Hollow Zzz

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My boyfriend and I had been together for eight years. We were already discussing marriage when Robbie suddenly asked me to wait a little longer. He said he needed to hold a grand wedding with his first love before he could marry me. Because, as he explained, for his first love—who struggled with anxiety—marriage was her greatest wish in life. He couldn't bear to see her spiral into self-harm under the weight of her illness, so with tears in his eyes, he promised to give her a home. Stunned, I asked what would happen to me. Instead of answering, he snapped impatiently, "Can't you show some empathy? It's just a year or two more. Are you really that desperate to get married? "And another thing… lend me your ring. Let Lucy wear it for now. You won't be needing it anytime soon." I stared at the man before me, someone both familiar and suddenly a stranger, and felt only a cold, hollow ache in my chest. But at last, I saw his true face behind the mask. Later, I chose to attend their wedding. I brought with me a very special blessing.

“This isn’t right…” I whispered. But my stepbrothers grabbed me anyway, their warm hands roaming my body. “You belong to us,” Sylver said darkly. “You’re our pet. Our sub. And that won’t ever change.” ————- My mother and I have been running for three years—from Eryndor Blackshade, the vampire cult leader obsessed with owning me. Just when he finds us again, my mother makes a desperate move: she marries King Reid Thornevale, the most powerful Lycan in the Blood Hollow Pack. But Reid comes with a dangerous secret—triplet hybrid sons, born of vampire and werewolf blood. They’re ruthless, cursed… and now, my stepbrothers. From the moment Sylver, Cassian, and Rylan Thornevale lay eyes on me, something ancient stirs—twisted, forbidden, and hungry. A fire that scorches morality and melts all reason. Our connection isn’t just wrong. It’s deadly. Because the Thornevale bloodline is cursed—descendants of Elder Varek, the first vampire–werewolf hybrid, sealed away centuries ago. The curse awakens under every Red Moon, turning them into monsters driven by bloodlust and desire. Now I’m caught in the middle. Between a cult that wants to sacrifice me… And stepbrothers who want to claim me. And I don’t know which fate will destroy me first.

Love's Hollow, New York is where magic happens. Under the influence of the evil witch, This small town seems like a good place to find a solution. Werewolves and various magical creatures live here. I didn't know such a beauty existed. Until two werewolves caught my eye at a local bar.These Alphas are muscular and dominant. But they are also territorial and possessive. And everyone wants to be their soulmate. They don't know I'm in love And breaking the curse comes at a cost. The only option is to put it up for auction. Where rich werewolves buy virgins like me. I don't want to go home with anyone. But it turns out that my two of my up-and-coming boyfriends aren't just cool. One of them is a werewolf and one is a vampire. I met the vampires after being attacked by a vampiric wolf. He thought it was okay to bite me so he left his mark on my neck. But I didn't want it or the vamps. And because of me being a virgin, they can't take advantage of me. So now that there are two Alphas who are interested in me, the other Alpha, the vampire, doesn't stand a chance. But it's not like I've ever wanted any more than him.

What would you do when fate binds you to two mates—one who shattered your heart, and the other who's being shattered every day? Alpha Aira Stone—fiery, fearless, and one of the mischievous Stone sextuplets—is no stranger to chaos. But nothing prepares her for the moment her world begins to unravel. The boy she’s loved her entire life—her brother’s Beta, her secret childhood crush—walks away to chase his dreams, leaving her behind with nothing but a hollow “I’m sorry” and a heart full of scars. His silence was rejection. His absence, betrayal. And Aira? She doesn’t forgive easily. But when the Moon Goddess finally reveals her fated mates, the joke is crueler than she could have imagined—because one of them is him. The Beta. The wimp. The one who turned his back on her. And the other? A mysterious transgender demon—shackled by torment, enduring daily abuse at the hands of a monstrous werewolf pack in a distant, brutal land. A soul tethered to hers by pain, fate, and an ache she can’t ignore. Now, with her pride in pieces and her heart pulled in two, Aira must confront what it means to lead, to love—and to choose. Because some bonds are blessed. Others are broken. And some... are born in chaos.

