Bitterblack Isle Novels & Stories

said the Lord. "My birds tell me that the Dornish are planning rebuilding No Mans Land as their own" she said. "So then minotaurs are really gone?" Nia asked. "Yes" said Amanda, "Its a big piece of Land, could be useful to us" "You think?" Isiah smiled. "You're oddly interested about that place" "Alittle" Amanda shrugged her shoulders. A black bird found them in the back yard and Isiah held out his arm then it grabbed hold. Isiah found a letter attached to its leg then read it.

The previously bare walls now displayed photos of Alan and Leilani together. Leilani wore a flimsy camisole nightgown, her expression coy. Her chest was barely covered, and Alan's hand rested on it. Seeing me, she directed me to place the dish on the nightstand. Just as I was about to leave, she called out to me, "Summer, this stew is too salty. The baby is still small and can't handle this much salt. Make me another one!"

The two held hands as they sliced into the three-tier fondant cake, which was decorated with hearts and letters of love. Callum popped open a bottle of champagne and sprayed it into the air. Aidan shielded Isabella from the spray, his hand resting on her waist. It was a picture of love. As things settled, Isabella sat center stage. Aidan's friends showered her with gifts. In contrast, I'd never been accepted by his circle. He never brought me to events, claiming that I was too pretty and that he didn't want his friends to hit on me. Now I knew he was just ashamed of me. Turning around, he paraded Isabella proudly, some even calling her Mrs. Black. Their attitudes reflected how he saw me.

BITTER LOVE Book One in the Dawson Family Series Copyright 2021 Emily Goodwin Chapter One Josie Fifteen years ago… A tear rolls down my cheek, but I don’t bother to wipe it away. Another will just take its place in only seconds anyway. I look at the paper in my hand: the corner of it crinkled from being gripped so hard. A voice in the back of my mind tells me I shouldn’t have done that, that I should have been more careful.

"Is that all he is to you? A way to keep your chair at the head of the table?" ​Julian’s gaze lingered on Leo for a long, silent moment. "He is a Vane," he said quietly. "And a Vane survives. That is the first lesson he needs to learn." ​Blackwood Island ​The island was a jagged shard of rock and pine needles rising out of the grey Atlantic. The "estate" was a sprawling, modern masterpiece of glass and cedar that seemed to grow directly out of the cliffs. It was beautiful, isolated, and utterly lonely.

"Chimera, visual enhancement! And stop commenting on my flying skills, or I will replace your operating system with a playlist of polka music!" “Scanning... Island located. 3 miles ahead. Visibility: Zero percent. Suggest holding onto your lunch, as you will likely lose it.” A shape loomed out of the grey mist. It was jagged, sharp, and terrifying. The Black Tower. It wasn't a castle. It wasn't a fortress. It was a single, narrow cylinder of obsidian, rising straight up out of the crashing waves like a termite mound made of solidified depression. There were no windows, no arrowslits. Just a single, flat roof with a heavy steel hatch that looked like it hadn't been opened since the stone age.

Black Hawk had said her mother hadn’t been mistreated, but Caitlin still had no idea what condition she might be in now. From Sanctis Harbor, they boarded a ferry. The ocean stretched endlessly around them, waves rising and falling beneath the keel. White gulls wheeled overhead, their cries carried away by the wind. Clouds gathered in soft, cotton-like clusters across the horizon, and the view was breathtaking. Caitlin, Sebastian, and James stood at the bow, the wind whipping through their hair as the silhouette of a dark island emerged in the distance. “There it is. Ebonreach Isle.”

Symon said, "Damn it. Could it be that weird formation vanished on its own?" The three of them rode on a small boat toward the eighth island. The islands spread out like a chain, and the eighth island was the main island, Kook Island. Symon said angrily on the boat, "That damn formation better not vanish because its source was depleted. Otherwise, it would be such a joke. I can't believe we, as Black Bishops, came to the middle of nowhere to find a special formation and the Light Helmet. The intel better be accurate, or I'll shred the informant to pieces!"

The words settled into the room like smoke. The same night Isabella disappeared. Aria stared at Ethan, trying to process the timeline twisting together around her. The fire. The disappearance. The hidden document. None of it felt accidental anymore. “What exactly was Blackwater House?” she asked quietly. Ethan’s expression remained tense. “Victor’s private estate outside the city. Very isolated. He used it for family retreats years ago.” Celeste gave a faint, humorless smile.

Unknown sender. I open it. A photo. High-resolution. Time-stamped five minutes ago. Morrison Estate. Southern Plateau. A freshly dug trench cuts through the snow and frozen earth. Deep. Wide. In the shape of a cross. The caption reads: FOUND YOUR FOUNDATION, ISLA. IT'S DEEPER THAN YOU THINK. My blood goes cold. Someone is already on the island. Already breaking ground. The Black Swan hasn't just been watching the migration. He's been preparing for it.