Harking back to when the words ran thick and free...

My #wildshortread this month delves into the forbidden tryst of the Goddess of Death herself and I've also got a paranormal romance freebie you won't want to miss.

Greetings, friends and fellow book devourers.

I hope June is treating you gently and offering up lots of juicy distractions. Let’s take a break from the heavy stuff together and delve instead into a couple of tasty treats I’ve got lined up for you this month.

For my WILD SHORT READ, I’m publishing a piece I wrote back in 2022 called HELLO, I LOVED YOU. It’s got a dark and moody feel which really appeals to my headspace right now.

(Keep scrolling to read this exclusive MIRI AND THE MUSE morsel a bit further down.)

Before we get stuck into that, however, I’ve got a dark and sassy freebie to share with you from Cali Mann called DARK MAGIC which I personally can’t wait to devour.

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Are you ready to devour a sizzling menage, devourers? Good, because I’ve got a smexy freebie just for you!

My talented author friends and I have gotten together to offer you—our fabulous subscribers—a delicious new temptation each month as an exclusive series of ebook gifts lasting for a whole year. So stay tuned to read our smexy offerings or flick back through the first newsletter of each month on MIRI AND THE MUSE and nab your yum-yums.

And now, without further ado, let me introduce you to Cali Mann’s work with this delicious morsel… DARK MAGIC.

Gotta tell you, devourers, just setting up this smexy cover and blurb to get it ready to send out had me drooling and instinctively reaching for my Kindle. I love me a vampy paranormal romance with the promise of danger, forbidden romance, and a lil’ curse on the side, don’t you?!

First year at college and I'm already drowning in classes. But I've got the sexiest TA alive for a tutor, and I'm sleeping with his smoking hot vampire brother. All should be on the up, until I discover the brothers are cursed.

Dark magic has broken my men and messing with it could turn me dark. But if I do nothing, a vengeful ex could snatch the choice out my hands.

Jump into this steamy, menage Halloween romance novella full of magic, vampires, dangerous curses, and love.

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A mini writing cave update…

In last month’s newsletter I shared the reason I haven’t been posting as often of late. Losing my mother so suddenly has left me and my family reeling. In fact, I’m still in New Zealand helping smooth the way for my father who is gearing up to travel.

Unsurprisingly, my time in the writing cave has been pretty much non existent and any inspiration from the Muse rather fleeting, however I deeply miss the feeling of being utterly immersed in a magical world. So this past week I decided to use this upcoming WILD SHORT READ newsletter as the oomph to turn up at the page again.

Not gonna lie. It wasn’t like I showed up and—boom—the magical flow of words suddenly came pouring out. It was more like fits and starts… What if I try this or that? Kind of like doodling in a half-forgotten sketch book you found at the bottom of your childhood cupboard.

To my relief, and despite the sluggish formation of words, some interesting passages started to take shape as I noodled away over a few late night writing sessions. It was frustratingly slow going, though. The Muse and I are definitely still wading through the Swamps of Sadness. However, I found comfort in the fact that new ideas were bubbling away somewhere in the background while I go about handling the day-to-day nitty-gritty of life.

The short story I’ve been working on still needs some work to find its groove but I’m hopeful that I’ll have a brand new WILD SHORT READ for you to devour next month. In the meantime, I went back through my archives and choose an old favorite to brush up and share with you today. HELLO, I LOVED YOU is dark and bittersweet fated mates romance which matches my current mood perfectly.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you have triggers around suicide and self-harm, this short story might not be for you.

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HELLO, I LOVED YOU

By Miri Stone

A #wildshortread hosted by MIRI AND THE MUSE

For a brief, beautiful moment, you are mine.

Mine to hold. To love. To treasure. To pet in the throes of ecstasy. You keep my icy heart warm though it can no longer beat for fear of all that is coming. Each breath we celebrate brings us closer to excruciating pain.

To know this is my burden to bear.

A punishment for defiling the Chosen One.

I can only taste your love while trapped here in human form. If I return to my true form, even briefly, we will be cursed to never meet again. For you are the herald of light—the golden mortal child twisted into an unwitting assassin—while I am the eternal crow sentenced to haunt this cursed Earth with just enough power to feed upon a singular ritual death.

My own.

That’s right. I gain power from our sorrow even as each separation rends another piece of my soul and devours it. Like a slip of rice paper swallowed by the greedy ocean of time. Love is not allowed to exist in my void of shadows. Oh, no. Yet, in this bright tiny gasp of before, it does.

Blinding in its power.

Fierce in its existence.

Neither of us can help but succumb.

Again, and again, and again.

We are the snake eating its own tail.

How much longer can love continue to exist in such a hopeless vacuum? I do not know. All I can do is cling to whatever is left.

Your mortality is your shield, preventing your mind from shattering under our burden. At first you forget your dark mission, as your gushing delight at our reunion brings back a fleeting glimmer of hope, until the gods pry you from my clawing fingers once more.

The time has come for the wheel to spin on but I am not ready to let your perfection go. I will never be ready, though this point of transition is the only chance we have to end our torment. A creeping awareness skitters down my spine.

