FORBIDDEN by Charlotte Stein

FORBIDDEN (Under the Skin Series #2)

They

say I need help. Another exorcism. This is not new. This is my life. Today, I

expect to suffer at the hands of a man as warped by superstition and fear as my

mother. A man who will torture me in order to save me from things that don't

exist.

But the

man who actually comes to me is different.

Killian

is good and decent, and he sees what's good and decent in me. And I don't mean

for it to happen, but every time he looks at me, his gaze sets me on fire. He

brings me to the light, gives me back my life. For the first time, I see a

future for myself.

A

future with him.

I burn

for Killian-a man who's intent on protecting me. On healing me.

He

doesn't get it. The only thing that can heal me is him. But Killian will soon

be a priest. Untouchable. Forbidden.

How can

I ask a man to choose between me … and God?

Courtney Cole's VERUM - Release Day

We are absolutely over the moon about this Release Day launch for Courtney Cole's VERUM!! VERUM is a New Adult dark romantic psychological suspense novel and the second book in Courtney's The Nocte Trilogy! To celebrate the release NOCTE is on sale for only $.99 through tomorrow! Grab both now! Thank us later.

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The truth shall set you free.

My name is Calla Price and I’m drowning.

My new world is a dark, dark ocean and I’m being pulled under by secrets.

Can I trust anyone? I don’t know anymore.

The lies are spirals. They twist and turn, binding me with their thorns and serpentine tongues. And just when I think I have it figured out, everything is pulled out from under me.

I’m entangled in the darkness.

But the truth will set me free.

It’s just ahead of me, so close I can touch it. But even though it shines and glimmers, it has glistening fangs and I know it will shred me.

Are you scared?

I am.

Losing At Love Cover Reveal

Today we’re having a cover reveal for Jennifer Iacopelli’s Losing at Love. And—bonus points!!—we’re also revealing the new redesign for the first book in the series, Game. Set. Match. Jennifer is sharing an excerpt from Losing at Love, as well as a giveaway, so be sure to check it all out.

Title: Losing at Love

Author: Jennifer Iacopelli

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Day: February 24^th

Alyssa Rose Ivy's SEDUCTION'S KISS Release Day

Holy crow! We are so excited to bring you all the Release Day launch for Alyssa Rose Ivy's SEDUCTION'S KISS! SEDUCTION’S KISS is a prequel novella to LURE, a novel in her The Allure Chronicles Series. This novella is seriously fantastic! Go grab your copy today!!

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*Prequel novella to Lure (The Allure Chronicles #1)*

Never agree to a road trip to New Orleans with your roommate. At least not when your roommate is dragging you along while she reconnects with an ex-boyfriend. Possible consequences of failing to take my advice:

1) Unknowingly going out with a vampire stripper

2) Getting kidnapped by said vampire's nest mates

3) Falling head over heels for your winged hero

Believe it or not number 3 is the worst one, especially when no one believes you that he exists.

We wove our way through the crowds. I glanced into the rows of bars and clubs teeming with people dressed in various degrees of costumes. Despite my apprehension of hanging out with someone I barely knew, the excitement seemed to be rubbing off on me. I found myself moving along to the music spilling out of one club when we were momentarily stopped.

“Duncan!” A girl with long blond hair yelled and proceeded to wrap her arms around Duncan’s neck. She was dressed as a pumpkin, if a pumpkin was just a skimpy piece of orange fabric. “Come dancing with us.” She was visibly drunk.

“Oh, hi.” He gave me an apologetic look.

I shrugged. It wasn’t like we were on a date.

“Why aren’t you dressed up? It’s Halloween. You’re supposed to be dressed up.”

He shoved a hand into his back pocket. “How do you know that I’m not dressed up?”

“Laurie!” The girl yelled. “It’s Duncan, the stripper who did Debbie’s party last week.”

Wait. What? Did he strip? Wow, that was pretty surprising. He wasn’t bad looking, but I hadn’t met a male stripper before.

Another girl ran over. This one was appropriately attired. She had an awesome lollipop costume on. She also gave Duncan a hug, so I decided to people watch while I waited. That’s when I saw him. The gorgeous guy from the bar. All six plus feet of his perfectness. This time he was wearing one of those sleeveless white t-shirts that showed off his muscular arms. But it wasn’t his muscles that jumped out the most. It was his beautiful set of black wings. Now that was a costume.

