Other new releases, and also DUNE. Damn.

 Hi darlins!

I brought up His Holiday Crush, so I might as well bring up the other things that are happening word-wise for me right now.

Sniper Vs. Spotter is out, with L.A. Witt. It's the Hitman sequel, and it's hilarious, and we're writing the 3rd book right now. We just can't quit these guys.

Sniper Vs Spotter on Amazon

Mortal-enemies-turned-furniture-breaking-lovers August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba have found a groove that suits them both. They’ve teamed up as hired guns, they live together, and by some miracle, they haven’t killed each other. It’s the closest to normal they’ll ever have, and they love it.

But their guns-and-roses future is thrown into chaos when Ricardo’s past comes crashing into their present. What begins as a favor for an old friend—well, “friend,” but don’t tell August—quickly spirals into something far bigger than they anticipated. Now they’re in way over their heads with powerful people on both sides of the law, and it’s going to take more than snark and explosions to see them through.

Nevertheless, there will be plenty of snark and explosions, because this is August and Ricardo, and no one would expect any less. In between the smoke and sarcasm, though, they are determined to bring an evil operation crashing down… no matter who they have to work with to get the job done.

And no matter who they have to kill.

Sniper vs Spotter is the sequel to the apparently-it-doesn’t-want-to-be-a-standalone Hitman vs Hitman, which absolutely was supposed to be a standalone, but August and Ricardo (predictably) refused to be contained. Our audiobook narrator also shares some of the blame, Michael. So here we are.  

Also--Mutable, which some of you are probably familiar with, has had the hell edited out of it and is available on the KISS app.

Cas Farling is three things: a refugee in a war that's nearly destroyed his people; an assassin desperate for revenge against the person his sold him out; and a phage carrier—his body shared with an organism that lets him change his appearance at will. He's also marked for death by the local planetary government, and if he can't convince the peace-keeping Imperians that he's actually his deceased brother Beren—young, innocent, and deserving a second chance at life—he'll be murdered as soon as he leaves their encampment. 

 

If Cas dies, he won’t be able to avenge his brother. Lucky for Cas, the Imperians' commander, Rone Basinti, believes he is who he says he is, and is willing to do more than Cas ever dreamed possible to save him—even if it means marrying him.

 

Too bad he doesn’t know who he’s really marrying…or how far Cas is willing to go to hunt down his prey.

***

Also, in completely other news, I watched DUNE, in a theater (first time in over two years) and it was a visual feast. I've never been a huge fan of the story or any of the previous adaptations, but this was a pretty beautiful film. Also, Rebecca Ferguson is my favorite. Emotional and badass, powerful and badass, loving and also quite badass...she rocks.

Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Four, Part One

 Notes: Back for more! A slightly shorter one than last time, but setting up some big reveals.

Title: Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Four, Part One.

***

Chapter Four, Part One

 

Elanus Desfontaines just stared at Kieron for a moment, his thumb wiping up the thin trail of blood that was meandering down the corner of his mouth as he took Kieron’s measure. Kieron straightened his back and mentally ran through every relevant passage in the rulebook that would allow him to argue for leniency from a review board, because there was no way he wasn’t getting fired for this, but he’d be damned if he let this fancy bastard have his way without a fight.

His dark thoughts were scattered into confusion when the Ganian began to laugh, straightening up to his full height and shaking his head ruefully. “I suppose I should have expected that,” he said, blotting up the last few traces of blood before shrugging. “At least it shows you’ve got a backbone, which is more than I expected given some of the reports that have been coming from this place.”

I should never have put Dave in charge of filing status updates. It was all Kieron could do to keep from audibly grinding his teeth.

“Still, consider yourself on thin ice until you convince me otherwise,” Elanus went on. “It’s one thing to tell a guy off, it’s quite another to introduce yourself fist-first.”

“Says the man who almost ran his ship into the side of the station,” Kieron muttered. Elanus clearly heard him—of course he did, Ganians were renowned for having the all the latest physical mods and upgrades. He could probably hear Kieron’s heartbeat if he used his implant to modulate his ears just right.