Dr. Hope Stevens has spent her life rooted in logic, medicine, and control. An orphan and accomplished trauma surgeon in the quiet mountain town of Black Hollow, she's devoted herself to saving lives—never expecting hers would be the one in danger. When Hope is kidnapped and taken to a hidden camp deep in the forest, she’s faced with an impossible truth: werewolves are real. And not only is she the fated mate of Malakar, a fierce and powerful alpha fighting to protect his pack, but her arrival may change the course of an ancient war. Thrust into a world she never believed existed, Hope carves out a new identity among the wolves—finding purpose, belonging, and love. But just as she begins to feel like part of something greater, devastating secrets from her past come to light. A lost prophecy. A family legacy steeped in blood. And a shocking truth: Hope isn’t just the daughter of a hunter. She’s also the child of a wolf. As war brews between werewolves and hunters, Hope stands at the center of it all—a bridge between two worlds fated to destroy one another. But when the ultimate tragedy strikes, awakening a power long buried, Hope must embrace every part of who she is… or lose everything. Legacy or love. Blood or pack. Can one woman rewrite destiny?

Raina Wycliffe pensait que les monstres du folklore local n'étaient que des histoires, jusqu'à ce qu'elle découvre le corps. Déchiqueté. Vidé de son sang. Désormais, les vampires arpentent à nouveau les rues de Windshade Hollow, et l'un d'eux semble la connaître. Il est rapide, terrifiant et étrangement familier. Mais lorsqu'il goûte à son sang et recule de douleur, Raina réalise qu'elle pourrait être tout autre chose — une créature que même les morts-vivants redoutent. Alors que de plus en plus de notables sont retrouvés morts et que sa ville s'enfonce dans les ténèbres, Raina se retrouve traquée par des créatures qui ne devraient pas exister, protégée par un vampire qui ne se fait pas confiance en sa présence, et hantée par un passé dont elle ne se souvient pas. Quoi qu'elle soit, c'est en train de s'éveiller. Et c'est affamé.

I fell for Don Lorenzo Moretti the second I saw him. Hard. As a mafia princess, I wasn't supposed to chase anyone. But for him, I swallowed my pride and made him my mission. A year later, he finally had me, pinning me to the bed as he moved inside me. His eyes were pure fire, and in that mo ment, they saw only me. For ten years, we were electric. We fucked in five-star hotels all over the world. We just fit. I was his lucky charm at the poker table. I took shots for him until I bled from my stomach. I even took a bullet for him. Then came our engagement party. Lorenzo left me standing there alone. Said something "came up." I went back to our apartment, only to find him kissing my stepsister, Juliana. That’s when I knew. He had always loved her. I was just a stand-in. He tried to explain, words tumbling out in a panicked rush, promising a bigger, better party to make up for it. A laugh, cold and hollow, died in my throat. I turned my back on him, pulled out my phone, and called my mother in Sicily. "I'll marry into the Romano family."

My cousin stole my fiancé's suppressant on the night of the full moon — just to test how much he loved her. Then she locked me in a room with him while he was out of his mind with pain. Watching Adrian writhe in agony, I wrapped my trembling arms around him and let him mark me. My cousin was devastated. She married the brutal Alpha of the neighboring pack in a fit of spite. When Adrian found out I was pregnant, he had no choice but to make me his Luna. But in five years of marriage, he never once came to see me or our son. After rogues kidnapped us, I thought he'd finally let us go. Instead, he shifted and fought to bring us back — only to die alongside those rogue wolves. I held his bloodied body and watched the light drain from his eyes. With his last breath, he gripped my hand: "Stop saving me! I regret everything… I never needed you to save me…" My heart shattered. Cold wind tore through the hollow in my chest until I couldn't stop shaking, and the world went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that full moon night — five years in the past.