#LGBT scifi

[jenyifer]

August September LGBTQIA book list.

Now quick disclaimer: I moved during this time. Very stressful. So maybe that’s why I have so many dropped and disliked books. I’m going to give these quick reviews in a specific order of would recommend to mehhh only if you are that type of person. I don’t give spoilers this is just a taste. I am lesbian who is 30 so that also colors my perception of these stories. Only going to include pics of the top 5 to drag you in for easy screenshotting.

Okay Let’s go.

1. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Tj Klune 🏳️‍🌈👨🏼‍🍼👬🔥🏡⛓️‍💥 okay once again when I take over the world House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea will be required reading I didn’t think the follow up book to one of the best books in the modern age about feel good found family foster family could get any better. But I was proven wrong. The sequel gives you all you need. You can tell the author felt the pain of our world as he wrote this but the children and characters give those stories life. I cried I laughed. There is nothing quite like it.

2. The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 🏳️‍⚧️💕😱🩸👁️🐰 You know what I am putting this one as 2 because despite it making me have countless panic attacks because I’m not fond of… gore? Horror? I adored this book still thinking about it. The romance is 10/10 T4T. I adored the mystery and intrigue. The main character is autistic and very anxiety ridden I can’t describe to you how this book will change you. Although approach with caution.

3. The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish Vol2. 🏳️‍🌈🐟🤴🏻🤣 mild 🌶️ on a completely different note the “IS THAT MAN IN LOVE WITH A FISH” is a treat that always surprises me with the amount I love it. Maybe I am trash crazy but I find this funny easy to read and in this second book we got even more time with the fish and his prince actually in human shape. The miscommunication trope is strong with this one but so is consent and romance. Idk I just fucking love it. I want the prince to become emperor with his fishy lover haha.

4. The Name Bearer by Natalia Hernandez 💃💐🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩💜💜 Okay quick disclaimer here the book is an classic style fantasy journey it is slow. However I really loved how beautifully thought out the universe was it’s a latinx woman forward book. The romance is not the point but it feels very natural which I appreciate. Main character might even be ace spec. There are great side characters. I really love the apprentice wizard but WARRIOR NUNS!!! Hehehe also things seem to be not what they seem which is always cool. I’d definitely suggest this to any fantasy lover.

5. Grandmaster of Demon Cultivation the comic vol 1-3 🏳️‍🌈👬🪄🪦💀🫏necromancer evil wizard is reincarnated into his nephew’s body years after his death. Or is he evil? Or is he 🏳️‍🌈? Hahah yes he is. Anyways in the present he’s finding the consequences of his actions while his…. Love interest is going to make sure nothing happens to this version of him. You slowly get the past. I find the comic is the easiest way to consume this fantasy story. Yes there is anime, book, and a Netflix series and a new Japanese manga is being released but I like this one. 🤷🏻‍♀️

6. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire 💜🪦🚪 about a school for those who come back from other universes and long to go back. Main Character is probably ace spec. Very interesting fantasy book for someone who consumed a lot of fantasy as a child. Thought it was also very thoughtful book. I had fun it’s not super surprising or new ground but I enjoyed it for a quick read.

7. Spell Bound by FT Lukens 🏳️‍🌈🐈‍⬛🧙‍♀️🧑‍💻 well it’s YA. Out of the other FT Lukens books I semi enjoyed this one. The characters are still dumb as rocks and the setting could use some more fleshing. But it’s okay. For a fun quick read that semi reminds you of urban fantasy? It’s good. The side ship found family was a little forced but I enjoyed the side characters.

8. Psalm for the wild built 💜🍵🤖🏕️ it’s a chill cozy book for people who are over worked. I’d say if you want scifi it’s not. It’s closer to fantasy. Very short and preachy.

9. Casefile Compendium vol2 by Meatbun 🏳️‍🌈🩸🌶️🚩🔍🐉🥼 Danmei Murder mystery modern times age gap. Does have 2 chapters of non consent and absolutely off the wall opinions about the medical industry.

10. Otherworldly by FT Lukens 🧚‍♂️🏳️‍🌈🥶❄️ YA familiar escapes fairy world finds a skeptical person decides they’ll def fall in love and make a deal. I listened to 50% the characters are intensely idiotic and just…. So so so blind. I couldn’t do it. The skeptic is a person who moved to the city for their family but they do stuff for their family without really caring for them I’m just not buying it. The familiar is infact a psychopath or so low iq he doesn’t care to live or feel or observe anything in 5 years. So so so stupid. Omg.

