Dangerous Lovers
By
H.D. Gordon
Jamie Magee
Janelle Stalder
Cambria Hebert
A.M. Hargrove
Becca Vincenza
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 by H.D. Gordon, Jamie Magee,
Janelle Stalder, Cambria Hebert, A.M. Hargrove, Becca Vincenza
All Rights Reserved.
Cover Art by Emma Michaels
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
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Table of Contents
BLOOD WARRIOR by H.D. Gordon
RIVULET by Jamie Magee
SWITCH by Janelle Stalder
CHARMED by Cambria Hebert
DARK WALTZ by A.M. Hargrove
DAMAGED by Becca Vincenza
BLOOD WARRIOR by H.D. Gordon
When her home is attacked by murderous vampires, 17-year-old Alexa is forced to leave her mother for dead in order to save her sister. She soon learns that she is the last known member of an elite race of supernatural Warriors, and is thrust into a world full of vampires and werewolves who all seem to regard her as some sort of savior. Meanwhile, Alexa battles a monster within herself that seeks to gain control; a monster that seeks blood.
The hidden city she finds herself in appears perfect, but Alexa's instincts tell her that all is not right within its walls. When she is asked to attend a school of fighters, whose exams consist of gladiator-style competitions, she must decide who she can trust among the smiling faces. And, when she meets Kayden, a vampire she feels undeniably drawn to, she must decide if she can trust herself.
RIVULET by Jamie Magee
Unfathomable forces have always contested Genevieve Indiana Falcon, known as Indie. The curse of her cold touch entraps her just as the grief ignited in her past torments her. Yet, her mysterious ability to dream while awake saturates her in the belief that she was not always anguished. There is hope that one day a true peace in her soul can be found.
Foolishly, Indie assumes she has contained her life in an odd balance, and she cherishes the visions she sees of the enigmatic boy that held her in a lost time, but can never reach. She grieves for a life she fears she'll never possess, and that grief is a weapon she uses against her aunt who stands between her and her inheritance.
Weeks away from her twenty-first birthday, the date where she would assume control over her family legacy, a night terror robs Indie of the balance she was clinging to. Like the dream she had before she lost her family, it predicts a fatal catastrophe on the horizon. The fight between life and death, good and evil, began the moment her thundering heart awoke her.
Everything changed after that dream. The one thing that keeps her curse at bay is stolen, and then the enigmatic boy arrives in the flesh. Face to face with her fiery born-again lover Indie realizes that the only way she can prevent the tragedy before her is to surrender everything she was, is, and could be.
Can she bend the laws of nature and fight the improbability that fire and ice could ever be one? As far as Indie is concerned, there is not a myth, spoken fate, or curse that is stronger than her stubborn desire to have it all ... including him.
SWITCH by Janelle Stalder
All’s fair in love and war.
Two thirds of the world's population has been wiped out, devastated by the worst war earth has ever seen. Still standing amongst the ruins is a mind reader who finds herself on the wrong side of the war.
Everyone does what they must to survive.
When the rebels bent on bringing down the New World leader start to rise up, it is her job to make sure they stay down where they belong. That is, until one rebel sneaks past her defences and into her heart. Love will blossom from the ashes, but will it be enough to save them, or will it mean the end of them both?
CHARMED by Cambria Hebert
Life or Death? Not many people would choose death. But what if death chooses you? What if death doesn't mean the end of your life, but the beginning?
For a Death Escort, death is life. Death is your paycheck. Death is your job.
And Charming is the best Escort the Grim Reaper has ever had.
But when you piss off the Reaper, being the best doesn't matter. So Charming is assigned a Target who is practically impossible to kill. He knows the Reaper hopes he fails--that he's counting on it. So Charming vows to prove him wrong. He vows to make the kill.
But someone else vows to get in his way. Someone with a big mouth, a sugar habit, and blond hair. Someone who makes his heart start beating again.
And so Charming is left holding more than one person's fate in the palm of his hand. He thought the choice would be easy, that there really wasn't a question at all.
He was wrong.
Life or Death?
DARK WALTZ by A.M. Hargrove
Category: ADULT Romance…NOT appropriate for young readers. (Major STEAM ahead)
Dark Waltz--A sizzling legend of loss, lust and love.
It’s the year 2030 and the human population has been annihilated by a virulent form of small pox. Liasare Davidson is desperately searching for her brother, who has been missing for three months. It’s been eighteen years since she was evacuated from Earth and she is horrified to see it’s become a cesspool of unimaginable things.
