The bonds of family go well beyond blood. But can those bonds hold when the blood itself carries a devastating secret?
Fenlee’s opal necklace had always radiated a certain warmth since her mother’s death. But now, at sixteen, her world begins to unravel as the stone sparks to life, revealing itself to be an otherworldly artifact of untold power.
Between her mechatronics studies at the academy and scavenging expeditions beneath the sprawling city of New Cascadia, Fenlee and her adopted brother, Elliot, try to decipher the mysteries of her necklace and its link to events in Fenlee’s past.
But they’re not alone in their search.
Strange undercity dwellers offer cryptic warnings, drones track their movements, and deadly corporate agents lurk in the shadows. When tragedy rips Fenlee’s family apart, she must learn to use the artifact’s power to save those who are deeply precious to her. But nothing can prepare her for the dark truths that she will uncover on that journey…
“Lee,” Elliot mumbled. “I’m not who you think I am.”
Thoughts of etherclaw and worries about her father had kept Fenlee up, so she’d spent almost the entire night installing and integrating the Elixir chip to keep her mind elsewhere. She got it working, but sleep still wouldn’t come, so she composed a message to her father. It’d be expensive to send, but she had to say something.
Hi, Dad. Hope you’re well. Me? I’m great. Except that I’ve been shitting myself because, you know, aer Mom died, we all promised we’d never leave each other. And that’s kind of what you’re best at these days. But, hey, it’s all fine because I found a chip that’s most likely stolen and worth probably half this apartment block, but in order to get it to work, I had to go into the Lunarinto Market for an adapter. But the adapter wasn’t exactly free, so I’m going to start working a part-time job while you’re gone to pay it off. In the Lunarinto Market. You know, the place you hate for me to even go near. One of my legs is just short enough to be constantly uncomfortable because I decided to wreck the one you gave me, my underwear is somehow still riding up my ass from the bike ride home yesterday, and I’m hyperaware of how bad my pits stink. Doesn’t matter because I got no sleep and I don’t have time to do much about it before academy. Also, Mom’s opal, which isn’t real, by the way, might actually be some kind of weird magic device from aliens. Woo! Oh, and your adopted son is smuggling a stray cat. Thought you should know. Don’t get yourself blown up. Love you!
She stared at the comm unit for an eternity before deleting it. Her opal felt cold on her chest in the morning gloom.
Matty Roberts began their career in journalism where they earned an Emmy and had the privilege of working on several other award-winning projects. They hold an MS from Johns Hopkins University and are now an engineer in renewable energy in Denver, Colorado where they live with their wonderful partner, two extraordinary kids, and the best doggie ever.
In addition to writing, engineering, and parenting, Matty is a vegan enby nerd who is in love with this world and will forever be doing all they can to make it a better place. And they may be known to occasionally play in a punk band here or there.
Elena has always been a disappointment. Her magic is practically non-existent and now, on her sixteenth birthday, she is expelled from magic school by the strict headmistress–also known as her mother. Cast out into the world of the magically inept with only her familiar for company, Elena feels lost and alone until she meets a strange boy in the woods.
Quinn is a thief, a hunter, and a hothead. His unexpected friendship with Elena awakens a fiery side in him–quite literally–and uncovers new and surprising magical abilities. Except men aren’t supposed to be capable of magic.
With Quinn’s help, Elena carves a safe new life as a barmaid, but when she is attacked, her powers awaken with shocking ferocity. Elena’s explosion of magic creates a power surge that attracts the attention of magical investigators, sent to uncover and contain the source of the power surge.
But the awakening of their powers kickstarts an ancient prophecy. Will they be able to escape those that hunt them? Can they fulfill the prophecy, destroy the turmio and save magic from being destroyed once and for all?
When you grow up in an orphanage, you learn to read people pretty quickly. When you grow up in an orphanage run by an abusive drunk and his neglectful wife, you learn that everyone is full of shyt and you have to fend for yourself if you want to survive. The former enabled Quinn to do the latter. Reading people helped him find good marks, then he and Lyra would rob them blind. Lyra was quick and clever, like most foxes, but she was special. She could start fires with the flick of her tail, which came in very handy when you needed to distract a mark to pickpocket them, or on cold nights when you didn’t have an actual roof or walls to protect you from the harsh frost seasons. He’d learned long ago that they had to take care of themselves. That meant doing whatever it took to survive.
