Cover Reveal for Malevolent by Cassia Brightmore

Malevolent

The Darkness Series #1

by: Cassia Brightmore

Publication Date: February 23, 2015

Genre: Dark Erotic Thriller

Cover Design: Mayhem Cover Creations

Darkness has a seductive power, a delicious energy that sinks its claws in deep. Once the devil has a hold of you, true malevolence is born.

Sheriff Brady James has sworn to protect the small town of Durham Heights, his current priority to ruthlessly hunt a sadistic killer on the loose. With lives at stake, his focus is split between two beautiful women - one dark, one light. The clock is ticking, the threat palpable; crawling closer at every turn. Once death has you in its sights, there is no escape.

Pain. Suffering. Lives shattered and broken. In the fight of good against evil, who will survive?

This is the first book in the Darkness series, a wishing evil upon others novel that can be read as a standalone.

Due to mature content and violent situations, this book is recommended for readers 18 years and older.

Grabbing her roughly by the arm, he hauled her back until she was flush against him, her back to his front.  Grinding his erection into her ass, he lowered his lips to her ear.  “You think you can push me like that and I won’t respond?” He taunted, nipping her ear painfully.  She let out a low moan, her body beginning to betray her.  

“You’re mine.  I won’t share you, and I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to you, Gwyn.  The sooner you get it through your head that I own you now, the better.”  His hand trailed down her body, cupping her aching pussy through her shorts.  Feeling her heat, he groaned.  Dragging them backwards, he hit one of the tall trees, his hands coming up to brace her shoulders.

“Brady, please,” she begged.  Her body was a slow fire, desire taking over every part of her being.  This man and his fierce possessiveness of her awakened a darkness in her she didn’t know existed.  He pinched her nipples roughly through her thin shirt, her back arching against him.

“You want my cock, sugar?  Right here out in the open?”

Cassia Brightmore is a new indie author. Her debut novel, Malevolent is the first book in the Darkness Series and can be read as a standalone.

Writing has always been a passion of hers and publishing her first novel is truly a dream come true. She enjoys writing dark stories that she hopes will thrill the reader.  When she's not reading she can be found playing xbox one, watching re-runs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and catching up on Revenge and Scandal.  She also has an unhealthy obsession with Jon Snow from GOT (but who doesn't??).

She lives in Grimsby, Canada with her two furbabies, Harley and Molly.

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Dragonflies Trilogy Re-Release Blitz - Samantha Fontien

Dragonflies Trilogy

Author: Samantha Fontien
Book Blitz: Jan 26th
Hosted By: SBB Promotions

The Duncan Peters Files (Book 1 in Dragonflies Trilogy)

From the Author of ‘How to catch Butterflies’ books 1 & 2 comes the first book in the Dragonflies Trilogy.

Be prepared to read a story that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Duncan Peters is not your typical Alpha CEO, Playboy - He is a good man with a painful past. - Ex Military (SAS) now a Senior Partner at ‘Blackcard’.

He is a natural born tactician with a license to kill….

We also met his naughty best friend, Rubin Miller, who he meets one night at a rowdy University weekend bender.

That night a friendship was made, that would last a lifetime…

Rubin Miller is a ladies’ man, through and through, with an immense appetite for life. But most of all he is a man of honor. He too joins the military serving by his friends’ side, through thick and thin. There is nothing these two men have not shared, women included.

Can these wild men ever be tamed?

* This book contains Drama, Heartache and Mature content, intended for readers 18+ *

BLURRED LINES by Jen McLaughlin - release day

Blurred Lines by Jen McLaughlin will be releasing January 26th, but first we have some exclusive content to share. FINNClub team members have been sharing special details from the book this week in order to share their excitement for the new novel. Be sure to check out the contest below for a chance to win the series.

Today we have the incredible book trailer from Blurred Lines.

BOOK TRAILER

Once burned…

Finding my fiancée naked on my couch might’ve been a good thing, if her ex-boyfriend hadn’t been with her. For the past eight years I’ve been a witness to the power of true love, but after getting burned I’d decided there wasn’t any hope for me finding it for myself. Until I met Noelle Brandt in a hotel bar. Maybe it wasn’t the most romantic meeting, but the moment I met her I knew I had to have her. The more I learn about her, the more I know I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her.