I had several DNF

I made my parents listen to Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell in my mission to make my parents less homophobic. My mom enjoyed it. My dad said it was way too gay. 😩 man I wish it was way too gay.

What am I reading next? Hummm idk yet. Suggestions are always appreciated!!!

[once-upon-a-reblog]

AHHHHH????

I AM FREAKING OUT

(Also here’s the book in question)

[lou-wilham]

I'm not saying if you're into steampunk, fairy tales, and like pineapple you need to read The Clockwork Chronicles but I'm not not saying that either. 👀

Rapunzel, the unicorn legend, Beauty and the Beast, and Pinocchio all get a reboot in my new adult steampunk scifi fantasy perfect for loves of Stardust, PoTC, and Tangled!

A tale of espionage, lavender hair, and pineapples.Welcome to Daiwynn where magic is dangerous, but hope is more dangerous still.

For Persinette—a lavender-haired, 24-year-old seer dreaming of adventure and freedom—the steam-powered kingdom of Daiwynn is home. As an Enchanted asset for MOTHER, she aids in Collecting Enchanted and sending them to MOTHER’s labor camps.

But when her handler, Gothel, informs Persi that she will be going out into the field for a Collection, she decides it's time to take a stand. Now she must fight her fears and find a way to hide her attempts to aid the Enchanted or risk being sent to the camps herself.

Manu Kelii, Captain of the airship The Defiant Duchess, is 26-years-old and hasn't seen enough excitement—thank you very much. His charismatic smile and flamboyant sense of style earned him a place amongst the Uprising, but his fickle and irresponsible nature has seen to it that their leader doesn't trust him.

Desperate to prove himself, Manu will stop at nothing to aid their mission to overthrow MOTHER and the queen of Daiwynn. So, when the Uprising Leader deposits a small unit of agents on his ship, and tasks him with working side by side with MOTHER asset Persinette to hinder the Collection effort, he finds himself in over his head.

The stakes are high for this unlikely duo. They have only two options; stop MOTHER or thousands more will die—including themselves.

The unique characters, witty dialogue, and fantasy-meets-steampunk world make this fresh take on the classic tale of Rapunzel a must read for fans of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, and Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.

GoodReads | Purchase

[atthequillsmercy]

Pride Sale!

  In honor of Pride Month and the delightful person who sent me a middle finger when I put my books on sale in June last year, I’ve put my books featuring LGBTQ+ characters on sale once again for the entire month! Click any of the links below to check them out. Make sure the sale price is there since I don’t count on a bug free experience… Dahlia One, Two, Three, and Complete…

[chrisbannor]

Elements of Change

Chapter Twenty Three: I Do

Author: Chris Bannor

It was a week to Tam’s Flat, even riding Rile as hard as Ezo and his poor horsemanship dared. If Kammon had passed out from a single use of magic, he was in bad shape. Or he’d been using it a lot, and the other men hadn’t seen it. Or perhaps they just had no concept of the cost of magic.

No matter what caused it, Ezo was worried. Eques Lestan wouldn’t have given up his desire to capture Kammon. Even if it was sheer luck Ezo had heard about a grumpy elementalist, the eques’s soldiers could have heard the same story. If this was Kammon - and Ezo would say it was a long shot, except the itch kept urging him on - he was in danger without anyone to look out for him.

He vowed not to let this happen again. This time, when he found Kammon, he wouldn’t let the other man get away. No matter what the circumstances. 

As Ezo rode into town, people smiled and waved, which was both unsettling and welcoming at the same time. Even the men at the watch tower passed him by with a friendly smile. Most villages didn’t like strangers and few received them with such open arms. He remembered Alvrey speaking of the place as a refuge for the wounded, though, so perhaps it was as simple as that.

When he rode up to the village inn, a young man came running out to take Rile from him. “Go on in, Elementalist. I’ll care for your horse. They’re expecting you.”

“What?”

The young man pulled the saddlebags off Rile and handed them to him, pushing him towards the door of the Blooming Waters. Ezo stumbled up a step onto a long patio in front of the building and didn’t have time to say anything before the man rounded the corner with his horse. Ezo readjusted his bags over his shoulder and decided he’d best see what was waiting inside. They were sure to be upset when they realized he wasn’t the one they were waiting for.

