Sunday, 20 December 2015

SF and Fantasy Set in Canada


My pick list for my 2016 read sf/fantasy set in every province and territory.
Books may appear listed under more than one region if their stories are set in more than one region.
This list is a work in progress, suggestions and corrections are welcome.

British Columbia

Airborne (Matt Cruse, #1)
Kenneth Oppel
http://www.kennethoppel.ca/
Find on Goodreads

Constant
Elizabeth Munro
Partly set in Whistler







Dance of Knives
Donna McMahon

Find on Goodreads

Dark Resolution
Tyner Gillies

Find on Goodreads
Deadly Expectations (The Chronicles of Anna #1)
Elizabeth Munro
http://www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads

Dreams of Shreds and Tatters
Amanda Downum
http://www.amandadownum.com
Find on Goodreads

Eldorado
Jay Allan Storey
http://jayallanstorey.com
Find on Goodreads
Vancouver







Girlfriend in a Coma
Douglas Coupland
http://coupland.com/
Find on Goodreads

Glimpse (The Dean Curse Chronicles #1)
Steven Whibley

Impact (The Dean Curse Chronicles #3)
Steven Whibley
http://www.stevenwhibley.com
Find on Goodreads

The Night Watch (Resurrection Man #2)
Sean Stewart
http://www.seanstewart.org
Find on Goodreads








Relic (The Dean Curse Chronicles #2)
Steven Whibley
http://www.stevenwhibley.com
Find on Goodreads








Second Childhood
Donna McMahon

Find on Goodreads








Shaman's Lure
Frank Talaber
http://twosoulmates.wix.com/frankt-author-blog
Find on Goodreads

Smoke and Ashes (Tony Foster #3)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads
Smoke and Mirrors (Tony Foster #2)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads
Smoke and Shadows (Tony Foster #1)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Stranger King
Nadia Hutton

Find on Goodreads

Skyfall, Taken on the Wing #2
Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads


Very Bad Deaths
Spider Robinson
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/
Find on Goodreads








Very Hard Choices
Spider Robinson
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/
Find on Goodreads

Wingspan, Taken on the Wing #1
Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads
Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni, Tofino, Welch Peak







The Watch
Tyner Gillies

Find on Goodreads








Alberta

Chaos Bound (Mist Warden #1)
Adriaan Brae and Rebecca Brae








Deadly Deceptions (The Chronicles of Anna #2)
Elizabeth Munro

Deadly Expectations (The Chronicles of Anna #1)
Elizabeth Munro
http://www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads








Defining Diana (Steele Chronicles #1)
Hayden Trenholm
http://www.haydentrenholm.com
Find on Goodreads

The Enchantment Emporium (Gale Women #1)
Tanya Huff








Funeral Pallor (Valerie Stevens, #2)
Sean Cummings
http://sean-cummings.ca
Find on Goodreads

The Future Falls (Gale Women #3)
Tanya Huff
Find on Goodreads








The Night Watch (Resurrection Man #2)
Sean Stewart
http://www.seanstewart.org
Find on Goodreads








The North
Sean Cummings
http://sean-cummings.ca
Find on Goodreads

Operation Z-Day, Raven Falconer Chronicles #1
Dennis F Larsen
http://www.thelivinghunger.blogspot.ca
Find on Goodreads








Prairie Fire, The Story of Owen #2
E K Johnston
http://www.ekjohnston.ca
Find on Goodreads








Rise of the Huskers, Raven Falconer Chronicles #2
Dennis F Larsen
http://www.thelivinghunger.blogspot.ca
Find on Goodreads








Scouts of the Apocalypse
Michell Plested
http://www.michellplested.com/
Find on Goodreads

Seeing the Light
EC Bell
http://www.eileenbell.com
Find on Goodreads








Shade Fright (Valerie Stevens, #1)
Sean Cummings
http://sean-cummings.ca
Find on Goodreads

Skyfall, Taken on the Wing #2
Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads








Stealing Home (Steele Chronicles #3)
Hayden Trenholm
http://www.haydentrenholm.com
Find on Goodreads

Steel Whispers (Steel Chronicles #2)
Hayden Trenholm
http://www.haydentrenholm.com
Find on Goodreads

Thunder Road (Thunder Road #1)
Chadwick Ginther
http://chadwickginther.com/
Find on Goodreads








