Notebook Screen Flickering

Our entire class gets dragged into The Tyrant's Atonement game. The only way to escape alive is to reach a 100% atonement score. The system lets us choose our roles. The class belle, Isolde Adler, picks the tyrant's first love. Her atonement score shoots straight to 99% on the first day. The class president, Asher Brooks, chooses to be a loyal chancellor. His atonement score jumps to 80%. Spectators watching the game flood the screen with comments. "This new batch is smart and way better at picking roles than the last. They might just clear the game in three days." "Even if just one person hits 100%, the whole class goes free. I'm looking forward to seeing who finishes first." "My money's on the first love. She's already at 99%." Just as everyone starts celebrating, the next morning hits us with bad news. All 20 classmates who picked their roles are dead, and Isolde suffers the cruelest fate of all.

"I'm not scared I'm just shocked." I tried to reassure him. He stared at me, studying me. Trying to see if there were any lies hanging in my words. He must've not expected this kind of reaction out of me. "Come closer then," he suddenly asked. "W-what? Why?" "If you say that you're not scared you shouldn't have any trouble with approaching me." I looked at him suspiciously. Was this a trap? Would he completely devour me? I didn't have any problem with approaching him but I never know what kind of actions he might do. "You're not gonna eat me alive aren't you?" He chuckled a little bit showing me that damn sexy smirk again. "Come and find out." Amaya Wilson is a twenty-five-year-old librarian. Her life will forever change when she meets an old book laying on her bed. She will soon learn that her destiny is to be the chosen one and to protect the small notebook in order to take the power it holds for herself before the wrong hands take possession of it instead. Damon Cullen is a fallen vampire whose destiny is to be the protector of the sacred book. He's gone through generations of chosen ones without breaking his facade. However, what happens when it's Amaya's turn to be the chosen one. Will he let his feeling get the best of him or will he keep his professional facade?

My parents, the wealthiest couple in the country, were famous philanthropists. I had to ask them for permission if I wanted to spend more than five bucks. The day I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I asked them for 100 dollars, but instead of helping, they yelled at me for three hours. "What kind of disease could you get at your age? If you're going to ask for money, at least come up with a better excuse." "Do you know that 100 dollars could support children in poverty-stricken areas for a long time? Your sister is more sensible than you." I dragged my sick body for miles, back to the small basement I called home. But as I passed the mall, I saw my parents, live on a huge screen, spending a fortune to rent out Disneyland for my sister. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. A hundred dollars wouldn't even cover one round of chemotherapy. I just wanted to buy a new outfit and leave with some dignity.

Three years into our marriage, Rylan Shaw brings another woman home. "Maeve, you should learn from the younger ladies. Stop acting like a block of wood all the time." With a calm resolve, I shatter our wedding photo and hand him the divorce papers I've long prepared. "Let's get divorced, Rylan. I'll step aside for her," I declare. His friends insist that without him, I'll starve on the streets. Rylan believes the same. "Once she's suffered enough out there, she'll realize how lucky she was to be Mrs. Shaw." But a week passes, then a month—and I never return. That's when Rylan begins to grow uneasy. Panic and restless nights consume him. One evening, drunk and desperate, he pounds on the door of my new apartment. "Maeve, if it's money you want, I'll give it all to you…" The door swings open to reveal an unfamiliar man—bare-chested, pajama pants hanging low, fresh scratches streaking his abdomen. Jonah Archer arches a brow, dissatisfaction flickering in his eyes as he asks, "Mr. Shaw, what madness brings you to my wife's door in the middle of the night?"

My husband’s family has a tradition of couples living apart together, and he can't publicly acknowledge our relationship until a son is born. He forces me to respect his family's traditions and tells me to raise our daughter alone. Six years after we got married, Andrew Sonovan inherits everything his late brother left behind, including his widow, Kasey Jordan. To satisfy his family's demands for him to carry on both lines, he sleeps with Kasey time and time again. Then, he holds me in his arms. "I can have a proper wedding with you once Kasey gets pregnant and carries on my brother's line. Hold on for a bit longer…" However, all I get is the news of him marrying Kasey. "Marry me, Kasey! I'll make you the happiest woman in the world!" I watch as Andrew gets on one knee in the glow of the flickering candlelight. He looks at Kasey lovingly as he proposes. Meanwhile, she rubs her baby bump, looking blissful. My daughter and I stand outside the room and witness their happiness. It's only then do I understand that I'm the only one who's been in the dark for the past six years.