“Clearly you’ve got questions,” Elanus said. His smile went sharp, the edge of teeth showing between his lips as much of a warning as the exposed blade of a knife. “And I’ve got answers, but first I need to look at your activity log for the past week.”

Kieron frowned. “Why?”

“What did I just say about questions? Come on.” Elanus walked off, finding his way far too easily.

He’s been studying the station, memorizing its architecture. He definitely came prepared. Kieron followed him, his mind in a state of upheaval, every carefully plotted step in his plan for the next five months scattered in the wake of Elanus Desfontaines’ arrival.

It’s all right. You just need to figure out what he wants and get it to him as quickly as possible. Nobody who looked like this man—so carefully groomed, so immaculately dressed, with his slick, strange ship—wanted to be in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the galaxy with only the most basic of amenities for months on end. Kieron just had to make sure he got whatever he needed and then…

And then what? Big Momma has moved on, we’re in full radiation now. He can’t leave, it would be suicide. It’s incredible that he made it here alive—and seemingly unharmed—at all. Fuck, fuck, fuck, Kieron was so fucked. An entire season of searching might be wasted all because this godsdamn popinjay had decided to fly out here without any warning and ruin—

“—access it. Hello?” Kieron startled as he suddenly clocked a hand being waved too close to his face. Automatically, his arms swept the offending limb down and away, gripping the wrist and then the shoulder tight and levering its owner into a sharp bend at the waist before he remembered himself.

“Sorry,” Kieron said, letting his new boss out of the hold he’s unconsciously put him in to.

Elanus straightened up and stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, rolling his wrist out before he finally shrugged again. “It doesn’t matter. I do expect you to pay attention when I’ve got a question for you, though. If we can’t communicate except through the vehicle of you manhandling me, we’re going to have a really rough time here together.”

It’s going to be rough regardless. Kieron cleared his throat and nodded. “Sorry,” he repeated. “What was your question?”

“I’m not registered as a control for the system here yet. Can you sign in and give me access to the control panel?”

“Of course. As soon as you show me some identification.”

Elanus’s small smile dropped off his face. “What?”

“Identification proving you are who you say you are and that you have the authority to ask this of me.” Kieron knew he was pushing it, but regulations insisted that he go through this part. If he didn’t, he’d give this guy even more grounds to fire him, if he really had that kind of authority.

“For the love of—how do you think I was able to read everything about this station?”

“You could have gotten that information from someone who’d been here recently.” Kieron folded his arms across his chest. “I need proof before I can let you have control access to Cloverleaf Station.”

Elanus scowled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” Elanus stalked back out into the hall and toward Bay Five. Kieron exhaled long and slow, then put his hand on the console. “Open communications,” he said, and his incoming mail folder sprang up just in front of his eyes thanks to the implant at the top of his spine. “Find Elanus Desfontaines.”

“Two messages,” the AI responded. Kieron opened them one after the other, skimming them with a sinking feeling.

It was all right there—the transfer of authority, the indication of arrival, and a picture that matched the smug, smirking face of the guy he’d just sent back to his ship to get a physical ID from. “List pertinent information on Elanus Desfontained and Lifeship Enterprises.”

The list that popped up was as impressive as it was comprehensive. Desfontaines was in fact the CEO of a modern shipbuilding company, one that was experimenting with and integrating all sorts of new technologies into its hulls; specifically, alloys that were designed to self-heal from all sorts of damage, including radiation. Desfontaines himself was not only the CEO, he was the lead engineer; together with his business partner Deysan Moritz, another Ganian, they had created enough interest and amassed enough capitol to buy a place like Cloverleaf Station outright, never mind leasing control of it for a season.

So. Elanus Desfontaines had more money than most planets, was a business leader, had all kinds of political backing in the Central System, and was a tech genius.

Shit. What the hell was this guy doing here?

His Holiday Crush is on sale!

 Hi darlins!