He pushed open the doors to the large inn. Business in Tam’s Flat was thriving. Though it wasn’t a market or on a major road, they had two commodities that kept the village rather wealthy: the healing springs and leria. The flowers grew in great fields on the south side of the village that let off a light fragrance. Just seeing them as he rode past had eased his mind and made him feel lighter.

The innkeeper was a stout-looking man with a full mustache that seemed to make up for his thinning beard. Ezo’s stomach rumbled at the smell of freshly baked bread and roasting meats, reminding him that most of his meals had been eaten in his saddle for the last week.

“Danya, he’s here,” the innkeeper called through a set of doors.

Ezo opened his mouth to say something, but the doors swung open from the back, and another man came out, an apron over his clothes with a tired smile on his face. “Oh, we thought you might have gotten lost. He said it might be a few more days, but he’s grown rather impatient, and we’ve been afraid he wouldn’t wait much longer.”

Danya took Ezo’s bags before he could protest and dropped them on the bar. “Take care of those for me, won’t you?” he asked the innkeeper.

“I know what to do with my customer’s things,” he said with a quirk of an eyebrow that made Ezo wonder about their relationship. It was playful banter, and everything seemed good, except they had the wrong guy.

“Wait.”

“You’re Ezo, correct?” Danya asked.

“Uh, yes, I am.”

“Right, then we need to get you moving before he comes out himself. Or runs. It’s quite possible he’d run, considering what little I’ve been able to glean from him.”

“Wait. Is Kammon here?”

“Where do you think I’m trying to take you?”

Ezo was too confused to protest when Danya pushed him back through a side door and into the streets.

How had Kammon known he was coming? Was that even possible? Ezo hadn’t read that much about the bond. The itch had become more clear as he got closer, but it had quieted once he’d reached the leria fields. But Ezo was still in the dark about that topic, and it was clear that Kammon knew far more than he did.

There was a long, low building behind the inn. When the doors opened, they descended a set of stairs, and the scent of good, strong loam and leria surrounded him. They walked down the hallway to the last room, and Danya opened the door.

It was modest, but clean, with a comfortable-looking bed, plush rugs, and simple but sturdy furniture. A bowl of fruits sat on a table nearby with a platter of cheese and bread. Ezo noticed those things, but his eyes were drawn to the other side of the room, where a large earthen tub was built out of the floor. Waters bubbled gently in the bath, and sitting ever so still was Kammon.

“Well, come on,” Danya pushed Ezo further in. Ezo was getting a little frustrated with all the pushing, but then Danya started grabbing at Ezo’s clothes and trying to strip them off him.

“You’re finally here. No need to be shy now,” Danya said. “Nothing a healer hasn’t seen before. Jump in. The water won’t help either of you heal just by looking at it.”

“Stop!” Ezo demanded.

“He doesn’t know!” Kammon’s voice stopped Danya, and the room was still.

Ezo turned to look at Kammon. “Oh yes, I do.” And every bit of his frustration and anger must have shown on his face because Kammon paled. He ran a wet hand through his hair before slapping it back in the water again.

“Well. Fuck.”

Author's Note: Finally! Ezo found him! The question is, will Kammon cooperate and talk to Ezo about what's been happening, or will he take off again? What do you think? If you want to find out what happens next, you can always read ahead on my page at www.reamstories.com/chrisbannor! The next two episodes are available for free to followers there!

[spirk-trek]

Sharing the Sunlight Fanzine & Novel | Drawings by Chris Soto, 1992

Entire work available to read here!

Editorial note from author Jenna Sinclair:

"I have been in love with the Star Trek universe and its characters for twenty-five years now. I wrote my first 'novella' in the seventh grade. Over the years I wrote sporadically, mostly in my head, never, ever satisfied, knowing that there was an elusive 'something' I was unable to grasp. But then I discovered K/S! Unbelievably, it took me a good twenty-three and a half years to do it! I felt as if I had been working on a puzzle all that time, and finally the pieces flew naturally into place. Like just about everybody else, I became obsessed. In six months, I read about 200 zines (yes, I was broke and suffering from eyestrain), and then I sat down to write an established relationship short story, as a way of saying 'thank you' to all the K/S authors, artists, and editors who had given me so much pleasure. That story refused to be written, and this first time novel came flowing from my pen instead. The first 120 pages were composed on a 25 year old typewriter which lacked a 'k,' a '/', and a '-'. You try writing a novel with Kirk, Spock, and other fairly essential words without a 'k'!"

