Driven Read online

  I felt like he was ripping my heart out of my chest, but he was right. Nodding in agreement to his demand was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do, but I forced my chin, up and then down in jerky fits and starts.

  It wasn't pretty, but it was enough for Ben. He gave me a tired smile and seemed to relax back into the bed.

  "Thank you, Jasmin. I've never told you this, but I love you. I've loved you for years now. I wish things had happened differently and that we hadn't been forced to go through all of this, but I'm glad that I at least got one last chance to finally tell you how I feel."

  "I love you too, Ben. I always have."

  The words came out in a rush, but I was too slow. He'd already closed his eyes and there was no answering squeeze from his hand.

  I wanted to stay there at his bedside and cry myself out, but there wasn't time for that. Geoffrey had bought me a few more days and I was going to find a way to save Ben. I wasn't going to let him slip through my fingers, not this time.

  —The Story Continues in Lost—

  Curious how all of the pieces of the Reflection Universe fit together? Check out the Reflections Reading Order Diagram on my blog.

  Publisher's Note:

  If you've enjoyed this book, please consider signing up for the author's mailing list. By signing up you'll receive $10.00 worth of free books. We'll be offering a special discount to existing fans for the first week each new book is live, so signing up for his mailing list will mean that you'll always know about new releases with plenty of time to take advantage of the new release discount.

  Author's Note:

  Getting to this point in the Reflections (and Dark Reflections) Series has been a real learning experience for me. When it comes to my stories, I think my writing has improved, but that isn't the only learning that has happened for me.

  As I write this, I'm exactly 31 days past the release date for Bound. Hunted is basically finished save for the cover, Driven is headed out to my advance readers, Dark Reflections #3 is off for the first round of editing, and Isaac's book is in rough draft form. I've written a lot of words—more than 690,000—since I finished up Riven, but none of those words have been Alec and Adri Reflections words, and that has ended up mattering more than I expected it to.

  To be honest, I gave lip service to the idea that some of my Reflections readers might not want to read the Dark Reflections books. I considered the possibility that with Driven, I'd be releasing another Trapped, another book in the main Reflections Series that was awesome, but which didn't get the same kind of uptake that I saw with Forsaken and Riven.

  Intellectually I knew that all might happen, but I didn't believe it, not really. I still have faith that most of my fans will eventually pick up Bound and Hunted, and I'm confident that those two books will earn me readers who otherwise never would have even considered reading Broken or Torn. I know that eventually most of the people who loved Riven will buy Driven, but this note isn't about—or for—those people, this note is for the people who went out and took a chance on Bound before all of the 5-star reviews started rolling in.

  This note is for all of the people who love the Sanctuary pack enough that they bought Driven on the first or second day that it was available. This is for my very best fans, the ones that I've taken to calling—inside the privacy of my own mind—my rabid fans.

  Inside of Dean's world that's some of the highest praise I can offer, and I'm profoundly grateful to all of you. I know that there is a degree of trust every time you buy one of my books, and it requires even more trust for you to buy something when I do something unexpected like starting the Dark Reflections books. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure that each book is a compelling read, and I promise that I'll never write 'filler'.

  These books, crazy though they might be, are the thing that's going to make Alec and Adri's story epic. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I've been enjoying it.

  Acknowledgments:

  The list of people who help out in this undertaking doesn't change much from book to book, but that doesn't mean that their effort is any less valuable as the months roll by.

  RJ Locksley and Amy Jirsa-Smith continue to do outstanding work when it comes to the editing side of things, and their help is much appreciated.

  My advance readers do great work when it comes to providing me story-focused feedback and finding the errors I introduce in the course of fixing some of Amy and RJ's finds. Mom, Dad, Shalese, Matthew, Mark, Mimi, Britney, Kim, Chris, Heather Tucker, Janelle Gordinier, and Jenine Anderson are some of the best readers a writer could hope to have and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be able to work with them. Thank you all.

  Lastly, none of this could happen without my wife, Katie. She edited, provided feedback on the story, and created the cover all while juggling a ton of other responsibilities. Thanks, Katie.

