This is a short story prequel to the Heven and Hell series. It is approx. twenty pages plus bonus material of the first chapter of Masquerade!What if your life was charmed and everything in it was perfect...Before.This is the story of my past. Of what things were like for me when everything was n...
I jerked awake, blinking against the dark as reality came crashing over me. I scrambled to my feet, looking up toward the top of the hole. The sun was no longer in the sky. It was dark. It was night. I was in the center of the woods. Even down in this hole, I could hear th...
I still don’t know if I believe you—ahem—Shawn Hebert and Amy Eye, but since you two seem to know me best, who am I to argue? (Well, I won’t argue in these acknowledgements, but in person that’s another story.) Kimber is an interesting kind of gal who I both love and not love all at the same time...
I’m moving in,” Frankie said from the hallway just outside my door. I smiled and motioned for her to come in. “I mean, really, how many times have you almost died lately? I swear it’s like you have a death wish!” she exclaimed as she came inside and I shut the door behind her. “I don’t have...
Duke grew quiet, even stoic. So much so that I fell back a little and matched my steps with his, walking at his side. He glanced at me and I offered him a small smile. He reached out and threaded our hands together, holding tightly to me. I didn’t p...
She was hiding like the coward I knew she was and whimpering like a baby. I thought about jumping into the dumpster, ripping her apart and leaving her to rot with yesterday’s trash. The idea had some merit. But that wasn’t why I was here, and there wasn’t enough time. As much as I wanted the litt...
My lungs expanded with air. I could feel the erratic beating of my heart against my ribs. I was lying on my back, collapsed on the mat, feeling things I hadn’t felt in so long, things I thought for sure I would never feel again. I turned my head to the side, looking at the person who started it...
Or maybe it was Holt they were in a little frenzy over. Either way, I became the main attraction for several bored nurses. They kept coming into my room, making a fuss over me, and saying how lucky I was that Holt was watching out for me. It was like I was a stray kitten that someone found on t...
Automatically, I gained my balance and dropped into a fighting crouch, but my heart just wasn’t in it.My thoughts kept straying to my brother and to Heven—who I left alone with my brother. My brother who just wasn’t well. I knew Heven was uncomfortable around him. I could feel it. I pretended not...
I was glad that school was out for the day, but unlike most kids my age, I wasn’t that thrilled to go home. At least it’s Friday, I told myself, which meant no homework. That was something to be thrilled about. I hated homework. I hated studying, but if I didn’t bring home a glowing average every...