“What is that?” Kadrek asked and reached out to touch the side of the Alvaine’s bare hip. She took a sharp breath but did not move back.
“Old wound.” Dainzel replied softly, still not flinching away from the Diabane’s lingering touch. Hari couldn’t believe his eyes.
"breaking the condition would mean you are a criminal."
"and trust me, you don't want to be one right now."
“Huh?” His mouth fell open.
“Yes, we all felt that way... at first.” Maedra grasped his wrist and drew him to sit down at the table.
“How about you stay the fuck away from my band mates?!” Leticia warned.
“Amelia, isn’t that the heifer that harassed you in the woods?” Nicola pointed out as Leticia went red with anger.
“Heifer!? This girl tried to fucking kill me!” Leticia raised her voice which Nicola giggled at her outburst.
"You might be wondering why I called you."
"Yes," Xiao Lin replied with mouthful.
"I want you to become my concubine."
Cough! Cough! Cough!
He chuckled at her as he inspected the pipe, his pipe hung out of his mouth. Eliza, doing as she’s told, put the polish back in the leather pouch.
“This was your mother’s, I got it for her as a gift for our eighth wedding anniversary.” He passed it back to her as he continued. “You’re more than welcome to it.”
“That’s a shame, it’s a beautiful pipe.” Eliza said.
Bard Romance updated today 
“So the medical applications of the combat suit will give the medic a reading of your heartbeat, blood pressure and conscious state whenever you show signs you’re in distress.” The medic explained as we patrolled along.
“Huh, but I wasn’t in distress, maybe it’s a glitch?” We turned a corner only have walked into a wall of gunfire.
An ambush.
I dropped down to the ground immediately and started shooting rounds down in the opposite direction, none of my bullets hitting anyone but forcing a couple to duck into cover.
“What about now?” The medic replied sarcastically.
It's in a much later chapter in my novel.
“Hari?” Rubia shook him by the shoulder. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Uh... I’m just tired. Have any of you slept at all?”
"Hey!" Leena stood between the two. "We haven't even started walking yet. Paluk, your plan is good, but do not boss us around. No-one is in charge. We work together. Okay?"
The boys looked at each other, slightly taken aback, and nodded.
"Leena's in charge" they said in unison and began to walk along the dusty road.
“Well, how are you going to repay me for this favor?” Sandra cocked her head to one side, soft bangs covering her twinkling eyes.
Thomas’s eyes widened. Color tainted his cheeks. “Umm.”
Damn. Here goes nothing.
“Would dinner and drinks be enough?” he blurted.
Double or nothing day - four lines of dialogue instead of two -
“That the Alvaine are deceptive goes without a doubt.” The commander gave his warrior a stern look. “This one may be using this pretence to get closer to our Outpost.”
“What possible gain will Dainzel get by doing that.” Kadrek persisted, though with some care.
“Is that her name?” Eldrek’s immense square jaw clenched tightly. “You are quite familiar with this Alvaine, it seems.”
“She has aided... the Humaine in their need, as much as I have.” The younger warrior stubbornly held his ground, “I see nothing to doubt her intentions yet, Commander.”
"You are not suicidal and I’m sorry I said that. Although... You did punch a skeleton.”
“Don't undersell it. I punched a skeleton made of stone. I didn't have time to grapple with it, with his friends chasing me."
https://tapas.io/dashboard/episode/update/1904983
“Wandersmead was once a sacred place for the Humaine, back in our early years.” Sora’s lilting voice reached her sharp hearing. “I’ve read much about it in the historical scrolls in the Winnowood library.”
“Do those scrolls mention anything about treasure being buried there?” Hari asked her in a tone that gave away his cynicism.
“I did no such thing, Chantel!” Her father put his newspaper down and looked at her, “What’s wrong?”
“Darren told me you tried to keep him from being friends with me. Now I know there was a reason you didn’t want him at my sixth birthday party!” Chantel exclaimed, slamming her fork on the table.
“And that reason is because he is a strange boy and-” Her father scratched his head, then Chantel interrupted him.
“H-hello”, Professor Arga greeted, and hesitantly waved his hand. “We are human beings from Planet Earth. We come in peace.”
“Hu-mann?” the tailed being asked back with a heavy growling voice. Their tail was no longer lashing, but pointing up in attention.
“And you? What do you think?”
“I think that there is plenty in our ancestral history to drive a man to madness.”
“Oh...I think I’m a little drunk.” Eliza giggled as Julia helped her upright, a ghost of a smile showed on the wizard's face, she cupped her face before she pushed her brown strands behind her pointed ear. Eliza chewed her bottom lip as she inhaled deeply, as she stared at Julia with growing desire; she really should leave now.
“Just a little?” Julia responded mirthfully before she continued speaking.
“That is for her to decide, you do not command her.” Kadrek stood head to head with his heavier brother-in-arms.
“Your impudence needs to be taught a lesson.” Eldrek roared into the younger Diabane’s stone hard face. “No weapons, no armour, just our skill with bare fists.”
“But why were you hiding?” Yuma almost demanded.
“Yuma, will you stop...” Her older sister looked embarrassed.
"breaking the condition would mean you are a criminal."
" and trust me, you don't want to be one right now."
