Novels by E.C Blackwood

Eliana The apartment in Paris smells so much like flowers and the rain that’s been tapping the windows since morning, soft enough that you can ignore it if you want to. Victor is sitting on the other end of the sofa with his legs stretched out, a beautiful blue mug between his palms and steam wafting up and fogging his glasses for a second before he leans back. He takes his coffee black now, no sugar, and I take mine with too much milk, the way I did when we first moved here and I pretended it was because I liked it and not because French coffee kicked harder than I expected. “Careful, it’s hot,” he says without looking up, because he knows I’m going to sip too fast anyway. I do, and it burns the tip of my tongue, and I make a face, and he smiles into his mug, that small, private one he only does when he thinks I’m not watching. Our life is beautiful together. It’s quiet for a minute, the good kind of quiet where neither of us needs to disturb it. Then I hear steps running i

Damian Weeks later, we were all seated in a courtroom. It smelled like old wood and coffee gone cold, and I sat three rows back with my hands clasped too tight in my lap, my thumb pressing into the knuckle of my index finger until it hurt. Because, if I didn’t do something with my hands I’d start drumming them on the bench and Ruth would shoot me a look from the prosecutor’s table. Beside me was Mila, Victor, Eliana and all the others patiently waiting for Eliot’s downfall. Eliot stood in a suit that cost more than my car, his shoulders straight, his jaw set like he still thought he could talk his way out of it and an hour later when the judge read, “guilty on all counts offense including, laundering, possession of drugs with intent,” he didn’t flinch. He just turned his head, found me in the crowd and held my gaze for a second too long before the officers took his elbows. He had a look that said “you won this round,”and I hated that it still got under my skin but he was hop

Damian The sun was even hotter than when we left and I couldn’t feel my throat dry up as Ramirez pulled in, the car rolling past the rows of marked police cars and my knee finally still because there was nothing left to bounce for. My eyes locked on the entrance just as Martins car quickly drove in from the other side, Victor already out before the engine even stopped. His shoulders were low but his face was unreadable the way it gets when he’s empty-handed and pissed about it. We met on the steps, the heat pressing against my back, his eyes flicking over the evidence bag Ramirez was carrying which contained the bricks of hard drugs sealed in plastic and the cash still banded. I saw his jaw tighten once,the only sign I got to tell that his trip was also fruitless. “No?” I asked, even though I knew. “No sir,” he replied, his voice flat and his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “Preston knew we were coming, I don’t know how but his house was cold. No cars, no Rostella or even m

Victor Officer Martins drove with both hands in the fastest way possible, never tapping the wheel and never even checking the rearview more than once every block. It was the kind of steady that makes me trust a person even if I didn’t get to know them. I sat beside him in the passengers seat and while he drove, I kept my eyes fixed on the street signs. I wasn’t used to being in the passengers seat so despite all the chaos I was enjoying the view. My right hand stayed resting on my knee only because I needed something to stop it from curling into a fist every time I thought about the possibility of Eliot successfully leaving the country. What if we’re too late? What if he had our plans all figured out before we even began? These thoughts clung to me like a plague that would kill me. Preston’s place was tucked off in a private estate, the house behind a high hedge and a driveway that curved like it was trying to hide the house, and I already knew the shape of this stop

Damian The driver drove with his left hand on the wheel and his right thumb tapping the gear shift every time we hit a red light, the car speeding through the streets faster than I expected. I felt my knee bouncing against the door and making a soft thud until I caught myself doing it and planted both feet flat on the floor, forcing my breathing to slow. I kept my eyes on the road, but my mind kept wandering back to Xavier’s voice on the phone and I wondered if he had managed to get home safely. I hated that I was thinking about that instead of trying to remember the layout of Eliot’s house, but I couldn’t help myself. “Crestwood estate, third gate on the left,” I said when we turned onto the private road, my voice coming out tighter than I wanted and my fingers curling around the strap of my seatbelt. I was tensed, there was nothing I could do to even feel better. The driver nodded and pulled up to the mighty iron gate before turning on the siren and the flashing lights.

Damian Officer Ruth didn’t waste a second before she pressed her thumb against the intercom on the wall, her voice getting firmer with each word like our lives depended on that very moment and honestly it did. “All available units, when I say all I mean all, to front hall. Now!” She ordered, her eyes never leaving the folders splayed across the table. The sound echoed down the corridor, and I felt my stomach tighten, my fingers drumming once against the edge of the table before I forced them to stay still, trying not to look as tensed as I felt. I used to be known as the war god but it seemed like I’d fallen short of the name. I watched as she stood up and gathered the file into her arm with a quick, practiced motion, and then she jerked her chin toward the door. “You two, come with me we’ve got no time to waste.” She said and Victor and I followed immediately, my boots squeaking faintly against the floor carpet. Victor was moving in that quiet and deliberate way he always do