Madison is a woman on the verge of destruction. She's nearing her 22nd birthday and still hasn't been sealed. If she doesn't find a partner to be her first physical meal, she risks going full demon and harming innocent people. She hoped to wait for one of her two mates to appear, but time is growing short. With guidance from an old notebook her sister kept, Madison heads to a dive bar and finds a perfect first meal, a man like no other. A king to her queen. Duncan "Ford" Stanford, the werewolf king ***************************************************************************************** Ford kissed my neck down to the curve where it met my shoulder, then started licking and nibbling. I moaned and moved my head to give him better access. It felt so good. His right arm gripped me tightly against him as the nibbling became firmer little bites. Every nerve in my body thrilled at the little shocks of pain that were then soothed away by his tongue. Suddenly, I realized what was happening. He was thinking of marking me. Even though I didn't really want to make him stop, I had to. At the next hard nibble, I squeaked. “That hurt! Don't bite so hard, Ford!” I scolded. “Sorry, baby. I got carried away. You just taste so good.” He said, moving away. The loss of his body on mine was difficult, but I couldn't let myself be marked by a werewolf. ******************************************************************************************* First of three books: The Demon Queen's Desire, The Demon Queen's Duty, The Demon Queen's Destiny

"You keep saying he died of black magic, but you're not telling me exactly how he died. If what you're saying is true... what happened to him??" I ask her with a raise of my brows. "The magic consumed him. He became power hungry. He started absorbing the powers from members of our coven. He wanted it all for himself. He had to be put down. He had to be stopped" She explains "Mom, what are you saying? Are you insinuating what I think you are? What do you mean he had to be put down??" The windows to her room bang open and cool breeze is rushing in, making the papers in her room fly haphazardly. "Layla, you have to calm down." She motions towards me. "So the coven killed him?? They killed my father and you didn't do anything about it????" I scream at the top of my lungs, the lights still flickering, tears pooling in my eyes and wind blowing in through the windows. "He killed two people from our coven! His eyes were completely black! The magic had completely taken over him. Your dad wasn't there anymore. So yes, we killed him to protect the rest of the coven…"

On the day Zachary Lake stands at the pinnacle of global technology, accepting his award, I'm lying in a hospital bed, abandoned by doctors because I can't afford treatment for kidney failure. On TV, the host asks him to call the person he's most grateful for. Without hesitation, he dials my number. "Shannon, do you regret leaving me?" he asks. I clutch the astronomical medical bill in my hand, the paper crumpling beneath my fingers. Forcing a light tone, I reply, "Can you take me on as your kept woman now that you're a big deal?" On screen, his face remains expressionless as he hangs up without a word. Then, his cold voice pierces through the broadcast. "Now, I have nothing to feel grateful for." But what he doesn't know is that when he was on the brink of death years ago, I was the one who gave him my kidney.

Gideon Hart, a man known for keeping every woman at arm's length, gets drugged and wakes up in a hotel with me lying beside him. Afterward, he comes to me and offers ten million as compensation. When I remain silent, my best friend, Lena Quimby, jumps in like she's been waiting for her cue. She snaps that money can't buy everything, trying to reject the offer on my behalf. Before I can say a word, comments start flashing before me like a live stream chat. "Here we go! The male lead, the female lead, and the side character are all on screen together!" "Lena's so classy. Way better than that gold-digger Evelyn." "Watch Evelyn reject the money and still get clowned!" "Who wouldn't pick the sweet, innocent heroine?" Glancing at Lena's flushed cheeks and the way her eyes stick to Gideon, I almost let out a cold laugh. Then, I turn to the man in front of me and hold up my Venmo QR code. "Sure. Wire it!"

Jason Trujilo employs Cara Thompson as a worker in his exclusive club in order to pay back the money her father owed. Once she paid off the debt, Jason tells Cara that she is free to go. Six months later, Cara is doing well for herself, until Jason comes crashing back into her life, demanding that she leave with him. Cara refuses to leave her new life, and Jason is hell bent on having Cara under his control. So how will this story end? ------------------------------------------------- SNEAK PEEK: Thirty minutes prior to lunchtime, Cara knocked on Jason's office, and after given permission, she entered the office with a stapled packet. Jason looked at Cara swiftly before focusing back on the blank screen of his laptop. She sat on one of the chairs, and stared at him from behind her glasses, waiting to be acknowledged. A princess she was, but Jason didn't care to be her knight in shining armor. No. He would rather be the villain who trapped her in a tower and punished her for being so innocent and yet spoiled and self-centered and confident.