Q didn’t like looting corpses, but he wasn’t above it either; sometimes they had the best shyt. When he saw her lying there half-curled against the cold, on the side of the road just outside the Dark Woods, he couldn’t pass up the golden opportunity. She had a whole bag of who-knows-what lying next to her. It could just be food, but it could be decent enough stuff to sell or use themselves. Even if it was food, he and Lyra weren’t exactly feasting these days. Besides, she was dead. What did a dead girl need with whatever was in that bag?
“Lyra, you know the drill,” he whispered. As a fox, she was innately adept at sneaking, which was why she always made the initial approach. They’d tried other ways when they first started out on their own, but this was by far the most effective. Q sat back, partially hidden behind an old oak tree, and waited.
As Lyra crept closer, he could feel her heart rate slow and her senses heighten. She was inches from the corpse when he felt a violent shock, as though he’d been struck by lightning. He cried out, as did Lyra, before nearly blacking out. Q pulled himself from behind the tree, barely able to crawl to his knees before a second, more powerful blast struck them and he keeled over completely.
Mallory lives in Texas with her husband and their two young boys. She spends her days homeschooling and full-time parenting. Her nights, and any free time she manages to carve out during the day, are devoted to reading and writing.
There aren’t enough bodies to harbor the demons of Olenore Allas.
One demon —a nameless and star-skinned creature—is plagued by the search for a perfect body, every day of their wispy life. Guided by nothing but the winds, they know they want nothing more than to be themself: mortal, beautiful, and loved. And who better to grant them that, than Junovere Krauss? A thief, a witch, hungry for a perfect demon to strike a deal with, to create a bond that will grant her the magic she’s longed for all her life. And in exchange, Juno promises her demon everything. A name, a voice, sight, hearing…and, of course, beauty.
The vain creature fights their devouring insecurities as Juno guards her secrets: that she needs this completed demon for her aunt, who has threatened to destroy her reputation before it’s even started. Complete the demon’s body, and their deal is complete, their bond broken. But Juno loses her magic forever. As Juno’s bond with her demon manifests into something more powerful than magic itself, she has to choose: magic, or freedom? Follow the demon and witch as they adventure over the bewitching Olenore Allas, a land that thrives on the law of balance. As they outsmart mortals, demons, and witches alike, they may slowly understand how willing they are to break the laws of balance for one another.
A dark fairytale rich with romance and a diverse cast that dives into the meaning of identity, and the relationship between a body and a soul, THE LANGUAGE OF THE WIND is the first installment of the BROKEN CHIMERA duology.
Juno was holding a sheet to her body. With her garments ruined, it was nothing but bottoms, the bunched sheet, and Wendarck’s intoxication keeping her from being completely bare.
“If you vomit on this bed,” Juno threatened, her ears twitching with ferocity, “I swear on every soul that I will push you directly to the floor and make you scrub it clean. I don’t care how bad your head is throbbing. You will clean it in the morning.”
Wendarck laughed. Juno was certainly not joking.
She sauntered to the edge of the bed, pulling the leathers in her hair free. Prickles of relief spread along her scalp. Wendarck, drunk as they were, was hauntingly focused on her. The sheets were thin, and Juno was certain they could see the shape of her body, every full curve and line in perfect silhouette. With no dress, her dappled skin was in view, dimpled and streaked. Glossy parallel marks hitched up her thighs and stomach, and Juno couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder to find the stolen scars along Wendarck’s abdomen.
“I won’t,” they promised. They bit their lip, moving to make room. Juno hummed and sunk into the bed. Wendarck groaned. “Don’t—don’t move so much. The world is swaying and I’ll be sick again.” Juno rolled her eyes, ignoring them so that she could adjust the sheets properly over her breasts.
“And to think, you could have had a bed all to yourself if only you had been more careful,” Juno retorted. “Now look. You’re with your witch cleaning up you and your — ” she gestured to their chest.
“I think it’s sweet. You look after me.”
“You’ll think differently in the morning.”
“Mm. I don’t do it often enough, then.”
Juno’s voice was a dare. “Do what?”
“Tell you how grateful I am.”
Silence. Juno shifted, and Wendarck sighed.
“Then tell me in the morning.”
Two heartless creatures. A witch, someone never meant to have a heart. And a demon, still searching for theirs. They both fell asleep, the haziness of mortality fading into their dreams.
M.R. Grand is the author of The Language of the Wind, her first novel (that she actually finished.) She grew up on classic DreamWorks, barbie films, and a lot of comics. With those being her foundation, she wanted nothing more than to make stories and art that took people to places where fairytales felt real. She currently lives somewhere in the mountains as a full-time creator. You can find her on Instagram @emargrand and hopefully other places soon. She’s not very good at the whole website thing yet.
Enter to win a copy of The Language of the Wind + swag!
