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Chapter 21: JENNY

A bird surgeon stood over me. Darius smiled, “She’s responsive Alejandra.”

The hologram of Darius and Alejandra was to my right. Blinding lights reflected off the oxygen mask on my face.

“Where are you?” I asked Alejandra.

“Debriefing with the leader of Barretta. We barely made it…”

* * *

Jupiter did that foot tapping thing she did when she was nervous. I stirred and faced her. My entire body sore and bandaged up.

“You’re awake.” Jupiter cheered and rushed out the door.

I didn’t want to move again. Everything just fucking ached. Every slight movement hurt.

Jupiter returned with Alejandra. Alejandra dropped to her knees and kissed my head over and over and over again.

“I thought you were dead.” Alejandra cheered.

“Bitch that fucking hurts.”

I pushed her away.

“Glad to see she’s fine.” Darius stood in the doorway. “As soon as you can, we need all of you in the surveillance room.”

“She just woke up.”

“And I’m happy she’s okay. But this is war and they need the remaining leaders of Venus to show face.”

* * *

Televisions, with footage of the attack recorded from street cameras and drones sent out by the Tsunami Pods, replayed everything.

Elementals were killed by the red figure. Reanimated corpses overwhelmed the city. Tsunamis flooded the streets. The purple tendril injected something in to the planet. Rogue Robots migrated to the Ship from all over the planet. Avi searched the building we were last in. He demolished it in hopes to find us.

Avi placed a hand on our home planet and purple tendrils, the size of tree roots, exploded from the ground infecting everything around it. The water turned the color of ink. He retreated and guided Rogue Robots in to the Ship.

“Venus held ten billion citizens at its peak.” A bird in a Barretta Committee kimono said, “Your city held one billion of the remaining survivors. Your rescue pods salvaged almost every single person. Not counting the thirty thousand Elementals felled by the reanimated corpses and Avi. How did your city do it?”

“That sounds condescending.” Alejandra retorted.

“Not to be taken that way. I do apologize for my frankness.”

“How can we understand you?” I ask confused.

“During your time healing, we administered Lingua Viles and Vida Viles to every single one of your surviving citizens.”

“How did you extract us?” I desperately needed to know. Why was I here and others gone? I’m glad we’re here and breathing. I’m grateful to have survived but watching all the Elementals on the screen die makes me feel like a failure. My people died and we just escaped. I know in their hearts this is the way they would have wanted to go. To go down fighting any attackers. But, maybe I could have done more.

The bird tapped a screen and blew it up so it can be viewed on a larger scale.

One Barretta Ship sent missiles at the Tendril distracting Avi as another Ship entered orbit. The Secondary Ship scooped up the entire Tsunami Pods fleet. Both Ships sped off in to space’s orbit. “Avi’s priority was the tendril and the Rogue Robots. By now, the poison has reached the core of the planet, and it is currently starting to die. His secondary priority was Jupiter.”

“Why me?” Jupiter asked.

“You contain a crystal inside of you that Kairos is looking for.”

“What kind of crystal?”

“It was a piece of a crystal created by fairies for the former time lord, Titus Kronos. Eight centuries ago, when he died, he dispersed seven crystals amongst the stars. The crystals found their homes when the new crystal child was born and it imbedded itself next to your heart. These crystals are a failsafe put in place by the previous Time Lord. They prevent the universe from being destroyed by Kairos.”

That’s why the red figure was aggressively coming after us. He had a target. And that target was Jupiter. We weren’t crazy for assuming he was ignoring everyone else. If it hadn’t been for his secondary mission to protect the purple tendril, we would have been captured or worse dead.

“I don’t feel a crystal inside of me.” Jupiter added.

“You don’t but it’s there.”

“So, he was willing to destroy a whole planet for a crystal?” Alejandra asked in her irritated-as-fuck tone.

“The problem with fail safes is that they can be misused. Lest a crystal be removed from the holder, which we didn’t know it could happen until the fairies told us it could, the power of the crystal can be used to take over the universe.”

“What makes it a fail safe?” Alejandra interrogated

“It means that if Jupiter dies, the crystal starts to deteriorate and the universe collapses with it. The crystals are woven in to the Threads of the universe. So, our main priority is keeping her alive.” Darius responded.

“Didn’t seem like a priority when you gave us two fucking hours to evacuate.” Alejandra snipped.

No one seemed to be addressing the real concern. Besides the universe and the crystal, the Rogue Robots left with Kairos and his Ship.

“What about the Rogue Robots?” I asked.

“Our intel tells us they’re being transported to Lykos.” The bird says, “I can only assume they will be used to police the citizens.”

“What are you going to do about that?”

“We can’t spread ourselves too thin. We are here, now, and we can’t house all of the remaining Venus survivors. Epsilon has agreed to take them in. In exchange for border protections and mandatory military witch training. Your people will be fine.”

“Why are you making it sound like we won’t be joining them?” Alejandra prodded. Always the necessary pit bull. All the questions I didn’t have the energy to ask, she did for me.

“The rescue on Venus came at a cost.” Darius broke the news for the bird lady.

My stomach dropped. We have been stripped of our homes and of the comforts we held dear. All to be saved and traded. Nothing comes free in any land.

“So, we are being exchanged, for what?” Jupiter asked.

“For one, Jupiter will need to remain protected from Kairos.” The bird lady said, “And, for another, we need your skills on Barretta.”

“What about you?” Alejandra bit at Darius.

“I will be jumping back and forth from Epsilon and Lykos. I will be learning new spells and doing recognizance on the current state of affairs for Lykos.”

Alejandra scoffed. She didn’t ask him if they would see each other again. She didn’t make any comments about their first kiss. She didn’t bring up their life altering moment that seemed to have been shoved under the rug.

“Kairos is closing in on the Scorned Planets. And we have to stop him.” The bird lady pointed to all of us, “you will see your loved ones again but now is the time for action.”

“Can we see our families before we leave?” I asked exhausted.

* * *

Darius and Alejandra argued quietly in a corner of the surveillance room. Jupiter’s younger siblings, Marcos, 18, and Ophelia, 19, hugged her tightly then shrugged it off with a few insults telling her how ugly she was. I love you was never a phrase in their love language. You’re ugly was the equivalent to “I love you so much that I hope you don’t die and make it back because you’re actually cool people.”

My mom burst into the room yelling at an officer in Melivian.

“Tu no me controlas hijo de puta.” You don’t control me you son of a bitch.

She pushed the officer off her arm and ran to me.

Her tears started flowing. Words of gratitude escaped her lips as she thanked her old gods for my survival. Her kisses plentiful and more than I’ve received in my entire lifetime.

“The waves were drowning me.” Mom said, “Those machines picked me up and I went looking for you on the submarine. They told me you were fighting some monster and keeping the city protected. They showed me footage of what happened to you and I was so worried. I thought you were dead. They wouldn’t let me see you and your fucking father said, ‘Let them take care of her, they’re healing her.’ And even though he was right, they should’ve never kept me from you.” She embraced me again and I squealed from the pain. I hugged her through the aches as if this would be our last time seeing each other.

My mom was the first to let go. Not fully. And not because she wanted to but because she was a chismosa and wanted to know information. Melivian mothers survived for entire centuries off gossip and insider knowledge.

“What happens next?” My mom asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play stupid with me.” Alejandra always took after my mom. Both of them were always too smart for their own good, and could read anyone’s bullshit like a picture menu at a restaurant, expressive and to the point.

“They’re taking you to Epsilon. That’s the closest planet with the capacity to house the amount of survivors we have.”

“And you?”

“Barretta.” Darius eyed me from where he stood talking to Alejandra. I could hear his stare, ‘Don’t say anymore classified information.’

“Por que?” Why? Because the world is fucked. Because the world is unfair. Kairos is a dick-tator. Because my whole life I have never known peace. Every waking second has been some stressor. I worried for my people and what would happen to them. I worried about the waves consuming my home. Monsters attacking my people. And the end of my home. And now, that it’s all gone. Now, that everything I was so afraid of would happen, happened, I was here parting ways with my only family unable to decide my fate. Men like Kairos don’t ever have to live with stress. They barrage the people they watch over to remain subjugated. Anyone who opposes his perfect idea gets erased.

“It’s the safest place for us. And they need us.”

“For what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Don’t make me use the Mind Link.”

I block her out of my mind, “No, don’t go digging. Please.”

“All I’ll be doing without you near me is worrying.”

“Distract yourself. They will be training you Epsilon spells. Learn them. You said our family descended from witches at one point. Forget about us.”

“I can not forget about you three. Even though Jupiter is not mine, she is still one of my own. I raised her. I raised you three. It will be hard to distract myself.”

My mom embraced me again and whispered, “Take care of Alejandra. Es terca. Her mouth will get her in to trouble.”

“I can’t stop you. What makes you think I can stop her?”

My mom released me and my dad just stood there holding back tears. He hugged me and whispered, “I love you.”

My dad let go after a solid minute and just stood there not saying anything. My mom always said my father impressed her with other methods besides words.

Mom and dad talked to Alejandra leaving me alone with Darius. I looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Protect them with your life. Check up on them. Keep them preoccupied. We can’t have them worried about us.”

“We will still all be worried. Besides, I already made that promise to Alejandra.”

“Will Kairos come for Epsilon too?”

“Eventually.”

“Did Barretta rescue our people so they could be soldiers in this war?”

Darius paused and shook his head before he responded.

“Jenny, everyone is acting within their own self interests. It sucks to be used right after we were rescued, but this is our best option. Kairos will only keep coming for everyone that doesn’t fit his standard. More innocent people will suffer if we don’t stand up and fight him. A repeat of what happened on Venus will happen again to others.”

“So, you want me to be grateful when we’re being used?”

“Feel how you need to feel. I’m not excited about this situation either. But direct your anger at that correct people. This is a really frustrating situation. We are all just lost our homes. We all are being separated from our families and loved ones. Be angry. But be ready to fight the real assholes in this fucked situation.”

