Novels by Alexandra A. Lynch

Now that he's left me here, I don't know what to do, so I look at the painting for a little longer and move on to another. I hadn't intended to piss him off so badly, and I don't really know what I said that angered him so much. Some people look at me curiously, but thankfully, no one approaches me. Just as my eyes wander, trying to find where the bathroom is, I feel someone jerk my arm from behind. "What...?" "We have to leave. Now." Tommy escorts me through the crowd, roughly making his way between people. Some stare at him and one even yells at us for bumping into them. "What's going on? Is Maximilian all right?" I ask, trying to keep my voice down. Tommy pauses for a split second and then continues heading toward the exit. "Don't tell me you like him now." "No, it's just that he disappeared... Tommy! Stop! Please, tell me what's happening." He ignores me. Soon, we're outside, and Tommy pulls my hand down the steps, almost making me trip. "Get in the car." Rushing to the

Maximilian's grip on my hand tightens the second we enter the museum, making me glance in his direction. Is he... nervous? Or is he trying to be reassuring with me? Either possibility is beyond anything I would expect of a man who seconds ago had just threatened me so I would behave. The music inside engulfs us. It's a mellow, classical song, which is instantly drowned by the hundreds of conversations taking place inside the dimly lit space. So many eyes follow us as he leads me toward an enormous bar set up in an open courtyard. Fairy lights hang from fruit trees, giving the place an ethereal, fairy-like atmosphere. "Do you want champagne?" he asks, not bothering to wait for me to answer. He grabs two bubbly flutes from a waiter's tray and hands one to me. "Even if you can't shift, I presume you can hold your alcohol down." "Maybe. Maybe not," I say teasingly, downing the champagne in one go. It makes my throat ache but I do my best to conceal it. The thinnest smile forms

After a quick shower, I grab the scandalous dress I picked back at the store. It takes me a while to find it in the pile of boxes and hangers that has been delivered to the apartment while I was in the bathroom. And just when I start to wonder what I'm supposed to do about hair and makeup, a team of cheerful and colorful people bursts in. "You must be Helena! We're going to make you look great tonight!" the oldest-looking of them says effusively. "I'm Hugo, by the way. Pleasure to meet you." He saunters over and kisses my cheeks, completely unfazed by the fact that I'm only wearing a towel. "Hi," is all I manage to say, but I return his enthusiasm with a smile. "I, um. I was going to get dressed." "Oh don't you worry, honey! We got this!" says a lady, snatching the dress from my hands and heading toward the hallway. "We're here to fix any alterations your wardrobe might need." She continues to speak but her voice fades away as she moves farther away. The team springs into action,

The second I step out of the elevator, Maximilian drops his jaw and immediately tries to compose himself, pretending not to be shocked or surprised by how I look. The change is minimal- instead of the baggy pants and shirt, the jeans and top I chose hug my curves- but I know that it's causing an impression.An army of assistants follows Farrah down the stairs, and they arrive just as I join Maximilian near the lobby. "It seems like you got everything you need." Maximilian's eyes wander over to the assistants who are carrying dozens of bags and boxes. "I'll have to get them picked up. They won't fit in the car." There's a hint of annoyance in his voice, and that makes me smile. "Yes. I was very thorough," I say in a sweet voice. I can't tell if he's annoyed that I'm making him spend so much money or because the sheer volume of clothes presents a logistical challenge to whatever his plans are. "We can have everything delivered to your apartment, Mr. Thorn." Farrah hands me a smaller

"What?!" I blurt out, just as Maximilian swerves into a driveway in front of a high-end luxury store building. "You need clothes." That's all he says as he steps out of the car and hands the keys to a valet parking guy. I fumble with the seatbelt, my hands shaking, and Maximilian is by my door, opening it. "Dearest," he says with a devilish grin. "Let me help you with that." He bends over me, his face passing dangerously close to mine. I catch a whiff of his smell and my back stiffens. It's so damn delicious that for a second, it's easy to forget this is my captor and enemy. I speak through gritted teeth. "What. Did. You. Mean." The seatbelt clicks and it slides back to its place as Maximilian turns toward me, his nose almost brushing mine. "Let's go, darling. We need to get you out of that stained, sweaty shirt." I can smell his minty breath as he holds there for a second and gives me a slow peck on the cheek right before pulling his torso out of the car. He extends a h

We take a ferry out of the mangrove maze out into the open ocean, approaching the city from a different, more crowded port than the one Alexei used to get Tommy and me to the island. This is not good. Naranjos may be a prison, but it's still a very nice one. I shudder thinking about the hospital bed and the restraints. Hopefully, Tommy hasn't told Maximilian why that situation sent me into a panic attack. The last thing I need is to let this man in on the darkest secret of my past. It would be like giving him complete power over me, though he technically already has that. Even though I'm angry with Tommy, the thought of never seeing him again is pressing against my heart. I have a feeling that wherever we're going, Tommy will be out of the picture for the foreseeable future. "Don't blame Tommy for today," I say tentatively, trying to get Maximilian to talk. He's been silent ever since he threw my own words back at me. "It wasn't his fault. I really just wanted to explore the isla

