Solma is a fighter. Trained by her village Steward to protect their community from the predators of their harsh world, she is fierce and loyal. But how can she protect her friends and family from crop failure and starvation? With flying insects extinct for over a century, nowhere on the forsaken continent of Alphor is safe and Solma is terrified her little brother, Warren, will be one of the next to die. The villagers cling to life, waiting for the Earth Whisperers—mysterious nomads with a strange magic that helps plants grow—to arrive.
But then Warren finds something. Something impossible. When the first bee in a hundred years crawls out of the earth, Warren forms a strange bond with the creature and Solma fears he might have a new power. One that leaders of Alphor would kill for. As she and Warren fight to keep the bee secret and safe, word of this miracle sweeps the continent. Allies and enemies alike descend on the village. Some demand the bees for themselves, others want to destroy the colony to level the odds. When words become threats and then violence, Solma and Warren are caught in the conflict, and now it isn’t just the bees in danger.
When whoever controls the bees controls the world, how will Solma and Warren know who to trust?
The crowd parts and a visiting Steward strides to face Olive. It’s the woman with the silk scarf. She’s at least half a head taller than Olive and gets close enough so that she can look down at her, their noses inches apart. Solma bristles before she realizes what she’s doing and almost steps in, knife in hand, but someone grabs her arm. She glances down to see Cobra holding her wrist, eyes imploring. Solma scowls and wrenches her arm free, but it’s enough to stop her diving in and starting the scuffle anew.
The Steward grins down at Olive, teeth bared like a predator. “We’ll go home,” she murmurs. “When your pathetic little village gives us its bees.”
Olive cocks her pistol and presses it up under the Steward’s chin. There’s a gasp from the crowd and the Steward’s guards brandish their weapons again. Olive either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.
“Don’t think I won’t,” Olive snarls. “’Cos I will.”
Solma believes her. She clutches her belly to quell the churning inside it. Could Olive really shoot an unarmed woman? Except …
There’s a flash of steel at the woman’s hip and Solma sees with a kick of her heart that the woman is not unarmed at all. The steel winks in the sinking sun. The Steward’s grin widens and Solma sees, as if the whole world has slowed down, Olive’s eyes widen in sudden realization.
Rebecca has been obsessed with two things since she learned to walk and talk: stories and animals. Luckily, the two seem to be very compatible. Rebecca writes stories set in strange worlds filled with bizarre creatures, strong female characters and magical powers. She started her writing career as a poet, performing all over the country and publishing her first collection, Octopus Medicine, with Two Rivers Press in 2017.
In addition to writing, Rebecca is also a teacher and, in 2018, decided that she wanted to write quality books for the young people she works with. Her books tend towards themes of respect for the environment, protecting the planet and the new generations challenging the old to face up to their mistakes.
She lives in Reading, UK, with her unusual family, which includes herself and her partner, a friendly little mini-lop rabbit (called Cleo) and a gregarious and feisty quaker parrot (called Maya).
Fifteen-year-old Alex and his learning-disabled friends barely survived the events of Spinner, but their nightmare has only just begun.
Alex’s wheelchair has never stopped him from doing what he wants, but his supernatural power to heal every human ailment known to science has put him in the crosshairs of a dangerous doomsday cult that will stop at nothing to capture him and his long-lost twin, Andy, who can shift illness from one person to another. When the boys combine their “gifts,” they unleash the power to control life and death.
Now Alex, Andy, and the others have been kidnapped by the U.S. military. On a creepy Air Force base in the remote Nevada desert, they must decide who to trust and who to fear while uncovering secrets this base wants to hide from the world. Who is the young boy with unusual abilities who’s treated like a soldier? What is hidden in an ultra-secret hangar that no one can access? And what unnatural experiments are conducted in that closed-off laboratory?
As Alex unravels these mysteries, he strives to bond with his twin, but Andy is distant and detached, trusting no one. He’s also more attracted to the dangerous power they wield than Alex would like. When misplaced faith in science ignites a hidden lust for supremacy, rescue can only come from the most unlikely source, and Alex must confront a terrible truth.
Allison woke with a start. Had she been dreaming? She wasn’t sure, but she was sure she’d heard her father’s voice. She sat up in bed, the coverlet tumbling into her lap, and listened. Yes. It was her dad. His room was next to hers, but the voice was muffled enough that she couldn’t make out the words.
She slipped out of bed and dropped to the plush carpet. Not bothering with a robe to cover her pajamas, she padded across her expansive bedroom to the door. Easing it open, she peered out into the dimly lit, lushly paneled hallway. None of the household staff were up. Why should they be? It was the middle of the night.
The burnished wood flooring felt cold against her bare feet as she darted to the door next to hers. It was closed, but she pressed her ear up against it and listened.
“…just you and the two men left? Did you find any blood in the house?”
