Novels by M Zana Kheiron

Alistair went upstairs and decided it was best to leave a note. Lisa was driving, but he could see that she was tired. Maybe that little nap had been enough, maybe not. He grabbed his notepad and a pen, which always stayed on the nightstand next to the bed.Then, he pulled the quilt aside and tossed it over Lisa—she was all curled up, clearly cold. The young woman had on a light dress, since she had gone to a pool party.He went back downstairs and saw Maria still standing, clutching her purse tightly. The young woman looked uncomfortable and was nervously biting her lips. She was wearing a dress similar to Lisa’s, but the cut hugged her generous curves much more, and Alistair felt strange—and disappointed in himself—for noticing he was ‘seeing too much.’ Maria was his wife’s friend. Whether the marriage was real or just for show was irrelevant.“Let’s go, Miss Johnston,” Alistair said seriously. “I’ll drive you home. I’ve left a note for Lisa, but in case she wakes up while we’re on

Lisa swallowed hard.“Of course we are,” she said, clearing her throat with a cough. Alistair’s closeness was making her nervous. “Are you… are you interested in Rosemary?”Alistair raised an eyebrow quickly and exhaled, turning back to the wardrobe.“No.”“Are you sure? Most guys would want a shot with her.”The way Lisa spoke was suggestive. She was clearly trying to test Alistair.“I’m not interested.”“And why not?” Lisa asked, sitting on Alistair’s bed. She could smell his scent on the sheets—masculine, warm. “Isn’t she your type?”“As you yourself said, I’m married,” Alistair replied, turning around. He was holding a small bottle in his hand. “The kind of girl I go for will be my wife.”Alistair wasn’t saying he wanted Lisa, only that he didn’t look at other women when he was already committed to someone. No matter how pretty they were, he wouldn’t make a move or accept flirtation. Still, Lisa’s face turned red and she bit her lip. She looked directly into Alistair’s eyes and le

Rosemary hadn’t expected to be yanked like that and ended up falling after twisting her ankle.“Lisa!” she complained and swallowed hard, the words caught in her throat when she saw Lisa’s murderous glare aimed at her. “I just… You said it wasn’t him!”Lisa stepped beside Alistair and ran her hands down his arm.“Well, I was wrong! And you saw him up close—you knew very well it was him!” Lisa snapped. “How dare you invite him to have fun with you? Don’t you have any shame?”Rosemary looked at Alistair, who wore an unreadable expression. She stood up, wincing at the pain in her ankle.“Mr. Woods…,” she said, pouting her lips. Sure, Lisa was his wife, but come on, she was involved with Edward Hunter! So what if Rosemary made a move? Wouldn’t she be doing him a favor? Especially if it helped Alistair escape that marriage! “Could you help me?”Alistair exhaled and almost stepped forward, but Lisa stopped him. He looked at her, and her eyes were locked on his, as if to say: if you dare, I

“Hey, isn’t that your husband?” a girl asked, nudging Lisa, who was staring at the figure emerging from the water.“Of course not!” Lisa replied, fanning her face. That couldn’t be Alistair Woods. Not only did she not think he’d have any business in that neighborhood, but… come on, the man in the pool looked like a Greek God!“Thank God! I’m going over to talk to that hottie!” the girl ran her hands through her hair, and the others giggled. Maria, who had only just approached the group, looked in the same direction—and her heart started racing.“Lisa, is that…?”“No!” she replied, but her fingers were clenched against her palm, nails digging into the skin.“And what if it is? Rosemary’s already heading his way…” Maria looked away. She didn’t think it was right to stare at someone like that. Alistair wasn’t showing off; he was in his own backyard.“So what?” Lisa tried not to show concern, though she was clearly uncomfortable. Rosemary was already outside her house and waved up at the

Edward Hunter. Alistair wasn’t really surprised that man could be involved in something shady—but human trafficking?“I want all the information, Harriet. Thank you for telling me.”Harriet had a feeling Alistair knew something, but she wouldn’t pressure him. She trusted the judgment and abilities of the man who, to her, was the only one worthy of her heart.As soon as he hung up the phone, Alistair searched through his contacts and was about to call Lisa. But what good would that do? That family would likely say he was just jealous of Edward and humiliate him again.‘Sometimes, people need to learn through pain!’, Alistair told himself. Then, a face appeared in his mind. Maria.That young woman seemed decent, despite hanging around Lisa. In fact, he couldn’t even understand why she was friends with that shallow girl who now had his last name on a marriage certificate.According to the rules, he couldn’t file for divorce without a solid reason. There had been a promise, and he had ful

“I’ll ask one last time: what’s your goal? If you don’t speak in the next few seconds, forget I was ever a gentleman, because I’ll throw you out!”Louisa’s expression changed instantly. She pulled her arm back, but Alistair’s grip was strong.“I was just teasing! And… you’re very confident. Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know I’m the first woman—”“And do you know who I am?” he asked, his tone stern and his eyes cold. “Louisa Weisz, I admire your position and what you’ve achieved, but I warn you: you are in no condition to be considered competition for me!”Louisa took a deep breath and tried a technique to free herself, but Alistair didn’t even move. She spun, but he caught her with his other hand, pulling her against him. Her back collided with his chest and she swallowed hard.“Alistair Woods! I’m still being nice!”Without another word, Alistair dragged her to the door and pushed her outside. Louisa nearly fell, and when she turned her face, she saw his hardened expression bef

