type":70,"version":4},"I really hope his answer is yes. He’s not dressed for the weather, so maybe his parents are shitty. Or maybe they weren’t planning on heading out in this weather. ",{"children":4684,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4685],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4686,"type":70,"version":4},"He steps close until he’s practically hugging my leg and I can feel him shivering. ",{"children":4688,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4689],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4690,"type":70,"version":4},"“You’re freezing. Want me to carry you for a bit?” I ask.",{"children":4692,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4693],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4694,"type":70,"version":4},"I rarely go around picking up stranger’s kids, but this whole situation is nuts, and he’s shaking like a leaf. As soon as he nods, I scoop him into my arm and balance his little butt on my forearm. He weighs about as much as my gym bag. ",{"children":4696,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4697],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4698,"type":70,"version":4},"I then set about finding him something warmer to wear. A coat. A blanket. Anything. If I focus on the problems right in front of me, I’m less likely to lose my mind tonight. ",{"children":4700,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4701],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4702,"type":70,"version":4},"The cars closest to me are all abandoned and unlocked, so I root around inside until I find something we can use. There’s a tatty tartan blanket on the back seat which I filch and wrap around the kid’s shoulders. ",{"children":4704,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4705],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4706,"type":70,"version":4},"“So… parents?” I ask him.",{"children":4708,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4709],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4710,"type":70,"version":4},"Maybe this is how Silver winds up picking up new members of her family. She just wanders around and people flock to her like she’s the damn Pied Piper of misfits and weirdos.",{"children":4712,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4713],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4714,"type":70,"version":4},"There I go, thinking about her again. I don’t think I even managed two minutes that time. 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It sends my heart racing and a rumble of thunder rolling through the air, whenever I consider the possibility that she’s not all right.",{"children":4724,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4725],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4726,"type":70,"version":4},"“My mom told me to hide behind a dumpster until the monsters were gone,” the kid says. ",{"children":4728,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4729],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4730,"type":70,"version":4},"Not a bad idea. Not the best either, considering we found the first zombie hanging around by some dumpsters down an alley.",{"children":4732,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4733],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4734,"type":70,"version":4},"The kid got lucky.",{"children":4736,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4737],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4738,"type":70,"version":4},"“What’s your name, kid?” I ask.",{"children":4740,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4741],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4742,"type":70,"version":4},"“Art.”",{"children":4744,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4745],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4746,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m Zeph.” I nod at him and continue to stride along, readjusting the blanket every few steps, seeing as he can’t seem to keep too good a hold on it. 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Some are covered in blood. ",{"children":4756,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4757],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4758,"type":70,"version":4},"I have to keep shifting around to avoid giving the kid an eyeful of the worst of it. The piles of bloodied bodies and the random limbs strewn about. Finally, I hear sirens in the distance and see the flashing lights of the latest set of emergency responders. 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I was so worried.” Her voice is frantic as she scans him for injuries. ",{"children":4776,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4777],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4778,"type":70,"version":4},"“I did what you said,” he says with a proud little nod. “I hid.”",{"children":4780,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4781],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4782,"type":70,"version":4},"“You did so good,” she replies, grabbing him and yanking him into her arms. 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I need to see what happens next.",{"children":4850,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4851,4853,4855],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4852,"type":70,"version":4},"The zombie collapses. Just like all the others did. 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But the thought of Silver being vulnerable has me dangerously close to losing my shit. ",{"children":4900,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4901],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4902,"type":70,"version":4},"Gotta get to her.",{"children":4904,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4905],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4906,"type":70,"version":4},"First, though, I need to find the others. It’s been a while since I last saw Roscoe, and a weird feeling starts up in my chest. I couldn’t say for definite what it is, but it’s making me feel vaguely panicked and like I might throw up.",{"children":4908,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4909],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4910,"type":70,"version":4},"I charge up the street in the direction I last saw him. 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The snow is right in my eyes, blinding me, but I don’t give a shit. I skid to a halt just in time, barely avoiding plowing right into Hanna, whose slight form was hidden behind Rook. Her hands are over her mouth, her eyes shining.",{"children":4956,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4957],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4958,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook’s hands, though… they’re covering Roscoe’s guts. Spanning across most of his torso. His hands are dyed bright red.",{"children":4960,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[4961],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":4962,"type":70,"version":4},"“I called you a bunch. 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But when the hottest monster rock band on the planet crashes into my life, begging for my help on their farewell tour, how can a girl say no?",{"children":5069,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5070],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5071,"type":70,"version":4},"Now I'm on the road with four irresistible creatures: Cal, the soft-hearted Orc who makes my pulse race faster than his drum beats; Micah, the empathic Nephilim whose voice isn't the only thing that leaves me breathless; Dorian, the mysterious half-Gorgon guitarist hiding more than just his eyes behind those shades; and Iri, the devilishly charming demon bassist who seems determined to break through my walls.",{"children":5073,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5074],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5075,"type":70,"version":4},"They want me to use my emotion-bending powers to amplify their shows. But as the tour heats up, so does the chemistry between us. Suddenly, I'm juggling magical mishaps, heart-pounding performances, and feelings I swore I'd never have.",{"children":5077,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5078],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5079,"type":70,"version":4},"I told myself I was done with magic, done with trusting anyone. But these four might just be the ones to make me believe in the power of love... and rock 'n' roll.",{"children":5081,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5082],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":935,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":5084,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[5085,5089,5092,5096,5100],{"children":5086,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[5087],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5088,"type":70,"version":4},"A reverse harem\u002F why choose romance with multiple non human MMCs",{"children":5090,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[5091],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3912,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":5093,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[5094],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5095,"type":70,"version":4},"Men with wings",{"children":5097,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[5098],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5099,"type":70,"version":4},"Fated mates",{"children":5101,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[5102],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5103,"type":70,"version":4},"Low angst",[5105],{"id":5106,"chapterNumber":20,"title":5107,"body":5108},"6a799e15672efd060b4105e5","Prologue",{"root":5109},{"children":5110,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[5111,5115,5119,5123,5127,5131,5135,5139,5143,5147,5151,5155,5159,5163,5167,5171,5175,5179,5183,5187,5191,5195,5199,5203,5207,5211,5215,5217,5221,5225,5229,5233,5237,5241,5245,5249,5253,5257,5261,5265,5269,5273,5277,5281,5285,5289,5293,5301,5305,5309,5313,5317,5325,5329,5333,5337,5341,5345,5347,5351,5355,5359,5363,5367,5371,5375,5379,5383,5387,5391,5395,5399,5403,5407,5411,5418,5422,5426,5430,5434,5438,5442,5446,5450,5454,5462,5466,5470,5474,5478,5482,5486,5490,5494,5497,5499,5503,5507,5511,5515,5519,5523,5527,5531,5535,5539,5543,5547,5551,5555,5559,5563,5567,5571,5575,5579,5583,5587,5591,5595,5599,5603,5607,5611,5615,5619,5623,5627,5631,5635,5639,5643,5647,5651],{"children":5112,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5113],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5114,"type":70,"version":4},"“Tonight’s a big one, eh?” ",{"children":5116,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5117],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5118,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s the tenth time someone’s said the same thing to me already. As if I didn’t already know that tonight’s important. ",{"children":5120,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5121],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5122,"type":70,"version":4},"Whoever says those five words next will receive a slap or, more likely, an internal scoff and eye roll that could detach my retinas. ",{"children":5124,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5125],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5126,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hey Saint, how are you doing? Big one tonight, isn’t it?”",{"children":5128,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5129],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5130,"type":70,"version":4},"Instead of slapping them, I paste on a bland smile and nod along. “Sure is.”",{"children":5132,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5133],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5134,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s a buzz in the air tonight. The atmosphere’s a mixture of excitement and trepidation and everyone’s buzzing around like flies without actually getting anything done.",{"children":5136,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5137],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5138,"type":70,"version":4},"The sold out signs plastered all over the walls catch my eye once again and I get the familiar swooping sense of nausea in my stomach that happens every time I see them. ",{"children":5140,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5141],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5142,"type":70,"version":4},"Eight thousand seats, with every single one of them sold. ",{"children":5144,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5145],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5146,"type":70,"version":4},"Eight thousand souls gathering together for tonight’s Awakening. ",{"children":5148,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5149],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5150,"type":70,"version":4},"“Gather around everyone. Positivity Circle time,” Gina calls. ",{"children":5152,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5153],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5154,"type":70,"version":4},"The doors open in less than an hour, and there are always a few early arrivals before the Awakening starts. They think that if they come early enough, they might get one-on-one time with the Herald. They think he’ll take them in hand and cure all their ills before everyone else gets here.",{"children":5156,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5157],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5158,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad that’s never going to happen.",{"children":5160,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5161],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5162,"type":70,"version":4},"The Herald—aka our fearless leader, Cedar Orlog—stands up on stage in front of us all, widening his arms in his designer suit. The impossibly large, impossibly white smile is out on display. His dyed mahogany hair is slicked back with enough product that it looks like he’s dumped his head in an entire vat of gel. ",{"children":5164,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5165],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5166,"type":70,"version":4},"“Gather around everyone.” His voice booms out. For some reason, he’s already mic'd up, even though he shouldn’t be yet. He must have fitted it himself even though that’s my job, and I still need to do a couple of last checks on it. ",{"children":5168,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5169],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5170,"type":70,"version":4},"I have to drag myself away from my checklist to join the circle. There are still a half dozen things I need to go through before we can start letting people in. And something tells me tonight’s Positivity Circle is going to be a long one.",{"children":5172,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5173],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5174,"type":70,"version":4},"“Take the hand of the person on either side of you,” the Herald says, beaming around at the fifty members of his crew. ",{"children":5176,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5177],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5178,"type":70,"version":4},"I remember when there were only three of us. I was fifteen and there was just me, my mother, and Gina—the Herald’s assistant. I remember too, as the team built up to five, then ten. ",{"children":5180,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5181],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5182,"type":70,"version":4},"Back then, the first Awakenings were all held in basements and the shittiest conference rooms in ratty hotels just off the interstate. I was pretty sure one of us would get mugged in the parking lot or would interrupt a drug deal on our way to our cars. ",{"children":5184,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5185],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5186,"type":70,"version":4},"This cavernous hall with its rows upon rows of seats and fancy lighting and sound system is a world apart. ",{"children":5188,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5189],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5190,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now, turn to the person beside you and tell them you appreciate them.”",{"children":5192,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5193],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5194,"type":70,"version":4},"The person to my left grips my fingers in their clammy grasp and I try not to jerk my hand away. ",{"children":5196,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5197],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5198,"type":70,"version":4},"“I appreciate you.” ",{"children":5200,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5201],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5202,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s Clara, one of the newly Devoted. She was hired to do the Herald’s makeup and hair and her eyes are already shimmering with unshed tears. ",{"children":5204,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5205],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5206,"type":70,"version":4},"She’s a believer all right.",{"children":5208,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5209],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5210,"type":70,"version":4},"“I appreciate you,” I tell her. ",{"children":5212,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5213],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5214,"type":70,"version":4},"Every week for the past twelve years, I’ve stood in a Positivity Circle and then listened to the same rousing speech, given by the Herald. And it’s only because I’ve done this so many times before, I can keep my voice from wavering. ",{"children":5216,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":5218,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5219],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5220,"type":70,"version":4},"Now, not all the eight thousand people coming for tonight’s Awakening are what the Herald calls ‘true Devoted’. A lot of them are curious and they want to see what it’s all about. ",{"children":5222,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5223],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5224,"type":70,"version":4},"There are rumors swirling about The Path in the world beyond this auditorium. A lot of rumors about what makes the Herald’s Awakenings so popular. Or about how the attendees would come in as semi-interested gawkers and leave with their heads turned and their brains slightly addled. ",{"children":5226,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5227],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5228,"type":70,"version":4},"People leave his gatherings feeling like they could help the Herald to rule the world, to make change. To really be somebody. ",{"children":5230,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5231],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5232,"type":70,"version":4},"To matter.",{"children":5234,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5235],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5236,"type":70,"version":4},"Then, as time passes between Awakenings and that feeling fades, life gets in the way and nothing much in their lives changes. In fact, things get harder as they struggle to afford things in everyday life, as well as the fees for remaining Devoted to The Path. ",{"children":5238,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5239],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5240,"type":70,"version":4},"And so, they grow fidgety and need another dose of the Herald’s teachings. They sign up for another Awakening, fork over a load of cash for the privilege and the cycle starts over. ",{"children":5242,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5243],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5244,"type":70,"version":4},"It easily slips into being an addiction. Something people seem to lose all rationality over. They cancel plans, miss out on work and weddings, even funerals, to attend one of the Herald’s Awakenings. ",{"children":5246,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5247],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5248,"type":70,"version":4},"People will come into the room tonight, feeling a little uncertain, maybe skeptical. Others are going to feel nothing but the desperation that’s brought them this far. ",{"children":5250,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5251],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5252,"type":70,"version":4},"All of them will have paid a hefty ticket price to be in this room, and just when the Awakening hits its climax, the screen behind the Herald will flick on and he’ll start the tracker for tonight’s donations. Those who donate more will get closer and closer to ascending to a higher power, of reaching absolution. Transcendence. ",{"children":5254,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5255],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5256,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s selling a dream. A fix for all their ills and a fantastic new life. ",{"children":5258,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5259],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5260,"type":70,"version":4},"Except, it’s all bullshit. ",{"children":5262,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5263],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5264,"type":70,"version":4},"Of course, it is.",{"children":5266,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5267],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5268,"type":70,"version":4},"The Herald talks the talk, walks the walk. He says he helps people. Says he transforms their lives for the better. He’s part life-coach, part cult leader. All smarm and lies. ",{"children":5270,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5271],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5272,"type":70,"version":4},"In reality, there are only two things he lives for. Adulation, and cold, hard cash. ",{"children":5274,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5275],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5276,"type":70,"version":4},"Tonight, he’ll get both in spades.",{"children":5278,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5279],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5280,"type":70,"version":4},"He literally couldn’t care less if the room dropped dead, beyond the damage it would do to his reputation and his revenue streams.",{"children":5282,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5283],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5284,"type":70,"version":4},"I was fifteen when he started dating my mother. Back then, I figured things might get better with him around. I figured they couldn’t get much worse, since we lived in a trailer and our power had just been shut off because mom refused to pay the bill. ",{"children":5286,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5287],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5288,"type":70,"version":4},"She also had a terrible reputation around town for stealing from the cleaning jobs she did back then. And when I turned out to be handy with a screwdriver and offered my services fixing stuff so that we could at least afford to eat, she’d steal from my jobs too. ",{"children":5290,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5291],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5292,"type":70,"version":4},"It left both of us unpopular and unemployable, always on the move from town to town. ",{"children":5294,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5295,5297,5299],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5296,"type":70,"version":4},"It never occurred to me at the time that no one ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5298,"type":70,"version":4},"good",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5300,"type":70,"version":4}," would want to get mixed up with her petty bullshit. ",{"children":5302,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5303],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5304,"type":70,"version":4},"Of course, my mom thought meeting the Herald was a gift from the heavens. He wasn’t ‘the Herald’ back then, though. He was just a guy with big dreams, called Cedar Orlog. ",{"children":5306,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5307],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5308,"type":70,"version":4},"Then, as they spent more time together, he became a bigger part of our lives, and that ‘gift from heaven’ turned into a step on The Path. For my mom, there was no room for faith in anything else when the Herald was in the room. ",{"children":5310,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5311],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5312,"type":70,"version":4},"My mother didn’t just drink the Kool-Aid, she mixed it herself. ",{"children":5314,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5315],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5316,"type":70,"version":4},"For a while, so did I. ",{"children":5318,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5319,5321,5323],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5320,"type":70,"version":4},"And I know, ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5322,"type":70,"version":4},"I know",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5324,"type":70,"version":4}," I should have left years ago, as soon as I turned eighteen. Should never have gotten as involved as I am. My flimsy fucking excuse is that he’s never paid me, so I can’t even afford a bus ticket. He pays the rent for our shared apartment. Pays the bills and for food, but I’ve never earned any money. ",{"children":5326,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5327],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5328,"type":70,"version":4},"Add to that, I’m not as invisible as I’d like to be. People know about me. To them I’m Saint, his perfect daughter, working alongside her dear ol’ papa. ",{"children":5330,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5331],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5332,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m entrenched in this shit. Complicit up to my eyeballs.",{"children":5334,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5335],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5336,"type":70,"version":4},"The Herald might be the one with the patter, the guy that sells the dream. But it’s my work that really makes them believe it. ",{"children":5338,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5339],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5340,"type":70,"version":4},"The mic, the device hanging over the door frame as they enter; the projector displaying behind the Herald on the stage. They’re all my work. All dripping with my magic. ",{"children":5342,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5343],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5344,"type":70,"version":4},"But tonight I’m cutting the cord. After tonight, there won’t be any more magic to his Awakenings. ",{"children":5346,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":5348,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5349],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5350,"type":70,"version":4},"I think I was twenty before I started to question the ethics of what the Herald is doing here. That was right around the time this following started to grow and he upped his prices for membership. ",{"children":5352,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5353],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5354,"type":70,"version":4},"The requests for donations always start out small and subtle, then before his Devoted realizes what’s happening, they’re suddenly re-mortgaging their houses so they can make hefty enough donations to Transcend to the next level of The Path.  ",{"children":5356,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5357],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5358,"type":70,"version":4},"It never hit me how fucked up the whole thing was. Maybe I was a young, dumb kid, too blind to see what was happening. Or maybe he really did get more money hungry as his operation grew bigger. ",{"children":5360,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5361],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5362,"type":70,"version":4},"Now though, the fairy dust has been wiped from my eyes.",{"children":5364,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5365],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5366,"type":70,"version":4},"The Path is a cult.",{"children":5368,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5369],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5370,"type":70,"version":4},"One that preys on peoples’ fears and makes them feel great about themselves, so long as you donate enough money to the cause. ",{"children":5372,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5373],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5374,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve spent the past seven years stuck here as a non-believer. Seven long years of feeling the stone in my gut growing larger. Of feeling an increasing sense that I’m tainting myself by sticking around. ",{"children":5376,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5377],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5378,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now, turn to your other side and tell that person how grateful you are to be here with them. Eight thousand souls will be touched tonight, all thanks to you folks.”",{"children":5380,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5381],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5382,"type":70,"version":4},"I want to stab my own eyes out. Instead, I dutifully turn to Gerry, the guy who sorts tickets and acts as one of the doormen, and I tell him I’m grateful he’s here. ",{"children":5384,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5385],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5386,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve done this so many times before, I can do it by rote and let my mind run through all the things I need to get done. I paste another bland smile on my face and act like I’m not itching to move, to grab the duffle bag that’s stored in the trunk of my car right now and get the hell away from here.",{"children":5388,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5389],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5390,"type":70,"version":4},"… But then my eyes catch again on the Herald’s mic. ",{"children":5392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5393],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5394,"type":70,"version":4},"Something feels off about him wearing it already. ",{"children":5396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5398,"type":70,"version":4},"I continue to scan the room, taking in the giddy looks on everyone’s faces and the slight glassiness to their eyes.",{"children":5400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5402,"type":70,"version":4},"And it hits me why he’s wearing the mic so early. Every person in this room is getting hit by a steady dose of magic right now. They’re being manipulated without even realizing it.",{"children":5404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5406,"type":70,"version":4},"Except for me. I’m not knee deep in the positivity and gratitude being thrown around the room. ",{"children":5408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5410,"type":70,"version":4},"And, sure, part of that’s because I no longer believe any of the shit the Herald is spouting.",{"children":5412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5413,5415,5416],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5414,"type":70,"version":4},"But the other, bigger, part is because it’s ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":3249,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5417,"type":70,"version":4}," magic he’s using to manipulate them. ",{"children":5419,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5420],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5421,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m the one with the power to affect people’s emotions. I can make you feel anything—happy, sad, angry, guilty… whatever I want. But my magic is normally only strong enough to influence one person at a time.",{"children":5423,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5424],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5425,"type":70,"version":4},"Unless my magic is imbibed into something, like some kind of tool or machine. ",{"children":5427,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5428],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5429,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s the reason he’s wearing the mic right now. ",{"children":5431,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5432],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5433,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s choc full of my power and is set to release a steady ebb of emotion throughout the Awakening. ",{"children":5435,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5436],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5437,"type":70,"version":4},"First is a thick sense of unease as he explains how the world has been overtaken by greedy and power-hungry people who are willing to suck you dry for their own gain. ",{"children":5439,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5440],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5441,"type":70,"version":4},"He’ll demonize the non-human members of our society. Explaining how the shifters, the vampires, the witches and demons, all make the humans more vulnerable. ",{"children":5443,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5444],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5445,"type":70,"version":4},"Then almost immediately, he’ll share comforting words as the audience is hit with a heavy dose of assurance and just a hint of hope. As long as you’re following The Path, you’re heading in the right direction. He’ll explain how The Path is headed away from devastation and toward Transcendence to a higher place where humans have taken back their power. That part comes with a heavy hit of confidence. ",{"children":5447,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5448],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5449,"type":70,"version":4},"And as the audience listens to his words, they’re gonna go through an entire roster of emotions and they’re going to trust him and believe what’s coming out of his mouth. ",{"children":5451,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5452],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5453,"type":70,"version":4},"He’ll then pause. Let everyone take a moment to gather themselves and he’ll open up the donations. And when he does, the audience will be filled with this sick sense of dread that’s hard to wade through. ",{"children":5455,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5456,5458,5460],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5457,"type":70,"version":4},"They’ll just ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5459,"type":70,"version":4},"know",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5461,"type":70,"version":4}," deep in their gut, something bad will happen if the Awakening doesn’t reach its target. ",{"children":5463,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5464],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5465,"type":70,"version":4},"That section of the evening can drag on for hours with the Herald only flicking the switch to lighten the emotional load once his own mental target has been met. ",{"children":5467,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5468],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5469,"type":70,"version":4},"I catch the Herald’s expression as he scans the room from the other side of the circle. There’s a satisfied smile on his face, one that distracts you from the hard look in his beady eyes. ",{"children":5471,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5472],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5473,"type":70,"version":4},"Swallowing my unease, I try to push down the rising panic swirling in my gut. ",{"children":5475,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5476],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5477,"type":70,"version":4},"Just for the next few hours, I need to go through the motions once more. I need to get this ship sailing and tonight’s Awakening underway.",{"children":5479,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5480],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5481,"type":70,"version":4},"Because once the eight thousand souls find their seats and the Herald starts his spiel about bringing them to new heights of enlightenment and solving all their problems, I’ll be in the wind. ",{"children":5483,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5484],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5485,"type":70,"version":4},"Tonight’s a big night. The biggest in the Herald’s career.",{"children":5487,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5488],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5489,"type":70,"version":4},"It also happens to be my last night as one of his Devoted. ",{"children":5491,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5492],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5493,"type":70,"version":4},"Tonight’s the night I’ll make my escape.",{"children":5495,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5496],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1592,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":5498,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":5500,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5501],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5502,"type":70,"version":4},"After what feels like hours, the Herald brings the Positivity Circle to an end and we all clap and beam at each other like we’ve been lobotomized.",{"children":5504,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5505],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5506,"type":70,"version":4},"“Saint, the Herald wants you to go to his dressing room,” Gerry murmurs in my ear. “And if you see Kimber while you’re backstage, can you tell her the Herald said only skim milk in his coffee?”",{"children":5508,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5509],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5510,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod and try to stretch my face into another smile, but I’m not sure how well I pull it off. “Sure thing.”",{"children":5512,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5513],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5514,"type":70,"version":4},"Sure thing, I’ll tell ‘Kimber’ his passive aggressive little message.",{"children":5516,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5517],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5518,"type":70,"version":4},"Everyone thinks the Herald is my father, since that’s how he’s always presented our relationship. He’ll blab on about Saint and how powerful his darling Saint’s influence is in making people feel special. I don’t know if he does it to make me feel included, or to take me down with him when he inevitably gets done for fraud or for unsanctioned magic use. ",{"children":5520,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5521],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5522,"type":70,"version":4},"But, weirdly enough, no one knows Kimber is my mom. That was something he encouraged about a year after we first moved in with him. He told her she should cut the ties to her old life so that she could then flourish in her new one. ",{"children":5524,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5525],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5526,"type":70,"version":4},"So that’s what she did. Despite her ties being very much still around and despite me being very much still a minor at the time. ",{"children":5528,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5529],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5530,"type":70,"version":4},"Heading backstage, I feel my gut churning. I’ve been too busy and stressed out to eat a lot today and now it’s kicking me in the ass. I don’t know what the Herald wants to see me about. He doesn’t usually like to see anyone before an Awakening like this. He needs time to ‘get into the zone’ and ‘connect with The Path’. ",{"children":5532,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5533],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5534,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s no way he knows what I’m planning. I’ve been careful. It’s taken me three insanely long years to gather enough cash to buy a bus ticket out of here and to afford a couple months’ rent in a shithole that doesn’t require references or guarantors. ",{"children":5536,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5537],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5538,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve been doing odd jobs on the side for years now. Fixing phones and other busted devices for the Devoted whenever they need it. All on the down-low. That cash is burning a hole in my pocket right now, and I have to fight the urge to check it’s still there. ",{"children":5540,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5541],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5542,"type":70,"version":4},"I stride through the warren of corridors backstage and try to stay calm. When I reach his dressing room, I tap the door, only to hear a guttural groan from the other side. I’m about to shove the door open when I hear an answering very loud, very female moan.",{"children":5544,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5545],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5546,"type":70,"version":4},"Oh fuck. No wonder he needs to ‘get in the zone’ in private. ",{"children":5548,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5549],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5550,"type":70,"version":4},"Thankfully, I spot Kimber tottering down the corridor toward me in too high heels, so at least I didn’t just accidentally eavesdrop on my mother fucking the Herald. ",{"children":5552,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5553],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5554,"type":70,"version":4},"A small part of me pities her, but the rest of me is made up of bile and spite. This is the life she chose for us. Hawking out her daughter’s powers for a comfortable lifestyle that involves turning a blind eye to what a sleazy prick the Herald is. ",{"children":5556,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5557],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5558,"type":70,"version":4},"I head toward her and relay the message about the milk with zero emotion. She freezes in place, glancing at the mug in her hand and then spins on her heel without a word and heads off in the direction she came from. ",{"children":5560,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[5561],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5562,"type":70,"version":4},"Nice to see you too, mother. ",{"children":5564,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5565],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5566,"type":70,"version":4},"Taking a deep, bracing breath, I wait another minute or two and knock on the door to the Herald’s dressing room, hoping like hell they’re done.",{"children":5568,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5569],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5570,"type":70,"version":4},"“Come,” he calls, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. ",{"children":5572,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5573],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5574,"type":70,"version":4},"Thankfully, both he and Clara are dressed, although her cheeks are slightly flushed, and she has one of her buttons done up wrong. The Herald is sitting in a chair while she powders his face.",{"children":5576,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5577],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5578,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ah, Saint, there you are,” he says. His tone has my skin crawling and I know it’ll be a challenge to muster even a bland smile, so I keep my face as blank as possible. ",{"children":5580,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5581],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5582,"type":70,"version":4},"“Come here, darling.” He watches me in the mirror until I step closer and his smile widens. “It’s a big night for us all, my darling Saint. This is where it all begins.”",{"children":5584,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5585],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5586,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod jerkily. “I, er, need to do a last check of your mic,” I tell him. ",{"children":5588,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5589],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5590,"type":70,"version":4},"His eyes dart momentarily to Clara—no doubt checking that she isn’t questioning why I might need to inspect his microphone right before the Awakening. She’s busy humming under her breath as she tucks some tissue into his collar. ",{"children":5592,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5593],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5594,"type":70,"version":4}," “Of course. We don’t want to deafen everyone, do we?” His smile is wide and fake as anything, but I just nod again. ",{"children":5596,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5597],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5598,"type":70,"version":4},"I grab the mic and take a few steps back. What I’d really like is to do this somewhere out of sight, but I have a feeling that’s not going to fly. He’s in a mood tonight and he clearly wants to engage with me. ",{"children":5600,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5601],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5602,"type":70,"version":4},"I fiddle with the mic, acting like I’m testing out the sound levels when actually I’m imbibing a bit of extra magic. Enough so that it should send everyone into a slightly dazed, catatonic state about twenty minutes into the Awakening. They should be so high and happy, they won’t notice when I slip out the door. ",{"children":5604,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5605],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5606,"type":70,"version":4},"My fingers are shaking slightly as I hand it back to him and he seems to take that as nerves for how tonight’s going to go. He clasps my fingers in his hand and squeezes tightly, his eyes meeting mine in silent warning. ",{"children":5608,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5609],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5610,"type":70,"version":4},"“This is what we’ve been working for, Saint. Let’s enjoy it, eh, darling?”",{"children":5612,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5613],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5614,"type":70,"version":4},"“Let’s,” I reply, swallowing hard. “I better get into position.” He squeezes my fingers again as I give another tight nod and spin on my heel, only taking a proper breath once I’m at the other end of the corridor. ",{"children":5616,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5617],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5618,"type":70,"version":4},"Forty minutes later, and I’m sweating like a pig. The room is packed, with all eight thousand seats filled. There’s the faintest soundtrack backing the Herald’s voice as he talks them into a stupor. ",{"children":5620,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5621],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5622,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve been rushing around the building, setting my creations in motion. Each of them is a little drone-like device, set to release a steady stream of emotion at different cue words the Herald should hit at specific times.",{"children":5624,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5625],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5626,"type":70,"version":4},"“Shadows of ignorance.”",{"children":5628,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5629],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5630,"type":70,"version":4},"That comes with a burst of unease.",{"children":5632,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5633],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5634,"type":70,"version":4},"“Embrace the transcendent Path.”",{"children":5636,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5637],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5638,"type":70,"version":4},"That one’s paired with a sense of hope.",{"children":5640,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5641],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5642,"type":70,"version":4},"“Open your hearts, free your minds, and let the Awakening transform you.”",{"children":5644,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5645],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5646,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s when they’re hit with a heady dose of relaxation, so strong, it should send them into a dazed state. ",{"children":5648,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5649],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5650,"type":70,"version":4},"That one’s my cue to get the fuck out of here, so I turn on my heel and I flee. ",{"children":5652,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5653],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5654,"type":70,"version":4},"Out of the door and into my new life.",{"id":120,"alt":5656,"updatedAt":5657,"createdAt":5657,"url":5658,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":5659,"mimeType":22,"filesize":5660,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Wicked Harmony by Essie Suter. A handsome man with brightly colourful wings closes his eyes and turns his head away from the camera","2026-08-10T09:51:14.091Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FKindle%20-%20FIXED.jpg","Kindle - FIXED.jpg",5585099,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fdp\u002FB0DG6DQHTJ",[],[],"2024-10-07T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":5666,"description":5667,"image":5668},"Wicked Harmony: A Reverse Harem Rockstar Romance | Essie Suter","An emotion-bending witch joins four supernatural rockstars on tour - an orc, a nephilim, a gorgon, and a demon. A steamy standalone reverse harem romance.",{"id":120,"alt":5656,"updatedAt":5657,"createdAt":5657,"url":5658,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":5659,"mimeType":22,"filesize":5660,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-27T09:43:04.909Z","2026-08-10T09:52:43.810Z",[],"Ever since I escaped my old life, I've been laying low, trying to forget my past and the magic that got me into trouble. But when the hottest monster rock band on the planet crashes into…",{"id":5674,"title":5675,"slug":5676,"series":5677,"seriesLabel":5678,"description":5679,"previewChapters":5745,"cover":6384,"amazonLink":6391,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":6392,"otherLinks":6393,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":6394,"order":446,"seo":6395,"updatedAt":6399,"createdAt":6400,"ebookFormats":6401,"excerpt":6402},14,"The Seer's Shattered Sight","seers-sight",{"id":77,"name":2178,"slug":2179,"tagline":2180,"order":77,"updatedAt":2181,"createdAt":2181},"Book 4 | Standalone",{"root":5680},{"children":5681,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[5682,5687,5691,5695,5699,5703,5711],{"children":5683,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":4,"textStyle":68},[5684],{"detail":66,"format":4,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5685,"type":70,"version":4},"Two men, one witch, and a town full of monsters.","start",{"children":5688,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5689],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5690,"type":70,"version":4},"After fleeing the city that outlawed my Seer magic, Monster Haven should’ve been my perfect refuge.",{"children":5692,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5693],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5694,"type":70,"version":4},"Except my visions have turned into painful, staticky nightmares, leaving me with splitting headaches and fragments of unnerving prophecies. Between brewing potions at the local potion shop—The Creaky Door, caring for my magically comatose brother, and uncovering betrayals, romance is the last thing on my mind.",{"children":5696,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5697],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5698,"type":70,"version":4},"Then two men turn my world upside down, one who’s been secretly pining for me for years, and the other who brings fresh trouble with a devastating smile. But my jumbled visions are screaming warnings. Something is coming and this welcoming town of loud-mouthed supernaturals could be in danger. Worse, my comatose brother might be the one who can make things right.",{"children":5700,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5701],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5702,"type":70,"version":4},"Everyone sees me as the sweet witch with the garden and gentle soul. But second chances don’t come without risk, and I’m not about to let my new home fall apart without a fight.",{"children":5704,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[5705,5707,5709],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5706,"type":70,"version":4},"While The Seer’s Shattered Sight can",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5708,"type":70,"version":4}," ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5710,"type":70,"version":4},"be read as a standalone and the characters will get their HEA, we meet most of the characters in the previous books, so you might prefer to read the trilogy following Silver’s story first starting with Outlaw Witch.",{"children":5712,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[5713,5717,5721,5725,5729,5733,5737,5741],{"children":5714,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[5715],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5716,"type":70,"version":4},"Sweet and steamy",{"children":5718,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[5719],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5720,"type":70,"version":4},"Menage paranormal romance",{"children":5722,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[5723],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5724,"type":70,"version":4},"One witch and two male love interests",{"children":5726,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[5727],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5728,"type":70,"version":4},"Found family",{"children":5730,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[5731],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5732,"type":70,"version":4},"A small and cozy supernatural town",{"children":5734,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":3932},[5735],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5736,"type":70,"version":4},"Hurt\u002Fcomfort trope",{"children":5738,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":1685},[5739],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5740,"type":70,"version":4},"Friends to lovers",{"children":5742,"direction":20,"format":5686,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":51},[5743],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5744,"type":70,"version":4},"Pining ",[5746,6260],{"id":5747,"chapterNumber":4,"title":5748,"body":5749},"6a7cdee0939b92475e0ee52d","Luna",{"root":5750},{"children":5751,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[5752,5756,5760,5764,5768,5772,5776,5780,5784,5788,5792,5796,5800,5804,5808,5816,5820,5824,5828,5832,5836,5840,5844,5848,5852,5856,5860,5864,5868,5872,5876,5880,5884,5888,5892,5896,5900,5904,5908,5912,5916,5920,5924,5928,5932,5936,5940,5944,5948,5952,5956,5960,5964,5968,5972,5976,5980,5984,5988,5992,5996,6000,6004,6008,6012,6016,6020,6024,6028,6032,6036,6040,6044,6048,6052,6056,6060,6064,6068,6072,6076,6080,6084,6088,6092,6096,6100,6104,6108,6112,6116,6120,6124,6128,6132,6136,6140,6144,6148,6152,6156,6160,6164,6168,6172,6176,6180,6184,6188,6192,6196,6200,6204,6208,6212,6216,6220,6224,6232,6236,6240,6244,6248,6252,6256],{"children":5753,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5754],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5755,"type":70,"version":4},"Monsters don’t have indoor voices.",{"children":5757,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5758],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5759,"type":70,"version":4},"This pearl of wisdom came from my boss at The Creaky Door, Monster Haven’s local potion shop, on my first day of work here. I’d somehow managed to snag the job just a week after moving to this little town. And, at the time, I’d simply smiled and nodded at her warning, too focused on memorizing inventory lists and mastering the ancient cash register to grasp what she really meant.",{"children":5761,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5762],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5763,"type":70,"version":4},"My boss, Gwen, is a witch who must be pushing ninety, with an encyclopedic knowledge of potions and spells. She’s called Monster Haven home for decades and knows every secret the town holds. And after working here for just over a year, I finally understand what she meant about those voices.",{"children":5765,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5766],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5767,"type":70,"version":4},"When we first arrived, I thought it odd to call anyone a ‘monster,’ but that was another lesson I learned pretty quickly. It’s a self-coined term the supernaturals use here—a badge of honor for those who don’t blend into human society.",{"children":5769,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5770],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5771,"type":70,"version":4},"Moving away from Arcanum—the city with a stick up its butt and a population of mostly mages and witches has been a culture shock. Here, it’s pretty normal to see ice giants walking down the street, chatting away with cyclops, berserkers or centaurs just as often as someone that could pass as human. ",{"children":5773,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5774],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5775,"type":70,"version":4},"The atmosphere couldn’t be more different from Arcanum, either. Arcanum gleamed on the surface but rotted at its core. While Monster Haven is cute as hell with quaint cobbled streets, cafes, bakeries, and grooming salons. ",{"children":5777,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5778],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5779,"type":70,"version":4},"“Little Woop! You were right, these worked a treat.” Raf’s booming voice makes me suck in a sharp breath as he plunks several jars onto the counter. “They really helped perk up my pecker.”",{"children":5781,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5782],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5783,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t have to force my smile. The Bevan brothers—Raf and his half-brother Cardigan—are shop regulars. They don’t necessarily buy anything, but they do always make a point to stop by for a chat on their way to the gym they own.",{"children":5785,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5786],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5787,"type":70,"version":4},"They both embody the term ‘monster’ perfectly. Raf has thick black bat-like wings protruding from his sleeveless shirt, a humanoid torso and taloned feet. As a contrast, Cardigan has pure white wings—though I’ve only glimpsed them a few times since he can retract them at will. Both brothers are unreasonably handsome, perpetually grinning, and always delighted to see me. Their visits never fail to boost my mood.",{"children":5789,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5790],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5791,"type":70,"version":4},"But they are loud. They burst in from the bustling street at full volume, which isn’t ideal when it feels like someone’s taking a rusty saw to the inside of my skull.",{"children":5793,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5794],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5795,"type":70,"version":4},"Rubbing my temples, I try closing my eyes for a second to see if that helps. But the world still seems too bright, and every sound above a whisper makes me wince.",{"children":5797,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5798],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5799,"type":70,"version":4},"Cardigan guffaws and then smacks Raf around the back of his head. “Little Woop doesn’t need to know about your pecker, bud.”",{"children":5801,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5802],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5803,"type":70,"version":4},"“She might want my customer feedback. Let her know that what she’s selling really does the trick.”",{"children":5805,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5806],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5807,"type":70,"version":4},"I snort and shake my head, instantly regretting the movement.",{"children":5809,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5810,5812,5814],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5811,"type":70,"version":4},"“How come Luna’s ‘Little Woop’ when everyone’s ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5813,"type":70,"version":4},"little",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5815,"type":70,"version":4}," to you, big boy?” Gwen calls from her perch on the stool beside the till. She runs a lascivious look up and down both brothers—Raf preens while Cardigan’s cheeks flush pink. “Tell me, since you can see where I can’t, do I need to fire my cleaner?”",{"children":5817,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5818],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5819,"type":70,"version":4},"I chuckle, since I’m the one who handles everything here—cleaning shelves, stocking inventory, and mixing most of the potions we sell.",{"children":5821,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5822],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5823,"type":70,"version":4},"“Nah, you’re all good,” Cardigan replies with a raspy laugh.",{"children":5825,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5826],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5827,"type":70,"version":4},"“Quit distracting us with your flirting, Gwen. I like to watch Little Woop pouring that stuff from the jar and weighing it out. It’s weirdly relaxing.”",{"children":5829,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5830],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5831,"type":70,"version":4},"Smiling, I grab a fresh jar from the correct shelf and start sorting through its contents so I can do just that.",{"children":5833,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5834],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5835,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now, what have you got that’ll help us crush the Soggy Bottom Buttfaces? We need something strong to beat them,” Raf asks, scanning the shop like he’s never seen it