In her quest to find her brother, she meets Jurek, a powerful and enigmatic being that frightens her, yet she is unable to resist. When things begin to unfold between them, they both discover a paralyzing truth that puts Liasare at grave risk. She must make a choice to join Jurek and find her brother or fulfill a role she believes she is ill equipped to undertake.
DAMAGED by Becca Vincenza
(New Adult, contains language and sexual content. 18+) There are some beings in this world, long thought to be extinct. Some seek to protect them, others want control, but some…some are hell bent on their destruction. Audrey was taken from her father, hidden away from the world, and tortured for five years. She was rescued, but is she really safe, or is there someone else waiting to betray her? Can she trust those who saved her? Can she learn to accept who she really is? Stone was on a routine mission to extract valuable information from a rival clan of paranormals. Instead, he and his team find something much more valuable: a scarred, damaged young woman who holds many secrets, and whose power is beyond anything they could ever have imagined. There is much more to Audrey than meets the eye and Stone is determined to protect her. Audrey and Stone are about to find out it’s hard to know who to trust.
BLOOD WARRIOR
by
HD Gordon
Copyright 2011 © Heather Gordon
Cover Design by Mae I Design
ISBN-13: 978-1482302158
ISBN-10: 1482302152
As will always be, this is for my daughters, Soraya and Akira. No knight in shinin
g armor has ever brought salvation finer than that you have given me. No love has ever been purer than that I have for you. There are no words great enough to define you.
They simply do not exist.
Chapter One
It wasn’t dead when I found it.
I’m not even sure what drew me to the window in the first place. But I went. I suppose I should have, even could have walked away at that point… let nature take its course. But, I didn’t.
Its neck was broken. Its wings outstretched and feathers splayed in a way more peacock than blackbird. I pushed open the window, having almost forgotten its deceitful boundary, though the glass was stained where the two had collided.
And then I tilted, just bent my upper body so I was leaning over it. It was in pain. No, I couldn’t be sure of this, and yet, I was. I think the eyes captured me, held me there until the option of walking away had faded, leaving me with no choice at all.
I backpedaled, reached out a calloused and cracked hand, and grabbed Capote off my desk. Returning to the window, I raised the hardcover.
My hesitation was brief, but present. The bird lay wounded beyond repair. And, somehow, I thought I knew what it wanted, what I would want were I the broken blackbird.
Or maybe I justified certain wants with inferred ones. Either way, it was the right thing. I took no pleasure in watching something suffer.
Nor would I let it.
The book fell at exactly the same moment the door opened.
Chapter Two
My mother entered the room, and I reluctantly turned to face her. I had been in a good mood. I didn’t particularly want to change that. But she there she stood, and that meant she had a reason. She never visited for a simple chat.
Her eyes flicked briefly to the window. If I hadn’t been watching, I would’ve missed it. She didn’t comment. She didn’t ask about the lone black feather sticking out from under Capote. She just gestured to the bed, and I took a seat.
She carried the makeup in her hand, and I refused to wince as she applied it none too gently to my eye.
“There,” she said, leaning back to examine her work.
I blinked a couple times to clear my vision and went to study myself in the mirror. My black eye was still visibly swollen, but at least the foundation she’d applied covered up some of the bruising. I stared at myself, almost ignoring the fact I’d become reasonably comfortable with this routine.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. It was all I ever said to her when this happened, and it occurred to me that it was strange to be thanking her for covering up an injury she had caused. Still, I had learned long ago to enjoy these moments with her. These moments when I could almost believe her when she said it was necessary for me to endure the physical pain she inflicted.
“Now go,” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Or you’ll be late for school.”
I nodded and grabbed my loaded backpack off its hook as I headed out the door.
“Hey, wait!” my little sister, Nelly, called from upstairs.
I was tempted to shut the door behind me and head off without her, but I knew that would only piss my mother off. I suppose that’s why I was tempted. I felt good this morning, stronger. And, I realized much later this probably had something to do with the blackbird.
As it was, my mother shot me a warning look as I stood in the open doorway and waited impatiently for Nelly. A few moments later, she came running down the stairs with her backpack in tow. I rolled my eyes as I took in her usual perfect and prim appearance. Her goldenbrown hair hung perfectly straight across her shoulders, and her makeup was light and tasteful. We were both very pretty, but most of the time I couldn’t help but feel mildly jealous of her. I had my reasons.
Believe me.
She was wearing a baby-blue button-down blouse and lightcolored jeans. I looked down at my wrinkled T-shirt and sweatpants.
Mom always got her the good stuff. At least the pants fit me nicely.
“Well, don’t you look pretty?” I said. “Can we go now?”