Tombstone Blues (Thunder Road #2)
Chadwick Ginther
http://chadwickginther.com/
Find on Goodreads








Too Far Gone (Thunder Road #3)
Vengeance Fulfilled, Raven Falconer Chronicles #3
Dennis F Larsen
http://www.thelivinghunger.blogspot.ca
Find on Goodreads








The Wild Ways (Gale Women #2)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads

Wingspan, Taken on the Wing #1
Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads
Jasper








Saskatchewan

Cave Beneath the Sea (Shards of Excalibur #4)
Edward Willett

The Lake in the Clouds (Shards of Excalibur #3)
Edward Willett
Find on Goodreads








My Zombie Boyfriend (The Undead Canadian, #1)
T. Strange
http://tqstrange.tumblr.com/
Find on Goodreads

Quantum Night
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Song of the Sword (Shards of Excalibur #1)
Edward Willett
http://www.edwardwillett.com
Find on Goodreads








Spirit Singer
Edward Willett
http://www.edwardwillett.com
Find on Goodreads

Twist of the Blade (Shards of Excalibur #2)
Edward Willett
http://www.edwardwillett.com
Find on Goodreads

Wingspan, Taken on the Wing #1
Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
Find on Goodreads
Saskatoon






Manitoba

Quantum Night
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Thunder Road (Thunder Road #1)
Chadwick Ginther
http://chadwickginther.com/
Find on Goodreads








Tombstone Blues (Thunder Road #2)
Chadwick Ginther
http://chadwickginther.com/
Find on Goodreads








Too Far Gone (Thunder Road #3)
Chadwick Ginther
http://chadwickginther.com/
Find on Goodreads







Ontario

Anna Dressed in Blood, Anna #1
Kendare Blake








Bitten (Otherworld #1)
Kelley Armstrong
http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
Find on Goodreads

Blood Bank (Vicki Nelson #6)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads

Blood Debt (Vicki Nelson #5)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads

Blood Lines (Vicki Nelson #3)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Blood Pact (Vicki Nelson #4)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads

Blood Price (Vicki Nelson #1)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Blood Trail (Vicki Nelson #2)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Brown Girl in the Ring
Halo Hopkinson
http://nalohopkinson.com/
Find on Goodreads

Calculating God
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Dime Store Magic (Otherworld #3)
Kelley Armstrong
http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
Find on Goodreads








Drink Down the Moon (Jack of Kinrowan #2)
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads

Ethan Cadfael The Battle Prince
Girl of Nightmares, Anna #2
Kendare Blake








Greenmantle
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads

Hereafter
Samuel Peralta
http://amzn.to/samuelperalta
Find on Goodreads








Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax #1)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Humans (Neanderthal Parallax #2)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax #3)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Jack, the Giant Killer (Jack of Kinrowan #1)
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads

Long Hot Summoning (The Keeper Chronicles #3)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Maddox Files: Back to Business
R.J. Davies Mornix
www.rjdavies.ca
Find on Goodreads

Mindscan
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Moonheart
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads
Oryx and Crake
Margaret Atwood
http://margaretatwood.ca/
Find on Goodreads








Out of Time
D. G. Laderoute
Find on Goodreads

Rollback
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads

The Second Summoning (The Keeper Chronicles #2)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
Cory Doctorow
http://www.craphound.com
Find on Goodreads








Spiritwalk
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads

Stolen (Otherworld #2)
Kelley Armstrong
http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
Find on Goodreads

The Story of Owen, The Story of Owen #1
E K Johnston








A Study in Aether
Eric Desmarais
http://www.EricDesmarais.ca
Find on Goodreads



Summon the Keeper (Keeper Chronicles #1)
Tanya Huff
http://andpuff.livejournal.com/
Find on Goodreads








The Terminal Experiment
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads

Undead Redhead
Jen Frankel

Find on Goodreads








WWW: Wake (WWW #1)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








WWW: Watch (WWW #2)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








WWW: Wonder (WWW #3)
Robert J Sawyer
http://www.sfwriter.com/index.htm
Find on Goodreads








Yarrow
Charles de Lint
https://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html
Find on Goodreads