I've got a book on sale right now, and it's kind of a big deal. His Holiday Crush, my sweet contemporary holiday romance with Entangled Publishing, is on sale for $.99 today, and only today (I think--not entirely sure, but let's not leave this to chance). So if you're in the mood for a story of mine that doesn't involve anyone dying or monsters hunting people or explosions, then now's the time!

https://www.amazon.com/His-Holiday-Crush-Cari-Z-ebook/dp/B08NH93TT4/

Workaholic attorney Max Robertson is one meeting away from making partner at a big NYC firm when his best friend calls and guilts him into coming back home for Christmas. But there’s a reason he hasn’t been back to Edgewood for a decade—too many bad memories. The plan was to go for just one night, until a wild deer and a snow bank wrecked everything.

Former Army Sergeant Dominic “Nicky” Bell is the new guy on the Edgewood police force, so of course he drew the short straw and is stuck working the night shift. But his evening gets turned upside-down when he gets called out to a wreck in the snow—and it’s his one and only high school crush, looking even sexier than he did back then.

When they both end up stranded together at Dominc’s house, sparks start to fly and Max isn’t sure what to do. But everyone deserves a present this holiday season, right?

Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Three, Part Two

 Notes: Hey, more Cloverleaf, yay! Meet this jackass right here. He'll grow on you, I swear. Like a fungus.

Title: Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Three, Part Two

***

Chapter Three, Part Two

 

“I’m going to be in docking position in five minutes,” Mr. Desfontaines went on, like he hadn’t just thrown Kieron’s entire planet off its axis. “You’ve got that minus thirty seconds to open one of the bay doors for me.”

“There’s no ready room in the single operational bay for your ship,” Kieron responded automatically, his mind running calculations even as his hands began to shake. “I need twenty minutes to get my ship moved and ensure you don’t run into anything on your way in.”

“Nonsense, this is a trim little craft and she’ll scootch right into a corner. Bay Five, right?”

How did he know that?

“I’ve got access to all your computer logs,” Desfontaines went on, and Kieron’s heart suddenly squeezed so hard in his chest that he almost lost consciousness for a second. “If they’re accurate—which they’d better be—then I’m sure you can get your ship moved over just, what, a meter to the left as one enters the bay, and I’ll be able to glide in right beside you.”

“I’d have to exit and reenter to make that space. I need more time.”

“You’ve got ground rollers, don’t you? They show as operational. Use them instead. Four minutes now.” The computer began an automatic countdown to opening the bay’s outer doors.

That fucker had remote access to the control system. He couldn’t force the doors open from the outside, but he could start the sequence, gear everything up for the opening. If they stayed in that ready state for long, their circuits would start to fry.

Kieron didn’t waste time swearing, just took off at a run toward the bay. He did have ground rollers, stacked up in the back corners of the bay, but he hadn’t bothered to leave them initialized since his was the only ship in here and it would require extra fuel to keep them operational, even in an inactive state. There was no time for that, not on this asshole’s schedule.

He was going to have to move the ship himself.

“Station,” he shouted to the AI as he ran, “Reduce gravity in Bay Five to one-tenth Earth norm.”

“That will exceed stated energy parameters for—”

“Override parameters, just do it!”

“Affirmative.”

Kieron lost ten seconds grabbing his maintenance boots from his room, and another twenty seconds in the sealed operations room between the station and the bay, waiting for the gravity shift to be completed. Then the door opened, he stepped inside—

And nearly propelled himself straight into a stack of reusable cargo pallets. Shit. It had been a while since he’d had to get around in such light gravity. He activated the magnetic seals on the bottom of his maintenance boots, the ones he wore when he was doing low- or zero-gravity repairs, and was immediately resituated on the floor.

All right. Now to see if his gut instinct with the gravity change had been correct. He headed over to the wall next to his ship, all ten tons of her, and ran out the cables that he normally used to keep cargo from floating into space and attached them to her landing struts.

“Two minutes, Sparky. Better get those doors open.”

