Havok Publishing

Thriller

S2 Thriller Thursday featured image (season 2)

Komainu

You have something special in you. A weapon no Komainu can wield. Father’s words echoed in Koji’s mind.
Sitting on the dojo floor, he glanced back, drinking in the beauty revealed through the glass wall. The black sea of space teamed with countless stars. Somewhere out there, a month’s journey from this space station,

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S2 Thriller Thursday featured image (season 2)

The Treasure Hunter’s Familiar

Ávila de la Mora peered between the trees of Inverness Wood with a pigeon perched on her shoulder. “You’re sure this is the best entrance, Atlas?”
Yes, the pigeon cooed across their bond. The trinket is not far from here.
As soon as she crossed into the wood full of magical creatures and artifacts,

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Zombies and Sloths

Six months into the sleep-zombie catastrophe, the survivors knew one thing: they were grateful for the winged, magic sloths.
One such survivor, Leesia, leaped over a crumbling stone wall marking an old boundary between fields. Gasping for breath, she dropped to her knees. Her brother-in-law Rayth joined her a moment later.

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S2 Thriller Thursday featured image (season 2)

The Hallowed Heart

Esther held Raphael in her lap and rocked him as he cried. Even at the age of eight, these trying times drove him to cling to his mother. She opened her heart, and his every fear and sadness poured into her.
She smoothed his hair with a trembling hand as the tension in his

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The Language of Sound

The iksomi opens his mouth, and his cry pierces the thick, morning air. All gloom and pain strips away. The noise is rigid like a lyre string, warm like honey, and I let it fill my being.
His mouth snaps shut, pointed teeth curving over black lips. He stretches, arching his back

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The Sea Spirit Whisperer

“How does one communicate with a sea spirit?”
High-pitched shrieks continued to reverberate throughout the vessel as I dropped the question on the engineer. My crew and I stood with plugs in our ears, but our methods to keep ourselves sane were failing.
“You’re asking me, an acoustical engineer, if I know how to talk to an invisible force

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Without Silence

The noise in Thomas’s head was getting louder.
Medical examinations came up empty. Doctors were stumped. It wasn’t tinnitus, they said, or brain tumors, or sinus problems, any other condition they’d diagnosed before. Nothing they attempted, from ear drops to oral meds, solved it. In the end, he just had to deal with it.

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Second Sound

My best customer had just left with a packetful of herbs when the man I’d seen in my dreams for years ran up. His deep brown eyes darted side to side. My breath caught at his beauty.
“You have to help me!” His second unspoken words gave a reason for his terror.

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Always Beauty

Bright signs decorated with gleeful peaches and grinning ears of corn advertised a local fall festival down the road. Tempting. Justin was more than ready for a break. The constant whoosh of hot air blasting through the car’s open windows for three days made for two cranky children. Cranky father, too.

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Rebel Chef

Remy gagged as soon as the first spoonful touched her tongue. “You call this food?”
What should have been delicious soup was mildly acidic, flavorless, and the wilted airi leaves squelched in bitter bursts. She should’ve known how bad it would be by the scent, but she’d given Axel the benefit of the doubt. Wrongly.

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The Shanty Man

There’s always my reflection in the red puddle.
But tonight, there’s more. Tonight, there’s a man standing over my best friend’s dead body, and the barrel of his gun swallows me up.
He pulls the trigger, and I scream.
My eyes fly open, and the first thing I register is the rain plopping softly into the pot by my bed.

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Hot Buzz

I think maybe you’ve had enough, Sergeant Maxwell.” My partner’s eyebrow quirked as I slung back my second shot.
“You’ll wish you’d had two soon enough, rook.” The bitter aftertaste of a good espresso was always the best part of my day. In a world where coffee grants superpowers, it’s important to stay caffeinated.

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