Twelve By Twelve Book Novels & Stories

The morning sun filtered through the high, arched windows of the library, painting intricate patterns of light across the desk where Elena sat. She was no longer occupied with the crushing scale of blueprints for bridges or the high-stakes drafting of coalition-wide frameworks. Today, the polished surface of the desk held only a single, tactile, leather-bound journal—the *Chronicle of the Midnight Frost*. It was a history she had begun recording not for the Council or for the history books, but for the twins, a narrative record of the "why" that sat behind the "what."

“The Hall has recognized the Twelve Guardians.” ⸻ A deep chime echoed through the chamber. One by one, the twelve locks clicked open. No one had touched them. The case slowly opened by itself. Inside rested twelve leather-bound journals. Each bore a different emblem burned into the cover. A raven. A lion. A sparrow. A crown. And eight more symbols Amelia had never seen before. Lying across the journals was a single folded letter sealed with dark blue wax. The seal had already cracked with age.

The Pen of Endings suddenly flew into Adrian's hand. Unlike before... it no longer felt cold. It felt alive. Then another sentence formed. "Choose before the Twelfth Door opens." The ground split apart. Far beneath the White Tree... a staircase appeared. Not made of stone. Not made of light. It was built from unwritten pages. Every step carried invisible words waiting to exist. The Stranger stared into the abyss. "I have seen ten Doors." "The First Reader has seen eleven." "But no one..." "...has ever crossed the Twelfth."

She continues, “As you have sworn your oath, it is until death. Words spoken in this temple abide with you. They are not to be whispered. Not to be gossiped about. You are being watched…” A shiver runs down my spine. I must say, whoever this lady is, she’s scarier than the witch of any bedtime story I’ve ever heard. “The Twelve. The sacred Twelve…” her voice is a laughter. I am surprised she doesn’t cackle. “Every decade… the morning moon bleeds. Every decade… the Twelve are chosen. And every decade… the Moon Relic cries.” Wait. Hold up. Did I just hear that right? My chest tightens, curiosity instantly activated. Forget fear, my interest is officially piqued.

"Why now?" “Because your fourth paper cites three of the foundational studies that book discusses," she said. "You are ready for the full argument. Not all twelve-year-olds are." “I am twelve," he said. "I know," she said. "That is unusual. The book is not." He held it the way he held things that mattered to him, with both hands and full attention. “Thank you," he said. “Read the annotations," she said. "Some of them are corrections. I was wrong about several things at forty. You may be right about them already."

"A-Alpha! It was Miss Sarah's orders! She said the location and lighting were perfect… she was turning this sanctuary, this place of healing, into her personal vanity room." A vanity room? She turned a place of healing, a sanctuary, into her personal powder room? The veins in my temples throb. It's the sign of my wolf about to break free. Just then, my eyes fall on a trash can in the corner. Next to a pile of rubble, I see a few crumpled white papers. That's… I walk over, my hands shaking, and pick up the wad of paper. I smooth it out. At the top, in bold letters: Decree of Separation.

“I can go check on her to see if she still had it.” “What else did you find? What else did they find in the note?” “That’s where the bad news comes in, its just one of the twelve pieces, it looked like the rest had been torn out of the book,” a frown formed on my face, there was an entire book? “How did you know it was twelve?” “the case of the books was found and from the rings it vould be deduced that they were twelve pieces available. Someone knew they were coming and made sure to get rid of it,”

Finally. She need not pretend any longer. In William’s arms was where she wanted to be. ~The End~ Look for these books in this series: Let's Fall in Love Again (book 2) Let's Create a Wonderland (book 3) Let's be Together (book 4)

She is carrying twin alpha pups and the magical wards she placed on the pups to keep them safe from harm will not last much longer, as Alexi’s blood is p’s bane. In her imagination, I see Alexi crouched in a ball, rocking back and forth. She sees and talks to invisible characters that her mind has conjured up. Alexi apologizes over and over for the deaths of imaginary people. I have never seen Alexi this depressed before. I thought this girl didn't even understand the word depression, and Alexi always bounced right back. She never doubted her strength and potential for greatness. She was a shell of the Alexi I know.

I looked around, and to my surprise, Zed had arranged the things so neatly and orderly, even labeling each box with the complete lists of things inside. I ran my eyes with amazement at how meticulous Zed was. But then my heart sank when I thought about his possible reaction when things go wrong for him. He’s used to doing and planning things in order, and now that his life is turning into a mess, wouldn't he jump over the Marcelo-Fernan bridge? Unexpectedly, my eyes fell on a blue box. My heartbeats bolted like spikes against my ears when I read its label. Crime lab, 2014.