Kieron was sweating as he made sure the cables were properly attached, then activated the pulleys that would draw them tight. This system was hardwired into the walls of the bay itself, and therefore always accessible, unlike the ground rollers that had a separate operating system and power supply. The cables drew taut, but his ship didn’t move.

He increased the power by ten percent. Still nothing. He shouldn’t be surprised—a ten-ton ship was very light by modern standards, but still a hell of a lot of weight. He increased power by fifty percent, close to the maximum he could expect the cables to take before breaking.

The Daring Do began to move. It made a terrible scraping sound at first, but once inertia was overcome, it went more smoothly. A quarter-meter. Half. It was getting really close to the wall now. Aaaand…..stop! He hammered the button to shut down the pulley, but didn’t bother to detach them as he had less than—

“One minute. Better open those doors or I’ll smash into the side of your station, and then things will really be fucked.”

This guy had no idea what fucked was, but he would soon. Kieron ran back for the operations room and resealed it. “Station, open outer doors to Bay Five!”

“You must remove prior environmental modifications to open the outer doors.”

Fuck, how had he forgotten that step? “Station, return gravity to normal, then open outer doors!”

“Affirmative. Gravity change initialized. Opening doors in ten seconds.”

“Here I come, Sparky. Better roll out the welcome wagon now, or get ready to explain a hell of a lot of damage.”

“You’re insane,” Kieron muttered. Naturally his com picked it up.

“Nah, I just know how to motivate people to get things done. You’ve got five seconds.”

The doors began to open. They seemed to be moving more slowly than xenon’s half-life, but he knew it was all in his mind. This asshole had him spooked…and Kieron was more than a little angry about that.

The doors were only halfway open when the nose of the incoming ship nudged between them. It was a slender, needle-like thing, not a spacious passenger liner or even a blocky-but-functional cargo carrier. This was a vessel that had been designed with one thing in mind: speed.

Aerodynamics were a nonsense consideration in space, generally, but apart from being slender the vessel also looked amazingly light, and…what was the exterior of that ship made out of? Kieron couldn’t tell, but he was sure he’d never seen anything quite like it before. It seemed to…ripple, almost, like it was changing based on the environment around it. As he watched, it went from something very glittery and hard-looking to something duller, more matte. Not soft, exactly, but it somehow gave the appearance of softness.

The ship settled in without a problem next to the Do, and the outer doors closed as steadily as they’d opened. Kieron watched numbly as the ship went through a shutdown sequence, finally going almost completely dark on the outside. Then a hatch opened in the side of it, and out stepped—

A Ganian! He hadn’t seen one in almost twenty years. Ganians were humans who’d been permanently altered by the environment of the planet they’d colonized, Gania, several thousand years ago. The gravity there was so low, and the environment so resistant to modification, that the people who lived there had grown long and lean, to the point that few Ganians ever stopped growing at less than seven feet tall. Some even hit eight or nine, but this guy—Elanus—had stopped around seven and a half feet, it looked like. Kieron, at six feet even, felt a little strange having to look up so high as the lanky man walked toward the sealed operations room.

Elanus Desfontaines was dressed in a black bodysuit, clearly custom, that clung to his form in very fitted ways. He had the close-cut but elaborate facial hair of a male Ganian, the design meticulously sculpted from the point of his chin to his temples, where he let it grow out more naturally. His skin was light brown, accented with what looked like coppery paint in places, highlighting his sharp cheekbones and the knife’s edge of his long, patrician nose. He was very pretty as far as people went, for all that he seemed skinny enough to break over one knee.

“Hellooooo? Let me in, already.”

Kieron blinked, then pushed the button to open the sealed room. A moment later Elanus stepped inside, having to duck down slightly to keep from bumping his head as the decontamination process began.

“Not really designed for a Ganian, is it?” he asked, glancing around before finally looking at Kieron with a smirk. “We’ll have to make sure that’s—gah!” He stumbled back against the wall, one hand pressed to his freshly punched jaw as his eyes widened slightly.

