The Fractured Empire
Robin D. Mahle
(World Apart #1)
Publication date: October 19th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Clark and Adelaide think their lives can’t get any worse. Until they meet each other.
Adelaide — heiress to the wealthiest man in the Ceithren Empire — has felt a void since her sister’s death. Just as she’s resigned herself to the empty life her father chose for her, a relic from a world that shouldn’t exist plunges her into chaos.
Clark — son of the greatest terrorist the empire has ever known — is still reeling from his father’s death. Since then, his life has boiled down to two things: his brothers and his next mission. When his mission to bring back a mystical artifact goes awry, he’s forced to choose between getting the job done and saving the life of a spoiled socialite.
But Clark isn’t the only one after the artifact.
He and Adelaide must work together to survive… if only they can manage to avoid killing each other before their enemies have the chance.
—
EXCERPT:
“I’m sure my ankle is fine now. Feel free to set me down at any time.”
“Gladly,” Xav said. “I mean, you aren’t wearing shoes, and I’m sure your delicate socialite feet are more than accustomed to picking their way across broken bottles and cigarette butts, but here you go.” Xavier unceremoniously plopped Addie on her feet. She gingerly tested her ankle but said nothing.
“Xavier, you can’t make Addie walk in this. Pick her back up.” This from my more compassionate brother.
“Whatever. The girl is heavier than she looks. I’ll pick her back up when she asks me to. Nicely.” He folded his arms over his chest.
“Don’t hold your breath. Or better yet, do.” Lending weight to her words, the stubborn girl took off walking. Or limping, rather. In the wrong direction.
“Wrong way,” I alerted her, having finally gotten my bearings despite their banter. She changed course, cursing a bit under her breath. After several paces of listening to her sharp intakes of breath, I turned around and hauled her over my good shoulder.
“I was doing fine.”
Her pride was unbelievable.
“Of course you were, but we’d like to get there sometime today, so be a good girl and stay still.”
Her outraged hiss did more to amuse me than anything. In the midst of this mission gone wrong, I found myself with the urge to laugh. I held it back, but there was something about this girl that I couldn’t help but find humorous.
Xavier hadn’t been entirely joking. The weight of the girl and her dress was fairly substantial for how tiny she looked. I had noticed that on the walk to the forest, but it was more pronounced with her on only one shoulder. Her dress was billowing in my face, and I kept having to blow the dirt-covered fabric out of my mouth. Thankfully, it was only a few more minutes to Wesley’s container.
A cautious hand crept toward my belt pocket. She wasn’t shy, I’d give her that. With a sigh, I covered the slim hand with my larger one.
“I don’t blame you for trying, but that’s not how this works. I told you, you’ll get this necklace back when I get the one I want,” I told her.
Author Bio:
The name Robin D. Mahle represents a dynamic husband and wife storytelling team. They've travelled the world for both love and war, and a tale began to form between the two of them that just had to be told. One's love of anime and comics collided with the other's love of fiction novels to produce a story with action, captivating dialogue, and riveting prose.
The female piece to the puzzle that is Robin spends her days as a captioner for the deaf and hard of hearing. She loves to read, write, and loves all things Doctor Who. A Marine Corps veteran, her husband homeschools their offspring, lovingly nicknamed Thing 1 and Thing 2. He loves to write and spend time in his garden.They also have two fur babies: a standard full-sized poodle and a persian cat. Their family lives in Colorado after a lifetime of being way too hot in Texas.
1 comments:
sounds like a fun one
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