A woman rose from the dark corner of the glass room and showed herself, she had the same dark hair as Alaric, and the resemblance between them was unmistakable. The only difference was that this woman was looking quite haggard, her hair was shaggy and disheveled, but her face still looked clean.She grabbed a chair in the middle of the room and dragged it along with her, but it didn’t make a single noise at all. She stopped a few feet away from the glass wall and sat on the chair. The only reason why the chair didn’t make a noise was because the room she was in was crafted in a way that no noise can be made in there. The only thing she could hear was her voice, and that was only if someone was on the other end, stepping on a particular rune, which was the only means they could both have a conversation. “You seem to have lost some weight, are you thinking again?” the woman asked, fake care coating her tone heavily.The matriarch sucked in the air sharply through her teeth and tapped

The words that the matriarch said were enough to shut all of them up and plunge the room into silence once again as they were reminded of the dark times that they would rather forget.“Why are all of you quiet? Are you suddenly short of words and don’t know what to say now that you are reminded of your bitter past?” The matriarch asked once again. “She never ceased to amaze me even back then,” she added, shaking her head. “I have a suggestion on what to do,” Boyd said, cutting in and grabbing everyone's attention. “We know that lad’s secret, why don’t we throw him to the wolves, to the public, since we can’t take him down ourselves without attracting unwanted attention?” “Sell him out to the wolves?” the second male, Lawrence, asked. “Yes, it is a really good idea if you ask me,” Boyd replied. Morris let out a short laugh. “A really good plan?” he questioned and shook his head. “I can’t believe that is the best thing you can come up with.” “And I also can't believe that you all

Alaric stared into the distance, zoning out and sinking into his thoughts again, and once again, he wasn’t allowed to dwell long in them. Kira was swift enough to snap him out of it. “You are doing it again,” she said, tapping him gently on his arm. Snapping out of his thoughts, he focused his attention on her once again. “What do you mean?” “You zoned out of the crowd and were thinking about whatever it is you were thinking about,” she replied, making gestures with her hand. “Oh,” he rubbed his neck softly and let out a chuckle, “I was lost for a minute.” “What were you thinking about? Your meeting, was it with the representative who left a while ago?” Alaric was speechless for a second, completely caught off-guard by that question. It was something he never saw coming at all. ‘How do you know?’ That was the question that was on the tip of his tongue, but he decided against it. She was from the White family, the family that controls this city, so it wouldn’t be much of a surpr

Alaric made his way back to the party, but he wasn’t really at the party. He was completely shut off in his thoughts, he was not the same person that he had been when he made his way to the tournaments, and he didn’t expect those changes at all. The only thing that had been on his mind was to win the tournament and win the bet, nothing else. But now, he just discovered who his father really was, he had turned the whole Vincent family around with the way the tournament had gone, and those were not even the craziest. He had also attracted the attention of people that seemed too dangerous, this wasn’t an activity that he was pleased with.Maybe his father’s real identity is the craziest among all the changes. He thought back to the conversation he also had with that representative a few minutes ago and he seemed to know every single thing there is to know about Alaric. ‘Does that mean that the man knows about my father’s identity and if he knows about his identity, then he would really

Silence. The bomb that Alaric had just dropped had rendered all of them speechless, including Josh, who is rarely ever shocked. Gregor cleared his throat and composed himself. “I do not understand what you um… said earlier. Can you please repeat that?”“My beast is beyond Immortal grade,” Alaric repeated. “Are you sure? The highest grade ever recorded for years is Immortal Grade,” Gregor replied, disbelief heavy in his tone. “Yes, I know. Why do you think that I need you to agree to my conditions before I tell you?” Alaric questioned. Josh’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, that reasoning makes sense, but the grade is just hard to believe. Even an immortal grade beast is very hard to come across, and now you are mentioning a beast of a whole different grade?” “I know this will be hard to believe, but do you think I would have stated those conditions if my beast were of any usual grade?” Alaric responded with his own question. “Young man, are you sure of what you are saying? You will be

Everyone settled down in the room, Alaric chose to lean against the wall. The atmosphere was kind of weird, the headmaster wasn't smiling, and Josh wasn't smiling either, which led Alaric to wonder what the “Federal Council” meant.“Alaric, my name is Gregor, and just like your friend said earlier, I am from the Federal Council,” the mysterious man said. “There's no need for me to introduce myself, I am guessing you already know most of the things there are to know about me,” he replied after taking a careful look at him. Gregor cleared his throat. “You are right in that aspect, first things first, congratulations on your victory in the tournament.” “Thanks, but I am guessing that is not what you are here for.” Gregor shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Normally, my arrival here should have been to extend an invitation to you for the national tournament, but your beast has got some members of the federal council talking.” The reason that Gregor just spat out drew out a reaction f