Lauren Roberts

Set during the time of the New York Times bestseller Powerless, fan favorite Adena gets a story all her own in this captivating novella as she attempts to survive on the streets of Loot…and falls for a mysterious—and dangerous—Elite. Adena and Paedyn have always been inseparable. Fate brought them together when they were young, but friendship ensured they would always protect each other and the home they built in the slums of Loot. But now Paedyn—an Ordinary—has been selected for the Purging Trials, which means almost certain death. Now alone in Loot, Adena must fend for herself. After attempting to steal, she’s rescued by a mysterious man from the market. Mak’s shadowy past and secretive power set him apart from the other low-level Elites of Loot. And as the pair team up to see their loved ones before the Trials, the quest tests their loyalty, their love, and their lives. This novella also includes a special extended teaser to Reckless—the exciting sequel to Powerless!

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity. Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done. When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Heir to the clan MacFarlane, Ailis was a prize to be bartered by her calculating father, and her wedding to a man she despised seemed inevitable--until she is abducted by her clan's worst enemy, Alexander MacDubh, a brutally handsome laird with ice in his eyes and hot blood in his veins. She had heard rumors of the most famous and feared member of the MacDubh clan, a fair and loving man transformed by grief into an embittered, cold-hearted raider. And now, she was at his mercy. Alexander had come riding into Leargan to claim the three children born of a forbidden love between his brother and lovely Ailis' sister. Now, with Ailis herself as his pawn, he can strike at the enemy whose treachery robbed his clan of so much. Her beauty and her fierce temper stir his blood, and vengeance has never been so sinfully sweet. But will a passion they cannot deny by enough to ease the pain and torment of the past--and break the chains around his heart?

What is a truly fearless man capable of? They’re about to find out. . . . Ben Koenig used to head the US Marshal’s elite Special Operations Group. His team hunted the bad guys―the really bad guys, and he could find anyone. Then one day Koenig himself disappeared. Koenig has been on the run for six years. Now suddenly his face is on every television screen in the country and his cover is blown. A woman has gone missing, and her father will do anything to find her. He wants Koenig to discover what happened, no matter the cost. The trail leads Koenig to a small town in the burning heat of the Chihuahuan Desert, where some people have a secret they’ll do anything to protect. But Koenig has a secret of his own: a unique condition that makes him unable to feel fear. Now Koenig is coming for them. And they should be afraid.