Havok Publishing

Author - Teddi Deppner

Three Trillion Reasons to Live

Getting shot in the chest wasn’t everything I hoped it would be. The slug burrowed in my breastplate, and oil—not blood—spurted everywhere. Following protocol, I fell backward and writhed on the ground.

But I wasn’t really feeling it. Literally. My plasticine body did not have pain receptors, and even the oil was just for show.

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The Vigilante and the Queen

Queen Majorie’s coronation ball had been meticulously planned, down to the minute. Except for the kidnapping.

Marjorie was sprawled in the middle of the ballroom floor, her sapphire blue coronation gown puddled around her. The rest of her guests sat around the perimeter, held in place by the threat of circling black-cloaked figures.

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A Grand Gesture

Scarlet slammed her textbook down in front of the Head T.A. of Color-Based Synesthetics. “Teach me color transfer.”

The tired-looking elf didn’t look up from his book. “Hello to you, too, Scarlet. And no. You can’t learn color transfer for two more years.”

“It’s important, Aeris!”

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Till Bullets Do Us Part

Sara centers the crosshairs on the blonde’s skull. The unsuspecting woman wearing a blue sundress drinks from a teacup, her face shadowed by the café table’s umbrella.

A hundred yards away, hunkered atop the roof of an abandoned warehouse, Sara finesses the scope’s elevation and windage with a smooth efficiency earned by months of practice. Below, the city produces an occasional pedestrian and passing vehicle while the empty boulevard remains trapped in the simmering quiet before the morning rush. Within the next five minutes, a train will roar past on a bridge overlooking the café, masking the rifle’s echoing boom. Sara will disassemble her weapon and flee the scene before the train’s ambiance decays across the unsuspecting neighborhood.

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Etta Mae’s Lucky Day

Etta Mae grimaced at the curtain of cigar smoke at the entrance to the Golden Stars Space Casino. Her worn loafers crunched on the carpet.

My engine room floor is cleaner than these carpets. Where are the janitor droids? She clutched her slot machine tokens. Focus, girl. You have a mission.

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