Chapter 22: ASHLEY

“Weaving is tearing your soul’s energy apart slowly and combining it with another’s. Every soul has massive amounts of energies stored in small fires called Wisps. These Wisps hold our memories, personalities, and powers. By splitting Wisps with another person, and when done right, the souls complement each other. For example,” Calliope signs and steps up to the oceanid, Serena. They grab each other’s hands and slowly start to unravel their beings. Strands of blue and green peel apart from Serena and Calliope intermingling to create a bright yellow. Their combined energies create a gigantic, spherical Power Source between the two. “Once the Power Source is created, by sharing energy, either person can send it out. It works better and lasts longer when one person uses the shared energy.”

“How is it different from Siphoning?” I sign and mouth my words in tandem.

“It is a form of Siphoning but instead of giving your energy away, you’re recycling the energy between each other. Weaving allows for all energy exerted to return to the user. So, you can strike down an enemy and absorb the force of the strike to replenish all lost energy.”

“My mother mentioned that if I do this wrong, I could end up melding with the other being to create a creature like the Barretta War Birds.”

“Yes. While this is true, Nymph knowledge passed down, from me to you, will allow you to learn the correct way. There will be no room for error because there will be no errors.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It will. Now let’s begin with baby steps.”

Calliope spends the next few minutes explaining how I need to release my Fairy Dust and act as if I’m going to open a hole in to the Fourth Dimension. Instead of unravelling the threads of the universe, she orders me to unravel one hand at a time.

I swirl my Fairy Dust around my hand and focus on unraveling the Threads that bind my hand to this physical existence. Thin Wisps of smokey purple tendrils emerge from where my hand once was. I feel no pain.

“Reform the hand by Weaving the universe back together like a sewing needle to torn garments.”

I follow her instructions and my hand returns to its regular form.

“Why was that so easy?”

“You’ve been doing a form of Weaving every time you travel through the Fourth Dimension. Weaving Wisps is no different than opening a rift. You tear yourself apart to meld with another and become stronger. You just need the right guidance to know how to continue.”

For the rest of the day, Calliope has me repeat the same hand until I’m exhausted.

The day after, she lets me do both hands.

The day after that, she allows me to do my feet and hands.

Each day, a new limb is added, and I practice Weaving from sun up to sun down.

At one point, I became an unraveled purple shadow. The entire day, Calliope had me tracking one of her wives without getting caught. I successfully followed two out of six times. The other four were too aware of my presence and knew Calliope would be training me on Shadow Walking. Usually only shadow walkers and opaques could travel through shadows. I didn’t question if I needed these skills or why I needed them. I just trusted Calliope. While mother and father seemed like they were stumbling through life, Calliope was so confident in herself and my abilities that I never had room to question anything she asked me to do. It made me feel bad that I respected her more than them. I still loved them. I just always felt in the dark with my parents. Like with this marriage that was sprung on me. It was never a choice they allowed me to make on my own. The irony of it all makes me laugh. Because without them forcing me to be with Calliope, I wouldn’t have found a person to put my full faith in.

Calliope has me return to my fairy form.

“Well done. Soon you will be able to spy on others and use your shadow form to attack and evade enemies.”

* * *

After a long bath, Calliope waits in bed for me. I lay down next to her in a sheer nightgown. Calliope wears nothing. Completely naked from head to toe. It’s hard to keep my eyes from roaming her body. I have to keep reminding myself that she is my wife. I can look at her like this. Right? Is this okay? Am I being a creep?

Calliope smiles, “What’s on your mind?”

Her scent sweet like warm milk and cookies on a rainy day.

“I just think you’re beautiful.”

Her right hand reaches slowly up my night gown lifting it over my head. Meanwhile, her other combs my loose, green hairs. Her fingers tease my opening. Her thumb massages my clit while her fingers gather my wetness as lubricant. Her gentle fingers play my body like a prodigy violinist. I press my lips against hers trying to suppress a moan. Warm lips leave my mouth and trail down my neck, collar bone, and down to my nipple. Her tongue circles around my nipple while suctioning her lips around it. She changes the suctioning pressures. Whimpers escape me. My fingers claw at her skin.

“Don’t… you want me to do something for… you.” I get out in between moans.

“Cum for me.” She signs with her free hand and switches nipples.

My entire body is overwhelmed with ecstasy. Tension swells throughout my entire body. I’m close. Everything seizes up. I’m about to cum when Calliope slows down. My climax stops. I look down in to her eyes and she grins, “I said cum for me. But I’m going to make you earn it.”

Her tongue trails down my belly. It circles my clit replacing her thumb. Our bodies start Weaving apart turning in to Wisp ribbons of green and purple. We turn in to a dark gray cloud. Somehow, in this gaseous form, Calliope continues to edge me over and over and over again until finally when I cum we slowly start to reform. Our bodies become our own again. Her glowing green and mine glowing purple but now a gray Power Source lies between us. Calliope licks up my cum and wipes up the excess.

Did she do this just so we could create a Power Source? Was this the easiest way? I lay on the bed naked staring at the gray spherical Power Source between us. It slowly starts to turn invisible but I know it is still there.

“How long will it last?” I ask her.

“As long as we remain in sync. At any point, we can absorb the Power Source back in to our bodies.”

“Did you do that…”

“No.” She interrupts, “I wanted you since the day I met you.”

“Do your other wives get jealous?” I… I want her all for myself.

“My other wives have relationships amongst each other. My bonding to them was a power move. Just like ours. They acknowledged a long time ago that this was a business venture but it could also be fun. If we allowed it to be.” She massages my face, “Are you the jealous type?”

“I think I can be.”

“My territorial darling. I love it.” She sighs, “Are you territorial of me?”

No. Maybe. This was fun. I loved this experience. And I think she’s absolutely beautiful. But our connection feels half business, half pleasure. An odd tense mix of responsibility and lust.

“Do you want me to be?”

“I like a little jealously. It keeps the relationships fun. But no. I want you to be fulfilled. Enjoy the moment. We all have a finite amount of time to enjoy life. We can live forever but that does not mean our entire existence will be enjoyable so… have fun.”

I sneer, “So, are you going to have to eat me out in the middle of a battle field in order for me to create another Power Source?”

“Hopefully not. But I will do what I must. Even if it means tasting you on my lips before entering a battlefield.”

Calliope caresses my face and longingly stares in to my eyes. I laugh and kiss her forehead. My arms wrap around her body as she snuggles in between my breasts. Her body absorbs my warmth through out the night.

My mind loves the idea of Calliope. But a gut feeling tells me this isn’t my puzzle piece. She won’t be the final one in my bed. Our love making matches but our energies are in different places. I sleep enjoying this moment knowing this won’t be my last.

* * *

I wake up remembering Calliope. Sweet Calliope. I miss her and our weird situationship.

I sigh as I stare at the ceiling partially blinded by an ominous glow at my bedside. I turn to Marina and find a magenta Power Source in between both our beds. Wisps of purple smoke leave my arm as red leaves Marina. I stare at the Power Source confused. I’ve never created a Power Source without merging energies before. Marina tosses in her bed and squints at the light coming from the Power Source.

Marina jumps out of bed startled, staring at the smoke leaving both our bodies. She frantically points at the Power Source. I wave my hands for her to remain calm.

I start to draw step by step pictures of how Weaving works. After I’m done, I show a replica of Marina and I sharing energies until we become one and create the Power Source. She shakes her head. Her hand massages her forehead. The more she studies the pictures the more the message reveals itself. She points between me and her and then the Power Source. I nod. She shrugs, What is it for?

* * *

I lead her out behind the castle to a patch of grass where soldiers usually train. Barretta guards watch over us. They escorted us here and I had them translate everything to Marina. A few words were lost in translation, but they said Marina got the general gist from the pictures.

Marina forms red spherical orbs using the Power Source between us and the orbs change to magenta. She releases it on a nearby mountain. The magenta orb creates a cavernous hole almost taking out the entire peak. The energy of the blast returns to the Power Source as if it never left Marina.

Marina cheers in witch language.

“She says that is the most powerful she’s ever felt. The power is beyond anything she has ever felt. How did you combine the energies?” A bird says in a monotone voice.

“Tell her, I don’t know. I had an Ancestor dream. They’re known to be very powerful. I must’ve initiated the Weaving while I was dreaming.”

Marina cocks her head and speaks back to the guard.

The guard repeats, “Why would it work for us?”

How do you say, ‘I find you very attractive and want to make sweet love to you,’ to a complete stranger after knowing them for such a short amount of time?

If anything, this proves we are one hundred percent compatible. Or I’m delusional.

“I don’t know. It happens to people who have strong connections.”

Marina blushes and nods. Why did she blush?

Does she…

Does she feel…

No.

Stop.

She is just a really nice friend.

She talks to the guard.

“That’s interesting.” He replies for her.

I nod and absorb some of the Power Source. I release the Fairy Dust and it levitates me higher than usual. Neon purple tendrils of light tremble under my skin. I release a Fairy Dust cloud, and it coats the mountain tops. The Fairy Dust wants to go further but I reel it back in. This time it went further than ever. Further than when I was with Calliope too.

Ethereals, if you can hear my pleas, let this beautiful goddess destroy me.

* * *

Marina and I sit in the grass waiting for breakfast time to roll around. The guards chat amongst themselves speaking in hushed whispers about the Templite boy. They stay at the ready observing past the field to ensure no one is trying to sneak up on us.

I pick at the grass and peel it in pieces.

Marina sighs irritated. She wants to ask a question but she doesn’t want to interrupt the guards.

I draw on my notepad a question mark.

Marina scribbles an arrow pointing at a drawing of Barretta with a question mark next to it.

She points at me three times then the picture.

Why am I here?

Kairos ruined everything. I had to flee. How does one translate that they had no choice in their current state of housing?

Calliopes screams crawl through my body like spiders. 

Her wives facing Kairos and Avi just to be poisoned by his purple tendrils. 

Salem….

The memories make me dizzy. The Power Source re-emerges and starts to glow. Images of the attack on Flounce play on the spherical Power Source. Wisps of smoke leave our hands dissolving in to the orb.

“What are you two doing?” The guards chase after us.

“I don’t know what is happening.”

Marina doesn’t try to stop anything. She doesn’t argue or fight.

My legs go first, then my body, and lastly my eyes. They meet Marina for a slight moment. Her eyes remain my anchor as I almost panic. 

This is not the worst that can happen. Her voice reaches me. Her real voice. 

