Three fated lovers: a shieldmaiden, a Troll Queen, and a Valkyrie. One price: the fate of all Midgard. Turiel is crown princess, but from the outlawed Northern Holds, bloodbound to Troll Queen Jarngrimr, and best friends with the stablelass Yolanda, her first love - until her poison kiss turned Yola into a Valkyrie, and whisks Yolanda from Turiel's grasp. Now, Turiel has been stolen into wily Queen Jarngrimr's realm, with only the goddess Skadhi and Yola - back from the dead! - to guide her. Lussi, the Snow King, craves a bride - and it is Dia's troth alone. Dia, the last blood mage from the line of the Isa, is all that is left of Turiel's legacy. Dia has been raised as Lussi's Magdalene - his ritual Bride - and ritual Slayer - for the past three years. Every Winter Solstice, Lussi can die, and Dia must kill him. But as Dia falls deeper into Lussi's sexy web - and in love - her heart is on the line! Other works and Ko-Fi: linktr.ee/avnelson
"The Dead travel fast, but Death travels faster."
Prologue:
This is what I remember:
He stands by the howling void. Chalk white cliffs plummet downwards to the raging sea. The blue-blackness froths beneath him. Wind screams. It is absolute zero.
Shadows fall like dolls into the abyss. There are no cries of pain. Merely silence.
The Legion stands before him. Michael brandishes his flaming sword. His face is raw with suffering.
"Don't do this, brother," he pleas.
His cry falls on deaf ears. It is a corpse that stands before him. Razor thin. Pale as winter snow. He towers over the archangel, still as the grip of death.
He opens his hollow eyes. All Heaven holds its breath. The void yawns, grating its jowls. Its master smiles wretchedly. His flesh cracks like ice as he speaks:
"Either way, I win." His voice is like bitter wind.
The pull of the Pit wraps around the Host like a vise. The weakest crumple like smashed mica. Their shards plummet into the abyss.
Michael's bones shake. His sorrow turns to wrath. He roars, then delivers the killing blow. The serpent is crushed beneath him.
The corpse laughs as the sword pierces him. "Come with me, my brother," he whispers. He takes him by the heel. Lightning strikes fire as they embrace. Michael surrenders himself to his adversary. Finally, the Host is freed.
The brightest stars blaze into the darkness. The void is sealed shut. They leave a graveyard of angels behind them.
Time begins.
Death is born.
"You should run, human girl."
Chapter 1: Disposable Teens
I woke in a sweat again, screeching. Running my hands through my hair, I bolted upwards, struggling for breath. The same dream again, probably spurred on by the chili corn dog of questionable origins the cafeteria had served up for dinner. "Holy frappacino," I whispered as a slamming headache hit me. My stomach rolled, whether from fear or indigestion, I couldn't tell.
My roommate flipped on the lights, groaning: "Again, Fianna?" She tossed her pillow at me, eyes bruised like a racoon's.
I clutched it to my chest and collapsed. "Yeah," I sighed. "I'm so, so sorry." I glanced at the alarm: 3:00 AM. Just the latest in a string of witching hours I'd awakened to in the past month. Perhaps it was the darkness of winter that drew out the strange visions each year. The unyielding cold that dug into one's marrow weighed heavily on us all, stirring upsets that lay buried in the subconscious.
"Quinn? Quinlan?" I asked, tossing the pillow back at her. She caught it drearily.
"What?" She lounged on her bed, eyes dead. "Was it them again? The twins?"
"Yeah. I think the caf's food was laced with something. Roofies. Crack..."
"Holy water? No offense, but you have religious wing-nut dreams."
"But I'm an Atheist-"
"Zip! I've had to put up with this for..." she glanced at her hands. "Three, four, five weeks. And girl, early morning wakings do not bode well for beauty. I've had to change foundations three times for these skull hollows under my eyes."
I flinched, reminded of the dream. "He was bones in the end. Charred bones. Like those medieval plates of villagers dancing with the dead."
"Never seen 'em," Quinn said flatly. "Look, I have an organic chem test in the morning, which we both know I'm going to fail. You now owe me dinner at Peter Chang's and a seriously large shoulder to cry on."
