Showing results by author "k-d-" in All Categories

Trained to kill from a young age, Gavin Lorren finally escaped that life. No more killing innocents. No more working alone. The jobs are still dangerous, but at least he can choose. Now an old friend has invited him to the city of Yoran where the work is plentiful. The Roasted Dragon tavern is rough but cozy. The regulars are seedy but welcoming. The owner, Jessica, is fond of him. It's almost too good to be true.

Detective Jenna Alton surveys the charred remains of the large suburban home, stopping to pause at the three lifeless bodies of the Woods family. Jenna knows she’s looking for a serial killer, but her priority is finding the missing teenage daughter last seen on the night of the inferno. Days later, Sophie Woods’s body is discovered floating in a shallow pool of crystal-clear water - known locally as Dead Man’s Drop - but Jenna still doesn’t know who would target the quiet family in such a brutal attack.

Having saved the village from the Korthal attack, Laric Mason faces a new reality where there are now expectations of him. As he trains with the mage Talia, he discovers that the lessons he learned from his grandmother prepared him for advanced magic in a way his school never did. But his grandmother hid other secrets, and Laric is not the only one after them. With a rogue mage posing an ongoing threat, he and his friends must train to use the power he never wanted, but it's a power that might now be necessary.

Now that he’s bonded the dragon Sashaak, Laric Mason must come to understand the power of the bond—and the potential power it grants him. Without a mentor, Laric struggles to understand the lessons of a dragon. Having imprisoned Talia, Laric and his friends know it's only a matter of time before mages come looking for her and Daelon. When Talia escapes, there's a new urgency. They must defend the village against a mage, but she's not after the village. She's after the dragon.

The body of Amos Price lies in a pool of blood on the polished floor of an otherwise empty house. With no signs of a break in and no clues left at the scene, Detective Jenna Alton is at a loss. But as the team begins to unpick the life of the reclusive victim, they discover a disturbing link between Amos and the disappearance of several young girls in the county going back years.

Young Jarren Heartwood's only chance of survival is to join the Shadow Academy elites, the enemy of his enemy, to destroy the fire mages known as the flares. Jarren's secretive mother raised him on fear of the Academy and the flares, but infused his life with love and fanciful tales as they scraped by in their brutal city of Nirwood. At the age of 10, he suddenly has his mother ripped away, leaving him fending for himself. To survive and avenge his mother, he turns to the Shadow Academy assassins. After seven years, Jarren has become the vengeful killer needed to take out his enemies.

Sam and Alec work to understand their connected magic, but the limited supply of easar paper limits them. Worse, Marin has again disappeared, leaving questions unanswered. How can they be ready for another Theln attack if they don't have an opportunity to train with their abilities? New power complicates everything. Sam wants to use it to continue taking jobs that will eventually buy her way into the nicer sections of the city, but Alec sees a higher purpose to their magic.

Whatever you do, do not listen. Ignore that pull, the need to escape from drudgeries of life and find peace and solitude within nature. It is not the cool breeze and the scent of pine that whispers your name. No, these things within the forest will rip out your heart and devour your soul. You will tremble as they revel in your madness, taking everything from you and leaving you with nothing. Delve inside this anthology of what truly lurks within the shadows of the trees. We dare you to take this journey with us and find out what horrors await you.

The companion podcast to The Artistic Edge Substack. Here you will find a mix of sexuality, poetry, ASMR, pleasure activism, erotica, updates, and metaphysics. artisticedge.substack.com

After establishing an uneasy truce with the constables, Gavin has settled in Yoran to offer protection to his friends and the remaining magical element in the city. When a job reveals a dangerous new threat in the city, Gavin must take action. This time the target isn’t Gavin, but the city itself. Magic was banished a generation ago, but the Fates have returned. They bring a dark magic Gavin has never seen before - and might be helpless to control.

The Chain Breaker series continues with The Paper Dragon. A dark power that attacks Yoran leads Gavin on a dangerous journey. Gavin remains in Yoran while struggling to master his El’aras abilities. With the power of the strange ring that grants him even more power, he knows he has to learn control, otherwise he’ll destroy the city while trying to protect it. When the hyadan, creatures of dark sorcery, come to the city, Gavin has to make a choice between staying to learn control over his power or helping Imogen.

A new magic threatens to destroy Gavin - or change him forever. Gavin has secured the city, preventing the deadly Fates from bringing their terrible sorcery back to Yoran, but Tristan remains at large. Their fight had been a test, and Gavin knows he can’t fail the next one. When a strange attack pushes him to reveal the depths of his magic, Gavin knows Tristan has returned to finish what he started. This time, he’s working with a power greater than any sorcerer - and something Gavin has never faced.

On a secluded path near Black Rock Falls, three bodies lie bloodied and still—the arrows that killed them removed, and polished penny coins carefully placed on their frozen eyes. When Sheriff Jenna Alton and Deputy David Kane are called in, they are shocked to recognize the hallmarks of an infamous serial killer. But he’s been in prison for ten years.

Danny, Suzie, Jamie, and Luz had been planning on coming up here after graduation, just the four of them, for a year. It had been a kind of fantasy of being grownups, running off to the woods for a couple of weeks, away from the world, away from families.... No one to watch who slept in which bedroom. Fantasy, sure, but unspoken promise as well. Sex in the cabin. Sex by the lake. Two couples, each doing what couples do.

Lea, Andy, and Sean are settling in for a nice, quiet evening at home - handcuffs, some lube. But the doorbell rings, announcing an unexpected guest. The visitor has a visitor, and who knows what that will bring? Danger? Disaster? Wedding bells? For whom? To whom? With whom? The wild conclusion to The Visitor Saga will leave Lea, her boys, and you breathless.

It's the world's oldest story: a girl, her fireman, and her other fireman. When Lea heads off to Atlanta for a job interview, all she's thinking about is the work. Well, and Sean, her best friend's brother. Sean, the tall, muscular firefighter with the gentle Southern drawl and the wicked smile - whose couch she's going to be sleeping on.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a local playground in the center of Black Rock Falls, Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy, David Kane, rush to the scene. Jenna recoils with horror when she sees the body, dressed in a thin nightgown, her face covered by a terrifying Halloween mask. Jenna makes a connection with a cold case where the killer tortured young women for years and was never caught. Days later, Jenna’s fears are confirmed. A serial killer is back in town, and they’re picking off women one by one.

Allison's journey of discovery is truly taking off. This Juliet is struggling as she tries to reconcile herself to her new understanding of her life and her sexuality. One lover halfway across the country is complicated; when that lover is more than twice Allison's age and used to be her teacher, it's more than complicated. And taking another lover is even more so - especially when that second lover is Allison's best friend Jordan.

Lea's flying home to San Francisco to pack up, separating her temporarily from Sean and Andy, her two gorgeous firemen; she'll have to do without them for weeks... Or will she? And just what has Kirsten - Lea's roommate and Sean's sister - been up to while Lea's been gone? Find out in The Visitor Comes Home!

The key to finding the one responsible for the attack on Terndahl involves crossing the waste, but is Tolan willing to risk the tenuous peace they've achieved for revenge? Now a master shaper, Tolan must serve the Academy, but he understands the risk his mother poses. While others want to study the power out on the waste, Tolan sees the need to look beyond Terndahl. His mother remains at large, and they still don’t know her ultimate goal.