There is nothing worse than having a joyous bombshell dropped in my lap with the goal of knocking me down. And I hate to admit the truth, but it might be working. I can’t stand being here anymore, but any attempts to run are ruined as I’m forced further into the newly created mold that is Asheville High’s whore.

Trying to survive Knight’s Creek without Xavier, Hunter, and Tobias is harder than I care to admit. I have to give it my all and try again; I have to run. I don’t know how far I’ll get, but I know I won’t give up fighting. I won’t let Ilana win. I never knew what fighting was before, but now I have something to live for. My reason for breathing.

Welcome to Emerson Grove. With our fantastic university, suburban lifestyle, and the city nearby, you’re never going to want to leave. I almost believe their slogan, until my ride drives off, leaving me on the doorstep of a pretty house to reveal a blast from the past. Leaving one lion’s den, I’ve fallen straight into another. I didn’t agree to this part. I didn't agree to…them.

Rise. Shine. Sleep. Repeat. To the world. Break. Darken. Cry. Lost. Behind closed doors. Nothing is as it seems in the Asheville home or this hellhole town. Then he shows up. Pushing my buttons and demanding I take more from life, be more, be…me. But I have no idea who that is. How do I fight for my freedom when I’m their bargaining tool? What he doesn’t realize is how screwed up Knight’s Creek really is. For all I care, the whole town can burn to ash.

“To convince a man to marry you, you have to be what they envision. Pretty, quiet, caring, and barefoot in the kitchen.” My mother's expectations have never wavered. I’m determined to be more, even if it is within the confines of Featherstone Academy. I'm tired of being forced into a mold I don't fit in. I want to be me, however that looks. Finding myself, and understanding what matters is my number one focus, over everything else. Taking inspiration from my reading obsession, I know what I want my life to look like, but getting it is a completely different issue.

This place and these men have seeped into me, and not even my blades can cut them out. But Rook, Corvus, and Grey aren’t the only ones keeping me up at night. There’s Diesel St. Crow, an imminent gang war, and an anonymous shadow from my past. Each one clinging to my bones as irrevocably as my own shadow. Any of them could be the end of me unless I do something about it. It’s time for me to show them I’m not a toy to be played with. I’m not just Ava Jade Mason anymore. I am Sparrow. I am Ghost. I am AJ. I am the queen they’ve all been waiting for. And what do queens do?

My entire life, I’ve wanted a family; wanted to know if I had one out there. I’ve craved answers and now that I’m getting them, I don’t know if I’m ready. I have a brother, a family. Sadly, the knowledge of that isn’t comforting, because I can’t trust them. The same distrust extends to the guys that are invading every aspect of my life. Suddenly, they’re everywhere, demanding the truth from my lips and tugging at a heart that’s been cold for far too long.

Emersyn Sharpe was nothing like I expected and everything I could have ever dreamed of. She stayed and she changed everything. She put the guys in their place. She had fire and spunk, a ferociousness I wished I possessed. Her darkness called to mine in a way that felt like home. But hiding secrets is hard work, and even the people who think they already know the worst can’t be fully trusted. No matter how desperately you want it.

The trials will last 60 days. They can happen anytime, anyplace, and anyone or anything is fair game. I won’t see them coming. I’ll need to be ready at all times. Prepared to fight, to steal, to save, and to kill at Diesel St. Crow’s command. While I sit on standby, he’s ordered his sons to keep an eye on me, and they’ve become my own personal wardens. But as truths are dragged out of the shadows and new dangers emerge, I may be forced to accept that they are more than armed roadblocks in my path. They might also be my only hope of survival.

I made my choice. I took the hard way out. Now all of our fates are riding on the dice I’m about to throw and luck never was on our side. I was whole once, with my boys in this slice of paradise we’d carved out for ourselves, but in the time that we were parted we grew up. Grew apart. And as much as I might have yearned to reclaim that girl with the sand between her toes and the sun on her cheeks, it’s time I admit that I spent too long in the shadows to ever truly be her again.

Featherstone thought they broke me in The Pyramid, but it’ll take more than their half-assed attempts on my life to truly tear me down. As I uncover the secrets and lies that surround me, I'll learn who I can trust. So here I stand. With the loyalty and strength from the Aceholes, I’ll forge my own path. They’ll continue to claim me, crumbling my walls as they go, a clear f--k you to the consequences. Remembering there are good people in this messed up world is easy when Red is around. There are innocent people worth fighting for.

Everything seems to stand in the way of my Aceholes and me, but we stand together. Through thick and thin, till death do us part. My egg donor is dead, and The Games have finally arrived. Stepping into Beechwood Hall, the challenges surprise even me. Featherstone seems to want our blood, or is Totem behind even this? We must find our way, as we move into the darkness. Will we survive the carnage, or will we be consumed by the depths of hell they’re willing to put us through?

Suddenly thrown into a world representing bloodlines I know nothing about, forcing a past I refuse to remember into the present, my world is turned upside down. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t want to go to college; it doesn’t matter that I don’t want to be here. I’ll follow the rules or risk my life. The organization that runs the criminal underworld is no joke.

All I’ve ever known is the Guild. They clothed me, fed me, raised me. They trained me. And in return I became their perfect weapon, their loyal soldier, their deadly asset. For as long as I can remember, the Guild has been my life. But now, it’s about to become my death. Not everyone is cut out to be a mercenary. I’ve watched countless colleagues fail in their missions and pay the ultimate price. I’ve watched peers lose their minds with the weight of the work we do, and pay with their lives to keep our secrets. I never thought I would become one of them.

Lords of Wrath, the second book in the Royals of Forsyth University series, is coming soon!