Kieron shook out his stinging knuckles. “Welcome to Cloverleaf Station. Sir.”

Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Three, Part One

 Notes: Incoming MC alert! Incoming MC alert! Prepare for sparks flying!

Title: Cloverleaf Station: Chapter Three, Part One

***

Chapter Three, Part One

 

While they were in the hot zone, Cloverleaf Station’s useable space was cut down to less than a quarter of what it was when open to visitors. Mostly, it was in an effort to conserve fuel stores—five months was a long time to wait for a resupply in anything, and if the station ran out of fuel then running out of other tenuous supplies wouldn’t matter so much, because they’d either spoil or freeze solid depending on what fell apart next.

Kieron closed off every hangar bay except the one he settled his own ship into, Bay Five. He closed all the living areas beyond his own, as well as all the spots designed for group socialization. He left the path to the kitchens open, as well as the corridor between the command center and his private rooms. He left one bed in the clinic functioning, and gave himself access to a single multi-function machine in the gym as well. Everything else, though, was disconnected from the station’s power grid, by hand in some cases. The more of Cloverleaf’s interior that went dark, the more settled Kieron felt.

Sitting in the command center now, Kieron looked at the data pouring in from all the most recent trips by miners using Cloverleaf Station as their port. They matched up perfectly to last year’s data, and the year before that. Consistency in stellar cartography was usually to be expected, but this close to a quasar, funny things could happen.

He had a good feeling about his search algorithms this year, though. He was sure to get it this time, sure to pinpoint where the Dark Cluster had drifted off to. It had only been two and a half years—odds were good it was still out there, waiting for him to find it. When he found it, he would find Zakari. Once he did that…

Kieron shut his eyes, replaying the last communication he’d gotten from Xilinn, the only one of Zakari’s spouses who was still talking to him. It had been a video message, of her with their son Pol on her lap—one of Zakari’s two biological children, not that biological parentage mattered much in Traktan culture. Xilinn had been smiling, her eyes bright, reflecting the rainbow of colors in the garden all around her. Pol had been playing with a small toy hovercraft, pushing it back and forth through the air between his hands.

“Hello Uncle Kieron!” she had said, giving him a little wave. “Pol and I just wanted to say happy birthday to you. We hope you had fun out there, maybe did some bowling? I think I remember Zak saying something about installing a bowling alley in Cloverleaf. Anyway, we miss you and would love to hear from you.”

Pol had looked up then, his expression petulant, cheeks so round that they practically fell onto his shoulders. He was the image of his father, with that full-moon face. “When are you going to come back?” he whined. “You and Daddy said you would be back ages ago! I want to show you my fleet! I have the whole set of Federation ship types now.”

“Yes, we’re very proud of our little fleet,” Xilinn had interjected in a very “I’m humoring you” tone of voice. “Why don’t you go get the biggest one to show him?”

Pol had clambered down from her lap and run off, and Xilinn took the moment to address Kieron in a more direct manner. “I appreciate every effort you’re making on Zakari’s behalf,” she began, her hands folded across the azure cloth covering her lap, “but it’s been so long since we’ve seen you. If you were going to find him, wouldn’t it have happened by now? If he is lost…” She bit her lower lip for a moment, looking down, before clearing her through and stiffening her spine. “If he’s lost forever, then we should say the proper prayers for him, and cleanse the family mausoleum of his resting space.”

Meaning that he wouldn’t have a resting space in his family mausoleum; meaning that his name would be stricken from the family charter, and his children would have no connection to him. It would be like he’d never existed.

Kieron wasn’t a fan of Traktan orthodoxy, particularly in a day and age when regular space travel made their worst fear, dying and leaving no body behind, an unfortunate but not a rare occurrence. But the clergy of Trakta was, well, intractable, and they weren’t changing their practices for anything. If Zakari’s body was never brought home, then he was…nothing. He was no better than a ghost, a man disallowed from even the memories of his family. He deserved better than that.

