Ave Maria. Avalynne All my life I’ve been good. A good student. A good sister. A good girl. Until I wasn’t. Until Grandpapa shipped me here for the nuns to fix me. Evil ensnares my mind and sunders my soul. Or that’s what they tell me, at least. Reverend Mother demands penance. Grandpapa demands punishment. And three men threaten it all. The Professor, whose words drip with arctic arrogance. The Priest, whose dark eyes linger on me for too long. And the Shadow, the chilling specter I hope isn’t real. I’ll need to suffer them all to get out of here, beginning with my Professor. He is an enigma behind midnight-black eyes. He doesn’t want to be here. He loathes tutoring me. But, sometimes, in the quiet of the classroom … I catch him staring at me. And I feel the scorch of his gaze feather my skin. He’ll eat me alive if I give him the chance. But the darkness in me wants the lines between us to blur. A habit and a veil won’t protect me within the Convent’s walls. May God save my undeserving soul.

Publication Year: 2024