Novels by Joanora Elyse

Peter snagged two glasses of champagne and strolled toward Maxwell with exaggerated casualness. He stopped a few feet away, just close enough for others to overhear. “Well, well. Out of prison and already freeloading off a rich woman? Impressive turnaround, Maxwell Liang.”A couple nearby glanced over. Victoria’s lips curved, not in amusement, but in a dangerous, quiet warning.Maxwell didn’t flinch. His reply was soft, almost bored. “Careful, boy. Your words are louder than your courage.”Peter’s smirk faltered for a split second, but he recovered, laughing too loudly. “Still playing tough, huh? This city isn’t a battlefield. No one here’s impressed by your fists.”The tension threaded tighter. Conversations around them slowed, sensing the shift. Lisa turned sharply at her brother’s voice, her chest tightening. She should intervene, but pride rooted her feet. If Maxwell wanted to play the hero, let him.Victoria took a small step forward, her crimson dress catching the light like f

Crystal chandeliers cascaded light over the ballroom of the Imperial Heights Hotel, every droplet sparkling like a suspended star. The polished marble floor reflected gowns in a spectrum of silks and satins, the air fragrant with roses and expensive champagne. To the city’s elite, tonight’s charity banquet was an opportunity, to be seen, to form alliances, to measure the balance of power without a single word spoken aloud.Lisa entered on Draken’s arm, her expression poised, her silver gown flowing with understated grace. Every step was calculated, a practiced performance of control, even as her mother’s words lingered like a stain on her thoughts. She hadn’t wanted to come with Draken, but appearances mattered. Tonight, she had to secure Lin Corp’s cooperation, or her company would be outmaneuvered before the quarter’s end.Draken flashed a dazzling smile, perfectly tailored suit catching the light. He waved to acquaintances as if the room belonged to him. “Relax,” he murmured to

The two security guards squared their shoulders, unsure whether to approach Maxwell or wait for further instruction. Stella’s voice was already rising again, shrill with manufactured outrage. Peter, still sprawled on the ground, groaned theatrically, clutching his elbow for effect.Then, cutting through the clamor like a blade through silk, came a cold, clear voice: “Who said he needs to give you money?”The words rang out across the hotel’s polished driveway. Heads turned. A gust of night air swept in as a new figure stepped forward, Victoria, framed by the golden light spilling from the hotel’s entrance.She was breathtaking in her crimson dress, her hair tumbling in perfect waves over her shoulders, a faint smile tugging at her lips. But there was nothing soft in her eyes now. Those bright, mischievous eyes had hardened into something far sharper, something that could cut.Stella blinked, momentarily disoriented by the commanding presence before her. “And… who might you be?”Vict

The city at night was a jeweled tapestry, rivers of headlights threading through darkened streets, the neon glow of signs reflecting off glass towers. Maxwell steered his sedan into a discreet side street near the Grand Meridian Hotel, careful to avoid the main entrance’s bright floodlights. The mission demanded caution, and the woman at his side demanded the exact opposite.Inside the car, Victoria sat cross-legged in the passenger seat, her crimson dress riding dangerously high on her thigh as she twisted a loose curl of hair around one finger. “Honestly, you’re treating this like a spy thriller,” she teased. “It’s just a hotel, not a battlefield.”His hands remained steady on the wheel. “Battles are easier,” he said dryly. “At least you know where the bullets are coming from.”She tilted her head, studying him with a curious mixture of fondness and exasperation. “You really can’t turn it off, can you? Even after…” Her voice softened, and for a fleeting moment the teasing mask sli

Valerie blinked, startled. She’d never heard that tone from her ice-queen boss. “You did what was necessary. A convict, ” She caught herself, biting her tongue. “He would have dragged you down.”Lisa finally looked up, her gaze sharp as glass. “And yet, he never once asked me for anything. Not money. Not favors. Not even understanding.”Valerie hesitated, then said softly, “Sometimes the ones who ask for nothing are the ones who need us the most.”The words lingered long after Valerie left. Lisa stared at the divorce papers, her reflection fractured in the glossy surface, and for the first time in years, doubt slipped past her composure.Far below, on a shadowed street corner, an unmarked sedan idled. A pair of eyes watched the lights of Yaolin Group’s tower flicker. A voice crackled over a secure channel: “Target has made contact with the President. Clearance granted. Phase two begins.”The watcher smirked, turning the key. The engine roared softly, then vanished into the night.Som

