Silent Hours

There are monsters in this world. And they used to be us. Now it's time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. Post-infection Chicago. Christmas. Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred. Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse. It won't be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

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

On the night before Elide is send off by his Queen Mother to leave for Arryn. Her brother Malik, gave her a few hours of freedom to do whatever it is that she likes with her life. Elide wanted to experience what a party between people at her and her brother's age is like. She promised Malik that she won't cause him trouble the reason why he agreed to bring her over in his friend's villa whose hosting a rave party. The two of them part ways in the party and agreed to meet each other again once the party is over. While she's drinking beer for the first time. Elide met a stranger, his presence feels so familiar to her. Elide ends up spending the hottest and most passionate night with the stranger whom she thought she'll never see again—that's what she thought.

The day my adopted sister Xina was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, I was captured by rival pack hunters and taken across pack territories. In a hidden den beneath the mountains, I was chained like an omega during the day and subjected to endless humiliation. At night, they locked me in a moonless chamber and extracted my blood and bone marrow while I was conscious. By the time my pack found me, my body was broken beyond recognition, covered in bite marks, and infected with numerous diseases that even our supernatural healing couldn't combat. My mother, Alpha Serena, looked at me barely clinging to life, and howled so painfully she collapsed several times. My brother Ivan even traveled beyond our ancestral lands to find healers who could treat me. But in my half-conscious state, I accidentally overheard their conversation: "Mother, we captured Lisa just to save Xina, and let her be violated by so many rogues. Now we're taking one of her kidneys too—isn't that going to kill her?" Mother was silent for a long time, then choked up and said: "For Xina, I had no choice." "Besides, Lisa challenged Xina's rank all these years, made her severely depressed. This is just me atoning to Xina on her behalf." "It doesn't matter if she's been tainted. From now on, we'll keep her in the packhouse and take care of her. That'll count as compensation." As the silver blade sliced into my body, tears streamed uncontrollably from my eyes. A den with four wolves... was simply too crowded.

Bata pa lang si Asia ay nais na niyang maging isang mahusay na Doctor ngunit dahil kapos palad ay hindi na niya natuloy ang pag aaral at huminto sa ika dalawang baitang sa highschool. Labing limang taong gulang lamang si Lauren ng maulila sa ina na namatay sa isang aksidente habang papauwi galing trabaho, aside from her father people in their area believe that Asia is a daughter of an Italian man who left her mother after impregnating her. Dahil menor de edad at ulila ay dinala si Asia sa orphanage dahil wala pa siyang kakayahan na buhayin ang sarili. Asia Argento became aloof, the once joyful kid became a silent and mysterious one. Till she decided to escape that orphanage. Binuhay ni Asia ang sarili ng mag isa naging palaboy ng ilang taon till she reach her twenties and work in a bar named Luscious Club Asia thought that her job is just a waitress but she didn't realize her boss is selling pleasure in that place till Loki De Silva paid a price that no one can reach for a night of pleasure. She was a prisoner of that ruthless billionaire and when she get the chance to finally escape she bears in her womb his kid.

Mia has always been in love with Erik. He was her first love. He was and will always be her one great love. But no one knows about that. That was and always been her deepest secret. He was the King of the Night. And she was his Queen. But that only lasted for hours and yet the greatest night of her life. Ten years later they met again. And this time Erik is very much willing to fulfill his promise of marrying her. That was despite the fact that her partner Bernie is coming after her.

On my birthday, Connor Simpson's first love jumped off a building due to depression. She died on the spot. Connor blamed everything on me. I never celebrated my birthday again after she died. After the murderer electrocuted me for more than ten hours, they forced me to call Connor. "Connor, it's my 25th birthday today. Can you come over and spend time with me?" However, Connor did not notice anything unusual. His voice was laced with venomous iciness. "Clarisse Winter, Audrey wouldn't have died if it weren't for you. How dare you ask me to celebrate your birthday? If only you were the one who died." I heard him coaxing a woman on the other end just before he hung up on me. That low and gentle tone was what I loved to hear the most in the past. That night, the murderer cut my body into countless pieces, packed them in bags, and threw them in front of the police station. Connor was summoned back overnight. He spent two days and two nights piecing together the body parts, but he did not realize that the dead person was the wife that he hated the most.