We become nothing. Nothing but Wisps and smoke.

* * *

I open my eyes.

I’m floating in a training field with Calliope and a version of me before the Kairos attack.

Calliope stands in the training arena behind the Crystal Palace explaining to me.

“There is one more power besides the Weaving that is forbidden. It is magic stolen. Appropriated by thee Kairos and his Time Keepers from a dead group of fairies called the Guerreros. Titus and his followers protected the Guerreros while they were alive and prevented them from going extinct. Titus fell in love with a beautiful Guerrero and she gave birth to a girl. Titus’s daughter fell in love with her brother’s vampire best friend, Vakander. And they created the heir to the Templite throne and grandson to Titus. An heir to the Templite Throne that took all the genetic attributes of his mother and nothing from his father. Kairos was born out of a Lycan affair that Titus later regretted. Kairos sired two children and hid them away from his enemies.”

“Why do I need to know all of this?”

“History is not just to learn from. It is to track the demise of a people. To scour through the origins of power. The Templite Heir is the only other being, that I know of, with the ability to harness this forbidden magic. You have practiced a form of it your whole life without knowing its origins.”

“What kind of forbidden magic is it?”

“Guerreros were multifaceted like most magic beings. Their forbidden magic included but was not limited to erasing entire timelines, using memories they had in their past and hide them away for later in Artifacts, and even collapse entire universes. With so much power, they could do what Kairos had always wanted.”

“Why didn’t they?”

“Power in the wrong hands breeds death and destruction. Power in the correct hands maintains the balance of the universe. Kairos used the Guerreros to cut seven timelines. The Guerreros intimidated Kairos and he forced their mass extinction. They were the first beings Kairos destroyed when he took power.”

“How did we know they could erase timelines?”

“Before Kairos took power, Templites, loyal to Kairos, would try to travel the cosmos through black holes but it would have negative effects on other universes. The black holes would cause havoc, swallow everything whole, and destroy planets. Wars between timelines were set off by Kairos and his soldiers’ need to master blackhole travel. They thought that being able to be anywhere and everywhere could provide a great advantage during battle. Once enough casualties came from The Inter-dimensional Wars, all thirteen timelines signed treaties to never travel through blackholes to each others’ lands ever again. Titus, Kairos’s father, was forced to clean up after his mess. Fourth Dimensional travel was the only approved form of travel between timelines.”

Calliope sighs, “Titus enlisted the help of the Guerreros to teach curious Templites loyal to Kairos how to travel through the Fourth Dimension. Templites struggled to learn how to navigate the Fourth Dimension without getting lost. Black holes for them were always easier to navigate but messier to use. When Kairos realized his loyalists would never master Fourth Dimensional travel, he decided to cut seven timelines of the thirteen timelines. This would create an empty space of travel that could be accessed with only using black holes. So, they used the Seers among them to calculate which timelines would most likely survive from a mass dictator who would enslave all. They scooped up all the individuals from those timelines that could repopulate their planets and brought them here to ours to be used as slave workers.”

I’m scared to continue. I ask, “What about the rest of the people left in the timelines?”

“They were erased. Key members of all seven timelines were removed from existence. They essentially cleared pathways in the cosmos in order to create Limbo. With Limbo’s creation, Time Keepers could now travel all over our universe by haphazardly opening up black holes called Pulses instead of harnessing the craft of Fourth Dimensional travel.”

“What happened to all the displaced individuals?”

“The beings were evenly distributed to planets they would best assimilate to. Evolution took control as races mixed together. Wyvern creatures became dragons over generations as their species intermingled with fire breathing leviathans. Fae and fairies created a new type of fairy for Artemis to rule over. With overpopulation and Kairos propaganda, food and resource scarcity created contentions among the natives and the displaced. Mixed-raced children and the displaced were seen as less than. Harmful laws were created to limit the amount of mixed-race children that could be had on certain planets. The Scorned Planets were opposed to these types of laws. Although, Kairos tried to lead a task force on Lykos to rid all mixed-race wolves. He also failed. The Neutralist Planets were split amongst the laws. And the Kairos Loyalists leaned heavily towards these discriminatory laws. Titus and his followers struggled to push back Kairos’s influence. Once the father of the Templite Heir, Vakander, united his vampiric forces with xenophobic Templites and Lycans, they toppled the Templite Empire and Kairos took control of what is now known as, Tempus.

I stayed quiet that day.

“What the flying fuck.” Marina shouts. Wait… I can understand her.

“I can understand you.”

Marina remains gobb-smacked. She asks me directly, “How? Was it the Power Source or the Weaving or Both?”

“Welcome to the Power Source you two created.” Artemis’ bodyless voice emerges from all around us.

Her red, green, and black threaded body rises from the ground. The scene in front of us erases.

“We Weaved this together?” I ask Artemis.

“Yes, you did. You found the perfect match. Someone who can match your magical abilities and strength. The Power Source leveled you up. Your Wisps are your memories and can be shared through the Power Source. But so can the energies and knowledge you two have. Calliope could only teach you the basics. Marina here is meant to give you the support you need for the next stage of your life. This is an unlocked ability that you possess when you have access to a Power Source or Siphon all the energy from a being. Power Sources are accessed through the realm I have dominated in death.”

“So we’re in the Fourth Dimension right now?” Marina asks shaken.

“Yes but not the one you were trapped in.”

What does that mean?

Marina tries not to hyperventilate. Artemis struck the right chord. Tears well in her eyes. Her chest heavy.

“The Fourth Dimension is all around you. Hidden pockets of the universe stowed away unless seen from a different angle. There is no need to fear it.”

“Does this have something to do with the Templite boy that arrived at the castle?” I ask.

“Everything is connected. Weaved together in a perfect tapestry. He will see this one day. But you created this so you could speak to Marina. You wished to show her your life before all of this. And here we are.”

* * *

The scenes all around us change.

I’m walking down the aisle getting married.

Salem talks to me about fighting for my people.

My mom officiates the wedding.

Calliope and I are making love.

Our history lesson on the universe.

* * *

Calliope and I sit in the training arena.

Night has fallen on Flounce. The crystals from the palace refract various shades of purples, blues, and pinks as moon beams strike it from all angles. Calliope cries in to my hallow arms.

It’s been a month since our marriage and I already feel us drifting apart. Who knew marrying a stranger would lead to an unhappy union? And not only that, a stranger who saw impending doom.

Calliope stares at me as if we’re no longer together.

“What happened?”

“We can’t stop him. The Nymph seers ran through various scenarios and we lose Flounce in all of them.”

I stay silent. I don’t know how to console her. How do you fight the future if it’s set in stone? How do you decide that the fate you can’t escape from will happen?

A Templite Ship emerges from thin air like some awful magic trick.

I jump back startled. It hangs in the air immobile.

My stomachs twists, it’s happening now. I can’t stop it. I can’t stop it. I trained for this. How do I go up against a Ship that big? All the stories do the size of the Templite Ships an injustice. It blocks out all stars and moons. The light from the heavens and the castle are gone. The Ethereals can’t protect us. Now, we’re left to fend for ourselves.

“I need you to absorb the Power Source.” Calliope orders me. She repeats herself forcefully. I hesitantly absorb the Power Source and Calliope cuts the Weaving ties between us. Our shared power connection disappears. Our knowledge no longer shared between each other.

A purple tendril crashes in to the middle of the training field. The dirt debris tosses the ground in to the sky. Debris smacks Calliope and me off our feet and throws us across the training arena. My chest screams in agony. Red blooms from my shirt. Calliope lifts on to her elbows with chunks of bark missing from her arms and legs. The purple tendril pumps a liquid in to the ground. The ground quakes with the aftershock of the impact. Purple tendrils that look like veins bury themselves in to the dirt and speed our way.

I pick up Calliope and run towards the exit of the arena. The purple veins build fake tree formations across the field. The trees shoot out liquids from the tree tops. Purple viscose liquid hovers above us. Right as it is about to hit us, Calliope builds a tree bark shield with her arms. The liquid scatters all around leaving a slight path for us to keep running. Trees start sprouting all over the field around us preparing to shoot more liquid into the air.

“We have to keep moving.”

Calliope screams in agony. I turn back to see the purple veins have consumed her entire body stemming from the bark shield.

“Can you change in to your shadow form and separate yourself from the poison?”

Calliope tries to start unweaving her body. But the tendril veins keep her restrained. Her neck snaps, legs break, arms twist at odd angles. Her arms, legs, and body elongate. The wood beneath the bark glows neon purple. Horns sprout from her head. A spiked tail slithers out of her buttocks. In a matter of seconds, she is a gigantic beige and purple demon. Her body rises in to the air at least eighty stories tall.

She is kinda hot but… fuck she is scary. Scary hot… literally. I can’t be getting horny when I’m about to die.

“What the fuck.”

I turn in to my shadow form. My shadow travels through the ground. Calliope bellows an ear piercing roar. Her feet stomp above me scattering more of the poison across the planet.

My shadow flies in to the Trinity of Trees. Once I find Salem on the top floor of the trees, I reassemble my full form. They stand with Calliope’s six wives beside her. Fairy and Epsilon soldiers stand all over the Trinity of Trees at the ready. Their powers all ready to attack the Ship but they’re ignoring the tendril.

“They’re poisoning the planet.” I shout across the expanse. But why aren’t they attacking with soldiers? Every story I’ve heard contains endless Pegasus riders annihilating beings left and right. What is different about this time?

Not one peep from the Ship other than the tendril.

Calliope’s six wives scream in unison. Their bodies dissolve in to smoke and rise in to the air. The six clouds of smoke fly directly at the tendril thinning out completely until they evaporate in to the tendril. 

“What’s happening?” Salem hold red orbs of light in their hand. 

“They’re turning the Nymphs against us.” I tell Salem. “Calliope forced me to detach my Power Source from hers before she got poisoned.”

The tendril releases one wife-turned-demon at a time. They all look like Calliope except in their respective colors. Blue, green, white, brown, gold, and teal.

Calliope and her six wives hover over the Crystal Palace and Trinity of Trees.

They bellow in unison, “We are here to take control of Flounce. Submit peacefully and none of you will die.”