The conference room was nothing like the sterile cells Maxwell had left behind, it was another world entirely. The walls were paneled in dark oak polished to a mirror shine, and a wide table of tempered glass gleamed under recessed lights. A faint hum of hidden projectors filled the silence.As the holographic projector flickered to life, figures materialized one by one, their crisp uniforms and polished medals catching phantom light. The President stood at the head of the group, his broad shoulders squared, the weight of a nation in his eyes. “General Maxwell Liang,” he began, his deep voice resonating through the room. “On behalf of the Republic, we thank you.”Around the table, senior officials saluted as one. Even in holographic form, their movements were precise, a choreography of respect that cut through the air like a blade.Maxwell stood tall, shoulders relaxed but unyielding, the orange of his former prison uniform exchanged for a tailored black suit, borrowed from a wardro

Lucas’s tablet beeped frantically. “Subterranean access! More players, like… ambushers, coming from below!”Charlie swore under his breath. “Figures. The Game never gives easy wins.”The first attacker emerged from the shadows below, a tall figure with a glowing blue sigil etched across their cheek. They raised a gun that seemed to hum with energy. “Stay back,” Charlie growled.Bullets whipped past his head as the others followed, three more, converging on their position.Kessler swung the rebar, smashing it into a pipe above the attacker. Steam hissed and scattered, giving Charlie a brief line of sight. He fired twice, hitting the first figure in the shoulder. The attacker stumbled, but the others advanced.Lucas’s hands trembled over the tablet. “I can maybe lock the grate! Just… hold them off!”“Do it!” Charlie shouted, swinging his pistol again.The corridor exploded into motion. Charlie and Kessler pushed forward, driving the attackers back while Lucas frantically typed. Spark

The bridge’s collapse echoed like thunder across the Main River, and the night swallowed the sound in seconds. Charlie’s lungs burned as he sprinted along the muddy riverbank, boots slipping on wet grass. The Safe Zone’s pulsing icon, bright white against the misty skyline, hovered like a ghost ahead of them, promising sanctuary but offering no guarantees.Behind them, the Enforcers’ distorted voices carried on the wind. “Run all you want… the Game is everywhere.”Lucas gasped between ragged breaths. “We… can’t… outrun them forever!”“Then we make it to the Zone before they close the gap,” Charlie said, his voice sharp. He gritted his teeth against the pain in his thigh where the energy spear had grazed him. Every step sent fire through the muscle. Kessler kept pace beside him, his coat flaring with each stride. “You’re bleeding.”“Not dead,” Charlie shot back. “That’s what matters.”The path narrowed to a crumbling concrete embankment hugging the river. Water slapped against the w

The first of the pursuers stepped into the station, a tall man in a tactical jacket, rifle glinting under his flashlight. Three others flanked him, weapons ready. Their faces were marked by faint blue sigils, the Game’s insignia, glowing faintly on their skin. The leader smirked. “Nice hideout. Shame it’s your last.”Charlie fired first. The shot took out a light, plunging half the platform into darkness. The attackers flinched, just enough for Kessler to spring the trap. The tripwire snapped, sending a metal bench crashing onto the nearest player. He shouted in pain, pinned under twisted metal.Charlie ducked behind a pillar as bullets ripped through the station. Sparks flew where rounds struck tiles. Lucas bolted for the stairwell, clutching his tablet and breathing hard. “I’ll find the route!”“Run!” Charlie shouted.Kessler lunged from cover, swinging the rebar. He cracked one attacker across the jaw, dropping him. The leader fired, Charlie felt the bullet whip past his cheek.