Quebec

All Roads Lead to Winger
Mark Fuller Dillon

Chimere
Marcelle Dube








Cycling to Asylum
Su J Sokol
http://www.sujsokol.com
Find on Goodreads

Faith
Samuel Peralta
http://amzn.to/samuelperalta
Find on Goodreads








Playing Solitaire in Playing Solitaire and Other Stories
Mark Shainblum
http://www.northguard.com/mbs
Find on Goodreads






Labrador and Newfoundland

The Chrysalids
John Wyndham
Find on Goodreads







Dark Whispers, Spirit Caller #2
Krista D Ball
http://www.kristadball.com
Find on Goodreads








Knight Shift, Spirit Caller #3
Krista D Ball
http://www.kristadball.com
Find on Goodreads








Mystery Knight, Spirit Caller #4
Krista D Ball
http://www.kristadball.com
Find on Goodreads

Spirits Rising, Spirit Caller #1
Krista D Ball
http://www.kristadball.com
Find on Goodreads








Nova Scotia

Mindkiller, Lifehouse #1
Spider Robinson
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/
Find on Goodreads








Time Pressure, Lifehouse #2
Spider Robinson
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/
Find on Goodreads








Lifehouse, Lifehouse #3
Spider Robinson
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/
Find on Goodreads







New Brunswick

Prairie Fire, The Story of Owen #2
E K Johnston
http://www.ekjohnston.ca
Find on Goodreads







PEI

The Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House
Patti Larsen

The Last Wild Boy
Hugh MacDonald


The Troop
Nick Cutter
http://www.thetroopbook.com
Find on Goodreads









A Time and Place, Joe Mahoney, expected 2016

NWT

The River
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com
Find on Goodreads
The Gaslight Dogs
Karin Lowachee
http://www.karinlowachee.com/
Find on Goodreads







Nunavut

Frost
Nicole Luiken
http://nicoleluiken.com/
Find on Goodreads





Yukon

Ghosts of Morocco
Marcelle Dube
http://www.marcellemdube.com/
Find on Goodreads








Anthologies and Collections

Clockwork Canada
Dominic Parisien (Editor)
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/12/16/cover-reveal-clockwork-canada-steampunk-fiction-edited-by-dominik-parisien/
Find on Goodreads
Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post Apocalypse
Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Editor
http://www.silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/
Find on Goodreads








Dead North: Canadian Zombie Fiction
Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Editor
http://www.silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/
Find on Goodreads

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Saturday, 7 November 2015

Shiny! Warrior Heroes with Cynthia Sax!

Warrior Heroes With Cynthia Sax

Rye, the hero of Elizabeth’s Constant, is a Core Alliance soldier. He’s fought battles on numerous planets, risking his life. Rage, the hero of my most recent cyborg story, Releasing Rage, is also a warrior. He was manufactured to fight aliens and other human enemies.

What is it about warrior heroes that appeal to us?

First and foremost, there’s something extremely sexy about a male who feels so passionately about a cause or person or planet that he is willing to die for it. Rage risks his life to fulfill his missions. Can you imagine what he’d be willing to do for the woman he loves?

Soldiers also have a sense of loyalty. Rage is designed to be the perfect soldier. It takes extreme measures for him to finally rebel against his creators. Once he gives his loyalty to another being, he’s true. He won’t ever betray the woman he loves.

Soldiers are normally not solitary. They play well with others. Rage fights alongside his cyborg brethren. His loyalty extends to them. He has that ‘leave no soldier behind’ philosophy. When he rebels against his creators, he plans to free all of the cyborgs around him.

This sense of brotherhood gives us a glimpse of how Rage will act when he becomes a father. There’s a younger cyborg, Gap, whom Rage mentors, guides and protects. I can envision him doing the same with his own offspring.

Soldiers are survivors. They’ve seen the worst of beings, of situations, and survived. These warriors have faced emergencies and not lost their cool. During a disaster, like a zombie apocalypse (grins), they’re the beings any woman would want by her side. We can depend on them to, when the going gets tough, persevere. 

There are downsides to loving a soldier, of course. There are downsides with every profession. Soldiers in SciFi romance are often conflicted between their duty to their cause and their duty to the women they love. They have high risk jobs and could die, leaving their heroines forever. They often have enemies. Every scene, every mission could be their last. This adds a delicious tension to every SciFi romance set in wartime. 

What do you love about warrior heroes?

***


Blurb
Releasing Rage
Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.

Rage, the Humanoid Alliance's most primitive cyborg, has two goals--kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that's all he's been programmed to experience.