  About the Author:

  Dean Murray is a prolific author with more than 25 titles across multiple pen names and more than 350,000 copies of his work currently in circulation.

  Dean started reading seriously in the second grade due to a competition and has spent most of the subsequent three decades lost in other people's worlds.

  Things worsened, or improved depending on your point of view, when he first started experimenting with writing while finishing up his accounting degree. These days Dean has a wonderful wife and two lovely daughters to keep him rather more grounded, but the idea of bringing others along with him as he meets interesting new people in universes nobody else has ever seen tends to drag him back to his computer on a fairly regular basis.

  Keep up to speed on Dean's latest projects at deanwrites.com. If you want to interact with readers who love the series as much as you do, please consider checking out the Reflections Facebook page or Dean's Forum.

  Other Books by Dean Murray

  The Greater Darkness

  (Writing as Eldon Murphy)

  Something powerful is stirring in the darkness. Something so ancient that even creatures who've been alive for hundreds of years have long since discounted this new threat as nothing more than myth.

  Normal humans will be caught in the crossfire, but then that's always the way of things. Geoffrey has no memory of his past life or any idea how to survive in the violent, dangerous world in which he's trapped. Despite his best efforts, he's about to find himself in the middle of a conflict that threatens to sweep away everything, and everyone he's been fighting so hard to protect.

  Bound

  The only thing worse than having no family at all, is having a family that is out to hurt you. That would all be bad enough for a normal 17-year-old, but it's even worse for Alec Graves. A shape shifter's pack, his family, is the only thing stopping the other preternatural creatures out there from killing them.

  Alec's pack isn't just neglectful, he's pretty sure that his father wants him dead. Alec is about to be sent to the front lines of a war between his people and everything else that goes bump in the night. His only chance of survival is to convince everyone around him that he's the perfect soldier, but there are lines that Alec won't cross, not for any price.

  Publisher's Note: Dean Murray's ongoing Reflection Series has been a stunning success with hundreds of thousands of copies in circulation, and a rich, complex world where choices—right or wrong—have real, profound consequences. Unsatisfied with the restrictions imposed on him by writing inside of the conventional series structure, Dean has returned to Sanctuary and the characters so many fans have fallen in love with.

  Bound is the first in Dean's new Dark Reflections novels, an alternate timeline set in the same world and featuring many of the same characters, but with a profoundly different backstory.

  Dean finally answers many of the questions that his most dedicated readers have been asking themselves for years. What would have happened if Alec's father hadn't been murdered by the Coun'hij, how would Adri's life have changed if her family hadn't been shattered in a horrific accident?
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br />   The answers may surprise you, but one thing is for sure; you'll see new sides of familiar faces and when all is said and done, you'll never be able to look at some of them the same.

  Readers new to Dean Murray's writing can start with Bound in the Dark Reflections Series or Broken in the Reflections Series.

  Frozen Prospects

  The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams Va'del didn't even realize he had. When his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he instead finds his probationary status revoked, and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body.

  Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything. Their growing attraction flies against hundreds of years of precedent, but as wide-spread attacks threaten their world, the Guadel have no choice but to use even Jain and Va'del in their fight for survival.

  CHET: Whispers From the Past

  By Larry Murray

  Meet Charles Tucker, he has spent nearly 30 years living in denial, trying desperately to hide from his past and the events that shattered his heart beyond any possibility of healing. He can't let anyone close, for doing so would open him up to being hurt again, and there's no way he could survive another wounding.

  Meet the Saunders family, new to the neighborhood and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Mark, the father, talks a good story but is that all he is? His plan could hold the key to reversing his family's financial misfortunes, or it could wipe out everyone involved.

  Meet Chet, a battered old '64 Chevy pickup that was there on the night Charles' life imploded. For nearly three decades, he has been locked away in an old barn, safely out of sight if not completely out of mind. For 29 years Charles has blamed the old pickup for the destruction of his life, now he's about to find that the vehicle that destroyed his life might be the key to his healing and a journey of unexpected miracles.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Other Books by Dean Murray