Stories by @ayana

Kings of Blackwater (Alluring Darkness)

The deadliest man on campus is out for blood. And I have just painted a giant target on my back. Hitman. Assassin. Contract killer. Hired murderers have many names. And Blackwater University trains them all. My brother is the last chance my family has to restore our name after a devastating failure. He was on track to become one of the best hitmen of his year, but he made a mistake. He crossed Eli Hunter. The most dangerous student on the entire campus. So I made a desperate choice. I enrolled in Blackwater University to take my brother’s place as Eli's target. Every wicked and depraved act he was going to inflict on my brother, I will endure instead.

The Endless Fall (Deadwood)

Willa Dunn is finally getting the hell out of Deadwood—but first she needs to tell her overprotective family that she’s leaving. For years she’s dreamed of escaping the small town that refuses to let her forget the past, but when Ryker Bennett—her childhood bully and brother’s best friend—comes back to East Texas, all her plans go up in smoke. Against her brother’s wishes, Willa finds herself drawn to the broody troublemaker with scars that rival her own. But as her attraction to Ryker ignites, so do the disturbing events around town. Shadows move in the forest, dismembered livestock plague the ranch next door, and Willa slowly realizes she’s not the only one keeping secrets… As betrayals and lies bring her to the breaking point, Willa must decide if turning her back on her godforsaken hometown is worth losing the one person worth staying for.

We Won't All Survive

Two years ago, Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that day: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but. So when billionaire turned TV host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college. But when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. And then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dropping like flies. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a whole new meaning. Mercy must figure out who to trust. Before she’s next.

Her Soul to Take - Her Soul for Revenge - Soul of a Witch

Leon: I earned my reputation among magicians for a reason: one wrong move and you're dead. Killer, they called me, and killing is what I'm best at. Except her. The one I was supposed to take, the one I should have killed - I didn't. The cult that once controlled me wants her, and I'm not about to lose my new toy to them. Rae: I've always believed in the supernatural. Hunting for ghosts is my passion, but summoning a demon was never part of the plan. Monsters are roaming the woods, and something ancient - something evil - is waking up and calling my name. I don't know who I can trust, or how deep this darkness goes. All I know is my one shot at survival is the demon stalking me, and he doesn't just want my body - he wants my soul.

September Doves - Summer Sparrows

Rylee Adder is a struggling college student desperate to reconnect with the only family she has left. She finally has her chance when a late-night phone call sends her rushing to Eden, West Virginia—a small mining town with a veiled past. She arrives ready to console her grieving sister, but instead discovers a distant, secretive woman she hardly recognizes, and Colton Archer, a tattoo-covered troublemaker with a knack for pushing her buttons. As Rylee battles her growing attraction to Colton, who is as infuriating as he is handsome, she comes face-to-face with a shocking discovery that has her questioning everything. When danger closes in, she must decide what rules she is willing to break for the ones she loves or risk losing them all.

Hollows (Hollow Hellion - Wrath - Soul)

As the old saying goes, “Run away to the circus,” and it seems that is exactly what I have done. Except, this isn’t just any circus—it’s Oddity Carnival and Cirque, reputed to be the most horrifying spectacle in the States. It turns out, I wasn’t just running away from terror—I was unwittingly walking straight back into its chilling embrace. Attempting to adjust to my new life of madness, I find myself plunged into a waking nightmare: Hellion, the ringleader of The Hollow’s. With eyes like swirling vortexes and tattoos that seem to writhe and pulse across his skin, he ensnares me in his twisted web, his sinister obsession fixating on his broken dolly. Hellion seeks to shatter me, to break me down through pain and suffering for his own sick pleasure. But what he fails to realize is that pain is not foreign to me—it’s my home. As he delves deeper into his depraved games, he’ll come to understand that I am not so easily broken. I am a mosaic of splintered fragments and intricate puzzle pieces, a complex enigma that even Hellion, with all his distorted needs, may struggle to grasp or comprehend. But, beneath our façade of face paints and behind our veils of secrecy, lie haunting truths that have the power to reshape the very fabric of our deranged reality.

