About Of One Mind
by Elizabeth L. Brooks
109 pages / 25000 words
ISBN: 978-1-1-61040-029-9
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Has telepathy ruined romance? Jereth Collier has always thought so, but
after years of fruitless searching, he's finally driven by loneliness and an
inexpressible hunger to the mysterious priests of the Goddess to find his
destined mate and one true love. Unfortunately, Jereth's mate is not the
woman of his dreams -- in fact, Jereth's mate isn't a woman at all!
Caris Meghlin is trapped in a net of poverty, fear, and abuse by his violent
and criminal half-brother, but he yearns desperately for escape. Just as he
thinks his wildest dreams are coming true, his long-awaited soulmate Jereth
rejects him, crushing his last hopes of rescue and breaking his heart.
Jereth must learn to master his fears and open his heart and mind to Caris
before Caris' brutish brother can complete his destruction and Jereth
himself is left forever alone.
Review
Kiernan Kelly, author of Seti's Heart, writes: In the world of the
future, telepathy is as much a part of the human condition as breathing.
No longer is finding a true love hit or miss (priests utilize a sort of
telepathic, never-fails matchmaking system), although some people choose
to continue searching for love the hard way.
Jereth is one of the people who prefer the “slow search,” hoping to
stumble across their soul mate the old-fashioned way, but after years of
searching, he’s beginning to despair. When he finally goes to the
priests, their revelation of his mate is more than surprising – he’s
sure they’ve gotten it wrong because the person they revealed to him,
Caris, is a man, not the woman Jereth always expected to find.
“Of One Mind” is an absorbing tale of love that had me from the first
page. Brooks drew me into this unique universe quickly, and kept me
riveted until the end, and then wishing for more. The characters tugged
at my heart, and stayed with me long after the story ended. Don’t miss
it!
Sample
Tovvy tightened his fist,
pulling on the tawny locks, and Caris was forced to tip his head back, to look
up into his half-brother's face. "This is how it's going to be, little brother,"
Tovvy said quietly. "We're all going to go home, now. If you both come quiet,
I'll even forgive the way you rudely ran off, and we'll start over, clean slate.
Give me any trouble, and you'll wish you hadn't, understand?"
"Yes, Tovvy." Jereth's heart broke over the tears in Caris' voice.
Tovvy shifted his gaze to meet Jereth's. "You," he said, not bothering to
disguise the menace in his tone. "For Caris' sake, I can't kill you -- but he
won't die if you're only paralyzed for the rest of your days. I know how to
break a man's back and keep him alive, so don't try any more of that running
shit. You get me?"
Caris had closed his eyes, but the anguish in his face told Jereth all he needed
to know about the sincerity of Tovvy's claim. "Yeah," he said softly. "I get
it." There had to be some way out of this. Some way to alert... someone. Would
the police go into Little Town even to rescue them?
Tovvy narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you believe me."
"I do."
Crack! It was like being hit with a baseball bat, even though Tovvy hadn't
closed his fist. Jereth's head rocked so far back with the blow that his neck
creaked, and he gasped at the pain. The world spun around him. Dimly, he was
aware of Caris whimpering wordlessly. "Don't argue with me," Tovvy said evenly.
"You don't believe me, or you think you can get away again. I'll show you
different."
"Tovvy," Caris said. "He believes, he does! Don't--" Tovvy swung a similar blow
in Caris' direction. Jereth cringed with the blow, though Caris took it
silently. He only looked at Jereth, his eyes sharply green with fear, pleading
for... something. Jereth did not know what.
"You're going to drop your shields for me," Tovvy told Jereth. "I'll show you,
and then you'll know."
Horror slithered through Jereth's innards. Reveal his innermost thoughts to
this? Not possible.
Tovvy grinned at Jereth's reaction. "You will," he promised cheerfully.
"Everyone knows that a good fuck will open your doors, but enough pain will do
the trick just as well. You know that?"
Jereth was trembling with rage and terror. He felt nauseous. "Don't."
Tovvy snapped his arm as easily as a twig. Searing, white-hot pain shot through
Jereth, blinding in its intensity, washing all his shields and protections away.
Caris shouted.
Tovvy's presence in his mind was even more loathsome than he'd expected it to
be. Twisted and filthy and misshapen, it rasped through his thoughts so roughly
that it nearly drowned the continuing shriek of pain in his arm. Tovvy threw
images at him, one after another. Too fast for him to fully process, they
nevertheless completed Jereth's understanding of Tovvy as utterly lacking in
mercy, compassion, or sanity.
Get out, Jereth begged.
Tovvy threw an image at him: Ramie, his gentle features covered in blood, his
limbs twisted. The soft exterior of his mind had been flayed away to reveal a
core of pitted steel: his certainty that Caris had escaped. Tovvy had laughed as
he quashed that certainty, snapping Ramie's mind before finally allowing him to
die.
Anger stirred, and let itself be glimpsed under the morass of fear. Get OUT,
Jereth snarled.
Tovvy laughed and showed him another, older image: Caris, bruised and bloodied,
sobbing as Tovvy peeled through the layers of his mind like plucking the petals
from a rose. Furious, Jereth shoved at Tovvy, and felt the bigger man's surprise
at being moved. Heartened, Jereth drew himself inward for another push.
Shrewdly, Tovvy twisted his broken arm. Jereth screamed.
Everything pulled into sharp focus, just for an instant, and then, mercifully,
went black.
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