After spending years as a mercenary, 16-year-old Kai Ren returns to his hometown, determined to leave behind a life of violence and bloodshed. Reuniting with his younger sister, Naomi, and his single mother, Hana-who are struggling to make ends meet in a working-class neighborhood-Kai longs for a quiet, normal life with his family. To stay close to Naomi, he enrolls in a local high school, hoping to blend in and protect his loved ones from the shadows. But trouble has a way of finding him. Gang conflicts, corrupt officials, and enemies from his past threaten to tear apart the fragile peace he's trying to build. Forced to rely on the lethal skills he wanted to leave behind, Kai must navigate the dangers of his new life while keeping his dark past a secret. To protect his family, he'll do whatever it takes-even if it means becoming the monster he hoped to bury. Inspired by Mercenary Enrollment (Teenage Mercenary)

♥ Astrid ♥ Gunshots. Karate moves. Flipping through languages so fast that my brain struggled to catch up. These had been as familiar to me in the six years I had been in training as a school bell or sound of a teacher's voice might be to anyone else. At sixteen, I had seen more death than I cared to talk about. But what could I say? That was what life as a teenage spy was. And as part of America's little-known espionage agency Delta, that was what I had become accustomed to. But I couldn't have known that things were about to change. A new assignment came up, and though I was with people I had known for years, this one would change things so that my life would never be the same. A drug dealer, working undercover in France. People from my past, popping up in the most unexpected places. And the boy with the blue eyes, who could be completely for me or utterly against me; often, I didn't know which. This was one assignment that would stay with me forever. But, of course, I didn't know that as I headed in...to pure Hell. Welcome to Delta. Now that you're here, good luck getting out.

This book is a sequel to Khalifa and cannot be read as a standalone. To avoid spoilers, description and excerpt are added inside the book. ✵ Started: May 2, 2022. Completed: December 3, 2022. ✵ cover by @xniftykayx

✵ featured ~ ❝Once upon a time in Baghdad, a common girl teaches the Khalifa of the kingdom why a king needs a queen.❞ ✵ Started: June 5, 2021. Completed: March 30, 2022. ✵ cover by @xniftykayx featured on wattpad historical fiction, undiscovered, and dangerous love profiles. Highest ranking #1 in historical fiction.