[souldagger]

i think. i stumbled across a mulan/sweet polly oliver type story that actually seems like it's following through with the transness of it. in an out of print scifi book from the 90s?????

LIKE. HI. ELABORATE ON THAT

[chhopsky]

Slides from the original pitch deck for New Astoria: Synchronous.

Our little sapphic cyberpunk thriller is all grown up 😭

The synopsis:

Curious backwater biomechanic Emory Sterlet gets the worst case of "I can fix her" anyone's ever had when she meets Ying Wu, a cold-hearted Bureau agent with a malfunctioning robotic arm.

They decide to work together to solve a murder in the neighbourhood, but find more than either of them bargained for:

Ying's arm is a military-grade superweapon.

But they're not going to get far with either mystery if they can't learn to navigate each other first.

Sign up to be an alpha reader at newastoria.tv

[ariadnelives]

READ ARIADNE'S ANGELS TODAY!

What is it? - "Ariadne's Angels" is a serialized science fiction series about a crew of space marines and pirates fighting both space-fascism and earth-fascism, in the grand tradition of "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy." They're very fun, very gay, and just the right amount of political. They're also entirely free to read online, and always will be!

Who wrote them? - Hi, I'm Dan! You may remember me from such hit tumblr posts as "Batman: Do The Butts Match?" and "Among Us - How is red sus? This is McCarthyism!" I'm often found on tumblr at raptorific and factsinallcaps, but this blog, @ariadnelives is my blog for all things related to this series!

Why should you read them? - You may be a fan of jokes! You may be a fan of action-packed scifi violence! You may be a fan of LGBT+ romance! Maybe your cup of tea is fun hypothetical technologies! It's possible you are a big fan of diverse ensemble casts with rounded, dimensional characters! Maybe you, like me, have a lot of unresolved anger towards the Bush Administration! Or, possibly, you just plain want something to read! What it boils down to is that these are incredibly fun and emotional adventure novels.

Where can I read them? - The most convenient place to find them all in one place is on Archive Of Our Own, but if you subscribe to this very blog you'll get all the updates, including illustrations, artwork, and discussion!

Is it cool if I ask you questions about them? - I encourage it!

Are there gonna be more books? - Yes! Watch this space, an anthology and a full new serialized novel run are in the pipe, five by five, for release within the year

[the9mm]

Psssssttttttt... Do you like gay, and robots, and sci-fi books?

Then the book I am publishing as part of Booktopia 2024 may be for you!

Watch my dumb gay robots bumble around as they figure out what they're doing and how to live after they decide to shirk their responsibilities and run away together.

If you like: Asimov's robot series, Cargill's Sea of Rust, Newitz's Autonomous, Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild Built, Detroit: Become Human, Space Sweepers, Robocop, or any variety of robotic sci-fi in between, you'll love this book. This book is my love-letter to the sci-fi community as a whole with lots of little nods back to various sci-fi works.

This will be my debut words-words-words novella at 46,000 words and I wanna make a physical book so bad. I hope you'll help me get there. You can subscribe now to get an email when the project launches, but don't worry... I'll be screaming a bunch here too leading up to the project in September. It's live now. :)

As part of Booktopia, I'll be cross-collaborating with Space Wizard Science Fantasy, who is publishing Lesbians in Space. Space Wizard Science Fantasy is bringing together some great sapphic writers in this new volume of relationships set in space! You'll also love more sci-fi/fantasy and LGBTQ+ crossover.

LIVE NOW DURING BOOKTOPIA!

[carnocus]

WRITERS!!!

my dash is feeling empty, so please reblog/comment if you post about your writing! i want to follow more people and get more taglists to add myself to.

bonus points if you write scifi, horror, and/or are deep into worldbuilding!

[jenyifer]

Alright! This is my first sapphic short story I’ve read.

8/10

The sell: Dying Girl who has a masters degree in fairy tales gets side stepped into a fairy tale of sleeping beauty right at the end of her life and tries to save herself and the princess.

