Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.
Fortitude: Part Six by Cia Nordwell
“You kept me up all night,” I complained. Teddy was yawning and griping about the lack of hot chocolate while I packed the tent.
Teddy flushed crimson, his fair skin turning beet red. “I was scared,” he mumbled.
I might have complained more, but having Teddy clinging to me had been pleasant, even if I was exhausted. “Well, the sun is up so that bird-like thing shouldn’t be around. We need to keep going, if we’re going to find the codex.” I’d keep my eyes peeled out for our wildman, though. I had a feeling he was close.
“Which way
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The frantic beat of the drums followed her as she raced through the mountains. They were too near. The chorus of haunting voices echoed through the rocks as she slipped down a slope. She wouldn’t let them reach her. She couldn’t. Her life depended on it. She didn’t care that the Gods had to be appeased. She didn’t care about being the chosen one. She didn’t care for anything except leaving behind the terrible music that preluded the ceremony that would take her life.
Xandria bit back a scream as she stumbled in the darkness and grazed her knee against a sharp rock.
Time of Reckoning by Shelly Schulz
She laughed, pushing wayward strands of hair out of her face. “As unbelievable as this is, Grady isn’t that bad, I can handle my own against him.”
“Yes, but why would you want to?” I said as I filled out the research proposal sheet. “To call him abrasive would be a compliment.” Making sure my handwriting was legible I filled in the lines on the form, signed my name, and turned it toward Layla who signed and dated it as well.
“I have Faden for homeroom, do you want me to turn it in then?” She asked. “No big deal.”
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Zane banged his head on the steering wheel. Sharp, piercing pain shot through his skull, sending echoes of agony throughout his already battered and bruised body. For once in his life, he relished it. He clung to the beat of the throbbing in his head. If he focused on his physical hurt, then he could tune out the deep twisting torment in his heart. How could he have been such a fool?
Damn-it, Zane! Get your head out of your ass! He needed to get home before he let his world totally and spectacularly crash down around him…
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In Enemy Hands: #2.2 by M.A. Church
Varo squatted down next to Haus, mediunit already scanning his officer. Varo touched Haus’ arm. “Okay, Haus, talk to me.”
Haus grunted. “That certainly was not my idea of fun, Captain.”
Varo’s lips twitched. Several strands of long dirty blond hair had come loose from the braid he wore. Soon, Haus would be griping about the curls he called untamable. He was one of the few Yesrians who didn’t have straight hair.
Varo scanned Haus, and the bruises already blooming across his face, one of Haus’ moss green eyes starting to swell shut. “The fun isn’t over. Now stay still until I know you haven’t damaged anything.”
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Washed Right Out: Chapter Eleven by Sarah Hayes
Before Riley could respond, Eren stood up. “We can text about it later. Or Skype, or whatever. Just remind me before you leave for the day.”
“I might not answer right away.” Riley shook his head. “Uh, I have plans this weekend. Sort of.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He crumpled up the paper bag he’d brought his lunch in between his hands. “We can talk more about it in person on Monday, okay? Take the weekend to think on it. I still owe you breakfast, remember?”
“Of course, yeah.”
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Flood: Chapter 8 by Matthias Williamson
I turned to Mama. This time, she let me, as the scry rippled and clarified to pure, clear water. The stick was clean of my blood, and as I looked at my palm, I could see a drying line across it. It intersected my life line; there would be a scar.
I looked to Mama, stricken.
“Mama… that was Ethan. My Ethan. Why would he run my Mama off the road? I don’t understand.”
She still held my arm, soothing as she looked away. “Son, that probably wasn’t Ethan any longer. Not by that point.”
“And that wasn’t Lucy?
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Rattletrap #22 by Tali Spencer
Jedd stared. Jei. Just the way Ussim had said the word, his lip lifting with disdain as violet eyelids narrowed, indicated trouble. Their shared human lineage made his Ghisr captor easy to read. Emotional, Ussim had called himself.
“Who—or what—are the Jei?” Jedd wanted to know.
“A foul, gelatinous race in search of planets to infest.”
“Gelatinous?” Jedd ceased breathing as his gut turned cold. “You mean Jellies?”
Ussim lifted a thin blue eyebrow. “The word came to us from the humans. Yes. Jellies. Jei.” He frowned. “The Zjinsky encountered them first on the human edge of Transept space.”
It was finally discovered that only bringing Ethan forward brought the timeline back 95% back into its proper flow. While Ethan missed his family terribly, he settled into his new life with Ryan; the two of them building a life together, even as members of the TPC continued to try and figure out what was going on with the timeline. Everyone had believed that bringing Ethan forward in time would fix it. They were wrong.
World War 3 in 2474 and World War 4 in 2802 caused a lot of historical records from that time period to be lost.
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Don’t Look Back #21 (5.1) by Julie Lynn Hayes
Lee pushed through the revolving brass door, Marshall just behind him. Back on the sidewalk, they paused to get their bearings and catch their breath. The business meeting had lasted longer than they’d expected, but it had been worth it.
Marshall squinted at the reflected glare of the sun’s rays that bounced off the huge glass buildings that surrounded them. They didn’t have anything like this in Burnham. The only time he saw structures this big was on their periodic visits to San Antonio. It was nice now and then, but he preferred living the way they did to being part of this noise. Marshall reached into his pocket and brought out his sunglasses. There, that was better.
“Now that’s a good morning.”
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So it begins:
I found myself asking “Why am I here at the Hylia Valley Gathering?”
I stepped up to the window and put down my money, looking up and catching the gatekeeper’s eye.
“By Fecultia!” the gatekeeper said loudly, obviously in awe of who stood before him, “I can’t believe you are here in the Hylia Valley!” while pushing my money back towards him.
She placed an arm on his shoulder. “Hear me out.
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