Devlin Schaefer, the Duke of Westcliff, wasn’t in a very good mood. He had a headache—not a new occurrence ever since he’d woken up on Calluvia to find the previous two months of his life gone from his memory—but this morning it was particularly aggravating. For one very specific reason.
“Your Grace, His Majesty is waiting for you.”
Devlin gave a clipped nod before walking toward the king’s office. He paused for a moment, reinforcing the bland, neutral expression on his face, and then entered the room.
The king wasn’t alone. Austin Cormack, the palace press officer, was there too. He bowed to Devlin, his gaze lowered.
King Stefan regarded Devlin with a deep frown, a hint of displeasure in his scent. “Nephew,” he said coldly.
Devlin briefly entertained the thought of calling the king Father. He almost laughed out loud.
“Your Majesty,” he said instead, as coldly.
&l
Fury studied the table. “Is that for me?” Ellie smiled. “Yes. I swear I’m a good cook. It’s safe to eat.” His dark gaze fixed on her. “That was nice. What is the reason?” “There isn’t one. I just wanted to do something nice for you. I love to cook. They delivered groceries yesterday. I cooked last night but you didn’t show up until late. Tonight you arrived on time.” He studied her closely. “You wish to do something nice for me?” “Yes.” “Why?” “I wanted to do something special for you. You have taken me into your home and you—” Fury moved so suddenly Ellie didn’t have time to react before he grabbed her. Strong arms lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the hallway before she realized where they headed. “Fury?” Alarm jolted through her and she clutched at him. He walked into his bedroom and dropped her onto his bed gently. Ellie gawked at him while he grabbed the front of his shirt, tearing it
Fury studied the table. “Is that for me?”Ellie smiled. “Yes. I swear I’m a good cook. It’s safe to eat.”His dark gaze fixed on her. “That was nice. What is the reason?”“There isn’t one. I just wanted to do something nice for you. I love to cook. They delivered groceries yesterday. I cooked last night but you didn’t show up until late. Tonight you arrived on time.”He studied her closely. “You wish to do something nice for me?”“Yes.”“Why?”“I wanted to do something special for you. You have taken me into your home and you—”Fury moved so suddenly Ellie didn’t have time to react before he grabbed her. Strong arms lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the hallway before she realized where they headed.“Fury?” Alarm jolted through her and she clutched at him.He
Ellie laughed. “Come on, Monarch. You can totally do this.” Monarch, a blonde-haired woman just under six feet tall, examined the vacuum with disgust. “It’s too loud and I’m afraid it’s going to suck up my toes.” Ellie lifted her hand to cover her mouth, trying to hide her amusement. “We all think that. Trust me. I promise you, though, if you point it away from you, that won’t happen. You’ve mastered the washing machine and your cooking skills with a microwave are wonderful. You can handle this beast.” Monarch sighed. “Fine, but it hurts my ears.” Destiny, a black-haired woman, cheered her on. Monarch flipped on the vacuum and pushed it around the living room carpet without causing injury. Ellie grinned. Whatever the cause, for the past three weeks the women had accepted her. They’d allowed her to talk to them, laugh with them, and teach them household education. “Ellie?” Ellie spun to face Breeze with a grin. The tall New Species had
Ellie laughed. “Come on, Monarch. You can totally do this.” Monarch, a blonde-haired woman just under six feet tall, examined the vacuum with disgust. “It’s too loud and I’m afraid it’s going to suck up my toes.” Ellie lifted her hand to cover her mouth, trying to hide her amusement. “We all think that. Trust me. I promise you, though, if you point it away from you, that won’t happen. You’ve mastered the washing machine and your cooking skills with a microwave are wonderful. You can handle this beast.” Monarch sighed. “Fine, but it hurts my ears.” Destiny, a black-haired woman, cheered her on. Monarch flipped on the vacuum and pushed it around the living room carpet without causing injury. Ellie grinned. Whatever the cause, for the past three weeks the women had accepted her. They’d allowed her to talk to them, laugh with them, and teach them household education. “Ellie?” Ellie spun to face Breeze with a grin. The tall New Species had
DO YOU WEEP for the battered, empty heart of the gumiho? You should. Though she has often yearned for love, she has always been denied it.There is a tale that takes place long after the first gumiho had become nothing but myth. And many more had risen to take her place as monsters of the night. Humankind traded stories of their existence like they were fables warning men against temptation. And only a few knew that there lay truth in the terrifying stories.During this time lived the son of a poor scholar, bright and precocious.Along the road to his private tutoring sat a Chinese Scholar tree.All were warned not to stand under the tree at night since the spirits liked to visit it when the moon was high.One night, the boy walked home long after the sun had set. He spotted a figure under the tree and app
Ellie laughed. “Come on, Monarch. You can totally do this.”Monarch, a blonde-haired woman just under six feet tall, examined the vacuum with disgust. “It’s too loud and I’m afraid it’s going to suck up my toes.”Ellie lifted her hand to cover her mouth, trying to hide her amusement. “We all think that. Trust me. I promise you, though, if you point it away from you, that won’t happen. You’ve mastered the washing machine and your cooking skills with a microwave are wonderful. You can handle this beast.”Monarch sighed. “Fine, but it hurts my ears.”Destiny, a black-haired woman, cheered her on. Monarch flipped on the vacuum and pushed it around the living room carpet without causing injury. Ellie grinned. Whatever the cause, for the past three weeks the women had accepted her. They’d allowed her to talk to them, laugh
Justice North sat behind his desk while Tiger and Fury had taken seats perched on the sides of the massive piece of furniture. Joy swallowed, waiting for the last person to arrive. Dr. Treadmont finally showed up for the meeting Joy had asked for. He closed the door behind him.“What did you wish to speak about?”“Moon believes he is at site four.”Silence greeted that statement until Dr. Treadmont asked a question.“What the hell is that?”“There were remote sites we were relocated to after we were freed from Mercile,” Fury answered. “We were hidden from the press and given time to assimilate into life outside of Mercile.”“They were motels,” Tiger added. “Out in bum-fuck nowhere that the government was easily able to buy or gain access to because they were abandoned. They sent in crews to clean them up, do repairs, and that’s where we were housed. They put
Jules was angry and embarrassed enough to push the Xeus to the back of his mind for a few days.But on the third day his curiosity—and his conscience—finally outweighed his other feelings and he decided to check out the files he’d copied to the flash drive.Two hours later, Jules closed the files, feeling a little sick to his stomach. And a little scared, if he were honest.The files were a log apparently maintained by a Dr. Umberto Navarra: his observations of the experiments done on the Xeus. The log was absolutely disgusting in its lack of compassion. Dr. Navarra treated the Xeus like a thing, dispassionately describing the drugs and toxic chemicals used on him and the effect they had on the “subject.”If Jules understood the log correctly, the doctor’s main goal was to reverse the kerosvarin’s work and give the feral Xeus his rationality back. Judging by