before.",{"children":5837,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5838],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5839,"type":70,"version":4},"Gwen cackles beside me, slapping the countertop and I stifle another wince.",{"children":5841,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5842],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5843,"type":70,"version":4},"“Soggy Bottom Buttfaces?” I echo.",{"children":5845,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5846],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5847,"type":70,"version":4},"“The Nyes, you mean? Your prank war is still going strong, then?” Gwen asks.",{"children":5849,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5850],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5851,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yup. They beat us at a tug of war over the river and called us The Re-Molting Brothers—I don’t even molt, so it made no sense. But we need to make them eat their damn words.”",{"children":5853,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5854],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5855,"type":70,"version":4},"Monster Haven has at least a half dozen silly rivalries like this one. The Nyes are all water sprites and they’ve maintained their prank war with the Bevans for years. Last winter, they took it too far when they covered Main Street in soap. It was all fun and bubbles until it froze overnight and turned the street into a deathtrap.",{"children":5857,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5858],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5859,"type":70,"version":4},"My vision tunnels and I grip the counter, wondering if I can make it to the backroom without drawing attention. The last thing I need is a vision during work hours.",{"children":5861,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5862],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5863,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad I have no control over my magic. Images flicker through my mind like a slideshow. ",{"children":5865,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[5866],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5867,"type":70,"version":4},"I See Raf and Cardigan, their wings wrapped around a wingless, dark-haired female. She giggles as they lift her between them.",{"children":5869,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[5870],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5871,"type":70,"version":4},"“Such a perfect little mate.”",{"children":5873,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[5874],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5875,"type":70,"version":4},"Raf lets out a little growl, and I wish I could squeeze my third eye shut to avoid watching him pull her into an open-mouthed, devastating kiss.",{"children":5877,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5878],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5879,"type":70,"version":4},"“Any suggestions, Little Woop?”",{"children":5881,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5882],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5883,"type":70,"version":4},"I snap back to reality, clutching the counter until my knuckles whiten. At least the brothers haven’t noticed me zoning out.",{"children":5885,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5886],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5887,"type":70,"version":4},"“You all right, love?” Gwen asks with a concerned frown.",{"children":5889,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5890],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5891,"type":70,"version":4},"“Uh, yeah.” I rub my forehead.",{"children":5893,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5894],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5895,"type":70,"version":4},"“Was it a vision?” She reaches out, patting my hand with her gnarled fingers.",{"children":5897,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5898],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5899,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m still not used to discussing my Sight in public—or at all—without fear of consequences. Back in Arcanum, having the Sight is outlawed, and I’d spent ten years hiding my powers from everyone except my entirely nuts, entirely non-blood family.",{"children":5901,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5902],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5903,"type":70,"version":4},"“Oh yeah? A vision?” Cardigan’s eyes spark with interest. “Did it tell you which of us was going to win? Did you see how?”",{"children":5905,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5906],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5907,"type":70,"version":4},"This is another reason these two are my favorite customers, despite the migraine. They show genuine interest in listening to me. Most people in my life have either dismissed my Sight as nothing or branded me a charlatan.",{"children":5909,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5910],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5911,"type":70,"version":4},"“No. It was... uh, you guys, actually,” I reply. “I think you’re going to find your mate soon. Both of you.”",{"children":5913,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5914],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5915,"type":70,"version":4},"A wave of nausea and dizziness rolls through me, and I grip the counter again, swaying on my feet. ",{"children":5917,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5918],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5919,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yeah?” Raf’s face lights up with pure joy. “You’re sure it was us?”",{"children":5921,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5922],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5923,"type":70,"version":4},"I hesitate before nodding.",{"children":5925,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5926],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5927,"type":70,"version":4},"He lets out an excited hoot. “We’ll need another batch of your special tea then, please, Little Woop. Gotta make a good impression.”",{"children":5929,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5930],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5931,"type":70,"version":4},"I snort and duck into the back room to fetch their tea, my legs still shaky.",{"children":5933,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5934],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5935,"type":70,"version":4},"When I return, the bell above the door tinkles and Raf’s booming voice fills the shop again.",{"children":5937,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5938],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5939,"type":70,"version":4},"“Big Woop, Little Demon, how’re you both doing?”",{"children":5941,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5942],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5943,"type":70,"version":4},"I reach the counter just as Cardigan cuffs his brother. “He’s not a Woop, bud. Can’t you smell that?”",{"children":5945,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5946],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5947,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m pretty sure that’s your own little monster you’re smelling,” a familiar female voice snarks.",{"children":5949,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5950],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5951,"type":70,"version":4},"“There’s nothing about my monster that’s little,” Raf replies. “My mate’ll vouch for that, or she will when we find her.”",{"children":5953,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5954],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5955,"type":70,"version":4},"I chuckle while measuring out the Bevans’ purchases as Gwen cackles at his words.",{"children":5957,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5958],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5959,"type":70,"version":4},"“That’s five mentions of their dicks in about ten minutes. Pay up, love,” she tells me.",{"children":5961,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5962],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5963,"type":70,"version":4},"Raf clutches his massive chest. “I knew you believed in me, Little Woop.”",{"children":5965,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5966],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5967,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake my head with another snort. “I guessed less than five mentions, but I wasn’t expecting the whole mate vision thing.”",{"children":5969,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5970],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5971,"type":70,"version":4},"“Why is everyone talking about dicks in front of you?” A deep voice rasps. One that’s painfully familiar and sets my insides doing cartwheels.",{"children":5973,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5974],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5975,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook stands scowling—his default expression—with his shaggy hair a mess, like he’s been raking his hands through it. He gives the Bevans a run for their money in terms of size, and the three of them together take up most of the spare real estate in the shop. ",{"children":5977,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5978],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5979,"type":70,"version":4},"“You know it’s rude to talk about how people smell,” I tell Cardigan, who responds with a mock salute.",{"children":5981,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5982],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5983,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yes, mom.”",{"children":5985,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5986],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5987,"type":70,"version":4},"“Dude, she’d be such a MILF,” Raf comments. “But then you’d have to call me daddy. Pretty sure that’d get confusing.”",{"children":5989,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5990],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5991,"type":70,"version":4},"A vague sputtering rumble comes from Rook’s chest, and I’m fairly sure he’s… growling at the two brothers. ",{"children":5993,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5994],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5995,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m not sure why. Maybe he thinks they’re damaging my delicate sensibilities. He always seems to think I’m someone who could be knocked down by a strong breeze.",{"children":5997,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[5998],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5999,"type":70,"version":4},"But he doesn’t know how I grew up. Who I grew up with.",{"children":6001,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6002],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6003,"type":70,"version":4},"Not that I know the same about him, either. Our pasts remain a mystery, even after seeing each other every day for the past eight years and living together for most of that time. My stomach clenches at the reminder.",{"children":6005,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6006],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6007,"type":70,"version":4},"As much as I might want to know everything about his life, he couldn’t be more of a closed book.",{"children":6009,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6010],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6011,"type":70,"version":4},"“Is everything okay?” I ask him softly. It’s unusual for anyone to visit me at work unless—",{"children":6013,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6014],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6015,"type":70,"version":4},"“Are the kids all okay?” I amend quickly, my stomach flipping again, adding to the general sense of unease as I suck in a deep breath.",{"children":6017,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6018],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6019,"type":70,"version":4},"The ‘kids’ are the twins who appeared in our lives a couple of years ago as homeless orphans—both are now fourteen, so not exactly children. The third is Seb, the little brother of one of my sister Silver’s fiancés. He’s just turned eighteen, so not a kid either.",{"children":6021,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6022],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6023,"type":70,"version":4},"All three currently live with me in my little cottage. When we first moved here, they stayed at our sister Silver’s place with her four fiancés. But her relationships are still in the honeymoon period, and the three kids decided they’d prefer my place. It’s quieter. Less chance of walking in on anything that might scar them mentally.",{"children":6025,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6026],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6027,"type":70,"version":4},"“About that—” Rook grunts out.",{"children":6029,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6030],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6031,"type":70,"version":4},"“Come on. We need to get a wriggle on. How long does it take to tell her we won’t be back until late?” Hanna calls from across the shop.",{"children":6033,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6034],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6035,"type":70,"version":4},"She’s only a couple of years older than Seb, but somehow she never got lumped into the same category as ‘the kids.’ Too wild and untamable. Never quite where you expect her to be or doing what you expect.",{"children":6037,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6038],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6039,"type":70,"version":4},"She’s my sister as much as Silver is, but Hanna and I couldn’t be more different if we tried. She’s a bolt of pure energy, while I’m more sedate. Reliable. Softer.",{"children":6041,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6042],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6043,"type":70,"version":4},"About to get walked all over.",{"children":6045,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6046],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6047,"type":70,"version":4},"She darts over and pokes Rook’s bicep, grinning up at him as he aims his glower at her. He towers over her by at least a foot, his bulk making her look like a pixie in comparison—she’s so small he could probably lift her with a single pinky finger.",{"children":6049,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6050],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6051,"type":70,"version":4},"“The twins are heading home with Seb. They’re gonna be a little late since they wanted to play cards or something.”",{"children":6053,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6054],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6055,"type":70,"version":4},"“He’s taking them for ice cream,” Rook corrects her, earning a careless shrug.",{"children":6057,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6058],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6059,"type":70,"version":4},"“Whatever. We have to head out for a few hours. Might not be back until tonight,” Hanna continues.",{"children":6061,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6062],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6063,"type":70,"version":4},"I ignore the way my stomach flips, unable to name the emotion I’m feeling. I’d been hoping to head home from work and spend an hour in the garden before crawling into bed to wish my headache away. Instead, I turn my attention to Raf, who’s eavesdropping without a hint of remorse.",{"children":6065,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6066],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6067,"type":70,"version":4},"I reach up and flick him on the chest. “Nosy.”",{"children":6069,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6070],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6071,"type":70,"version":4},"Hanna gasps. “Luna!” She lets out a little chortle. “Oh shit. We don’t really have to go, do we? I want to watch what happens in a fight between the Earth Mother and the... bat dude.”",{"children":6073,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6074],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6075,"type":70,"version":4},"Raf holds up his hands as Cardigan’s tail swishes dangerously close to the glass jars. “Hey, no fighting. Not with our favorite oracle and potion maker.”",{"children":6077,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6078],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6079,"type":70,"version":4},"Hanna gapes at him and Rook lets out another stifled growl.",{"children":6081,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6082],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6083,"type":70,"version":4},"I guess I’ve surprised them by... having friends? Or at least friends outside our little mishmashed family group.",{"children":6085,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6086],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6087,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’ll pick up the twins from school tomorrow and bring breakfast in the morning,” Rook says.",{"children":6089,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6090],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6091,"type":70,"version":4},"“No need.” I scrub at my face, fighting the urge to rub my aching temples. Recently, Rook and Hanna seem to bring out my inner frazzled soccer mom. It never used to be like this, with them canceling plans because of their mysterious trips doing who knows what.",{"children":6093,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6094],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6095,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t know exactly what their relationship is. Whether it’s ever gone beyond being strictly platonic. They’re not affectionate in public, but Rook’s even more protective of Hanna than anyone else—and that’s saying something.",{"children":6097,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6098],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6099,"type":70,"version":4},"I guess we’ve all made assumptions about them. For some reason, that makes my stomach flip over again, and I take a sip of my cooling tea.",{"children":6101,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6102],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6103,"type":70,"version":4},"“No strip poker tonight, then?” Raf says. “I guess we can raincheck, again.”",{"children":6105,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6106],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6107,"type":70,"version":4},"I roll my eyes, a soft smile playing at my lips.",{"children":6109,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6110],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6111,"type":70,"version":4},"“No strip anything,” I reply. “But the girls might play cards with you, if you ask them nicely.”",{"children":6113,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6114],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6115,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ah, no. Your brother gives me the heebie-jeebies.”",{"children":6117,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6118],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6119,"type":70,"version":4},"I raise an eyebrow. “Which one?”",{"children":6121,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6122],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6123,"type":70,"version":4},"“All of them. Not so much the frozen one, more the vamp and the angry one who looks like he’d like to make a stew out of my innards,” Cardigan replies.",{"children":6125,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6126],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6127,"type":70,"version":4},"“Shame,” I reply. “They all speak so highly of you.”",{"children":6129,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6130],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6131,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s talking about Zeph and Dante, two more of Silver’s fiancés—my soon-to-be brother-in-laws, even though Silver and I aren’t related by law or blood. None of us are. But our little hodgepodge family keeps extending as we add more members.",{"children":6133,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6134],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6135,"type":70,"version":4},"Rook’s looking at me like he doesn’t know me, and Hanna’s got a wicked grin on her face.",{"children":6137,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6138],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6139,"type":70,"version":4},"“The frozen one’s got a stellar poker face, though,” Raf replies, prompting another shocked gasp from Hanna and a snorted giggle from me.",{"children":6141,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6142],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6143,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s not actually joking. The brothers have been to my cottage while Ember was there, and we all played cards together since the twins insist it’s important to include Ember in normal things.",{"children":6145,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6146],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6147,"type":70,"version":4},"After getting involved with some shady vampires back in Arcanum, Ember has been trapped as a living statue for over a year.",{"children":6149,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6150],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6151,"type":70,"version":4},"And none of us have any idea how to free him from wherever he’s trapped.",{"children":6153,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6154],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6155,"type":70,"version":4},"His hair and fingernails don’t grow. He doesn’t develop sores from sitting in one position. He barely seems to breathe. It’s almost like he’s frozen in time, though Silver and Fabian insist his heart still beats, just sluggishly, like he’s caught in a deep sleep.",{"children":6157,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6158],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6159,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s as if someone locked him in ice and he hasn’t been able to thaw.",{"children":6161,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6162],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6163,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m sure Ember would let you win at cards, if you asked nicely,” I tell Raf with a smile, ignoring Rook’s narrow-eyed gaze.",{"children":6165,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6166],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6167,"type":70,"version":4},"Ember can use the light-hearted energy the Bevan brothers bring into any room. The twins are convinced he can hear everything we say, even without evidence. I’ve been doing my best to act normal, transporting him between my cottage and Silver’s house so he doesn’t go stir crazy.",{"children":6169,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6170],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6171,"type":70,"version":4},"He stays at my place more often than not, though. If he can hear, I don’t want to subject him to the sounds of Silver and her harem when they think no one’s listening.",{"children":6173,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6174],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6175,"type":70,"version":4},"Whatever Ember might have done, no one deserves that.",{"children":6177,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6178],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6179,"type":70,"version":4},"The bell jingles again and someone struggles to squeeze into the shop past the bulky forms of both Bevan brothers and Rook.",{"children":6181,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6182],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6183,"type":70,"version":4},"“Woah, it must be my lucky day.”",{"children":6185,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6186],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6187,"type":70,"version":4},"I try to peer over Cardigan’s shoulder to see who the voice belongs to. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it without a face.",{"children":6189,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6190],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6191,"type":70,"version":4},"Then my vision tunnels again and the shop disappears as another vision hits me like a slap to the face, leaving me gasping for breath.",{"children":6193,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6194],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6195,"type":70,"version":4},"I See a stack of cards—some regular face cards, others tattered and borrowed from a Tarot deck. Three Jacks, two Queens, the Tower, the Moon, the reversed Two of Cups. I scramble to remember them all, to make sense of their meaning.",{"children":6197,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6198],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6199,"type":70,"version":4},"A bird’s wing brushes past my cheek, leaving a freezing trail in its wake. The vision morphs into a world filled with fog. I can barely tell which way is up or if I’m inside or outside. It’s disorienting, discombobulating, and my heart pounds out of my chest. I can hear my own heaving breaths and little else as I stumble forward.",{"children":6201,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6202],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6203,"type":70,"version":4},"Voices draw me closer, and I make out two figures in the murk. Silver is holding hands with Dante as they wander along, stumbling occasionally as they step into knee-deep water.",{"children":6205,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6206],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6207,"type":70,"version":4},"“This is stupid. I can’t see where the hell I’m going.” Silver’s voice echoes like she’s speaking from inside a crypt.",{"children":6209,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6210],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6211,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m not doing much better than you, angel,” Dante replies.",{"children":6213,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6214],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6215,"type":70,"version":4},"Then I take a step and my foot meets water instead of solid ground. I careen forward, falling into a frozen pool that swallows me whole and I thrash in the darkness as bubbles surround me, but I can’t tell which way is up.",{"children":6217,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6218],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6219,"type":70,"version":4},"Thud. Thud. Thud.",{"children":6221,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6222],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6223,"type":70,"version":4},"All I can hear is a deep, rhythmic pounding.",{"children":6225,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6226,6228,6230],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6227,"type":70,"version":4},"And I can feel it, ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6229,"type":70,"version":4},"feel",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6231,"type":70,"version":4}," that something’s—",{"children":6233,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6234],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6235,"type":70,"version":4},"My vision whitens and I’m back in The Creaky Door, my head and heart both pounding out a sickening rhythm.",{"children":6237,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6238],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6239,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake my head, trying to dislodge the leftover feelings from my vision, trying to make sense of what I Saw and felt, but I’m struggling.",{"children":6241,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6242],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6243,"type":70,"version":4},"Sometimes the visions are easy to interpret. But often, they’re like this—a confusing mixture of noise and images and feelings. Especially recently, it feels like I’m losing all control over them. ",{"children":6245,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6246],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6247,"type":70,"version":4},"I wonder if things would be different if I’d had proper training, or hadn’t spent so long hiding my powers, whether I’d be better at understanding the more cryptic ones.",{"children":6249,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6250],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6251,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad. All I can go by is the tangled ball of dread and pain still lodged in my gut.",{"children":6253,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6254],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6255,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t tell what the vision means.",{"children":6257,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6258],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6259,"type":70,"version":4},"But I do know something is coming our way.",{"id":6261,"chapterNumber":66,"title":6262,"body":6263},"6a7cdfea939b92475e0ee52e","Bonus chapter | A spicy extra epilogue ",{"root":6264},{"children":6265,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[6266,6272,6276,6280,6284,6288,6292,6296,6300,6304,6308,6312,6316,6320,6324,6328,6332,6336,6340,6344,6348,6352,6356,6360,6364,6368,6372,6376,6380],{"children":6267,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":6270,"version":4,"tag":6271},[6268],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6269,"type":70,"version":4},"After the events of Wildfire Witch","heading","h2",{"children":6273,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6274],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6275,"type":70,"version":4},"The moment the ring is on my finger, Zeph growls and scoops me into his arms, tossing me onto the bed. ",{"children":6277,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6278],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6279,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now we’re gonna fuck you like you’re our wife-to-be,” he rasps. “Like you’re ours.”",{"children":6281,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6282],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6283,"type":70,"version":4},"“Is that different from how you usually fuck me?” I tease, causing him to growl again, nuzzling my neck. Heat licks through me, fire filling my veins as he hovers over me with this intense need in his eyes. ",{"children":6285,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6286],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6287,"type":70,"version":4},"The others all scramble to get naked while Zeph strips my clothes off me, barely avoiding ripping them in his haste. ",{"children":6289,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6290],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6291,"type":70,"version":4},"This entire day has been perfect. I spent the morning being pampered and having my breakfast brought to me in bed. This was followed by an afternoon with my sisters, Rook and Seb, who both took remarkably well to being pampered and having their nails done. Sheer luxuries we’d never have bothered with before. ",{"children":6293,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6294],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6295,"type":70,"version":4},"Just like I never let myself think much about the future, but now I’m here in this house with the people I love, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. ",{"children":6297,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6298],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6299,"type":70,"version":4},"“Roscoe, on Silver’s right, Fabian on her left,” Dante orders the others, and they follow his directions seamlessly. He’s good at this, at taking control and being one step back from the others. He also likes to watch them fuck me, which works for us all since it always winds up being sex that you can feel for days. ",{"children":6301,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6302],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6303,"type":70,"version":4},"Zeph kisses me long and deep before shimmying down my body to rest his big body between my legs. Roscoe crawls up beside me and I tug him into a kiss, yanking on his hair and enjoying the way he whimpers slightly and palms his cock.  ",{"children":6305,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6306],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6307,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thank you for dinner,” I whisper in his ear. “You did so good. It was perfect.”",{"children":6309,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6310],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6311,"type":70,"version":4},"His cock twitches again, just like I knew it would, and he devours me in a kiss, only pulling back to mutter against my lips.",{"children":6313,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6314],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6315,"type":70,"version":4},"“Perfect, just like you. I can’t wait to wife you up, sweetheart.”",{"children":6317,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6318],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6319,"type":70,"version":4},"Me neither. The thought of spending every day with these four, of officially becoming a family, fills me with a bunch of warm, fuzzy feelings.",{"children":6321,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6322],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6323,"type":70,"version":4},"Fabian tips my head to one side and presses his lips to mine in a deep, drugging kiss, and my pussy grows impossibly wetter. It’s like now my happy tears have dried up, all the moisture has gathered between my legs.",{"children":6325,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6326],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6327,"type":70,"version":4},"Then Zeph sets to devouring me like I’m his own personal snack. There are hands caressing me all over as Roscoe and Fabian take turns to steal kisses that leave me breathless. I come for the first time with Zeph’s mouth on my clit and Roscoe’s lips gently sucking at my nipple.",{"children":6329,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6330],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6331,"type":70,"version":4},"Dante rearranges us so that I’m straddling him backwards and his hard cock presses up against my ass. Roscoe scrambles off the bed and feeds me his cock, which I take into my mouth enthusiastically, relishing the taste of him as he stares down at me with a reverence that makes my breath catch. ",{"children":6333,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6334],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6335,"type":70,"version":4},"“You take my cock so well. Looking so hot with your lips around me, I’m not gonna last long, Silver.”",{"children":6337,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6338],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6339,"type":70,"version":4},"Fabian pushes into my pussy, pushing my legs up and over his shoulders as he fucks me slow and deep. Zeph shifts until he’s straddling my front and pushing my tits together to fuck them. ",{"children":6341,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6342],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6343,"type":70,"version":4},"“Holy shit. I didn’t think this could get better, but knowing I’m fucking these perfect tits and you’re gonna be mine has my cock harder than it’s ever been before,” Zeph growls. ",{"children":6345,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6346],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6347,"type":70,"version":4},"I can feel the four of them everywhere. Their touches are gentle, like they’re worshiping every inch of my skin. It’s like all of them are working in tandem to overload my body with sensation until I’m a quivering mess. ",{"children":6349,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6350],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6351,"type":70,"version":4},"My body shakes as they continue to kiss and caress and worship me. ",{"children":6353,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6354],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6355,"type":70,"version":4},"“Are you ready to come again, angel?”",{"children":6357,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6358],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6359,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod helplessly, tilting my head to one side to give him access. And then Dante licks a line up my neck, sinking his teeth into the skin there. ",{"children":6361,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6362],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6363,"type":70,"version":4},"I explode. My vision whites out and my pussy pulses and clenches as sparks flood through my veins. Ro’s cock sinks impossibly deeper down my throat and I’m vaguely aware of him cursing as he comes. 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My bear pushes forward, charging to take control as the rest of me slumps back in numb disbelief. I suck in a ragged breath as my metal spines shred my flesh to pieces. But it doesn’t hurt half as much as the feeling that strikes when I discover our bond is snuffed out. ",{"children":6481,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6482],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6483,"type":70,"version":4},"As malformed as it was, it told me that Reva was safe. ",{"children":6485,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6486],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6487,"type":70,"version":4},"And now it’s gone.",{"children":6489,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6490],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6491,"type":70,"version":4},"Which must mean she must be too. ",{"children":6493,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6494],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6495,"type":70,"version":4},"Everything is a blur of movement and deafening noise as my bear takes charge. He’s fueled by a mixture of terror and fury, riding on top of Captain Finch’s monstrous tentacle while he demolishes everything he touches for miles around. ",{"children":6497,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6498],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6499,"type":70,"version":4},"Smash.",{"children":6501,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6502],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6503,"type":70,"version":4},"Crash.",{"children":6505,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6506],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6507,"type":70,"version":4},"Crush.",{"children":6509,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6510],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6511,"type":70,"version":4},"Destroy. ",{"children":6513,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6514],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6515,"type":70,"version":4},"Finch smashes buildings and roads to pieces, working like a frenzied wild thing until he’s taken down the entire town. There’s an ominous rumble, and the ground collapses under us. We tumble face-first into the dark.",{"children":6517,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6518],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":1592,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":6520,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6521],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6522,"type":70,"version":4},"I smell blood. Blood and dust and rubble. That’s all that’s left of this place now. ",{"children":6524,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6525],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6526,"type":70,"version":4},"Through the darkness, I can just make out odd shapes and let out a groan. Seems my bear’s abandoned me. Pushing myself up away from the shattered floor tiles, I realise most of the blood I can smell is my own. ",{"children":6528,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6529],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6530,"type":70,"version":4},"My arms are a mess of ragged flesh, so I suppose there’s not much left of me either.",{"children":6532,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6533],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6534,"type":70,"version":4},"My body isn’t working as I try and fail to stagger to my feet. My legs are jelly and the right one won’t bear my full weight. ",{"children":6536,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6537],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6538,"type":70,"version":4},"I drag it behind me, picking my way out of the destroyed laboratory. The home of my nightmares. ",{"children":6540,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6541],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6542,"type":70,"version":4},"It doesn’t smell any better than it did back when we were held here decades ago. It always was a festering shithole, and I have to say, Finch has improved the place by smashing it to bits. The only thing better would be burning it to the ground.",{"children":6544,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6545],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6546,"type":70,"version":4},"… I wonder where I can find some matches. ",{"children":6548,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6549],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6550,"type":70,"version":4},"Finch is somewhere, still wreaking destruction just ahead. I can feel the vibrations in the floor and walls as he heads along, intent on leaving nothing here but dust.",{"children":6552,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6553],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6554,"type":70,"version":4},"But we’re not the only two people here. Kit has to be somewhere along with Jack.",{"children":6556,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6557],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6558,"type":70,"version":4},"And Reva—",{"children":6560,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6561],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6562,"type":70,"version":4},"My stomach rebels at the thought, but she has to be somewhere here too. ",{"children":6564,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6565],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6566,"type":70,"version":4},"Limping from one ruined room to the next, I pick my way through the rubble, struggling over it with my gammy leg. There’s light streaming through from the gaping great hole in the ceiling, and I can just make out a massive bathtub, smashed to bits. The floor’s sticky and covered in something black that sticks to my bare feet. ",{"children":6568,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6569],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6570,"type":70,"version":4},"In the middle of the biggest puddle, there’s a small, black lump, and I stagger toward it as horror slices through me. ",{"children":6572,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6573],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6574,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a raven, lying prone on the floor.",{"children":6576,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6577],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6578,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack.",{"children":6580,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6581],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6582,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m on my knees beside him, cradling his tiny body in my ungainly hands as I wipe and wipe the goopy black shit away from his beak. ",{"children":6584,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6585],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6586,"type":70,"version":4},"How do you resuscitate a bird? I’m damned sure I should know by now, but Jack’s so good at skating through life unscathed, I’ve never needed to learn. Pumping his tiny chest, I wish I wasn’t naked as the day I was born. I don’t even have a spare sock to help wipe off the worst of the gunk he’s caked in. ",{"children":6588,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6589],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6590,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s totally still. No signs of life in his tiny body, and I keep pumping, ignoring that my hands are shaking and look monstrously big compared to his body.",{"children":6592,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6593],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6594,"type":70,"version":4},"“Come on, man,” I mutter to myself. “You can’t do this to me. Not now. You need to snap out of it.” I lean down to blow air into his beak, hoping it works just as well on birds as it does on people. His chest inflates, and I pull back, spitting out a mouthful of black stuff onto the floor.",{"children":6596,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6597],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6598,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack’s body quivers in my hand, and I almost choke on the remaining black goop coating my tongue. It’s covering my hands and I wipe and wipe at my legs, trying to get it off.   ",{"children":6600,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6601],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6602,"type":70,"version":4},"“Jack?”",{"children":6604,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6605],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6606,"type":70,"version":4},"Two beady eyes peer up at me before closing again.",{"children":6608,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6609],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6610,"type":70,"version":4},"“Oh no, you don’t, buddy.” I prod him. Can’t say I’m known for my bedside manner, but the fucker had better not conk out on me now. ",{"children":6612,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6613],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6614,"type":70,"version":4},"His eyes open again, and he twitches his wings, sending more black sludge flying. His body then vibrates for a second before it transforms, arms and legs shooting out until I’ve got a naked Jack in my lap.",{"children":6616,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6617],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6618,"type":70,"version":4},"He groans, flopping back with his arm over his eyes. ",{"children":6620,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6621],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6622,"type":70,"version":4},"A breath of sheer relief gusts out of me. “Holy shit, you scared me.”",{"children":6624,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6625],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6626,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack lets out another groan, rolling slightly, so he’s no longer directly in my lap but his head is resting on my thigh. ",{"children":6628,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6629],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6630,"type":70,"version":4},"“Must have been some party,” he mutters. “I don’t remember a thing.” He rolls onto his side and then pushes himself up until he’s sitting cross-legged on the shattered floor. “Were we mud wrestling or something?”",{"children":6632,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6633],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6634,"type":70,"version":4},"“You were dead,” I tell him. ",{"children":6636,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6637],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6638,"type":70,"version":4},"He closes one eye and shakes his head. “Nah, that can’t be right. My head’s pounding, but I’m pretty sure I’d know if I’d made it to the other side.”",{"children":6640,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6641],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6642,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s an ominous creaking from somewhere above us right as a booming echo rattles the walls. ",{"children":6644,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6645],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6646,"type":70,"version":4},"“We should get out of here,” I murmur. “Before the whole place comes crashing down.” I struggle to my feet, every part of me complaining after being on my knees for so long. ",{"children":6648,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6649],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6650,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack slides a little, struggling to get traction on the slippery ground as I help him to his feet. “Not mud wrestling, then.” He peers at his tar-covered palms and legs with a pained expression. “Magic wrestling, maybe?”",{"children":6652,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6653],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6654,"type":70,"version":4},"I take a limping step forward as another booming crash sounds from somewhere above us. “How do you mean?”",{"children":6656,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6657],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6658,"type":70,"version":4},"“This is magic. Seems the sorceress’s collection of it.” ",{"children":6660,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6661],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6662,"type":70,"version":4},"I scrunch my nose up as I peer down at myself. “Do you think it’s a bad thing we’re caked in it?” It looks like I’ve taken a damn bath in the stuff. ",{"children":6664,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6665],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6666,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack hums to himself, taking a hesitant step forward. “I’ve got a feeling it might be the only reason I'm on this side of the abyss right now.”",{"children":6668,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6669],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6670,"type":70,"version":4},"“You—”",{"children":6672,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6673],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6674,"type":70,"version":4},"“I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty good,” he continues, flexing one arm. “Unnaturally good.”",{"children":6676,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6677],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6678,"type":70,"version":4},"I feel like someone’s taken a rusty axe to my back and knees, so I can’t say I relate. ",{"children":6680,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6681],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6682,"type":70,"version":4},"“Let’s keep going. We need to find the others,” Jack says. “This place is depressing, eh?”",{"children":6684,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6685],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6686,"type":70,"version":4},"I snort as we slowly make our way from room to room, following the sounds of Finch’s destruction. It no longer looks anything like I remember. Gone are all those pesky things like walls and ceilings, but there’s still the faint scent of misery and fear in the air. ",{"children":6688,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6689],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6690,"type":70,"version":4},"And something else, too. Something with a salty tang and a deeper scent, from the ocean’s depths.",{"children":6692,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6693],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6694,"type":70,"version":4},"“Cap’s close by,” I rasp. ",{"children":6696,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6697],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6698,"type":70,"version":4},"“What gave it away?” Jack replies, right as a thick black tentacle crashes through the ceiling just ahead of us. ",{"children":6700,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6701],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6702,"type":70,"version":4},"More dust and rubble fill the air, and instead of retreating away from the rampaging kraken, we stagger closer. ",{"children":6704,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6705],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6706,"type":70,"version":4},"It takes a minute for the dust to settle enough to make anything out. ",{"children":6708,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6709],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6710,"type":70,"version":4},"But the moment the air clears, I’m zeroed in on one thing. A mass of hair attached to a strong yet soft body.",{"children":6712,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6713],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6714,"type":70,"version":4},"Reva.",{"children":6716,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6717],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6718,"type":70,"version":4},"A buzzing fills my ears, and once again, I drop to my battered knees on the hard floor. I’m barely aware of the shattered glass that digs into my flesh as I bend over her body, shifting the mass of hair from her bloodless face. My hands are bloodied and covered in stolen magic, leaving a messy trail over her skin and hair. ",{"children":6720,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6721],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6722,"type":70,"version":4},"There are raised voices around me, but I can’t make out details over the intense buzzing in my ears. ",{"children":6724,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6725],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6726,"type":70,"version":4},"I scoop Reva’s lifeless form into my arms, my spines re-emerging as if to ward off any attempts to take her from me. She’s warm still, her face peaceful like she’s merely sleeping hard. Someone touches my shoulder, and a growl erupts from my chest. I twist and snarl, tightening my grip on the precious cargo in my arms.",{"children":6728,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6729],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6730,"type":70,"version":4},"“Tor, come on, man.” Someone’s touching me again, but I’ve lost all sense of reason by this point. I snarl again. ",{"children":6732,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6733],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6734,"type":70,"version":4},"Eyes darting around wildly, I’m aware of concerned faces that look vaguely familiar. Jack and Kit and the witch, Aster, are standing amid more rubble and destruction. Light is flooding through the massive hole in the ceiling, and even Captain Finch’s kraken seems to have paused its rampage. ",{"children":6736,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6737],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6738,"type":70,"version":4},"Why are they all just standing there? ",{"children":6740,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6741],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6742,"type":70,"version":4},"I can just make out Jack’s concerned expression. But his concern is useless.",{"children":6744,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6745],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6746,"type":70,"version":4},"“Do something,” I growl.",{"children":6748,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6749],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6750,"type":70,"version":4},"“You’re going to have to set her down for that, buddy. We can’t help her if you’re holding her like a possessive teddy bear.”",{"children":6752,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6753],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6754,"type":70,"version":4},"I grunt, but something in his tone pierces the haze in my head. It’s familiar, and I carefully lower Reva to the ground, sweeping clear any shards of glass. There are blobs of black goop on her skin where I was touching her, and I use my arms to clean them off as best I can, considering my hands are caked in the stuff. ",{"children":6756,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6757],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6758,"type":70,"version":4},"Something odd happens once she’s laid down. My hands flicker in and out of sight. One moment they’re there and the next they’re gone.",{"children":6760,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6761],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6762,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t focus on that though, needing all my attention on the woman lying on the ground as Jack squats beside her with the witch. They’re both running their hands over her and making my spines stick straight out and quiver. I force myself to hold back, to push back the urge to snap their fingers.",{"children":6764,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6765],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6766,"type":70,"version":4},"Aster murmurs words under his breath, and I’m so focused on his hand over her chest, it barely registers that the voiceless man has spoken at all. His hands shake as he pulls them away, dropping onto his backside with a nod.",{"children":6768,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6769],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6770,"type":70,"version":4},"“She’s breathing, Tor,” Jack says. “Looks like she’s hit her head, but she’s alive.”",{"children":6772,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6773],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6774,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m knocked back onto my arse by the weight of my relief. My eyes stray from her perfect face with its scattering freckles surrounded by a halo of wild curls to my dirty and bloodied hands and the blood dripping onto the floor from the wounds on my back.",{"children":6776,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6777],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6778,"type":70,"version":4},"But even when I scrub away the grime covering my forearm, I still don’t see the mark on my skin.",{"children":6780,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6781],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6782,"type":70,"version":4},"Reva might be back, but the mate bond hasn’t returned. ",{"children":6784,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"id":3932,"alt":6786,"updatedAt":6787,"createdAt":6787,"url":6788,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":6789,"mimeType":22,"filesize":6790,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Idols and Infamy book cover by Essie Suter. A woman stands to the side, looking at her hands which are filled with magic light. The background is smoke and the ocean's waves","2026-08-10T19:48:16.839Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FIdols%20and%20Infamy-2.jpg","Idols and Infamy-2.jpg",333039,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fdp\u002FB0GPNZW5MG",[],[],"2026-07-06T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":6796,"description":6797,"image":6798},"Idols and Infamy. A cozy shifter fantasy romance | Essie Suter","A cozy shifter pirate romantasy: broken mate bonds, buried secrets, and a king's forces closing in. Book 2 of a reverse harem romantasy series.",{"id":3932,"alt":6786,"updatedAt":6787,"createdAt":6787,"url":6788,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":6789,"mimeType":22,"filesize":6790,"width":24,"height":25,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-27T10:10:13.899Z","2026-08-10T19:48:20.671Z",[],{"id":6385,"title":6803,"slug":6804,"series":6805,"seriesLabel":59,"description":6806,"previewChapters":6852,"cover":7295,"amazonLink":7304,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":7305,"otherLinks":7306,"featured":5,"latest":5,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":7307,"order":16,"seo":7308,"updatedAt":7312,"createdAt":7313,"ebookFormats":7314,"excerpt":6812},"Tides and Treachery ","tides-and-treachery",{"id":120,"name":450,"slug":451,"tagline":452,"order":66,"updatedAt":453,"createdAt":454},{"root":6807},{"children":6808,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[6809,6813,6817,6821,6825,6829,6833,6849],{"children":6810,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6811],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6812,"type":70,"version":4},"A mate who chose our enemy. A bond torn thin enough to break. And a debt only a traitor can repay.",{"children":6814,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6815],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6816,"type":70,"version":4},"I've been fighting to hold my new family of mates together. But then Torin vanished into the bond and the only person who might know how to bring him back is the one mate who betrayed us all.",{"children":6818,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6819],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6820,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack chose the sorceress over us, over me, and I still don't fully understand why.",{"children":6822,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6823],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6824,"type":70,"version":4},"I hate that we need him. But every step closer to saving Torin reveals more, and I'm starting to realize Jack might not have been as free as I believed.",{"children":6826,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6827],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6828,"type":70,"version":4},"Meanwhile, ghosts from Aster's past are stirring, hunting the sorceress but they’re as wild and unpredictable as the rest of the pirate crew. ",{"children":6830,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6831],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6832,"type":70,"version":4},"We might be low on both trust and time, but I refuse to lose another mate to the sorceress’s games. ",{"children":6834,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6835,6837,6838,6840,6841,6843,6844,6846,6847],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6836,"type":70,"version":4},"Tides and Treachery is a fast-paced why choose fantasy romance. It’s the final book in a trilogy with:",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6839,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ A fractured mate bond and a rescue against the clock",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6842,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ Betrayal that's not as simple as it seems",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6845,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ Old wounds and old favours coming due",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6848,"type":70,"version":4},"✔ A found family fighting to become whole again",{"children":6850,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6851],{"type":98,"version":4},[6853,7002],{"id":6854,"chapterNumber":66,"title":6855,"body":6856},"6ab7ec673e5d03f04c0695de","Prologue | Reva",{"root":6857},{"children":6858,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[6859,6863,6867,6871,6877,6882,6886,6890,6894,6898,6902,6906,6910,6914,6920,6924,6928,6932,6936,6940,6946,6950,6954,6958,6962,6966,6970,6974,6978,6982,6986,6990,6994,6998],{"children":6860,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":6270,"version":4,"tag":6862},[6861],{"detail":66,"format":4,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5107,"type":70,"version":4},"h4",{"children":6864,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":6270,"version":4,"tag":6862},[6865],{"detail":66,"format":4,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6866,"type":70,"version":4},"Reva",{"children":6868,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6869],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6870,"type":70,"version":4},"For a terrible moment, it feels like I’m falling from a great height. ",{"children":6872,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6873,6875],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6874,"type":70,"version":4},"Torin?",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6876,"type":70,"version":4}," Noush whimpers at the biting ache in our chest when there’s no answer. Someone has scooped out my insides and left them raw and bleeding and my legs no longer seem strong enough to hold me upright.",{"children":6878,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6879,6880],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6874,"type":70,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6881,"type":70,"version":4}," She tries again, more frantically this time. I’m used to Noush being impulsive and getting me into trouble more than she gets me out of this. But I’ve never felt this kind of soul-deep panic from her before.",{"children":6883,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6884],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6885,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s gone. ",{"children":6887,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6888],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6889,"type":70,"version":4},"She’s right. I can’t feel him at the other end of the mate bond. He’s just… not there any more. Snuffed out. When I try to tug on one end of the bond, it’s no longer connected to anything and I’m just pulling and pulling at a loose thread. The end that should attach to him is untethered, cut into pieces. ",{"children":6891,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6892],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6893,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s how I feel right now; untethered. I’m lost in deep water with no idea which way is up. Exactly like I was when Torin fought Finch’s kraken to protect me just over a week ago. He pitted himself against a monster of legend without reservations, all for me. ",{"children":6895,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6896],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6897,"type":70,"version":4},"My growly, grumbly, wonderful mate. We haven’t had anywhere near enough time together. ",{"children":6899,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6900],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6901,"type":70,"version":4},"“Reva?” Finch is here beside me where I’m kneeling in a dirty alleyway in the middle of the capital city. I’m barely aware of the cold seeping through my trousers as his stormy grey eyes peer at me with concern. “Talk to me. What’s happening, love?”",{"children":6903,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6904],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6905,"type":70,"version":4},"I open my mouth to explain, even though I can barely wrap my head around it. All I know is that it feels like Torin is gone. Gone from the world. Gone from my life. ",{"children":6907,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6908],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6909,"type":70,"version":4},"“I don’t know,” I rasp. “Something is wrong with Torin, or with the bond. It’s difficult to tell.”",{"children":6911,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6912],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6913,"type":70,"version":4},"And then I feel something new. ",{"children":6915,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6916,6918],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6917,"type":70,"version":4},"Jack’s voice fills my head, steely with resolve. ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6919,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not on my watch.”",{"children":6921,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6922],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6923,"type":70,"version":4},"I haven’t felt him in the mate bond since he cut me off after announcing his engagement to the sorceress. Right now though, he’s wide open and I can feel everything from his side.",{"children":6925,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6926],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6927,"type":70,"version":4},"His terror. Regret. Determination.",{"children":6929,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6930],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6931,"type":70,"version":4},"I gasp as a surge of unadulterated power floods the bond, it leaves my insides glowing so brightly I feel scorched by the sheer force of it. I can’t tell exactly what’s happening, but somehow I know that all of the power is coming from Jack. He’s forcing it into the bond. I had no idea he had this amount of power inside him, and for him to force it through the bond is… uncomfortable, close to painful. ",{"children":6933,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6934],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6935,"type":70,"version":4},"Then I feel a ghostly hand grasping beneath my ribs, it’s searching for something that isn’t there. I’ve never felt anything quite like it before and it’s as though someone is rooting around inside my internal organs and shifting them about. ",{"children":6937,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6938],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6939,"type":70,"version":4},"“Jack, he’s gone.”",{"children":6941,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[6942,6944],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6943,"type":70,"version":4},"“I said… not. On. My. Watch.” ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6945,"type":70,"version":4},"He pants the words and something shifts inside me. ",{"children":6947,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6948],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6949,"type":70,"version":4},"—and then, just as rapidly as he went dark, Torin flickers back into the bond.",{"children":6951,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6952],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6953,"type":70,"version":4},"If I hadn’t already been on my knees, my legs would give out. Two strong, invisible arms wrap around me, and I suck in a lungful of Torin’s unique clove scent.",{"children":6955,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6956],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6957,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m here, my heart. I’m here,” he says.",{"children":6959,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6960],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6961,"type":70,"version":4},"Raw relief floods my system as I reel through a dozen emotions, landing on a muddled mix of relief and confusion. “You weren’t, though. You were gone.”",{"children":6963,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6964],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6965,"type":70,"version":4},"I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting to regulate my breathing as Jack’s portion of the bond cuts off before I can even thank him for whatever he just did.",{"children":6967,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6968],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6969,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m not leaving you,” Torin murmurs, sitting on the cold ground and folding me into his lap. He then cradles me firmly against his chest; squeezing like he doesn’t dare to let me go. ",{"children":6971,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6972],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6973,"type":70,"version":4},"“Never. Not if I can help it.”",{"children":6975,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6976],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6977,"type":70,"version":4},"Finch crouches in front of the two of us, tentacles reaching out to stroke my head and tug gently at Torin’s bun. I clutch Torin’s arm to my chest, as though that’ll stop him from fading away again. ",{"children":6979,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6980],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6981,"type":70,"version":4},"“What happened to you?” I rasp, resting my forehead against his invisible chest. ",{"children":6983,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6984],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6985,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m not sure,” Torin replies, speaking in a low voice, like he’s afraid to tempt fate and be snatched away again. “I was here one minute and then there was… nothing. It felt as though I was floating in a tunnel, and I didn’t know which way to go. Then I felt Jack—”",{"children":6987,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6988],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6989,"type":70,"version":4},"“He did something through the bond.”",{"children":6991,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6992],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6993,"type":70,"version":4},"“He flooded the tunnel with light, and suddenly I could see my way back to you.”",{"children":6995,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[6996],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":6997,"type":70,"version":4},"I glance up at Finch, who is already nodding, his face set. “We need to find Jack.”",{"children":6999,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7000],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7001,"type":70,"version":4},"Because we can’t risk that happening again. I’ve only just found my mates, and I don’t want to lose any of them. Even if that means tracking down the one person I’m bonded to who lied to and betrayed us all.  ",{"id":7003,"chapterNumber":4,"title":7004,"body":7005},"6ab7ec823e5d03f04c0695df","Aster",{"root":7006},{"children":7007,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[7008,7012,7016,7020,7024,7028,7032,7036,7040,7044,7048,7052,7056,7060,7064,7068,7072,7076,7080,7084,7088,7092,7096,7100,7104,7108,7112,7116,7120,7124,7128,7132,7136,7140,7144,7148,7152,7156,7160,7164,7168,7172,7176,7180,7183,7187,7191,7195,7199,7203,7207,7211,7215,7219,7223,7227,7231,7235,7239,7243,7247,7251,7255,7259,7263,7267,7271,7275,7279,7283,7287],{"children":7009,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7010],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7011,"type":70,"version":4},"I never thought I’d pine for the days where I couldn’t understand anyone around me, but here I am. Twelve hours in the sleeper carriage of a train with just Kit for company has led to just that.",{"children":7013,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7014],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7015,"type":70,"version":4},"We’ve already spent five days on the road together. Five days of being bounced around on coaches and trains, and now our final leg of the journey has us traveling through the night. For some reason, neither of us can sleep and so Kit has taken it upon himself to describe each and every piece from his collection of oddities. ",{"children":7017,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7018],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7019,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t know how, but the collection seems to be growing by the hour. Whenever I think he might be done, he plucks something else from his bag. And each one seems to have a more and more elaborate story attached to it. ",{"children":7021,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7022],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7023,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now, this one is a real corker,” he says with a fond grin, thrusting a candlestick under my nose. “I found it as part of a box that I came across in a haunted house.”",{"children":7025,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7026],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7027,"type":70,"version":4},"I glance out the window and then at the clock on the wall before taking a deep breath. After all this time travelling together, we’re only a few hours from our destination.",{"children":7029,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7030],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7031,"type":70,"version":4},"Home.",{"children":7033,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7034],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7035,"type":70,"version":4},"Or… the place that used to be my home, anyway. The place where I grew up.",{"children":7037,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7038],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7039,"type":70,"version":4},"The train judders along, our carriage swaying from side to side, and my stomach lurches once again. It’s difficult to tell whether it’s from the movement of the train or from my nerves as I consider what’ll greet us when we stop moving. I’ve felt unsettled for days now, with this lingering anxiety and unease tugging me down. ",{"children":7041,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7042],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7043,"type":70,"version":4},"“This set of spoons is all solid gold,” Kit continues blithely while I gulp down my third ginger tea of the night, glancing with aching eyes at the dark window as the country flies by. “I was given them by a gentleman who worked as a gravedigger. All of them had a particularly interesting curse on them that meant the next holder would end up in an early grave.”",{"children":7045,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7046],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7047,"type":70,"version":4},"I peer mournfully at the beds on one side of the carriage, wondering if I might just be able to sleep away this last portion of the journey. It’s been a long day and an even longer night, but recently, sleep hasn’t come easily to either of us. Most of my nights are haunted by nightmares or interrupted by random spurts of feeling via the mate bond in our chests. ",{"children":7049,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7050],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7051,"type":70,"version":4},"There must be a way of switching it off, considering that’s what Jack did almost as soon as it formed. But I don’t think either of us wants to. Not when it’s our only link to Reva. A connection that tugs painfully at the space between my ribs the further we travel away from her. ",{"children":7053,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7054],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7055,"type":70,"version":4},"It feels unnatural to be separated like this. But it’s necessary. For all of us.",{"children":7057,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7058],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7059,"type":70,"version":4},"“And of course, there’s this engraved spoon. This one had a jewel embedded in it that unfortunately turned to dust as soon as I could lift the curse.”",{"children":7061,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7062],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7063,"type":70,"version":4},"Thankfully, Kit doesn’t seem to require a response other than a nod here and there. He eyes me as I take another swig of cooling tea, squeezing my eyes shut as I swallow it down. ",{"children":7065,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7066],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7067,"type":70,"version":4},"“Feeling any better?”",{"children":7069,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7070],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7071,"type":70,"version":4},"I shrug, resting my head in my hands. ",{"children":7073,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7074],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7075,"type":70,"version":4},"“Worried about what you’ll come across when we get there?”",{"children":7077,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7078],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7079,"type":70,"version":4},"I pop my head up to peer at him through my aching eyes. That’s the thing about Kit—he might be going off on one about his collection of spoons—but he’s observant.",{"children":7081,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7082],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7083,"type":70,"version":4},"Kind, too.",{"children":7085,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7086],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7087,"type":70,"version":4},"It strikes me that he doesn’t usually blabber on like he has been all day. He’s usually more interested in trying to pick my brain, even though it takes me forever to formulate a response in the right language. ",{"children":7089,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7090],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7091,"type":70,"version":4},"Ah. He’s distracting me; he has to be.",{"children":7093,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7094],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7095,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m terrified,” I admit with a little laugh. I don’t know what I’m more scared of: that my family has sorely missed me, or that they’ll barely have noticed my absence. ",{"children":7097,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7098],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7099,"type":70,"version":4},"“Well, whatever happens, I’ll be there,” he says, leaning forward with a warm look in his eyes. “And we can stay as long as you like. Hours. Days. Weeks. Whatever you want.”",{"children":7101,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7102],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7103,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod, letting out a heavy sigh. “Thank you.”",{"children":7105,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7106],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7107,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’ve got nothing but time,” he says.",{"children":7109,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7110],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7111,"type":70,"version":4},"Neither of us do. ",{"children":7113,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7114],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7115,"type":70,"version":4},"Another rogue surge of concern hits us both simultaneously and Kit rubs his chest with a grimace. ",{"children":7117,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7118],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7119,"type":70,"version":4},"“Can’t say I’m going to get used to that in a hurry,” he says. “Is she worrying about Torin again, do you think?”",{"children":7121,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7122],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7123,"type":70,"version":4},"I nod. “I can’t blame her.” ",{"children":7125,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7126],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7127,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s been a couple of weeks since Torin disappeared from the bond. He was only gone for a little over a minute, but that was plenty long enough. We all felt it equally, like a string got cut loose or like Torin had… faded from existence, or at least gone somewhere that none of us could reach him. ",{"children":7129,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7130],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7131,"type":70,"version":4},"And no one felt it worse than Reva. ",{"children":7133,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7134],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7135,"type":70,"version":4},"When I focus on the tangle of bonds in my chest, I find the link to her singing with energy despite the late hour. She seems to notice my attention, sending back a zing of sheer joy to connect with me, chased by curiosity and another dose of concern that seems just for me. I send her reassurance right back. ",{"children":7137,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7138],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7139,"type":70,"version":4},"“They’re in the city,” Kit murmurs, and I nod again. It certainly feels that way. While it’s difficult to pinpoint exact locations now that we’re miles from each other, the sensation in Reva’s bonds with Jack, Finch, and Torin changed over the past day, as though they’re all quivering with proximity. In contrast, ours are duller, strained by physical distance. ",{"children":7141,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7142],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7143,"type":70,"version":4},"We all felt the moment that Jack interfered with Torin’s bond and dragged him back from wherever he’d drifted. And ever since Torin returned to the land of the living, Reva has been convinced that she needed to track Jack down and discover exactly what he did, just in case the same thing happens again. ",{"children":7145,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7146],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7147,"type":70,"version":4},"We quickly worked out that Jack had travelled to Mistlemarch, the city filled with sorcerers where he and Torin both grew up. And the thought of heading into that city, where we could bump into the sorceress or Jack’s family, was too much for both me and Kit to handle. ",{"children":7149,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7150],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7151,"type":70,"version":4},"So we separated. The rest of them headed into the city, while we travelled in the opposite direction, going north to my family’s farm. ",{"children":7153,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7154],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7155,"type":70,"version":4},"Kit didn’t need to accompany me. He could easily have gone anywhere, just like many of Finch’s crew have now that the warrants for their arrest have been lifted. I understand his reticence to head into the sorcerers’ city after their kind spent weeks messing with his head, leaving him a confused mess. But he definitely doesn’t need to be here with me on this seemingly endless journey home.",{"children":7157,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7158],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7159,"type":70,"version":4},"“Reva asked you to look after me, didn’t she?” I say, instantly knowing I’m right. It’s taken me an embarrassingly long time to put the pieces together and come to this conclusion. ",{"children":7161,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7162],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7163,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hmm?” His look of innocence has me choking on a laugh. He quickly gives in, though, his shoulders slumping as he gives a little sigh. “Fine. She didn’t ask me to come with you. That was all me.” He gives a little shudder. “It’ll be a long while before I’m ready to come face to face with another sorcerer, Jack or his new fiancée, especially.”",{"children":7165,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7166],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7167,"type":70,"version":4},"“And this?” I ask, gesturing to the wild collection of items in front of us, which he starts to carefully return to his bag. ",{"children":7169,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7170],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7171,"type":70,"version":4},"“She asked me to distract you,” he admits with more than a little reluctance. “Especially as we got closer.”",{"children":7173,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7174],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7175,"type":70,"version":4},"“Well, it worked,” I tell him, earning myself a bright grin. ",{"children":7177,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7178],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7179,"type":70,"version":4},"“Good. I don’t know how many more hours I had left in me,” he says. I raise an eyebrow, and he snorts. “Fair enough. I probably had a few more hours left in the tank.”",{"children":7181,"direction":20,"format":1593,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7182],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":2535,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":7184,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7185],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7186,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s in the early hours of the morning when we eventually reach my family’s farm in a taxi that we catch from the nearest town. My heart is pounding as we turn the corner onto the long driveway and I catch the first glimpse of the place. I’m expecting more jostling from all the usual set of potholes, but the driveway is smoother than I remember. Then we turn another corner and the entire farm opens up in front of us, cracking my chest wide open.",{"children":7188,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7189],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7190,"type":70,"version":4},"Sheer longing fills me, for all the memories of this place and all the others I’ve missed over the years I’ve been away. ",{"children":7192,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7193],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7194,"type":70,"version":4},"As the taxi halts in front of the house, the sheep in the nearest field all turn their heads to peer at us in unison. ",{"children":7196,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7197],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7198,"type":70,"version":4},"“Well, that’s more than a little unsettling.” Kit whistles under his breath as he takes a long look around before paying off the taxi driver. “I didn’t picture it to be like this when you said you were a farm boy.”",{"children":7200,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7201],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7202,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake my head. “It wasn’t like this when I left.”",{"children":7204,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7205],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7206,"type":70,"version":4},"Everything looks different, and I can’t tell if my memory is playing tricks on me or if the farmhouse really is taller than it used to be. It’s now painted a gleaming, perfect white, instead of the odd yellow it used to be. The fields are filled with grazing animals instead of the handful of ragged sheep I left behind. ",{"children":7208,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7209],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7210,"type":70,"version":4},"“Really? No fields or barns or sheep?” he replies drolly.",{"children":7212,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7213],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7214,"type":70,"version":4},"“We had all of those things,” I say slowly. “They just didn’t look like this. I know I’ve been gone for a while, but—”",{"children":7216,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7217],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7218,"type":70,"version":4},"“When you’re young, you don’t have perspective on the size of things. Maybe you’re just seeing it with adult eyes.”",{"children":7220,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7221],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7222,"type":70,"version":4},"“I wasn’t six when I left and telling people my dad’s bigger and tougher than their dad,” I tell him, slipping back into Valmorian and earning myself a bemused look. “I wasn’t a child when I left,” I repeat slowly in Kit’s own language. “And the house definitely didn’t have three stories,” I continue. “Or a porch either.”",{"children":7224,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7225],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7226,"type":70,"version":4},"It sounds crazy to point out, but it looks almost like the entire farmhouse has been rebuilt. ",{"children":7228,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7229],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7230,"type":70,"version":4},"“This is the right place, though? We’ve not stopped at the wrong farm, have we?”",{"children":7232,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7233],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7234,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake my head slowly, the rest of my body having frozen at the sight of a familiar figure passing by the downstairs window of the farmhouse. “That’s my mother.”",{"children":7236,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7237],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7238,"type":70,"version":4},"From here, she looks the same as she always did. The same slightly ruddy cheeks and dark hair haphazardly piled on top of her head. The same vaguely distracted look about her, like there’s always a million and one things on her mind. ",{"children":7240,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7241],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7242,"type":70,"version":4},"My palms are sweating as we step up to the porch. I can’t say exactly how many years have passed since I was last here. All the years trapped with the sorceress kind of blurred into one terrible, never-ending stream of darkness in my memory. Whether it’s been two years or ten, I feel positively ancient and like entire lifetimes have gone by since I last laid my eyes on my mother. ",{"children":7244,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7245],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7246,"type":70,"version":4},"“Ready?” Kit squeezes my arm as I feel a surge of reassurance from three different directions, all landing directly into the bond in my chest. It sends an almost dizzying wave of sensation through me, and I rub my chest, trying to disperse the overwhelming feeling while Kit chuckles.",{"children":7248,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7249],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7250,"type":70,"version":4},"“Sorry about that,” he says. “We’re all a little overeager for this to go well.”",{"children":7252,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7253],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7254,"type":70,"version":4},"Their support might be a little excessive, but it helps calm my racing heart. It’s another reminder that I’m not alone here.",{"children":7256,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7257],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7258,"type":70,"version":4},"I give two sharp raps on the door, followed by a pause, and then add a third lighter tap. My usual knock.",{"children":7260,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7261],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7262,"type":70,"version":4},"Kit turns to me with a raised eyebrow. “That’s odd, right? I might not know much about animals, but they’re giving me the willies.”",{"children":7264,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7265],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7266,"type":70,"version":4},"I glance in the direction he’s looking, back at the field of sheep that all seem to be watching us still. Before I can reply, the door is flung open behind us. ",{"children":7268,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7269],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7270,"type":70,"version":4},"And there she is. ",{"children":7272,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7273],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7274,"type":70,"version":4},"My mother. ",{"children":7276,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7277],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7278,"type":70,"version":4},"The shriek she lets out leaves my ears ringing and my bones rattling, as I’m dragged into a crushing hug. ",{"children":7280,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7281],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7282,"type":70,"version":4},"“Aster, my boy. You’re home, finally.” Her voice comes out muffled against my chest. “Come in, come in. I’ve so much to show you. And of course, I’ll have to let her know you’ve returned immediately. She’ll be dying to see you.”",{"children":7284,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7285],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7286,"type":70,"version":4},"I have so many questions but two rise to the front of my mind ahead of the others: Why is the farm in such good shape? ",{"children":7288,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7289,7291,7293],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7290,"type":70,"version":4},"And exactly ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7292,"type":70,"version":4},"who ",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7294,"type":70,"version":4},"is this ‘she’ that’s apparently dying to see me?  ",{"id":7296,"alt":7297,"updatedAt":7298,"createdAt":7298,"url":7299,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":7300,"mimeType":22,"filesize":7301,"width":7302,"height":7303,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},16,"Book cover for Tides and Treachery by Essie Suter. A woman with long hair is silhouetted, holding golden light in her hands","2026-09-26T15:48:07.342Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FThe%20Cursed%20Tides%20Book%203%20-%20Kindle%20-%20High%20Resolution-2.jpg","The Cursed Tides Book 3 - Kindle - High Resolution-2.jpg",698316,1120,1792,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fgp\u002Fproduct\u002FB0H7J9BMFK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_2&storeType=ebooks",[],[],"2026-10-27T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":7309,"description":7310,"image":7311},"Tides and Treachery. A why choose fantasy romance | Essie Suter","Saving Torin means trusting the mate who betrayed them all. The steamy, cosy finale to a why choose romantasy trilogy, with a family that needs healing and a full HEA.",{"id":7296,"alt":7297,"updatedAt":7298,"createdAt":7298,"url":7299,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":7300,"mimeType":22,"filesize":7301,"width":7302,"height":7303,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-27T10:12:25.755Z","2026-09-26T16:04:29.957Z",[],{"id":5031,"title":7316,"slug":7317,"series":7318,"seriesLabel":7324,"description":7325,"previewChapters":7384,"cover":7631,"amazonLink":7639,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":7640,"otherLinks":7641,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":7642,"order":7643,"seo":7644,"updatedAt":7648,"createdAt":7649,"ebookFormats":7650,"excerpt":7651},"Destiny Reaper","destiny-reaper",{"id":954,"name":7319,"slug":7320,"tagline":7321,"order":954,"updatedAt":7322,"createdAt":7323},"Weavers of the Ether","weavers-ether","Fate and Destiny meet their matches in this sweet, steamy, low-angst series","2026-08-12T22:01:35.545Z","2026-08-12T20:19:40.114Z","Book 1 | Standalone",{"root":7326},{"children":7327,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[7328,7332,7336,7340,7344,7348,7352,7357,7360],{"children":7329,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7330],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7331,"type":70,"version":4},"As a world-hopping tour guide, I can take you to places you’ve never even imagined",{"children":7333,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7334],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7335,"type":70,"version":4},"But I’ve spent years avoiding what I was made and trained for. ",{"children":7337,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7338],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7339,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m a destiny weaver and after a fellow weaver goes missing, I’m tasked with finding her. ",{"children":7341,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7342],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7343,"type":70,"version":4},"My partners in this are the standoffish but sexy reaper: Soren, his not so trusty ‘hound’: Brogan and Finn, a dragon shifter with a penchant for the cutest ‘treasures’.",{"children":7345,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7346],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7347,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m drawn to these men. To this place, to collecting souls with Soren and Brogan. To guarding the gate to the Afterlife with Finn.",{"children":7349,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7350],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7351,"type":70,"version":4},"Fate, destiny, karma: turns out you can’t escape them forever, however hard you try. And my own destiny won’t wait. ",{"children":7353,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[7354,7355],{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7356,"type":70,"version":4},"A sweet and steamy standalone reverse harem\u002Fwhy choose paranormal romance. That means our heroine will end up with more than one love interest by the end. ",{"children":7358,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[7359],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":935,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":7361,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[7362,7366,7370,7374,7378,7381],{"children":7363,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[7364],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7365,"type":70,"version":4},"A grumpy sunshine pairing (ice prince and sunshine)",{"children":7367,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[7368],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7369,"type":70,"version":4},"Possessive shifters, including a dragon that collects with the weirdest idea of ‘treasure’",{"children":7371,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[7372],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7373,"type":70,"version":4},"The grim reaper meets his match",{"children":7375,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[7376],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7377,"type":70,"version":4},"Opposites attract",{"children":7379,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[7380],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5728,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":7382,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":3932},[7383],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":5099,"type":70,"version":4},[7385],{"id":7386,"chapterNumber":4,"title":7387,"body":7388},"6a7cd650939b92475e0ee529","Echo",{"root":7389},{"children":7390,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[7391,7395,7399,7403,7407,7411,7415,7419,7423,7427,7431,7435,7439,7443,7447,7451,7455,7459,7463,7467,7471,7475,7479,7483,7487,7491,7495,7499,7503,7507,7511,7515,7519,7523,7527,7531,7535,7539,7543,7547,7551,7555,7559,7563,7567,7571,7575,7579,7583,7587,7591,7595,7599,7603,7607,7611,7615,7619,7623,7627],{"children":7392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7393],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7394,"type":70,"version":4},"A distant bell tolls with all the moody drama of the metal song my sister Jet is currently blasting out of her mini speakers. Dirt devils of ash and sand swirl high over the barren wasteland and a baking heat runs through the air like a thrill, scorching the earth. Our grief-seekers huddle together in the middle of the plain, a few hundred feet from the outskirts of the town, with its wooden shacks groaning against the growing wind.",{"children":7396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7398,"type":70,"version":4},"I glare at Jet while keeping my smile for the customers in place—which probably makes me look a little too killer-clowny to be comfortable. I’ve told her a million times that we don’t need to have music on our tours. This place is plenty atmospheric enough without her bursting our eardrums with her choice of music. Sadly, she ignores me and the act of widening my eyes just leaves me with an eyeful of sand and dust. ",{"children":7400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7402,"type":70,"version":4},"Sugar lumps and shitshows. This is why I hate the grief-seekers tour. We’re at the end of the world and still my sister is making me mad. Plus, not all of our customers appreciate the music or the fact she’s head-banging along like she couldn’t give a fig that there are people around… or that the world is ending.  ",{"children":7404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7406,"type":70,"version":4},"“Isn’t that a bit insensitive?” One of our clients asks me, gesturing in Jet’s general direction.",{"children":7408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7410,"type":70,"version":4},"“Because all these people are going to die soon, you mean?” Jet asks. My sister, ever the sensitive soul. “It’s not like it’ll change anything for them. They’ll all be gone soon either way. I don’t think it matters if we have a bit of fun while we’re here.”",{"children":7412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7414,"type":70,"version":4},"As insensitive as she is, Jet is right. We call this the ‘grief-seekers tour’ because it’s a very weird place which is caught in a kind of loop in time, so the world is always ending here. Every day, midday strikes and the apocalypse begins. Every night, midnight comes and the place resets. Like clockwork. ",{"children":7416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7418,"type":70,"version":4},"We always get at least one Judgemental Jessica whenever we come here, despite us being very clear with the disclaimers before they sign up. On this particular tour, we pop in, sniff the sulfur-filled air and despair, hang around for a bit and then pop out. ",{"children":7420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7422,"type":70,"version":4},"Unsurprisingly, this tour is mostly popular with demons since they get to absorb a lot of yummy energy from all the raw emotions in the air.",{"children":7424,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7425],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7426,"type":70,"version":4},"Also unsurprisingly, it’s always the humans that give us grief and pile on the guilt trip. I say that with love as a person who grew up in the human world. They’re always the ones best at playing ostrich until reality slaps us in the face. ",{"children":7428,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7429],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7430,"type":70,"version":4},"Today’s tour has thirteen customers plus me and Jet. We’ve got five humans or human-ish folk, four demons, two witches, and a couple of unknowns. There’s one in particular that hasn’t removed their hood for the whole time we’ve been here and I can see Jet’s itching to bump into them just to see if it’ll slip and we can get a peek at what’s beneath. We had to stop allowing vamps to book onto this tour once we realized that something about the whole apocalypse atmosphere drives them absolutely wild with blood lust. I’m not really into decapitating or staking rabid customers. ",{"children":7432,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7433],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7434,"type":70,"version":4},"Not part of my job description. All I’m here to do is hop us into the world, put on my best smile and spout my usual spiel for a couple of hours, and then hop us right back home again. I’m pretty good at it too. Not to toot my own horn, but I can talk up anywhere, no matter how bad it stinks like rotten eggs.",{"children":7436,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7437],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7438,"type":70,"version":4},"And holy meatballs, does this place stink.  ",{"children":7440,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7441],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7442,"type":70,"version":4},"For the past three and a bit years, ever since we absconded in the dead of night, Jet and I have hopped from place to place, world to world: from beaches, mountains, cities, visiting in all manner of seasons and experiencing all types of weather. We saw glitter tornadoes and sentient snowstorms, we visited the grand hallways of Hades and snuck around in just our socks so we wouldn’t get caught. We visited the Labyrinthine Caves—an entire world that is just an intricate labyrinth… of caves. It was dark and creepy and we wandered around, lost, for hours before giving up and hopping out of there.",{"children":7444,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7445],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7446,"type":70,"version":4},"And then we decided, after a couple of weeks of camping on beaches and fluttering our eyelashes for snacks, plus a brief stint where Jet tried fortune telling and was absolutely terrible at it, we turned our trips into a business. Two boss bitch sisters raking in cash while still flitting from place to place. ",{"children":7448,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7449],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7450,"type":70,"version":4},"Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t hard to find customers. Then we got more and more as word spread and people told their friends. ",{"children":7452,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7453],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7454,"type":70,"version":4},"It was great. For a bit, anyway. Then we both remembered how people suck—a sentiment, it turns out, that extends to all people across all worlds. As soon as you make something transactional and get people to hand over their cash, they talk about ‘customer service’ and ‘service with a smile’ and ‘find us a proper restroom, we will not pee behind that bush’.",{"children":7456,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7457],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7458,"type":70,"version":4},"We quickly learned that doing tours is like looking after five to twelve adult babies. Someone always gets sick on the journey, someone always wears totally inappropriate shoes, someone is hungry and someone else needs yet another pee break even though we just went. ",{"children":7460,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7461],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7462,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a lot. And we both sometimes get sick of each other, sick of spending all day, every day together.",{"children":7464,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7465],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7466,"type":70,"version":4},"And the grief-seekers tour is probably my least favorite of all. The atmosphere, the smell, the taste of the place, blech. But it’s popular, so we’ve been here a lot.",{"children":7468,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7469],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7470,"type":70,"version":4},"But it makes me feel so guilty. We come here and we stay as late as we can, skirting the edges of the apocalypse and witnessing it like it’s a geyser going off. A natural phenomenon, one that we can’t do anything about.",{"children":7472,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7473],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7474,"type":70,"version":4},"… but if anybody could do something. It’s me.",{"children":7476,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7477],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7478,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m a destiny weaver, after all.",{"children":7480,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7481],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7482,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s what I was created to do. To weave the threads of destiny and carry people along… somewhere. I spent nearly six years at the weaver academy, learning about weaving and feeling waay over my head. Since I never technically graduated, I never went through the placement ceremony that would tell me exactly what I was supposed to do with the abilities I got from being a weaver.",{"children":7484,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7485],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7486,"type":70,"version":4},"And since Jet and I are technically on the run from the higher level weavers, we set ourselves a few rules when we first escaped the academy: like we don’t go back to the same place too often, we never go back to the Ether, where the weaver academy is located, and we keep on going forward. ",{"children":7488,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7489],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7490,"type":70,"version":4},"It means that if I were to, say, move hundreds of people from this place, to save them from the apocalypse, that would be like waving a million flares and announcing our presence. The higher-ups would find us. And then who knows what they’d do.",{"children":7492,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7493],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7494,"type":70,"version":4},"So… I do nothing. Apart from feeling guilty as all hell.",{"children":7496,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7497],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7498,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t even know what would happen if we relocated the people that live here. Would they somehow get stuck back here the very next day? Would someone else take their place? Who knows? I could just end up making things worse.",{"children":7500,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7501],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7502,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s what I tell myself, anyway.",{"children":7504,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7505],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7506,"type":70,"version":4},"It sucks. I keep asking Jet to stop booking this tour, but she insists on us doing it because we keep getting booked up every time we offer it.",{"children":7508,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7509],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7510,"type":70,"version":4},"To be honest, I’m kind of exhausted with it all. Tired of hopping from place to place, never spending extended amounts of time anywhere. Always looking over my shoulder, waiting for our past choices to catch up with us. ",{"children":7512,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7513],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7514,"type":70,"version":4},"But that’s the price we pay for freedom. When you’re a weaver, everything is decided for you, including where you’ll be placed after attending the academy. A lifetime placement that you have zero choice over. You could do anything from influencing love matches, to weaving the threads of fate, destiny or karma to decide which kids get their cancer cured, and which don’t.",{"children":7516,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7517],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7518,"type":70,"version":4},"Free will? Yeah, that’s not a luxury we’re normally granted. ",{"children":7520,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7521],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7522,"type":70,"version":4},"So when my sister, great believer in free will and hater of the invisible puppets pulling our strings, was due to undergo her ceremony, we decided that, nah, we would not stand there and let them take our choices from us. I had the power to get us out of there, and so I used it. ",{"children":7524,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7525],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7526,"type":70,"version":4},"Back on the tour and the human woman who complained about Jet’s speakers has started praying to someone called ‘Zoddar’, right in my ear. I throw a glare in my sister’s direction since she’s the one in charge of the pre-tour surveys all our customers are supposed to complete. We designed one question to weed out all the religious fanatics, but clearly we haven’t done a very good job this time. ",{"children":7528,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7529],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7530,"type":70,"version":4},"Holy meatballs. My head’s already pounding thanks to the whole heavy atmosphere of this place and what with the music and the praying, it’s all very distracting and my headache kicks up a notch. ",{"children":7532,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7533],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7534,"type":70,"version":4},"“Er, Echo. Echo?” a voice to my left says. “Could you ask her to stop doing that, please? It’s making me and the guys a little uncomfortable.”",{"children":7536,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7537],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7538,"type":70,"version":4},"I suck in a wince. Demons really do not enjoy it when people pray around them or sing hymns, any of that stuff really. That’s one problem with having mixed group tours. It’s a challenge not to upset anyone. ",{"children":7540,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7541],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7542,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m so sorry,” I say to the incredibly polite demon beside me. “Can you stop that, please?” I direct my words to the woman beside me with my well-practiced customer service smile. ",{"children":7544,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7545],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7546,"type":70,"version":4},"But instead of listening, she shows no signs of stopping. In fact, she’s getting louder. The rest of the group is shifting like they don’t much like it either, so I hiss out a breath and glance up at Jet, who nods to show she knows exactly what I’m thinking.",{"children":7548,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7549],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7550,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’re going to have to gag her,” Jet mutters in my ear, just loud enough for the group of demons, who are all handsome as hell, to hear. “Any of you guys got one on you? I’d prefer something not too drooly if possible.”",{"children":7552,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7553],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7554,"type":70,"version":4},"They do not disappoint. Three of them pluck various strips of material from their pockets and offer them over. My eyebrows shoot up into my hairline as she picks one at random.",{"children":7556,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7557],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7558,"type":70,"version":4},"One of the other humans looks intrigued. “What else have you got in those pockets?”",{"children":7560,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7561],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7562,"type":70,"version":4},"“You probably don’t want to know,” Jet mutters, just as one demon replies, “A fuckload of lube.”",{"children":7564,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7565],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7566,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t hold in my giggle and the—now chanting—fanatical human takes a step away from me, raising her voice even louder. The other human, the one who asked the question, looks even more intrigued and moves into the demon’s space. She’s a pretty little thing with straight black hair down to her waist, which I’m jealous as all hell over. I can’t imagine not having a whole dang mane that doesn’t snap combs in its snarls. Getting apocalypse dust out of it is going to be a total nightmare later.",{"children":7568,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7569],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7570,"type":70,"version":4},"Another glance at my sister and I continue with the tour while she deals with our little songstress. It’s chaotic in a way that I used to find fun, but these days, I’m pasting on a smile and having to dig deep for enthusiasm I don’t feel. ",{"children":7572,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7573],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7574,"type":70,"version":4},"It never used to be this hard. But I guess that two tours per week for the past few years are taking their toll.",{"children":7576,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7577],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7578,"type":70,"version":4},"“Okay guys.” I clap my hands to distract from the fact my sister is currently gagging one of our clients and that two demons are waving a bottle of lube around while the human girl is practically panting at them. “It’s ten minutes to midnight, so things are about to crank up a notch.”",{"children":7580,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7581],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7582,"type":70,"version":4},"Ten minutes to midnight, but the sun is still burning high in the sky, blasting through the atmosphere with zero care. It’s about now that the earthquakes start, and then the air fills with the smell of burning rubber… and the sound of screaming. ",{"children":7584,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7585],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7586,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s the part I hate the most.",{"children":7588,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7589],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7590,"type":70,"version":4},"I keep my smile just wide enough to be friendly, but not too wide that it’s creepy since this is, y’know, the apocalypse. The demons breathe deep at the despair and wild emotions floating around the place. The humans’ eyes grow wider and wider as the wind picks up, and the sky splits in two. Even the mysterious hooded one among our group is quivering with something like excitement.",{"children":7592,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7593],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7594,"type":70,"version":4},"And then I gather everyone together, hand in hand, and hop us out of there, right before things get too hairy. We leave before the acid rain starts. It’s not like we have insurance to cover these trips, but the last thing we need is someone suing us because all their skin melted off.",{"children":7596,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7597],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7598,"type":70,"version":4},"The entire gang is buzzing with excitement and adrenaline as we arrive back to our drop-off zone on the outskirts of a city in the human world, not too far from where I grew up. If I hopped in a car east for a couple of hours, I could wander my old neighborhood. Not that anybody there would know who I am these days. It’s not home anymore, that’s for sure.",{"children":7600,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7601],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7602,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m fighting a yawn as I do my last bit of spiel, telling the group that they were all great—although one of our members has only just been ungagged—and that they should tell their friends about us and we’d love to see them again soon. With a last grin and wave, they disperse off into the night and I grab Jet’s hand to take us back to our crappy little apartment, home for the next couple of weeks until we move onto someplace else. ",{"children":7604,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7605],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7606,"type":70,"version":4},"I remember that right before we escaped the academy, Jet kept saying how we were caged birds that needed to fly. And it’s not like I want to go back into a cage or anything, but I never considered how exhausting it would be to have to flap your wings the whole dang time.",{"children":7608,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7609],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7610,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m tired. Maybe I just need a nice branch to roost on for a while. ",{"children":7612,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7613],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7614,"type":70,"version":4},"That’s what I’m thinking as we get home and I finally have a chance to check my phone for messages and I listen to the voicemail that’s been left for me.",{"children":7616,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7617],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7618,"type":70,"version":4},"You’d think that as a weaver, I might be a little leery of tempting fate. But dang it, I never seem to learn. ",{"children":7620,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7621],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7622,"type":70,"version":4},"A familiar stern, female voice speaks through my crappy phone speaker. ",{"children":7624,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7625],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7626,"type":70,"version":4},"“A weaver has gone missing. You’re needed. And once you find her and bring her home, you’re going to stop this childish need to rebel and undergo the placing ceremony.”",{"children":7628,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7629],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7630,"type":70,"version":4},"Sugar lumps and shitstorms, seems like maybe my destiny’s caught up with me. ",{"id":7632,"alt":7633,"updatedAt":7634,"createdAt":7634,"url":7635,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":7636,"mimeType":7637,"filesize":7638,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},12,"A cartoon style cover for Destiny Reaper by Essie Suter. A woman with bright blonde, curly hair stands in the centre surrounded by a grim reaper, a cute gold dragon and a hellhound with glowing eyes","2026-08-12T20:30:18.746Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FDestiny's%20Reaper%20CARTOONY.png","Destiny's Reaper CARTOONY.png","image\u002Fpng",4400018,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002Fdp\u002FB0BM6HT765",[],[],"2023-01-20T12:00:00.000Z",13,{"title":7645,"description":7646,"image":7647},"Destiny Reaper: A Fated Mates Reverse Harem | Essie Suter","A destiny weaver, a broody grim reaper, his loyal hound, and a dragon who hoards the cutest treasures. 