Chapter 7: The Gathering of the Arbiters
The footsteps grew louder, closer. I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat. The glow from the boiler room cast eerie, shifting shadows. “Nia.” [more…]
Category: Fast Food
Chapter 6: The Coal Tunnel Approach
The MARTA tunnels were a maze of stale air and echoing silence, occasionally broken by the distant rumble of a train. I knew Evelyn’s people [more…]
Chapter 5: The Snake in the Alley
I spent the next two days moving between forgotten safe-houses Deacon had outlined on his map – derelict apartments in fading commercial districts, abandoned storefronts [more…]
Chapter 4: Sanctuary in the Shadows
Heavy footsteps thudded up the communal stairs of my apartment building. They were coming fast, too heavy for the usual residents. I froze, the receiver [more…]
Chapter 3: The Smear on Bankhead Avenue
The auction had proceeded, but the air remained thick with unspoken tension. Evelyn sat stiffly at her table, refusing to meet my gaze, her jaw [more…]
Chapter 2: A Ghost in the Ledger
The master keycard felt cool and heavy in my hand. It was cold steel, not the flimsy plastic they gave out to guests. My fingers [more…]
Chapter 1: The Dishes and the Master Key
Part 1 My husband Marcus didn’t defend me; he just smirked and slid my chair back so the caterers could herd me toward the kitchen [more…]
Chapter 16: The Silent Inheritance
Late that same night, the city outside my temporary apartment window was a blur of rainy lights, mirroring the blur inside my head. The federal [more…]
Chapter 15: The Unbroken Grief
Just a few hours later, as the city lights began to prickle through the rain-streaked windows, I sat alone in the dim, fluorescent-lit morgue hallway [more…]
Chapter 14: The Final Breath
The surgeons stepped out of the operating theater, their faces grim, their scrubs stained. My blood ran cold, anticipating the words before they were even [more…]
