Calay hit the deck. The impact knocked the wind clean out of her lungs. She gasped, coughed, fought to breathe. Until she heard the horrific, awful screech behind her. She writhed, flung her head in the opposite direction. There was no missing it in the dim lighting of the hallway. Through a cloud of dark brown dust, at the other end of the corridor was an Other in full form. It’s grey, raw-looking swollen body teetered on pin-sharp malformed limbs, its joints sharp as knives. Patches of short, wire-thick hair jutted out in every direction between pustules and spines, the hump on its back grazed the ceiling with each undulating, foul breath. Gods. It was one thing to see the Others in a galaxy far removed from her own, but here, on Earth, within the Resistance walls, was another thing entirely. One Calay wanted nothing to do with. Through the haze, the creature’s cracked lips seemed to smile. If it was possible, she would have sworn her heart stopped in that moment. It jumpstarted when Adam lunged from the hallway. His eyes wild, clothes disheveled. He raised a machete above his head and hollered an ungodly sound. Calay choked back…

Calay tried to slow each breath, to make herself smaller. Quieter. Whatever was going on up there, she wanted no part. A shadow grew over the light. It crawled across the laundry, over her toes, obscuring her face. The silhouette was broad. Clearly out of breath. Human. “Who’s there?” Calay asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The light shifted as the figure picked up what turned out to be a heavy-duty, utility light, like the kind her dad used to have on the farm. They hoisted it up to their chest. Shined it down. She grimaced when the beam hit her square in the eyes. Calay’s heartbeat increased, her pulse raced. She needed to know who was up there. Watching her. “Who are you?” Calay tried again, raising her hand to try to shield the glow. “You alright?” The figure called back. Calay exhaled. Her shoulders relaxed. Of course. Jacob. He was always dashing to her rescue. Showing up when she needed him most. When she wanted him least. After the way she stormed out of the Loft, the last thing she needed right now was for him to rush in and save her. Except, she very much did…

Excerpt from THE STARS IN THEIR EYES. Copyright © 2022 by Kristy Gardner with permission from City Owl Press   As books piled off shelves, and the meager amount of dishes they owned smashed onto the kitchen floor, sending shards of razor-sharp glass throughout the apartment, Calay had grasped for Tess. The bed rolled on its side, sending the two lovers onto the floor, clinging to each other with their eyes sealed tight. Furniture tumbled around them. They screamed, but beneath the noise of bursting pipes, breaking gas lines, and layers upon layers of crumbling drywall, their cries went unheard. “Tess?” Calay choked out, her hands feeling their way through the chaos, “Tess!” No reply. Panic rose in her throat once again. “TESS!” She slid from beneath fragments of their splintered dresser and pulled herself up on the plasterboard that used to be their bedroom wall. “What the fuck is happening?” Surveying the apartment that was no longer an apartment, she coughed and choked back a sob. Beams of morning light fought through the wreckage, casting shadows over what was left of their home and deep within her mind. If anything has happened to Tess–she pushed the thoughts out of…