Dead Heat – Alexander Eberhart

The rain will take care of the rest of the mud. We’ve got to get moving, or we’ll never catch up.” What other choice did I have? I needed answers, and selfishly, I wanted more time with the boy I’d so admired as a young urchin. Sam led us away from the muck pit, down the dirt path that had been stomped by all of those initiates who had come before us, following it as it wound into the wooded area up ahead.

There, among the canopy of branches, I noticed the shadows lurking in my periphery. At first, I thought them just my imagination. A trick of the mind caused by sunlight peeking through the clouds overhead. The shadows seemed to move separately from their tangible counterparts, as if the dark branches they cast upon the ground were grasping limbs, stretching out to pull me into their depths. “You never told me where you’re from, Azzy.”

Sam’s voice rippled along the fallen leaves at our feet, pulling me away from my conspiracies of sentient shadows. “The countryside,” I answered, marveling once again at how different my voice sounded. Gone was the commanding confidence I had earned through my years as a leader. “My father serves a notable house of Adored. I was born there, at their chateau.”

Sam let out a low whistle. “Sounds right posh. How did you end up on the streets, if you don’t mind my asking?” “The lady of the house. She wasn’t happy with my father. He’d been speaking with another of the Unseen about leaving. So, she sent me away as a punishment to force him to keep working for her.” “Gods, Azzy. And here I thought I had a right awful sob story. I’m sorry, short stack.” The real Sam had never heard this story.

He died long before I ever knew the truth of why Adoranda sent me away. Why my father never left Chateau Greene. It was cathartic to be able to share with him in that way.

Copyright © 2026 Alexander C. Eberhart All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is a work of fiction and does not represent any individual living or dead.

Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Cover and Interior Design by We Got You Covered Book Design OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Glossary I. Bastien 1. Bastien’s Dilemma 2. Bastien’s Curiosity 3. Bastien’s Lesson 4. Bastien’s Revelation 5. Bastien’s Desire 6. Bastien’s Dream 7. Bastien’s Heart II.

Azrael 8. Azrael’s Hands 9. Azrael’s Choice 10. Azrael’s Reflection 11. Azrael’s War 12. Azrael’s Acceptance III. Cirian 13. Cirian’s Ascent 14. Cirian’s Miracle 15. Cirian’s Advantage 16. Cirian’s Release 17. Cirian’s Faults 18. Cirian’s Gift 19. Cirian’s Descent Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author OceanofPDF.com To those who fight for others till they’re strong enough to fight for themselves.

OceanofPDF.com Magi: a person granted with the ability to use magic. Gifted with longer- than-mortal life spans, Magi are born of four different bloodlines, the Adored, the Unseen, the Hallowed, and the Reviled. Each bloodline has innate talents unique to them, though a large proportion of the Magi lack magical aptitude beyond the most basic of spells.

Mortal: a person not gifted with the ability to use magic. Mortals still make up a majority of the workforce in the Magi society, so some Magi see them as lesser-than. Adored: the wealthiest and most politically powerful of the Magi bloodlines. The Adoreds’ innate talents allow them to impose their will upon others, but only the most powerful families are able to wield it with much success. Unseen: considered by others as the lower-class Magi, Unseen’s animalistic appearances have been a stigma for generations amongst the Magi community.

These animalistic traits are displayed in a variety of forms, but most often in the presence of animal features such as tails, fangs, claws, wings, scales, etc. All Unseen are traditionally male-presenting, and are capable of reproducing with another male Unseen. The Unseen’s innate ability allows them to conceal themselves with magic, as well as grants them traits of their animal-like personas, such as enhanced speed and strength.

Hallowed: the religious class of the Magi. Hallowed worship the Source of all magic and govern the Church of the Source.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: a92a4a94c4c0adb6
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,679,860 bytes (2.556 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 292
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 520.43 minutes
• Total Words: 104,086
• Total Characters: 576,447
• Average Words per Page: 356.46
• Average Characters per Page: 1974.13

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