INVOKING MISCHIEF
Chapter One
Part One
“That definitely wasn’t there the last time I was here,” Gus muttered, stopping short at the sight of what was waiting for her on her doorstep.
A dead man.
Not exactly a rarity on Titan where criminals outnumbered upstanding citizens by at least three to one.
But they didn’t usually turn up on her doorstep.
The pirates and gangs who called this place home preferred to space their victims.
Less messy that way.
Since security’s authority only extended as far as Titan’s airlocks and the local military detachment was woefully understaffed for the area they were supposed to be patrolling, it was an efficient method to rid themselves of any incriminating evidence.
Not like this—whatever this nonsense was.
For goodness sake, there was a trail of blood leading right to her doorstep. So much DNA evidence that even a group as corrupt as Titan’s security would be hard pressed to ignore it.
How did they find this place anyway?
It wasn’t exactly easy to find your way this deep into the tombs. The place on Titan where shipping containers were sent to languish, forgotten and abandoned. It was a twisting labyrinth that even Titan’s dock workers sometimes had trouble navigating. Hence Gus’s reasons for choosing it as the location for her lair.
She’d even gone so far as to ensure the container she called home fit in with the overall ambiance of those around it. Its exterior sufficiently weathered so as to not stand out. Its paint chipping. Its walls dented.
She’d even taken the time to tag it with some graffiti. Colorful dragonflies and pretty orchid mantises. Even a butterfly or two.
Gus was no artist but she thought it had turned out quite well.
A faint sound brought Gus’s inner tirade to a halt.
Her grip on the pot of Nawana orchid’s that she was clutching tightened as another groan came from the dead guy. Creeping closer, she nudged his hand with the tip of her boot.
It twitched.
Not dead then.
Internally, Gus groaned. The only thing worse than a dead unwelcome guest was a living one.
Gus took her privacy seriously and this stranger’s presence had every one of her instincts insisting she take a page out of the pirate play book and relocate her new friend out the nearest airlock.
Just as she was contemplating which airlock was closest, her unwelcome guest rolled partially onto his back. His hair fell away from his face to reveal the tips of his very pointed ears.
“Shit,” Gus moaned.
There was only one race she knew of with ears like that. The Tuann. A reclusive bunch who shunned contact with other races and mostly kept to their corner of the universe.
“What are you doing the way out here?” Gus muttered.
He should be in Tuann space, getting up to whatever his kind typically got up to. Not here jeopardizing her hard earned seclusion.
Her siblings had named her the hermit for a reason. For starters, she didn’t take kindly to visitors. Especially not ones who reminded her of things she preferred not to explore.
She’d boxed up and sealed away anything pertaining to the Tuann, and the fact that a very long time ago, she’d been one of them. Taken as a child before she ever really had a chance to understand what or who she was.
The presence of this Tuann jeopardized all that work, bringing to the surface the few memories she had of her childhood. Of resting in the cool shade of an immense tree. The pattern of its branches as the sky played peek-a-boo among the leaves. And the kind eyes and gentle hands of a woman Gus thought might be her mother.
There were other things she remembered. Scary. Terrible things. But she wasn’t going to think of them right now.
Perhaps ever, if she had her way.
Pushing such thoughts from her mind, Gus crouched beside the stranger to get a better look at him. He was muscular. That much had been easy to see even from a distance. His thighs and biceps the size of small tree trunks, and he was wearing a jumpsuit that she assumed he’d stolen given how ill fitting it was.
There was evidence he’d been held captive. Bruises and ligature marks around his wrists and neck. Blood was crusted around his mouth and under his nose.
None of that explained his unconscious state, however.
The blood beginning to stain the front of his jump suit might. She wouldn’t know that for sure until she removed it. If she removed it. She still hadn’t decided if she was going to help this stranger or feed him to her orchid.
At the moment, she was leaning toward using him as plant food.
All such thoughts ground to a halt as she caught her first full glimpse of his face.
She was so fucked.
Because not just any Tuann had collapsed on her doorstep.
