《[email protected]》Prologue
Advertisement
…life isn’t hard to manage when you’ve nothing to lose. - Ernest Hemingway
You’re sexy as hell, Briel, but you’ve got issues. -Text from Liam Monroe, May 2
If she could have named the emotion she saw on his face, Briel would have called it terror. Quite a surprising emotion on the face of such a giant human being. He said nothing, but he didn't have to – Briel knew what he had heard. Over the past twenty-four hours, she had debated: should she warn them what was going to happen? If she did, it would undermine her past three weeks of work. And she knew some things that her companion didn't know. Maybe she could convince him that the situation was not as bad as it sounded.
“It's Felicity,” her companion spoke softly, shielding the phone with his hand. “Someone kidnapped her.”
Briel tried to look shocked. Mostly, she felt curious about whether or not she would see a monstrously huge man break down in girly tears. Not that she would blame him, but she just felt base curiosity. Shaking herself, Briel recognized compassion as it leaked into her psyche. She really had grown to care about these people. Though part of a job, she had let herself become much more involved in the little family in Phoenix than she could afford. She had trained herself to respond to such situations with utmost coolness, unaffected in any way by the tragedies that played out around her. Still, Briel's stomach clutched with regret as she thought of Felicity's lovely young daughter and the two little cherub-faced boys
“Lissie...Lissie, are you there?”
Lissie, are you there? The question shocked Briel, throwing her mind into a spin. He had just addressed Felicity directly. Which meant that somehow, Jase had done it – snatched Felicity Miller out of the hands of traffickers. Briel had expected a lament, the terror of the unknown, but the truth proved totally unexpected. Her cool indifference melted into pleasure as she realized the significance of the words. Felicity Miller was supposed to be dead, or as good as. If Jase Hamilton had somehow succeeded despite losing his sanity over a woman, Briel would celebrate, both for the sake of herself and of Felicity’s family – Felicity’s affectionate brother. What a mess! she snickered.
Advertisement
“Tell Felicity you'll come get her!” Briel commanded inaudibly. Not only would Jase’s success offer relief for the family, it would make Briel’s job so much simpler. If Briel could regain access to Felicity, the mission would unfold much easier. Who needed a grade-B computer geek to hack into files when she had access to the person with the passwords?
“I'm coming to get you is what I'm doing!” her companion commanded. Briel rolled her eyes at him in disgust; if someone had spoken to Briel in such an authoritative tone, she would have resisted just for principle's sake.
As the remainder of the conversation unfolded, Felicity Miller's boldness surprised Briel; the in- every- way- unremarkable housewife repeatedly turned down any offer of help from her brother – no damsel-in-distress revealed itself in her actions. Instead, Felicity just asked for one thing, and threw a wrench in all of Briel’s new excitement.
“I have a couple K in my savings,” Briel heard her companion say. “That would be no problem.”
No, no, no! Briel screamed silently. A moment before, Briel had seen her plan transform from mortally dangerous to a walk in the park. Now, though, Briel realized, I'm back to square one. Money gave Felicity resources. Resources removed any reason for the woman to come back to her brother.
Under the hum of her rapid-fire planning, Briel couldn't help noting the comical gentleness of the broad-shouldered man who stood more than a foot taller than she did. Even with all her training, she wouldn't enjoy going up against him in a fight – not if she went by the look of him. Of course, having spent a lot of time with him, she thought she could probably blow him over with a breath, He would fall over for fear of hurting her feelings. Wuss, she snickered internally. If she were honest, though, she admired him - she'd never met anyone like him. For some people, bluster proved empty, a promise for action that would turn into a sprint the opposite direction. Something about this man's intensity, though. Yes, he kind of avoided confrontation. Yes, any time he raised his voice she didn't believe him. Still, something in the intensity. She wondered if somehow, he would prove more substantive if faced with a tangibly dangerous situation.
Advertisement
“But you can't just take off with no direction...” His voice brought her back. “No, you're being ridiculous. Fine. I'll send it in the morning.”
Damn, Briel scolded silently. Why couldn't he have the steel to make Felicity come home? Briel knew why, actually – anyone who saw his face would have known. The powerless exasperation, the fear, the pain. If he pressed Felicity too hard, the woman would cut off communication, and the gentle giant would crumple if he thought he had lost his sister.
Briel found compassion once again overwhelming all semblance of professionalism. I'll try to save her, Briel pledged silently. I can't make any promises, but I'll try.
Within minutes, Briel excused herself and fled the house where she had, despite all her best efforts, grown thoroughly enmeshed in the occupants' lives. Heart and soul. If she did not extricate herself soon, Briel feared she would never quite recover.
