by TJ Klune
“A foundation for which to build your magic.”
“It’s more than that. A cornerstone determines how the rest of the stones will be set. How the entire building will be constructed. It’s the most important piece and without it, there would be discord. Chaos. And magic is the same. Without the cornerstone in place, it’ll grow wildly. Out of control. Exponentially so until one day, it’s a disfigured thing with no rhyme or reason, slowly eating away at the user.”
“The Darks,” he said quietly, tracing a finger along my chest.
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re unstable. They don’t last, not for long. They’re not meant to. But they forsake the idea of cornerstones because to have one is to admit a need most aren’t comfortable with.”
“Which is?”
“You aren’t the reason I have magic,” I told him, kissing his forehead. “But you would be the reason it’s defined. And if what Morgan and Randall believe is true, if I am more powerful than anything else out there, then you’ll be the most important cornerstone to exist.”
“Whoa,” he said. “Holy crap. I’m amazing.”
“And of course that’s what you took from that,” I said. “But yeah. You are. Though I’d tone down the smugness. You already think you’re dashing and immaculate. Can’t have your self-esteem get too high.”
“They wrote that in the paper,” he said. “So you know it has to be true now.”
“Ugh,” I said. “I changed my mind now too. I’m going to take Justin’s place and go on a date with Todd. At least his ears are—”
And that’s all I got out because one moment I’m curled up against him, and the next I’m flat on my back, him propped up over me, the candlelight flickering on his face as he scowls down at me.
“Hey, boo,” I said.
“You’re not going to go on a date with Todd,” he snapped.
I rolled my eyes. “No shit.”
“Because you’re mine now.”
“That should not be as hot as it is.”
“Say it.”
“Oh my gods. Seriously. Like half a chub just from that alone.”
“Sam.”
“Yeah, yeah. No date with Todd.”
“Because you’re the prize that I won,” he said, smirking at me.
I groaned and shoved him away. “I can’t believe I even said that.”
“I can,” he said, leaning his head down and kissing me on the chin. “It seems like something you would say.”
“Asshole,” I said.
“Already put it there,” he said. “Twice.”
I gaped at him. “Did you just… what. I. Sweet molasses. I don’t. Did you just make a sex pun?”
Ryan frowned. “I don’t know if you understand what a pun is.”
“Marry me,” I demanded.
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “I can do that.”
“What?”
“What.”
“You just agreed to marry me!”
“I know. You just asked me to.”
“But. I don’t. What the hell is going on?”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you ever really know.”
“We’re still going to date first,” I decided. “You owe me so much for all the shit you’ve put me through.”
“Put you through? What about when you—”
“You waited until your wedding to someone else to announce your feelings for me.”
“Dammit,” he said. “I am never going to win an argument because of that.”
“Never.”
He collapsed down on top of me, miles and miles of naked skin pressed against my own. I could barely breathe. It was awesome.
We were quiet for a time, just the brush of lips and fingers.
Eventually, I said the only thing I could. The only thing that mattered. “You don’t have to do anything. To be the cornerstone. Or, rather, you don’t have to do anything more. I don’t need to love you for all the things you could be. I already love you for all the things you are. So no. There’s no special ceremony. No dancing naked covered in yak’s blood. Randall doesn’t need to approve and Morgan doesn’t need to agree. My magic already knows you like I do. It’s known you for years. One day, and one day soon, it’ll just happen because that’s what you are to me. And I was made for you, you know? I wished for this even before I knew what it was, and I am happy it’s you. And I’m going to spend the rest of my days showing you why.”
“Sam,” he said. He sounded as if he was in awe of me, and I knew I was in awe of him, so I kissed him then, relishing the feel of his lips against mine, knowing that this was it. My magic sang because like the stories of old, of whimsy and fancy-free, this was my ending.
My heart was lightning-struck and it beat for him.
This was it.
This was my happily ever after.
AND IT was.
For three days.
Because of course that was the way my life went.
After all, there was still finding Gary’s horn, finding Tiggy’s family, getting captured by more Dark wizards, taking the Trials, pissing off Randall when I turned his fingers into dicks, finishing my Grimoire, meeting my mother’s roma, learning just how bendy Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart was while fucking him in the most unusual places we dared to take our pants off in, discovering that, yes, I did quite like rimming, and last but not least, finding out in the middle of all of this that I was somehow the center of a thousands-year-old prophecy that named me as the sole owner of a destiny intertwined with the dragons of Verania who I would lead in a battle against some ridiculous Dark wizard who would most likely monologue at me until my ears bled.
Yeah.
I was annoyed too.
Seriously.
Fuck my life.
Because this ain’t over. Not by a long shot.
It’s one thing to be told you’re awesome. It’s a whole other thing to be told you have a destiny of dragons.
But that… well.
That’s a story for another day.
About the Author
When TJ KLUNE was eight, he picked up a pen and paper and began to write his first story (which turned out to be his own sweeping epic version of the video game Super Metroid—he didn’t think the game ended very well and wanted to offer his own take on it. He never heard back from the video game company, much to his chagrin). Now, over two decades later, the cast of characters in his head have only gotten louder, wondering why he has to go to work as a claims examiner for an insurance company during the day when he could just stay home and write.
Since being published, TJ has won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance, fought off three lions that threatened to attack him and his village, and was chosen by Amazon as having written one of the best GLBT books of 2011.
