Novels by Olivia Kent

Chapter 14: Ready for WarThe warehouse buzzed with a quiet, focused urgency as we made our final preparations. I stood in the center of the space with the others gathered around me, the weight of what we were about to do settled onto my shoulders . Weeks of training and stocking shelves, drawing up plans, had led to this moment. If we could hunt and get enough devil fruits we would be strong and equipped enough to take the fight to the Blue zombies or whatever those creatures are not just them but also to the world that had already branded us criminals.I looked at Sasha first and swallowed hard, this woman was scary, she was dressed in black tactical pants and a fitted long-sleeve shirt that clung to the hard lines of muscle she clearly had built over years of training, a knife strapped to her thigh, a gun shoved at her waist. She pulled her hair back into a tight braid, not a single strand loose, I looked at her and smiled, if there's anything? Those creatures are going to reg

Chapter 13: The Rise of Anomalies Three days had passed since the news branded us as suspects, and the city had changed in ways that made my skin crawl. Nothing looked the same anymore. Nothing felt the same. The world I once knew was disappearing before my eyes. The heat hadn't broken, if anything it had gotten worse, the sun burning down on Veridia with a fury that felt almost personal. The streets were littered with debris, abandoned cars, the bodies of those who hadn't escaped the fires. The warehouse had become a refuge for over two hundred survivors, and we'd been rationing our supplies carefully, but I could see the fear in their eyes. They knew we couldn't stay hidden forever. They knew the world outside was getting worse. They knew we were running out of time. I woke early and walked through the warehouse, checking on the survivors, making sure everyone had enough water and food. I tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in my stomach. I'd been giving my portions to the childr

Chapter 12: The First Mission We reached the warehouse, and I pulled open the heavy metal door. Sasha and Maya's surprise was obvious as they stepped inside and looked around at the space Elena and I had spent weeks preparing. The warehouse was massive, with high ceilings, concrete floors, and rows of shelving we'd slowly filled with supplies, and I could see they were impressed by what we'd managed to pull together in such a short time. "This is your safe house?" Sasha walked deeper inside and ran her hand along a shelf stacked with canned food and bottled water. "This is incredible, Elara. How did you put all of this together without anyone noticing?" I shrugged and walked over to the table where Elena had set up her laptop and a collection of electronic equipment. "We were careful." My voice stayed calm, matter-of-fact. "We bought supplies from different stores, paid in cash, moved everything at night. No one suspected anything, because no one was looking. The world was too

Chapter 11: The Burning Sky The heat woke me before my alarm did. I opened my eyes to find my room already bright with a light that felt wrong, too sharp and too white for this early in the morning. I sat up, wiped the sweat from my forehead, and looked at the window. The sun was already high in the sky even though it was barely past five, and a knot formed in my stomach. This wasn't normal. I got out of bed and walked to the living room, where I found Elena already awake, sitting in front of the television with a worried expression, her eyes wide and frightened. "Have you seen the news?" Her voice was quiet, tense. "It's happening everywhere, Elara. Not just here, not just in Veridia. It's happening all over the world." I sat beside her and watched the screen. The images made my blood run cold — cities that looked like they were melting, buildings shimmering with heat, streets empty because no one dared go outside. "We're receiving reports from around the globe about record-break

Chapter Ten. Back at Elena's apartment, she dug through databases while I went through my grandmother's journals and maps, searching for anything that might help us survive. Her handwriting grew shakier the closer she got to the truth, the closer she came to realizing how little time she had left to stop it. "She knew." My voice came out a whisper as I read a passage about the anomalies, the creatures that would rise from the energy. "She knew all of this was coming, and she tried to warn people, but no one listened." Elena looked up from her laptop, saw the pain on my face, and reached over to squeeze my hand. "She left you everything you need." Her voice turned gentle. "The geode, the journals, the knowledge to keep you alive. She didn't fail, Elara. She just ran out of time. But you have time. You have her research, and don't forget you have me." I wiped away a tear and turned back to the journals, because there was still so much to learn and so little time left to learn it. A

Chapter 9: The Third Day I woke before dawn, the energy inside me humming so steadily now that lying still felt impossible. My body wanted to move, to train, to be pushed past its limits and further still. I dressed in my workout clothes and headed to the gym, and on the way I noticed the air felt wrong for this time of year, warmer than it should be. I filed that away in the back of my mind. It might mean nothing. It might mean everything. Elena was waiting outside the gym, tired but determined, still adjusting to the early mornings and the intensity of it all. "How are you feeling today?" she asked as we walked in. "Is the energy still there? Is it getting stronger?" I flexed my fingers, feeling the power hum beneath my skin, waiting to be unleashed. "Stronger today." My voice stayed quiet, because there were other people around and I didn't want anyone overhearing. "I don't know why, but it feels like it's settling into me, becoming part of me. I think the more I train, the mor