“We have to get you out of here.” Salem grabs my hand, “I don’t know what their plan is but you’re the last heir to the Flounce Throne. We can’t recuperate this planet without an heir. It’ll be lost to Kairos.”

“You act as if we lost.”

Salem frowns, “Not yet.” Salem spins the red orbs in a circle and shoots it at my feet. Salem’s orbs speed up around me binding me to the circle with Threads of the universe. I thought only Guerreros and fairies could do this. I resist against the Threads fighting to stay and fight alongside my people.

“Noooo. You have to let me fight for my people. You told me I get to die for my people. That it would be for the best of my society.”

Salem strengthens the binding circle as I try to shift in to my shadow form. They weave my body back together counter acting my powers. Calliope didn’t train me for this. She didn’t train me for the moment I would try to shift and someone wouldn’t let me.

The ground below the circle opens up in to the Fourth Dimension. Salem slams their hand against the wooden sky bridge and I fall in to red, green, and black darkness. My hair flails in front of my face and eyes. I try to reach out and resurface myself to the hole in the tree. A red power yanks my arm downward. From the hole, I see Calliope and her six wives unleash their abilities to poison the planets. Salem closes the threads of the universe below them.

“Noooooooo.”

Let me save my people. Let me save them. Please.

My body crashes like a comet against a field of grass.

* * *

A sharp kick startles me awake.

Barretta guards point their arrows at my head and everything comes flooding back. I quickly get up and spin in a circle. How do I get back home? Barretta is not too far from Flounce. What are they doing to help my home? Where is Salem? Calliope? Her wives?

Birds point arrows at me closer but it does nothing. It means nothing. Mom. Dad. My kingdom. All under attack. And I’m here still alive. Why am I alive? Why me? Why? Are they alive?

“I need to get home. He attacked my home.” Tears flood down my face and the birds don’t respond. Their stoic faces remain unflinching.

A female bird in a kimono greets me, “Ashley of Flounce. Heir to the Flounce Throne. Picked by the ancestors to carry the power of your people for generations.”

“They need help. Get me back home.”

“I do apologize but that can not be done. You were sent here for a reason and I cannot allow you to return.”

“Flounce is under attack. You need to help them.”

“Our armies are preparing for war on Barretta as we speak. We cannot lose numbers now saving another planet. Epsilon will send reinforcements.”

“You fucking cowards.” I charge at her in my shadow form. Cassius steps out from the tunnel leading to the castle and Weaves me back in to one piece.

Fuck. Two for two. Why didn’t Calliope teach me how to defend myself against this?

“Execute her or send her to the Orphanage?” Cassius asks.

“We do not execute queens here. Bring her inside and make her feel at home.”

“Let me go. I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be here.” I thrash against my restraints but I can’t move. Mom. Dad. Calliope. Salem.

Marina and Artemis step on to the field and the images blur into oblivion. I’m dragged in to the castle by Cassius. Until the image of me fades in to the tunnel. The tunnel remains.

We are back in the Power Source.

“Did you ever find out what happened to Flounce?” Marina asks.

My voice chokes on tears and anger, “No. They’ve kept me in the dark about everything.”

“Would you like to know?” Artemis offers.

“No.”

I can’t handle knowing. Not right now. I can wait for the truth. At one point, I wanted to know if my mother and father were safe. I wanted to see what Calliope was able to do in her poisoned form. The destruction and harm she brought to Flounce. But that was merely curiosity.

“As soon as my new body is ready, I can name you my Successor and bestow my power on to you. In that time, train with each other and make each other stronger. As an Ethereal of Artemis, you can fully channel the Fourth Dimension, travel through the past and in the future, and help the cataloguing and preservation of mythological creatures. You can use your Power Source to travel to past wars and observe battle strategies.”

“That’s why he killed you. You could change the tides of battle by seeing common strategies used. And Kairos’s seer abilities and Seer advisors allowed him to see the full extent of your power and find the best possible way to kill you.” I tell Artemis.

“In part, yes. I will not stay dead for long. We will destroy Kairos. And all the revenge we want will be ours. Souls on this side are at your beck and call. I have a leader of my army ready to serve you. She too was killed by Avi and her people by Kairos. I will give you the army to gain Flounce back.”

“Flounce is not completely lost?”

“Sick but not lost. Kairos did not employ the same methods for Flounce as he did other planets. Your people can be cured.”

“That’s why Vesta said there will be an attack on Barretta. Lykos, Epsilon, and Flounce. They’re trying to take out the Scorned Planets one by one. What about the Neutralist Planets?”

“Vakander is pushing back with his vampiric soldiers and clearing Templites. But he can’t clear them all. Kairos knows his odds of taking out the rest of the universe are stronger if he can gather forces in the Loyalist areas and corrupt enough beings with his poison in the Scorned Planets. Infecting beings with his poison powers will allow him to use them as his loyal soldiers.”

“Vesta didn’t tell us any of this.” Marina breaks her silence looking more relaxed than before, “they know he’s coming.”

“The increase in Barretta soldiers weren’t for the Templite boy. They were for an imminent attack from Kairos. In due time, everything will be told to you all. There is a mole Vesta has been trying to fish out. This is why she could not tell anyone.”

“Who?”

“Not for me to disclose. Patience. And all will be revealed.”

“Vesta knows about his plans.”

“She can only predict so much. But she is close to guessing right. She planned everything strategically. The crystal wielders, Exile, and Kairos’s plans. She is covering all bases and stretching our reach as far as possible.”

“She wasn’t lying when she said she couldn’t help Flounce.” I sigh hating the truth.

“You are never alone, my dear Ash. You may feel helpless and defeated but a warrior rises the highest after a terrible fall.”

Our bodies dissolve in to smoke and the field re-emerges. Artemis waves goodbye as her image disappears. The field returns and the Power Source stands in front of us blinking multiple times. It shatters like glass and floats away in to the atmosphere. Our Power Source used up and gone.

Marina tries to speak and the unknown language comes out.

Damn. Not again. I was just getting used to the sound of her voice.

The guards stare at us confused. It’s only a matter of time before they tell Vesta everything.

Marina and I push past them and head to the showers to get ready for our day.

Chapter 23: THEA

Why must we train in the mountains?” Tamashii asks as we trek the snowy peaks. We stay in our hybrid forms to keep warm.

Because mother and father are scared of you knowing too many secrets. They want you training as far away from the castle to gather as little information as possible. Tamashii is just a boy. What do they have to fear from a boy? If we can guide him in the right direction, then it won’t matter how much intel Kairos gathers. The boy will fight against him.

“To train you of course. Ice can be melted by fire,” I start making an excuse up, “But our elemental magic is heat. Fire is a part of heat but melting snow and boiling it can also be a weapon. Flames being the primary source of heat, boiling water is our secondary source, what would a third source be?”

Tamashii takes a moment to think.

His eyes go wide, “Heating the air.”

“Yes. We can heat the air or stars in our hands. Our skin is resistant to the heat of stars and supernovas. While many of our ancestors have died on different planets due to supernovas destroying their worlds, our species survived by adapting our skin and always carrying portable oxygen masks.”

I hold out the oxygen mask device in my hand for him to see. It is a contraption that adapts to the face and can keep oxygen flowing to the user for as long as it on their face. It becomes ineffective once taken off.

* * *

I finish tying Tamashii to the fire pit. Purple flames engulf my hands.

“Ready?”

Ten year old Tamashii’s eyes widen at the fire.

“Do you really have to light me on fire to see if my skin is fire resistant?”

I set his shoes on fire.

“Wait,” Tamashii panics, “I didn’t say I was ready.”

“If you can talk, you’re ready.”

Tamashii screams and thrashes violently.

The flames consume Tamashii’s entire body flowing in a circular tornado. His innocent face drops. A warm calm seeps through his entire body. The bindings fall off in the flames.

“After five years of training,” I sigh disappointed, “You still don’t trust my teachings.”

“I am sorry, master.” He marvels as the flames match his movements. Tamashii twirls the purple flames in his hands. “How can we do this?”

“Years ago, Kairos had the power to end worlds with his eternal fire. Since he has acquired life threatening injuries, he has relied on his poisons to kill planets or take control of them. Our Universe consisted of thirty-eight planets. Today we only have…”

“Twenty-four.”

“Very good. In the span of one day, Kairos used his eternal fire to burn two planets down at a time until the Ethereals finally cut him off of all of his powers. The Ethereals grant us our abilities. The Lava Ethereal, Agni, grants us his heat powers. Should we make him unhappy, he can cut all powers from our physical forms. The only one Ethereal that still supports Kairos is Pan, the Forest Ethereal. They worked together to crumble the fourteen planets they killed in our solar system.”

“Why can the Ethereals cut off our abilities?”

“They are the scales of the universe. They ensure not one side goes too far astray. They are the checks and balances of the galaxy.”

“So are you a good person only so that the Ethereals don’t take away your abilities?”

“I am not good or bad. I will do what I need to do for my friends and family. But I do good because life works as a ring would. An action, good or bad, commits to venturing in to the world in a circle. So, when it’s time to return to the sender, it will return the energy you gave it in the first place. We fuel this ring everyday we make decisions. The bad ones create ripple effects. Violence poisons and splinters in to branches of hatred. While good decisions heal the world and are less noticeable.”

“Are you only a good person because you’re scared the ring will bring you evil if you act bad?”

“No. As I said before. I am a not a good person. I exist to protect the ones I love and to live a full life.”

“What if Agni were to take our abilities? Would you spite him?”

“If Agni deems the need to stop my actions, then so be it. My actions must be stopped.”

Later that night, as we settled in to our campsite worn from the day. We have sleeping bags set side by side. Tamashii asks, “What if someone were to kill an Ethereal?”

“Are you looking to kill one?”

“No, I’m asking because I want to know what would happen to their soul, their powers, and their abilities to cut off powers? What would be the result?”

“Ethereals usually pick Successors before they die like my mother and father have me lined up to be the queen.”

“Yes. I understand all of that. But worst case scenario, what if they just die? Where do they go?”

* * *

I didn’t have an answer. I turn my flame body to Beelzebub, “Where do Ethereals go when they die? What happens to them?”

“We are just like anyone else. We are born, we are chosen, then we crossover to the Fourth Dimension or the Cataclysm Realm.”

