Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I love the stage, but getting famous is my mother’s dream, not mine. She shoves me into the spotlight and spends money we don’t have while I smile and obey. When an indie project I’m in goes viral, my big break comes with a dark side. Anonymous messages threaten my life, and to expose the truth about the blood-soaked night my half-brother Axel died.
Terrified, I turn to the one person who knows my Axel’s best friend. But he’s not the boy I remember. He’s Priest, a dangerous criminal and sworn member of the notorious Outlaw Sons MC. Together with his brothers-in-arms, Sinner and Colt, he offers to keep me safe. For a price.
But when my new bodyguards are three bossy, inked-up bikers, the line between business and pleasure gets blurry, fast.
When Priest looks at me, he still sees his best friend’s little sister… until his dark eyes start burning with something far more wicked.
Colt is a predator, deadly and suspicious, but once I earn his trust, he’s eager to devour every soft, warm inch of flesh I have to offer.
And Sinner, prison-hardened and fiercely protective, makes it clear no one else will ever touch what’s theirs.
For the first time I know what it feels like to have people who really care at my back, and I don’t want to give them up, even if that choice could cost me my career.
People call them monsters, but they’re my strongest defenders in a world where success has turned into a curse, and the ghosts of the past are back to haunt me
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
Chapter 1 - Quinn
A heavy dance beat thrums through the nightclub, the low lights pulsing in time with it. The air is oppressively thick with the scents of people, booze, and the purple haze from the smoke machines. I can count the number of times I’ve been clubbing on one hand, and the last time I was here was almost a year ago when we were shooting. Back then it was called Starburst, but after Saving the World: 101 took off, they decided to ride the wave of publicity and changed the name to Inferno like in the show. Tonight we’re back as part of the promotion to celebrate getting picked up by a major streaming network.
“You must be dying in that outfit,” Erika whispers.
A drop of sweat runs down the back of my neck and under the collar of my tight leather jacket. “You have no idea. Want to trade?”
Desdemona, my character, is a half-demon college student. Inferno was a demon-owned club in the show, so whenever I was there I was dressed head to toe in tight black leather with chunky platform boots. Erika’s luckier tonight. She’s my co-star, and her character Gloria is part angel, so she’s wearing a light flowy dress with her gorgeous halo of dark curls pulled up high with strands of metallic gold filigree.
Her eyes sparkle as she laughs. “Not on your life. Are you good here? I think I should go rescue Toby before the photos.”
Toby sends us a desperate look from near the dance floor where he’s been cornered by several fans. In the show, Toby’s werewolf family is a biker gang called The Wild Things, so there are plenty of bikers, demons and the occasional angel wandering around in the crowd.
“Go on, get your boy.”
“He’s not my boy!” she hisses under her breath.
Toby plays Erika’s werewolf love interest in the show, and there’ve been bets going all year among the cast about when they’re finally going to get together for real. I might tease her, but I never joined the bets because I know she actually likes him. She’s just afraid the relationship would be doomed if the public found out.
As soon as she’s gone, a slender guy with glasses and a ponytail slides into her place. “Hey, I’m Keith. Do you have a second?”
“Hi Keith.” I smile, frantically trying to remember if I know him or not. Something about him seems familiar.
“I run a fan community for the book series. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
“Saving the Blog! Of course, yeah!”
His face lights up. “I read that you know the books, but I wasn’t sure if it was true or just something you said, you know?”
“Hah, I wish. I was actually embarrassingly obsessed with them in high school. You should’ve seen me when Tamika was around. I fangirled hard. Like, the actual author? For real? So what’s your question?”
“Okay, um… So, in episode four, when the zombie rats are blocking the way into the access tunnel under the library, in the books, Des reveals her demonic animal affinity for the first time, but in the show, you just slash through them with your scythe. Do you know if they’re planning on cutting that ability out? Because it’s a big part of—”
“The third book, yeah I know. It was a budget thing. Nobody was sure if the show would do well enough to get a second season let alone a third so they tried to cut out magic effects unless they were really important. The scriptwriters worked directly with Tamika and she signed off on any big plot changes so I’m sure they’ll figure it out if we make it that far into the story.”
“Sorry! We have to steal Quinn,” Toby says, interrupting with a hand on my elbow. “Time to work.”
“Nice to meet you, Keith,” I call as my co-stars guide me away.
The next half hour goes by in a blur of photos and autographs, including one with Keith and the three of us. By the time we stop for a break, I’m dying for something to drink and half wondering if I should look up the first signs of heatstroke. I break away from the group and head to the bar, my steps falling naturally in time with the thump thump thump of the music. Dizzying colored laser effects dance around the room in time with it.
I squeeze between a couple of the biker extras at the bar. They look good. Really good, actually. I don’t remember the set costumes looking quite so authentic up close, but these guys fill them out nicely. They have a lot of ink and some scary looking scars, and I can’t quite tell if it’s makeup, or if they were chosen because they already fit the part. Staring too hard seems rude.
“Are you guys as ready to get out of these clothes as I am?”