Camilla's entire world shattered when her husband Nick Sinclair abruptly ended their three-year marriage, hurling divorce papers at her. His cruel, harsh words still echoed in her ears... "I'm done with this marriage. Get out of my house!" She always knew their arranged marriage was devoid of love, but she had clung to the possibility that he would one day grow to love her. However, the arrival of his first love, bearing a child she claimed was his, destroyed any lingering hopes and exposed the emptiness of their relationship. Fingers trembling, heart bleeding, she signed the divorce agreement. But the shock overwhelmed her just as she stepped outside Nick's mansion and she collapsed. Hours later, she awakened in the hospital, staring into the icy blue eyes of the stranger who saved her. ... Derek Donovan, New York's heartthrob and wealthiest billionaire CEO, had been searching for a way to deflect the media's attention from his status as a sought-after bachelor. In exchange for saving her life, he proposed a contract to Camilla: pretend to be his wife for three years to keep the press and paparazzi off. With no other options and no one to rely on, Camilla felt compelled to accept the proposal and sign the contract. But as they navigated the path of their fake marriage, the lines blurred. Derek's icy facade cracked, revealing a burning passion for Camilla. As Camilla's heart wavered, a shocking truth emerged: Derek's past hid secrets, and she was now entrenched in a deadly game of wealth, power, and deception. Will she risk everything to love again, or will the shadows of her past and the danger lurking in Derek's world destroy her forever? The contract has been signed, but the real stakes are only just beginning...

Dr. Adrian Foster had once walked away from a life of privilege and prestige—a life filled with influence, elite circles, and constant surveillance. Tired of the suffocating weight of status, he chose a path of quiet simplicity, leaving behind the security details and luxury convoys that followed his every move. He married into the Lane family, hoping for peace. But for three long years, he endured mistreatment, scorn, and humiliation. His wife’s family saw him as nothing more than a burden—slapped, insulted, and misunderstood at every turn. Even Lyra, the woman he loved, betrayed him. Blinded by ambition, she chased after another wealthy man, convinced that Adrian had nothing to offer—that he wasn’t worthy of her or her dreams. But the Adrian they dismissed is not the man he truly is. Now, the time has come for him to reclaim everything he once left behind. No longer hiding, no longer silent—Adrian will rise. And those who mocked him, belittled him, and cast him aside… will soon understand who he really is. They will regret underestimating him. They will witness his return. And they will kneel.

"We need to stop," I panted when he began kissing my neck, even though the last thing I wanted was for him to actually stop. "We should," he agreed, but made no move to put a distance between us. Instead, he snapped his hips forward, making my arms around his neck tighten as waves of pure bliss engulfed me. His hard bulge rubbed over my towel-covered apex, sending more heat to the area. "Again," I whispered, lifting my hips as he ground into me. My mouth parted open, allowing air to enter my burning lungs in gasps. "Like this?" he rasped, pressing his front further onto mine. "Oh ye-s," I stammered, lowering my hands to the hem of my towel to unwrap it, but he placed his hand on mine. I watched him with eyes blinking rapidly, a silent question passing between us. "Are you sure you want to unwrap that towel? Because I'm not sure I will be able to control myself when I see your delectable body." ********* A single signature on a piece of paper, turns Ronika's life upside within the blink of an eye. Her world of twenty years as the alpha's daughter shatters when she learns of her father's betrayal, during an attack by an enemy alpha. Forced into a foreign pack, as a servant to her enemy, alpha Quinlan, Ronika loses her status and the possibility of taking over after her father. There, she struggles with the reality and the growing feelings for the very man who ruined her life. She plans to play along, escape and avenge but does fate allow her? Secrets are uncovered, and the truth behind the agreement leaves Quinlan and Ronika in an unexpected position. Enemies are made, and the two must work together, or risk losing the war.