He glanced up just as he passed, and my chest tightened. He looked at me with curiosity for a second before continuing on. Maybe he vaguely remembered my face but didn’t know why. I wasn’t sure what would be worse, if he remembered the humiliating moment, or if he didn’t.

I suddenly felt embarrassed of my cat costume. Were the whiskers too much?

“Daisy?” Duncan called my name and snapped me out of my daze. “Ready?” The girls must have walked off while I was distracted because Duncan was alone watching me. I wondered how obvious my ogling was.

“Yeah, sure.”

Duncan towed me along until he turned into a dark and completely unappealing dive. This was his favorite place? I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to offend him. Maybe this was one of those hidden gems you always hear about. Just to be safe I texted Reyna the name of the place as inconspicuously as possible, Grounddiggers.

“Who are you texting?” Duncan asked as we walked through the entrance.

Evidently I wasn’t as inconspicuous as I thought. “Just a friend.” I’m not sure why I didn’t just tell him who it was. I just felt like it was safer not to.

He nodded at a bouncer, who like Duncan was dressed all in black. The bouncer grunted something unintelligible to Duncan. Duncan must have taken the grunt to mean enter because he pulled me further inside. 

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a New Adult and Young Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

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Sidelinded by Emma Hart Cover Reveal

RELEASE DAY: MARCH 2, 2015

Three people. Three

motives. Three reasons.

When the game leaves the field in the second book in the USA

Today bestselling BY HIS GAME series and mixes with sex, lies, and betrayal,

the future isn't the only thing on the line...

Macey Kelly has sworn off men. Unless they’re going to zip

in and out of her apartment—and her vagina—quicker than they can give her an

orgasm, she’s not interested. Finding out her boyfriend of three years got her

cousin pregnant was a total confidence knock. Luckily for Macey, confidence is

something she has in abundance, so all Mitch’s asshole move

did was make her pretty cynical toward men.

The last thing Jack Carr needs at the start of the season is

for a dark-haired, sexy as sin, gyspyesque beauty to be consuming his thoughts.

Football is his life, which leaves no time for girls. Unless they’re the love

‘em and leave ‘em girls. Becoming one of the best running backs the league has

ever seen by racking up the yards is his top priority… not bedding Macey Kelly,

despite her affinity for blow jobs and total sexual abandon.

Avoiding each other is the perfect solution, but when your

best friends are in a serious living together kind of relationship, that isn’t

always an option. Sometimes, sex on tap is the easiest option. And the

sweetest.

Until Mitch shows up with a bombshell that could shatter

Macey’s perfectly carved out life. It’s been a year, but he isn’t giving her

up, not now he has a chance at winning her back. And he knows her buttons.

Every single one of them.

Unfortunately for him, Jack Carr isn’t a loser. The star

running back has his eye on the Vince Lombardi—and on Macey. But seeing her

hanging between them both isn’t something he’s down with, not when he discovers

why she’s so against anything more-ish, as she puts it.Macey quickly realizes

she’s the ball being passed between two desperate yet opposing teams, and that

only one of them can score the touchdown. But will the winner be the guy she

lived with and loved for three years, or will the winner be the guy who

understands her and makes her body come alive?

In this game, someone will be sidelined, and calling the

play isn’t always as easy as it seems.

(SIDELINED is a full-length, standalone novel. It's not
necessary to read BLINDSIDED before this book, but it is advised.)

ADD TO GOODREADS

“Put the drink down, M,” he whispers. “It’s fucking with you.”

“Really? I thought that was you fucking with me,” I respond, turning to him and pressing a hand

against his chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Like, right here. Literally.

“It’s my best friend’s birthday.” He smirks. “Why’ve you been staring at me all night like you wanna

suck and bite my cock simultaneously?”

“I assure you it was the latter.”

“Sure it was.” Jack steps into me again, and I grab my glass with the hand closest to him so I don’t

grab his ass or something, ‘cause, shit. He’s got a sweet as hell ass.