“Pol and Szusza miss you very much,” Xilinn went on. “They’d love to see you again, and so would I. The others are less…invested, but they’d come around if you were here in person. I know they would. You stayed with us for so long, Kieron; you’re like a part of the family. Please, stop sending us money and come to visit us instead. Seeing you in person will go a lot farther than your credits ever could.” She glanced off camera and her smile stretched as she saw her son. “You brought all of them! How do you have that much room in your little arms?” She made space on the bench for her son, who was staggering under the weight of his fleet of toys. The rest of the video was spent naming them all for Kieron, and finally signing off with a wave from Pol and a traditional Traktan bow from Xilinn.

As much as Kieron loved Zakari’s family, it pained him to talk to them. He almost never did it in person anymore, preferring to send written messages. And most of his salary, but that was the least he could do after being the reason that one of their providers wasn’t around anymore. He had enough left over for the basics, and fuel. He was fine.

What wasn’t fine was the thought of Zakari being erased like he’d never existed. He’d known the risks, but Kieron had heard his friend startle awake at night too many times, suffering from nightmares of being lost to space. It had scared him so badly, almost badly enough to cancel their research trip. Kieron was the one who’d convinced him to come here, told him that everything would be all right, that he’d make sure of it.

What a liar he’d turned into.

He scrubbed his hands over his face and stared at his algorithm again, set it to mirror last year’s path. He watched the line extend, following his previous route—the last known route that Zakari had taken before he went radio silent.

Dead. Just say dead. Nobody could survive out there for so long, even disregarding the radiation, which you know killed him in under five minutes. He’s dead.

Whatever. The point was, Kieron was closer than ever to having the location of their ship, the Dark Cluster, pinned down. If he could reach it, staying safely in the shadows as long as possible, and if he could bring it back to Cloverleaf Station, then…

In life, Kieron had pushed Zakari past his comfort zone. In death, all he wanted was to take the man back to his family’s mausoleum, where he would be remembered with the bodies of the other honored dead for centuries to come. It was all Kieron wanted anymore, his sole goal in life.

Not much left in there for you personally, buddy.

And that, Kieron insisted to the voice that sounded like his dead best friend, was how he preferred it.

I worry about you.

There was nothing to worry about. Kieron was fine, totally healthy in every way. The Station was performing its radiation-clocking functions at full capacity, he had supplies to last him well beyond five months in case the unexpected happened, and now that he was finally alone, he could—

“Cloverleaf Station, come in!”

What…the…hell?

“Cloverleaf Station, come in! Fuck’s sake, I’ve been firing messages off into the dark for half a fucking hour, what, are you jerking it over there? Cloverleaf Station, come the fuck—”

“Who is this?” Kieron asked as he activated the com. He’d shut down the long-range scanners because they didn’t work well in the hot zone, and besides, what was the point? Nobody else would be foolish enough to come out here right now…right?

“Finally! I thought I’d have to physically knock on your damn door before you decided to open up for me.”

“Who is this?” Kieron repeated, letting his annoyance show through. “Not that it really matters, because the station is closed for the season, and if you know what’s good for you you’ll head in the opposite direction at top speed before you get yourself killed.”

“Oooh, you’re sparky, I like that,” the voice said with a laugh. “But that’s not what’s happening here, friend. I’m coming in fast, you’re going to open a bay door for me, I’m going to park, and then we’re going to get to work.”

Whoever it was, he was a madman. “I have no orders to allow anyone in here, and I’m not—”

“Check your com log again, Sparky, because as of three weeks ago, I purchased the contract to oversee this station from the Federation. That means all operational decisions go through me, including who gets in and when.”

What the…who the… “Who are you?” Kieron managed, his voice firm even though his mind was tumbling so hard in his head that he felt dizzy.

“Oh, sorry, forgot that part. I’m Elanus Desfontaines, CEO of Lifeship Enterprises, and your new boss. Now open a fucking door for me so I can come in and introduce myself properly.”

What.

The.

Hell.