Humanity is struggling to survive in a world that's no longer theirs. Liv, a scavenger leading missions to the edges of the city for food, medicine, and iron, knows things are getting worse. Every trip feels more desperate than the last. Humanity has an expiration date-the forest, and the creatures that dwell there, just have to wait them out. When a mission turns out to be a trap and Liv wakes up on the wrong side of the tree line-alone, disoriented, and for some reason not dead-she learns the forest doesn't just kill people or take their souls. It changes them. She doesn't know what she's becoming. Only that it's something way stronger than what she was. And that killing things never felt this good. Murderbot meets The Cruel Prince-with a whole lot of psychological horror My entry for onc2025, based on prompt 125: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. - Frank Herbert

ONC 2025 SHORTLIST. Book 3 in the Black Cat series. Born to drug-addicted parents, Linc Bridgestone was crippled in an accident when he was a child. After breaking up with his girlfriend, he overdoses and is brought back to life by his sister. Linc doesn't believe in luck. He doesn't believe in love. He doesn't believe in anything except broken relationships, pain, torture, and the demons that possess him. Darby Dermot has a beast list. They come in different shapes and forms. Sometimes, she questions her career choice. Little Help Home Services has its ups and downs. Most of her clients are evil fiends, monsters, and devils. Falling in love with a demon wasn't on her wish list, but here he was, crippled, curled in a ball, spitting hate and vengeance, smelling like a sewage pit and demanding she leave him the fuck alone. ONC 2025 Prompts - 2: To be in love with a demon was the last thing on your wish list. 32: - A non-believer of love wakes up one day to find themselves in a world where love is everything. What will they do in a land ruled by hearts? THE DEMONS AND BEASTS IN THIS STORY ARE THE ONES WE BATTLE EVERY DAY. Thanks for taking a look at my first-ever entry in ONC. Wish me luck. ♥♥♥