“You were an Ethereal?”

“Yes, child.”

“I’ve never heard of a Beelzebub. I only know of Chronos, Cthulhu, Agni, Artemis, Pan, Ukko, and Madame Destiny.”

“I was called a different name before. I miss my old name, but this one suits me more.”

“Will you ever tell me?”

“Maybe, one day.”

“So, you’re trying to find a physical vessel like Pan took mine?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Kairos is trying to build his army again. He will do anything to complete his mission in Cleansing the universe. His plan is to kill all the Ethereals so he can have access to his full powers again. The day I died, he was granted his Ground and Moon abilities back.”

“Can he wield all the Ethereal powers?”

“Yes.”

“For a man with all the power in the universe, why does he need to wipe out entire beings?”

“Ideologies, money, material gains, and prophecies. An ideology can corrupt a soul until it makes it its mission to complete it. They’ll justify the murder of million to get their way. Eisboler was a prominent religious leader, who still worshipped a long since dead eighth Ethereal, on Lykos before The Great Migration of beings to this timeline. He united quite a few planets under his belt for Kairos. Kairos fell for his rhetoric as a teenager and became an advocate for removing refugees from Lykos, formerly known as Necropolis. Years later, a group of refugees were blamed for Eisboler’s untimely death. Everyone around Kairos knew he had done it. They didn’t speak up on it. Kairos became greedy and Kronos saw this too late. Present day, the Prophecy has gotten him paranoid. A child of two or more races would take control of the Templite Throne. Kairos is scared his nephew or another being may produce an heir worthy of taking him off the throne.”

“Why not kill his nephew?”

“Because two is better than one. Two fully powered beings who could harness all seven Ethereal abilities could take over the entire universe. Kairos is trying to sway Spike to remain on his side so that his bloodline can continue. Not only that, if Kairos can use Spike as a vessel after his physical body dies, he would have all of Spike’s abilities and his own.”

“Who needs that much power?”

“There was a time an eighth Ethereal lived. He controlled the dead. His name was Muerte.”

“What happened to him?”

“Us, seven Ethereals killed him because he grew lusting over the excess killing of innocents.”

“What happened to his soul?”

“We assume we destroyed it, but I guess he was hidden somewhere in the Fourth Dimension.”

“So, the real Kairos died at some point like I did?”

“Not exactly. Kairos and Muerte share a body. A vessel and the spirit. You could’ve stayed with Pan in your body. But I opened the door for you to come here. He did not have the power to drive you out. At one point, Kairos must have preformed a ritual to bring himself close to death in order to bring the soul in to his body. When Ethereals want to live again, they’ll do anything to find a way out of the Fourth Dimension. And once they find a vessel, they’ll do anything to keep it. Pan is probably pretending to be like you as best as he can be.”

“So, who is really in control? Kairos or Muerte?”

“Kairos is using Muerte as a Power Source. They are both weak beings who need energy to sustain their reign. Kairos always acted of his own volition. I think they are working in tandem. Any corrupt leader will work with those they need in the moment until they no longer need them. Muerte could not control the Fourth Dimension. Kairos could not control his timeline. Together they have enough energy to continue killing the masses which they both want. The dead feed energy into them both. And as their powers replenish, soon, they will no longer need each other. At that point, they could continue working together and create an army that will obliterate our timeline. Or erase each other trying to become the one true leader. But if Muerte returns, we would be dealing with planets full of undead working against us.”

Chapter 24: SPIKE

Of course, I knew that. But when your uncle is known as, Kairos, the Mass Murderer of Planets, you don’t really share this information with everyone you meet.

“How do you know I’m his nephew?”

“The Ropes are made from different materials for different relationships. Steel for lovers. Your Rope to Jimmy is steel. But I’m guessing you won’t elaborate so I’m not asking. Moonstones for motherly connections. Jasper gems for fatherly connections. And so on and so forth. In this case, twine for nephew or niece. You have a power long enough and you learn the subtleties.” Cassius bluntly prods, “Why do you think Kairos has kept you alive for so long?”

“The most obvious reason would be to continue his legacy. He wanted me to be his right-hand man. His power and forces alone couldn’t win him the Scorned Planets. With my strength, he could take over every planet in our universe and in other timelines that ever went against his beliefs.”

The truth is Kairos can’t kill me. Not yet at least.

“Why do the birds need me?” I ask him.

“Let’s say we overthrow Kairos and kill him. And we have no one to take the throne. That leaves a vacuum of power. Not all his followers will accept our way of ruling immediately either so with no ruler of Tempus, they can self-appoint one or a well-organized group can swoop in and take power. If he still has soldiers alive to fight us, they will come for the throne and take over before we could find a worthy candidate. You being the heir makes the transition of power more palatable even if they don’t necessarily agree with your rulings. You banishing and killing all Templite leaders who committed Clensing could set an example for all the planets working with him. They need to see someone of greater power rise to the throne.”

The good guys need me to lead. The bad guys want me so I can help take over the galaxy. I just want to live a normal life. I wouldn’t mind being the ruler of Tempus, but when you’re the ruler of anything, there’s always a target on your back. I don’t want to live in fear for the rest of my life …again.

“My uncle hates me. Why do you think his people would bow to me?”

“Your uncle has modeled you in to a Templite lovable prince. His propaganda makes you a star in your world. Though you look different from your Templite form.”

“How do you know about me?”

“Vesta has us study prominent leaders that need to be killed in Kairos’s cabinet of murderous assholes.”

“And I made an appearance?” I’m taken aback but I really shouldn’t be. I knew Vesta was playing a game.

“Yeah. We study Templite propaganda and how they corrupted the Loyalists.” Studying propaganda but not being able to see Barretta’s propaganda, but okay, “How they feed artificial stories to their populous in order to keep them controlled and loyal to them. They brainwash them with cult tactics. Leaving means you disrupt their way of life and everything they know. Makes them easier to control.”

“And Vesta never cleared up that I’m not on his side.”

“That’s the lesson we’re still learning. Are you on his side?”

Frustration burns through me. Do all other Scorned Planets learn this too? Am I just on everyone’s shit list across the galaxy because I’m related to him? The gears turn slowly with a realization. Kairos wanted it this way. He wanted my image tarnished throughout the galaxy. He wanted his propaganda to show that I was the poster boy for the Templites. That way I had nowhere to run to in my real form or if people found out who I was. I was never safe. Not just being a Time Absorber but anywhere people knew I was his nephew.

Cassius pauses with a puzzled expression.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I can’t say no.”

“Do you remember much from your last lives?”

“Yes and no. It depends on what you ask me about.”

“Do you remember how the Last Time Lord died?”

I try to forget. But his voice clouds my brains. In every lifetime, it’s the one thing I remember pretty quickly.

I love you, my little, Spi.

“It happened when I was a teenager. I lived in the Templite Castle when he died. All I remember is that time stopped for a few seconds. Beings could move but it felt like when white noise abruptly dissipates. A void of sound that used to be there replaced by an uncomfortable nothingness. There was no order in the universe. You could feel the millions of universes within our timeline chipping away into pieces each second someone wasn’t in control of it. Existence crumbling in on itself. Then, it snapped itself together, but the foul feeling of emptiness didn’t go away. It lingers to this day. I knew nothing of war at the time. Picking sides wasn’t on my mind. All I knew was that someone I considered a father had passed away. My mother was picking up the pieces my father and her brother caused throughout the galaxy. Kairos forcibly took my grandfather’s place, and he adopted me as his own son for years until he decided I should be a Time Absorber. My life has felt like seconds since then. I have no sense of when things happened. I just know they happened. And as I grew older, I saw a darkness festering in Kairos growing larger by the day. I had been trying to escape Kairos for so long. It is not fair when you are forced to choose your survival over your home. Being forced to leave good memories because political leaders decided they no longer could keep their dicks in their pants. Their dick size contests were more important than leaving people in peace and harmony. And on top of all of that, Kairos tried to take all my memories too. But they clung on to my soul and wouldn’t let me forget who I was. It may take me awhile to remember but the memories always come back.”

“The Old Time Lord was murdered over six hundred years before I was born.” Cassius informs me, “And we are still fighting their war.”

“Kairos tried to control me. He had me married off to someone he wanted me to love. A political marriage birthed out of greed from my uncle’s and Avi’s parts. But he also grew power hungry, as most men do. It didn’t take long for Kairos to implement the Cleansing. And when I refused to bow to him and allow him to commit war crimes, for eight hundred years, I was silenced. Forced to become a Time Absorber. He couldn’t kill me, so he kept me frozen in time.”

Cassius sighs after a moment of taking everything in, “This… is a lot. I guess Tempus’s history is more complicated than what I’ve been led to believe.” He shakes his head looking frustrated, “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“To take a shower. You smell like ass. It’s time to get ready for training.”

Chapter 25: SPIKE

Cassius guides me up two stories of spiraling staircases before entering a hallway that splits into four.

He stops.

“Male-identifying beings on the left, female-identifying beings on the right. Center left is for non-gender specifying. And center right is for specialty care for reptilian, avion, amphibian, etc. Once you’re out of the shower, there will be clothes waiting for you at the dispenser in the center of the room. Don’t take too long getting ready. I need to show you something before we go out on the training field.”

“Is it a good something?” I smile and cock my head to his groin. “Going to show me how you tied up that one girl?”

“Something to help you in the future.” Cassius lashes out.

I nod walking slowly into the left room followed by Cassius and up a small flight of stairs. At the top, stalls line the walls in a circle each one teaming with steamy conversations. Seven-foot marble dividers reach up to the ceiling allowing for privacy. All the stalls are taken so I stand there waiting for one to open. I grab a fresh white towel at the circular laundry machine dispenser at the center of the room. I nosily wait peering into everyone’s conversations.

Near the back, a boy is rapping with the person in the stall next to him.

Cassius yells over them all, “Hey Tommy, you getting under the foreskin? Or are you too busy rapping?”

“Shut the fuck up, Cassie.” Tommy’s voice raises in pitch angrily.

“I’m just worried that your fellow soldiers will run away if they smell smegma.”

“It has a very cheddar-y fragrance to it, so it adds to my natural musk,” Tommy says so confidentially that now I’m worried if he’s going to clean under his foreskin. 