Candace was outside the room 647, unable to mutter a word. Her eyes were focussed on the white wall in front of her. A little red stain was there. Almost invisible. ‘Is it blood?’, Candace asked herself. Mildred was taking care of all the arrangements, including having to talk to Joseph's family and, of course, dealing with the police. "Darling, take it." The smoke from the hot coffee made Candace look at the small Styrofoam cup, filled with the steaming liquid, and then at the woman holding it. The blue eyes behind the glasses expressed both empathy and concern. Candace didn't say anything, just held the cup, while Mildred smiled at her and walked away. She had a lot to do. When Mildred returned, the cup was still in Candace's hand, and the coffee was very cold. Mildred took a deep breath. She had been working at the hospital for some time and was used to the occasional patient passing away, especially since most of them were elderly. Many of them with some illness, not only ment

Darkness engulfed Joseph, who felt his feet leave the ground. The scene of Harry falling continued to play through his mind, like an infinite loop. Winona's laughter rang in his ears. He just wanted this nightmare to end soon and be nothing more than this: a nightmare.'I must be very tired and I'm just hallucinating. That's it. None of this is real!' he repeated to himself, eyes closed and covering his ears to try to stifle that hideous laugh.As soon as his feet touched the ground again, Joseph opened his eyes. He looked around and, once again, he was in that cursed cabin. He got up, staggering, and headed for the door. Incredibly, it opened without objection, allowing him to leave.Joseph ran back to the road, where the car was parked on the side of the road. The snow wasn't as fluffy as before and he didn't get stuck like he thought he would.He took the key out of his pocket, and his trembling fingers had a hard time getting the small metal object and inserting it into the lock o

Joseph was dizzy after realizing that this woman, the Indian, was his great aunt. She was hardly mentioned, but he knew her name was Winona. He heard about how mad she was and that they cut contact with her because of this. Now he knew she cast a curse on his parents, as well as on his uncles, and maybe that's why so many wrong things happened in their lives. Joseph's mother freaked out one fine day, while cooking and tried to kill his father. His father wanted to put his wife into a nursing home, but at the time they didn't have resources for that, so the solution was to take care of her in their own home. Unfortunately, it ended in tragedy. She set the whole house on fire one night, with everyone asleep. Fortunately, his father managed to get him out of there, but not her, who burned to death. Outside the house, while waiting for the firefighters ,they could hear her insane laughter. Before the outbreak, she couldn't stop talking about curses and talismans and poisoned blood, and i

The walk to the cabin, though less tortuous than the previous night, was longer. Joseph noticed some things hanging from trees, and when he looked closer, for it was day and he could see, he realized that they were small skulls. He was startled, because that was very macabre! There were many, like bunches of grapes. He kept walking, because the worst that could happen to him was to be stuck out in the open, in the blizzard.He saw some totem poles half buried in the snow around the house. When he finally looked at the building, he realized that it looked a lot like last night's cabin. He swallowed, slowly approaching the door. He raised his hand to knock, but it froze for a few seconds. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and before he knocked, he looked down and sees the same potted plant."It's not possible..." His lips were trembling, not from the cold, but from fear. He gatherd courage and knocked on the d

Joseph bent down and picked up the small box, about the size of a hand and about three fingers wide. He went to the old chair and sat down, listening to the poor furniture creak. Before opening it, Joseph noticed how it had some symbols carved into the lid as well as on the sides. Joseph's grandmother was a native, from the Pine Ridge Reservation, and though she avoided talking about it much, he could make out some of those carvings. He lifted the lid and saw a few items inside, and one of them caught his eyes. The braided leather key ring his father showed him a few years ago. They were very similar, but Joseph knew they couldn't be the same, after all, how could that be possible? There was also a necklace with a pendant similar to an animal's tooth, as well as a red ribbon. Suddenly, tiredness sets in and Joseph feels heavy eyes again, as when he was driving. He looked at the dusty bed and thought there was no other way. He dusted it off and, before going to 'bed', he observed throu

Candace went to the patient's room and found him lying down, peacefully sleeping. She met with Scott before entering and asked him to allow her in, to which he very reluctantly agreed. She watched the old man sleep for a few minutes. What happened to her to have such a hallucination? Could it be that she had a problem at her house, with fungi? But, she started having strange sensations inside work that night, so the fungus wouldn't be in her house, exactly. With these thoughts, she didn't notice when Joseph woke up, until he called out her name. "Miss Adams?" He was lying still, just looking at her. "Huh?" She looked around, waking up from her reverie. She stared at him. He motioned with his finger for her to approach him. She did so. "I need your help." He said softly, looking around, still lying down. "With what, Mr Staton? Want me to call Scott?" Joseph made a frump. He didn't like that nurse guy because he was too rough. And he knew the guy had bad intentions towards Candace. H