The story is in first person pov. I think anyone who enjoyed reading fairy tales and mythology will enjoy this story. I… I found it very…. Idk nice? To read about a dying girls, I knew two women who were dying girls and eventually dead girls. I felt like MC was extremely believable. The cons is that it is very swallow story but it has to be to be a short story even so it did make me think so job achieved

Now spoilers for those who have read this

I hated the ending. MC gets a second chance at life and she decides to die again say proper goodbyes to her family watch them relax into acceptance and then watch her girlfriend get with another sleeping beauty. Help them fall in love. Then she leaves for alt realities for long as possible to help other princesses. She becomes like a good fairy I suppose. But one that has an expiry date. She leaves her family and friends behind like she’s dead. Idk….. one of my dying girls got an extra 4 months of life. She had bone cancer and she was in a car accident where she broke some ribs. Since they had to perform surgery on her they were able to scrape out some of the cancer to give her a bit more time. My friend didn’t stick around she went out there and lived her life to the fullest traveling etc. makes more sense I guess? Idk… ending just kind of upset me… did she have a happy ending? We don’t know but it’s an ending she chose so… winning more than other dying girls I suppose.

[once-upon-a-reblog]

I THINK I MIGHT HAVE PEAKED

(no I'm not serious I'm just so incredibly happy)

[lou-wilham]

Let's play a game!

Guess who said these lines of dialogue in Mercutio and Benvolio Turn Back Time, and then check under the cut to see if you were right!

Verona has 99 problems—including a time machine. All Benvolio has ever desired is a peaceful life alongside his spirited—albeit quarrelsome—roommate, Mercutio. But as the story goes, the course of true love never did run smooth, and when tensions between the Montagues and the Capulets reach a boiling point, Benvolio and Mercutio are dragged into the mess Romeo makes of all their lives. Then an older version of Benvolio crashes into their lives, offering the opportunity to change fate, Mercutio does as he always does—seizes the chance. There's just one problem: no deal is without strings, and this one involves a deadly secret that Mercutio is determined to take to the grave. What follows is a lively adventure through the ages, replete with love and heartache. Amidst the chaos, this inseparable duo will unravel the true depth of their friendship. A riotous romp of a retelling of Romeo & Juliet. Side effects of reading may contain laughter, heartache, and a need for more. This light, sci-fi fantasy is the perfect shelf companion to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian, Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall, and The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles.

GoodReads | Purchase

[atthequillsmercy]

Happy Pride!

In honor of pride month, the books I have featuring LGBTQ characters are on sale! Sanctuary, Go Away Girls: Flight, and Dahlia: Complete Series. Just click those links and select your preferred vendor and check them out. The sale lasts until June 30th! Follow me on BlogLovin.

[chrisbannor]

531

Chapter Thirty: Two

Author: Chris Bannor

Obuo performed beautifully as she ran down the tunnel, calling for help.

As they got closer to the main complex, storage rooms and empty experimentation rooms dotted the path. It gave them access to hiding spaces and dark corners that the deeper tunnel hadn’t.

As two men left their post by the door to see what the trouble was, Obuo ran into a doorway and hid behind Chan Yi. DaQi knocked the men unconscious, then dragged them into a storage room and stole their uniforms. Obuo found a lab coat in the storage room and pulled it over her clothes.

DaQi scowled as he pulled on a uniform. “I had to wear one of these for two years. I hate uniforms.” The fact that he’d had to report to Jackson for those two years made it worse.

He’d had the last laugh though. Jackson might have delighted in all the shit he’d made DaQi do that he thought he’d never remember, but after seven years he was still just a second-rate agent with DaQi’s bullet between the eyes.

Chan Yi smiled at him. “You look good in one though.”

“You’re welcome for that,” Obuo said to Chan Yi as they stood just on the other side of the door.

“I should be the one thanking you. Yi looks even better out of uniform,” DaQi teased.

Chan Yi glared at him but Obuo let out a stunned laugh. A second later, she let out a deep breath. “You really believe this is going to work?”

“Keep your head down and just walk,” DaQi told her. “No matter what happens with us, just get to the door, and keep going. With any luck though, no one will bother us.”

“I don’t trust luck,” Obuo said.

Chan Yi smiled at her. “Then it’s a good thing you’ve been patching me up all these years.”

She gave Yi a small smile at that, then nodded to DaQi. He could see how fast her heart was beating, but her hand was steady as she brought her hair forward to hide her face a little.

Chan Yi opened the door and walked out first, ignoring everyone and everything around them. Obuo was right behind him and DaQi followed, doing his best to gauge interest in them.

Yi had been a part of this environment for years and he still fit in without drawing a second glance. Even if Obuo had been thrown to the Piles, she never lost the rigid demeanor of the Skylines and it made her blend with the crowd of people that moved from department to department in the bottom lobby of the office. They made it to the elevator banks without question.

