A.F. Henley

Doren was born with a powerful gift -- a gift he's managed to use to put him well on his way to becoming a star. But there is more to that gift than just musical talent, and as careful as Doren is to hide that fact, there are some who know of the power behind the sound, and all the ways they could abuse it.<br><br>August's goal in life is simple: make an impact in the music industry. An opportunity to work as the personal assistant to Doren seems to be exactly the kind of break he needs to accomplish that goal.<br><br>But all too often in life, simple becomes just another complication, especially when there are people whose goal is even simpler: destroy and dominate.

The Gift

He sighed and told himself to say to hell with it. That even if the interviewers liked him, they would like any number of the rest of the group way morethan him.


He put down the magazine he’d been pretending to read and lowered the foot he had resting on his knee. He settled both shoes flat on the polished hardwood, took a breath, and lifted his head…


August hadn’t noticed anyone enter the room. It didn’t appear that anyone else had either. Had the newcomer just kept moving, kept his head down, he probably could have walked through the room without anyone realizing he was there. Instead, he had stopped still and was looking up at the ceiling. It was an unremarkable ceiling in itself, white noise-reducing tile with the requisite dove gray gridlock to hold it in place, but it held his attention as if it were the Sistine Chapel. It was that people began to notice.


Chapter 3