When the shadows come alive, Ava and Caleb discover the only safe place is in each other’s arms.
But the closer they get, the darker the
truth becomes.
All the Shadows We
Become
by Dustin Blackwall
Genre: YA Romantasy Thriller
Caleb Ward is trying to forget the night he almost died.
Ava Lin is trying to understand why he survived.
But Hollow Creek isn’t letting either of them move on.
What starts as a strange blackout spirals into a trail of
eerie clues, shifting shadows, and a connection between Ava and Caleb that
grows hotter and more undeniable with every new secret uncovered.
Something happened
that night.
Something dangerous.
And it’s waking up.
But the second Caleb stepped out of his
hoodie, every ounce of training she’d ever had tried to evaporate at once.
Under the thin lantern light, he looked
unreal - like someone carved him in secret and forgot to tone it down for real
life. Broad shoulders, smooth lines of muscle, a chest that rose and fell in
slow, steady waves. Even the long cut of his waist looked sculpted, defined by
a faint shadow that dipped beneath the band of his shirt.
She swallowed hard. Professional. She
had to stay professional.
“Sit… sit still,” she said, though her
voice wavered.
Caleb obeyed, but the motion only made
things worse - muscles shifting under his skin like a quiet ripple, arms
flexing as he rested them on his knees. There were faint veins along his
forearms, subtle but impossible to ignore, and his hands… strong, warm-looking,
capable.
Ava’s fingers hovered before she touched
him.
Focus. Just focus.
But then she wrapped the blood pressure
cuff around his arm, and her fingertips brushed the heat of his skin - the kind
of heat that wasn’t just temperature. Caleb drew in a breath, low and
surprised, and she felt it like a pulse of electricity between them.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
“Yeah,” she lied instantly.
His eyes flicked to her mouth for half a
second - half a second - and her heartbeat misfired so hard she nearly fumbled
the stethoscope.
Get it together, Ava.
She leaned closer, pretending she needed to
hear his pulse better, but really just trying to anchor herself. Caleb smelled
faintly of clean soap and something warm, something masculine that made her
knees weaken.
“Your heart rate’s elevated,” she murmured.
His voice dropped: “Yours too.”
Her hands trembled.





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