Cassius smiles charmingly, “Vesta doesn’t think you smell too good. And I know how you like your foxy older birds.”

“She told you personally?”

“Of course. We had an entire meeting about how it needs to be fixed. Now fix it.”

Tommy pulls back the curtain and is quite handsome. A semi-muscular pale body appears with armored scaly skin. Long hair on top of his head arches up and reemerges along his beard. The sides of his hair shaved to the skin. A militaristic look that suits him. He catches me staring and smirks, “You’re a quiet one. I bet you I can make you squeal with pleasure.”

Gross. Guys who can make you squeal with pleasure never have to say it out loud.

“Spike, meet Tommy. He’ll fuck anything from any planet.”

“Pansexual, you fucker,” Tommy protests, “Get it right. I have refined tastes.”

“Nice to meet you, Tommy,” I say calmly ignoring both their comments.

Tommy walks over with his towel wrapped around his waist and leans on the wall next to me, “We should wrestle sometime on the battlefield.”

“He’s your new trainer. Watch how you speak to him,” Cassius informs Tommy.

“Oh, I… I’m sorry,” Tommy stands up straight, “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just thought you were another refugee.” In doing so, his towel falls, and a brick meets my eyes.

Noted. I’m keeping an eye on him. I mean… not like that. Well, scratch that.

Tommy leans into one ear not bothering to pick up his towel, “But if you want to… you know… later after training I won’t tell anyone.”

I don’t say anything. I would do it, but Cassius is staring daggers at me.

But if I accidentally hit my head on a brick… it wouldn’t be my fault. Right?

“So, no?” Tommy asks. His eyes squint for a second. Recognition just like Numitor and his wife. He clears his throat, “You have very pretty eyes.” He pauses confused, “Have we met before?”

Cassius smacks his head, “Go, get ready you idiot.”

“You’re just jealous of me,” Tommy boasts as he walks to the center of the room. His green Gamma-2 inspired battle suit drops in to his hand from the laundry machine dispenser. His chest leads the way out of the room. His brick flopping around ready to knock someone out.

“He’s a douchebag but he’s useful,” Cassius grins, “He grows on you.”

I bet. I bet he grows inside people too.

Just then, a curtain opens beside the shower Tommy left. But there is no one there. Wet footprints appear on the floor and stop in front of me and Cassius. The shadow of what Tommy looks like swivels on the floor beside the footsteps.

A body-less voice comes from silence.

“He has his redeeming qualities. You’ll eventually come to see. I’m Brody.”

“You’re a shadow person from Opaque.” I say remembering my files.

In my eight hundred years, I was never good at staring at shadow people. Imagine hating eye contact and then not being able to see someone making eye contact with you.

“One hundred percent. Tommy and I have been friends for years. He isn’t a bad person just weird. Plus, he knows that anything he does. I do. So, it’s as if he has a guard always watching his back.”

Brody pats my back unexpectedly and I jump.

“Glad to finally meet you. Cassius told me a Time Keeper was coming to train us. Your energies are very nice. Your shadow is sad. Did you lose someone too? A lover? Lovers? A daughter? A son to the cosmos? Is he still alive? Vampire son? This is very odd. You miss your instructor. Thea?”

I’ve had Shadow People read me before. They always have difficulties reading Time Absorbers since most of our lives are lived being reincarnated. They can never pinpoint exactly where in time things happened to us. Vakander used to call them powerful psychic bastards since they can read energies and tap into memories from the past, present, and future. Powerful beings to have on your side during war especially when they could read every last one of your thoughts or implant hallucinations. 

“Tommy would be very willing to have some fun with you. I wouldn’t mind it either. I’m more of a voyeur anyway, but you’re not bad looking.” Brody continues, “You know Jimmy. I miss him. Your paths crossed for a moment, or two, in a past lifetime.”

Cassius turns to me and speaks.

“The rope that led us to the Mansion on the Lake. So you have met Jimmy before?”

“More than met. It’s complicated.”

“More complicated than Tommy?” Cassius jokes.

“Just as complicated as Tommy.” Brody adds.

Cassius’s face stops mid sneer.

So, he knows.

If Cassius can hide things about himself, I will too. He doesn’t need to know about my past relationship with Jimmy. He doesn’t need to know that our love story ended abruptly on Lykos. I jump in to Tommy’s empty stall and leave Cassius’s jaw on the floor.

* * *

Once I finish cleaning myself, I change into an armored orange and black one-piece fitted suit. It is an Epsilonian male battle-suit. SPIKE is etched on my upper right bicep. This outfit makes me feel naked. I’m not the skinniest person either. Being shy of two-hundred and twenty pounds makes an outfit like this highlight both the good and the bad. My ass being the good and some jelly rolls being the bad. Luckily the armor is adaptive cloth. It fills in the uneven parts of me that make me want to run back to my room and never come out.

“The suit looks good on you,” Cassius compliments as we both have differing opinions. His suit looks like mine but better suited to his physique. 

“I’d rather be wearing a sock.”

“I have a few in the room that we can sew together if you’re being serious.” Cassius jokes. I stare daggers at him. You can joke about my entire life being a joke but not my appearance.

He sighs when I don’t respond, “I’m trying to be nice. If we have to work together, the least we can do is try to get along or pretend we’re friends.”

“Now you wanna play nice after being a dick for almost two days. Did your heart grow all of a sudden?”

I leave the air stale and awkward.

I follow him closely down the stairs and into the hallway. Cassius guides us up more spiral staircases. Exercise in this place never fucking ends.

“Why do these suits have to be so snug?” I complain. “They’re as bad as your attitude.”

“They’re mobility suits. You move right, left, up, down and the suit moves with you. This adaptive cloth is different than what you’re used to. Where on Tempus it automatically knows your body type, here we’re a bit more archaic and the cloth has to feel your muscles moving to adapt.”

“Is this what we’re wearing to fight on Exile?” I taunt him knowing this suit wouldn’t last a second against a Siren Cannibal.

“Yes. The suits have micro-armor underneath that senses when you’re in battle or danger and it deploys immediately. You’ll see what I’m talking about once we’re out there.” He smiles, “We have tailors on hand to add any adjustments to the suits.”

A girl and boy with purple hair march downstairs almost in sync. Their Lycan humanoid facades are visible to a trained eye. The longer I stare the more I can see their real forms. Their skin black with a purple mane and fur. Large black head with wolf teeth prominent enough to crush an enemy’s head. Seeing past the mask creates a headache and I stop trying. This used to happen with Jimmy and Thea all the time. Lycan and Barretta children always came in pairs because of the Imbarasi Viles women were given to repopulate after their mass casualties. These Imbarasi Viles ensured every person who gave birth did so to at least two children, and, sometimes, more would come out. Lykos were administered the Viles after it was colonized by Kairos and given the name change from Necrpolis to Lykos. Barretta administered theirs shortly after Kairos decimated their population. It’s rare to see Lycan or Barrettan children to be born as an only child.

Both beings have purple suits and crazy long voluminous hair. She holds on to his arm with one hand and with the other uses her cane. The girl’s arm reads: CELESTIA. And the boy’s reads: EMORY.

“You’re going the wrong way, Cassie.” Celestia scoffs.

“I’m dealing with a personal matter, Celestia. We’ll be there in a second.”

“Thea’s gone for two seconds and you’re already hooking up with the new recruits. Shame on you, Cassius.” Emory sneers. “Don’t see nice buns like that every day. I don’t remember Vesta opening a walking bakery.”

“He’s your new trainer. And why does it matter that Thea is gone?” Cassius says visibly frazzled, “I’m a free man with free choices.”

“Oh, C’mon, Cassie,” Celestia puts her hand on his chest and Cassius smacks it away, “We all know you’ve made love to her… in your dreams.” She pauses to look at his hand, “And possibly pretending she was your hand.”

Celestia’s movements are like that of a snake. Irises redder than blood and stuck on no one. She is trying to intimidate me, but I like her already. She’s serving absolute cunt and exuding bigger dick energy than any guy I’ve ever met.

“Hey,” Emory points to me, “You’re the one everyone’s been talking about. The reason we have all these new guards and curfews.”

“They think I’m a threat.” I confirm his statement, “Maybe I should be afraid of myself.”

Emory smirks, “If you ever give us any reason to fear you, we’ll just cut out that pretty little brown neck of yours. Celestia and I love raw meat especially when it smells like that of a Time Keeper.”

Emory knows what I am. How interesting. It seems like everyone else is reading me more than I’ve been reading them. Distrust is heavy here. Vesta has her claws in everyone. They think they’re viewing me from a microscopic lens, but I can see through everything. Their intimidation is born from a fear of the unknown. What else isn’t she telling them?

On Tempus, the citizens were always too afraid to rebel. Backstabbing Kairos was never a thought, at least not a rational one, or his armies because of their power, so, in turn, we all trusted each other. Paranoia was never an issue since we had no doubt in anyone’s loyalty.

“Good thing, I’ll never give you a reason to do so,” I say.

“Get going both of you. We don’t need any more distractions,” Cassius tells them.

“We’re excited to get to know you more, Stranger.” Celestia stares in my general direction and tosses her hair in my face.

Once they’re out of ear shot, Cassius tells me.

“Troublemakers. Their Rope connection is the strongest I’ve ever seen.” Cassius sighs, “You also might want to stay away from Tommy. Emory has a thing for him. They’re not tangled by Ropes but by sheets. I don’t need you mulled and discarded by the Twins.” 

“Was it that obvious that I was staring?”

“You weren’t being coy by staring directly at his dick.”

🖤 Twisted Obsessions & Dangerous Desires: A Guide to Dark Romance Books

⚠️WARNING: The books explore difficult, disturbing, and often triggering themes including kidnapping, dubious consent, graphic violence, and psychological manipulation. They are strictly intended for mature audiences 18+ who understand the difference between fiction and reality. Always check specific content warnings before reading.

Dark romance is a genre that pushes boundaries, exploring the gray areas of morality, obsession, and power dynamics. These stories feature morally gray, often villainous heroes who find their match in fiercely defiant heroines. If you prefer high stakes, intense emotional turmoil, and anti-heroes who are ruthless to the core, these titles are for you.