Once they reached the main lobby, Wu DaQi got a little more worried. There were more guards at the doors and more people to recognize them. People rarely stopped someone who looked like they knew where they were going though. He had to trust that they looked average enough to get past. Thankfully the uniform came with a cap that helped cover their faces if they looked down a little.

They were passing the last security post when someone stepped forward.

“Excuse me, you can’t take her out of here,” the man said as he moved between Yi and the door.

They had come up with a number of things to do if this happened, but none that would get them out peacefully. Before either he or Yi could say anything though, Obuo moved over and pushed her hair out of her face.

“Get back to your post,” she demanded. “I have spent the last seven years working undercover to find the company’s missing property and I will not be left behind with some sniveling second-rate agent in the basement while they are interrogating them. If you want the approval go call Sandus.”

She waited for him as he stared at her with his mouth hanging slightly open.

“I said go! I have places to be and if you have to make your call then so be it. But I’ll be waiting for my car while you waste my time. Go!” she pushed him back toward his post and nodded to Yi.

DaQi barely kept the smile off his face. Obuo had always been rather formidable and he was grateful she was with them. Either way, the man went back and picked up the phone while they reached the door. A company car was waiting. He had no idea who it was for, but DaQi slipped into the passenger seat and pulled out his gun. “Just get us out of here and you’ll be fine.”

The driver did as he was told and they drove off in the chaos of news reporters and protesters demanding more company transparency, better personal protection, and an end to martial law.

They were only two blocks out when they ditched the driver and left him to walk back to Mariner. They were another three when they got rid of the car and made it back to their motorcycles.

###

The breeze of the docks felt like freedom to Chan Yi as he looked out across the waters of his new home. After their retreat by boat from Dock City with Obuo, he and DaQi had seen her safely away and turned their attention to their next move.

They had left Dock City behind, but the Piles were a part of Chan Yi’s blood and he’d never settle anywhere well while it still burned. The riots had ended, but martial law remained, resulting in rebellion. There was no peace in the Piles or the Builds. Even the Skylines were hard hit. Mariner locked the city down, inside and out. No one could get in without their permission and no one left. The government tried to step in, but after a violent altercation, blockades were put up around Dock City to make sure Mariner didn’t try to annex neighboring cities.

It wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

“Stop thinking so hard,” Wu DaQi said as he set a tray of steaming clam chowder in front of him.

“Good timing,” Yi said as he grabbed a spoon and took a bite. Perfectly seasoned. He might not need to eat like a human, but he did enjoy the vice of good food. And DaQi seemed to enjoy feeding him.

“Did you see him?” DaQi asked. He had a plate of fish and chips in front of him and he began to eat as well.

Chan Yi wasn’t the only one that liked human vices.

“He just sat down at the bar.”

“You really think he’ll help?”

A boat blew its horn and Chan Yi used that as an excuse to look over his shoulder at the guy. “I don’t know. I’m not sure he can, but we have to start somewhere. Ocean City is the playground of the elite. The wealthy and powerful play global games here. If there is any place we can figure out what Sandus is doing and how far it goes, it’s here.”

They ate quickly and Chan Yi did his best to get into the good graces of the restaurant owner. DaQi seemed to have better luck, but so long as they got a new contact out of it, Chan Yi was okay with that.

He saw the man at the bar open a port to pay for his tab and DaQi stood up. Chan Yi stopped him before he could walk away just yet. DaQi frowned at him, but Chan Yi smiled as he kissed him softly. “For good luck.”

It was a new job, a new mission, but for the first time in seven years, Chan Yi had a partner again. He thought back to the empty desk that had burnt in the Builds and the emptier bed he’d left behind.

His life had become more dangerous and the circumstances were much greater, but he wasn’t alone now. It wasn’t just one man against the world. Now he had Two.

DaQi seemed to follow his thoughts because he leaned in to whisper in Chan Yi’s ear. “You were always so much more than they realized,” he said. “We’ll make them see that. I was never just 532.” He kissed Yi one more time before he stumbled off, staggering like a drunk to the bar.

And you were always so much more than 531.

Author's Note: And this is the end of the first book of 531. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I really enjoy connecting with my readers and it means so much to me! If you want to read the next book in the series 531: Global Games, please join me over at www.reamstories.com/chrisbannor