“It was.” I drink. Again. Where the hell are my girls? “I feel like dancing.” I finish the glass and twist

my body away from his.

His hand finally falls from me as I stalk toward and down the stairs. I slip into the moving crowd, but

I’ve barely moved my hips when two large, strong hands clasp me and tug me backward. The wall of

muscle my back slams into is solid, and I exhale on a whoosh, even as I close my fingers against the

ones clasping my hips.

“Nice try, baby,” Jack says into my ear. “Run if you want. I’m a running back. I’ll chase you and catchyou every fuckin’ time.”

“Sounds like a promise you can’t keep, doll,” I reply, my breath catching when he moves my hips

against his

“Sounds like a promise you’re afraid of.”

I laugh and shove his hands away from me. I turn to face him. Even in the darkness, his eyes blaze

bright green, so fucking bright they’re close to blinding me every time the strobe lighting coasts

across his face. And, shit, it does it so many times, and every time, it illuminates every line and curve

of his perfectly sculpted jaw.

“You wish, Jack Carr. You fucking wish.”

His hands snatch mine and he pulls me through the crowd. I fight his hold, but his grip is too tight.

My heart pounds as he drags me through the hall with certainty, and in two minutes, I find myself

pressed against his goddamn car in the parking lot.

“What the fuck?” I shout, shoving at him.

He grabs my hands once more and pins them over my head, effectively bending me backward on the

hood of his SUV. “What the fuck?” he replies, leaning into me, his voice low. “Is that hard or soft,

quick or slow, deep or shallow? ‘Cause baby, I can fuck you all six of those ways in one go.”

“None of them,” I snap. “What the fuck, as in, what the fuck, asshole?”

“Oh, that what the fuck.” He bends forward a little more. Until his mouth is against my ear and his

hard body is pressed right up against mine. “Maybe it’s the what the fuck I felt when I felt your eyes

on me all night. Maybe it’s the what the fuck I felt when you looked at me like you wanted to fuck

me one minute, then the next, slice my balls in two. Maybe it’s the what the fuck you’ve got in your

eyes while you let me lie my body over yours in a motherfucking parking lot seconds after I ask you

how you want to be fucked tonight.”

“I don’t want to be fucked,” I reply, doing my best to slam my hands into his hood. I fail—shit, he’s

so fucking strong I can’t even twist my hands in his grip.

“Baby, your body says otherwise.”

“My body is an impulsive fuckwit.”

“Your body knows me.”

“Again, my body is an impulsive fuckwit.”

“You never did say.” He breathes against my jaw and brushes his lips against my skin. “How do you

want to be fucked?”

He tilts his face into my neck and kisses. Oh, hell, he kisses my neck, right beneath my jaw, where mychin meets my neck, and I pause. I inhale sharply.

“Get in the goddamn car,” he orders, releasing me.

“Excuse me?” I push up and stare at him.

“Get in the goddamn car,” he repeats, pulling open his door and staring me. “Or have I gotta throw

you into it?”

“I am not getting into your car!”

He slams his door shuts and rounds on me. I step backward, but he’s too quick, and he wraps an arm

around my waist. My body slams into his yet again as he opens the passenger side door of his SUV

and throws me into it.

“Get. In. The. Goddamn. Car.”

“This is kidnap!”

He slams my door, and I both see and hear him laughing as he walks to the driver’s side. “Sure it is,

baby. I’m startin’ the engine now, so you got ten seconds to get the hell out before I drive. One…

two…”

From Emma Hart, the New York Times bestselling author of the Game series, comes a brand new series where the game is realer, the tension is tighter, the sex is hotter, and the stakes are the highest of all…

Two people. Two agendas. Two games.

What happens when the out-there It-Boy of football meets the

secret It-Girl of fashion?

As the daughter of Hollywood’s sweetheart, Leah Veronica

can’t even buy a coffee without finding her face on a magazine stand, so it’s no

wonder she’s launching her first fashion line in secret. With it debuting at

New York Fashion Week in just under a month, extra time in the spotlight is the

last thing she needs.

The son of the best quarterback the league has ever seen,

filling legendary shoes as the L.A. Vipers’ quarterback was inevitable for

Corey Jackson. So was meeting Leah Veronica—the first girl to hand him his ass

without putting a hair out of place.