Twice shy…

I’d already found the love of my life, but I’d lost that love forever. And I’d been lost ever since. But one night a wounded man makes all of that go away. He makes me laugh, live, and feel alive. When he tells me he has no intention of letting me go, I finally begin to believe in the power of true love again. That is, until I find out who he really is…and by then, it’s far too late to correct the mistakes we’ve already made. By the time we both know the truth, the lines have already been blurred beyond recognition.

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Amazon Link:  http://amzn.to/1z82jp9

Barnes & Noble Link:  http://bit.ly/1EFNNDM

Jen McLaughlin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sexy New Adult books. Under her pen name Diane Alberts, she is a multi-published, bestselling author of Contemporary Romance with Entangled Publishing. Her first release as Jen McLaughlin, Out of Line, released September 6 2013, and hit the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.

Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, and a cat. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.

Website: http://www.jenmclaughlin.com

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/DianeAlberts6

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeAlberts

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6921962.Jen_McLaughlin

Racconti di Nostra Produzione: Alessandra Cigalino - Love is a Mystery #1 Infinity Series

Per la rubrica "I nostri Racconti", la nostra Cosmo Girl Alessandra Cigalino, ci ha fatto l'enorme regalo di poter pubblicare, sempre per capitoli, il suo romanzo urban fanatsy "Love is a Mystery", il primo libro della serie Infinity. 

Alessandra, è il classico esempio della indie author italiana. Ha scritto un libro e l'ha auto pubblicato. Il mio rispetto per queste scrittrici aumenta quotidianamente, questo è un mondo di squali e la competizione è a livelli stellari. Dobbiamo aiutare queste ragazze a far conoscere la loro opera il più possibile.

Vi informo che se durante la lettura per capitoli, in questo blog, il libro Vi ispira talmente che non potete aspettare la pubblicazione del prossimo post, potete sempre acquistarlo negli store on-line!!

La scrittrice attende di conoscere i vostri pareri quindi commentate, commentate e commentate!!!

Dopo la morte del padre, è il tempo per Elizabeth di dar prova del suo coraggio, cercando di imporre le proprie capacità nei vari colloqui di lavoro, a Londra, a soli diciott’anni, senza nemmeno, quindi, una laurea al suo attivo.

La sua caparbietà però non ha fatto i conti con l’incontro di sguardi che da quel preciso istante inizia a farle vedere il mondo con gli occhi dell’amore di cui ha sentito parlare, ma che non ha ancora provato direttamente in prima persona.

Quel ragazzo incredibilmente bello, che è entrato a far parte dei suoi pensieri in modo costante, è in grado di toglierle il respiro anche solo guardandolo negli incantevoli occhi simili a raffinati smeraldi.

Ma ogni giorno che passa, pur provando verso di lui un interesse ‘nuovo’, Elizabeth inizia ad avvertire qualcosa di misteriosamente indescrivibile che lo rende ancora più affascinante e le fa capire quanto voglia essere partecipe della sua esistenza.

Elizabeth entra così a far parte di un nuovo mondo, dove la musica ha un ruolo fondamentale e parla attraverso le note di un canto d’amore tra due ragazzi, accomunati essenzialmente dal loro stesso identico modo di amarsi, utilizzando anche la poesia come mezzo per unire le loro ‘epoche’.

‘Lui’, forte demone immortale, con un’unica debolezza: Elizabeth!

‘Lei’, indifesa e fragile umana, colma di dubbi e di incertezze, con un’unica forza: William!

Per vivere il loro amore saranno disposti a scendere a ‘compromessi’?

E quale segreto rende così diverso William dagli altri demoni immortali di Mc Call?

CAPITOLO N. 1

‘Che importa l’eternità della dannazione

 A chi ha trovato, per un attimo,

 L’infinito della gioia? ’

 (Charles Baudelaire – ‘Lo spleen di Parigi’ – Postumo 1869)

 In ogni era ed in ogni epoca storica i compromessi sono sempre

esistiti e son sempre stati utilizzati come mezzo per arrivare, tramite

delle scorciatoie, allo scopo finale.

