Knockemout Series Novels & Stories

Then came the knock. I opened the door to find Andrew. Soaked. Holding take-out and a portable charger like offerings to a goddess he wasn’t sure still prayed. “You followed me,” I said. He shrugged. “Checked the emergency contact list in HR. And your doorman likes me.” I let him in. He set the food on the table, then lit a candle with a practiced flick. “We used to do blackout drills,” he said. “Remember? Middle school science fair.” “You cheated,” I muttered. “Brought a hand-cranked generator.”

He smiled, and I walked over to Slasher. I kicked him in the butt, and he turned around pissed. I smiled, and he lightened up before throwing his arm on my shoulders. "Took you long enough to get down here." I hit his arm playfully. "Hey, you're the one that sucks at giving directions." He just ruffed up my hair and turned back to the guys. "You all remember Cobra right? Cobra, this is Hash, Flame, Blade, and Twist." I held back laughter at their names. I mean, mine isn't much better but still.

Chuck pounded on the window, yelling, "Please! Let me explain!" The engine roared. He slipped and hit the pavement. In the mirror, I saw Ella run to help—only for him to shove her off. "Get off me! Don't touch me."

But the Mer King countered instantly, his own trident unleashing a blast of power that collided mid-current. The ocean shook as the bolts met in a burst of energy, the collision tearing through the water with a deafening boom. The shockwave blasted outward, sending the Mer King skidding back, tumbling over himself, scales torn from the blast, while Kairos was flung backward, the force sending him tumbling through the dark water. He crashed hard, limbs tangled, the trident slipping from his grip as he slammed against the rocky bed. Disoriented, his vision swam, his ears ringing as he scrambled to get up, nothing but darkness in front of him now.

He was wearing his grim reaper cloack and a formal attire underneath. Shane's ears burned bright red while staring at Mara's mismatched eyes. He secretly pinched himself. "Knock! Knock!" He said and Mara chuckled. "Who's there?" She said. She knows about this modern joke. Shane's face burned brighter. He didn't mean it as a joke. He flicked Mara's forehead and then leaned closer to her. "It's Death, on your doorstep," He said and then planted a kiss on her forehead. "It's Death, on your doorstep, who?" Mara asked.

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:345c954b-cbcd-4080-b1e5-93aa7f2b4038-5" data-testid="conversation-turn-8" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant"> Knock.

I knocked on the driver's side, and the window rolled down. Zach sat inside, one hand on the steering wheel. "Do you need something?" he asked. "Get out of the car," I said. He looked at me without moving. "Come out and talk," I said. He gave a short laugh, turned off the engine, and stepped out. He was a little shorter than me but had a solid build, the kind that came from boxing. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked. "The mark on Hazel's face," I replied.

The city visible through the far windows. But something was different this morning. The people at the outer desks were moving faster. Two of them were on phones at the same time, their voices low and clipped. The glass-walled conference room we passed had four people in it instead of three and the documents on the table were spread wider, more urgently, than the last time I had walked past it. Something had happened, something had moved. Claire stopped at the end of the corridor and knocked twice on the large door. "Come in."

After that incident, Nadia never went online to stream again. Word was, Jemima had been hospitalized after collapsing from anger. She was still cursing Elton and Nadia out from the hospital bed. Elton and Bowen scrambled to scrape together money for her medical expenses, but ultimately failed. So, they tried to force Nadia back into streaming to earn money. Nadia was unable to endure the endless stream of insults. She jumped off the roof of the hospital building. She didn't survive. Not long after, Jemima also died of a heart attack.

" Listening to his self-righteous speech, I rubbed my cheek, still numb and throbbing from the slap. Yet inside, I felt calmer than ever before. Maybe it was because things like this had happened far too many times already that I had grown numb to it. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Chelsea Miller, the assistant who had just claimed she would smash her head against the wall to apologize to me. I almost laughed. She moved more slowly than a snail, and her forehead barely even tapped the wall. Forget knocking herself unconscious—she probably couldn't even crack jelly with that force. The act was painfully fake, yet Benjamin believed every second of it. This time, I didn't swallow my