Until he meets Joan.

Joan, the battle station's first female engineer, has one goal--survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.

When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage's priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg's heart for both love and revenge?
Buy Now:





Bio
About Cynthia Sax
USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.
Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com


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Sunday, 23 August 2015

Sunday Snippet Aug 23 2015

Although this female wore the plain uniform of all public servants, it lacked the modest cut of employees of the Courts. If Eion didn’t know better he’d suspect she’d painted it on with a brush. Perhaps the same one she used to apply the deep pink colour on her lips and cheeks.

Under his tunic, Eion’s skin heated in response to her blatant sexual display.

On Stemm, a woman would never show herself in a way that would invite arousal.

“The archives,” Eion’s voice stuttered in his throat so he cleared it and tried again. “The archives?”

“Have not been accessible through here in over a year,” she pouted, exaggerating the pinkness of her wet lower lip.

Eion forced his eyes away although too late. The memory of the sight would drive sleep away for days.

“And?”

“Go back the way you came. The main desk will direct you from there,” she frowned then bit her lip and stomped away, disappearing in to a small back room. “I guess this means I don’t get lunch.”

Eion watched the door through which she disappeared. Her footsteps echoed out at him before the rough stone walls dulled them to nothing.

 Gods and Goddess.

Nearly ten minutes lost by taking the wrong route to the archives.

From a work in progress =)

(c) 2015 Elizabeth Munro
www.deadlyexpectations.com
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Sunday, 26 July 2015

Don't park under the big lights.

So I came out of Walmart to find the car had been hit by the biggest sugar honey iced tea I'd ever seen. It covered half the front window on the passenger side and appeared to disable one of the wipers.
My daughter and I fled home in case whatever caused the damage returned to make a second pass.
Honestly, if we'd been in the car we may have been hurt.
When we got home we found not only was the front window impacted, the entire roof was covered in splotches and it managed to get every single window on the car.
I'm impressed.
I asked my daughter if she thought it was an ostrich but she rolled her thirteen year old eyes and patiently explained ostriches don't fly.
I suggested a pterodactyl and she considered the idea, nodded and agreed it could be the culprit.
So if you're shopping at Walmart, don't park under the big lights. They are sturdy enough to bear the weight of what I would guess is an adult pterodactyl.
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Sunday, 12 April 2015

Original Opening Chapters for Skyfall

Thought I'd share original opening of Skyfall =) If you'd like to try the series, Wingspan is free pretty much everywhere.

Prologue

“Soar,” Talon calls from far back in the tunnel. “Wait, buddy.”

Soar stomps on ahead and ignores his old friend. Three months prospecting gold for his hoard and running discrete errands for Sire Lev have left him with two things on his mind.

A bath and Cloud.

Well, maybe a couple of others like a shave and a haircut. His belly is still half full of deer and he’s too damned tired to fill a bowl in the dining chamber.

“Soar.”

 Fuck, the Sire voice.

Eyrie gryphons think Soar is the prick when the one running to catch up can be as pushy as any female, except for Cloud of course. That little gryphon stole Soar’s heart in spite of their relationship being a series of intimate interactions in his den. As soon as he’s cleaned up he hopes she’ll be there waiting for him. It’s dark outside and the Vancouver Island Eyrie will soon be quiet so she’ll have no trouble making her way to him unseen.

He never expected to actually miss her but the last few weeks outside on the wing have been driven by a foreign urgency to get home. Even though they are nothing more than Guard Master and student during the day, he opened up to her at night to become someone articulate and generous. In private, he’s a gryphon even Talon wouldn’t recognize. He’s not so sure he even knows himself.

“My ass on fire or something, Talon?” Soar looks at the stone ceiling and as Talon slows his long strides they sound more like Lev’s. As Sire, hereditary leader of the eyrie, Lev is never in rush. Everything happens on Lev’s time and since Talon mated to Lev’s daughter, Shadow, he adopted many of his mannerisms. Talon’s assumption Soar will squat and strain as quick for him as he does for Lev is premature since Talon won’t be Sire for centuries. It’s one hell of a long apprenticeship and Soar doesn’t blame Talon for nor envy his responsibilities.

“Good to have you back,” Talon offers a hand and Soar accepts. They grasp each other’s elbows and nod. Talon’s smile is genuine and Soar offers one in return since he’s now aware his irritation is entirely due to fatigue.

