Magic Bound

by Theresa Kay

  Captured by one of the imperial hybrids and his human associate, she’s smuggled aboard a transport ship that belongs to the vengeful Jeren Skalos. When she manages to break free, she finds herself assisting the human crew to outwit the enemy—instead of running for her life.

  What starts as a desperate escape attempt engenders something else—a partnership that could be the beginning of a rebellion against the empire.

  “Solar Flare,” a short story included in Beyond the Stars: New Worlds, New Suns

  After crash landing on a desert planet, Gretchen Anderson survives a trek across the sand under the planet’s triple suns only to find herself forced to navigate the power struggle of an insect-like alien race.

  Theresa Kay writes stories that feature flawed young adult and new adult characters in science fiction, urban fantasy, or paranormal worlds, all with a touch of romance thrown in for good measure. She's constantly lost in one fictional universe or another and is a self-proclaimed "fangirl" who loves being sucked into new books, movies, or TV shows. Living in the mountains of central Virginia with her husband and two kids, she works as a paralegal by day and spends her free time reading tons of books, binging Avengers movies, anime, and Doctor Who, or playing Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed.

  www.TheresaKay.com

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  Before this book, I hadn’t finished a book in two years. That’s not to say I hadn’t written anything. I’d written a lot actually. More than 40k words in fact. And pretty much every single one of those words made up one of fifteen different beginnings for a completely different story.

  This book started as a tiny voice in the back of my head, one I kept pushing away because I was going to write my ancient Rome fantasy dammit despite the fact that I still hadn’t managed to find the perfect beginning, but then I decided to just do it. I needed something fun and tropey to play with and I simply adored these characters. Selene is very different from Jax and it’s been interesting getting to know her.

  I’m a pantser, but I knew if I wanted to release this series in one year instead of the three and a half it took me to get the Broken Skies series done, I needed a map to keep me from getting lost following all the little tangents my brain cooks up. So, thank you to Frankie Blooding for taking my concept for this series and my mish-mash of “well maybe” and “what if” and drawing that map for me.

  Even with a map, I still had plot bunnies to chase down and that’s where Regan came in. Our story chats, pep talks and in group progress posts were what got me to “The End” for the first time in two years.

  Another big thank you to Kelly P. who read my disjointed and sometimes confusing draft chapters as I wrote them. I couldn’t leave it in the story, but I’ll put it here just for you.

  As always, many thanks go out to the other Rebel Writers: Stormy, Caylie, Kat, Alex, and Leigh. It’s been five years now and even though so much has changed, the positivity and support never has. I never could’ve done any of this without every single one of you.

  Some newcomers to my acknowledgement section, the Cville Spec Fic Writer’s Group (or whatever we’re calling ourselves these days): Stephanie, Bruce (who also beta read this book), Rae, Jo, Leeyanne, Megan, and Emily. Even when we’re just geeking out about books or games, you guys are always tons of fun to hang out with.

  I had a great group of beta readers who made this story so much better with their feedback: Lenore, Jen, Carla, Lillian, and Kirsten.

  Special thanks to some of my other writer and blogger friends who’ve always been willing to lend a hand or answers my sometimes random questions: Rysa Walker, Meg Watt, Robin Mahle, Elle Madison, and Kelly St. Clare.

  Thanks to Christian Bentulan for another set of gorgeous covers. You’re always a joy to work with.

  Thanks to Nadége Richards for making the insides so pretty.

  Thanks to Krystal Dehaba for helping make this story better with your top-notch editing. You didn’t edit these acknowledgements, so there are probably typos in here somewhere . . .

  I’m sure there are people I’m forgetting and for that I’m sorry. Just know that I appreciate each and every person who has helped me either with this book specifically or through the years as I’ve navigated the waters of the indie world.

  Last, but definitely not least, thanks to my readers who’ve stuck with me and are joining me for this journey into something new.