The Hungry Fox: A Fable Told In Rhyme

The lone survivor of a terrible tragedy, sixteen-year-old Ashling Shields is living like she’s already dead. But when a chance encounter with an irresistibly wicked teen rock star goes awry, she’s pulled into a world of fallen angels and seductive vampires. A world of dark pleasures, enchantments and secrets deep in the midnight forest. Ashling must unravel the mystery of her past before the dark force hunting her catches up. It's a second chance to follow her dreams... if her nightmares don't kill her first.

My father died of esophageal cancer. For the final two years of his life, he could barely swallow anything. By the time he passed, he was nothing but skin and bones. The first New Year after his death, he came to my mother in a dream. "I'm starving," he said. "I just want to taste the thick-cut steak you used to make." My mother believed it without question. That very day, she pan-seared a large platter of steak and carried it to his grave. The next morning, she suffered a sudden heart attack and died on the spot. Devastated, I handled my mother's funeral together with my husband. That same night, my husband dreamed of my father as well. "Chester," he said, "I haven't eaten in so long. I want your pâté, served with some strong liquor." When my husband woke up, he bought the finest liver pâté, opened a bottle of single-malt whiskey, and went straight to the grave. However, not long after returning home, he collapsed from acute liver failure. He was rushed to the ICU and died three days later. I was on the brink of collapse myself. I left my daughter in the care of a close friend while I tried to handle the endless wave of tragedy. That evening, my daughter never came home from school. I searched everywhere, and finally, on the road to the cemetery, I found her. She was clutching a bowl of spicy stew, several grilled sausages floating in the broth. "Mom," she said, "Grandpa and I used to eat this all the time. I dreamed he said he was hungry." I finally lost it. I knocked the bowl from her hands and carried her home. That night, my father appeared in my dream once more. "I suffered so much while alive," he said. "Have some pity on me. "New Year's is coming. I want to come home for a meal. Make sure you cook fish." I woke in terror. Holding my daughter, I sat before the three framed portraits for two full days without eating or drinking. On New Year's morning, I realized she was no longer breathing. Clutched tightly in her hand was a packet of spicy dried salmon. I could not believe it. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my mother, her eyes red with worry, said she was going out to buy steak.

Sixteen-year-old Ashling Shields has had her whole life turned upside down for the second time in two years. As a freshman she was the sole survivor of a harrowing disaster. Now, in the summer before junior year, her life is once again spiralling out of control. The deadly force hunting her draws closer every day, and being entangled in the affairs of a world famous rock band doesn’t make life any easier - especially when there’s good reason to believe the band members are literally angels and demons. She’ll have to take control of her own destiny - before her destiny takes control of her. Don’t miss this riveting new instalment in the Fable Saga.

Two year ago, I was betrayed by the love of my life and I took the briefcase of money, a small consolation to his broken promise, offered to start a new life of my own. I restarted my life in a new city and I became a highly sought out private investigator in a successful company I co-founded. My painful past slams back into me with a way too tantalizing offer that can’t be refused and now I'm forced back to face the werewolf that threw me out of his life like a bag of trash to collect evidence to help solve a case close to his heart. Is it even possible to do my job without falling back in love with him and making the same mistake again? Or am I just a lost cause?

On August 23, the Metropolitan Police entered a well-appointed flat at 36 Suffolk Street, in the heart of London. In the flat, they found an ensuite bathroom; in the bathtub, they found a padlocked bag, and in the bag, they found the body of Tina Davis Tina, a brilliant mathematician, worked in Cheltenham for GQHC, Britain's domestic eavesdropping agency. She lived in London on secondment to MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, and the block of flats where they found her body is an MI6 "safe house reportedly". Uninterested in potential national-security angles, the police immediately announced they were looking for clues to Tina's mysterious death in the details of her private life. But they didn't make much headway. A month after discovering her body, they still hadn't determined the cause of death, although they had admitted the case was "complex" and "unexplained." It seemed like a job for Quintus Noone Fortunately, he happened to be available.

After the plane crash, my body was never recovered. My soul drifted back to the home I hadn't stepped foot in for five years. They didn't know I was dead. They were still waiting for me to come home for Christmas. When my mom got the call from the airline, she froze for a long time, completely at a loss, before breaking down in tears. I followed them as they went to the memorial crash site. That was when I noticed something strange—I could see their levels of regret hovering above their heads. My brother's regret level read: 40%. My father's showed: 60%. Even my sister-in-law had 30% over her head. But my mother's regret level? It flashed a cold, unchanging 0%.