“Got some news. Need you to get some rest. You’re back out again tomorrow.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Soar growls. The beard itches and as he lets go of Talon’s elbow he gets his fingers in it and scratches.

“No joke,” Talon’s grin widens. “Cloud made it, Soar. Master Sky accepted her in Memphis.”
Soar’s belly goes cold and Talon’s gaze drops to the dark slash of Soar’s mouth. Soar is sick and angry with the thought she’s leaving him.

“She got in?”

“Don’t be so surprised. You know much she wanted this.”

“Great,” Soar mumbles and tries to turn but Talon takes his elbow.

“You’re escorting her to Memphis.”

“No fucking way,” Soar shakes Talon loose and only gets a step away before Talon’s palm hits the wall, his arm blocking Soar from taking another.

“You got something better to do than see my daughter safely to Memphis?”

Soar stiffens. His refusal is more than passing on an order that probably came from Lev. For Talon, his friend’s flat out ‘no’ is a personal insult.

“You’re still sleeping with her, aren’t you?” Talon whispers, leaning in close and there’s a single flash of blue static in his feathers. It’s a warning that matches Talon’s dominant posture. “I’ve seen how she looks at you. Every day I see her wait for you to do more than order her to keep her wings back or bend her knees more. I see her falter when you treat her like nothing more than a trainee.”

“What’s your point?” Soar demands but he doesn’t retreat and keeps his chest pressed to Talon’s arm. Relations with any gryphon eighteen or younger are taboo and Cloud was twenty when she came to him two years before. Fair game. Soar was seventy three and getting to the age when a male wants something regular waiting for him at home. Damn, like he’s started to think of Cloud. Males are typically several decades older since they are driven to grow their hoards before getting serious. Most females, however, seem wired from their first season to need the security of a home eyrie and a male, even if he doesn’t spend a lot of time in the confines of her den.

“My point is,” Talon sighs. “My point is we’ve talked about this. She wants to be a ranger—”

“And I swore I wouldn’t hold her back,” Soar interrupts, remembering how Talon’s right fist left him with double vision for a week. “I know she’s royal, Talon. I held my chin high and took my punishment for not expressing my interest in her to you first.”

Damn, Talon doesn’t seem convinced Soar’s interest in the red-head is weak. Soar’s tactics change from honesty to defensive lying. The trouble is he lies mostly to himself as he talks out loud. Nobody knows about Soar and Cloud but Talon. Cloud never told a soul.

“It’s casual because that’s how Cloud wants it,” Soar lowers his voice and meets Talon’s stare. Then he drops his eyes like he’s making a personal admission. It’s far from casual for either of them and as the words come out Soar believes them and will until he’s alone. “I know what she wants. Maybe it’ll be something serious when she gets home but she made it clear I’m secondary to getting in to Memphis.”

Talon nods as he buys it.

“And as for an escort isn’t that going to give the outside the impression she’s royal? Nobody else makes a group trip out of it.”

“I see your point,” Talon agrees. “But she’s also Dame Shadow’s adopted daughter and Memphis is a fuck of a long way off. If you’ve—”

“Got something else to do? As a matter of fact I do. You know the issues with Calgary and I’ve got a line on some information Lev’s been hard for.”

“Cooper,” Talon growls. “We’re due to check out Master Sky’s senior students, my friend. You go deal with Cooper and I’ll take a couple of the guard with me, escort Cloud and see if there’s anyone who might be a good fit with us. You know Shadow will have my tail in a sling if anything happens to her.”

Soar laughs, drawing his lungs full of the moist air rising up along the tunnel from the baths.

Suddenly he’s not so anxious to see Cloud. Her impending absence is killing him inside already and the only thing that will cure it and keep him from begging her to stay is a quick, clean break.

*****

 How can I be nervous?

Cloud’s small den is positively claustrophobic. Each turn she makes as she paces causes the tips of her wings to scrape against the stone walls.  She didn’t have to try hard to hear the gossip that Soar is home and now all she can think about is getting to his den. If she doesn’t share her news with him
soon she’ll probably burst into pieces.

It takes forever for the tunnel outside her den to settle down as the other single females talk about him. Over the past two years she’s learned to curb her jealousy. As the biggest and most dangerous eligible male in the eyrie he’s the one every single female wants and he’s Cloud’s. Even though their affair is secret she’s his only one.

