Author:
Alex McGilvery has been reading since before he can remember, and writing almost that long. He has published 18 books and is author and editor at his imprint Celticfrog Publishing. He lives in Kamloops with his dog and the stories clawing their way out of his head.

Not all devils come from Hell.

Marriette wants to escape her father, accepting an arranged marriage to a cripple, never expecting to find someone she could love.

Zeb is trapped in a weak human body forced to do the will of the mage who summoned him. The cost of his defiance is pain and destruction to all around him.

She sets out to change the Kingdom. If the mage gets his way, Zeb will destroy it.

The Belandria Tarot

Marriette ground her teeth. Once again, the council spent their meeting sniping at each. Though she'd made them list what they wanted out of the experiment, almost nothing matched. They ignored the fact they all wanted holes in the roads fixed to argue about tax rates or access to land.


"Thank you, we're done for today." Marriette pasted a smile on her face as they fled the chambers. 


"I see what you mean." Torrance stepped out of the shadows where he'd been observing. "They don't see each other as people. It's like they look across the room and see a bad copy of a human."


"You're right." Marriette sighed. "I didn't think of it that way. I thought we needed to get them past the enmity, but it's more than that." She went still as an idea bloomed. It's a huge risk, but if it works... "I have some arrangements to make for next week's meeting. Care to come along?"


"Delighted." Torrance held out his arm and they strolled out to the carriage. 


Marriette gave the coachman an address.


Chapter 68: New Shoots