CHAPTER nine meet the other women Morning sun streamed through the tall windows of the dining hall, casting golden patterns across the polished marble floor. I stood in the doorway for a moment, my heart pounding. The other selected women were already seated around a long, ornate table, their voices filling the air with laughter. I felt like an intruder. I took a breath and reminded myself I had every right to be here. I was chosen just like them.I walked in, my footsteps quiet on the marble, and took a seat at the far end of the table, away from the others. I folded my hands in my lap and kept my eyes down, trying to make myself small. But I felt their eyes on me, their judgment pressing down like a physical weight.Anya sat at the head of the table, her posture perfect, her smile sharp. She looked at me with a coldness that made my blood run cold."Well, well, well," she said, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Look who finally decided to join us. The little nobody who thinks sh

CHAPTER eight Morning light filtered through the heavy curtains, casting long shadows across the bedroom floor. I stood beside Ethan's bed again, the basin of warm water and the soft cloth in my hands. I had been here for several days now, and each day blended into the next: feeding, cleaning, watching, caring for a man who could not care for himself, pretending everything was normal when nothing about this place felt normal at all.I dipped the cloth into the warm water and wrung it out, then began wiping down his chest, my eyes fixed on the steady rise and fall of his breathing. My mind wandered to the voices I had heard yesterday. The man in the expensive suit, the file under his arm, the way he had walked past me without a second glance. The cameras. The one that remained active while the others were supposedly removed. Ethan's body, too fit, too healthy for a man who had been in a coma for months.And the truth I was beginning to suspect, the one I was too afraid to say out loud.

CHAPTER SEVEN I stepped out of the bathroom, my face still damp from the cold water. Exhaustion pressed down on my shoulders like a weight I could not shake. The room was quiet, just the soft hum of the medical equipment beside Ethan's bed. I glanced at the cameras in the corners. Their dark lenses stared back like unblinking eyes. I could not sleep here. Not with every breath being watched, every movement recorded.I walked to the door and pulled it open. My hand trembled slightly. One of the bodyguards stood in the hallway, a massive man with a blank expression. His eyes seemed to see everything and nothing at once. He looked at me without speaking, waiting."Excuse me," I said, my voice softer than I intended. "I need to talk about my living arrangements. I cannot stay in that room. There are cameras everywhere. I have no privacy."He stared at me for a long moment. Then he shook his head slowly. "That is not possible," he said, flat. "You have been assigned to the heir's quarters

CHAPTER SIX : Camera I stood beside Ethan's bed, my eyes fixed on his body, and I could not stop the questions swirling through my mind like leaves caught in a storm. He was rumored to be bedridden, a man who had been lying in this bed for months without moving or speaking, without any sign of life beyond the steady rise and fall of his chest. So why did he look so fit? Why did his body look like it belonged to a man who trained every day, who took care of himself in ways a comatose patient should not be able to?I leaned closer, studying the definition in his arms, the way his muscles seemed to ripple beneath his skin even in stillness. Could it be his diet? I wondered. Could the family be feeding him something that kept his body like this? Or was it the medication, doing something no one had told me about?I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion. It did not matter why he looked the way he did. He was not moving. He was not waking up. He was just lying there, and I had a job

CHAPTER FIVE : First DayThe bodyguards escorted me through the winding hallways of the Volkov estate. My feet ached from a tour that had gone on for hours, each corridor blending into the next until I lost track of where I was. Everywhere I looked, paintings of stern-faced ancestors stared down at me like they were judging me.The instructions had been endless. When Ethan took his medication, I was to administer it at precisely the right time. His meals had to follow strict dietary guidelines set by the family physician. Whatever he needed, I was to anticipate it, even though he could not ask. The weight of it pressed down on me.The bodyguards stopped at a heavy oak door and pushed it open. I stepped inside. The room was dim and quiet, and there, on a bed with crisp white sheets, was a man.He was handsome, sharp-featured, dark hair falling across his forehead. He looked like he was sleeping. If I had not known better, I would have thought he might wake up any moment and ask what I

CHAPTER FOUR : the heir's caretaker The next candidate stepped forward, and I felt my breath catch in my throat because she was absolutely stunning, with wide hips that seemed made for bearing children. Her name was Anya. She carried herself with the confidence of someone who had never known what it felt like to be unwanted, and she smiled at Mrs. Volkov like she had already won, like this selection was just a formality and she was the obvious choice. She spoke about her family's wealth and her own accomplishments, and I watched the other candidates nod and whisper among themselves, acknowledging her as a serious contender. I stood there, waiting for my turn, and wondered if I had been forgotten. The candidates kept coming forward, one after another, each more impressive than the last, and I started to feel a flicker of hope that maybe they had overlooked me, that maybe I could slip away unnoticed. I shuffled my feet and glanced toward the exit, calculating the distance, wondering i