Fixer series

Any problem can be fixed for a price . . . When Tess Kendrick is sent to stay with her older sister in Washington D.C., she has no idea that Ivy is the capitol's go-to “fixer,” a person who can make powerful people's scandals disappear with a snap of her fingers. Tess never thought she and Ivy had much in common, but when she enrolls at the exclusive Hardwicke School, she soon finds herself thrust into the role of high school fixer, solving problems for the children of the D.C. elite. But secrets pile up as each sister lives a double life, and their worlds come crashing together when a scandal from the halls of Hardwicke reaches Capitol Hill. As the stakes turn deadly, Tess must uncover who's behind the power play before she becomes a target herself.

The Notorious Virtues

At sixteen, Honora "Nora" Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money—and all the magic—in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir. But there's a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora's aunt. When Lotte's absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she'd abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead. And soon, Nora discovers that her mother's death wasn't random—it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for. While the dangers of the Veritaz competition threaten each of the Holtzfall girls, and the stark class differences turns political outrage to terrifing violence—the new cousins must fight to stay alive, no matter what. Incredible tests, impossible choices, and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.

The Ashen

A woman on the run. A crew of Viking mercenaries. A forbidden romance. And the secret that threatens them all. Silla Nordvig is running for her life. The Queen of Íseldur has sent warriors to bring Silla to Sunnavík, where death awaits her. When her father is killed, his last words set Silla on a perilous quest: travel the treacherous Road of Bones—a thousand-mile stretch haunted by warbands, creatures of darkness, and a mysterious murderer—and go to Kopa, where a shield house awaits her. After barely surviving the first stretch of road, a desperate Silla sneaks into a supply wagon belonging to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she must win over Axe Eyes, the brooding leader of the Crew, while avoiding the Wolf, his distractingly handsome right-hand man. But the queen's ruthless assassin has other plans and hunts Silla obsessively. Will Silla make it safely to Kopa? Or will she fall prey to the perils of the Road of Bones?

Cruel Shifterverse

Fight like a girl...or a shifter of lore. After growing up with nothing, I've finally found my path to freedom: I'm a shifter, an elite soldier who transforms into a monster. All I have to do is survive. I didn't count on my three 6'5 roommates. Covered in tattoos, jeweled, and horned, these are like no men I've ever dealt with before. They don't think I belong. They don't think I'm strong enough for war. They don't think I can fight. I'm about to prove them wrong. The only problem, can I survive them discovering the secrets of my past? In the battle for life and death, everyone is so much more than they seem. Jax, Ascher, and Cobra are going to be devastated when they discover my truth...just wait until they see my shifted form.

Nocticadia

A dark, atmospheric tale of deadly secrets and forbidden love. Mortui vivos docent. The dead teach the living. After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I’d find the cure for what ravaged her. And leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I receive an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest, most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it’s rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before. Those whose bones are said to make up the island’s white sandy shores.

The Grandest Game

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year's game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter.

The Lovely and the Lost

A teenage girl, her friends, and their search-and-rescue dogs must uncover long-buried secrets to save a life in this unputdownable mystery. Kira Bennett's earliest memories are of living alone and wild in the woods.

Your Blood My Bones

A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves . . . and the people who love those parts most of all. Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited -- to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement -- Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead. Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line. He needs to kill Wyatt. With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter -- the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.

Yellowface

Yellowface is a 2023 novel written by R. F. Kuang. The book was described as a satire of racial diversity in the publishing industry as well as a metafiction about social media, particularly Twitter.

The Familiar

In a shabby house in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil. But when her scheming mistress discovers her scullion is hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to win over the royal court.

The Last Hours

“The Last Hours” is a spin-off of one of Clare’s earlier series, “The Infernal Devices, ” and follows the story of the previous main character’s children. | Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

At the beginning of the 20th century, January Scaller lives in a big mansion with her guardian, Cornelius Locke. What may seem to be a privileged existence is marred by the strict rules imposed on the red-skinned girl, the meager living quarters assigned to her, and the fact that her father, Julian, who works for Locke, is almost never around. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own. Excerpt. The Blue Door.

The Whispering Dark

A dark, atmospheric story that tells the story of a girl ready to be seen as anything but fragile. But what she finds might be scarier than anything she could have ever imagined. Kelly Andrew delivers a captivating story about Delaney Meyers-Petrov, a deaf girl who is tired of being seen as breakable.

The Luminaries

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.