BOOK TWO OF THE BLACK SERIES *CANNOT be read as a stand-alone* -- "I mean, let's face it, Hayden," Casey said with a humourless laugh, looking away from me and out at the city of white lights, "you don't want me. You want the thought that you managed to get with me - all of your friends are expecting it, my friends and family are expecting it to happen... it's not long before you wanting me changes and you see how messed up I really am." My eyes narrowed and I turned to face her, grabbing her by the jaw so I was staring into her dark eyes. Casey's breath hitched in her throat and she chewed on her lip, tears gathered in her eyes as our eyes met. "I don't give a flying fuck about what they want to hear or what they expect to happen between us, Casey," I told her, wiping a stray tear away. I smiled when she sniffled. "Stop thinking so much about what other people do and don't expect, alright? I damn well know how insane your family is but I also know how much better you are from them, and it's the good in you that makes me fall deeper with every date we go on." When I cupped her cheek with one hand, Casey's alarmed eyes relaxed and she slowly leaned into my touch, sighing quietly. I pressed my forehead to hers, smiling softly when she tried moving forward for our lips to meet. I pulled away last second, rubbing her bottom lip with my thumb. lol "I'm all yours, baby," I whispered, finally pressing our lips together.

In the ordinary world, magic is a lie-nothing more than sleight of hand and illusion. Believing in it is for dreamers and children. But in the preternatural world, magic is power. It's a weapon, a shield, a language spoken by those who dominate. There, fantasy is reality, and reality can be rewritten. Christine Elizabeth has always lived a quiet, unremarkable life-just another face in a world where the impossible stays locked within the pages of books. For her, "magic" means fairy tales, and fantasy is something left behind in childhood. Until one day, she steps through an ancient archway... and everything changes. A destiny she never saw coming.