24 Hearts Novels & Stories

He’s chewing thought. I swallow my nerves with a mouthful of lukewarm beer and keep my voice steady in my head. Okay. Two hearts on the table. My seven of hearts is live. My jack of clubs is just… there. The ten and queen could connect to something if more cards come. A jack would give me a pair. A nine would make a straight possibility with ten, jack, queen. I don’t know if that matters yet, but I can see the shape of it, faint outlines in the chaos.

Subhadra heard and knew the name Mahendra Varma from somewhere, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She'd been scratching her head from the past two days, wondering, wondering, where had she heard that name? She opened her I*******m account which was entirely dedicated to her poetry and she clicked on the heart button.

Clearly visible, even with the skin around it an angry pink, was a red and black Celtic knot in the shape of a heart. She kissed the air a millimeter above the heart. "I love it." In one more drink, she drained her glass then climbed onto the bed, which someone had thoughtfully turned down. "Now for you to see." She spread her knees with her hands, giving him a view of the split crotch of her dinky panties. Peeking out of her neat little strip of curls was the ruby heart dangle. He couldn't resist bending in and tickling it with his tongue then pulled back. "Sorry. It probably hurts, doesn't it?"

There’s such a sad love Deep in your eyes a kind of pale jewel Open and closed within your eyes I’ll place the sky Within your eyes There’s such a fooled heart Beatin’ so fast In search of new dreams A love that will last Within your heart I’ll place the moon Within your heart As the pain sweeps through Makes no sense for you Every thrill is gone Wasn’t too much fun at all But I’ll be there for you When the world falls down Falling Falling down Falling in love I’ll paint you mornings of gold

"You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be; doing bad things, bad deeds, doesn't mean your attitude is so bad." He leaned on the steering wheel with his arms crossed and kept looking at me. I wanted to touch his bicep and see if it was as hard as it looked, and for some reason, I found myself tracing with my fingers the lines that drew a small statue of liberty. "What are you basing that on?" his bicep tensed when I moved to a tattoo closer to the sleeve of his shirt: a deck of cards "You don't know anything about me."

His heart, a flourishing garden, intricately woven with threads of dreams turned into reality, pulsated with an unparalleled intensity. In this magical moment, his heart orchestrated a symphony, ringing bells that echoed the harmonious melody of their connection. The beats of his heart danced between the gentle notes of a slow ballad and the rapid tempo of an enraptured sonnet. His cheeks mirrored the hues of a twilight sky, blushing with the warmth of love, and his countenance radiated a glow reminiscent of a fully bloomed rose.

CHAPTER ONE Two sleek black sports cars pulled up in front of Pizzeria Da Laura. Two guards swiftly exited the first car, with one opening the door for a young, handsome man dressed in a black suit. His expression was unreadable, and he seems to be emitting a powerful aura. The man is none other than Richard Roberts, the third offspring of the third wealthiest clan in California. A charming, fair lady emerged from the other side of the car and rushed towards him, intertwining her hands with his and giving him a peck.

I stopped beneath the largest tree and pressed both hands over my stomach, the bark cool against my back, dawn light barely starting to touch the highest branches. “I’m all you have now,” I whispered. Four small pulses answered beneath my palms, unmistakable, real, each one distinct from the others like four separate hearts learning to beat at once. I sank onto the grass and finally broke … not from grief, though grief was tangled somewhere in it, twisted up with fear and fury and something achingly tender all at once. I cried because I had just discovered I already loved them completely, four heartbeats I’d known about for less than an hour, already more mine than anything else in this enti

Not 177 days. 24 hours until two hundred enhanced children were activated simultaneously. 24 hours until the world changed forever. 24 hours to save them all. Or lose everything.

Then he stood, crossed to her, and framed her face in his hands. "If anything happens to you—" "Nothing's going to happen. I'll be behind glass. He'll be in cuffs. The worst he can do is say no." "The worst he can do is much worse than say no." Mira covered his hands with hers. "I know. But I'm not afraid of him anymore." Kieran kissed her—hard and desperate and full of fear. "Forty-eight hours," he said. "Then we do this my way." Mira nodded. Forty-eight hours. She hoped it would be enough. ---