Here are 15 dark and twisted romance books that will keep you awake all night.

🔪The Captivity & Revenge Trope: These stories focus on power, control, and the dangerous intimacy forged in captivity.

1. Captive in the Dark by C.J. Roberts

Caleb is driven by a twelve-year thirst for vengeance after being sold into slavery. To execute his plan, he kidnaps the beautiful and willful Olivia Ruiz, intending to train her to be what he once was. The story delves into the terrifying but magnetic connection that develops between the captor and the captive.

2. Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters

Tess Snow’s perfect life is shattered when she is kidnapped, drugged, and sold during a romantic trip to Mexico. Alone in a world of terror, Tess must evolve from a terrified girl to a fierce fighter. This story is a harrowing journey about a will of iron growing from necessity, and the fight for survival.

3. Twist Me by Anna Zaires

Eighteen-year-old Nora Leston is kidnapped and taken to a private island by the enigmatic and ruthless Julian. He is an enigma whose touch makes her burn, and whose darkness both terrifies and draws her in. This book is a definitive example of a captor-captive dynamic exploring themes of questionable consent and Stockholm Syndrome.

4. Torrent by Gemma James

This is a story of twisted justice. The heroine, the girl who sent Rafe Mason to prison for a crime he didn't commit, is now his captive on a remote island. Rafe is driven by obsession and revenge, making the tables turn in the most chilling way possible.

😈The Alpha & Omegaverse Darkness: These books are set in worlds where primal urges, dominance, and predestined mating are tied to ruthless power structures.

5. Born to be Bound by Addison Cain

Shepherd, a violent and calculating alpha, conquers a city and refuses to let the rare, unwilling Omega female, Claire, slip through his fingers. He steals her innocence by forcing a pair-bond upon her, demanding her adoration and body. This is dark romance focused heavily on forced dominance and breeding dynamics.

6. Obsession by Nora Ash

A brilliant scientist, bound by her academic cocoon, meets test subject 351, the scariest alpha on death row. When he unleashes his fury, she is claimed by the feral alpha. This story is a suspense-filled journey where a woman's logic is no match for a primal, obsessive alpha.

7. Crave to Conquer by Zoey Ellis

Emperor Drocco, a savage conqueror, is obsessed with finding an Omega. When he hires Cailyn, a seasoned spy concealing her Omega identity, their instant attraction is complicated by his need to dominate her and her mission to deceive him. The tension snaps when he scents what she really is: his.

🔪The Organized Crime & Villainous Boss: These heroes operate outside the law, often within mafia families or criminal organizations, and take what they want.

8. Ruthless People by J.J. McAvoy

Melody Nicci Giovanni and Liam Callahan, rivals by blood and leaders through fear, are forced into an arranged marriage to end years of bloodshed between the Irish and the Italians. This is a constant battle for dominance between two Mafia bosses, cultures, and hearts, filled with graphic violence and explicit power plays.

9. Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Darhower

Ignazio Vitale, a man wrapped in a pretty package, has a darkness that is both terrifying and thrilling. He quickly draws the heroine into his web, trapping her in a life filled with unfathomable secrets she cannot walk away from. He's a monster, and what she finds when she unmasks him changes everything.

🩸The Moral Anti-Hero & Broken Heroes: Stories where the hero is a villain with a singular focus be it vengeance, destiny, or a singular person.

10. Hooked by Emily McIntire

A dark, contemporary Peter Pan retelling. James, driven by revenge against Peter Michaels, sees his way in when Peter's daughter Wendy shows up at his bar. What begins as a calculated plan to destroy his enemy gets murkier as he starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn.

11. Deviant by Callie Hart

Sloane desperately needs Zeth's help to find her missing sister, but Zeth is clear: he won't help, he can't save, and he is not a good man. He is her damnation. This story explores the toxic magnetism between a woman willing to do anything for her family and the monster who holds the keys to the underworld.

12. Born Sinner by S.L. Jennings

The heroine was bred for one purpose: to unleash death and destruction. She is taken prisoner by the leader of the Se7en, a deadly force of sin and salvation. He intends to Kill one to save a million, but the growing attraction between them challenges everything he believes.

👁️Stalking & Obsession: These books turn the feeling of being watched into a terrifying, but consuming, romantic experience.

13. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

The Manipulator meets The Shadow. Adeline can't affect the Shadow with her words, even when she pleads for him to leave. He's always there, watching and waiting, until he decides to make her his. This explores the dark side of obsession where being watched is the beginning of possession.

14. Raw by Belle Aurora

The author explicitly warns: "This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong." The heroine is educated and employed, yet she notices him hiding in plain sight. He watches her, he makes her feel, and she is left wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.

🎼 The Tortured & Traumatized Connection: Featuring characters dealing with intense trauma, where their connection becomes a path or detour to release and healing.

15. Beneath the Burn by Pam Godwin

Charlee escapes the international businessman who held her captive. She finds Jay Mayard, a tortured rock god whose secrets are worn under his facade. As they navigate a celebrity world filled with drugs and paparazzi, they must face their worst fears and find what is left beneath the burn of their shared, painful pasts.

❗️Remember: These books are extreme fiction. If you are new to the dark romance genre, please proceed with caution and prioritize your mental well-being.

Hello Friends,

As the year wraps up, I would love to hear your thoughts about what could make our community even better next year. If you haven't yet, please complete the Bindery member feedback survey

I'm planning on doing more giveaways in the next year, if you have a moment, please make sure you update your Bindery User Name. (I have 50 members with the name Bindery User!) Let's get to know each other!

Are you a paid member? Update your profile with your address and I will send you a holiday card sometime between now and the end of January! (The French do say Happy New Year all month!)

If you're not doing 75 booked, you're not on a Book Buying Ban! I've lowered prices and am clearing out these books on Pango. Check them out. Buy a few!

If you're like, what the heck is 75 booked and how do I join? Great Question. It's a 75 day challenge we are doing together:

• 2 reading sessions per day, one not in bed

• 1 bottle of water per reading session

• no book buying, we are reading our TBRs, going to the library, etc

• write down everything you're reading

I've customized my own to include 3 walks! You can jump in any time (Join the community Discord). Some people have started over and many are customizing to fit their needs.

Not for you? Don't worry! I've got another challenge announcing very soon (like this weekend! I've actually got 3 or 4 lined up!)

Hey, have you added the first book we are publishing together on Goodreads yet? Cover is coming VERY, VERY SOON!

The next post after this....MIGHT....be a giveaway? (it is) Want a hint?

Our book club picks are in for January - March of 2026! Thank you to everyone who joined up and voted. Our groups picks were:

• January: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

• February: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• March: Malice by John Gwynne

It is free to join us, and never a commitment - read a month, skip a month, read at your own pace! If you want to be in on the book club, all you have to do is join our Discord, and be ready to talk books! Discord will be set up with chapter channels and spoiler alerts so you can talk details to your heart's content, and we will have an optional video call at the end of each month for anyone that wants to chat.

If you want to purchase these, you can click on the books tagged below and have the option for Amazon and Bookshop.org. Also, if you go to my links, I have a Bookshop.org affiliate page if you want, and a coupon for Pango Books if you prefer a used book. You can, of course, use these any time and it supports what I do a bit (thank you if you do!).

Thanks to everyone who signed up and voted, and I would love to see more of you join up and read with us. More details will be shared this month on the specifics of the book club, rules, and more. We will be picking books for the next quarter in February. See you in the club!

I owe you a post, more like I owe you a lot of posts. If you can't tell, November kind of passed me by in a whirlwind and I need to do a better job of figuring out how to stay on top of things because I feel like I have forgotten about y'all more than once. I actually came on her to say that I am working my way through ten before the end, which is more like 20 before the end because I'm a mood reader and I also read fast so I have a stack of like 35 books and I'm hoping at least 10 of them will work for me.

So far I have finished Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer (4 stars), All Superheroes Need Photo Ops by Elizabeth Stephens (5 stars), Savage Blooms by St. Gibson (5 stars), Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris (5 stars), and Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi (4 stars). I NRN'd (not right now) Arcana Academy by Elise Kova. I'm currently reading Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri. This is my first Tasha Suri book and five chapters in and I can tell I will need to be reading her backlist.

My thoughts so far: WPA was my first Kemmerer book and I liked her writing style, I was hooked and kept turning pages because I wanted to know what happened. I don't know if I would love her YA stuff as much because I really enjoyed the forbidden aspect of this MMF romance and the secrecy. I can't wait of book 2. Elizabeth Stephens wrote her FREAKNASTIEST book yet, and in her patreon she said blame it on her pregnancy hormones, but Darius said crawl and I almost got on my own damn knees. I think I've never given St. Gibson less than a perfect 5 star and this was no different. It gave me all the vibes of Thornchapel, my fave Sierra Simone series but damn it left us on quite a cliffy. Also super gay, we love. Say a Little Prayer was my book club pick this month and for all the religious trauma girlies, this one is going to be for you. It's YA and the FMC really is very teenagery. Also the titles of the chapters, honestly the writing style in general was so funny! Let but not least, this was Emezi's spiciest book yet, and it's an MFM that evolves into and MMF and I love that for us. I was hoping to have the same deconstruction vibes I got when I read The Fall That Saved Us, which is one of my favorite books of all time, but it just didn't hit as good, I think there could have been more explored in terms of Galilee's identity, I still loved it, I just wanted more, hence the 4 stars.

As far as Arcana Academy, I was bored. But I'm going to give it another try later because I really enjoyed the other books by Kova I've read.

Also we raised approximately $7,500 for foodbanks across the US during our Read to Feed auction and read-a-thon. If you participated, thank you so much! I am working on a more realistic posting schedule and more tuned on content for next year. I hope you all stick with me.

Hey, everyone! As you know, we read Cry, Voidbringer together last month! I don't know about you, but I had a great time revisiting the book. And to end the month, I reached out to Elaine and asked if she'd be open to joining us for a special bookclub meeting. AND SHE SAID YES!!!

If you are free this upcoming Monday (December 8th) at 7pm CST, come join us for a fun dive into Cry, Voidbringer with the author.

Here is the invite link for those of you who are available and able to join!

