by A. B. Keuser
“He’s a tech?”
“No, but I’ll let you figure that out on your own.”
He paused, letting silence stretch before he asked, “And your twin?”
“Ah, Flynn…. He’ll be trickier, but infinitely more useful.”
“You mean infinitely less likely to blow up one of my moons?”
“Depends on the loss gain ratios. How many moons do you have?”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t have to, they both knew she already had the answer.
“One of Flynn’s greatest problems is that he wants to help people… and if he fails in that… or if they fail in it, he’ll accept penance in strange forms. You’ll have an opportunity, shortly, to reel him in.”
“And what does their loving sister get for placing them in my debt?”
Sophia waited until Paige slipped into the room from an entrance she hadn’t previously noticed. The woman was quiet as the void. Only the brush of air let Kathrynn know she was there. Let her know that all required parties were present and accounted for.
The only acknowledgement she gave of the other woman’s presence was a small smile. One she doubted even Harris had caught.
It was better to let them assume she was vulnerable.
“I have a plan that will work to our mutual benefit.”
She held out her hand, careful to not touch anything on his desk, and when he reached toward her, she dropped the chip in his palm. Letting him decide where and if he would download the data.
He hesitated only a moment.
Placing it on the far corner, a bright red square surrounded the chip and its data sifted through the filter like silvery sand through coral webbing.
The data expanded in a timeline, spiraling around a single event.
She didn’t look at the video clip on repeat in that bubble. Didn’t need to see her brother’s face turn blue as the noose cut its necklace wound. Didn’t need to see Archimedes take aim and pull the trigger as Colm cut her brother down.
And she didn’t need to see Colm dive between her brother and her best friend.
Harris did. It was the easiest way to sell her proposition. Most importantly, he needed to see the disc.
She watched him instead of the information she’d compiled. Waited as he caught sight of it.
His response was exactly as she had foreseen.
He swiped the chip away, and the room fell back to its near darkness. “Why are you really here?”
“I want to help you destroy what’s left of the Lazarai.”
Senior Colari Harris finally leaned forward, watching her very carefully as he tented his hands and placed sharp elbows on his desk. “And what do you get out of it?”
She forced herself to smile the way Archie had always done when he wanted to scare his men. Tensed her muscles for the hard slash of pain that would pierce her.
Her own lies cut the deepest.
“Revenge.”
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for reading SLOW BURN DARK. I hope you had as much fun exploring this world as I did writing it. If you have a moment, please consider leaving an honest review to help other readers decide if they want to pick up this title or not. I appreciate any and all reviews.
SLOW BURN DARK is the first in the Lazarai Lost series.
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Other Books By A.B. Keuser
The Boundary Zone
The Xyvar Series
Windthrow
Blowdown
Death of Empire
Oath Breaker
Short Fiction
Never Alone
Lunar Colony Six
Pugilist Dreams
The Lazarai Lost
Slow Burn Dark
Grey Diamond Skies
Inequity Engine Compromise
Pattern Against Heaven
Books Written as Amelia VanBassett
- Clockwork Fairy tale retellings with erotic twists -
The Clockwork Fairy Tales Series
Beauty & The Clockwork Beast
Hazel & Gretel
Iron Heinrich
Jack & The Mechanical Beanstalks
Snow On The Sea
Books Written as Elise Jae
- Science Fiction Romance -
The Shadow Zone Brotherhood Series
Alien Passion
Alien Obsession
The Solar Delights Series
Hotter Than The Sun
Slick as Mercury
Circling Venus
About the Author
I spend a lot of time making stuff up and figuring out fun ways to kill people. It’s a little weird, but it’s something I love. I write space westerns and space operas, as well as science fiction romance as Elise Jae, and steampunk fairy tales as Amelia VanBassett. I like to think being an author was the endgame every time I got caught lying to my mother as a child.
It probably wasn’t.
Most days, I live by lists and try my best to make sense of my own brain soup. I keep lots of spreadsheets and love metrics relating to my own process.
When I’m not writing, I’m probably at one of my favorite local bars haranguing the staff, or getting tattooed, or going on nonsense road trips (or, you know, at my 9-5 job). I drink way too much tea, read like it’s going out of style and someday hope to play the banjo well enough that I’ll let anyone else hear me. It is an ongoing process, and I’m not sure Nirvana was ever meant to be played with that much twang.
Originally a native of the southern Oregon coast, I’ve transplanted to the Sonoran Desert—I’m slowly desiccating in Phoenix’s heat—where I live with my husband, our little gray ewok (a rescue from Korea) and our one-eyed ragamuffin (a rescue from AZ). I traded in small-town farm life for the most small-town-like big-city down-town I could find. I love this big/little city life I’ve created, but I won’t lie: I’d also love to be a hermit in the woods around my grandparents’ farms.
Maybe someday I’ll get both.
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. All names, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by A. B. Keuser
All Rights Reserved.
Standard US copyright laws apply. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author, excluding quotations for reviewing purposes.
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