The room is quiet except for the gentle sounds I make gathering myself—a sleeve catches a red nipple, the glass of tea clinks softly as I set it down. Sandi stays close, her arm draped across the covers, not rushing, just present. A brisk knock interrupts. Before I can call out, the door opens and…
Tag: Urban Fantasy
Public Corridor to Secluded Passage-Carnal Appendices 3
The door behind me clicks shut. There’s a little relief in the corridor — less pressure, free air, nothing like Tarmo’s suite.But ahead, Elena’s suite edges open and Karim steps out. Not hurried. Not nervous. Just… done. His eyes meet mine for half a second, blank, unreadable, weighted down. He doesn’t give me a nod,…
The COMC Files Book V Yerevan
Her hand tightens around the glass, and the words stay sealed in her throat. I thought leaving was an option. It isn’t. The job, this labyrinth, every shadow I navigate — it’s all inseparable now from shielding Elena. And no matter what world Tarmo thinks he’s scripting, I won’t let it devour her first. The…
The COMC Files Book V Yerevan
Tarmo’s composure shifts mid-breath. Something raw, almost animal, grazes his senses — she can see it in the way his nostrils flare, the brief, involuntary pause. Not a sight, but a scent, faint yet undeniable. Elena. It clings to Sandi like a watermark under heat. He mutters half under his breath, “No distraction…” “What?” Sandi…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 38
Convergence [23:47 — Kandovan Road] The headlights shear white arcs through black mountain road, slicing sudden shadows past ancient cliffs. Cold Sahand wind claws at every curve. Out here, the world contracts: asphalt, rock faces splashed by pale moonlight, stone villages perched in their honeycomb solitude. Kandovan will be sleeping when we arrive—its cave homes…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 37
The trail curves and doubles back, vanishing more than once. In Ardabil, that means we’re close. Karim leads, every move practiced—border secrets are old currency for him. I keep pace, counting every shadow, every half-open door, stitching details into memory. The hideout isn’t accidental. Down an unlabeled side street, three turns past alleys slick with…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 36
The Dark Wagon The horses carry us long enough that Tehran fades into a dusty shimmer. I sit tall in the saddle, wind pushing hair across my mouth, laughing at Asdar’s teasing shout, the nomads’ voices rough and bright in the cold morning. We stop at the rail siding, where steel lines cut east across…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 35
Wrong Street, Wrong Men The city is loud in the way only a place under watch can be—traffic snared into queues, market calls strangled to half-volume. I read it the way I read a balance sheet: numbers off, pressure lines exposed. Too many stalls closing early for bad weather. Shutters fall with the quiet finality…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 34
The Zargari lead tips his cap. Time. Caravan forms in shadow—horses shifting, Dom carts bleeding into market chaos. Flight in every gesture: a glance, a tap, the syntax of vanishing. Asdar’s hand finds my hip. Signal, not tenderness. My skin still sparks from the interrupted bath, slick and wanting. I shove it down—longing braided with…
The COMC Files Book V chapter 33
The streets are barely awake when we reach Nosrat Bath. A single attendant in a grey vest unlocks the carved wooden doors, glances at Asdar, and then disappears. Inside, the tiles breathe out a century of heat; steam curls from the marble floor vents, carrying damp stone and old cedar. I let my scarf slip….
The C.O.M.C. Files 