ROWAN Three weeks. It had been twenty-two days since the incident, and Adria showed no signs of waking up soon. For Rowan, it was as if time had stopped: nothing he did mattered more than staying by Adria's side in case she opened her eyes. "All we can do is wait," the head doctor said for the thousandth time, leaving Rowan alone. He had all but moved into the hospital, arranging for Adria to be moved to the biggest room. Taking her to his house would have been more convenient, but he couldn't make the head doctor be there 24/7, and he didn't want a nurse or another doctor to be the only one close to her in case she woke up. At first, so many people had come in to check on them daily. Marla, Cora, Lucien. His mother was the only one who kept coming to spend time with him and the sleeping Adria. Rowan knew she was worried not only about his mental health but his body, too. A quick glance in a mirror showed him he looked disheveled and thinner than he'd ever been. There was ju

The rain kept pouring down on them, but through an opening in the sky, the enormous bright moon shone down on the clearing. The two drenched men slowly turned their heads towards the growling wolf. "Alpha Rowan!" one cried out, stumbling back and falling onto the mud. "No..." the man named Flint said, his eyes widening at the sight of Adria. The wolf wasn't a danger. But those two men... They were the ones who had thrown her into the water. A quick blur of images swept through her mind, reliving the torture they put her through. Adria sprinted toward Flint and the man barely had a second to try to hide behind the car, slipping in the muddy soil and falling face-down to the ground. With a strength she never knew she could possess she picked up the man by the collar of his damp shirt and threw him backward, sending him flying towards the forest. "Alpha Rowan! Stop her! She's a monster," the man behind her cried out, as she slowly walked towards Flint, who lay on the ground tryi

Water filled Adria's nostrils as she realized she was going to die. Something dragged her to the bottom, and no matter how hard she tried to push her body to the surface, the current and the weight pulling her down were too strong. Her desperation turned into resignation with one last try to float back to the surface. So short. The happy moments she'd had in her brief time with Rowan had been so, so short. Why was the Moon Goddess so unfair? She had given her so much just to take it away so quickly. Back in Black Moon pack, there was an old lady who planted strawberries at the edge of the village, and sold them to the Turnbulls every once in a while. Her husband drove her in a motorcycle with an attached cart, and he beamed with pride at his wife when she stepped off with her baskets of strawberries. Adria had always envied them. The simplicity of their life, how they didn't seem to need anything else but each other to be happy. How the husband took care of her and helped h

Rowan sensed something was wrong the second he stepped off the helicopter. In the distance, thunder rumbled and a strong wind howled up the mountain. He was never comfortable being away from the pack for too long, and now he was regretting coming over.“Alpha Rowan?” The helicopter pilot spoke to him via the mind link. “Sorry to disturb you. I don’t think I can take off in these conditions.”“Was this storm in the weather readings?” Rowan replied. There was no other way to put it. Even if the storm wasn’t directly over them, it was unpredictable as to where it would go. “No, just mild rain. And even so, it has been very unpredictable.”Rowan was about to tell the pilot that he could stay in the cabin for as long as he needed, or even spend the night until they’d have to return in the morning, when the sky broke with light. A few seconds later the roar of thunder hit the earth, shaking Rowan to the core.There was no way this was a normal storm. And the last time he’d seen a storm of

The deafening shrill of a smoke alarm began to ring, numbing out most of what Adria could hear. She couldn't shift in such a tiny space, nor was she able to feel anything pertaining to her powers inside the dank bathroom. "Rowan?" she said through the mind-link, thinking that alerting him to what was going on was her only chance. "Please don't run! Exit in an orderly manner!" a lady yelled.The man held on to her with an iron grip, and no matter how much she squirmed or tried to hit him back, he kept her pinned to the wall. "Flint? Let's go, man." Someone opened the bathroom door and then appeared in the tiny stall. "Tie her up." The guy removed his hand from Adria and in that split second, Adria was able to use her arm to claw at him, grabbing his hair and pulling it with all her might. "ARGHH!" The man called Flint pulled away from her, releasing his grip on her mouth. He pulled away from her and a tuft of hair left his scalp in Adria's fingers. Adria screamed for help but th

Adria had been right about the impossibility of having a conversation in the bar.Luke almost had to stand to get close enough for her to hear a word he was saying."...And we'll keep observing the people we have in custody to see what their behavior is like. But there's nothing to worry about. From what we know, vampires can't fully convert Wolves," he said.He had been trying to tell Adria that their discoveries on her blood weren't concerning. They were consistent with the other people they had captured from Crimson Blood pack."I find your unique wolf gene much more interesting," he continued, smiling at Adria.It must have something to do with her strange powers, but she didn't want to discuss that with Luke just yet, so she smiled back at him and continued to sip the beer he had gotten her.She was almost done with the third glass, but the initial numb feeling from the first one hadn't intensified. Perhaps it was the natural resistance to alcohol that Luke had mentioned.A rock s