Gallows Born Book Novels & Stories

The garbage sector helped more than anything else in this galaxy, but she was still five months pregnant with three babies, and her body was starting to remind her that she was not made of metal. The idea of changing the book’s ending was still too fresh, but if she could do it, she needed to try. The problem was those women. Sure, Xen was out, but what about Blake and Valerian? She sat there, trying to juggle her memory, wondering if maybe she should have focused more while reading it.

"Astraea, it's still an opportunity. Maybe you should agree." Tears mixed with cold sweat as they slid down my face. I bit my lower lip and tasted blood. With a single, brutal kick, the heavy oak door flew off its hinges. It slammed against the wall, splinters spraying everywhere. A voice thundered through the room—cold, furious, like a clap of lightning, wrapped in an implacable chill. "Who has the nerve to lay a hand on my Swan Queen?!"

I sold the only ring Mom had left me for cash and headed to the abandoned slaughterhouse, just like they'd instructed. The place had been empty for years, its walls smeared with blood and rust, making it look more like a sacrificial altar. The second I walked in, the sharp, iron stench of blood hit me hard. Carly stood there, clutching White Fang. A silver chain dug into his neck, and his paws dangled in the air as he struggled desperately. Yet, she held him tight, like some stolen prize, while he let out weak, whimpering cries. She lifted his chin with her nail and murmured, "Soon, he won't even remember you."

Instead, there were whispers, disappearances, and movements that felt wrong in ways Maverick could not yet articulate. He felt it most acutely when he walked the lower levels of the Delacroix estate. The corridors here were older than the city itself, carved from stone that predated steel and circuitry. These halls had once echoed with unquestioned obedience. Now, the silence pressed in heavier than any shouted dissent. Servants bowed lower. Guards watched longer. Conversations died the moment he entered a room. They were measuring him. Not as a Delacroix heir—but as a liability.

he began, “governance is not theory. It is survival. Those who understand systems control outcomes. Those who don’t become outcomes.” Nyx’s lips twitched. As the lecture unfolded, and models of influence, historic manipulations reframed as progress… Nyx took notes sparingly. She already knew most of this. She’d lived it, just without the polish. Halfway through, Halloway posed a question. “Miss Calder. As our newest variable, perhaps you’ll indulge us. Is authority earned… or inherited?” The room leaned in. Nyx felt Alaric’s attention sharpen beside her, a tension she refused to acknowledge.

When we entered the elevator, I was about to ask which floor we were going to when the bodyguard slammed a stun baton against my head, and I watched as he pressed the button for B3. When I finally realized something was off, it was too late. Felix had specially built B3 to torment people. Before I could figure out why he was bringing me to B3, I had already lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness, I was already tied to an electric chair. The person I first saw after opening my eyes was Nancy. She stood behind Felix with an ingratiating smile, pointing at me as she accused, "It was Spencer who worked with the thieves to steal the 200 billion dollars belonging to you! Those criminals

She let out a broken sob and collapsed straight to the ground. The invitations and the farewell letter slipped from Lucio's hands. It felt as if an invisible grip had closed around his heart. Pain and regret twisted together in his chest. Amid the chaos, he let out a beastlike wail, vomited blood, and finally collapsed unconscious as his men shouted his name in terror.

~Enzo~ Sometimes, you can break a man with instruments of torture. As his bones shatter and blood pools, he’ll eventually give in and do anything you say to stop the pain. I’ve only met one or two who couldn’t. If you let him live afterwards, he’ll never be quite the same, knowing he wasn’t as untouchable as he once thought he was.

He was reluctant but willing to answer. “He’s the eldest son of Giovanni Monticello and as you both know, the next in line to the throne. He’s 20 years old. He was a Made Man at the age of 10. He killed a man at that age. He blasted the guy’s brains off his head. Since then, he has killed over a hundred men. He’s the most feared man in New York Genovese.” From what Fabiano said, I had the thought of escaping tonight and not even thinking of coming back.

"It's not up to you. You've already walked right into my hands." Her eyes narrow. "What do you mean?" I put the coin in the middle of the table, where I've already drawn the necessary symbols in white chalk. "The ghoul is in another dimension, and I need the coin to open the portal to get to him, but I also need a sacrifice in order to do that." Evelina's eyes widen in horror. "A sacrifice? You can't be serious." "I am," I say, my voice cold and calculating. "And you're going to be that sacrifice."