Darkling Paperback

What's done in darkness.

"So good I read it two days likeable characters good romance good thriller." -Connor M., Shopify Customer

Two men.
One woman.
And one apocalypse.

Following the dark days, resilient Marla Jones finds safe shelter within a thriving community of survivors at a local prepper's country house. With an uncanny ability to see others’ true form plus a book contract before the dark days, she records the events and times in her notebook.

One survivor, Professor Henry Wright, has her asking questions about history, philosophy, and life.

The other, local prepper Dirk Mathern, encourages her to write about it.

A falling star hits the earth, erupting in a giant explosion. Marla is thankful for a cup of coffee, a good book, and two good men.

Dive inside...

An hour later.

One by one, the houseguests came into her line of vision, walking toward the evergreens.

They were staring into the distance, faces pointing west.

All stood at attention as though waiting for orders.

Marla caught a glimpse of Dirk Mathern at the edge of the crowd. His gaze was fixed on the rising moon. Dirk, homeowner and Head of Household, was attending VCSU when she met him.

“What is everyone doing out here?” Marla found her voice, her instincts screamed to get indoors.  “It’s almost dark.”

“They’re coming,” Dirk droned.

“The infected.” An uncanny feeling rose the hairs on the back of her neck. Not all the survivors were human. A whisper here, a rumor there.

“What are you going to do?” Marla asked Dirk.

“Blast them to Timbuktu,” he answered. “Going to settle the score.”

“What score?” Marla shoved her hands into her pockets, and that’s when she noticed him standing alone beneath the yard light.

Henry Wright, professor of entomology at Jamestown College was a rather cold, arrogant man. He didn’t appear confident now; he was mumbling to himself.

Henry didn’t look right, and if she were honest, he was the main reason she’d stayed as long as she had. Without thinking, Marla made her way over to him.

Henry was dressed in full WWII khaki uniform. His face was gray, spattered with blood. His hair matted and clung to his scalp.

“Why do you look like that?” Marla demanded, completely out of breath.

“Why do you look like that?” he eyed her disheveled hair and mascara-streaked cheeks, drawing closer.

“Like what?” Marla asked, suddenly aware she’d abandoned her bra in the storage shed.

“Like you’d just had—” his face, now mere inches from hers, his hands searching her features as though he was a blind man and she was his mystery to solve.

“Who did you kill?” Marla stood frozen in place. “I mean, how did you have time after…” her face flooded with heat.

A sly grin slid across his face. “You gonna put it in your little diary, Cupcake?”

“How did you know?” Marla pulled her hands back into the long sleeves of her hoodie and tucked them into the kangaroo pouch.

Her grasp met with the small pink book she kept there. The cover was fried eggs and the center said “A good Egg” with a green elastic to close it and a matching spiral spine. A gift from a friend upon the news of her new book contract with Simon & Schuster. 

Now it was a record to keep track.

A fog had settled over her mind since she arrived at the house.

“I mean it. Just because we…that is,” she stammered. “I’ll tell.”

Henry’s face drew closer. “Who are you going to tell? Dirk?” his voice dipped, low and sexy. “I wonder what he would think about what happened in the storage shed.”

Marla’s mouth dropped open and nothing came out.

“That’s what I thought,” Henry gave a nod. “You’ll tell no one.”

Her eyes roved over his bloodied, wartime appearance.

“I mean it,” she said. “You gave me too much to drink on purpose. That’s why I told you all that stuff. I’m a private person,” Marla closed her eyes, knowing exactly how she sounded. Like someone guilty of breaking house rules. And she had said too much as usual. “And it doesn’t mean we’re…” she trailed off.

A flash drew her attention to the sky.

In the distance, the mansion.

Henry was saying something.

Marla moved closer once more to hear.

“They’re coming and they are ravenous,” he said in a gravel-filled voice.

A chill ripped up her spine. “Who?”

“They’re a part of me,” he held his hands against his ears.

Marla backpedaled.

Henry was mumbling, “They live inside me.”

Alarmed, she moved further away.

Scanning the crowd, Marla spotted Dirk and drew alongside him. “What’s going on? Why is everyone out here? It’s almost dark,” she said, flicking him a sideways glance.

A shooting star blazed across the heavens.

In an instant, the atmosphere exploded, smoke rising like a gigantic furnace. It was as though hell itself awoke; the ground opened in an earthquake. The heavens went black.

And out of the thick darkness came the sound of a million wings, thundering across the prairie.

They’re coming, the haunting words returned to her.

And they’re ravenous.

Warning: This book will make you lose sleep!!