This earned another glare from my mother, which I pointedly ignored by pushing the hair that had fallen out of my sloppy ponytail off my face.
Nelly just smiled genuinely and swept past me through the open door. It was childish, but I sighed and rolled my eyes again. Nelly certainly is the diplomatic one. Me? Not so much. Still, I felt bad for making fun of her this morning. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t have to “prepare”—that’s what my mother called it—like I did. And, truth be told, I was glad she didn’t get the same treatment from my mother. Nelly’s more fragile than I am, and I wasn’t sure she could take it.
Just before I closed the door, my mother called out to me. “Alexa—”
“I know, I know,” I said, cutting her off. “Don’t stop until we get there.”
Chapter Three
Nelly waited for me outside the door, and I stepped out onto the porch with her. Letting out a big breath, I steeled myself for the run ahead of us. I glanced at her, and she gave me a sympathetic smile. I smiled back because I couldn’t help it. Nelly is just that way. Her moods tend to be contagious. Also, this was one thing our mother insisted we both do, and it was hard on both of us.
“Ready?” I asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” she replied.
I gave her another smile. It was the same response she gave every day, and I admired her for her optimism. Despite the unfair treatment from our mother, I loved Nelly. She was all I had in this world and the only reason I hadn’t left long ago. Our mother was right about one thing: we needed to stay together. I had to protect Nelly. From what? I was still figuring that one out. I just knew she needed me.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Nelly jumped off the porch and set off at an impressive rate in the direction of our school. I let her get a few paces ahead before jumping off the porch myself and racing after her. She was fast, but I was faster.
I caught up to her, and we kept up pace as we ran down the road that would take us to Levland High School. She grinned and shook her head as I fell into step just behind her. This was another thing our mother insisted on: always keep Nelly in your line of sight.
We didn’t talk much on this run. It was hard enough, with the three-and-a-half mile trip, just to keep up a steady pace. Our heavy backpacks didn’t make it any easier.
It could have been worse, though. Our last school had been six miles from the house and the terrain had been hilly. This road was flat and hard-packed. Thank God for small favors.
My thoughts churned as I ran, and I actually took time to enjoy the scenery around me. We lived in a small town in Missouri, and springtime was just starting to set in. Another thing I was grateful for. Running in snow sucks.
Inevitably, my mind soared back to the blackbird. It was impossible not to think of, especially since the day seemed to match my good mood. I had done a good thing this morning, a humane thing, and this seemed to fuel me as my feet pounded the dirt road.
Every blooming wildflower lifted their smiling faces at me, rewarding me by wrapping their sweet scent around my body. I felt like Mother Nature was thanking me, trusting I would do the same for her if she were ever suffering. And promising me that kindness in return, should I ever need it.
The sun shone brightly in my eyes, and I was pleased I’d remembered my sunglasses this morning. Glancing over at Nelly told me she hadn’t.
I jogged up beside her, took off the sunglasses, and held them out to her. She shook her head and forced out, “It’s okay, you keep them.” I shook my head and continued holding them out to her. Finally, she took them and put them on, nodding her thanks.
Squinting the rest of the way, I fell back a few paces behind her. It was so ingrained in me to take care of her, even in the smallest of ways, I hadn’t thought twice about handing over the sunglasses.
Finally, I saw the school up ahead and Nelly and I picked up our pace. The sooner we reached it, the sooner we could stop. School buses
were pulling in the lot as we reached the entrance of the school. Nelly and I entered the grounds leaned against the big oak tree near the school’s entrance. As I watched the students file out of the buses, I couldn’t help but feel a little envious. There was a bus that went right by our house, but Mother insisted that running was essential.
“Bullshit,” I said, still struggling to catch my breath. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a pack of Marlboros and a lighter. I set fire to one as I glared at the students exiting the buses.
“Don’t swear,” Nelly chastised me. “And the run would probably be easier on you if you quit that stupid smoking.”
I smirked. “It would be easier on me if I could ride the damn bus like everyone else.”
She shook her head and smiled. “Come on, or we’ll be late for class.” I nodded and threw the cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. We entered the school and she gave me a quick hug before we parted to go to our first period class. Nelly was a sophomore and I was junior, so we had no classes together. I wished she would have been able to jump ahead into some of my classes, like she had at our last school. She was certainly smart enough.
I watched Nelly leave, mildly annoyed as a group of her friends surrounded her, as they did every morning, eager to swap rumors. Nelly was better at that than me, I guess. I was the only one she really cared about in this world, but she could pretend her ass off that she cared about other people as well. That’s not to say she wouldn’t help them if she could; that just meant she only really cared about me.
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