Advertisement
- In Serial6 Chapters
The Legendary Path
Astler is weak, pitifully so. His cultivation refuses to rise despite constant dedication. But Astler doesn't get discouraged, he only tries harder. Astler cannot solve the mysteries of his own body. Can a predestined encounter change his fate? This is a story about a boy and his path to become legendary!
8 59 - In Serial34 Chapters
My Life As A Magician
What would you do if your greatest talent - the one thing you naturally excelled at - was a dark art you desperately didn't want to practise? That's the dilemma trapping Arcadia Guzmata. As a young magician who reads minds, she's all-too- aware of the darker potential her gift carries. It's a potential her mentor, Mr Bishop, actively nurtures as they travel from town to town, performing magic shows. Mr Bishop's own gift is making things disappear; and Arcadia has watched him struggle time and time again to keep it from consuming him. She knows she wants a better life for herself, but what else is there for a young woman with two pigtails and a gift for the dark arts? Then, one day, as she's sitting in a café, the most beautiful music she's ever heard leads to a life- changing conversation. With that one conversation, a whole new world opens up for her. But can she step into that world and leave her dark gift behind?
8 135 - In Serial46 Chapters
Shepherd Moon
On the run from the Earth government and military forces, wanted former terrorist Maddy Hawthorn seeks a new life on Mars. When she discovers plans for another terrorist attack, her only hope to prevent a global catastrophe is to seek the help of other insurgents. But everyone wants her dead, including the people she is trying to save. With the help of a runaway Elite teenager and a band of renegade slaves, Maddy fights to save the very government system she despises. Nothing lasts forever. Although it alludes to events in the previous Maddy Hawthorn book, "Days of Iron", this is a separate story and is designed to be read and understood independently.Cover art by BeyondBookCovers. www.beyondbookcovers.com
8 202 - In Serial12 Chapters
New hope online
*as of right now this is my second time writing all this I really hate doing this twice in a row. well this story was made by me and a few friends ideas and stuff most of the pictures owned are not mine but some will be and every picture I use is respectively owned by their creators. Now let's go to the story. FYI this is my second time doing this so I'm a little pissed so I probably will not have good grammar and stuff so whenever you guys see something wrong why don't you come help me to make this story great peace out and have fun* The year is 2009 there's a war going between robots and human Arnold [email protected]&**&6 . ah crap that was totally my fault wrong story ok here we go the real story. The years 2086 and life is hella awesome. in about the year 2065 a new fun toy came out they called this VR. but VR isn't just a toy anymore. Vr changed the life of everyone in America but really all over the world . the thing that made VR awesome was that you can know go to work from your house laying in the bed with a VR helmet on making twice as much money for the hours you put in. you can know go to school from your house learn for a full 6 hours in VR but than when you get out its only been one hour in real life . there are so many uses that people can use VR for. of course military personal use it aswell to train there minds and stuff. But to me this really doesn't mean much. The real beauty in VR is the gaming i love gaming with a passion me and my family are gonna get this awesome game called new hope online. This game is a mmo RPG it of course has the typical RPG quest adventures and a lot of other things that i cant explain. but generally I'm super excited for only 2 things in this game. The first is that there is a cohesive and reactive world. Ok ill just give you a small example. so lts say im an adventurer and im killing goblins i go every single day for the next 3 year with 4 of my freinds to kill goblins after a while if you hunt destroy or do anything to envirment fror prlonged periods of time the enviroment will etheir act violently and try to destroy you or the worldwill remove that resource from that area. which i think makes total since. ok last but not least you know how nearly every single mmo lets you play as the adventurer only. Well thats changed. In this mmo you are allowed to be a monster if you want thats freaking awesome i love it. The object of a monster is to become strong enough to etheir, make a dungeoun, own a clan/ tribe. generally there are apperently alot of ways to win as a monster but since this is a mmo of course theres no real winning. But as a monster everybody is aiming for the top. another objective is to kill the demon king and take hismantle as hahaha demon king. oh i totally forgot to introduce my self my name is roin . like coin but with a r instead of an c . this is gonna be my story so peace out and read the story . * the star before a sentence means me as an author is talking ok this is explaining meanings RPG=Role Playing Games MMO=Massively Multiplayer Online Vr = virtual reality
8 92 - In Serial39 Chapters
Toxic Love
You thought they were crazy and confused before?
8 70 - In Serial17 Chapters
The Story of how I died and was reborn in another world as a Half-Demi
This is the story of a guy called Kawaru Kokoroe, who died, together with his friends, and got reborn in a medieval world, full with magic and adventurers. God doesn't want anything special from them, but they are reborn in different places. So, while Kawaru is growing up, he tries to live a peaceful life, while occasionally trying to find out, where his friends live now. But it won't be that easy, else it wouldn't be an interesting story, would it?
8 361