A Covenant of Blood

1987.

Miami strip.

Two factions of a holy war between the sibling gods, Apo Laki and Mayari, battle for control of the city of Impiyerno in the sweltering, summer heat; where neon signs illuminate the path towards capital and sees the money that flows through the streets make the city turn properly on its axis.

The chosen of Apo Laki, clan Sa Kalis, are the undisputed rulers of the underground, and they hold up the foundation of Impiyerno’s other criminal enterprises. Second-born, Alekandre, acts as the harbinger of his patriarch’s will as his hitman. His only purpose—since transitioning into a man—is perpetuating the wrath of Sa Kalis violence, and it’s a cycle he’s now all but trapped in, with no tangible hope for his autonomy or individuality to break free from its chains.

The chosen of Mayari, clan Sa Dugo, are the governance that wants to see the Sa Kalis in handcuffs. First-born daughter, Mayari, is the heir to her father’s legacy, and she has been groomed to inherit his kingdom since the very moment she was born. Cunning, calculating, and efficient, she has the temper to put her father’s lofty ideas into tangible creation, acting as the brain of Impiyerno’s ruling authority while her father acts as its corresponding heart and face.

Eventually, when Alekandre and Mayari meet, the star-crossed lovers must grapple with the weight of the roles they each have been given, and if they even want them to begin with. Then, a fierce, all-consuming attraction soon blinds all five of their immediate senses, and now acts the narrator dictating the final act of heir star-crossed love affair, where their flesh will be given for flesh, and their blood will be given for blood.

ARTWORK BY DENNY S.

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A Hospital for Souls
(The Downfall of Us All, #1)

Dante Alonso Hidalgo comes back to Sempiternal in defiance of his banishment with one aim: enlist in The Dragnet Games to butcher The President, Xavier Alonso Hidalgo, and let someone else pick up the pieces.

His first night back in Sempiternal, Dante joins the ranks of a group of other Dragnet Games hopefuls, all which have their own personal motivations in volunteering themselves for the reaping. One confidant, whom he eventually pursues a romantic relationship with, Rue Alvarado, hopes to find his younger brother, who he believes is still alive after disappearing five years ago—after also enlisting in The Dragnet Games—despite having no tangible means to prove it.

While Dante has no interest in laying claim to the prize of The Dragnet Games, which is upward mobility into the vampire ruling class by being allowed to become one, they remain the only means for a human to gain access to the Sulod District—where the vampire elite live—and thereby, give Dante the proper avenue to butcher his older brother. However, with Xavier now at the helm of the nation’s governance, he has singlehandedly launched Sempiternal into its modern, digital age with his administration’s invention of the Courser Chip. A small, SD card-like object that serves two purposes: being placed in a technology to give them AI-powered interface, or allow someone to inhabit the form of their correct gender, the latter of which has allowed Dante to sneak back into Sempiternal undetected.

However, Dante’s one-way mission of vengeance is soon turned on its head when he is then face to face with Robyn Alcina; the last surviving babaylan, or practitioner of Sempiternal’s long forgotten Blood Sacraments. Unlike the differing, personal motivations of his other allies, Robyn needs Dante’s help in unearthing the roots of a government conspiracy. The likes of which will finally dare to expose the true origins of the human-like sentience intrinsic to the Courser Chip’s interface that Robyn swears is the key to finding Rue’s brother.

Now with the future of Sempiternal resting neatly in his hands, Dante must either cast away his selfish, one-sided aspirations of revenge for something bigger than himself, or be so consumed by it that it sees him lose himself and everyone else he cares about entirely. But, no matter which avenue Dante chooses, his destiny already involves powers so infinite they are as ancient as the land itself. And, they have already deemed him the only possible vessel that can fix all Xavier has already broken.

A Lament to Falling

A novel written entirely in verse re-imagining the fall of Icarus.

Enter Icarus.

An engineering student left without purpose after the death of his father.

Then, enter Apollo.

A fine arts student chasing dreams of critical acclaim and artistic recognition.

When the two meet after Icarus agrees to act as a nude model for Apollo’s figure drawing class, their chemistry is unmistakable, and their shared grief is undeniable. Drawn to each other in a way that transcends fate, the two soon strike up a relationship that lacks clear distinction from where one begins and the other dares to end; until it becomes something entirely all-consuming.

Star-crossed.

Cosmically aligned.

A soul-destined union.

But, it’s a story that we all already know.

And there’s nothing we can do to change how it ends.

A Waltz into Ruin

Antonio Ortez haunts Cleyo Frontera in gory visions where he oversees their destiny of mutual ruination.

The star-crossed lovers are then face to face after Cleyo is also hand-picked by to learn under Schaffer University’s tenured professor of Philippine mythology. Despite the insatiable, cosmic draw that links her to Antonio’s world, Cleyo cannot be with Antonio because she has already promised to uphold her parents’s expectations in the place of her sister who was murdered last year. Besides, Antonio is currently with Octavia, and Cleyo, in turn, has agreed to be with Octavia’s younger brother, Caesar. If Antonio dares to be unfaithful to Octavia again, Caesar is not afraid of using violence as means to correct all Antonio has already wrought at Octavia’s expense.

But the fate Cleyo and Antonio are destined for involves powers infinitely grander at play than they could ever begin to imagine. Because the scorned wife of a once whole Bisayan pantheon seeks atonement for sins committed eternities ago, and she will not rest until Cleyo and Antonio pay their eventual price.

ARTWORK BY KAT

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