Chapter One

The principal shifts uncomfortably in his chair, tugging at the knot of his tie as if it has grown too tight. His desk is stacked with neat files, but his voice wavers as he presses on. "I will need to speak with Steven’s family. I’ve already called your mother to pick you up—after I’ve spoken with the Hill's, we’ll decide what’s to be done regarding you. But for now, you’re suspended until further notice."

After that his voice fades like static, useless. Steve’s howl had carried more authority, more power, than this man’s entire lecture. Even the fluorescent lights overhead buzz more insistently than him.

The phone on the desk buzzes; he answers. My mother is there.

I stand, the itch still buzzing under my skin like a live wire. I grab my bag and walk out, the principal’s words fading into nothing. But the sound of Steve’s scream lingers, curling inside my chest like a secret pleasure, replaying sharper than any punishment they could threaten me with.

And now that the rot that’s been growing inside me for years—raw, hungry, violent—has been fed, I know it won't be contained again.

★★★★★

"Ivy, Avery, and Damian have all experienced trauma, the kind only someone else who has been through it can fully comprehend. Damian Shepherd's name fits him perfectly. His home, The Fold, is there to protect tiny lives that have been shattered, ignored by corruption and corrupted by evil. There is nothing neat and tidy here. There is pain. Your heart will break but through that break will come the satisfaction of the scales being righted after justice knocks them down. Sunder is an accurate title. You will feel it, but the journey is worth it. Wonderfully written and emotionally wrecking, Sunder is a great read."

Angel

"A. M. Kray has delivered a story that will hook you from the start. It's a short read, so plenty packed into such a small package. I downloaded this last night, and I was planning to read it then. I’m glad I didn’t, because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have slept because this was read start to finish in one sitting. At one stage, I was so immersed in the story that a particular act of violence involving an eye actually made me flinch! This is definitely a deviation from the prior books I’ve read from this author, and in a way, it makes it so much better for it. I knew from the blurb that it would be dark, but this was so delightfully dark that I just wanted to see how unhinged it could get. How I felt while reading… Absolute devastation - as a twin myself, I can just picture the raw devastation that Ivy would feel at the loss of Jameson. And then the unfolding of the horrors that she had to face over the next few years. I’ve never been truly invested in seriously dark characters. In this case, there are a lot of unalivings, but whoah… these actually had me going… meh… it happens - well deserved, and now, who’s next?"

Kris