The ceiling tore loose with a thunderous crack, a tidal wave of steel and concrete plunging toward Charlie’s head. “Move!” Charlie roared, shoving Lucas sideways.Lucas tumbled across the slick marble floor as Kessler dove the other way. The massive slab slammed down where Charlie had stood, the impact shaking the vault like an earthquake. Dust and sparks billowed, choking the air.Charlie rolled to his knees, coughing. The Game’s symbols flickered wildly on the remaining walls. Countdown: 00:49, Purge in progress.Lucas’s voice was hoarse. “We’re gonna be buried alive!”Kessler, bleeding and furious, scrambled over debris toward the emergency exit, only to find another steel shutter sealing it tight. “Blocked!” he snarled.A mechanical arm lashed out from the dust, its blade-tipped end slicing through a fallen beam like butter. Charlie fired three shots, the muzzle flashes strobing the darkness. The arm sparked and retracted, but three more emerged, their servo motors whining. “We n

The floor beneath them vibrated. Panels retracted, revealing whirring turrets that rose like metal serpents. Laser sights snapped to life, crisscrossing the room.“Cover!” Charlie shouted, diving behind a row of deposit boxes as a hail of bullets chewed into the marble floor.Lucas flattened himself against another row. “Turrets? Seriously?”The Game’s voice whispered: Hint: Opponent proximity may trigger friendly fire. Use wisely.Charlie grinned grimly. He peeked out and fired at a turret, his bullet ricocheted harmlessly. “We can’t take those out head-on.”Kessler stepped through the door, calm even as bullets flew. He timed his movements perfectly, weaving through the kill zone like a dancer. The turrets ignored him at first, then hesitated, tracking both men. “Stay low,” Charlie muttered to Lucas.Lucas risked a glance at the pedestal. “We need that asset code, but the shield’s not dropping unless someone disables the mainframe.”“Where?”Lucas pointed toward a raised control bo

Lightning flashed through the vault’s skylight as alarms wailed. The vault’s emergency lights stuttered, casting Charlie’s master in fleeting frames of light and shadow. Thunder rolled outside, echoing down the steel-lined hallways like the growl of something ancient. Charlie froze. “No… you’re supposed to be dead.”His voice cracked against the walls. The Game’s glowing symbols pulsed brighter, as if feeding on the tension.The man, broad-shouldered, hair slicked with rain, smirked. “Dead? You should know by now, Charlie, the Game doesn’t let valuable pieces leave the board so easily.”Lucas, wide-eyed, whispered, “Who the hell is this?”Charlie didn’t take his eyes off the man. “This is Kessler.”Kessler stepped forward, boots clicking on the marble floor. “You’ve been busy. Fifty million already? Impressive for someone who couldn’t pay his debts last week.”“You left me bleeding in an alley.” Charlie’s fingers twitched near his holster.“I gave you an audition,” Kessler replied ca

The shadow surged upward like a tidal wave of night. Its edges hissed and spat electric blue sparks that sliced through the air with a scent of scorched metal.Jacob yanked Victoria back just as a whip of cobalt lightning lashed the ground where they’d stood. The soil crystallized into black glass.Continuum’s voice boomed, brittle with strain. “Fragment of the Root, unbound. Heir, the gate will not endure long.”The Root’s fragment loomed, a jagged silhouette of living darkness. Twin eyes of burning cobalt locked on Jacob. “You waver. You wonder. That is enough.”Marcus stepped forward, transfixed. “Incredible. It’s beautiful.”“Beautiful?” Victoria snapped, blood streaking her sleeve. “It’s trying to kill us!”Another whip of lightning cracked across the plain, missing Marcus by inches. He barely flinched, grin widening.Jacob raised his voice over the storm. “Why me? Why keep calling me heir?”The Root’s reply rumbled through his bones. “Because you dream beyond the cage. You will

The first star hit the plain like a cannon of light. A blinding flash swallowed the horizon, followed by a concussion that knocked Jacob off his feet. The ground rippled as if it were water, tossing them like rag dolls.Victoria hit hard beside him, clutching her wounded arm. Marcus sprawled forward, laughing, half-mad, as a second star streaked down in a burning arc.The black sky bloomed with thousands of incandescent streaks. A celestial storm. Each impact sent another shockwave roaring across the plain.Jacob forced himself upright against the vibrating ground. “We have to move!”Continuum’s outline flickered several yards away, the silver glow fraying at the edges. “The construct collapses. Shelter is none.”“No kidding,” Victoria muttered, dragging herself to her knees.The next impact was closer, a detonation of blue-white light that seared their retinas. A crater the size of a stadium opened where the plain had been, sparks of molten glass raining outward.Marcus staggered to