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But then, I was abducted, drained of my essence, left powerless, and barely escaped with my life. ",{"children":7665,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7666],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7667,"type":70,"version":4},"Now, I find myself in a strange world, but fate must have a wicked sense of humor—it's trapped me in the body of a bear.",{"children":7669,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7670,7672,7673,7674],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7671,"type":70,"version":4},"My bear form draws a curious crowd, including potential shifter mates and a man who believes I'm his magical familiar. Killan, the bear shifter with a huge heart. Orion, the snow leopard shifter who is almost as guarded with his heart as I am. And Etienne, the mage with a sunshine soul. ",{"type":98,"version":4},{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7675,"type":70,"version":4},"All I want is to reclaim my true self and make it clear that mate bonds are the last thing on my mind.",{"children":7677,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7678],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7679,"type":70,"version":4},"Fate may be capricious, but I'm fiercer than any beast. I'll fight tooth and claw to regain my identity and rise above this supernatural entanglement. Even if it means battling the irresistible pull of the mate bonds drawing me to three captivating males.",{"children":7681,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[7682],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7683,"type":70,"version":4},"A why choose\u002F reverse harem paranormal romance. That means our heroine will end up with more than one love interest by the end. It’s part of the Weavers Of The Ether series. It may give you a better reading experience if you read book 1 first. This is part one of Wren’s story which will continue in the next book of the series, expect a minor cliffhanger!",{"children":7685,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[7686],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":100,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":7688,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[7689,7693,7697,7701],{"children":7690,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[7691],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7692,"type":70,"version":4},"A reverse grumpy sunshine pairing (our heroine is a real grumpy bear and more than one of her men is a little ray of sunshine)",{"children":7694,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[7695],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7696,"type":70,"version":4},"Possessive shifters",{"children":7698,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[7699],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7700,"type":70,"version":4},"A happy-go-lucky mage desperately searching for his familiar",{"children":7702,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[7703],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7704,"type":70,"version":4},"No cheating and a happily for now\u002Fminor cliffhanger ending",[7706,7864],{"id":7707,"chapterNumber":66,"title":7708,"body":7709},"6a7cd8b1939b92475e0ee52a","Wren",{"root":7710},{"children":7711,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[7712,7716,7720,7728,7732,7736,7740,7744,7748,7752,7764,7768,7772,7780,7784,7788,7792,7796,7800,7804,7808,7812,7816,7820,7824,7828,7832,7836,7840,7844,7848,7852,7856,7860],{"children":7713,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7714],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7715,"type":70,"version":4},"There’s a restless itch just beneath my skin. I can’t seem to shake it, no matter how much I shift and fidget. ",{"children":7717,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7718],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7719,"type":70,"version":4},"Cam and I sit together in our little office, working away and doing the usual–working out where people’s souls should go after they die.",{"children":7721,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7722,7724,7726],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7723,"type":70,"version":4},"It sounds like something you shouldn’t be able to get bored with. But it also makes us sound like we’re judges, doling out verdicts or all-powerful deities. We should have fancy robes, at the very least. The truth is, we’re more like analysts. Cam is a karma weaver, looking at the challenges a soul has faced in their lifetime, and I’m a fate weaver, looking at the ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7725,"type":70,"version":4},"choices",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7727,"type":70,"version":4}," and the forks in the road they took, as well as all the options they had. Sometimes there aren't that many.",{"children":7729,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7730],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7731,"type":70,"version":4},"We’ve been doing the same thing every day for two and a bit years now and… I’m going slowly nuts. We need to get out of our hut. While neither Cam nor I are exactly social people, we can only go so long with just each other for company before we grate on each other. ",{"children":7733,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7734],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7735,"type":70,"version":4},"I need something beyond these four walls.",{"children":7737,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7738],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7739,"type":70,"version":4},"“Look, just go and see if Soren will let you tag along the next time he goes reaping,” Cam says with a roll of her eyes as I sigh and grumble under my breath.",{"children":7741,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7742],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7743,"type":70,"version":4},"I shoot her a flat look. Soren’s the soul reaper for our garden. He is the one who brings souls to the afterlife. And he’s not exactly known for being lax around the rules, and one of the big rules is that we don’t leave the garden. It might be an unwritten one, but it exists all the same.",{"children":7745,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7746],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7747,"type":70,"version":4},"It means we’re focused on the job, but so damn isolated I could scream. ",{"children":7749,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7750],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7751,"type":70,"version":4},"“He might even drop you off so you can go shoe shopping,” she adds, grinning as she uses my weakness against me. ",{"children":7753,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7754,7756,7758,7760,7762],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7755,"type":70,"version":4},"I waver. The desire to add to my collection along with this ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7757,"type":70,"version":4},"need",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7759,"type":70,"version":4}," I have to just do ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7761,"type":70,"version":4},"something",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7763,"type":70,"version":4}," different, both swirl and merge inside me until I push to my feet. ",{"children":7765,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7766],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7767,"type":70,"version":4},"Luck seems to be on my side as I leave the hut and traipse across the garden until I reach the center where Brogan is getting ready to leave on another soul reaping trip. I flash him my biggest smile as I ask to tag along with them, and Brogan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he looks at me like a stranger has taken control of my body.",{"children":7769,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7770],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7771,"type":70,"version":4},"Okay, okay, maybe I’m laying it on a bit thick. I’m not exactly known for smiling. Cam’s all snark and my natural state is to be a grouch. It’s just how we’re made. ",{"children":7773,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7774,7776,7778],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7775,"type":70,"version":4},"“Look. A change of scenery is what I need. I don’t care where it is and I don’t care what I do. I just need to ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7777,"type":70,"version":4},"go",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7779,"type":70,"version":4}," somewhere.”",{"children":7781,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7782],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7783,"type":70,"version":4},"Brogan looks at me appraisingly for a long moment, as I try not to sweat and fidget and look like a bad bet to go with them.",{"children":7785,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7786],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7787,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yeah, okay, Wren,” he says eventually and I release a sigh of relief.",{"children":7789,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7790],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7791,"type":70,"version":4},"We wind up in a human city, which is perfect for me. Humans do two things well, shoe stores and coffee. And I’m going to make the most out of them both.",{"children":7793,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7794],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7795,"type":70,"version":4},"“We’ve got two souls to reap. One is here and the other is a few cities over, so we’ll drop you here and be back in maybe ninety minutes. Meet us back here then,” Soren says. ",{"children":7797,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7798],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7799,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m pretty sure he’s unimpressed with me coming along, but it’s hard to tell because he’s a cold asshole at the best of times. I don’t care though, I’m going to act like a regular person, like I have a life beyond fate weaving and obsessing over other people’s afterlives.",{"children":7801,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7802],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7803,"type":70,"version":4},"I spend a whole glorious hour wandering around heaven… aka boutique shoe stores, finally having time to use some of the money I’ve stashed away. ",{"children":7805,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7806],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7807,"type":70,"version":4},"After that, I head to a coffee shop and head into a quiet corner so that I can people-watch. I’m there for maybe ten minutes before I notice a guy sitting a few seats away, his attention focused on me.",{"children":7809,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7810],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7811,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s cute… in a floppy-haired, kind of preppy way.",{"children":7813,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7814],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7815,"type":70,"version":4},"He notices my attention and gives me a slow grin and I remember there’s another thing I’ve missed by being shut up away from any and all people. I have needs, itches that need to be scratched, and as this guy’s eyes sparkle with mischief and he slides over until he’s at the next table, I decide he might just do to meet those needs. ",{"children":7817,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7818],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7819,"type":70,"version":4},"Temporary. Fun. Stringless.",{"children":7821,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7822],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7823,"type":70,"version":4},"“Hi, I’m Andrew,” he says. ",{"children":7825,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7826],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7827,"type":70,"version":4},"I’ve only just introduced myself when I spot Soren looking mighty pissed off at the window.",{"children":7829,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7830],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7831,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s midnight and I’m about to turn into a pumpkin,” I tell my new friend.",{"children":7833,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7834],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7835,"type":70,"version":4},"He grins wide, sliding over a piece of paper with his number. “Maybe I could take you out, or you could come over to mine and we can hang out the next time you’re in town.”",{"children":7837,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7838],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7839,"type":70,"version":4},"I smile back and nod, like a normal girl.",{"children":7841,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7842],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7843,"type":70,"version":4},"Later, I’ll wonder if it was at that moment I secured my fate, or if it was in one of the many times over the coming months where I’ll head back and meet up with Andrew.",{"children":7845,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7846],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7847,"type":70,"version":4},"Fun. Temporary.",{"children":7849,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7850],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7851,"type":70,"version":4},"He wasn’t. Wasn’t either of those things.",{"children":7853,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7854],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7855,"type":70,"version":4},"I know that now. ",{"children":7857,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7858],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7859,"type":70,"version":4},"Definitely not stringless either. There were plenty of those involved when he acted like my puppet-master, twisting and tugging at the strings of my fate.",{"children":7861,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7862],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7863,"type":70,"version":4},"Now, I’m all twisted and tangled up by them, trapped in a web I can’t seem to escape.  ",{"id":7865,"chapterNumber":4,"title":7708,"body":7866},"6a7cd8d5939b92475e0ee52b",{"root":7867},{"children":7868,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[7869,7873,7877,7881,7885,7889,7896,7900,7904,7908,7916,7920,7924,7928,7932,7936,7940,7944,7948,7952,7956,7960,7964,7968,7972,7976,7980,7984,7988,7992,7996,8000,8004,8008,8012,8016,8020,8024,8028,8032,8036,8040,8044,8048,8052,8056,8060,8064,8068,8076,8080,8086,8090,8094,8098,8102,8106,8110,8114,8118,8122,8126],{"children":7870,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7871],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7872,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s raining yet again. It’s always fucking raining. ",{"children":7874,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7875],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7876,"type":70,"version":4},"The bear and I trudge along, our feet squelching on the mud and fallen pine needles. After years of controlled, mostly balmy weather back in the garden, it’s pretty damn miserable to be stuck out here. Our fur is wet and bedraggled and I’m tired, even though it’s not my body being lugged around. ",{"children":7878,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7879],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7880,"type":70,"version":4},"The poor bear doesn’t seem to have a lot of survival skills, building a den or whatever the fuck bears usually have. I wonder where exactly Andrew got her from when he trapped me inside her body. Was she frolicking in a field somewhere with her family of other bears? Did he create her out of nothing? Was she an oversized child’s stuffed toy he gave life to?",{"children":7882,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7883],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7884,"type":70,"version":4},"I have no idea.",{"children":7886,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7887],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7888,"type":70,"version":4},"And while I used to think I was pretty tough–I mean, I grew up with a bunch of minotaurs that had zero care for personal space and no idea about their own strength. But camping? Living off the land? They’re a whole different thing, and especially now I’m stuck in this body. I don’t know what I’m doing.",{"children":7890,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7891,7893,7894],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7892,"type":70,"version":4},"I used to have a job I was pretty good at. Friends, a place to live and to sleep on an actual bed that was cozy as shit. I had an entire closet of shoes. ",{"type":98,"version":4},{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7895,"type":70,"version":4},"My personal favorites were banana yellow to go with my sunny personality.",{"children":7897,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7898],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7899,"type":70,"version":4},"… just fucking with you.",{"children":7901,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7902],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7903,"type":70,"version":4},"They are yellow. But they’re stomp-kicker boots with a big ol’ tread. Yellow and black, like a wasp, like a warning. I’d like to be wearing them when I kick Andrew’s fucking teeth in. ",{"children":7905,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7906],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7907,"type":70,"version":4},"I had a life. A body that was my own. I helped to work out where people’s souls should be delivered into the afterlife. I spent every day looking at the details of people’s lives and I was pretty good at it, too.",{"children":7909,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7910,7912,7914],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7911,"type":70,"version":4},"I even had a little side hustle going with my best friend so that I could afford my shoe collection. But I guess I got bored. Needed to ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7913,"type":70,"version":4},"get out",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7915,"type":70,"version":4},". It was on one of my little trips out maybe eight months ago that I met Andrew. That smarmy piece of shit that destroyed my life. Tried to destroy me. ",{"children":7917,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7918],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7919,"type":70,"version":4},"Fuck. That.",{"children":7921,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7922],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7923,"type":70,"version":4},"I didn’t even like him all that much when we were dating. He scratched an itch–not all that well, but that was by the by.",{"children":7925,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7926],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7927,"type":70,"version":4},"So we hung out, we had sex, sat around and ate takeout, and then Soren would pick me up to take me home. The entire thing lasted a few hours. ",{"children":7929,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7930],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7931,"type":70,"version":4},"Cut to a few months later and it turns out that not only did he have a steady girlfriend; he was also draining a little of my weaver powers every time I visited. ",{"children":7933,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7934],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7935,"type":70,"version":4},"And to top off the icing on the shitty cake that was our relationship, he abducted me and stuck me in a cage, steadily draining my powers and not feeding me much at all. ",{"children":7937,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7938],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7939,"type":70,"version":4},"For weeks.",{"children":7941,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7942],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7943,"type":70,"version":4},"Then when I finally escaped him, I discovered all my powers as a fate weaver were gone. And then I got taken to a safe place to start a whole new life, and I turned into a motherfucking bear. ",{"children":7945,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7946],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7947,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s been a tough few months. ",{"children":7949,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7950],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7951,"type":70,"version":4},"I can’t say that me and the bear have got much better at the survival thing. We’ve survived, sure, but I’m pretty sure the bear has lost weight in that time.",{"children":7953,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7954],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7955,"type":70,"version":4},"And me? I’ve just got madder as the days have gone on. We’ve walked miles through this forest and I do not know how far we are from the village where Echo dropped me off. ",{"children":7957,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7958],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7959,"type":70,"version":4},"On bad days, I wonder if this is my fate, to wind up caged and helpless. ",{"children":7961,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7962],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7963,"type":70,"version":4},"That only makes me even madder, even though being angry at fate is pointless. You might as well rage at water for being wet.",{"children":7965,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7966],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7967,"type":70,"version":4},"Fate doesn’t hear you cursing it out. It doesn’t care if you’ve had a shitty enough time of it already and would just like a break now, please. It would have to have ears to listen. ",{"children":7969,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7970],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7971,"type":70,"version":4},"I always used to think that we, the weavers, were the hands of fate. But it turns out, we don’t have any control either. When I was training at the weaver academy as a teenager, I thought we’d be able to do more, to have more influence. But more often than not, even when there are supposed choices between two actions, neither would make a difference to the ultimate outcome. Which means you might as well have no choice at all.",{"children":7973,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7974],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7975,"type":70,"version":4},"I know more than most how useless it is to be mad.",{"children":7977,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7978],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7979,"type":70,"version":4},"So why am I still raging, practically foaming at the mouth, at the general shittiness of it all?",{"children":7981,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7982],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7983,"type":70,"version":4},"Because the rage is all I have.",{"children":7985,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7986],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7987,"type":70,"version":4},"I know that, in the story, after all the chaos and shit floods out of the box, all that’s left is hope. But I’m still trapped in the box, so I’ll stick with the anger, thanks very much.",{"children":7989,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7990],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7991,"type":70,"version":4},"There are voices up ahead, so the bear and I go a little deeper into the tree line, away from the path. It’s only slightly more sheltered here since the trees are missing most of their needles and leaves.",{"children":7993,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7994],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7995,"type":70,"version":4},"We’ve seen surprisingly few people on our travels. This place is supposed to be home to a ton of shifters, but we’ve avoided them so far. I’m sure we’ve caught glimpses, scented them on the downwind, but that’s all.",{"children":7997,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[7998],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7999,"type":70,"version":4},"If I didn’t know better, I’d think things were avoiding us. ",{"children":8001,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8002],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8003,"type":70,"version":4},"I’m certainly avoiding them, so maybe we’re just doing a great job, like we’re playing hide and seek, but no one’s seeking. ",{"children":8005,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8006],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8007,"type":70,"version":4},"We have seen some animals, proper ones, I mean. But that didn’t go all that well. Turns out I don’t suddenly speak raccoon. They chittered and we kind of snorted back. They hissed, and we roared at them, which caused them to turn tail and run off like their ass was on fire. ",{"children":8009,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8010],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8011,"type":70,"version":4},"For a moment, I chuckled to myself, feeling pretty badass. ",{"children":8013,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8014],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8015,"type":70,"version":4},"Then the feeling faded, and I was just… kinda lonely, I guess.",{"children":8017,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8018],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8019,"type":70,"version":4},"Now, we creep closer to the small gathering of witches that are apparently choosing today to commune with nature in the pissing rain. By ‘communing with nature’, I mean that they’re having a picnic. ",{"children":8021,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8022],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8023,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a new thing for me, being able to know species just by smell. Then again, it’s also new for me to sniff out a sandwich from half a mile away. ",{"children":8025,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8026],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8027,"type":70,"version":4},"We pause in the shadows, watching as the three adult witches set out their spread and dig in, making sure the little ones get their fill even though the littles seem more interested in trying to beat each other around the head with fallen branches. ",{"children":8029,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8030],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8031,"type":70,"version":4},"So much for communing with nature. I chuckle to myself and the bear sends me a blast of her own amusement before her thoughts go straight back to getting her hands… uh, paws, on one of the sandwiches now littering the ground. ",{"children":8033,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8034],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8035,"type":70,"version":4},"Clearly, we share the same slapstick sense of humor. Weird.",{"children":8037,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8038],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8039,"type":70,"version":4},"A massive raindrop plops onto our head, and I shudder as it sinks into our fur. ",{"children":8041,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8042],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8043,"type":70,"version":4},"Me and the bear have come to a kind of understanding though, which is tricky because we don’t exactly speak the same language and I’m just some stranger that wound up sharing her brain space, able to control her body. Mostly we send weird visuals back and forth and that’s all the communication we can manage. ",{"children":8045,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8046],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8047,"type":70,"version":4},"Like right now, I’m getting images of us coming across a nice, warm cave for us to snuggle down in.",{"children":8049,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8050],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8051,"type":70,"version":4},"Yeah, we need to get out of the rain. Poor bear.",{"children":8053,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8054],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8055,"type":70,"version":4},"I feel bad for her. I can feel that she’s trudging along, miserable. And she’s stuck with my raging, grumpy ass inside her, which can’t make things easier.",{"children":8057,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8058],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8059,"type":70,"version":4},"I can be a little… grouchy, standoffish, rude. Take your pick. But I’m thinking the first one is the one that the bear has to deal with most, considering we can’t communicate with others.",{"children":8061,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8062],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8063,"type":70,"version":4},"Maybe we could if they were a bear too, but she seemed kind of confused when I tried to ask about it. So either she’s lived a sheltered life or she’s an animated soft toy. ",{"children":8065,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8066],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8067,"type":70,"version":4},"We are quite the pair. ",{"children":8069,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8070,8072,8074],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8071,"type":70,"version":4},"The bear’s still got her eye firmly on the witches’ picnic. They’ve been here for ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8073,"type":70,"version":4},"hours",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8075,"type":70,"version":4}," with no signs of leaving. They’re just sitting there with their umbrella like it’s not a miserable fucking day.",{"children":8077,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8078],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8079,"type":70,"version":4},"Eventually, the bear loses her patience. She does well, sticks it out for a good while. But then she sends me this image that’s clearer than anything she’s ever sent before, of her charging forward into the middle of the witches. They scatter and she eats up all the food they leave behind.",{"children":8081,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[8082,8084],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8083,"type":70,"version":4},"No,",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8085,"type":70,"version":4}," I send back. That’s a crazy idea. We’ll just wait them out until they leave. ",{"children":8087,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8088],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8089,"type":70,"version":4},"Eat up the scraps.",{"children":8091,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8092],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8093,"type":70,"version":4},"Of course, she listens to me and stays where she is.",{"children":8095,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8096],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8097,"type":70,"version":4},"Does she fuck. ",{"children":8099,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8100],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8101,"type":70,"version":4},"She charges in, exactly as she imagined. The witches scream and scatter, and we chomp our way through the remnants of their picnic. And I’m stuck witnessing the whole thing, shoved to a corner in her mind as she chows down, barely noticing the sheer fucking terror on the little ones’ faces. Even though she barely looked their way, I caught a glimpse. ",{"children":8103,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8104],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8105,"type":70,"version":4},"Fuck. That’s gonna be one for my nightmares later. Me, trapped while the bear goes on a sandwich-fueled rampage, ravaging innocent children, knocking them clean off their feet like they’re skittles.",{"children":8107,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8108],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8109,"type":70,"version":4},"After that, she keeps a handle on her body for the longest time since we’ve been stuck together. Most of the time she’s seemed pretty happy to share control of her body with me. I’m the more decisive one of the pair of us and I also have some sense of self-preservation and an idea of what we need to eat to fuel our big body. ",{"children":8111,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8112],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8113,"type":70,"version":4},"But not today. ",{"children":8115,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8116],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8117,"type":70,"version":4},"It must only be a couple of hours that go by with her in control. But it’s a kick in the teeth, a firm reminder that I’m a passenger here. I can just get shoved to the side and left with zero control over the body I’m inhabiting. ",{"children":8119,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8120],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8121,"type":70,"version":4},"It’s a reminder I’ve just switched cages. Both courtesy of that asshole Andrew. ",{"children":8123,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8124],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8125,"type":70,"version":4},"But I got out of the first cage, I’ll get out of this one too.",{"children":8127,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8128],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8129,"type":70,"version":4},"And then I’m coming for him and he won’t know what hit him.",{"id":7643,"alt":8131,"updatedAt":8132,"createdAt":8132,"url":8133,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":8134,"mimeType":22,"filesize":8135,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Twist of Fate by Essie Suter. Cartoon style cover with a black haired woman in the centre with a cute bear peeking over her shoulder. The background is a green forest","2026-08-12T20:40:37.761Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FTwist%20of%20Fate%20Cartoony.jpg","Twist of Fate Cartoony.jpg",3559271,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002FTwist-Fate-Reverse-Paranormal-Romance-ebook\u002Fdp\u002FB0BS3Z36ZN?ref_=saga_dp_bnx_dsk_dp",[],[],"2023-04-15T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":8141,"description":8142,"image":8143},"Twist of Fate: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance | Essie Suter","Cursed into a bear's body, Wren finds shifter mates she never wanted and a mage who won't stop searching for her. Part 1 of a reverse harem duet.",{"id":7643,"alt":8131,"updatedAt":8132,"createdAt":8132,"url":8133,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":8134,"mimeType":22,"filesize":8135,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-27T10:12:57.585Z","2026-08-12T20:40:46.464Z",[],"Once, I was a fate weaver, a master of cosmic power. But then, I was abducted, drained of my essence, left powerless, and barely escaped with my life.",{"id":7643,"title":8149,"slug":8150,"series":8151,"seriesLabel":8152,"description":8153,"previewChapters":8207,"cover":8467,"amazonLink":8473,"directSaleEnabled":49,"pricePence":20,"currency":432,"ebookEditions":8474,"otherLinks":8475,"featured":49,"latest":49,"startHere":49,"freeKU":5,"releaseDate":8476,"order":6385,"seo":8477,"updatedAt":8481,"createdAt":8482,"ebookFormats":8483,"excerpt":8484},"Rewriting Fate","rewriting-fate",{"id":954,"name":7319,"slug":7320,"tagline":7321,"order":954,"updatedAt":7322,"createdAt":7323},"Book 2 | Part 2 of Wren's story ",{"root":8154},{"children":8155,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[8156,8160,8164,8168,8172,8176,8180,8183],{"children":8157,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8158],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8159,"type":70,"version":4},"Just when I thought I was done with fate messing me around.  