After Peter was dropped off at a house with Ashford security, Gideon went to the hospital to visit Wanda. Her father was there and when Matteo saw his future son-in-law, he decided to talk to him."Ah, Friedrich, can we have a word before you go into Wanda's room?"“Yes, of course, Mr Grayson.” He answered and the two sat on some benches farther away, where there were no people around.“I'll be direct, okay? Wanda and you… Are you really going to get married? I mean, are you a real couple?”Matteo Grayson's question made Gideon frown. He didn't understand why that man decided to ask him something like that.“Yes, we’re going to get married. And yes, we are a real couple. Wanda is the woman of my life, Mr Grayson.”“It's just… She came up with these questions about me forcing her to marry another man if she didn't marry you. I know you've been through the odds and ends, but did anything else happen? Something I don't know about?""No. Wanda is the love of my life, the woman I want to s

Peter was very competent at what he did and Gideon was thoughtful as he watched the boy working on what he had been asked to do.'If he had had more opportunities, maybe today he would be much better off in life', he thought and looked at Brandon, who didn't take his eyes off Peter.Brandon was worried. He knew that if he didn't hear from the Clan, he would be forced to travel, but without being sure about Krasner’s death, he couldn't afford that luxury. He would be risky and falling again from the mad doctor's hands would be certain death.It wasn't that Brandon feared dying. No, he was not afraid of death. Not when it came to himself. But if he was captured and killed, Gideon and Lucy would be after him for sure and they would most likely suffer the same fate. And that Brandon could never risk."I got it!" Peter announced and started rummaging around. “Their initial system is rudimentary, but despite that, it's all well done and protected. Afterwards, the bastards managed to put up

“So, boy. Here's the thing: we need you to hack a system for us. We are without our agent at the moment and I heard that you are a formidable hacker.” Gideon said as he popped a piece of gum into his mouth. He didn't smoke, never had, but when he got too nervous, he liked to chew gum.The boy adjusted his glasses again and looked at Gideon, still amazed.“Yeah… Is this some kind of test?” he asked and Gideon rolled his eyes."I'm not a cop trying to catch you with your hand in the cruse." Gideon sighed. “I need you to get into that system. I need to know if a person is still alive.”“Look, then I think you should go to the police. I am not…"“Enough with the small talk, boy!” Gideon said and approached the boy, who took a few steps back until he bumped into a trash can in the street and almost fell with it. But Gideon caught him by the collar of his shirt. "I need it now. I will pay you well for this.”Peter remembered the wad of cash his father was given and didn't doubt that the man

Gideon was in the hospital room with Wanda, reading one of her favorite books for her, Jane Eyre, when his cell phone rang.“Just a moment, my love.” Gideon asked, raising one finger and Wanda, who was more than pale in the face and smiled slightly, in agreement.Outside Wanda's ward, Gideon answered the phone.“Hi, Bro. What is going on?""Rindley still hasn't been found, but we have a plan." Brandon said on the other end of the line and Gideon listened intently.Upon entering back the room, Wanda was more than awake, looking at Gideon.“I'm going to have to leave for a few moments, honey.” He told her softly.“Gideon… You don't have to go through with this.” She said and sighed. “Our marriage is a sham. You don't have to keep coming here.”He frowned at her and walked over to the bed, sitting in the chair and taking her hand in his.“Do you think I would risk dying for you if I didn't like you?” he asked with an offended tone. “Fuck, I dare say I love you, Wanda!”He notices when he

“It means we have no way of contacting the Clan?” Brandon asked Lucy. He was sitting in a hospital bed, his torso getting wrapped in gauze, while he talked to Lucy on the phone. “I’ll try to find another way. I’ll call Rindley again.” “Ok, love.” Brandon answered and smiled. “I love you, Lucy. And I’m sorry for dragging you into all those problems.”“It is not your fault, baby. Actually, if not for me, you’d have never gone into that trouble.” Lucy said, since Brandon decided to start training because of her, then, he got ‘murdered’ because of her as well. “We were made in heaven.” Brandon laughed, feeling a sting on his flank. The adrenaline was not high anymore running through his veins. The doctor wanted to give him morphine, since he had a great wound on his side, but he denied it, with fear it might make him vulnerable.“Keep still, Brandon! I can hear you’re in pain!” Lucy nagged. “I’ll call my brother.” She finished the call with Brandon, but her heart was clenching, as if

"My children!" Gareth smiled and spread his arms wide, as if genuinely happy to see the twins and their mates."Father!" Gideon said and broke into a huge smile. “We have something new and we wanted to come and tell you in person.”Gareth looked from one to the other, and then, the four raised their hands and the rings gleamed in the ambient light. Gareth widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows.“Did you get married?” he asked, surprised."Yes! We couldn't take it anymore. After everything that happened, we decided it was necessary. I had no reason to keep putting it off.” Brandon spoke and sounded very calm.“Then… Then we need to celebrate!”For Brandon, it was very strange to have to look at that man who was in his biological father's body, but in reality, he was nothing more than a crazy doctor, capable of anything to put the crazy creations of his mind into action.A party was arranged and the four had to pretend that everything was fine, that they were a happy family.“So, any