Cloud changes again into another set of traditional trousers and tunic then pulls up the front to sniff her skin. She simply smells warm and takes a deep breath to purge the worry that all the pacing forced the scent of sweat to cover the soft citrus of the soap she borrowed from Shadow.

Without making any effort to hide her passage, Cloud draws her curtain aside and steps from her den into the quiet tunnel. Someone has already been through and blown out every second and third silver light, the only indication most residents of the eyrie have turned in.

The section of dens reserved for unattached males is a different matter. During daylight hours the tunnels are open to everyone but at night a female going to the male quarters could be the subject of gossip if it became a regular thing and especially if it involved Soar.

Once at his den she pauses a moment to make sure he’s in. The heavy curtain covering the entrance is fresh with his scent and she runs her lips over her tongue to moisten them for his kiss. After three months and two days she’s wound tight.

Cloud steps in and lets the curtain fall shut behind her. For a moment the outright emptiness of the room is disorienting since she expects him to be there, wings widened in greeting.

“Soar?” She keeps her voice soft so it doesn’t carry into the tunnel.

There’s a grunt as his wingless form rolls over on his mat.

Cloud’s arousal fizzles. Unwinged? Nothing sexy about that. A winged gryphon isn’t interested in one in human form. Soar won’t find her attractive at all either.

“Um,” she tries. He doesn’t even lift his head much less stand to greet her.

“I don’t think my feet have touched the ground in days, Cloud, and I’m damned tired,” he bitches as he turns his back to her. “What do you want?”

“I just...” she inhales.

 ...feel like a complete fool, coming in here thinking you want me.

“You what?”

“I couldn’t wait to tell you,” Cloud forces her voice higher in the hopes her excitement is at least a little infectious but her voice falters. Soar sighs with impatience. “I’m going to Memphis, Soar. Sire Lev said you’d take me and—”

“And what,” Soar pushes himself to his feet. His interruption comes as her voice fails. “I’m tired and I’m leaving again in the morning.”

“Just a few days alone together,” Cloud whispers. “It’s been so long. Just you and me.”

“Like a couple?” He laughs. “Christ. I didn’t realize we were exclusive and it’s been three fucking months.”

Cloud’s heart thumps with deepening embarrassment. Whatever he was doing it obviously involved someone else.

“We had a thing,” Soar yawns then speaks slowly. Each word pushes her further out of his league.

“We had a thing, Cloud. We were never a thing.”

“Okay,” is all she can manage as she staggers out. Her wing tangles in the curtain and the last thing she hears from Soar are a few swear words. How could she have been so dumb to think there was any more going on than sex? It makes sense now why he never acknowledged her in public.

The tunnels and common areas are deserted as Cloud makes her way to the royal chambers. She’d have gone to spend some time with Shadow even if Soar hadn’t harshly explained their relationship.

“Cloud?” Shadow’s voice reaches her as she steps into the den. The first chamber is a large room with two smaller ones on either side. This is what she needs. Closeness to the two gryphons she loves with all her heart, her adopted parents who will always welcome her in.

“Can I stay here tonight, Shadow?”

“Not in your old den,” Shadow says from the other sleeping chamber. There’s no scent of sex in the room and Cloud smiles. They knew she’d see them. “Come in here.”

Cloud’s eye sting with held back tears.

“Like old times,” Shadow soothes as Cloud’s lungs hitch. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

Shadow is nestled into Talon and turns to face Cloud then gets up on one elbow and extends her soft white wing in invitation. As Cloud snuggles in to the smaller gryphon, Talon’s arm reaches to embrace them both.

“I’m so proud of you, Cloud,” Talon whispers as Shadow murmurs in agreement. “You’ve earned Memphis.”

“I love you,” she answers and falls asleep with Shadow’s lips pressed to her cheek.

Chapter One

There’s nothing Cloud hates more than lying face down on the soft dirt floor of the sparring chamber. Other than being face down in the dirt with Hunter on top of her.

And Master Sky telling them to do it—

“Again.”

But Hunter doesn’t move; instead he shifts his weight, rubbing his whole body over hers while the dozens of other sparring pairs take position for another match.

“Hunter,” Sky’s voice echoes down from the high rounded ceiling. “We are not practicing holds.”