I pulled at my PJs, distracted. "I do have man shoulders, don't I? Moulders. Crap."
"That wasn't the point, Fee. I need your empathy, not your masculinity."
"I am not a guy! See? No five o' clock shadow."
"Every girl has an inner dude. It's your animus. Embrace it."
"Like a spirit animal?"
"Sure. Your inner hot man totem. It's for balancing your psyche-"
There was a soft knock at the door. I paled. "Oh crap, it's Phoebe. Come in!"
Our RA stood in her Amish-worthy nightgown, bleary-eyed. "Everything alright, girls?" she asked, voice cloying with concern.
"Just a nightmare," I said flippantly. "It was... nothing."
"Nothing?" Phoebe cocked her brows. "Because it sounded like murder. Are you sure you don't want to go to the Health Center?-"
"Yes," Quinn and I said shortly.
"Right. Well, maybe cold water. There's medication for this, you know."
"No, and thank you, Phoebe!" Quinn said sunnily. "And a good night to you too." With that, she closed the door. Face flashing grimly, she glanced back at me. "She's right, you know. You can end up in the hospital for this stuff. Nightmare syndrome. I Googled it."
"Which totally makes it legit," I said, sardonic. "It's just stress, or the weather, or- oh, I don't know, Quinn! Maybe I'm the reincarnation of some fire and brimstone preacher."
"Well, Miss Billy Graham. If that's the case, I must have lived on the island of Cyprus, like a priestess of Aphrodite! A slave to beauty and piña coladas, not a dredge to chemistry." She made the sign of the cross against her textbooks. "Can you damn them for me, preacher?"
"By the power invested in me by God, burn, unholy tomes!"
We giggled, ominously fanning the flames.
"Twin psychos through and through," Quinn observed sagely. She flipped the lights. "Back to bed, Fee. And the General Tsao's chicken tomorrow better make up for this lovefest."
I tossed her pillow back at her, smiling. "Pinkie-swear, roomie," I said, voice dripping with sweetness.
She harrumphed and promptly began to snore. So much for beauty sleep.
Katya is in love with Azovka, the Mistress of Copper Mountain. Katya's fiancee Danilo dares carve Azovka an impossible flower of stone. They witness the ruthlessness of the Romanovs and clutches of corrupt Bailiffs in the Ural Mountains, where Azovka's Copper Men have ruled since they were first mined out of Mount Azov. But when Azovka begins to turns to stone, Katya fears the worst - and that Danilo will follow Azovka to a Hell of malachite shadow. With Baba Yaga's guidance, and the magick in her veins, Katya must save them all! retelling of pavel bazhov's "the stone flower"
Death has a mate - a teenage girl, the Grim Reaper's Bride. All Callie has known is that someone watches her in the woods - Samael, the Grim Reaper. Drawn into his intoxicating web of desires, secrets, and shadows, and hating him with a burning passion - can these two unlikely heroes stop the Apocalypse? Or will Samael start it for love?
The Frost Demon Morozko, Prince of Russia's immortal land of Buyan, has waited ages for a mate. And she is Stravinksy's fabled Firebird - incarnated as an orphaned witch! Cast out by the King of the Ice Kingdom, Morozko wanders Buyan, a Miyazaki haven for cherti, nechist, and witches - but a dark curse plagues the land - Koschei the Deathless. Can this bastard prince and the young human girl Anya that conniving Baba Yaga gave Morozko to raise with his found family of cutthroat spirits stand a chance against the immortal sorcerer King Kaschei, who has trapped Anya's soul in the Deathless realms, in gardens of dead wives? Anya is burgeoning with power, living a double life between Cold War Russia and D.C., and coming into her own as a witch to rival Baba Yaga. When her newfound love for Morozko is at stake, she will risk it all to follow the darkly tempting Kaschei to the Deathless lands, face the travails that put all Russia in peril - and save Morozko, as much as he saves her. With epic love, sorcery, adventure, treachery, a Slavic inn for spirits, and plenty of blini warm by the fire, come read this daring journey, and find out if an immortal love can withstand death Himself!
