blood has a way of binding souls.

"Your gun, Christian," I whispered breathlessly, the reality of who he was momentarily flashing in my mind. Even in bed, he was a dangerous man. He didn't stop. I felt the vibration of a low, dark smile against my skin before he spoke, his voice grazing my ear. "Gun's under the pillow," he whispered. ౨ৎ Lelani, 20 never asked for chaos. She wanted a quiet life, a clean future, and a chance to finally breathe. Christian, 24 was the kind of man she promised herself she would never get close to dangerous, secretive, and tied to a world she has no business stepping into. But fate doesn't care about warnings. And he's not good at letting go. Something about her pulls him in. Something about him keeps her from walking away. All she knows is this: The boy she shouldn't want is the only one who touches her right.

𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐀𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐫. 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚 harsh 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭

𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦. © 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟨， 𝐊𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝖠𝗅𝗅 𝖱𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝖱𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽．

The trouble with drugs is that no matter how much pain and misery they put you through, they become a part of you. And you will always want to go crawling back.

Winner of the Watty's 2017 Awards ✿ Destruction is a form of creation; buildings crumbled as he walked past. Khari Spence, trapped in a city steeped in hatred, longs to embrace his true self even if it means risking everything. He finds a fragile refuge in an old apartment with peeling wallpaper and blank journal pages -- and hopefully in a girl. Milo Locke, disillusioned with the hollow lure of materialism, seeks to rid the ideologies her parents forced onto her. When their worlds collide, will they help each other heal from past wounds, or will their secrets tear them apart?

Takashi and Toryn met each other when they were five. Became best friends at ten. Were inseparable by time they were fifteen. Built an indestructible bond at twenty. And now at the age of twenty five, after twenty years of friendship, due to the slowly deteriorating memory Toryn has had since she was a baby, she will one day forget everything. Including the one thing Takashi told her the first time they met. "Don't forget about me." -Takashi Maxwell Cover by: @lucida-