Todd and Nick Ruger are on the run after narrowly escaping the war in New Colorado, where they were implicated in the assassination of Chancellor Shaffer. Todd is gravely ill and Nick has serious injuries, but that's the least of their problems. They're alone with dwindling supplies and facing the harsh winter bearing down on them far north in Yellowknife Protectorate. Just when it seems they're trapped between the proverbial rock and hard place, they are offered refuge with a doctor in the isolated town of Elk's Ridge. As they heal, they're offered a fresh start in Elk's Ridge. But just as they begin to rebuild their lives, tragedy strikes. Victor Raleigh, the new Vice-Chancellor of New Colorado, knows all about Nick's psychic abilities, and he'll settle for nothing less than total control over Nick. He's aligned himself with a vicious creature, a type of psychic vampire capable of wielding control over individuals such as Nick. When Nick is betrayed and captured, Todd sees no alternative but to head back into the war zone to rescue him. Will Nick be the same man Todd loves after Raleigh's pet psychic vampire is through with him? Can Nick accept the fact Todd can love him after what Raleigh forces him to do, or will his guilt consume and destroy him?

Chained Hearts

John took a deep breath then looked Todd square in the eye. “Your mother didn’t die in an accident. A few years before you were born, she was selected to have a slave baby. Do you have any idea how stiff the competition and selection process is?”


Todd shook his head no. He’d never even imagined his mother had been selected to bear a slave child. “I thought we were from New Colorado City.”


John shook his head. “You and I moved north, then settled here when you were about two. She had that baby and giving it away nearly killed her. I met her while she was pregnant with it. In the villages, it’s all about the glory of being selected; they never tell anyone about the depression afterward and what it does to some girls to give away those children.”


“What happened?” Todd bunched his hands together in a fist and planted his elbows on the table, hands in front of his face.


Chapter 51