The Dream Crafter (35 page)
Fallon held still for long moments more, until Taneasha was bare inches from screaming, from letting the begging in her head free from her lips. In an abrupt and simultaneous movement, Fallon pulled the sword free from where it was buried while letting go of her shoulder, backing away as Taneasha’s legs gave out from under her.
Crumbling to the floor, Taneasha used the last of her energy to pull her limbs into her, using any momentum to get as far away from that sword as the dimensions of the cell would allow.
Her sword sheathed, Fallon moved backwards, circling the cell again, her gaze moving away from Taneasha. “Fortunately for you, your punishment is not mine to decide. Those above me seem to think there is something in you worth fighting for. I don’t see it myself, but I’ve been overruled.”
Fallon twisted, crouching down so she was level with the girl though this time she didn’t come any closer. “You are going back to school, Taneasha, and at this school, you are going to be taught to harness your gifts. And if you fuck up again, your death will be immediate, and there are
no
other chances.”
“If I-don’t…want to?”
Where the bravado came from, Taneasha didn’t know, but Fallon didn’t even acknowledge her words. “This is going to work out in one of three ways. One,” Fallon held up one finger, “You are going to see the error of your ways and use the rest of this life in making amends for this mistake you’ve made. Second way, you’re going to somehow screw-up, and you’ll be executed during the training.”
The door opened again. Taneasha couldn’t take her eyes from Fallon, but from the periphery of her vision she took in male and bald, average height and average weight.
“Third and final, you’ll get through this schooling while pretending to be reformed, but once you’re done you’ll go back to the path that led you to grabbing Larissa Miller and handing her over to Garof. You’ll do everything you can to become powerful enough to destroy the Guild, probably starting with me. You go that route? You better pray to be lucky enough to pull it off, because otherwise?” And Fallon leaned in, her voice a slow poison.
“I’m skinning you alive.”
Fallon stood, pivoted on her heal and headed for the door, unheeding of the puddle spreading under the girl.
She passed the man who had come in earlier, lowering her head in a sign of respect and saying
“Shisen,”
without stopping.
The door closed with an awful thud, all hope gone in the lingering resonance.
The man stepped forward, his face smooth, not a hint of thought or feeling on that countenance, only detached interest as he looked her over. “Taneasha. We have much to learn.”
The End
Peoples! Thanks for reading
The Dream Crafter
, the second book in the main saga of my
Entwined Realms
series. I appreciate you spending some time in my world, and I hope you enjoyed.
Let me share a not-so-secret secret with you. Reviews are the absolute BEST WAY for readers to discover authors. Reviews help both retailers and advertisers discover authors and books to recommend to their customers. As a small-time author, I am very dependent on reviews – but, I’m very aware that the time spent writing a review could be spent doing things much more enjoyable. So, to show my gratitude, if you leave a review for me anywhere and email me at
[email protected]
with the link to it, I will gift you the next book in the series when it comes out. Thank you!
If you’d like to read other books in this series, we start with a Gargoyle as our hero, a Human teacher as our heroine, and extra Fallon and Laire waiting for you in
Stone Guardian!
•
THE DREAM CRAFTER
Do you enjoy Fairy Tales redos, stories that are slightly twisted, very sassy, humorous (as only I can deliver) and promises you a Happily Ever After? Well, you might enjoy my
Fairy Tales & Ever Afters
series, which begins with my take on Cinderella called
Loving a Fairy Godmother
.
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•
THE DREAM CRAFTER
Entwined Realms, Book One
Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.
Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets – that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.
Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.
In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.
Buy
Stone Guardian
here!
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Once upon a Time, in a Kingdom that was just a little twisted (oh yeah, and kinda far away), Fairy Godmothers Rule! Elf Kings drool, and a Knight was having a bad time with a Dragon.
Too bad he didn’t realize the Dragon would be the least strange part of his day…
Fairy GodMOTHER. As in female – it’s right there in the name. With those divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, no one’s going to be mistaking Tiernan for a female anytime soon, but due to a wish gone wrong, Tiernan is now the only Fairy Godfather in existence. Strangely, most Fairy Godmothers don’t have a problem with this change in the status quo… all except the one Fairy Godmother he’d go and win a kingdom for.
Organized, efficient, logical – and happy with the status quo, thank you very much – Reina never liked that Tiernan was allowed in the program. After all, the FGs do not need a stubborn, infuriating, feckless male messing up tradition, and she wants him gone…like yesterday. Circumstances arise that might let her get her wish, but in a way even she never wished for.
Tiernan’s employment status is called into question, and to prove himself worthy of being an FG, he is given the task of getting a woman named Cinderella a Happily Ever After or lose his position. So Cinderella will get to the ball and get her Prince if he has to dress her down to her shoes himself, and he’s bringing Reina along to help. After all, who said only mortals should get a Happily Ever After?
Buy
Loving a Fairy Godmother
Here
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Born to the pothole-ridden streets of Pittsburgh, PA, Danielle Monsch started writing in a time long ago, a time when there were not enough vampire stories to read and she had to write her own to fill the void. Yes, such a time of darkness did indeed exist.
Danielle calls herself a Romantic Geek, and that sums up both her personality and her writing. In terms of content, she’s drawn to the fantastical – Vampires and Werewolves and Demons and Angels, Sword & Sorcery, Fairy Tales, Updated Mythologies and the like. In terms of content, she needs love and romance (with some hubba-hubba!) somehow and in some amount mixed into the story…even if the story also has battles, bloodshed, and a decapitation or two.
Basically it’s all the good stuff in life, delivered to your door (or your ereader).
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