Something is different.

Drawing in a ragged breath, I sense my sister—Destiny—gathering to roll her die. The game has changed. The power has somehow shifted. You stand before me as more than just a mere mortal.

Dangerous beings bristle and sharpen their attention on our fate.

Tonight, there is a resolution in your eyes that terrifies me as I prepare for the exquisite pain which will surely follow. I can barely swallow the bile rising in my throat. Your true self has come to some decision, weighing our exchange within the echo of all the others, and drawing a new conclusion.

“Enough.” Tonight your voice is strong, not cowed, and it holds the crackle of thunder. “Goddess of Death, you are no longer welcome to walk this Earth. I, Bringer of Light, banish you.”

Is this it? I wonder. Is this the day we will finally be set free?

“You are an abomination.”

You intone the ritual words, but ferocious determination blazes in your eyes, holding me captive even as you raise the weapon between us. Usually all I see reflected back is resignation and a chilling confirmation of our doom. Not tonight.

With a shaky swallow, I reply as I always do. “And you, beloved, are my heart.”

A gust expels from your lungs but you square your shoulders against the blow.

“I tire of this charade,” you growl, burning gaze thrown up to the heavens. You are not talking to me anymore, instead you are boldly addressing those who revel in our endless agony. “I am the gods’ own Chosen One, am I not?” Your ragged breath is the only sound in the world as I am gripped by blind panic. Your lips curl into a macabre smile as you raise the gun to your own temple. “Well, then. I choose Death.”

Choking on my own bile, I lunge as you pull the trigger.

“Catch me, my love,” you whisper, eyes finding mine in a final goodbye. “You are too wild to be forever bound in this cage.”

“No!”

Too late, I gather my power as blood and bone and the remains of my shattering heart spray in a vibrant end. I see none of that, I am fixated on you. Your beautiful essence is shedding its mortal confines in a savage wave. The curse shudders and snaps as the snake releases its tail in a silent howl of fury.

I transform.

In an explosion of feathers, I harness my ageless rage and sorrow, plucking your sweet soul from the air. With a defiant shriek, I return to my empty castle in the Otherworld, laying you tenderly on the ritual slab of offering.

But something is different.

That golden light has followed you into my dark world.

Awestruck, I watch as your essence coalesces. Taking impossible form. For one blinding moment, I must close my eyes while the cosmos narrows its focus on you. Only you. Then I scream as a hand grips my bicep and hauls me across a naked lap. I collapse into the familiar embrace.

“Open your eyes, Dark Mistress.” Your giddy laugh fills the dreaded emptiness of my chambers. “I live now only to serve you.”

“You’re here? You’re really—” I sob. “How much do you remember?”

“Everything.” Your smile fills me with joy. “I remember it all, my love.”

Red tears form a river between us, washing the grit from our invisible wounds.

“You never gave up, did you?” Misplaced awe colors your tone. With a bitter laugh I try to shove you away, but you pinch my chin in rebuke. “Look at me, beloved. The curse is broken. I’m no longer mortal, I am yours—that is, if you still want me?”

I pounce with a growl, knocking you back onto the glittering altar. As you slip inside me, I gasp with how different this moment feels. It’s real, not stolen. A bright future is being woven right in front of us.

You gather my hair in your fingers, pulling it taut to bow my back as you murmur against my neck. “Are you not tired of me yet, Dark Mistress?”

“Never.” Your eager hips rise to crash into mine as my sex flutters in relief. “Never.” I vow again, as you capture my mouth. Raking my claws down your back, I give birth to your wings as you scream in ecstasy. “I shall ride the wind with you, beloved, until the end of time.”

*** The original work of fiction entitled ‘HELLO, I LOVED YOU’ was first published in 2022 as part of my WILD AT HEART FLASH FICTION writing circle. The revised version of this short fiction work is now being hosted here on MIRI AND THE MUSE. All rights reserved © Miri Stone, 2024. ***

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WHAT AM I DEVOURING?

Since losing Mum, it’s been really hard to focus my attention. Grief keeps spinning my thoughts off into a dark void. This has meant that my rather extensive TBR—currently mostly housed on my Kindle—has been left relatively untouched. However, I was thankful to discover this week that if I hold a paperback in my hands, I’m better able to ground my thoughts and stay present long enough to get swept up in a story.

Due to this discovery, I’ve just finished devouring AFTERWARDS by Charlotte Leonard which I borrowed from the local library, and it broke me open in all the right ways. In this debut novel, the author took me on an exquisitely crafted and cathartic journey where the main character was shattered into a thousand jagged pieces by grief and then—slowly, slowly—began putting herself back together again.

If this sounds intriguing to you, then I thoroughly recommend picking up a copy from your local library or book shop.

(A word for my fellow book devourers, if you have any triggers around suicide and motherhood, then please reach out to me before reading this one and I’ll give you the skinny so you can decide if it’s a good fit for you.)

Happy reading, friends and fellow book devourers.

With love,

M.S. xox