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/87221470022?pwd=ks91no7CE9FG96cy4FNk5AYwakZLns.1

Feel free to invite a friend. I would love for events like this to be an opportunity for us to introduce more people to the incredible community we've built here! Thanks, y'all!!!

Welcome back to another author interview! Today, I'm featuring an amazing horror writer that may be flying under your radar! Viggy Parr Hampton is the author of three published novels--with number four releasing in January.

Hampton's books are A Cold Night For Alligators (Outbreak, Urban exploration, Abandoned amusement park), Much Too Vulgar (Dark Academia, Unhinged female, Dark humor), The Rotting Room (Nuns, Possession, Historical), and her book releasing in January, A Veritable Household Pet (Sisterhood, Lobotomies, Loss of autonomy).

Let's dive into the interview!

1. Use this first question as an introduction. Tell us a little about you and your books. 

I’m Viggy Parr Hampton, and I’m an epidemiologist, host of the podcast “Horror Humor Hunger,” and the author of four horror novels: A Cold Night for Alligators, Much Too Vulgar, The Rotting Room, and A Veritable Household Pet. I’m drawn to stories where the characters—especially the villains—have a lot of depth and moral ambiguity, and I definitely don’t shy away from some medical and body horror!

2. You're the author of four books now (with A Veritable Household Pet coming out in January). What has been your favorite part of your writing journey? The hardest part?

My favorite part—which is also the hardest part—has been finding my voice as an author. When I was first starting out, I spent a lot of time writing short stories and practicing. It took me a few years to find my unique voice, instead of trying to write in anybody else’s style. As I continue to practice and hone my skills, I’m finding it easier and easier to tell the stories I want to tell in a way that feels most authentic to me.

3. I absolutely love how different each of your books are. What have been some of the biggest inspirations for your novels?

So many of my books have been inspired by real history or my own personal experience. For example, A Cold Night for Alligators was borne out of my experience as a student research epidemiologist at the CDC; Much Too Vulgar came from my time as an undergraduate at Georgetown University; The Rotting Room was inspired by an actual room called a ‘putridarium’ from the 17th century; A Veritable Household Pet is all about the very real—and very horrifying—practice of transorbital lobotomy. I love when I can weave in as much truth as possible into a book—it makes it that much more real, and that much more terrifying!

4.While I'm not asking you to pick favorites, has there been one novel that you've written that resonated with you more?

Until recently, I would have said Much Too Vulgar, simply because my main character, Keely, is a mouthpiece for all of the nasty thoughts I’ve ever had (but never acted upon!). Now, I would have to say A Veritable Household Pet, because the process of researching and writing that narrative was so surreal, so urgent, and so heavy. The subject matter is dark, but the characters are so multi-faceted that I couldn’t stop—and still can’t stop—thinking about them.

5.Do you have any writing routines or rituals that help you get in the zone?

I love to listen to ASMR videos while I’m writing! Something about those ambient background noises really helps me focus.

6. 2025 has been a big year for horror. What have been some of your favorites this year? 

This is such a hard question! If I had to name a few, I’d say When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy, The Lamb by Lucy Rose, The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy, and This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud (I read this as an ARC, so it doesn’t actually come out until 2026!). 

7. Any novels you're eager to read in 2026?

So many! The Fourth Wife by Linda Hamilton, Headlights by CJ Leede, Play Nice by Rachel Harrison, Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang, and Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby.

8. If any of your books got adapted into a film, which one would you love to see on the screen? Do you have a dream cast?

I would love to see Much Too Vulgar adapted for the screen! I think Mia Goth would make an excellent Keely, Brooke Shields would be a great Ellen Rexroth (Keely’s mother), Hailee Steinfeld could be Erica, Steve Buscemi would be Father O’Meara, and Lili Reinhart would be a great Airhead Ani! 

9. Are you working on any other projects at the moment? 

Yes! My fifth novel, Ripped Up the Middle in Two, will be published in the fall of 2026. It’s a sort of motherhood creature feature about a postpartum mom who starts to wonder if there’s an evil fairy living in the woods that wants her baby, or if it’s all in her head.

10. Out of your four novels, which character did you connect the most with?

Definitely Keely from Much Too Vulgar. But I promise I’m not nearly as mean as her!

Anything you'd like to add? Drop it down here. I can't thank you enough for agreeing to this!

I also have a podcast called “Horror Humor Hunger,” which is about all things horror. Each season revolves around a short story or novel of mine, and the finale is a recipe inspired by that story! I've interviewed everybody from bestselling authors and psychics to exorcists, filmmakers, jelly artists, and tabletop game developers. 

I’m also part of the Purgatory Media team, and I have a segment on our YouTube channel called “Tag Team Tales of Terror,” where I challenge fellow authors to create a story with me in 30-second increments based on a prompt I pull out of a hat. Here’s a recent one with Rachel Harrison! https://youtu.be/wvwJ2JhowCI

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

The History Sickos Book Club Selection for December

Genre(s): Nonfiction, History

Release: 4/18/2023

Format/Length: Paperback/368 pages

What historical periods are covered?

~1740-1743 during the War of Jenkins' Ear (a conflict between Britian and Spain, a precursor to the Seven Years' War)

Book summary excerpt...

"... a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain..."

My smooth-brained thoughts...

Hey you know what sucked? Being on a boat in the 18th century. And scurvy, which was also bad. Additionally, being stranded on a desolate island, I can only assume, is the drizzling shits.

Even before we leave port this adventure has all the signs of a shitshow. Like imagine being a sailor coming back from some arduously long, lice-ridden journey, going to the bar to get a little loose, and suddenly a press gang spots your checkered shirt and tarred fingers and decides to force you on this doomed exercise in imperial babytown frolics. That's how The Wager kicks off, well kinda, they can barely get this thing repaired enough to be seaworthy and have a devil of a time getting on their way. This was doomed from the start and it only gets progressively worse.

Grann spins this yarn in a way that's gripping and compulsively readable. You can really feel the wet misery and the salt sores on your ass. And all the while you're trying to figure out who is full of it and who has the right of it (if anybody), as the crew splinters into quarrelling factions. Grann does what he can with the conflicting accounts and stitches all this together with dogged research. The pacing, combined with the suspense, is relentless. I devoured this over the course of three days. It's supremely un-put-downable.

My qualms are minor. Yes, this could've been longer and more detailed. I get why it's not and I'm happy it's not. The only issue that arises from that brisk pace is the attempts at historical reframing suffer. This is at times meant to be an indictment of empire and the imperial myth, which I'm on board for, but the summary statements featuring those criticisms don't feel earned or backed up enough.

Random, Choice Highlights (spoiler'ish? all from part 1)

• "He had seven children with his first wife, and, after she died, he had six more with his second, among them David. In 1705, the year that David celebrated his eighth birthday, his father stepped out to fetch some goat's milk and dropped dead"

• "Sailors who got snatched up were transported in the holds of small ships known as tenders, which resembled floating jails, with gratings bolted over the hatchways and marines standing guard with muskets and bayonets."

• "An admiral described one bunch of recruits as being 'full of the pox, itch, lame, King's evil, and all other distempers, from the hospitals at London, and will serve only to breed an infection in the ships; for the rest, most of them are thieves, house breakers, Newgate [Prison] birds, and the very filth of London.'"

• "Cheap watched the incoming invalids, many of them so weak they had to be lifted onto the ships on stretchers."

Rating & Recommendation...

A high-end 4.5 stars, verging on 4.75. This is the perfect type of narrative book for non-nonfiction readers to dip their toe into that genre. It's also going to be a re-read for me one day, it's that damn good and wild. If you want in on the action, the discussion forums in the Discord are still active for this.

Similar Recommendations

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Born to Be Hanged by Keith Thomson

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson

Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen

Cozy Gaming Giveaway: Twinkleby

Have you heard of the game: Twinkleby? As you guys know, I've been in a gaming slump but I've been playing more idle games like decoration games since October while listening to my audiobooks as part of my audio rehab that I'm doing with my hearing aids.

Here's a description of it:

Twinkleby is a cozy decoration game where you map out an archipelago of floating islands and build dioramas for a society of spacefaring Neighbours. Expand your collection, discover antique secrets, decorate, and when you change your mind – evict everyone and throw their furniture into space!

More about the Giveaway:

Thanks to Twinkleby Developers (Might & Delight, which you guys can find their website here) we are hosting a 5 winners for our Twinkleby game on Discord, which you can join by going to the membership and subscribing here for free.

• Watch Twinkleby videos on Youtube

• Read more about Twinkleby on Steam

• Download Twinkleby Press Assets here

We'll keep the giveaway going till December 15th and the winners are selected randomly on discord. I can't wait to see what you guys think of the game!

2026 is going to be a great horror (and horror adjacent) year. I've been compiling a list over the last few weeks and it is LONG LONG LONG.

Here are 10 horror books I am looking forward to next year:

1. On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield, 1/27/26

   Southern Gothic, woods of Georgia, ghosts, haints and truths

2. Humboldt Cut by Allison Mick, 1/27/26

   Eco-horror about a Black woman returning home to the redwoods of Northern California (going there in two weeks! my favorite place) and unearthing monsters, environmental destruction, botanical and psychological horror

3. A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James, 1/20/26

   Siblings return to the house they fled 20 years ago. Return to a familiar setting in The Sundown Motel

4. This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud, 1/27/26

   Ireland's Great Famine, a young woman is offered a position in a remote manor

5. This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers, 1/13/26

   The Breakfast Club meets 28 Days Later , a traumatized woman has to survive the zombie apocalypse

6. Maria The Wanted by V. Castro, 2/10/26

   A would-be immigrant turned vampire in Mexico is wanted by the cartel, an Aztec trafficker and the Devil she can't resist

7. A Slow and Secret Poison by Carmella Lowkis, 2/10/26

   A young gardener at an English manor falls in love with her employer, deadly secrets, sapphic gothic

8. The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham, 2/24/26

   A Texas Teen accused of murder, reddit, Veronica Mars Author

9. Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer, 2/10/26

   A trad wife influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her

10. Cruelty Free by Carolina Glenn, 2/3/26

    A disgraced movie star returns to Hollywood 10 years after the kidnapping of her young daughter to seek revenge, grief, womanhood, toxic beauty standards, satire