Hollow (Scott)

What's my secret? That's something I intend to take to the grave. When my best friend and the only person who knows who-and what-I really am gets selected for the Mating Games, I know the only way to save her is to try and win her for myself. All I need to do is navigate three trials while not letting anyone know I'm a woman, or, and this might be even more important, that I have magic. Easy, right? Easier than slaving away for all hours of the day swinging an ax in the mines. Or so I thought. I certainly didn't count on the one man I've longed for, the one man who stirs feelings of femininity and desire within me, to enter the games as well. Every minute that I'm there I'm risking everything. If I'm discovered I'll become nothing more than a broodmare, but I can't abandon the woman who is like family to the fate that the Divine would deem she have. I'll do whatever it takes to save her from the desolate future of becoming nothing more than a prize for the victor of the games. The only question is, will my secret still be intact by the time the trials are over? Or will I have condemned us both to a fate worse than death? Contains mature themes.

Some secrets are meant to be broken-the rewards outweighing the consequences. Some, however, bring about a change unlike any ever imagined. The Mating Games challenged me; not only physically, but mentally, and the emotional toll it wreaked was the hardest part. Yet, I was starting to realize that the worst…and best…was yet to come. Joining the Resistance opened up possibilities for me I'd never considered, but just like anything else worth having, the price was steep. The question I struggled with, was that cost worth it? I thought seeing Izzy safe would be enough to make me answer yes, but with my emotions strung as tight as a coil between the men who had found their way into my life, I had to face the fact that the dreams I always had were no longer part of the future I envisioned. There was one thing for certain though, no matter what path I chose, somebody was going to wind up hurt. And by the Stones, all signs were pointing to that somebody being me.

I was taught to fear the truth, a lesson my mother instilled in me from birth, but that was before. Before she disappeared without a trace and left me to navigate a world she taught me was dangerous, but never explained why. I thought I could handle it alone, with only my best friend to share my secrets, but that was before them-before the men that plowed into my life and found a place for themselves. They gave me everything-love, respect, but there was one thing I needed, that they didn't have. Answers. Why was I taught to hide away? Why did I have to give up a life of riches for countless hours spent working a mine? And most importantly, what happened to the other Divine from the Zircon line? Marcus said there were none left, but he didn't know what I did, that I was one. Still, that begged the question, was the source of my magic why I was hidden away? Was it the cause of awakening the dormant powers in those I grew close to? And finally, what was so wrong with it, that everyone like me was dead? I didn't know the answer to any of those questions but finding myself exactly where my mother had always feared I'd end up, I have a feeling I'm going to find out. Contains mature themes.