Getting the handsome, prickly blonde into his bed becomes

his number one goal. But getting the sexy, over-confident footballer the hell

away from her becomes Leah’s—at least until she realizes the best way to do

that is to give him what he wants.

If only it was that simple.

When Corey discovers who she is, and private photos of

Hollywood’s finest find their way online, everything they thought they knew is

thrown into disarray.

And when secrets are exposed and hearts are shattered, they

have to figure out if they’ve been blindsided by love or reality, and if it’s

worth running the extra yard to win the game they never meant to play.

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By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies - usually wine - and writes books.

Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.

She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.

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Kristen Proby's FALLING FOR JILLIAN Release Day

We can't wait to share this Release Day Launch for Kristen Proby's FALLING FOR JILLIAN with you! FALLING FOR JILLIAN is an erotic contemporary romance and the third book in the bestselling Love Under the Big Sky Series, published by Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Check out this amazing book below and grab your copy today!

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Booksamillion | Indiebound | iBooks

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby comes the third romance in the Love Under the Big Sky series, featuring a veteran struggling with PTSD and the one woman who can help him recover—and learn to love again.

Jillian thought she was a city girl through and through; the fast cars, high fashion, and glamour—she loves it all. But when her ex tells her he’s having a baby with his new wife (after Jillian struggled for years to get pregnant), she hightails it back to Montana to cry on the shoulder of her best friend, Cara.

But in truth, Jillian would rather be comforted by someone else…specifically Zack, Cara’s brother-in-law. Zack is a veteran of the Iraq War who came back to the family ranch to raise his preteen son after the boy’s mother took off. He’s struggling to re-establish a relationship with his son, and warding off the demons of PTSD, which still haunt him. The last thing he needs is bold, brassy Jillian…but why can’t he keep his hands off her?

And don’t forget to read the first book in the Love Under the Big Sky Series…

LOVING CARA

SEDUCING LAUREN

“Okay, plug them in.”

I run to the porch and plug in the lights, then run back into the front yard to see them.

“Oh, they’re so pretty!”

“Thank God they all work,” he says as he tosses the black shoe down to the ground and then moves carefully down to the ladder. “It would be a bitch to have to take them back down.”

“I checked them,” I assure him, and when his foot finally lands safely on the snow and he turns to me, I hit him on the arm. “You shouldn’t have done that! You took ten years off my life!”

I throw my arms around his torso and squeeze him tightly, then back away.

“No, you shouldn’t have been on that ladder. If I catch you on one again, I’ll spank your ass until it glows.”

My jaw drops as I gaze up into his frustrated face. For once in my life, I’m speechless. I scowl as I pull myself together and clench my fists. “You wouldn’t dare . . .”

“Put yourself in danger again and see if I don’t,” he replies calmly and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Did you come here to bully me?”

He sighs and pulls his beanie off his head, pushing his fingers through the messy brown strands. I want to sink my fingers in that thick, dark hair.

“No. I came because you won’t answer your fucking phone so I can apologize for the other night.”

“I don’t want your apology,” I reply and throw the extra lights and staple gun back into the tote and turn away, but he catches my arm and turns me back to him, takes the tote, and sets it down.

“I’m going to give it anyway.” His jaw is firm. “I had no right to kiss you like that in the parking lot for everyone to see.”

I jerk back, mortified. “You’re apologizing for kissing me?”

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kristen Proby is the author of the bestselling With Me In Seattle and Love Under the Big Sky series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong, humorous characters with a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type; fiercely protective and a bit bossy, and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves.

Kristen lives in Montana, where she enjoys coffee, chocolate and sunshine. And naps.

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cover reveal of THE WAY WE FALL by Cassia Leo

Today we have the cove reveal for Cassia Leo’s The Way We Fall! I love this cover, AND Cassia is sharing an excerpt, as well as the playlist for the book. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for all the fantastic extras!!

Title: The Way We Fall

Author: Cassia Leo

Genre: Contemporary romance

Release Day: February 20^th

From New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo comes a twisted and passionate love story that pushes the boundaries of loyalty.

Maybe we shouldn’t have fallen so fast and so willingly.

Maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together before we went on our first date.

Maybe we should have given our wounds time to heal before we tore each other to shreds.

Maybe we should have never been together.

Houston has kept a devastating secret from Rory since the day he took her into his home. But the tragic circumstances that brought them together left wounds too deep to heal.

Five years after the breakup, Houston and Rory are thrust together by forces beyond their control. And all the resentments and passion return with more intensity than ever.

Once again, Houston is left with a choice between the truth and the only girl he’s ever loved.

The Way We Fall is the first book in The Story of Us Series, which follows the tumultuous love story of Rory and Houston. The sequel, The Way We Break, will be released Spring 2015.

Available for $0.99 only during preorder and for the first 48 hours after release.

Preorder on iBooks: http://bit.ly/1Af66hs

Check out the playlist for The Way We Fall:

“I need to talk to you about the work situation,” he says as he follows me out. “I got the contract, but I want to make sure you’re okay with this before I sign it.”

“You want to know if I’ll be okay working with you?”

I slide the key into the doorknob and Houston places his hand over mine to stop me from turning the knob. “I can’t go in there with you. Please stay out here until we’re done talking.”

I shake his hand off and turn around to face him. “There’s nothing to talk about. You have to sign the contract. The way I feel about working with you shouldn’t matter.”

“But it does matter. I don’t want to upset you. You were there first.”

I can’t help but laugh. “So this is a territorial thing? You think because I was there first that I have some sort of right to keep you out?” His left eyebrow shoots up the way it always does when he’s confused and it nearly renders me mute. “Houston, if I didn’t work there you wouldn’t think twice about signing that contract. So that’s what you should do. Just… please stop making this into something it isn’t. We hardly know each other anymore, and that’s the way it’s going to remain.”

He swallows hard as he lets this sink in. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry I bothered you. I only wanted to… Never mind. I’ll get going. I have to get up early to go sign that contract. Not that you care.”

He shakes his head in disappointment as he walks away and I’m glad I don’t have anything solid in my hand other than Skippy’s leash or I might throw it at the back of his head. So I’m the one who doesn’t care? Ugh. Typical Houston and his endless psychological games.

Maybe I should have told him to walk away from the contract, but that would have meant admitting that he still has a strong hold over me. It also would have been the truth and the truth has never gotten me into trouble. In fact, the truth is something my previous relationship with Houston was sorely lacking.

Nevertheless, I don’t need to right the wrongs we made while we were together. I don’t need to tell Houston that the sight of him makes my throat dry and my stomach flutter. He doesn’t need to know that I still go to sleep with scenes from our life together playing on repeat in my mind. Or that sometimes I wake up with his name tumbling from my lips, the remnants of dreams where he never left and nightmares where he hovers just out of reach.

Before Wednesday, the last time I had seen Houston was the day after he met me at the Planned Parenthood clinic. I didn’t ask him to come, and I don’t know how he found the date and time of my appointment, but he was there when we pulled into the parking lot. Lisa, a girl from my Social Inequality class whom I’d had coffee with a couple of times, had graciously agreed to take me to the clinic. The moment I saw him leaning against his truck, I knew I had to send Lisa home. Houston would insist on taking me back to the apartment after the procedure, to watch over me.

It was the last thing I wanted, to have Houston doting over me after terminating the pregnancy. But it was also the only thing I wanted. It was as if he was performing the last rites on our dead relationship.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo loves her coffee, chocolate, and margaritas with salt. When she’s not writing, she spends way too much time watching old reruns of Friends and Sex and the City. When she’s not watching reruns, she’s usually enjoying the California sunshine or reading – sometimes both.

Come chat with her on

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorcassialeo

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AuthorCassiaLeo

You can also follow her blog at http://cassialeo.com to stay up to date on new releases and giveaways.

Enter Cassia’s giveaway!!!

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GENTLE CHAINS by Nazarea Andrews - Cover Reveal

Today we are revealing the cover for GENTLE CHAINS by Nazarea Andrews. This is a new adult title and it will be released in March. Click the link below to read the first 6 chapters!

When slavers steal Juhan and his twin sister Chosi from their home planet of psychics, their only comfort is in the fact that they’re together. When they are separated at auction, Juhan swears to find his sister, no matter the cost.