"Fair enough, I Accept."
“Impossible!” Endergast exclaimed. “Do you realize how slim the chances are of not only developing a stable mutation, but for it to occur so quickly after exposure?! Like a phoenix rising from it’s ashes, you returned from the edge of death! Remarkable!”
“I’m not your science project!” Mallory spat. As his anger grew, the aura of flames became more intense, moving and vibrating. “None of us are! The lives lost here tonight were more important that your experiments!”
He puffed out his chest, putting on a stern front as he chided his nephew. “I have to tell you, Shawn. I’m disappointed in you. You should know better than to stalk someone’s home and take pictures of them without permission. How could you not know right from wrong? I mean-”
“Who are you to tell me what I can or can’t do?!” Shawn retorted, his hands balled into fists at his side. Eyes ablaze, he glowered at his uncle with renewed energy.
“Do you not trust her?” Hari asked in a low whisper.
“I couldn’t say, but she seems different from most Humaine.” She told the boy softly. “Disturbingly so.”
“Just our fate.” Hari chuckled mirthlessly. “Everywhere we go of late ends up being in ruins.”
“We will go there, nevertheless.” Arden turned to Gazrek. “Lead on, my friend.”
“No! You are not allowed to reject this one. Haven’t you had enough rejecting such good ones before! How long do you think I paid the matchmakers to find you good proposals! But what you insolent brat did!” The beta-mother fumed.
“Then don’t! I keep telling you I don’t want to marry yet!”
"Your family could still be alive. Have you checked --"
"No. They're not."
The ending chapter comes this week! 
“I need you to figure out where exactly in the Love House is Mr. Firth tonight,” asked Taulif as he leaned on the red textured wall behind her. “Hector told me his sources say he will be here, but I have failed to locate him so far in the big, red room.”
“Ah, you mean the big muscular man with a mustache who works at the bank?” Crystal asked as she brushed her hair.
“We will know when we try.” Arden reached down and took a hold of the iron ring.
“I’m not too keen to have a broken back.” Hari sniggered.
“Can we talk?” Magnus asked, sounding as calm and cool as I bloody wished I was. The falsely flirtatious note in his voice did not elude me, effortlessly coiling around his accent. “It would mean a lot to me if you could just delete that photo you took, sweetheart…”
It occurred to me then that he was absolutely banking on me being a good little fangirl and doing as I was told. In fact, he was certainly betting everything on being able to solve this by the grace of me being his unquestioning fan, paid a thousand times over simply for the privilege of his presence.
I gazed back into those stunning, dark-lined eyes I had dreamed of on numerous occasions. A quivering breath drew through my nostrils, stilling my pounding heart as I unconsciously leant towards my idol.
“...Absolutely not,” I whispered.
“I will pay for everything. No tricks or lies. Young Supernaturals like you need all the help you can get, especially for you three. You are all victims of a government coverup.” Mikel explained, which made Chantel spit out her tea!
“A government what?” Chantel babbled, then reached out for a napkin to clean herself.
“Why consciousness? Why is that what fascinates you so, Uxas?”
The answer was stark.
“…Not everyone deserves this gift.”
from ch.19 "Salty Sincerity (Interlude of Uncertainty)"
“Attention citizens, you need to evacuate the area in an orderly manner. There is a client nearby. This is for your own safety.”
I was met with boos and shouts of protest. A woman with a microphone stood on a car and shouted back at me, fury oozing from her every word.
“The Ardour Government has never given a shit about our safety until now! We won’t stop until they agree to our terms and let us evacuate Ardour! No more lies and no more woe! Cancel debts and let us go!”
“Stonedread!” Dainzel and Sora said as one.
“You know of Stonedread?” Eldrek narrowed his eyes at the girl from Winnowood as everyone stared at her in surprise.
“Should I be worried to have such a fierce man as a rival to my son, sir Stringer?”
“I would never consider myself worthy of such trust, my lord.” Daren denied. “Nor do I want to settle down as of now…”
The back of her metal hand, steaming with heat, pressed against his cheek, “Now…now, I don’t have to feel guilty anymore!”
“Ira…no…”
Read on for more: https://tapas.io/episode/1922637
“You don’t have to remind me. Any second you could blow my brains out. I’m just at your disposal.”
“Hey, why would I unnecessarily kill an attractive guy like you?” I teased. Nathaniel didn’t answer; however, I could see him fidgeting with his leg. I guess that comment stirred him up somehow. Cute.
From Chapter 17 of Like Ecstasy
"you see, this whole room is filled with what you would call gunpowder."
"A tiny spark and this whole mansion will go up in flames along with you and me in it."
“What is Kreignan?” Terek raised his dark eyebrows.
“Grim creatures, not unlike the Laichanan.” Kadrek offered, noting the looks of apprehension in the young faces of the Humaine. “Save larger and deadlier.”
She tossed him a mischievous glance over her shoulder. “Don’t you want to know how I’d gotten in?”
Naturally, she wanted to tell.
“Yeah,” he said, mentally waving goodbye to his initial vision of a quick chat. He shifted his butt deeper into the cushions and leaned back. A long exhale left his chest, as if he were a smoker. “Sure. How the heck did a twelve-year-old break into a secure lab?”