 Persino la persona più pura d’animo ha elaborato un patto con

“Qualcuno” o “Qualcosa” per un fine ultimo che in quel determinato

momento della vita sembrava importante.

 Chi crede nella creazione Divina di questo pianeta potrà rendersi

conto che anche Adamo ed Eva arrivarono ad un compromesso per

proseguire nella vita terrena.

 Mentre coloro legati alla credenza più scientifica della nascita

dell’emisfero terrestre potranno chiaramente evincere che ogni essere

vivente, fin dal suo esordio in campo di vita, ha ottenuto sempre cibo o

altre esigenze primarie tramite compromessi, senza poter seguire

sempre la legge Darwiniana del “più forte”. 

Blogger League!

La Blogger League non si ferma, anzi continua con una nuova esaltante intervista della Blogger ideatrice della League!!

Whisper: la voce del tempo♥

Buongiorno Whispers, è finalmente giunto il mio turno nella "Blogger League", pur avendo ideato io stessa il questionario ammetto che ho trovato qualche difficoltà nel rispondervi, mi auguro possiate trovarle interessanti. 

Ricordo a quanti non conoscono quest'iniziativa che tutte le informazioni sono Qui (+iscrizioni), è un mezzo per far conoscere diversi blog che affrontano vari argomenti, l'unione fa la forza no? Se ancora non ne fai parte ti invito ad unirti a noi :D

Oltre ad essere una blogger chi sei nella vita di tutti i giorni?

Sono figlia, sorella, fidanzata, zia, studentessa ma più di qualsiasi altra cosa al mondo sono una sognatrice. Sono una persona con la testa perennemente tra le nuvole, la realtà è un luogo troppo limitato per una come me ma grazie alla fervida immaginazione che possiedo vivo mille avventure, spesso mi ritrovo ad appuntare idee dovunque mi capiti (quaderno, giornali, cellulare) con la speranza un giorno di ricomporre i pezzi del puzzle e dare vita ad una storia tutta mia, vestire i panni della scrittrice è un mio grande desiderio. 

Come mai hai deciso di ritagliarti il tuo angolo virtuale? Parlaci del tuo rifugio, quali sono gli argomenti che tratti?

La storia del "Whisper" è abbastanza travagliata è nato per caso nel lontano 2011, un piccolo ritrovo creato insieme ad un'amica conosciuta in rete. Dopo una prima fase il blog è andato in letargo, se prima eravamo "le guardiane del tempo" alla fine sono rimasta solo io. Per un po' mi sono sentita Houdinì apparivo e scomparivo dalla blogsfera. Lo scorso autunno sono tornata, con la promessa di non abbandonare più questo mia dimora virtuale, un legame speciale mi unisce al "Whisper" e qualsiasi blogger può comprendere questa strana forma di affetto che si può nutrire nei riguardi della "propria creatura".

Il "Whisper" è il forziere nel quale potete trovare le mie grandi passioni: quella per i libri (il mio kindle è divenuto la mia ombra), per la scrittura fedele compagna di vita, per i telefilm che sono la mia dipendenza e per il Cinema un grande amore esploso negli ultimi anni.

Perché le persone dovrebbero diventare tuoi lettori fissi?

Perché mi renderebbero felice, so che è una risposta banale ma è la verità. Ogni qualvolta vedo aumentare i "lettori fissi" sono contenta, ma la vera gioia giunge nel momento in cui leggo i commenti, la linfa vitale di ogni blog. Posso assicurare a quanti divengono miei lettori che la loro fiducia è ben riposta, se si trovano sul "Whisper" è perché condividono le mie passioni, delle quali io amo parlare senza freni. Se amate il cinema ed i libri siete nel posto giusto ve lo posso assicurare. Per questo 2015 ho in mente tante cose per il "nostro" casale sulle rive di un lago incantato, se non siete mai stati qui vi invito a fare una sosta e sorseggiare una deliziosa cioccolata calda in compagnia di un'immensa libreria e di un maxi-schermo sul quale gustarci un'emozionante pellicola.

