Showing results by narrator "Aaron Shedlock" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.

My whole life has been characterized by fighting; fighting my family and fighting for my life. Trust me—the first one is completely voluntary, and a lot of fun. The second? Not so much. To say my family dynamic is weird is the understatement of the century. I held my first sword when I was only five years old, and I learned how to dispose of a body before I turned ten. I may have a penchant for pink and sparkles…but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to kick major ass as well.

Note to my stupid cupid self: The next time I go and anchor myself to a hot covey, make sure those anchors aren't about to compete in a fight to the death. Yeah. Total downer. I have a body now, and I don't intend to lose it. I also don't intend to lose the genfins that I've grown so attached to. So it's time to return to the kingdom island and hope like hell that my guys make it through the royal trials of the culling. I also have to hope that the prince of the realm doesn't spot me. If he does, I'm pretty sure I have imprisonment and torture to look forward to.

For the last ten years, I thought I was nothing special. I was just another priestess in the Temple of Temptation...one of many. Little did I know that my god has plans for me. He intends to make me powerful. But what I will become is up to me. For centuries, things here have always been done the same way—and the gods are now paying for it. Somehow, I'm expected to revive the faith. I'm their last hope, but no one is quite sure how I'm supposed to do that.

I swore I would never return to this palace. Never kneel before my father again. But I have been dragged back into his gilded cage, trapped beneath his rule, and bound to a fate I had tried to escape. My body is his to break, my magic his to wield. And no matter how many nights I dream of Dacre storming these halls, of his hands, pulling me from the darkness—dreams are nothing against the greed of a king. Even if my mate comes for me, even if I am freed from my father's grip, I'm not sure there will be anything left of me to save. The kingdom is dying.

Zeal is back, and he's seen by more people every day. The God of Temptation grows stronger, but High Priest Kinen has found the one thing that can stop a god: disbelief. The return of our gods means an end to his power, and Kinen isn't ready to lose. Over time, the priests of our temple have surrendered their power in the name of our god. We're trained to obey, to help, and to be Zeal's tools when he cannot help himself. Now, that has become a problem.

It's called "the event", an unimaginable cataclysm that shatters 600 million years of the Earth's timeline. Our world is gone, instantly replaced by a new one made of scattered remnants of the past, present, and future, dropped alongside one another in a patchwork of "shards". Monsters from Jurassic prehistory, ancient armies, and high-tech robots all coexist in this deadly post-apocalyptic landscape. A desperate group of survivors sets out to locate the source of the disaster.

I was a child when my father surrendered me to the Temple of All Gods. No one gave me a choice. No one even bothered to explain. I was simply tossed aside, unwanted. That was the day the God of Temptation claimed me as his. Now, I'm studying how to become the perfect priestess. Life in the temple means embracing my emotions and learning to harness each type of desire. Power, fear, lust, and rage are the most common, but not the only ones. Each has a power. Each has its place. I just have to figure out which kind of priestess I'll become.

No one has ever heard of a female alpha...until me. Now I'm on a journey to see some Oracle I didn't know existed, accompanied by the four most eligible males in the clan - go figure, they're the other clan alphas. The trip gives me an opportunity to learn more about the strangers who wish to claim me as their mate: brooding Rowan, serene Taika, jovial Stig, and flirtatious Mateo all appeal to me, and my wolf, in different ways. And right now, they're all seriously pissing me off.

Rush is a Fae Guardian, a wolf-shifter whose enhanced abilities have made him a ruthless protector of Elphyne. His job is to protect the realm from the human enemy. But one night of weakness resulted in a curse worse than death – exile. Now he spends his lonely time longing to be part of the living, once again protecting them from monsters… until one mysteriously washes up on the shores of his lake. The only one to have miraculously seen him in decades, Clarke is the sunshine to his grump. But if he hands her over to the authorities, his curse will be broken.

At first glance, the planet Rada seems like a lush paradise. But the ruling families, all boasting genetically enhanced abilities, are in constant competition for power - and none more so than the Adlers and the Baenas. For generations, the powerful families have pushed and pulled each other in a dance for dominance. Until a catastrophic betrayal from within changes everything.

She broke their laws. Now, he has come to punish her...In my human settlement on the hostile plains of Dakkar, I am an outcast, a strange girl orphaned since birth, alone, and dreaming of a life I don't have. I hunt to survive, though it is forbidden, though it breaks the strict Dakkari laws that we all must follow. When my desperate actions catch the attention of a Dakkari horde king - a cold, powerful, and merciless warrior leader, with eyes like flint and a body like steel - he seeks to punish me...and he succeeds. But then he does the unexpected.

We're tempted to play games, thinking they will give us more power–but that only works if we win. After spending the holidays with my guardian's family, it seems that everyone in the temple has the wrong idea. The Baron isn't my patron. He's not even a friend. In truth, I hate the man. But the rumor mill is strong, and jealousy is running rampant.

This is supposed to be a good year. With a new set of instructors—and ones I know well—I'm sure it will be. For once, things are finally starting to go my way. My mentors are proud, my family is closer than ever before, and I am happy. Unfortunately, the gods are tired of waiting. Every day, Zeal grows stronger, but Ambition, Inspiration, Perception, Compassion, and Intuition don't. They're fading, with no hope in sight. Except me.

One strong woman. Four sexy Guardians sworn to protect her. A raging hellfire that'll test their bond. Within minutes, everything Eve Carter thought she knew about her life was eradicated by a volley of Hellfire. She's being called a Demon. It shouldn't be possible. No one has ever possessed both Demonic and Fae magic before. But the fury behind the power Eve unleashed says it's very real.

Leaving my husband was hard. Trying to face the world alone with my teenage daughter is the sort of thing nightmares are made of, but I caught a break. My best friend just hired me for a great job, with perks like a rent-free house right beside not just one handsome man, but five! Each one is hotter than the last, and all of them seem interested in me. But everyone around us has these strange golden eyes...and there are the questions no one will answer. And who cares if there's a lot of wildlife running around at night? I do, especially when a wolf keeps sneaking into my backyard.

As the second-born princess of a kingdom conquered by a brutal empire, I'm nothing but a pawn. Little do I expect my parents to arrange my marriage to the most powerful bachelor of all: the son of the emperor himself. But when I arrive at the imperial palace, I discover I must compete for my betrothed—vying with the court noblewomen in a series of humiliating trials to prove our devotion.

The Temple of Temptation is broken. The system is failing the priests who serve faithfully, but Zeal isn't missing. He's simply powerless—or was. As more priests believe in our god, the balance of power has been shifting. Temptation is thriving. Miracles are happening. The High Priest is struggling. In his attempts to control me, he's making it almost impossible to help the other gods. Something has to give, and I'm worried it might be me.

Turns out happily ever after isn’t what the storybooks promised. We thought it was over, that we’d earned a peaceful life filled with love and tender moments. We couldn’t have been more wrong. With Sunday and our sweet Eden at the center of our group, the four of us are more protective than ever, so when I’m called to return as Headmaster of Ravenscroft University, I assume our family is safe.

High in the icy northlands of Dakkar, I’ve lived a sheltered, predictable, and safe life. My days are spent caring for an ancient temple and staying out of the priestesses’ way. My nights are spent pouring over the great stories of warrior kings and the queens that stole their hearts.