No, it had to be Caius freakin Achert. AKA the specter of Draloon. AKA the mad hound of Roake’s Overlord. Not to mention the House’s primary military commander and tactician.
And also, quite possibly, Gus’s doom.
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Responses to “INVOKING MISCHIEF”
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So good!!!
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Oh wow👏🏻so looking forward to this👍🏻
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Cannot wait for the rest
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Oh my !!! Cant wait for the completed form. Love this and cant wait to read more about Caius.
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Ooh I cannot wait to see how this goes with two of them. Gus seems so different from Kiran and cant wait to see what caius does to get her attention
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Thank you, already looking forward to the next bit, and the next, and the next…😊
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More, please!
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The his was great!
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I don’t care if its chapter by chapter post- or a novella/novel to purchase. I am 100% invested in this side story 🙂
Especially after reading the spectacular book #6 that I just finished -
I’m hooked already!!!
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So excited for this story. I was wracking my brain thinking who was the Tuann in Gus’s story and I guessed Caius… it was when Gus said stop being so emotional. I’m going to enjoy this!
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Consider me sufficiently hooked. 🍿🍿
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Lordy,Lordy,Lordy! So excited
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Yay! This is going to be a fun one I can already tell. Very excited to hear Gus’s story. 😀
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Yesssss!!!!
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What a perfect discovery after binging the latest book twice already . I can’t wait to read the rest of the story !!!
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Oooooo. What a fun start.
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Yes please.
🙂 -
Ooh! She recognizes him!
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My new infatuation is now ‘WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN THEM???!!!”
I think she must heal him and he falls for her. Then he somehow he leaves? And now he’ll chase her down and force her to leave her hermitage and HEA…etc. -
This is now the top of my list for things I want to know. I need their story, because obviously it’s going to be a bit of a rocky journey to their HEA.
Squeeee!!! -
I can’t wait!
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TAKE MY MONEY I LOVE THIS WORLD!!
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take my money! I love this world! I would rather spend time here than with some of my friends.
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Thank you, thank you. What a nice surprise on a Tuesday morning for me. I can’t wait for the rest.
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SO good! ♥️
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SO good! ♥️ Why does this think I’m a robot? Perhaps it knows something I don’t. 😂
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I love the Firebird series. Exciting to see it from a different sibling’s perspective. Can’t wait!!!
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cross my fingers that it’s Gus and Caius!! when we had that glimpse of Gus, I thought she was gonna end up with Ryan, but it’s so much better if it’s Caius instead. Cannot wait for the rest of Gus’ story!!!!! Thank you so much for this presents at the end of EOI, tobey!!!
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Thank you. 💃🎉
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This was such a wild pairing in book 6! I can’t wait to see what Gus did to make Caius so obsessed with her. Thank you so much for giving us a different POV on the fascinating world of the firebird chronicles.
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So good! This starts to explain Caius’s remarks to Kira.😊
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So good! I can see why Caius made the remark to Kira.😊
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It’s wonderful. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to read the upcoming chapters.
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Love this! Totally wracking my brain for the various possibilities for how she recognizes him. Not to mention the juicy tidbit that she has memories of her mother so there is a chance she might recognize her family or maybe even know which house she was. After reading book 6 I’ve been debating a reread and now I might do that just to refresh myself on anything we might know about Caius besides his military role and recently revealed connection to that wanderers conclave.
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So good. Thank you!
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So good, thanks!! I would loveeeeee to get a spin off based on the 43, just so many potential there, and I love everything about this world you have crafted!
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Thank you!! If you ever considered a spin off for the 43 I would eat that up!! So much possibilities and I love everything about this world.
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I’m hooked. Thank you!
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I’m hooked. Thank you!
For some strange reason, this thing thinks I’m a robot.
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Let this pairing take sail…
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Oh, thank you so much for this juicy piece of art!!!
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OMG! This was mentioned under another author’s blog post in one of the comments and ran over to find it. Signing up for newsletter. Loved the last installment of the Firebird Chronicles! Ordered it immediately 😆
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