Mom, Dad, Help! - I'm Mated to the Alien Alpha! Ziggi Moondust Collins is a manic pixie dream girl that went on a bender and never recovered. At least, that's what her bandmates think. Pink-haired with a moonbow on her butt, Ziggi is your average punk barista searching for meaning in suburbia. Too bad her artistic roommate Cyrus. He's experimenting on her, manipulating Ziggi's genome in order to accelerate humanity's evolutionary conga line. Oh yeah, and he's been at it for centuries, meddling with human biology so long the Sumerians started a religion after him. At least he makes a mean fettucine alfredo? After a concert goes sour, Ziggi and Cyrus blast off into space in Cyrus' VW Beetle when Ziggi tries to turn off the radio. Stranded on a spaceship suited for amphibians, not punks, Ziggi learns that her new tenant Cyrus, real name Lahmu, isn't remotely human! Gone are Lahmu's good looks, replaced by beautiful tentacles - he looks like a sexy sewer mutant! Lahmu is the heir to the Milky Way's dysfunctional overlords, the Anunnaki: shapeshifters who feed off information. In order to sexually mature, Lahmu has to shepherd humanity into his parent's galactic dictatorship via good old genetic manipulation - and taking Ziggi to bed! Galactic pirates, space rock bands, and tons of hot and heavy tension between an Alien Alpha and his Chosen Mate abound!
He tipped his baseball cap. The stranger's grin revealed bits of crumbs. "And you are...?" I noticed the checkered scarf around his neck. "Hermes." "The brand?" "The man." He sent dancing fingers through the air in a snazzy salute. "G'morning, sweetheart. Loved the sandwich." "Apparently," I mumbled. "So, how did you get in? The doors are locked, and I didn't hear any breaking glass." I looked him up and down. "Get lost on the way to a toga party?" Maybe he was a crazy frat bro. "My life's a party - I bring it with me, or steal Dionysus' thunder." He sipped from a chipped coffee mug, then ah'ed appreciatively. "By Jove's hairy derriere, what a drink. Wine pales in comparison. To the gods of old, and young days long since gone." He wandered into my dining room. "We don't love them til they're gone." My eyes convulsed. "Sorry, but who did you say you were?" I looked at his hands. They were tapered like the fingers of an artist who smuggled on the side. His eyes bespoke whimsy. Looking at this stranger was, in fact, like taking the first, dangerous bite of a melty grilled cheese. "Hermes: the man, not the scarf," ___ My George Foreman grilled cheese was so unholily good, it summoned the Greek God Hermes! Now, I'm on an epic quest to save my father Prometheus from the clutches of Zeus, and restore Hestia's temple flame to Olympus with the fabled Prometheion flower my beloved father Prometheus spent his life hiding. But with the Titans plotting, Cronus rising, and Zeus as dastardly and cunning as ever, all enemies to Hermes and I, can the sexy Messenger God and I make it through, or will I become the ultimate Human Sacrifice?
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
He told her to call him Daddy. Not because he earned it, but because he fucking owned her. The moment she signed that contract, she stopped being a woman with dignity and became his filthy little plaything. His holes to use. His mess to ruin. He didn't just fuck her, he rewired her. Stripped her clean of boundaries and filled her with sin. Every punishment made her scream. Every game dragged her deeper into his twisted world. And the way he praised her... Good girl. She should've run the first time he said it. But Daddy doesn't let his toys leave. He breaks them until they beg to stay. ** Mia's life changed the night she let a stranger ruin her. One night. She never expected to see him again. Until she walked into her new job... and her boss turned around. Ace.Her one-night sin in a thousand-dollar suit. Only this time, he wasn't asking her to be his assistant. She was to be his wife.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
It was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, but Carrie made the mistake of falling in love with Kristopher. When the time came that she needed him the most, her husband was in the company of another woman. Enough was enough. Carrie chose to divorce Kristopher and move on with her life. Only when she left did Kristopher realize how important she was to him. In the face of his ex-wife’s countless admirers, Kristopher offered her 20 million dollars and proposed a new deal. “Let’s get married again.”