 Holds, my sire’s pinfeathers, Cloud curses. I’ve been mounted.

“This one’s my specialty,” Hunter whispers so only Cloud can hear. “It’s called ‘later in my den.’”

Cloud limits her disgust to an aggravated click of the tongue. As she tries to throw him he rolls away and she lands on her back, layering her feathers in cold dirt. She accepts his offered hand only because it’s an expected courtesy. Chunks of his straight brown hair cling to the sweat on his neck and he grins, gives her a sly wink and drops into a crouch. Her own long red hair is in a neat knot at the back of her head, a far cry from the rebellious tangles of a decade earlier when she first moved to Soar’s Vancouver Island Eyrie. Hunter’s fingers ease his trousers up over the bend in his knees before he raises his hands in defense.

His stupid sideways grin disarms her every time.

For a moment she lets her guard down and returns his smile until she remembers he isn’t Soar and her teeth are full of dirt. That jerk hasn’t spoken a word to her in three years. Didn’t even say good-bye when she left for Sky’s mountain. This jerk circles left and Cloud tries not to let his good mood get to her.

It could be because the two jerks are brothers. She can close her eyes and imagine he’s Soar; the pace of his steps, the way his breathing gets throaty when he’s physically worked up, the deep brown of his wings...

Maybe that’s why she puts up with Hunter’s advances.

“Come on, Cloud,” Hunter takes a step closer. “Couple of us are going to Memphis for a few days and I need a date.”

“I’m certain you have your pick of female accompaniment,” Cloud replies as she sidesteps his lunge. A prodigal grandson of Master Sky would need no help attracting a gryphon of the opposite sex.

Cloud’s wing gets a little high as she spins clear of Hunter and one long reddish-brown flight feather slaps his stomach but not hard enough to satisfy her desire to smack Hunter or his brother.

“That’s a given,” he admits and it is if the talk from the other females training under Master Sky is even close to the truth. “But it would be good for you. I’m certain you want a chance to prove you’re not a complete bitch outside this room.”

“I’m not,” she protests as she lands in the dirt again.

As she rolls over she catches sight of jerk number one.

Soar stands on one of the upper shelves above the chamber, arms crossed, watching more advanced students practice with daggers, his weapon of choice. Cloud can’t be sure, but his hands appear to tighten around his biceps in response to her stare. He still wears his hair short. When she arrived for her first lesson in the sparring chamber back home his hair was down to his elbows so she asked him how the other females kept their hair out of their eyes. Soar disappeared at mid morning break and flew to a hairdresser in Tofino for a cut.

She scans the other shelves for her adopted sire, Master Talon, in the hopes he’s come along on their semi-annual recruiting trip but Soar is alone.

“Please, Cloud,” Hunter begs. “Say yes. I promise you won’t regret it.”

Her heart skips as Soar looks her way then the air pops from her lungs as Hunter flattens her on the ground.

“I mean it,” he gets an elbow in the dirt, easing his weight as her lungs refill. “We don’t have to call it a date, okay? You call the shots.”

Cloud cranes her neck around but Soar is gone.

“Enough for the day,” Master Sky calls as she strides from the chamber. Her long, salt and pepper braid sways between her wings.

As Cloud shakes off the dirt Hunter waits for her answer.

Why the hell shouldn’t she go to Memphis with Soar’s brother? Soar and Cloud never were a thing in spite of the nights she spent in his den and it’s her own stupid heart that keeps clinging to something she’ll never have. Maybe a few days making friends will be good for her.

And her royal magic says Hunter trusts her so it must be okay to trust him.

“Swear, Hunter,” she insists. “You’ll be a perfect gryphon or you’ll never get a second chance to impress me.”

“Shit, really?” Hunter staggers back a step like she’s landed a fist in his gut. Gosh, he’s surprised. He must have known Soar was coming or he wouldn’t have planned the trip. Soar’s presence, while he assessed prospective rangers, would give everyone else a break from training.

“Yeah and if you want to call it a date I guess that’s okay.”

“Wow, right,” Hunter pushes his sweaty hair back and rubs his palms on his trousers. “I guess I’ll see you at evening meal then.”

He practically skips to the tunnel that leads to the male’s baths, taking his place with a couple of others who dared to ask Cloud out and have the bruised egos to prove it.

But dinner with her?

Don’t push it, Hunter.


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