Dragon Ship

For Ellie Hallivard, these are but ancient stories within her world of poultice brewing and apple tree tending. As the eldest daughter of the matron of the Orchard clan, Ellie must prepare herself for leadership, all while trying to protect her younger sisters, cultivate her love of a town boy, and undermine the spirit intent on devouring her mother’s soul. Despite Ellie’s best efforts, her sister defies Clan law and touches a Bloodbud; the Forsaken is brought into existence in the body of a Hallivard.

The Realm of Reason is but one of many within the Taeron Cosmos, where Ancients rule over classes of immortal Creators and Sylphs. All within the Realm carry the same mission - to educate and prepare premortal offspring for a journey to mortal worlds. One premortal needs more preparation than most. Huldah might be the daughter of the High King, but that didn’t protect her from the Darkness, who invades her mind, terrorizes her sleep, and vies for control. A fledgling Sylph, Flora, volunteers to undergo the dangerous assignment of guiding Huldah.

Sheltered in their fortress city, the last humans live in constant peril, assailed from without by alien invaders and from within by a deadly disease intent on mutating every citizen. After her best friend’s grisly death at the segmented claws of the alien revenants, Ward Chief Iazmaena Delgassi vows to restore safety to her city by running for a magistrate position on the city council. For if the aliens ever truly penetrate the walls, humanity will lose itself to the jaws of the hungry beasts.

Stefani Palmieri is a woman on a mission. A long-hidden technology, the Bridge, consumes her every waking moment, a compulsion that seems to come from outside her. All she knows is she has to get it working as fast as possible, while ignoring the sense that she is not herself.

After serving with Keane to save Greenshade, the cowardly, illusion-making runecrafter Morholt leads a group of mercenaries on a mission to save the women from his past. His one rule: No killing. But after a terrible accident leaves one of Sarah’s oldest friends dead in the Sedrian jungle, the unstoppable Hill Fury pursues Morholt relentlessly across the Thirteen Kingdoms. Because the renewed Temple of the Sky is trying to murder all those with the sacrilegious runecrafting ability, Sarah requests their help. But soon Sarah must decide who her true enemies are.

Somehow, Keane, the ex-mercenary king of Greenshade, must outwit a wicked usurper from within and an overwhelming army from without. And if that weren’t enough on his royal plate, when Keane flees with his pregnant queen and brainwashed mother-in-law, his own nefarious past rears up to smack him in the face. A thousand miles away, Keane’s best friend Sarah, a swordswoman and sorceress-in-training, treks toward the only possible ally strong enough to help them: the goddess of either beauty, seduction, obsessiveness, or insanity. Depending on who you ask.

Ex-mercenaries Keane and Sarah struggle to keep their heads above water in the roles of snarky pretender-king and sorceress-in-training for the kingdom of Greenshade — which alone would make it a good day. But good days are clearly for better people. As the nations of the Thirteen Kingdoms line up against them, assassins stalk the castle halls with hidden daggers and deadly salted fish. The only weapons Sarah and Keane can count on are each other and the few friends they’ve made, none of whom are safe.

Smart-mouthed Keane and feared warrior Sarah escape the mercenaries of Wallace’s Company to start somewhere fresh, where no one is trying to kill them. Keane steals the company’s wages in return for his attempted murder, and Sarah agrees to the plan. Unfortunately, Keane doesn’t have one. On the run from the vengeful lord marshal and his wicked mercenary cutthroats, Sarah and Keane hop from danger to disaster.

Fauna Young owns a small computer repair shop. She lives in a townhouse downtown. She loves to dance with her two best friends in city clubs. From the outside, Fauna’s life looks like any other young professional’s in bustling Houston. On the inside, Fauna hides a secret. She can read people’s emotions as well as intense memories impressed on everyday objects.

Fauna Young has come to grips with her empathy. What she had considered a curse has proven to be a gift as she helps her new friend, Detective Mateo Flores, with cold cases, bringing closure to families in pain. Her best friends, Amelia and Gina, know about her empathy and have accepted it without question. She’s even in a stable relationship with the perfect man. Everything is coming up Fauna, until her con artist brother, Forrest, returns to town.