Allison gasped. Blood? Somehow, she knew her dad was talking about Alex. She yanked open his door, trembling with fear.
Her dad sat on his bed, wearing his fancy brocaded silk robe and black velvet slippers with the gold crown insignia, cell phone to one ear, worry creasing his face. He looked over as she rushed inside but didn’t seem surprised to see her. He held up a hand for silence and listened intently.
“All right. Get back here with the men. I’m going to contact my sources for any clues as to who took them.”
He ended the call and eyed Allison with a grim expression. The worry lines around his eyes looked deeper, almost like they’d been carved with a knife, and there seemed to be even more gray peppering his short dark hair.
“It’s Alex, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Armed men attacked the safe house and took him along with the other kids. Nathan and his older son were knocked out by some kind of drug and left behind, along with Martin.”
Allison felt her chest constrict with worry. “Does Martin know who took them?”
He shook his head. “The brief glimpse he had made him think military, so it might be the same group who brought Andy to that church.”
“Our government?” Allison felt disgust well up within her.
He didn’t look the least bit surprised at the idea. “There are some at the Pentagon who will use anyone or anything in the interest of national security, even children.”
Allison knew she should be angry, but she’d overheard enough of her father’s business dealings with the government over the years to know he spoke the truth.
“Go back to bed, Allison,” he said. “I’ve got to do some research.”
She knew better than to argue. “Just find him, Dad. Find all of them.”
“I will.” She returned to her room. Knowing she could never sleep now, she sat on her bed and lay back against the heavy wooden headboard, thinking about Alex. He’d literally brought her back from the brink of death at the risk of his own life. What kind of boy would do that? Most people seemed to care only about themselves. He had to be all right. He had to be!
Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author who grew up in Northern California. He majored in English/Theatre at Santa Clara University, earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and a master’s in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills. Michael taught high school in Hawthorne, California, both in general education and to students with disabilities. When Michael is not writing, he serves as a youth mentor with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles, but mostly he takes care of his recently adopted son. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California and hopes that his books can show young people they are not alone in their struggles.
Nothing brightens up a Monday like finding out you’re the spawn of Satan
The big bad is dead and now Satan’s spawn must fight for the Morningstar throne. I’m tossed into the ring, whether I want to be there or not.
I’m mostly human, a hunter by trade, and totally outmatched by my half siblings. The chance I’ll survive these tests and claim the throne is slim.
Then someone starts assassinating my siblings.
It’s only a matter of time until I’m next.
I’m not the kind of girl who depends on anyone, but there are four demons who could help me survive this fiasco—a sadistic Nightmare, a psychotic efreet, a charismatic Fallen and Sin, an unhinged monster. Problem is, like all demons, they’re absolutely, sinfully tempting.
Sin stood, ass propped on the workbench, legs planted wide, head tipped back as a demon female knelt before him, working him noisily. Sin wasn’t touching her. His hands were braced on the workbench behind him, chest vibrating as she applied herself to her task. What was she doing with her teeth? And that gobbling noise? That was not the best technique.
I tore my gaze from her, dragging it up Sin’s washboard abs and hard pecs to find his midnight eyes fixed on me. “Nyx.” He said my name like an invitation, and I found myself fighting the urge to step forward, shove the useless woman out of the way, and take her place. I didn’t do any of that, though. Instead, I crossed my arms and arched an amused brow. “Hello, Sin, did I interrupt something fun?”
To give her credit, the demon hadn’t stopped working him; if anything, her ministrations become faster, almost desperate.
Sin placed his hand on her head. “Enough.”
She disengaged with a pop, looking up at him. “But you said you had to come. You haven’t come yet.”
He looked down at her dispassionately. “I know.”
“But that means I won’t get what I want.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
She stood slowly and turned to glare at me. “This is your fault. You interrupted us and ruined it.”
“No,” Sin said. “Your technique leaves much to be desired. Come back when you’ve perfected it and we can trade.”
She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times and then pressed her lips together, pushing back her shoulders in determination. “I will be back, Sin. Mark my words.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Sin smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
The woman brushed past me and dove into the stacks, eager to get away now, but her departure left me with an unobstructed view of Sin’s demonhood, and damn…
Sin reached for himself, slowly, carefully tucking away his prize. I cleared my throat and pulled my gaze up to his face. F*ck, he had a beautiful face, hard planes and chiseled jaw, wide, flat cheekbones, and dark eyes that swam with flecks of silver. He would have been angelic in appearance if not for the slightly crimson hue to his smooth, velvety skin and the horns that curved up and back from his head.
“What do you want today, Nyx?” he asked in his deep, gravelly voice.
Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes Urban Fantasy, Fantasy and Reverse Harem Fantasy. All her books contain plenty of action, romance and twisty plots.