And one of those things isn’t true.
(It’s the lion thing. The lion thing isn’t true.)
Facebook: TJ Klune
Blog: http://tjklunebooks.blogspot.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Also by this Author and DREAMSPINNER PRESS
Set in a world that closely resembles our own, Burn is a story of redemption and betrayal, of family and sacrifice, which leads to the greatest question of all: how far would you go to save the ones you love?
Fifteen years ago, Felix Paracel killed his mother with fire that shot from his hands. Since then, he has hidden from forces bent on exploiting him and his fire and wind Elemental abilities. But Felix’s world is about to change, because he is Findo Unum—the Split One—and his coming has been foretold for generations.
Though Felix’s arrival brings great joy to the Elemental world, it also heralds a coming darkness. No one knows this better than Seven, the mysterious man who rescued Felix from that horrible fire years ago and then disappeared... who now has returned to claim what’s rightfully his: Felix’s heart. But even as Felix begins to trust Seven and his feelings about his place in the world, the darkness reveals itself, bringi
ng consequences no one could have predicted.
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Five years ago, Benji Green lost his beloved father, Big Eddie, when his truck crashed into a river. Everyone called it an accident, but Benji knows it was more. Even years later, he’s buried in his grief, throwing himself into managing Big Eddie’s convenience store in the small-town of Roseland, Oregon. Surrounded by his mother and three aunts, he lives day to day, struggling to keep his head above water.
But Roseland is no ordinary place.
With ever more frequent dreams of his father’s death and waking visions of feathers on the river’s surface, Benji finds his definition of reality bending. He thinks himself haunted; by ghosts or memories, he can no longer tell. Not until a man falls from the sky, leaving the burning imprint of wings on the ground, does Benji begin to understand that the world is more mysterious than he ever imagined—and more dangerous. As uncontrollable forces descend on Roseland, they reveal long-hidden truths about friends, family, and the stranger Calliel—a man Benji can no longer live without.
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John and Jackie first laid eyes on each other when they were twelve years old. Now, seventy-one years later, Jack prepares to give his beloved husband the ultimate gift. Before he does, they’ll relive five key moments from their younger lives together over the course of a single afternoon. From their first meeting and first kiss to the violence of an abusive father and the heartache of growing up, these moments have defined who they have become. As sunset approaches, John will show the depths of his love for the one man who has made him whole: his Jackie. They’ll soon learn there is no force more powerful than their devotion to one another.
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Do you believe in love at first sight?
Paul Auster doesn’t. Paul doesn’t believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother’s homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.
Enter Vince Taylor.
Vince is everything Paul isn’t: sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.
But when Paul hits Vince with his car—in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it’d-only-be-manslaughter kind of way—he’s forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself—and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince’s family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he’s perfect the way he is.
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Three years ago, Bear McKenna’s mother took off for parts unknown with her new boyfriend, leaving Bear to raise his six-year-old brother Tyson, aka the Kid. Somehow they’ve muddled through, but since he’s totally devoted to the Kid, Bear isn’t actually doing much living—with a few exceptions, he’s retreated from the world, and he’s mostly okay with that. Until Otter comes home.
Otter is Bear’s best friend’s older brother, and as they’ve done for their whole lives, Bear and Otter crash and collide in ways neither expect. This time, though, there’s nowhere to run from the depth of emotion between them. Bear still believes his place is as the Kid’s guardian, but he can’t help thinking there could be something more for him in the world... something or someone.
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Bear, Otter, and the Kid survived last summer with their hearts and souls intact. They’ve moved into the Green Monstrosity, and Bear is finally able to admit his love for the man who saved him from himself.
But that’s not the end of their story. How could it be?
The boys find that life doesn’t stop just because they got their happily ever after. There’s still the custody battle for the Kid. The return of Otter’s parents. A first trip to a gay bar. The Kid goes to therapy, and Mrs. Paquinn decides that Bigfoot is real. Anna and Creed do… well, whatever it is Anna and Creed do. There are newfound jealousies, the return of old enemies, bad poetry, and misanthropic seagulls. And through it all, Bear struggles to understand his mother’s abandonment of him and his brother, only to delve deeper into their shared past. What he finds there will alter their lives forever and help him realize what it’ll take to become who they’re supposed to be.
Family is not always defined by blood. It’s defined by those who make us whole—those who make us who we are.
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Tyson Thompson graduated high school at sixteen and left the town of Seafare, Oregon, bound for what he assumed would be bigger and better things. He soon found out the real world has teeth, and he returns to the coast with four years of failure, addiction, and a diagnosis of panic disorder trailing behind him. His brother, Bear, and his brother’s husband, Otter, believe coming home is exactly what Tyson needs to find himself again. Surrounded by family in the Green Monstrosity, Tyson attempts to put the pieces of his broken life back together.
But shortly after he arrives home, Tyson comes face to face with inevitability in the form of his childhood friend and first love, Dominic Miller, who he hasn’t seen since the day he left Seafare. As their paths cross, old wounds reopen, new secrets are revealed, and Tyson discovers there is more to his own story than he was told all those years ago.
In a sea of familiar faces, new friends, and the memories of a mother’s devastating choice, Tyson will learn that in order to have any hope for a future, he must fight the ghosts of his past.
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Table of Contents
Title page
COPYRIGHT
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
EPILOGUE
About the Author
Also by this Author and Dreamspinner Press