Quali sono i tuoi sogni nel cassetto?

Ho già parlato del desiderio di scrivere un romanzo, sogno che ho da una vita. In futuro mi piacerebbe fare la giornalista nell'ambito cinematografico, sto riempiendo a poco a poco la mia valigia di esperienze, e mi sono resa conto che amo il contatto con la gente, adoro quella particolare sintonia che si instaura tra il giornalista e l'intervistato, come se il primo divenisse il custode di frammenti di vita dell'altro. Mi piacerebbe respirare l'aria che vi è su un set cinematografico, vivere tutto il percorso che si cela dietro la realizzazione di un film o di una serietv, Mi offro per portare il caffè a tutta la troupe. 

Ovviamente mi auguro che il "Whisper" nel corso degli anni, anche quando sarò moglie e madre (i miei più grandi desideri), resti sempre il mio piccolo angolo di universo.

Vuoi fare un augurio speciale agli altri membri della League? 

In primis voglio ringraziare tutti i membri della League perché hanno preso parte a questa mia iniziativa con grande entusiasmo, vi auguro il meglio, vi auguro nel corso delle vostre vite di realizzare il vostro sogno più grande, penso non ci sia niente di più bello e gratificante. Ricordate " Tutto inizia con un sogno, credici e potrai realizzarlo" (W. Disney). 

Che la buona sorte della blogsfera sia sempre a vostro favore.

Cover Reveal: Aflame by Penelope Douglas

Title: Aflame (Fall Away, #4)

Author: Penelope Douglas

Genre: NA |  Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 21, 2015

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Bully, Until You, Rival, and Falling Away comes the sizzling conclusion to the Fall Away series.

The tables have turned. Now I have the power—and it’s his turn to beg…

Everyone wants to be me.

Maybe it’s the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don’t care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can’t stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name.

I’m her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I’m surviving—something he thought I’d never do.

They all talk about him. Did you see Jared Trent on T.V? What did you think of his last race, Tate? When is he coming back to town, Tate?

But I refuse to care too much. Because when Jared does come home, I won’t be here.

Tatum Brandt is gone. I’m someone new.

Pre-Order Aflame → Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

Penelope Douglas is a writer in Las Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!" She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn, but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, The Originals, and she shops at Target almost daily.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Tsū | Goodreads

Purchase Links → Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

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Love Survives by Jennifer Foor Cover Reveal

Release Date: March 7th

Imagine being in love with the same girl since you were ten years old, only to have her fall for your twin instead. This story is rocky.

It will rip you apart and possibly put you back together again.

I know this because it's my story.

The pain and anguish experienced in this is what it was like to hold onto hope that some day we'd find each other again.  I won't sugar coat the details of what I went through to have her, nor will I apologize for any actions that led me right back into her life.

Sometimes love isn't enough.

Sometimes it takes a little fate.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Get the beginning of the story with Love Survives

My heart belonged to Branch and Brooks Valentine since we were children, when we were all too naïve to know what that even meant. We didn’t understand that when we became adults, love would change us. I had to make a choice and when I did, it ripped our bond apart. Brooks left town, and he took half of my heart with him. It was difficult, but I coped and planned my future with Branch. I thought I’d made the right decision. I loved him and I always had.

Brooks showed up to be our best man the night before our nuptials. After drinks and too much reminiscing, I ended up in bed with the wrong brother. To avoid the humiliation and the fact that I’d ruined all of our lives, I left Branch and the only family I’d ever known.

That’s where my story should have ended.

Two years, one beautiful little girl and an abusive marriage later, I was standing there staring at the man that would always hold my heart.

The only question was…

Would I give it to him

I’m Katy Michaels and this is my story. 

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

iTunes

Jennifer Foor is
an award winning Contemporary Romance Author. She's best known for the Mitchell
Family Series, which includes ten books.

She is married
with two children and spends most of her time behind a keyboard, writing
stories that come from her heart. 

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   TWITTER  GOODREADS 

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE  TSU   NEWSLETTER

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

Pre-Order GENTLE CHAINS on Amazon

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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