Juhan is bought by the spoiled daughter of a political scion. Caught in her glittering world of intrigue and politics, Juhan is startled to find Sadi playing a long game to change intergalactic politics and Juhan is merely a pawn in her game. But as his vow and Sadi's lies takes them across galaxies, he begins to wonder if his young owner is more than an arrogant rich girl. And he has to consider the cost of his promise—especially when people they both care for begin to die.

A galaxy away, Chosi is sold into blood sport. With her psychic ability, she earns a precarious position of value within the gladiator school, training the draken—wild creatures of smoke and fire—for the arena. In the midst of that hell, she forges a friendship with the slave Jemes and the draken she cares for. But when her defiance comes with devastating results, Chosi contemplates suicide as an escape from her chains. Yet, she can't forget the brother who promised to find her, and even as she welcomes the risk of death, she clings to that promise.

Spun across space and exotic worlds, Juhan and Chosi try to find each other, and home in a stunning story about the lengths love will take you.

CLICK HERE TO ADD GENTLE CHAINS TO GOODREADS.

Read the first 6 chapters of GENTLE CHAINS

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I wake up slowly, and lift my head. The quiet hum is comforting and familiar--I’m on the Leen. “Where is Sadi?” I murmur, shifting to stand.

“Galley,” the ship answers promptly, and I stagger to the door. “Ill-advised. I will inform Sadi of your status.”

“Disregard. I’m fine,” I answer, and the ship subsides, with a minute rumble of systems that makes me think it’s disgruntled.

I find Sadi slumped at the table, cradling a mug of warm chocolate, fatigue pulling her eyes closed. Tin stirs something on the hotsurface, the smell of spice and cream and vegetables thick in the air. I watch them, testing the surface of their emotions before I clear my throat. Sadi glances blearily at me, and then nudges a chair out with a loud screech. I sink down and we sit silently for a long time before she asks, hoarsely, “Want some? Chocolate can make anything better.”

I take the proffered cup, recognizing it for the peace offering it is. “How’s that working for you?” I ask before taking a sip. Liquid, velvet heat fills my mouth, slides down my throat. It tastes like a memory, and I struggle to see past a vision of Chosi and a thousand mornings, sitting at the table with her and a cup of chocolate. I force the memory away, focusing on Sadi.

Sadi shrugs and gives me a weak smile. “Not terribly well.”

I touch her psyche again, feeling the conflict, disgust and desperation. Her eyes are impossibly young when they find mine. “How does this happen? There are thousands injured--we didn’t even make a dent today. And that says nothing of the dead. And no one cares. Because they’re whores,” she finishes bitterly. She almost snatches the chocolate from me, burying her nose in the cup.

“What are the estimates on the dead?”

“Thirty thousand, in Centari alone,” Tin answers. He ladles out soup and hands steaming bowls around. “Ninety percent of the dead were slaves.”

Sadi glares. “That doesn’t make the deaths acceptable.”

“No one said it did, Sadi,” he says mildly and nudges her spoon. She stares at it and then takes a tiny bite. As soon as she swallows, her eyes widen and she bolts from the table.

Tin drops his spoon with a curse and moves to go after her. “Let me,” I say, standing and following her.

She’s leaning over the commode, tears streaming down her face. I let my mind go, touching along her psyche, a flutter of moth wings. It’s so broken, shattered into so many pieces it stuns me. How can she appear so together when she is completely broken?

-Sadi?-

-How can we expect to make a difference?- she whispers. -It’s so much and we are so small, and no one cares--no one is even here. The IPS will gladly let their world burn.-

-They care,- I say, uselessly.

She twists to glare at me. -Don’t you dare lie for them. Don’t you dare. They look the other way while your entire world is raped of its people. While your sister is Taken and branded and sold. They use slaves. So don’t you dare lie for them. They don’t deserve it.-

I push aside the truth in her words, the rush of anger that she’s one of the slave owners she’s denouncing, and crouch next to her, brushing hair over her ears and murmuring, “We’ll make a difference because you can’t help it, Sadi. You change things.”

As I say it, I realize how true my words are. She has changed me.

Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog.

You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Booktropolous.

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