I have another mate with a fated connection to me. Too bad neither of us are happy about it.",{"children":8161,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8162],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8163,"type":70,"version":4},"He’s grumpy, he’s guarded and he wants nothing to do with me. Apart from my help in breaking our bond, that is.",{"children":8165,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8166],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8167,"type":70,"version":4},"And it’s not just us with an unwanted mate bond. Seems that fate’s tricky business is a problem that’s going around. ",{"children":8169,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8170],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8171,"type":70,"version":4},"A problem I’m going to help fix. ",{"children":8173,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8174],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8175,"type":70,"version":4},"Too bad my actions in untangling the twisted strands of fate draw the attention of people with the power to destroy me and my mates. ",{"children":8177,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[8178],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8179,"type":70,"version":4},"This is a why choose\u002F reverse harem paranormal romance. That means our heroine will end up with more than one love interest by the end. It’s part two of Wren’s story and part three of the Weavers of the Ether series so if you haven’t read book one: Destiny Reaper or book two (part one of Wren’s story): Twist of Fate already, the story will make more sense if you check them out first. ",{"children":8181,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"textStyle":68},[8182],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":100,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":8184,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":121,"version":4,"textFormat":77,"listType":122,"start":4,"tag":123},[8185,8189,8193,8196,8199,8203],{"children":8186,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":4},[8187],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8188,"type":70,"version":4},"A reverse grumpy sunshine pairing with not one but TWO sunshiney men",{"children":8190,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":77},[8191],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8192,"type":70,"version":4},"Rejected mates",{"children":8194,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":120},[8195],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":949,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":8197,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":954},[8198],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":7696,"type":70,"version":4},{"children":8200,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":446},[8201],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8202,"type":70,"version":4},"A happy-go-lucky mage",{"children":8204,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":111,"version":4,"value":3932},[8205],{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8206,"type":70,"version":4},"No cheating and a happily ever after. ",[8208],{"id":8209,"chapterNumber":4,"title":7708,"body":8210},"6a7cdb35939b92475e0ee52c",{"root":8211},{"children":8212,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":124,"version":4},[8213,8217,8221,8225,8229,8233,8237,8241,8245,8247,8251,8255,8259,8263,8267,8271,8275,8279,8283,8287,8291,8295,8299,8303,8307,8311,8315,8319,8327,8331,8335,8339,8347,8351,8355,8359,8363,8367,8371,8375,8379,8383,8387,8391,8395,8399,8403,8407,8411,8415,8419,8423,8427,8431,8435,8439,8443,8447,8451,8455,8459,8463],{"children":8214,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8215],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8216,"type":70,"version":4},"“No, no, no, you were supposed to help me, not make things worse. Dammit.” The growly guy’s words repeat in my head on a loop, along with the memory of the way his face fell and the look of disappointment and regret in his eyes when the mate bond snapped into place. ",{"children":8218,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8219],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8220,"type":70,"version":4},"My mate.",{"children":8222,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8223],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8224,"type":70,"version":4},"Another one, hand-picked for me by my old buddy, fate. Although this one seemed a lot less enthusiastic than I’m used to, if the way he stormed off without another word is anything to go by. ",{"children":8226,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8227],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8228,"type":70,"version":4},"I don’t even know his name.",{"children":8230,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8231],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8232,"type":70,"version":4},"I do know that he smelled like leather and wood smoke, and that I stood staring at the empty space he left behind for a good five minutes before coming to my senses and heading back into the cabin. The one I share with my other mates.",{"children":8234,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8235],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8236,"type":70,"version":4},"My mates who actually want me.",{"children":8238,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8239],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8240,"type":70,"version":4},"Not that I’m bothered by his outright dismissal and rejection. Nope, I’m peachy keen.",{"children":8242,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8243],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8244,"type":70,"version":4},"…but did he have to look so disgusted and gutted about the situation?",{"children":8246,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[],{"children":8248,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8249],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8250,"type":70,"version":4},"I shake myself off and walk into the kitchen to find Killan searching the fridge for something for our dinner. It’s not even lunchtime and he’s already planning ahead. Such a sweetheart. ",{"children":8252,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8253],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8254,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m thinking breakfast for dinner. Bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, pancakes, the whole shebang. What do you think, Gorgeous?”",{"children":8256,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8257],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8258,"type":70,"version":4},"I blink up at his perfect face and run a hand over the stubble growing on his cheek and jaw. My bear shifter, my protector. The person who has been nothing but kind and caring toward me, looking after all of us without a second thought ever since we first met. Killan’s the one that makes sure we all have full bellies and clean clothes. He’s a feeder, a knitter, an old lady in the guise of the sexiest oversized lumberjack I’ve ever seen. ",{"children":8260,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8261],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8262,"type":70,"version":4},"To think that I just about shit myself and ran away when I first realized we were mates, that there was a fated mate bond connecting my soul to his. I was a little coward, running and hiding without even having a conversation about it.",{"children":8264,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8265],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8266,"type":70,"version":4},"Just like the grouchy, intense stranger that turned up at my door. His long black hair and sea-green eyes combined with his all black outfit gave off a biker or a tortured artist vibe. And the whole ‘don’t fuck with me’ expression on his face was like looking in a mirror, considering it’s my go-to expression.",{"children":8268,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8269],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8270,"type":70,"version":4},"“Gorgeous? Wren? You okay?” Killan asks, stepping closer to me and cupping my jaw with his massive hand. ",{"children":8272,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8273],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8274,"type":70,"version":4},"“I’m—” I swallow hard. ",{"children":8276,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8277],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8278,"type":70,"version":4},"Shit, what’s going on with me? My mind is all over the place. Maybe I’m in shock or something and it’s causing my synapses to misfire. It’s not like it’s an everyday thing to have another mate rock up at your door, reject you, and then turn tail within a five-minute period.",{"children":8280,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8281],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8282,"type":70,"version":4},"Although shock would suggest that I care, which I do not. Fate can go fuck itself and so can men with piercing eyes that cut you down to your soul with a single look. Pah, who cares about any of that? Not me.",{"children":8284,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8285],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8286,"type":70,"version":4},"I wind up blurting out a summary of the whole encounter to Killan, whose scowl deepens the longer I talk. He even takes a fierce step toward the door, his fists clenched, like he’s going to hunt the guy down and punch his face in for rejecting me. Although, once he sees my pleading expression to leave it alone, he visibly forces himself to relax and pulls me into a tight hug. ",{"children":8288,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8289],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8290,"type":70,"version":4},"“That asshole doesn’t know what he’s doing or missing,” he growls. I’m plastered against his chest and can feel the rumble of his words in my chest, which is a strangely comforting sensation. ",{"children":8292,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8293],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8294,"type":70,"version":4},"Orion echoes Killan's protective behavior when he returns a little later with Etienne. My snow leopard mate goes as far as to growl his displeasure at the thought of someone insulting me.",{"children":8296,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8297],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8298,"type":70,"version":4},"Which is cute and all and it makes me snort a laugh, but it’s unnecessary. I don’t want another mate. Don’t want it, don’t need it.",{"children":8300,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8301],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8302,"type":70,"version":4},"Etienne’s the only one to not fall into growly protector mode. Which makes sense considering he’s the only one that doesn’t have an animal riding him and fucking with his emotions. Instead, his magic brushes up against me like a cool hand caressing my skin, ruffling my hair and making the exposed skin on my neck tingle.",{"children":8304,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8305],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8306,"type":70,"version":4},"“And the bond snapped into place just by looking at this guy?” he asks. “Has that ever happened before? I thought it was a whole slow, drawn-out process that only got sealed when we got naked and connected our parts.” His eyes twinkle as he grabs my hand and twines our fingers together. I’m also still connected to Orion, where he’s hugging me to his chest and his leopard lets out a soft little chuff, like he’s trying to comfort me.",{"children":8308,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8309],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8310,"type":70,"version":4},"“This was different,” I explain. “I guess the closest thing I have to compare it to is the bond with Killan and he sensed the bond before we sealed it. This time, it was like we didn’t even have that first step of recognizing there was the potential for the bond to form. It was just there.”",{"children":8312,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8313],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8314,"type":70,"version":4},"“You mean you’re actually mated to this random fuck? In the same way that you’re mated to the rest of us?” Orion snarls. His chest redoubles its vibrations, and he growls so violently I can feel it right the way through to my spine. ",{"children":8316,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8317],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8318,"type":70,"version":4},"I haven’t exactly taken the time to inspect the fresh bond inside me, but I do just that now. My stomach flips over at the confirmation of its existence. It doesn’t feel quite the same as the other thick threads linking my soul with my guys. I can sense all of their presences all the time, like a low hum of contentment in the background. Sometimes, if one of us experiences a particularly strong surge of emotion, we get an echo of it through the bond. Which, until now, has led to the bedroom door being flung open on more than one occasion when I’ve been waylaid by one or two of them.",{"children":8320,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8321,8323,8325],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8322,"type":70,"version":4},"When I concentrate on the bonds sitting inside my chest now though I see the thread connecting me to the stranger is a deep blue, whereas the other three are silver. It also doesn’t look quite the same. It’s not so thick and lustrous. I ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8324,"type":70,"version":4},"can",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8326,"type":70,"version":4}," vaguely sense that he’s not too far away, but that’s all I’m getting out of the bond.",{"children":8328,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8329],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8330,"type":70,"version":4},"“Well, either you’ll never see him again and the bond’ll disintegrate over time,” Killan says. “Or he’ll come crawling back and grovel when he realizes what he’s missing by rejecting such a strong, perfect mate.”",{"children":8332,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8333],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8334,"type":70,"version":4},"My stomach clenches again, my insides unhappy with the idea of my bond fading away. Man, I need to get a grip and pull myself together. I don’t even know this guy. He seemed like a rude asshole in the bare minutes we were face to face, but he could be worse than that. He could be mean or cruel or violent. ",{"children":8336,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8337],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8338,"type":70,"version":4},"“Or we find a way to break it,” Orion says. “Whatever you decide, Sweetness, we can fix it.”",{"children":8340,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8341,8343,8345],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8342,"type":70,"version":4},"I let out a slow breath. He’s right, whatever happens, I’m done with being fate’s little plaything. Ever since things went down with Andrew and he wound up in a hole in the ground, my fate weaver powers have been growing stronger. I’m no longer tethered by weaver rules since I’m not ",{"detail":66,"format":77,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8344,"type":70,"version":4},"technically",{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8346,"type":70,"version":4}," a weaver anymore. I can use them however I want.",{"children":8348,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8349],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8350,"type":70,"version":4},"People have heard about what happened over in Arkanvale and how we stopped Andrew from taking over. It’s brought a fair bit of attention my way and people have been asking for my help when they’re stuck in a situation they can’t seem to get out of. So far, it’s mostly been small things. I’ve been giving a little advice about how things might go if someone decides to take a chance on a new boyfriend, or whether a different job is likely to help get them out of a sticky situation. Nothing world-changing, but stuff that might ultimately help people out. ",{"children":8352,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8353],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8354,"type":70,"version":4},"There was also that sick kid I helped a couple of months back. The poor little guy had something the mages call ‘wasting sickness’ where his magic was consuming him from the inside out. And while nothing is ever set in stone, his fate strands seemed to be leading him toward almost certain death. It took a couple of weeks, but I worked out a way of altering the fate strands that seemed to lead to the illness getting worse. I fiddled things around a little, rerouted the avenues for his future and that, somehow, miraculously, helped his symptoms fade. The last I heard, he’s doing a lot better and his mom couldn’t stop thanking me for helping him out. She’s been telling anyone and everyone about how I saved her little boy’s life. Who knows if it’ll ultimately stop them from coming back in the future, but I did what I could to help him right now.  ",{"children":8356,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8357],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8358,"type":70,"version":4},"My powers resurfacing is not the only change over the past few months. Etienne’s no longer the only mage in the village. After the mage council sent their representatives all over Oonos, some of them decided to stay in the packs they’d been sent to and they brought their families with them. That led to an influx of other mages deciding to see if life outside the city was for them. The mage population in the Misty Ridge and neighboring Boulderbrook packs is now a whopping six households. The thing about mages, though, is that they’re a pretty useless bunch when they don’t have everything done for them. Etienne’s been running himself ragged, helping all the new families to settle into the pack and setting them up with whatever weird magic-infused equipment they have as standard in the mage cities. That, of course, led to a bunch of shifters from our pack wanting the same thing, because who wants to waste time doing dishes or laundry when you can just magic stuff clean, right? ",{"children":8360,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8361],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8362,"type":70,"version":4},"“How did today go?” I ask my sunshiny mage. He’s been out all day with Orion, dealing with some shifters from a nearby pack.",{"children":8364,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8365],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8366,"type":70,"version":4},"“Good.” He beams at me and plants a kiss on my cheek. “They wanted some help with a tracking spell. Their kid apparently went off to ‘find themselves’ in the wilderness and then never checked in to tell them he was fine and dandy and had shacked up with a girl from the mountains.”",{"children":8368,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8369],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8370,"type":70,"version":4},"“It’s pretty normal for shifter kids to be sent off into the wild for a bit to connect with their animal,” Killan says.",{"children":8372,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8373],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8374,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yeah, well, they were a family of rabbit shifters and were worried that he’d become someone’s dinner.” Etienne’s smile doesn’t dim as he shrugs. “Anyway, they weren’t too happy once I found him and discovered he was absolutely fine. They realized he must have been too busy over the past few weeks—”",{"children":8376,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8377],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8378,"type":70,"version":4},"“Fucking like bunnies,” Orion chips in with a smirk.",{"children":8380,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8381],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8382,"type":70,"version":4},"“Since the son wasn’t around, they got pretty shirty with me,” Etienne says.",{"children":8384,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8385],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8386,"type":70,"version":4},"“Did they try anything?” Killan asks, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.",{"children":8388,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8389],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8390,"type":70,"version":4},"“Not with me there, they didn’t,” Orion growls. ",{"children":8392,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8393],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8394,"type":70,"version":4},"The way he’s extended his protective moodiness to all of us warms my cold little heart. We’re our own little unit of four and it’s nice knowing that the guys look out for each other just the same as they look out for me.",{"children":8396,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8397],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8398,"type":70,"version":4},"“Those bunnies can glare at you all they like, but they don’t exactly pack a punch.” Orion smirks.",{"children":8400,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8401],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8402,"type":70,"version":4},"Etienne nods in agreement. “Yeah, I gave them my best mean face and then Orion growled at them, and that seemed to shut them up.”",{"children":8404,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8405],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8406,"type":70,"version":4},"“Thought they were gonna shit their pants,” Orion says, completely unrepentant. “You did exactly what they asked of you, and they needed a little reminder to be polite.”",{"children":8408,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8409],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8410,"type":70,"version":4},"Etienne just shrugs it off, but I’m secretly glad that he had one of the others with him. He’s too damn sweet and I don’t want anyone taking advantage or trying to dim his shine. ",{"children":8412,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8413],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8414,"type":70,"version":4},"“Before I forget, the alpha wants to see us tomorrow morning, first thing,” Etienne says, stroking his thumb over my cheek and pressing kisses along my neck. ",{"children":8416,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8417],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8418,"type":70,"version":4},"His eyes lock on mine, and I know he’s trying to distract me from the events of the morning. Killan and Orion step closer and I feel their warmth and the hardness of their bodies press close up against me, cocooning me between the three of them, and I don’t mind this particular distraction technique at all.",{"children":8420,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8421],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8422,"type":70,"version":4},"“Now fellas,” Orion murmurs into my skin. “I think it’s about time we showed our mate quite how perfect we think she is, don’t you think?”",{"children":8424,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8425],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8426,"type":70,"version":4},"Their mixed scents combine and I take a deep inhale and sigh, letting the tension dissolve from my shoulders. Etienne runs his thumb over my lower lip and grins. ",{"children":8428,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8429],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8430,"type":70,"version":4},"“What do you say, Babycakes? Are you ready to take all three of us at once again?”",{"children":8432,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8433],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8434,"type":70,"version":4},"I clench my thighs together. We’ve been busy in the bedroom over the past few months, experimenting in all combinations—me and each of my guys alone, with two of them and the third watching, or two of them waiting in the wings while the other screws me senseless. But I’m about ready to have three pairs of hands on me at once, no one getting sidelined or left out to watch and wait their turn. A delicious shiver goes through me at the thought.",{"children":8436,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8437],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8438,"type":70,"version":4},"“Would you like that, Sweetness?” Orion’s voice rumbles through my chest. I can feel his thick erection pressing against my side as he kisses along my jaw. ",{"children":8440,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8441],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8442,"type":70,"version":4},"“Yes,” I rasp. “I want that. Bedroom. Now.”",{"children":8444,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8445],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8446,"type":70,"version":4},"My thoughts are barely more coherent than the garbled words that come out of my mouth. All I know is that I need these three men naked right now. ",{"children":8448,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8449],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8450,"type":70,"version":4},"Orion scoops me up in his arms and carries me into the bedroom, dropping me onto the oversized bed so that I bounce with the mattress. He strips my pants off, shimmying them down my legs and throwing them over his shoulder with a savage grin. Killan shucks his own clothes in record time and Etienne does the same with a wave of his hand. Next, Orion removes my t-shirt and cups my bare breasts and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth.",{"children":8452,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8453],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8454,"type":70,"version":4},"I squirm, but he doesn’t allow me to retreat too far, one big hand holding me in place as he lavishes attention on my nipples before moving down to my clit where he buries his face between my legs and moans loudly.",{"children":8456,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8457],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8458,"type":70,"version":4},"“You just taste better and better every time, Sweetness,” he mumbles against my flesh. Etienne comes over to my left side, pressing kisses down my neck and shoulder as he massages one of my breasts, while Killan takes the other side. They all mutter sweet words, telling me how gorgeous I am, how lucky they are to get to worship me like this. ",{"children":8460,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8461],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8462,"type":70,"version":4},"…and I feel like a damn queen. ",{"children":8464,"direction":20,"format":68,"indent":66,"type":71,"version":4,"textFormat":66,"textStyle":68},[8465],{"detail":66,"format":66,"mode":67,"style":68,"text":8466,"type":70,"version":4},"All thoughts of anything beyond these four walls, beyond the four of us, disappear as we lose ourselves in each other. Who needs a fourth mate that doesn’t want me? Not this girl.",{"id":5674,"alt":8468,"updatedAt":8469,"createdAt":8469,"url":8470,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":8471,"mimeType":22,"filesize":8472,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"Cover for Rewriting Fate by Essie Suter. Cartoon style cover. A brunette woman looks out to camera, surrounded by a cute looking bear, a bearded brunette man, a snow leopard and a majestic looking older man. The background is a forest. ","2026-08-12T20:57:47.714Z","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Ffile\u002FWeavers%20book%203%20v1.jpg","Weavers book 3 v1.jpg",6140767,"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002FFate-Switch-Shifter-Reverse-Paranormal-ebook\u002Fdp\u002FB0C1PCSM4D\u002Fref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8",[],[],"2023-07-10T12:00:00.000Z",{"title":8478,"description":8479,"image":8480},"Rewriting Fate: A Reverse Harem Mate Bond Finale | Essie Suter","One more unwanted mate, enemies closing in, and a fate she's determined to rewrite. The finale of Wren's reverse harem romance duet, with a full happily ever after.",{"id":5674,"alt":8468,"updatedAt":8469,"createdAt":8469,"url":8470,"thumbnailURL":20,"filename":8471,"mimeType":22,"filesize":8472,"width":429,"height":430,"focalX":26,"focalY":26},"2026-09-27T10:13:13.252Z","2026-08-12T20:52:14.527Z",[],"Just when I thought I was done with fate messing me around. I have another mate with a fated connection to me. Too bad neither of us are happy about it.",1790611871177]