Eight Factors

Shadows shifted over the walls like insects creeping out of the corners in scuttling waves that advanced, retreated, advanced, retreated. Corey watched, teeth gritted. He couldn't cry. He'd get in trouble. Jenner said so. But his parents were out fighting against soldiers and the shadows shifted around him. If anyone saw, he'd have to be a hero like his parents. He'd have to fight, kill and die.

Pablo ran, panting as the men shouted angry slurs at him, cursing at him. He ducked down an alley behind a warehouse, looking for something that might be a weapon. He had to escape, had to get away. His little sister was sick. He'd wanted to get her milk. But the men cut him off, laughing dark and nasty. They were big and nothing would stop them unless something broke loose.

In the aftermath of his Gifts erupting, Pablo finds himself in a whole new world. Gone is his familiar apartment building and run-down school. One thing hasn't changed for Pablo. He wants to go back home. But the adults around him had very different ideas of what was best for Pablo, starting with a new place at a foster home that's even farther from his family than before.

Maria hated Anthony. The teachers at their school doted on Anthony and joined him in bullying anyone that Anthony targeted. He was Gifted and Maria wasn't so Maria was always wrong. Then Anthony's bullying took on overtones that frightened Maria. She couldn't let Anthony do that to her. Or anyone else. No matter what it cost her, Maria had to stop him. Somehow.

Young dragon Marikellian traveled through dimensions, exploring the universe. It was lonely but Marikellian didn't mind, at least until he encountered a deadly dimension like none he'd ever seen. Sucked in to be eaten, he gambled on his wits and will power. If he won, he would save all of his people's lives but that meant influencing the evolution of a new breed of deadly predators: Humans.

Deadly danger reveals incredible powers. Those Gifted with eight Factors erupt into superheroes when faced with death. Only to discover that greater threats lurk under their new world. Meyari McFarland crafts a world where greatness lurks inside of everyone but who can say who the true villains are? The collection includes: Shadow Dreams Eruption Event Foster Home Valkyrie Intruder