The black vortex churned across the alien sky, swallowing the shimmering auroras until only jagged streaks of electric blue remained. A bitter wind howled over the plain, carrying a metallic tang like blood on iron. Jacob’s pulse hammered. “What is that thing?”The silver being, Continuum, glowed brighter, as though bracing against a storm. “An echo that should not be.” Its voice wavered for the first time. “It is… rupture.”Marcus tilted his head, eyes gleaming with awe. “Another force. Another power.”A second voice rumbled from the vortex, deeper and colder, each syllable splintering the air: “I am the Root. The true origin. Choose me, heir of Smith.”Jacob staggered back. The words vibrated through his ribs like the strike of a massive drum.Continuum stepped closer, light pulsing. “Ignore the shadow. It is chaos unbound.”The Root thundered, “I am the first memory. I am what your blood remembers. Continuum is only the jailer.”Victoria tightened her grip on Jacob’s arm. “This i

The words, The key is you, vibrated through Jacob’s skull like a bell struck inside bone. He staggered, the pistol trembling in his grip. Marcus’s eyes widened, reflecting the searing blue glow. “It speaks.”Victoria whispered, “God help us.”The figure stepped fully into the corridor. Its body rippled like molten silver, a humanoid outline with no clear face, only a shifting lattice of light. Each movement left faint afterimages, as if time itself lagged behind it. Jacob forced a breath. “What are you?”The voice resonated again, deeper, everywhere at once: “I am Continuum. I am the echo of your origin.”Marcus took a reverent step forward. “You’re real.”“I am the memory of what you will become,” the voice replied.Victoria aimed her pistol with shaking hands. “Stay back!”The being tilted its shimmering head. “Fear is unnecessary. The convergence has chosen.”Marcus spread his arms, eyes shining. “We are chosen.”“One is chosen,” the voice corrected, its glow intensifying. “The k

The sound was like a mountain tearing in half. Stone shuddered. Dust poured from the ceiling in choking clouds as an icy wind blasted through the tunnel, carrying the metallic scent of ozone.Jacob braced himself against the wall. The titanium case in his jacket felt heavier than iron.Victoria staggered to her knees, one arm slick with blood. “It’s opening,” she rasped. “Marcus, you idiot, you don’t know what you’ve unleashed.”Marcus stood perfectly still, eyes glittering with triumph. “I know exactly.”A low, rhythmic pulse rolled from the direction of the vault, like a giant’s heartbeat, each throb vibrating through the stone floor.The guard groaned, half-conscious. Jacob helped him upright, never taking his eyes off Marcus. “Step away from the vault,” Jacob ordered.Marcus smiled faintly. “And miss history?”Another tremor ripped through the corridor. Far ahead, a blinding white glow seeped from a newly formed crack in the rock. The air grew colder, sharper, as if the very oxyge

The blue shards of the shattered grid fizzed out like dying stars. For a heartbeat, the tunnel held only the howl of alarms and the low, ominous rumble from above.The hooded figures advanced, silhouettes etched in the strobing red light. The guard raised his pistol. “Stay back!”They didn’t. The first figure spread empty hands. “Jacob, we are not your enemy.”“You broke into my home,” Jacob snapped, “and threatened my family.”“Because your family threatens the world,” the second figure said. The voice, still distorted, carried a strange familiarity that prickled the back of his neck.Victoria stepped forward, trench coat swirling. “Stop this nonsense or you won’t leave alive.”The first figure tilted its head. “Hello, Victoria. Still guarding secrets no one should keep?”Something flickered in her eyes. Recognition. “You,” she said tightly. “I should have guessed.”Jacob’s pulse jumped. “You know them?”Before she could answer, a concussive boom rolled through the corridor, so deep